the five best american television shows ever

The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, South Park, Twin Peaks, The Jeffersons. Words cannot express how upset I am that The Cosby Show and What's Happening!!! aren't on this list.

top 5 = dem simpsoids, hill street blues, twin peaks, st elsewhere and the flintstones

Jennifer Aniston: So, you're going to meet up with Ross, huh? Are you going to wear that top?
Reese Witherspoon: Yeah, isn't it cute?
JA: Well... it's kind of slutty.
RW: *frowning* I got it from your closet.
JA: *tries to cover with a bright smile* Well, I'm a slut.
RW: *giggly and conspiratorially* Me too!
*JA joins in with fake giggling, but is obviously DISMAYED that her sister plans to fling the nappy dugout at a man she still has feelings for*

I suspect it translates much better on the screen. (Hence the inclusion of comedy phrase "nappy dugout".)

'At that moment I looked at my Dad and realised I'd never feel the same way about milk/cosmetics/enemas...' and so on.

Also Frasier. Actually, I really do like Frasier. How embarrassing. What about ALF, and Little Wonder? And Perfect Strangers? And Degrassi Junior High. No, wait, the last one's Canadian.

I'm rather amazed that no-one else has mentioned it thus far.

Manimal: Classic or Dud?

My favourites, the ones I have watched religiously, are M*A*S*H, Dallas, Twin Peaks, Anne of Green Gables and its sequel (but not the dodgy third one where she becomes a WW1 secret agent, which is utter pants) and oh, go on then, the Simpsons.

I was trying to think of good American documentaries that have been shown in the UK and the only ones I can come up with are the one on the Civil war and (I think) one on slavery made by the same team. From what I see on cable TV, the majority of US made documentaries seem to be very high level and showbiz gossipy - is this a true picture, or are we just being sent a load of rotten stuff to fill up our schedules?

2/Larry Sanders Show

3/Cheers

4/The A-Team

5/The Critic

6/Oz

7/Freaks and Geeks

8/Angel

9/Seinfeld

10/My so-called life

And Ally McBeal. Ignore the weepy bits, ignore the gossip, don't be snobby about the music, and it's one the funniest shows eva, accepting that it peaked 2nd half season one, early season two.

Hey, stop hitting me.

On a less grand scale I also appreciate Pete and Pete; Rocket Power; Strangers With Candy; Upright Citizens Brigade; Mr. Show; and even South

would also like to mention: la femme nikita, that 70's show (Ashton Kutcher is MINE!!!!) and sunset beach.

hmmm thats only four.

Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! "science rules---inertia is a property of matter" Bill Nye the Science Guy!

Or...SQUARE ONE! Covering the math faction.

X-Files for its first 3 or 4 seasons, The Simpsons, The Man Show, B5 and The Family Guy.

Those probably aren't my five favorites, but they're the five I'd call the best: well-crafted, at least at their best; pushed the limits of their genres; expanded the options of everyone making a telvision show in their wake.

1. Twilight Zone (the original series with Rod Serling, obv.)
2. The Honeymooners (Jackie Gleason, hello?)
3. Gilligan's Island
4. The Andy Griffith Show
5. I Love Lucy

What made the show work was the contrast, the dialogue, between Archie and his son-in-law Mike -- especially since Mike, whose opinions are presumably more sympathetic, wasn't always all that likeable. All in the Family addressed a lot of issues which hadn't been dealt with on American television before -- and even when they weren't beating the magazine shows to the punch, they were doing it for a different audience.

Jumping the shark was pretty much inevitable, cause the show is a textbook study of how "timely" becomes "dated."

Agreed on the Simpsons and MST3K. Those seem obvious.

Maybe Jeopardy! -- game shows are of course the finest form of TV entertainment and Jeopardy! seems like the most enjoyable of the bunch (no matter how smug Trebek gets or how visually unappealling they try to make the set).

The thing to say abt many good american series is that they are essential viewing for 2/3 series but then they carry on and quality really dips (OK it took for that to happen to the simpsons but it did).

I enjoyed the first two series of Friends and then I couldn't stand it (though as Dan says, there are still the odd good moments).

Buffy's first three series are fucking good and then I lost touch with it, somehow.

anyway: I think Bilko, Oz and columbo.

bubbling under: Family Ties
runners-up: Reading Rainbow, Frasier, Seinfeld
Would probably make the list if I remembered it better: Electric Company

I honestly think public TV children's programming is generally more creative, interesting, and humorous, at least for its audience, than most adult programming. Game shows and talk shows are all inherently dud. I never really got into serial dramas though My So-Called Life and maybe Life Goes On had moments. I never watched them regularly to really say for sure.

I'm with Ned on I Love Lucy: there were a handful of really funny episodes and about 10,000 increasingly irritating variations on those episodes. There's only one season of The Honeymooners, which is probably why it's held up better over the years. The Dick Van Dyke Show was also pretty good, more so than Mary Tyler Moore, I think.

As far as favorites go, Northern Exposure and Mad About You are the ones that most fit my sensibility and also have great writing and acting.

I like Buffy too (esp. seasons 4-6), but best ever? No.

Can anyone tell me whether Parker Lewis Can't Lose was as good as I thought it was when I was 12?

My top five might look something like this (oh no! lists!)

1. MSCL
2. Buffy
3. Dawson's Creek (first three or four seasons)
4. Freaks and Geeks (same rule as MSCL)
5. Gilmore Girls(?)

1. MSCL
2. Buffy

I'm working from memory, but doesn't Buffy do what MSCL did, only better (unless you hate genre)? Plus lots of other things MSCL never did?

1)simpsons
*get smart
*seinfeld
*homicide: life on the streets
5)i'm reluctant to say larry sanders but it was funny. maybe daria

saturday night live is a mixture of abject crap and total genius
mulholland drive was the first lynch thing i ever saw and now i really wish i'd seen twin peaks
i also wish i could remember anything about the a-team
i will never understand buffy tho i liked the movie

Seinfeld.
Get Smart (although this one doesn't hold up as much as I hoped).
Twilight Zone.
St. Elsewhere.
All In The Family.
Mary Tyler Moore Show.
M*A*S*H in the early years.

Ethan loves Pete & Pete. I want to marry him.

(in no real order)
1. the simpsons
2. x-files
3. law & order (all of the various)
4. the sopranos
5. SIX FEET UNDER MOTHER FUCKERS!!! yeah, that's what I thought, playa hatas . . .

Twin Peaks, The Simpsons, Northern Exposure, Law and Order, Six feet under. With an honorary mention for the first series of "Popular".

oh yeah...I had completely forgotten. grebt show!

I also treasure the useless ep descriptions we sometimes see: "Bilko has a moneymaking scheme" is about as useful as describing Match Of The Day with "This week, lots of men kick balls around on grass".

Actually, Martin, my puzzlement about the high reputation of Bilko is that the series seems to be soooo much more highly esteemed in the UK in the US. I've never actually watched it.

honorable mentions: Seinfeld & My So-Called Life

Sifle and Ollie
The Ben Stiller Show
Mr. Show

U.S. TV could learn from British TV that most shows are only good for a couple seasons.

Top Five Dramas:
"St. Elsewhere"
"Northern Exposure"
"Law & Order"
"Hill Street Blues"
"Rockford Files"

I dearly miss "St. Elsewhere" and am wondering when I'll get to see it again. This was the first drama I ever got into and I will always look back on the show with a great degree of fondness. I was absolutely beyond spoiled by "St. Elsewhere" and looked for another drama like it, finally ending up with "Northern Exposure", which for awhile made me wish I lived in Cicely, Alaska.

Top Five Comedies:
"Family Ties"
"Roseanne"
"Barney Miller"
"Taxi"
"Mad About You"

You don't know how thrilled I was when, for a brief while, Lifetime was airing reruns of "Mad About You". It was as if Lifetime suddenly found out that women do indeed have brains and sometimes want to use them with their entertainment. Then, the Lifetime people de-evolved again and replaced "Mad About You" with reruns of the eternally dire "The Nanny", which is possibly the worst show ever to make it past a singular season.

1. seinfeld
2. pti!!! wilbon and kornheiser are amazingly entertaining
3. aqua teen hunger force
4. daria
5. fraiser

others i love include the simpsons, family guy, the critic, twin peaks, my so called life, home movies, harvey birdman attorney at law, around the horn, and various other shows

then daylight....

1. Homicide
2. Cheers
3. Sopranos
4. Six Feet Under
5. Larry Sanders

Honorable mentions to Taxi, The Simpsons, The Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks.

Cheers
LA Law
Seinfeld
24 (first season - second season is beginning to piss me off)
Roseanne

so i guess i shouldn't tell you the president is revealed to be an android then.

Ok, coming back later for what else I wanted to post.

Something else claims it's from an interview CD that was part of the promotional materials for "Flying Cowboys".

i heart annie from sunset beach. evil but cool bitch from hell

pedant

I'm curious, when UK people go on about TV here, how many of the programmes are familiar to American ILXers?

And while the UK only exports the best/best known of it's telly, the US exports pretty much everything non-topical (er, I think).

oh, and MUPPETS!

Also, now is the time to reveal that I saw Gilmore Girls for the first time yesterday, and could not tear myself away.

Simpsons
Cheers
Seinfeld
Insomniac with Dave Attell ( love this )
Dallas or Law and Order

what do you think?

The Worst Ever!:
1. Full House
2. Facts of Life
3: Small Wonder(godammit was that horrible!)
4: Elimidate
5: Saved By The Bell (mario whats-his-face was pretty cute though)

chaki, your amazing! Manimal changed my life!

1. I Dream of Jeannie (LOVE)

2. Happy Days (LOVE)

3. Gilligan's Island (LOVE)

4. Bewitched (LOVE)

5. Sesame Street (LOVE)

As you can see, I LOVE all of them!

1. Seinfeld
2. Mystery Science Theater 3000
3. My So-Called Life
4. Buffy
5. Curb Your Entuhusiasm

As for Small Wonder, back in '93, I remember (casually, verbally) surveying all of my friends as to what was the worst television show of all time, minimum running time one season. Note that this was 'fill-in-the-blank', not multiple choice. Nonetheless, Small Wonder swept the table -- not just a plurality, which was to be expected, but a majority. Of course, others may differ, as seen here . Don't forget to "Click V.I.C.I.'s Little Red Button To Enter main Cabinet of Contents! (Just be careful of her atomic fuse!)" Hoo boy.

Lastly, my favorite TV listings description ever, which was for the X-Files: "A mysterious force has the power to kill." Yeah, I think I remember seeing that one.

1. Simpsons
2. Seinfeld
3. Buffy
4. 24 (two seasons is a little early to tell, but they've both been excellent)
5. Even Stevens (the only one not mentioned so far on thread)

Sixth place can be one of many many different shows: Pete and Pete, Six Feet Under, Malcolm in the Middle, MST3K, South Park, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Daily Show, Dexter's Lab, Babylon 5, and probably a few more.

I'm REALLY enjoying Nip/Tuck but there's only been 5 eps so far, so we'll see in a year or so.

1) Twin Peaks
2) St Elsewhere
3) The Dick Van Dyke Show
4) Hill Street Blues
5) Buffy

Near-misses, i.e. either I wish five meant a higher number than it does, or the show just lacked the necessary oomph:

1) Wiseguy
2) Carol Burnett
3) The Muppet Show
4) The Electric Company
5) Freaks and Geeks

The new kids (shows that haven't ended):

1) Aqua Teen Hunger Force
2) Angel
3) Six Feet Under
4) The Simpsons
5) Gilmore Girls

1. Rockford Files (esp when written by David Chase)
2. I Love Lucy (classic comedy even if I have seen it too much)
3. Dark Shadows
4. Northern Exposure
5. Mystery Science Theatre

If we include cable TV I's have to drop Dark Shadows and I Love Lucy to replace with Sex & the City and the garry Shandling Show

I'm still working on my Phil Ken Sebben laugh.

also good: The Rifleman; Simpsons; King of the Hill; Mary Tyler Moore Show; Green Acres; Dick Van Dyke Show; Strangers with Candy; Bewitched

So yeah, Pete & Pete in my top 5.

(warning: web page does goofy start-of-dream-sequence fade in thing)

1. Taxi
2. The Simpsons (at least up to season 8)
3. Seinfeld
4. All in the Family
5. I Love Lucy

xpost Yeah, I see I was the first to mention "Taxi" as well, which I find odd. How could you all forget that show?

Honorable mention: Addams Family, The Muppets, Beverly Hillbillies, SNL, Good Times, Honeymooners, The Waltons, Mr. Show, PeeWee, MTM, Letterman, My World & Welcome To It.

Dud: Gilligan, Jeannie, Cosby, Friends, MASH, Jay Leno, Twin Peaks.

I've never loved any cop show.

hon mention - sanford and son

dobie gillis
golden girls
dr. katz
crime story
whitney and the robot
...which might be Canadian so...
NOW with Bill Moyers(Go Bill!)

Drama:
Northern Exposure
St. Elsewhere
ER (first six seasons or so)
Hill Street Blues
Columbo
Star Trek: The Next Generation

Special Cases:
The Electric Company
Reading Rainbow
The Daily Show
The Adult Swim lineup on Cartoon Network (It's got some misses, but its hits keep me howling)

Anyway, I'd pick the same comedies and dramas as before.

i was going to pick the x-files, but it doesn't seem right, while some episodes of that show have been extraordinary and brilliant, others have just been too ubercrap

ditto the a-team...

simpsons
twilight zone
mary tyler moore
twin peaks
seinfeld

taxi
all in the family
m*a*s*h
dallas

i said upthread. i guess i'd pretty much stick with that - close but not quite:

oz
futurama
x-files
quantum leap

Family Guy
Simpson
Law & Order
Seinfeld
Northern Exposure
Twin Peaks
Welcome Back Kotter

I saw a few episodes of Hill St Blues when it was repeated on C4 a few years back and did look awful good, but I haven't seen enough to really rate it properly. Homicide was a little before my mature TV watching days, but what I did see looked pretty awesome.

Coming very close: Northern Exposure, Cheers and my new favorite, Arrested Development.

>Archie Bunker seemed a rather toned down and less horribly racist version of the UK's Alf Garnett to me.<

I was 8 when that AITF debuted, and believe me, he was as stunningly racist as American network TV could allow, mid-Vietnam. And as often has been said, it'd never be broadcast today. I actually think his mellowing over the years worked (somewhat) as an optimistic take on people's ability to change -- incrementally -- with experience. ie, bigots are not monsters, but ignorant.

Letterman (would probably be replaced by Carson if I'd seen more of him)
Seinfeld
The Sopranos
Twin Peaks
The West Wing

It's SO. GOOD.

so so wrong

SNL
All In The family
Jeopardy
Gong Show
Mr. Ed

Top Five Children's TV Shows:
1.  "Sesame Street"
2.  "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood"
3.  "Pee-Wee's Playhouse"
4.  "Reading Rainbow"
5.  "Square One"

(Note: This is from the perspective of someone who grew up in the '80s.)

Top Five Current Cooking Programs:
1.  "Good Eats", Alton Brown
2.  "Barefoot Contessa", Ina Garten
3.  "Everyday Italian", Giada De Laurentiis
4.  "Paula's Home Cooking", Paula Deen
5.  "Easy Entertaining", Michael Chiarello

(I can't answer for historic cooking programs, because I've only become interested in cooking programs over the past six years or so.)

I went to college with a girl who'd been one of the Walnut Grove kids on Little House; she went on to scale the heights of cinema glory as the lead in LAMBADA: The Movie.

1. Futurama
2. Babylon 5
3. the simpsons (it seems thats the most popular show ever! So many votes)
4. the Goodies
5. the Young ones (jesus ppl ;P)

Delete the last 2 and add:

4.Frasier
5. CSI

1. curb your enthusiasm
2. freaks & geeks
3. seinfeld
4. twin peaks
5. columbo

― cºzen (Cozen), Thursday, 23 December 2004 13:41 (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
6. larry sanders
7. oz
8. CSI
9. beavis & butthead
10. pete & pete

― cºzen (Cozen), Thursday, 23 December 2004 13:49 (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

imagine this list looks different now

in no particular order:

seinfeld
twin peaks
the wire
sopranos
arrested development.

NYPD Blue
The Sopranos
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
NewsRadio

The Simpsons!

Letterman.

seinfeld, twin peaks, the honeymooners, star trek the original series, three's company

fuck i forgot freaks & geeks.

simpsons, sopranos, freaks and geeks, soul train (lol youtube), weeds

i haven't seen any twin peaks.

i haven't seen sopranos or weeds :(

mystery science theater 3000
my so-called life
buffy
sopranos
homicide

xxpost, thank you for reminding me. The New Dance Show (thanks youtube) should be on this thread.

Otherwise the wire, classic simpsons, and arrested development. A few years ago I'd have said Mr. Show, but nah.

weeds is pretty funny, esp. last season. it reminds me of arrested development but it's funnier and cheesier. i could see people on here not loving it.

i just added weeds to my netflix dealie. people have been telling me to see that for years.

season 4 > season 1 > season 2 > season 3 imo, something like that.

but u should probably watch it in order, it's pretty continuous

Where in god's name is Once Upon A Hamster in this thread?

Arrested Development
Sopranos
Simpsons (first decade or so)
Larry Sanders Show
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist

Soap, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, Mr. Bean, Sopranos, Mad Men.

Bean's not American, so let's say...I Love Lucy.

Weeds, Arrested Development, Twin Peaks, 90210/Beverly Hills 90210, Golden Girls

oh, and Curb Your Enthusiasm (and Are You Afraid of the Dark? and My So-Called Life and Real World and whoa)

A few years ago I'd have said Mr. Show, but nah.

If any American sketch show qualifies, it's definitely Mr. Show. It'd be on my list.

Molly Dodd

Nice.

1. Swat Kats: A Radical Squadron (such cool artwork and action/characters are pretty alright)
2. House
3. How I Met Your Mother (get on the bandwagon seriously)
4. The Office
5. Pete and Pete

1. sopranos
2. cye
3. seinfeld
4. wire
5. simpsons

(6. twin peaks)

hoping 6ft under/ entourage/ homicide/ the corner (all asyet unseen) will get up there too

ctrl-f lost and nothing
wtf

any real answer to this question would actually be pretty boring

also nobody loves deadwood? that would be my number one.

pete & pete, while a fine thing to watch once in a while, is hardly one of the greatest american television shows.

swat kats, on the other hand, i'd be interested in discussing further.

decided to try to explain my picks rather than just list them:

america's funniest home videos: specifically the tom bergeron-hosted seasons when the show went just by AFV and they scraped the model home living room set and replaced it with this ultracheap minimilist king world warehouse set. the audience sat on these seats made of pipes and aluminum siding and the stage was some the future is now platform with giant video screens. that version had fewer "babies and puppies are cuet" segments and more football-in-groin montages. it was also darker like the hilarious clip where a little girl sobs as her pinata is clubed and mauled by her party guests. and not even the cleverest fraiser writer could come up with something as funny as a fat women falling asleep with her head stuck in the refrigerator

arthur: somehow made moralistic bougie-utopianism and a queasy hatred of modernity charming. probably because during the run of classic seasons it had like two writers and they knew the characters well enough to make william carlos williams-referencing dream sequences feel real instead of winking and cheap. would kill for a proper dvd release

home movies: not going to elaborate or justify if you hate this show then watch the episode "wizard's baker" it will make you laugh and it will make you think. it will make you think that collecting samurai swords is retarded but hilarious and also expensive

once and again: yah okay this show was emo and superdramatic and each season there would be some never-before-seen retarded aunt that needed an emergency abortion the corrupt state senator didn't want her to have but it was still real as fuck. basically the best cast and set-decorated show in history imo so even when it was some episode teaching you not to hate black ppl even if they sold yr stepbrother the crack that got him kicked off the baseball team in into a coma the interactions between the characters were unerringly true

veronica mars: but really only the first season which is one of the all time greats. best use of tv as a serialized medium not because of some bullshit "oh that seemingly unimportant guy in episode two turned out to be vital to the mystery don't u seeee??" but because every episode enriched the show's world. even the ones that didn't directly advance the larger plot.

the way it's phrased, I feel like I should be more objective, but I'm not a TV historian. If I was, I guess I would probably choose a lot of old influential variety shows or whatever.

The Simpsons: Haven't been a fan since probably season 8 or so, but the show was and still is a cultural phenomenon. This show is going to be like the Three Stooges of our era. I feel pretty confident that people will still be watching and quoting from this show when I'm a senior.

The Wire: Other cop shows, a genre i've always been a huge fan of, just seem to me now like they were leading up to The Wire. This show seems more like a long form mini-series to me. It was so focused... there wasn't a single episode that felt like filler.

The Sopranos: I wasn't going to put two HBO shows on here, but fuck it... The Sopranos made HBO original series mainstream, and no other show I can think of creates and maintains such vivid and real characters, or such a sense of place and time, so successfully, and for so many years. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it's one of those rare shows that makes me feel like I lived it.

Seinfeld: I'd much rather watch Curb than Seinfeld these days, but Seinfeld did it first, and had broader appeal. I never go out of my way to watch it, but when I happen to catch it, I almost always have a belly laugh. Even with all the prime-time sitcoms that tried to be Seinfeld, it's pretty clear to me that the networks never really got what made Seinfeld so great. They tried to de-fang it, make it less misanthropic or whatever, and we got "Friends".

Tie: Star Trek & Star Trek TNG. Space ship full of interesting characters cruising through space getting into all sorts of trouble. This show didn't just create a template for sci-fi TV shows, it is ingrained in American culture like no other TV show I can think of save The Simpsons.

Other shows i considered because they are personal favorites:

Cheers: C'mon... unfuckwithable.

Freaks & Geeks: Well, you know.

Curb Your Enthusiasm
In Living Color
The Addams Family
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
M*A*S*H
Quantum Leap
Arrested Development
Miami Vice
All in the Family
Sanford & Son
SCTV

Feel kind of like I shouldn't have used Friends as a direct example there. I guess it's probably one of the most successful shows financially speaking, but I always thought it was a pile of shit that totally ripped Seinfeld's format. It was like the Foo Fighters to Nirvana or something.

was gonna say no veronica mars love but then lamp brought it : )

Homicide
Oz
Star Trek (60s)
Outer Limits (60s)
Millennium (second season in particular)

Seperate List for cartoons:

Batman (90s)
Daria
Kim Possible
Downtown
Futurama

Wonder Showzen
Mad Men

Generic Joke List (chronological)

1) snow
2) Native American on test pattern
3) Vietnam War
4) 80s sit-com written by coked-up assholes (alt. title: snow)
5) prime-time Leno

The Shield

god bless u adam

Battlestar Galactica
Arrested Development
Firefly (probably not that great objectively but I love it anyway.)

I feel like I can't list a show unless I've seen and thoroughly enjoyed all available episodes, so maybe in a few months I would add The Wire since I just started watching it and really like it so far. I would say The Office since I like it a lot now, but as with so many other comedies, I might end up being really annoyed with it in a few years (see also Seinfeld, Cheers - I loved them at the time and find them unwatchable now).

Oh, maybe Barney Miller. I still like that show a lot.

Another vote for:

My So-Called Life

Nothing else springs to mind right now.

MASH
Soap
Lou Grant
The Larry Sanders Show
Seinfeld

oh boy i got it's always sunny and AD on dvd for xmas :)

MASH
The State
Seinfeld
The Sopranos
The X Files

oh fuck it, this thread is stupid

Like that's a reason not to do it.