In no particular order:
The Honeymooners
Star Trek TOS
Mission Impossible (1966-1973)
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)
Breaking Bad (you have to watch this if you haven’t seen it)
All in the Family
Seinfeld
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Prisoner
[ul]
[li]The original Dick Van Dyke Show[/li][li]The original Andy Griffith Show[/li][li]The original Twilight Zone[/li][li]The original Outer Limits[/li][li]The Honeymooners [/li][li]Your Show of Shows[/li][li]All in the Family[/li][li]Marcus Welby MD [/li][li]Nova[/li][li]Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau[/li][li]Spongebob Squarepants[/li][/ul]
WKRP in Cincinatti
Barney Miller
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Star Trek: TOS
Blackadder
Futurama
Six Million Dollar Man
Kim Possible
Battlestar Galactica: OS
The Bill Cosby Show (variety show, 70s)
In the order I think of them
[ol]
[li]Star Trek TOS - if only for the impact it had on me, and as a show up to the sf I was reading.[/li][li]The Wire [/li][li]MASH [/li][li]Police Squad - short, but totally insane. Up to Airplane, and better than the movies[/li][li]The Dick van Dyke Show. I’ve only seen the movie made up of segments from Your Show of Shows, but this is its direct descendant.[/li][li]Rocky and Bullwinkle. Wonderfully subversive[/li][li]The Prisoner - for being so different[/li][li]Secret Agent/Danger Man - we just finished the entire series. Well plotted. And Drake is Number 6, even if McGoohan couldn’t admit it without paying royalties to the creator of Danger Man. Watch this show and you’ll know why he resigned. [/li][li]Have Gun, Will Travel - brilliantly written, truly adult western, with shows which would be controversial today.[/li][li]The Daily Show - not quite as good after the boobs caught on to the fact that the reporters weren’t quite reporters, but it kept me alive through the Bush years. [/li] And number 11, 10 if you count Danger Man and the Prisoner as one show:
[li]The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I saw Steve Allen’s Westinghouse show, and he was good, but no one was better at doing an entire show than Carson. Plus, he helped expose frauds like Geller, and made Sagan famous.[/li][/ol]
In no order (and, sorry, but I can’t stick to the two season rule!):
- Twin Peaks
- Firefly
- Dead Like Me
- Battlestar Galactica (Ron Moore version)
- Lost
- Carnivale
- Dexter
- The Office (U.S. version)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- News Radio
Heroes would’ve made the list if the second and third seasons had been as good as the first.
In no particular order:
Sesame Street
Blue Peter
The West Wing
Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister
Blackadder
Dr Who
Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett version)
Top Gear
Rome
Antiques Roadshow
If you can stomach the class hatred, add Sharpe to that list.
I can’t believe I forgot Corner Gas, IMO the best written sitcom in TV history.
Oscar Leroy: I am not cranky!
Brett Leroy: Dad, you once punched a skunk.
Oscar Leroy: Well he deserved it!
Corner Gas is amazing in that it’s an incredibly bland, formulaic sitcom that somehow manages to keep a consistent level of funny throughout.
Basically, it shouldn’t be as calmly entertaining as it is. Very Canadian, I guess.
-Joe
“Connections.” Turned my brain inside out. In retrospect, I will force* my kids to watch it.
-
- Force here involves having it on while they knit or surf the net. Or, in my wife’s case, have it on while she knits, reads Kathleen Norris novels, or snoozes, but just try turning it off. “Hey! I was watching that!”
“You were snoring.”
“I was still watching it.”
- Prisoner (Prisoner: Cell Block H) an Australian Soap Opera
- Seinfeld
- I Love Lucy
- Dick Van Dyke
- Carol Burnett
- The Simpsons
- Fawlty Towers
- Keeping Up Appearences
- The Odd Couple
- Kate & Allie
To me the shows have to stand up to repeated watching and the humour while it can be topical must not hopeless date the show
This is one of the reasons I leave out All In The Family but I honestly cannot understand how anyone who is young can get that show. The humour is so topical. AITF is a great show, well acted, well scripted and I enjoy it but the scripts are so outdated. I love Barney Miller as well but the jokes about NYC and how hopeless the city is (and was) make it so topical. It’s funny while the decline of Manhattan was such a spiral it was very incorrect to assume it would stay that way.
Topical humour can be very funny but I can see how it can be hard to withstand the test of time.
I recall jokes from the Burns & Allen radio show
Gracie) George if we have a child we must teach him to be honest, to educate him well and to become a Democrat.
George) Why does he have to be a Democrat?
Gracie) I want our son to be president.
----->
Another line from Burns & Allen
Peggy) Tell me a story Aunt Gracie
Gracie) Once upon a time, a long time ago there was a prince
Peggy) How long ago?
Gracie) Oh a very long time ago, even before Roosevelt
-------->
Yet another joke
George) Well Gracie Tuesday’s election day
Gracie) What’s that?
George) Gracie, for as long as you can remember what happen every four years in November
Gracie) Roosevelt’s elected.
----->
To me those are funny lines but way too dated for most people now to get, so I leave shows like that off
Sesame Street
Mr. Rogers
Electric Company
People’s Court with Judge Wapner
I can’t remember its name… a youngsters show about strange Alien Monoliths, Necklaces, and Pagan Myths (British or Canadian).
Mr. Wizard
Love Boat and Fantasy Island (I can’t count these as seperate.)
Riptide
Northern Exposure
Seinfeld
Star Trek TOS- The original and still the best.
The Simpsons- All the adult animation today owes them a debt.
The Twilight Zone- Serling was a genius.
The Carol Burnett Show- The perfect capper to a strong Saturday night on CBS.
The Honeymooners- Lucy gets a nod as well, but the Honeymooners is more precious because there were fewer episodes
Hill Street Blues- Before there was NYPD Blue, this show set the modern standard for hour drama.
**
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson**- The master at work.
Your Show of Shows- Before my time, but from the clips I have seen… Also a nod for Soupy Sales.
Gilligan’s Island- Ya Srsly. All the human foibles on parade, and the quintessential 60’s goofy sitcom. Sherwood’s best work.
**
Chicago’s Bozo’s Circus** (in it’s heyday) and
Ray Rayner and Friends - God I wish we had a morning show like that again the whole family could watch together, goofy Ray Rayner, traffic, sports, classic WB cartoons, the perfect morning show, not like the salacious morning “news” shows we see today, or crappy kidvid that is usually on in most households these days before school.
Sherrif Lobo (just kidding)
Yah, I know it’s eleven.
I’m surprised at some of the lists that have shown up and some of the shows they’ve failed to include. With a requirement of ‘greatest of all time’ some of the older stuff has to trump the newer. Since this is Cafe Society and not great debates I guess its far enough to leave out news/current events programs.
In my opinion the following must make any top ten list:
Mash
All in the family
Star Trek(maybe some debate on seasons and stuff but the base concept)
Simpsons
The next 6 shows I feel are worthy but could see others dissagreeing
The Wire
Twilight Zone
Sesame Street
Seinfeld
Law and Order
Cosby Show
I see that several folks who share my favorites listed Freaks and Geeks, which I’ve never seen. Guess that’ll go on my Christmas list.
The Wire
Mad Men
Breaking Bad
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rome
NYPD Blue
Hill Street Blues
Northern Exposure
All in the Family
Deadwood
That’s ten.
boytyperanma–Twilight Zone is a strong contender.
Wish I’d thought of it.
Outer Limits could make the list, too.