Can we all just admit we like smart shows cause it makes US feel smart when we get the jokes and others don’t ?
I think Drunk History is pretty smart. They make stories actually very interesting by taking a comedic angle on things.
Since I can not vote for one of the great egg heads: James Burke and his Connections and The day the universe changed shows I go for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and QI with Stephen Fry.
A special mention goes to the classic What’s My Line. You can catch a lot of the episodes on You Tube and besides the quality of the invited celebrities the panel was really smart.
The Americans.
“Anna, if you tell me to bend like a willow I’m gonna throw up.”
I liked that show (heck, I even liked the theme song), but even though it only ran for nine episodes they used the scientist-commits-crime-to-help-prove-his-pet-theory plot at least twice.
Oh, it’s tough, but I think it looks a little tougher to folks on this side of the pond. I mean, I’m not gonna recognize the names of four Blue Peter presenters, am I? I’d like to take a crack at it with questions from a culture I’m more familiar with. That said, I’m occasionally amazed at how much they (and the panelists on QI, too) know about the U.S.
I did have one proud moment watching Only Connect. A question in the sequences round started with pictures of celery and apples, I knew the fourth one would be grapes and none of the contestants got it. Even Victoria said that one was nearly impossible. In your face!
Not to mention a higher plane. 
And 50+ years ago, The Untouchables.
The Avengers with Cathy Gale and Emma Peel (and Dr David Keel and his immediate successors).
The Prisoner (1967–68).
Band of Brothers.
The Pacific.
Combat!, especially the Robert Altman episodes.
Not if you watch Fawlty Towers:
“Celery, apples, walnuts, grapes, in a mayonnaise sauce!” 
Once you know the whole sequence, sure; but did you get it while watching the quiz?
If we can define “smart” any way we want… won’t this thread become a “what’s your favourite TV show” thing?
My nomination would be the “Ascent Of Man”, with Jacob Bronowski.
It’s basically a highly intelligent polymath delivering a series of monologues to camera on the history of science. I think I recall that Carl Sagan said it inspired “Cosmos”.
I think I’d have more confidence in peoples opinion of what constituted “smart” TV if said people understood what “non-fiction” meant.
No won’t work, we’re out of Waldorfs. Dreadfully sorry.
In what other possible combination could those words be used together in the English language? :dubious:
“What is a Waldorf, anyway? A walnut that’s gone off?”
Well, if you tend to watch smart shows only, that does kind of narrow the field a bit.
An alternative thread might be “What is the dumbest TV show you’ve ever deigned to watch?” I’ll kick it off with Cheaters and Breaking Amish. :smack:
I’ve always thought the Larry David vehicles - Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm - were very cleverly constructed. Most of the time they both involve three seemingly unconnected storylines (all funny and all involving an original idea or thought) that would come together at the end.
Other comedy shows would make a whole episode out of just one of the storyline ideas and run with that. But to have three in each show seems quite impressive and implies that the writers are very creative - to have so many ideas that they can pack three of them into each 25 minute show and then to bring them all together at the end in a natural and relevant way. Frasier did a similar thing but that’s already been mentioned.
I find it a bit strange that no one has yet nominated the only one that has “smart” right there in the name.
Mr. Adams, Miss Feldon, Mr. Platt, come on down and take a bow! Representing Get Smart!
No love for MASHJ?
Actually, *Ally McBeal *was the first thing I thought of.
MASH is a good one.
A subtitle for this thread could be:
“Shows that don’t insult your intelligence”
Honestly no. Frasier isn’t my favorite TV show, for example. I love the show Seinfeld but I personally wouldn’t consider it “smart.” Certainly not the Smartest show on TV.