50 Best TV Shows

[shakatany]

Britain’s Empire magazine has chosen the 50 best (British and American) TV shows ever made (in their opinion). I'm putting the list behind the cut along with my comments.

50. Quantum Leap- watched occasionally
49. Prison Break - never watched it
48. Veronica Mars - never watched it

47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - watched all eps and thought it ok
46. Sex and the City - never watched

45. Farscape - saw a few eps and didn't really like
44. Cracker - saw a few eps
43. Star Trek - one of my great loves
42. Only Fools and Horses - never knew it existed
41. Band of Brothers - watched most of it

40. Life On Mars - never watched it
39. Monty Python’s Flying Circus - saw most of it on PBS
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm - never watched it
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation - watched all eps and thought it ok
36. Father Ted - watched a few eps

35. Alias - never watched it
34. Frasier - never watched it
33. CSI - watch it occasionally though all the CGI becomes tired fast
32. Babylon 5 - an even better series than ST: TOS though the latter is my first love
31. Deadwood - never watched it

30. Dexter - I'm watching it on CBS and think it's ok
29. ER - watched the first few seasons than became tired of it
28. Fawlty Towers - watched a few eps
27. Six Feet Under - never watched it
26. Red Dwarf - watched and enjoyed it

25. Futurama - I watched the first ep and the ST ep and decided it wasn't for me
24. Twin Peaks - still angry that after watching all the eps I still didn't know WTH was going on
23. The Office - never watched it
22. The Shield - never watched it
21. Angel - great series and I watched every ep

20. Blackadder - watched about half the eps; sometimes it was just too British for me
19. Scrubs - never watched it
18. Arrested Development - never watched it
17. South Park - never watched it
16. Doctor Who - I've seen most, if not all the episodes of Doctors 3-10 and love them

15. Heroes - I've seen every ep but I'm beginning to tire of Sylar so I'm not sure I'll continue to watch
14. Firefly - saw a few eps but I really dislike space westerns
13. Battlestar Galactica - never watched it (I assume they mean its new incarnation - hated the orginal)
12. Family Guy - saw only the "Star Wars" spoof
11. Seinfeld - never watched it

10. Spaced - never watched it

9. The X-Files - watched about half the episodes but Scully's continuing disbelief in spite of all the weird going-ons bothered me

8. The Wire - never watched it

7. Friends - never watched it

6. 24 - never watched it

5. Lost - I've seen every ep and can only hope that at the finale things will be made clear

4. The West Wing - never watched it

3. The Sopranos - everyone was so wild about the show so when I finally got the chance to see it (I don't get HBO) it was the ep where the shrink was raped and I just couldn't watch another ep.

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - one of my all time favorites

1. The Simpsons - watched a only few eps like the one with Mark Hamill and Elizabeth Taylor

 

My greatest irritation with this list is that "M*A*S*H" isn't included and it's one of the best series ever made IMO. However "BtVS", "Angel", "Star Trek", "Babylon 5" and "Doctor Who" made the list - hurrah! There are over 20 shows I've never watched or watched only a few episodes - I am so unhip *g*

Comments

[jackarono.livejournal.com]

Well, Veronica Mars should be farther down. :) And Buffy, #1 of course. Didn't last as long as the Simpsons, but then, it had no time to deteriorate as the S did!

And Frasier is so much better...

Does it seem strange that there are so few British shows on there?

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

My guess is they were listing shows seen on both sides of the Pond (maybe M*A*S*H never made it there).

Shakatany

[lemonbliss.livejournal.com]

I agree with the Veronica Mars comment. Very good series that did not get enough credit. Of course anything Joss Whedon is in my top 5 list. I loved Six Feet Under. I think that should actually be #1. Very well written. Deadwood was also great, if a tad gross. I have just started Dexter and am really thrilled with it. I am also hooked on Torchwood (not mentioned on the list). But where is Queer as Folk? Whether you are for the British or American version, it was ground breaking.
Actually my top five would be Six Feet Under, BtVS, Angel, Firefly and QAF.
Strangely I own all of those except Six Feet Under?
Thanks for the list, it was fun.
Raenae

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

Since I don't get Showtime I'm only now seeing "Dexter" and enjoying watching Julie Benz in the sunlight *g*

Shakatany

[riani1.livejournal.com]

My problem with Dexter is that I'm rooting for him to get caught and sent to jail. I don't care how charismatic and well-intentioned he is, he's a remorseless killer and I don't like him. I can deal with a morally questionable protagonist, but not one who feels like he's entitled to run roughshod over other people.

I can't stand any of the CSIs, the acting is terrible, and there's never the possibility that they're wrong. I quite like NCIS, because there seems to be more humanity to the investigators (and of course I adore Bones).

Now that you mention it, I'm very surprised MASH isn't present. It's such a better show than Seinfeld or Friends.

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

I have the same problem with Dexter as I had with other series like "The Legend of Jesse James" and the one on Lucky Luciano - we end up rooting for killers. However it's full of intriguing characters and actors like Julie Benz so I'll continue watching it but I won't be upset when it's finally cancelled.

I only watch the CSIs when there's nothing better on like "Supernatural" or "Lost" (and rarely watch the one set in NYC). I hate all those shots where the CGI replicates the path of the bullet through the body or something - ugh. And, yes, they are NEVER wrong especially Horatio Caine:(

I found M*A*S*H with its blend of comedy and tragedy focusing on the human condition plus the great writing and acting made it the best show on TV (I love BtVS and ST and the others but they are not for a broad mundane audience).

Shakatany

[riani1.livejournal.com]

And then we find out Horatio killed a guy in Brazil, but somehow that's OK. I'll be so glad when I get cable, because then I can watch Discovery and History and Travel and the Food Network.

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

I never could figure out why everyone thought that David Caruso was so hot on "NYPD Blue" that he believed he could leave and become a big movie star. He makes Shatner's acting style look subtle and his head tilts are so awkward compared to Marsters.

Even with more channels there's often nothing to watch *sigh*

Shakatany

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

Also,as it's a British mag, perhaps it wasn't very popular over there or the compilers are too young to remember it.

Shakatany

[riani1.livejournal.com]

Oh, good point. There aren't very many older shows there that wouldn't be running on genre channels (ie, Original Star Trek).