Before I left the States I had come to the happy realization that there was a spate of new shows on TV that were worth watching after a long drought of subpar viewing entertainment. The top new quality shows were ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and ‘Rules of Engagement’, both of which are now on TV here in South Africa.
Anyway, that got me thinking, what are the top 5 TV shows that you’ve watched and followed in your lifetime?
Rules: you have to have watched it religiously, you have to have seen at least the bulk of its entire library, i.e. most or all of the seasons, and its quality is judged as a whole, i.e. from season 1 to the end.
Here’s my list:
1. Seinfeld – Easy. Nothing ever was better and even the late seasons where there were some not-so-hot episodes were still good.
2. West Wing – Could’ve challenged Seinfeld if everything after season 4 wasn’t terrible. Seasons 1-4, however, constitutes the greatest TV ever.
3. Cheers – My family watched this as family time. It got progressively better through the seasons and was always, always, always funny.
4. The Cosby Show –I mean the original. Was good from it’s inception, then was great in the middle part of its run, and then took sort of a down turn in the late years when all the random relatives starting showing up and they had like 6 long lost uncles, all of whom were jazz musicians.
5. M.A.S.H. – We watched this one as a family too. It was great until the cast started shifting around too much and then Alan Alda started directing and got all artsy and ruined the last couple of seasons.
I know I’ve left some out and there are some shows that just need their own category. I mean Real World has to get some sort of mention, but where does that fit in? Likewise, what do you do with miniseries like Band of Brothers? So I think we just have to exclude reality TV and miniseries. Another thought is what if you made a list of top 5 guilty pleasure shows? My guilty pleasure shows would be in this order: Temptation Island (the greatest/worst idea for a reality show ever), Sex in the City, Real World, 90210, and The Hillz.
Anyway, here are some honorable mentions for my top 5 of all time:
The Wonder Years, Murphy Brown, ER (the early years), Scrubs, OZ, Simpsons (geez, how did I forget about that? Maybe that should be number 5 instead of MASH? Yes, consider that amendment made.), South Park, and the list could go on.
So here’s the purpose of this post: 1) what are your top 5 TV shows of all time (I’m sure I’m forgetting some classics), 2) Are there any shows on now that could eventually crack your top 5, 3) what would your top 5 guilty pleasure shows be, and 4) are there any other TV lists that we should make, like best miniseries or best shows you watched as a kid?
April 15, 2008 at 9:52 am
1) The Simpsons. Totally unparalleled in the world of television. Unique in the fact that they are largely responsible for the meteoric rise of the Fox Network and are probably the only entity that can express total creative freedom within it. The animated format allows it to lampoon American life in a way no live action show can. Seasons 3-8 are easily some of the best television ever produced. And while the last several seasons have been largely hit or miss you have to give them credit for being able to keep it going for 19 years. Also gave us Conan O’Brien.
2. South Park. The best social commentary on TV. This is a show that is uniquely able to illustrate the absurdities of both sides of a contentious issue while simultaneously exposing the obvious and easy middle path. What started out as a gross out show has turned into the most razor sharp source of satire in the world, even better than the Daily Show. Also notable for the fact that since the fourth season every episode is largely written, animated, voiced and produced in a week. To make such spot on social commentary mixed in with witty humor and relevant pop culture references (I’m looking at you Family Guy) in the course of a week is a tremendous accomplishment.
Lost. While not the death knell of reality TV I hoped it would be, for me this show changed television for the better. I don’t know if there has ever been a show as intricate as Lost. While not always brilliantly acted it is always written exquisitely. Add to that the numerous literary, mythological, religious and philosophical references and you have a show that, gasp!, makes you think.
4. Arrested Development. Despite the brevity of its run one of the most off-the-wall funny shows of all time. Impressive for fielding such an array of main characters, all of whom remain relevant throughout the show. By the third season they knew it would be cancelled, and that only made the show funnier. Add a dash of David Cross as a “never nude” and you’ve got a recipe for hilarity.
5. Jeopardy. Largely unchanged in the 20+ years with Trebek as host, stands alone as a trivia show for people who actually know things and don’t need multiple choice. If given the choice between $50000 on Jeopardy and $500000 on Millionaire, I’ll take a Jeopardy win everytime.
Runners Up:
Futurama – great show but will always be a second rate Simpsons
Family Guy – Loved it at first, but really hasn’t grown as a show, still the same old gags.
Scrubs – sort of a live action Family Guy, great show but season 6 was just awful.
Guilty Pleasures:
Any professional wrestling – it’s like a soap opera but with better acting.
I’m all for making a list of best shows as a kid (TMNT and He-Man). And could there be a mini-series that surpasses Band of Brothers in emotional weight, unsurpassed direction, and sheer awesomeness?
April 16, 2008 at 5:26 am
well, coming from a child/teenagehood of very limited TV viewing – try living in a socialist country with only 2 government controlled TV channels that are on from 3pm to 10pm each day, with strict quotas of local content – my top 5 shows while growing up included all the worst america had to offer and pawned off on third world countries when they were long past their sell-by-date in the US – my favourites being:
1. family matters (a la steve urkel)
2. full house (yes, appealed to our more communitarian family structures)
3. saved by the bell (why we all wanted green cards)
4. the national anthem played at the close of everyday’s viewing
5. there were more than 3 shows?
i’ve been trying to catch up ever since…
April 16, 2008 at 11:18 am
Sian, dating me has crammed you full of all the entertainment knowledge Zimbabwe deprived you of. While you were out living life and going to game parks, I was inside documenting good and bad TV shows just in case one day I met a hot chick who would need to know the plot line of cheers.
Oh, and saved by the bell has to recieve honorable mention on my list of guilty pleasures.
Brad, your post brings out the best and worst of why i wrote this post. wrestling is indeed great tv for guilty pleasure veiwing. I dare anyone to watch it for a week and then not care what happened to Triple H after getting hit in the head with a folding chair. Simpsons is dead on. It is number 5 on my list only bc its been on so long that you almost forget that its a tv show just like everything else. south park, futurama (which is indeed Simpsons-lite) and arrested development are all quality.
Then jeopardy poses an interesting problem. i think we can only include scripted shows in our list bc otherwise i think everyone would have to put jeapardy in the top 5. its always good and jumps to great when you get catagories that are right up your alley (i’ll take philosphy/presidents/world capitals/shit that is useless in the real world for 1000).
But then you blew it buddy. Lost is the worst show on TV and maybe the great dumbing down of America since … the ‘boy band era’.
Lost is bad writing posing as good writing by throwing in twists every 30 seconds. That’s the same crap the writers for Days of our Lives do, so by your logic they are great writers too.
They never answer anything. And i’ll bet you that they end the show by trying to explain away all the random mysteries by just saying, “magic”.
invisible guy, oh that is explained by remote viewing ie magic, john can walk, it was magic, that monster that hardly ever comes up anymore, magic.
I am compiling a great dossier called Why I Hate Lost. I will forgo any attempt to keep it short, I will forgo all niceness and destroy that show and then laugh as you and jeff and whoever else try to redeem that awfulness.
look what you made me do with your lost noneness, this is like the longest post ever (sorry people, I really am trying to shorten my posts and comments, I swear)
April 16, 2008 at 1:24 pm
To avoid a protracted and acrimonious debate I will simply agree to disagree. I have come to understand that there is no gray area when it comes to Lost, only an “I love it” camp and an “i absolutely loathe it” camp, and never the twain shall meet. That being said, I will continue to enjoy the awesomeness I believe Lost to be, and I look forward to reading your dossier.
April 16, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Also, regarding the 5th spot on my list since Jeopardy was deemed an unviable option, I think I’ll say Upright Citizens Brigade. Probably the only sketch comedy in history that had all the sketches intertwine in some way. Also great for the guerilla sketches they performed in public and broadcast at the end of each episode.
April 16, 2008 at 11:25 pm
1. The West Wing. Great all around. Even though the show did change after Sorkin left, it was still great.
2. Seinfeld. Everyone knows why
3. LOST. Trey’s not allowed to comment on this subject because he quit watching the show. The shows not going to end with “MAGIC” being flashed on the screen and Trey knows it. This is one the only show where I’ve been able to completely suspend disbelief.
4. That 70’s show. Great replay value, it’s funny every time I watch it.
5. The Wonder Years. No matter who you are, you can connect with the characters in this show and the situations they go through.
I was going to put Cheers, M.A.S.H, and The Simpsons somewhere in there but that seems too easy. When I watched Cheers and M.A.S.H I was too you to fully understand it, and when I rewatch them they’re just ok. The Simpsons was good for a while, but just got played out after 5 or 6 years.
Guilty Pleasures have to include The Real World, The Hills, Sex and the City, and Laguna Beach.
If we were to have a best miniseries list I think everyone would agree on Band of Brothers. There’s just now way to argue that it’s the best 10 hours of TV ever.
April 18, 2008 at 3:30 am
Jeff you bring up a great point in the idea of ‘rewatchable’. Seinfeld, to me is completely rewatchable. West Wing I rank behind Seinfeld for the very reason that a) the later episodes sucked and b) you need to be in the right mood to watch the west wing.
upright citzens brigade was indeed quality and now that i think of it, there should be a catagory for shows that didnt really get a chance to suceed. arested development tops that list, mind of the married man has to be there as well. and futurama too.
Anyway, gotta say I’m a little stunned by the fact that you both dissed Cheers. Wonder Years is great, but its really long and every now and then you get a super despressing one. Cheers is always great.
lastly, what about scrubs. it was great for a while but we all sort of passed it by. was it that the last season was so bad and combined with the writers strike that made it slip into barely getting honorable mention?
April 18, 2008 at 3:31 am
Oh, and band of brothers does have to be the greatest 10 hours of TV ever.
April 18, 2008 at 8:18 am
I lack the necessary encylopedic knowledge of both Cheers and the Wonder Years to make a qualified statement on them, it’s no disrespect. I definitely watched them both growing up but I can’t say that I know everything about them. Same with Seinfeld, I’ve probably seen every episode in syndication but it hasn’t been a studious enterprise like my other top 5. Should have included it in honorable mention, however.
April 20, 2008 at 9:22 am
sorry I have not yet commented on this post becuase it is clearly discussing something that I am both fond of, and participate in far too frequently. Anyway, my list is as follows:
Top 5 TV shows:
1) Family Guy – It doesn’t matter at all that they keep showing the same 4 episodes over and over on TBS, it never gets old to me.
2) Saved By The Bell – excellent input, Sian.
3) Law & Order: SVU – shut up, I like it.
4) Seinfeld: why? look no further than when Jerry’s head battles his penis in a game of chess.
5) Big Love: ahh, polygamy. Always good fodder for a tv series.
Guilty Pleasures: Temptation Island (Trey, I could not agree with you more on your synopsis of this show!), Rob & Big, Laguna Beach, 90210, Rock of Love, Keeping Up With The Kardashians
I am well aware that my list comprises arguably some of the worst shows on television, but that’s generally why I love them.
April 21, 2008 at 4:32 am
Wow. Just wow. Law and Order SUV isn’t even better than the original Law and Order. And saved by the bell??? I guess “its alllllright, cause I’m saved by the bellllll!”
But really, Seinfeld behind saved by the bell and family guy and law and order is crazy talk. Would you rather watch an episode of saved by the bell or an episode of seinfeld? seriously. the only exception would be the episode when jesse has an addiction to pills. Then I might watch that over Seinfeld just for the unintentional comedy of AC delivering a heart felt plea for Jesse to spot abusing “drugs”, which are really just cafine pills. Come to think of it, how much cooler would that episode be if the pills Jesse was hooked on were extasy? Better yet, crystal meth! And screech was the guy cooking up the meth! Good God get a TV exec on the phone we’ve got something here!!!
ps, big love does deserve to be mentioned. what if we made a list of best hbo shows? rome, big love, curb, deadwood, the list goes on bc its not just tv, its hbo.
April 21, 2008 at 9:32 am
Yeah, as soon as I submitted my list I realized that I like “The Office” a whole lot more than I ever liked SBTB, so I’m striking it (minus the one episode where Jesse is on pills and singing “I’m So Excited”), and replacing it with The Office. However, I’m sticking to my guns on L&O.
oh, by the way, have you seen the Celebrity Fit Club where Screech loses his shit and starts threatening to sue VH1? It’s definitely up there in “greatest tv moments”, probably just following the “Surreal Life” where Mini Me drives around on his scooter naked and pees on the wall. Classic.
April 21, 2008 at 10:09 am
The office is something I am ashamed to have totally forgoten about.
but the main thing i want to say after reading this previous comment:
welcome aboard lauren, welcome aboard.
only you would have the image of mini me peeing on the wall at the ready in case a situation arose when you might need to recall it. well donen friend, well done.
May 4, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Hmmm, I guess I should add my list of shows so that Jeff knows that yes, I do read this blog.
1) LOST- sorry Trey, I’m not asking you to change your opinion as you have so staunchly turned against this show, but I must say that I have never once been so involved with a show that when it ends I want to throw things at the TV whilst screaming “WTF, MATE?”
2) Sex and the City- thankfully, as a female, I don’t have to render this as a member of the guilty pleasures list. No other show has allowed women to watch it and try to relate to it’s characters. I mean, seriously, Carrie was a cheating liar who somehow made enough money writing a weekly column on things in her life to afford a decently sized NY apartment and purchase numerous pairs of Manolo Blanicks and still afford to eat out all the time. What woman didn’t look at her and go “how the hell is this possible?!?! And why would you dump Aiden?”
3) Family Matters- thank you, Sian, for allowing me to remember this show. I lived for this on Friday nights because really, I had nothing else to do. And if the nerd in suspenders could find “friends,” why couldn’t I?
4) The Office- Awesome. There isn’t really a way to explain what makes the Office so funny and deserving of a spot on the top 5 shows, but you know what, it’s here. And it’s hilarious consistently.
5) This is a tie- I know, I know, but sue me- For Saved by the Bell and Full House. SBTB was a quintessential member of my childhood/ tweenhood repertoire of television. Every girl wanted to be Kelly Kapowski and loved Zach Morris.(and yes, Jesse on “drugs” was the best episode EVER) Let’s here it for Zach Attack.
Also, Full House was the ideal family- a mismatching of relatives who somehow got along and always were there for each other. Get real.
Guilty pleasures- Temptation Island, 1st season (Trey- we will have a discussion about this), The Real world, The Hills and Extreme Makeover. That show is awesome.
Best miniseries- Band of Brothers. There is no way to argue against that.
I do think West Wing was a great show, but I didn’t watch it from it’s inception, so that excitement wasn’t there for me.
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