Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows -- Second Pass

Cafe Society
1

Posts in the thread The Best All-Time TV Show [vote for up to 10] indicated that some people weren’t aware of the first pass thread or else they were disappointed some of their favorite shows weren’t included in the Top 51 shows involved in the voting in that linked thread.

There were some additional posts in Your Favorite All-Time TV Shows after the poll was put up.

So I have added those shows (or the additional votes for them) to the ones that didn’t make the cut to the Top 51 in the poll as of these posts:

#34 Yesterday, 05:45 PM by gladtobeblazed (in the poll thread)

and

#83 Yesterday, 12:27 AM by MadTheSwine (in the original “Favorites” thread)

To give everybody another shot at helping to select the next Top 50 for a second poll, please look over this list and either select your Top Ten from it or add enough shows to what’s already here to make a Top Ten.

As before the shows that make the cut for the poll will be the ones mentioned the most.

I’ll leave this thread open until the end of May before selecting the next poll’s shows.

=================================================

A&E Literary Classics
Absolutely Fabulous
Alfred Hitchcock
American Experience
America’s Test Kitchen

Antiques Roadshow
As Time Goes By
Batman
Beauty and the Beast
Big Bang Theory

The Big Valley
Bob Newhart (the first one)
Bones (2)
Brotherhood
Burn Notice

Burns and Allen
Callan
Captain Midnight
Carol Burnett Show
Charmed

China Beach
CHiPs
Clangers
Cold Case Files
Combat!

The Cosby Show
Cosmos (2)
Coupling (2)
Cracker
Criminal Minds

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
C-SPAN’s Booknotes with Brian Lamb
Dark Shadows
The Day The Universe Changed
Dexter

Dirty Jobs
Ernie Kovaks Show
Father Dear Father
Family Feud
Flip This House

Forensic Files
Frazier
Friday Night Lights
Friends
Frontline

F Troop
The Fugitive (2)
The Games
Generation Kill (2)
Get Smart (2)

Ghoulardi
Gilmore Girls (2)
The Good Life (UK) (2)
Good Neighbors (2)
Good Times

Have Gun, Will Travel
Hawaii Five-O
Hill Street Blues
Hogans Heroes
Homicide (2)

Howdy Doody
I Love Lucy (2)
In Treatment
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Jack Benny Show

The Jeffersons
Jeopardy! (2)
Jonny Quest
Jungle Jim
Justice League

Keen Eddie
King Of Queens
King of the Hill
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
L.A. Law

Late Night With David Letterman (2)
Law and Order (the Brisco and Green years) (2)
Law And Order: Special Victims Unit
Life
Live Action Sailor Moon

Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost in Space
Louis Theroux’s documentaries
MacGyver
The Man From UNCLE

Married With Children
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (2)
Masterpiece Theatre
Maverick
Max Headroom

McKenzies Raiders
(The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
The Middleman
Mission: Impossible
Mr. Show

Monday Night Football (3)
Monk (2)
The Muppet Show (2)
Murphy Brown (2)
My So-Called Life

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Especially the Joel years)
Mythbusters
The Nanny
Night Court
Numb3rs

NYPD Blue (3)
The Office (USA) (2)
The Old Grey Whistle Test
On The Air
One Piece

Outer Limits (2)
Outrageous Fortune (NZ)
Perry Mason
The Planet
Planet Earth

The Pretender
The Price is Right
Pride & Prejudice (the Colin Firth version)
Prison Break
The Prisoner

Prisoner (known as Prisoner: Cell Block H outside Australia)
The Professionals
Psych
QI (2)
Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (UK)

Red Dwarf (3)
Ripping Yarns
The Rockford Files
The Rogues
Roseanne (3)

Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In
Sanford and Son (2)
SNL
Scrubs
77 Sunset Strip

Shameless
60 Minutes (2)
Soap
Sons of Anarchy (2)
South Park (3)

Spaced
Spongebob Squarepants
Spooks
Star Trek Deep Space Nine (3)
Summer Heights High

Sunday Morning on CBS
Supernatural
The Sweeney
Tales of the Gold Monkey
Taxi (2)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
3rd Rock from the Sun (2)
Third Watch
30 Rock (2)
3’s Company

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
Top Gear (2)
Tour of Duty
Two Fat Ladies
Undeclared

Unsolved Mysteries
Upstairs, Downstairs
Venture Brothers
Vicar Of Dibley (2)
Wallace and Ladmo

Wanted: Dead or Alive
Weeds
Welcome Back Kotter
Wojeck
The X-Files (4)

Yes Minister
Yes Prime Minister
The Young Ones
Zorro (Disney)

2

I should have said that the 51 shows in the current poll wil not be added to this new list. Depending on the final votes for those 51 shows, the top 20 (or so) will join the Top 20 from this next poll for a Top 40 shows poll.

So don’t mention the 51 shows in the poll already underway. They’ll be wasted votes!

3

Where’s Cop Rock?

4

Carol Burnett
Dexter
Hill Street Blues
I Love Lucy
Mission: Impossible
NYPD Blue
The Price is Right
South Park
30 Rock
Yes, Minister

5

Thanks, Gangster Octopus and ArchiveGuy, for keeping this thread from being a total dud!

With your input we now have these shows with at least two votes each:

=====================================
NYPD Blue (4)
South Park (4)
The X-Files (4)

I Love Lucy (3)
Monday Night Football (3)
Red Dwarf (3)
Roseanne (3)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine (3)
30 Rock (3)

Bones (2)
Carol Burnett Show (2)
Cosmos (2)
Coupling (2)
Dexter (2)

The Fugitive (2)
Generation Kill (2)
Get Smart (2)
Gilmore Girls (2)
The Good Life (UK) (2)

Good Neighbors (2)
Hill Street Blues (2)
Homicide (2)
Jeopardy! (2)
Late Night With David Letterman (2)

Law and Order (the Brisco and Green years) (2)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (2)
Mission: Impossible (2)
Monk (2)
The Muppet Show (2)

Murphy Brown (2)
The Office (USA) (2)
Outer Limits (2)
The Price is Right (2)
QI (2)

Sanford and Son (2)
60 Minutes (2)
Sons of Anarchy (2)
Taxi (2)
3rd Rock from the Sun (2)

Top Gear (2)
Vicar Of Dibley (2)
Yes Minister (2)
Yes Prime Minister (2)

6

It would appear that interest in this topic has died. I see no point in a follow-up poll.

7

I’m confused. If we already gave our top ten in the other threads, do we need to do it again?

8

Apparently not. The whole idea to this thread was to give those who complained that their show(s) didn’t make the cut in the current poll (due to expire in early June) to have a second chance at it all. I get the sense that those objections don’t rise to the level of participating in a second poll.

If you’re satisfied that the shows worth voting for were represented in that ongoing poll, this thread is not for you.

Due to the lack of response to this one, I believe that’s the case with most Dopers. If so, this thread is a dead issue.

That any clearer?

In short, this is just a glorified bump to the thread. It’s been dormant for over a week.

9

Big Bang Theory
Carol Burnett Show
The Cosby Show
Criminal Minds
Frazier
Jeopardy!
Law And Order: Special Victims Unit
Night Court
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In
Taxi

10

Thanks to Dolores Reborn we can elevate these shows to the more-than-one-mention group:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carol Burnett Show (3)
Jeopardy! (3)
Taxi (3)

Big Bang Theory (2)
The Cosby Show (2)
Criminal Minds (2)
Frazier (2)
Law And Order: Special Victims Unit (2)
Night Court (2)
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (2)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The 50 shows with more than one mention break down as:

(4) x 3
(3) x 9
(2) x 38

Total 50

If we can get a few more Top Ten groups to help narrow down the field maybe we won’t have to resort to all 50 choices to vote on. Right now, though, the 12 (4) and (3) shows seem a little skimpy.

Whatever happens between now and next Monday will determine what the new poll will look like.

11

A vote for Keen Eddie, 30 Rock and Third Rock. I’m delighted to see Ghoulardi on the list but I’m too young to really remember it, so it wouldn’t be honest for me to vote.

12

This results in these updates to the lists above:

(4) x 4
(3) x 9
(2) x 39
Total 52

30 Rock (4)
3rd Rock from the Sun (3)
Ghoulardi (2) **
Keen Eddie (2)

** I went ahead and added this since you at least mentioned it.

+++++

May is running out and I plan to do whatever poll makes sense next Tuesday.

If you’ve had complaints about your favorite show(s) not being included in the poll, now’s your chance to make a meaningful comment.

13

Gilmore Girls
In Treatment
Justice League
My So-Called Life
Sanford and Son
Star Trek Deep Space Nine

14

Still not quite sure how this works.

Here are all the shows I’d want to be on the list:

Angel, Being Human, Big Bang Theory, Bones, Brothers & Sisters, BSG, Buffy, Caprica, Castle, Dead Like Me, Defying Gravity, Dollhouse, Dr Horrible, Dr Who, Eastwick, Eureka, Family Guy, Firefly, Flash Forward, Fringe, Futurama, Glee, Gravity, How I Met Your Mother, Journeyman, Kings, Kyle XY, Legend of the Seeker, Lexx, Life is Wild, Lost, Middleman, Moonlight, Mysterious Cities of Gold, No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, One Tree Hill, Primeval, Psych, Pushing Daisies, Quantum Leap, Queer as Folk, Robot Chicken, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Six Feet Under, Skins, Spartacus, Supernatural, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Terminator TSCC, The Lost Room, The Third Eye, The Tick, The various Star Treks, The various Stargates especially Universe, Torchwood, True Blood, Ugly Betty, US of Tara, Veronica Mars, Virtuality, War of the Worlds

Personal top favs maybe:

BSG
Dr Who
Firefly
Flash Forward
Glee
HIMYM
Lost
Lost Room
Middleman
One Tree Hill
Pushing Daisies
Robot Chicken
Quantum Leap
Six Feet Under
Stargate Universe
The Lost Room
War of the Worlds

Favs that are probably obscure or underrepresented:

Being Human
Caprica
Defying Gravity
Gravity
Journeyman
Kings
No 1 Ladies Detective Agency
QAF
Skins
Spartacus
Tales of the Gold Monkey
Lost Room
Third Eye
War of the Worlds

15

With all due respect, I’m going to let you do your own poll.

16

Antiques Roadshow
The Cosby Show
Law and Order (the Brisco and Green years) (2)
The Muppet Show (2)
QI (2)
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In
Spaced
3rd Rock from the Sun (2)
Venture Brothers
The Young Ones

Many of those shows - Antiques Roadshow, Cosby, Law & Order, Laugh-In, Young Ones - are what I consider to be ground-breaking shows in some fashion. I had pared the list down to 20 that I really enjoy, but got it down to these 10 that mean the most.

17

I have added all your titles to my summary file just in case somebody else mentions any of the ones on your list so as to elevate it/them to the more-than-once groups. Those already included in the ongoing poll (The Best All-Time TV Show [vote for up to 10]) are being dropped from the titles being considered for this follow-up poll. If you’ll check the ongoing poll, you can see how they’re doing.

Just to repeat my plan:

  1. Next Tuesday I will post a new poll with the titles that have been mentioned at least twice, and (if the results of this thread justify it) reduce the total number of titles to 50 or less, depending on the popularity in this thread of those titles.

  2. After that new poll has had a chance to produce a “Top X-Number” of shows, they and the “Top X-number” from the ongoing poll will be combined for a Final Poll that ought to be able to satisfy most Dopers that their show(s) were given a fair chance to be voted on.

  3. If there’s still some dispute over the validity of the Final Poll, I’ll deal with it at that time.

18

The current status of the summary is:

NYPD Blue (4)
South Park (4)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine (4)
3rd Rock from the Sun (4)
30 Rock (4)
The X-Files (4)

Big Bang Theory (3)
Bones (3)
Carol Burnett Show (3)
The Cosby Show (3)
Gilmore Girls (3)
I Love Lucy (3)
Jeopardy! (3)
Law and Order (the Brisco and Green years) (3)
Monday Night Football (3)
The Muppet Show (3)
QI (3)
Red Dwarf (3)
Roseanne (3)
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (3)
Sanford and Son (3)
Taxi (3)

(4) x 6
(3) x 16

(2) x 42 (not shown here)

Total 64 (I’m leaning toward the (3) or better group for the poll, or 22 shows).

===================================
219 Total shows in this thread

If you want to elevate a (1) or (2) mention show to consideration for the poll now’s the time.

19

From the OP:

Antiques Roadshow
Batman
Bob Newhart (the first one)
Carol Burnett Show
Frasier
Get Smart
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Muppet Show
Soap
The X-Files

Since I couldn’t find a definition of favorite in this thread or its predecessor, I only considered how likely I would be to turn on the TV if I knew a rerun was about to come on right now. Artistic interpretation and degree of difficulty didn’t enter into it.

ETA: On second look, I see the previous thread (the poll) specifies “best” whereas this one says “favorite.” To my mind, those are different things.

20

Dexter should definitely be on the list.

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Babylon 5. It was flawed and hasn’t aged well, but it was very innovative (it was essentially a novel made into 100 hours of TV) in an era where arc-based serial dramas were pretty much unheard of. It was ambitious and still has some of the most amazing scenes and episodes in TV history. I’m not sure it’s ever been topped in terms of how well planned and cohesive the story was - it’s really still one of a kind.

I wouldn’t put it at #1, but it should definitely make the top 50 and be an option.