I was watching an eposide of The Totally Rad Show and they got into a conveersation about the best TV show of all time. So I thought what the heck, why not ask you what you think. Below the fold is my top ten.
Now before I give you my list let me mention just one thing. Outside of Taxi and MASH most of my shows are more recent. This isn't cause I'm really young or don't have access to TV Land or Nick at Night, but instead I've found that over the last decade or so show have become more complex/intelligent.
A good book that talks about this is in detail is Everything Bad is Good For You.* An example the author uses is that in 1970 Green Acres was the most popular prime time show. When the book was written, if you took out reality shows, Lost was #1. Watch a few shows of both and compare the drastic difference in the complexity of each.
- Homicide: Life On The Street
- The Sopranos
- The Simpsons
- The Shield
- Taxi
- Six Feet Under
- Seinfeld
- Battlestar Galactica
- Lost
- MASH
Honorable Mention: ER, Hill Street Blues, X-Files, West Wing, South Park, and NYPD Blue.
Now with all that said I actually think Deadwood is the best show ever, but didn't include it on the list cause it just didn't run for long enough (what a shame). So how off is my list? What did I miss? What is your favorite show of all time?
*If you are a parent or just interested in popular culture this is a wonderful book. In amazing detail Steven Johnson (a former writer for Discover) outlines that many of the thing our elected leaders tell us are bad (video games, comic books, TV) for us, when used in moderation, actually make us smarter.