sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

April 22, 2008


great shows?
posted by soe 10:20 pm

Empire Magazine has revealed its list of the “50 Greatest TV Shows” ever. Below is the list and here be the rules:

  1. Bold the shows you’ve watched every episode of
  2. Italic the shows you’ve seen at least one episode of
  3. Post your answers

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City

45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers

40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted

35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood

30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf

25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office UK
22. The Shield
21. Angel

20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who

15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld

10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24

05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons

What do we learn from my annotations to the list? I watch a lot of different shows, but not a lot of each of them.

What do we learn from the list itself? That people at Empire Magazine have questionable taste in tv and that their tvs didn’t work before 1968.

Seriously? Where’s MASH? The Cosby Show? The Mary Tyler Moore Show? The Dick Van Dyke Show?

What would appear on your lists if you were writing a similar list?

Category: life -- uncategorized. There is/are 4 Comments.



50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City

45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers

40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted

35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood

30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf

25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office UK
22. The Shield
21. Angel

20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who

15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld

10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24

05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons

I wonder what definition of “Greatest” they were using.

Simpsons is the best show of all time? Sure, they broke the barrier of cartoons being for children. It’s a great show that takes on all kinds of issues and puts them in the public dialog through satire, but the best ever? Was Futurama really all that different? Enough to also make the list?

I think its great that Buffy is number two. Love the show, and like the people who made this list I love all the shows Joss has done. Buffy brought the genre of ass-kicking female protagonists to the forefront. She saved the world, a lot. Awesome writing. Was it really the second best show of all time? And was Angel different enough to also be included, or was it really just more Buffy stories? Also Firefly may have been one of the best shows ever, but it was canceled without even completing a full season.

Lost also had an impact. Everyone tried to copy their formula, but no one succeeded. Hats off for character driven story with supernatural mystery twists.

I’ll buy the original Star Trek being on the list. But the follow-up shows?

And I have to agree with you that there are a lot of older shows that are mysteriously absent. I guess they know their readers want validation for what they’ve been watching recently, but seriously, television has been around for a while.

Where’s Sesame Street? All In the Family, Cheers, Moonlighting, Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy, Taxi, Bewitched?

Comment by Grey Kitten 04.23.08 @ 2:04 am

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City

45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers

40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted

35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood

30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf

25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office UK
22. The Shield
21. Angel

20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who

15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica (I’m assuming this is the current version)
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld

10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24

05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons

This list is ridiculously flawed – obviously assembled by some geeky, twenty-something and thirty-something fanboys who seldome see sunlight and don’t remember things like their childhood, didn’t bother to look through any cable channels beyond Sci-Fi, HBO and Showtime (and possibly BBC America), and have a very narrow view of quality TV.

And the only reason that the original Star Trek is on the list is because of syndicated reruns – I’d guess that none of these guys were born before 1980 (or 1976, at the very latest).

Shows that are missing from this list, in my view:

M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues, Sesame Street, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Tyler Moore, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, St. Elsewhere, Taxi, Perry Mason

Shows that rank far too high:

Lost, Buffy, Family Guy

And is The Simpsons the best show ever? Maybe, maybe not. I’d have a tough time pinning down one show that is “the big show of shows.” You could just as easily put M*A*S*H or The Cosby Show or Family Ties or I Love Lucy or myriad others in that vaunted position. You could also make a case for 60 Minutes or Mystery, or even The Ed Sullivan Show, The Daily Show with Jon Stweart or Late Night with David Letterman (his old NBC show was better than the CBS version, to me).

If anything, this shows that these lists are as subjective as ever – and more skewed, thanks to the lower-age demographics of the internet age.

Comment by Rudi 04.23.08 @ 8:31 am

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City

45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers

40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted

35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood

30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf

25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office UK
22. The Shield
21. Angel

20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who

15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld

10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24

05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons

Comment by ejbro 04.25.08 @ 9:13 pm

I agree, they left out alot of the older shows.

Comment by bookworm 04.27.08 @ 7:44 am