Five favorite TV shows of all time?

I guess I mean the shows or series that meant the most to you, had the most influence on you, etc. Stuff you can't miss, can't wait to watch, or just makes you laugh! Here are mine in no particular order.

1. The Simpsons (Though it's had its ups and downs, this show changed the face of television)
2. The Twilight Zone (Blew my mind as a kid, still skews my view of the world!)
3. NFL Football (This might be cheating since it's on many different networks, but what the heck, the NFL is a great American institution)
4. America's Funniest Home Videos (I know it's not cool to admit it..but I can't stop watching this show!)
5. World Poker Tour (This show introduced me to a whole world that I am still fascinated with and can participate in.)

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

There is no way I could boil it down to 5!

So here are the first 5 that pop into my head...

Star Trek (The show that turned me into a Trekker for life)

Babylon 5 (It showed me you could do a really big SF story with a beginning, middle and end... and had quite a few "jump outta my seat" moments)

Cheers (Loved the Sam and Diane years and is probably the only comedy I recorded every episode of)

Twilight Zone (Serling was my hero!)

The Honeymooners (Still remember watching the reruns on PIX at around midnight and trying to not wake my whole family with my laughter!)

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

VERY tough to pick just 5, but I'll give it a shot(in no particular order):

1. The Sopranos
2. 24
3. Seinfeld
4. The Shield
5. Cheers

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Here's mine and they're better than all over yours.

Star Trek (own S1 & S3 box, rest in 2-eps DVD)
Monty Python's Flying Circus (box set, owned)
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (various official, non-official and personally taped versions, looking to get all eventually in the best condition possible)
Red Dwarf (8 season/series of 2-DVD sets)
Twilight Zone (most on VHS, very few on DVD, will be buying the whole set very soon)

Trek optimism and realistic look at a possible future (plus some really cool monsters and strange looking planets) has always been close to my heart

Monty Python is comedy from a group of guys who must've slid out of their mum's performing a comedy routine that made the doctors and nurses go hysterical.

MST3K is so good it made the unwatchable not only watchable, but watchable over and over and over again.

Red Dwarf is almost Star Trek meets MST3K meets Monty Python. Hee!

Twilight Zone. Same here with the skewed look at the world....blew my mind and continues to do so. Its influence is all over the place.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

What comes to mind real quick:

1. The Outer Limits - 1960s original series
2. Star Trek
3. The X-Files
4. Babylon-5
5. Six Feet Under

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Here are some of my Favorates and the reason why.

Thunderbirds First Sci-Fi Show I ever saw. These guys were doing their thing 2 years before "That other Sci-Fi Show came on, - The one with that wierd Alien with the Pointy Ears!"

Hawaii Five-O This Cop Show RULES! I'm so glad it's finally becoming available on DVD!

Walker, Texas Ranger Another Outstanding Cop Show, I like watching Norris wipe the floor with the bad guys face!

The Wild, Wild West Good Lighthearted Fare, Part Western, Part Sci Fi, All Fun!

Get Smart! ALL TIME FAVORATE Comedy!

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1. Deadwood
2. Star Trek Deep Space Nine
3. The Sopranos (The first 4 seasons)
4. Millennium
5. Monty Pythons Flying Circus

Others
Futurama, Benny Hill, The Honeymooners,Married With Children (The first 5 seasons anyway),The Odd Couple, Beavis & Butthead, The Simpsons,Star Trek TNG & TOS,The Wire,Batman The Animated Series,The X-Files( Havent seen S7-9)

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

No particular order:

1) Quantum Leap (loved the 'The Leap Home' episode)
2) Voyagers! (coming to DVD July 17!!)
3) Seinfeld (possibly the funniest show ever)
4) American Idol (guilty pleasure)
5) Still Standing (damn funny show that never seemed to get much attention)

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

It's very hard for me to come up with five, especially since 3 would be tightly vying for the 5 spot. But in no particular order:

Sopranos People go off on "down season" here and there, but even at moments where I felt it "missed" Sopranos was better on those days then most shows ever achieve.

The Outer Limits - Old & New I always thought of this like "Asimov" magazine turned into an hour short. Both the old series and new series were involving, original and kept me entertained.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine I am a trek fan, but out of all the series, none hold up to repeat viewing like Deep Space Nine. DS9's story line was creative, original, and both dark and hopeful - a rare combination that made it so effective.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Maybe one of the most creative, original shows I ever watched, and still love. Taking old, bad films and recycling them. Whether it was Santa Claus Vs. the Martians, Fugitive Alien (I&II), Gamera or a horror films, MST3k had so many levels: obvious jokes that kids get, inside references to real fans, and creative, deep insights into what's wrong with the film (some shorts are prime examples.. see "Home Economics")

I have a few other shows vying for the last spot that I can't chose between:

Dexter - If Dexter can have a second season as spectacular as the first, this will be in tough contention for one of the best. The first season was so well acted, so creatively directed that it was the first TV since the first season of Sopranos that had me wired to the seat for every episode. Carnivale Original. Creepy. Best music of any series ever. Quantum Leap Fun, interesting creative science fiction that had infinite possibilities. Dean Stockwell & Scott Bakula were excellent.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Current Shows:

1. The Simpsons
2. Lost
3. South Park
4. Family Guy
5. Prison Break

Shows I've discovered SINCE they were cancelled that I now LOVE:

1. Cheers
2. Fraiser
3. Upright Citizen's Brigade
4. SCTV
5. Looney Tunes


Shows I loved from the gitgo that have not been on the lists above:

1. Monday Night Raw
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
3. Mork and Mindy
4. Saturday Night Live
5. Chapelle's Show

I'll post this and 30 seconds later I'll slap my head because I forgot something.

ry

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

In alphabetical order:

The Simpsons
The Sopranos
24
The Twilight Zone
The X-Files

Other shows that I love:
Twin Peaks
Seinfeld
Deadwood
Lost
Futurama
Millennium
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Shield
Arrested Development
Mystery Science Theater 3000

EDIT: Added more that I forgot. And like Ryan, I'm sure there's more that I'll remember soon.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Saturday Night Live
Happy Days
The Sopranos
St. Elsewhere
The Simpsons

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1-I Love Lucy
2-The Honeymooners
3-Star Trek
4-MST3K
5-Monty Python's Flying Circus

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Babylon 5 - Elevated serial dramas to a new level and gave other creatives the courage to tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and an ending.

Twilight Zone - (original) Attracted excellent writers with good stories to tell. Not many clunker episodes, and a disproportionately great number of gems.

The Wild Wild West - With its modern spy-story-telling set during the Grant administration, this is surely something Joss Wheadon would have done had he been in the business back then. Creative, fun, thought-provoking, mind-bending even, and always with something up its sleeve.

Futurama - The most consistently brilliant show -- parody or otherwise -- ever. Period.

The Dick Van Dyke Show - Set the bar for quality comedy. Consistently funny without a single (not one!) clunker episode, this show was what other comedies aspired to be.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1. Seinfeld - First show I started to stay home to watch.
2. The Wire - Greatest show ever IMO.
3. The Cosby Show - just good stuff.
4. Deadwood - Exceptional show
5. ?

Street Time, 21 Jump Street, Cheers, Quantum Leap, ST TNG, Wonder Years, China Beach, were all great also.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

OK, Here's mine ...

Star Trek - This was the first TV show that seemed as though it was "Too Good For TV" --especially during its first two seasons. Many of the episodes played more like "mini SCI-FI summer movies" than episodic TV. (Please keep in mind that I was fortunate enough to have viewed this series during its original network run. Believe me when I tell you that in the late 60's nothing on TV could touch it.)

Columbo - The murder mystery movie with a twist: We've already viewed the murder, now how the heck is Columbo going to be able to unravel enough clues to be able to capture the murderer? As Columbo himself once stated: "Most premeditated murders are committed by amateurs. They may be top professionals in their respective fields, but they're still amateurs when it comes to committing murder. I'm a professional detective. If I do my job, the murderer has no chance." The cat-and-mouse game between Columbo and his prey is almost always highly entertaining. Not to mention incredibly unique.

Frasier - Probably the best "spinoff" show ever!! An intelligent, witty, comedy with almost consistently good writing aided by a fantastic cast of supporting characters. And the show really holds up well when viewed on DVD.

Maverick - James Garner's Western series is a "Shoot from the Quip" delight. Many of the episodes featuring Garner could be described as a "Comedy/Satire/Adventure/Western". And if you were looking for a more traditional Western--but with an adult flare--the Jack Kelly episodes often delivered the goods there as well.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine/ The Adventures of Brisco County Jr (tie) - Deep Space Nine was the first truly linear Star Trek series; and featured outstanding production values and a top notch cast of characters. Throw in the most consistent writing for a Star Trek series ever and you have the formula for outstanding entertainment. Brisco County Jr could best be described as a Science Fiction/Comedy/Adventure series with a Western facade. It's undoubtedly the best one season series ever produced for episodic TV.
----------------------------
Honorable mentions:
Law and Order, Stargate, Farscape, Battlestar Galactica (new series), M*A*S*H

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

No particular order:

Hill Street Blues
The Odd Couple
Seinfeld
Sopranos
The Shield

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Picking just five is impossible.

1. Babylon 5
2. Hill Street Blues
3. M*A*S*H
4. Northern Exposure
5. The Simpsons

Others: Quantum Leap, St. Elsewhere, The Wonder Years, Star Trek: The Next Generation, China Beach, Mad About You, LA Law.

For show currently on television (excluding The Simpsons):

1. Heroes
2. Bones
3. Boston Legal
4. Numb3rs
5. Lost

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Babylon 5
Futurama
Coupling (UK)
Red Dwarf
South Park

Honorable mention: The Simpsons, Qunatum Leap, The Office

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1. six feet under
2. twin peaks
3. arrested development
4. alias
5. black adder

honorable mention
1.sopranos(minus season 6 its dead to me)
2.gilmore girls
3.firefly
4.boomtown
5.tru calling


current shows
shield
BGG
24
entourage
HEROES

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

"Favorite" shows. Hmmmm... The shows I am/was fondest of are not necessarily the ones I also think are the best. And many of the ones I watched as a kid you couldn't pay me to watch now. Also I'm not sure where limit-run shows and mini-series should fall.

OK, here are two lists, each in roughly chronological order, of shows I loved at the time that I think still hold up today, with weekly series first. While there are some classic episodes, I don't think a show like Star Trek (much as I loved it when I was 12) belongs on my top five. Heroes and Lost haven't been around long enough for me to know how they'll hold up over time. What follows are mostly shows that I have watched or could imagine watching over and over again on VHS and/or DVD.

The Dick Van Dyke Show (The best American sitcom ever made)
Murphy Brown
Babylon 5
Gilmore Girls
CSI

Limited series, documentaries:

I, Claudius
Cosmos
The Ascent of Man
The Winds of War
The Civil War (The Ken Burns PBS series. Not without its flaws, but still perhaps the best single thing produced for American television up until that time)

Regards,

Joe

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1. Farscape
2. Northern Exposure
3. Freaks and Geeks
4. The Simpsons (Seasons 1-9)
5. Red Dwarf

When 5 aint enough...
6. The Office (British version)
7. Futurama
8. Coupling (BBC)
9. 24 (except this past season)
10. Sopranos


And to just throw it out there...

Best pilot episode ever - Dead Like Me
Best ending to a series *Tied - Six Feet Under/Newhart

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1. West Wing
2. Sopranos
3. M*A*S*H
4. Space Above & Beyond
5. Coupling

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1. "Seinfeld"
2. "Friends"
3. "Magnum P.I."
4. "Lonesome Dove" -- the miniseries
5. "The Amazing Race" (it is a show currently in production, but I totally look forward to every season)

Note: I don't include many "new" shows in my all time list because I need to have watched the show's entire run (and have some time off from the series) to truly determine if it stands the test of time for me.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

An alternative top-5 from a different prospective.. Top 5 Shows in importance / life influence. The shows above were shows that I think I look at and think off how well done they are, the below are shows I still think about today as to how they influenced how I think (without being news shows)

Sesame Street With a special nod to the Mr. Hooper passes episode. I can't think off any show in my life that has had as much meaning to the way I thought about the world as Sesame Street. Come on, quiet a few of us watched this when we were little. But in the early/mid seventies, this show really caught hold with me. I've said openly that very few times has a celebrity passed away where I was hurt enough that it brought tears to my eyes.. (John Lennon as a kid.. and when Jim Henson passed I was sick at my stomach for more then a day or so). No show I've ever seen, especially early Sesame Street managed to talk to kids without pandering to them, and encouraged people to be involved.

Cosby Show Yes, it was light. And it was fluff at times. But kudos for Cosby for a real television first. I grew up on Sanford & Son and I watched "Good Times" now and again, which always portrayed African American families as struggling and poor, which in the south completely fed into the stereotypes. Cosby went completely against that. An educated father who's a doctor. A mother who's a lawyer. Kids with college ambitions. Cosby tossed out the stereotypes and did something different.

Walt Disney Presents Before their was cable, every Sunday night in our house was time for Magical World of Disney. Walt would come out and talk about a movie or a short. You'd see a half an hour of a nature film and then a film. Some were good, some were "eh" but it was family time. Everyone could get together and watch with the kids and be entertained. And when Disney real movies ran.. oh, that was a treat. Watching "Jungle Book" in your house for the first time ever? Incredible!

Law & Order - Law & Order was a real father/son type show for us. When it came on, it was time for us to discuss what was happening during commercials. The New L&O kind of ruins that with the ripped from the headlines bit, but at it's best it was something you could talk about and root for.

MST3k - This one is in both my top 5s. MST3k is the show my brother & I will always share, and something that really brought us together as kids. We'd stay up and watch the marathon on Turkey Day and the humor still sticks with me.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1.) The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (Most subversive cartoon ever!(Well, I'll say "not current" to avoid the wrath of "The Simpsons" fans.))
1.) Deadwood (Anyone that disagrees s---s c--k by choice.)
1.) The NFL on CBS Sports (Duh Da-Daaa, Daa Da-Da Duh Daaa.)
1.) SNL ('70s) (Might have had something to do with my condition on Saturday nights at the time.) (Boy, we went thru the chips.)
1.) The Red Skelton Show (Good night, and may God bless.(My first TV memories.))

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Great list Chris...particularly to me as it gives much deserved mention to Sesame Street and for my age what was (I think) called the Wonderful World of Disney. I remember being a child and sitting with my family in front of the TV and when I saw the intro to the Wonderful World of Disney, I knew even as a child something special was about to come on. True anticipation, and as you said, with the family.

Sesame Street was a biggie as well and I distinctly remember watching it as a child and always loving the Cookie Monster as well as Burt and Ernie. Good memories.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

1. Seinfeld
2. Deadwood
3. Lonesome Dove
4. Your Show of Shows
5. Playhouse 90

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

[quote=Chris]
Walt Disney Presents Before their was cable, every Sunday night in our house was time for Magical World of Disney. Walt would come out and talk about a movie or a short. You'd see a half an hour of a nature film and then a film. Some were good, some were "eh" but it was family time. Everyone could get together and watch with the kids and be entertained. And when Disney real movies ran.. oh, that was a treat. Watching "Jungle Book" in your house for the first time ever? Incredible!

QUOTE]

I miss this Show! I still have a grudge against NBC for how they eventually killed off this show. They decided to stop delaying the telecast when the Football Game ran past its allotted Time Slot. There would be occaisions where if a show was split into two parts and the Game ran to 8:00 PM Eastern Time they wouldn't show Disney at all, then the following week they'd show part two! (There was an incident in 1975 where a Game cut off half of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Yes I know that wasn't a Disney Movie, but they sometimes ran Non-Disney Movies in that slot!) Anyhow, the Football Game ran over its time slot and half the movie was cut off, and the Network got deluged with almost as many calls from Irate Viewers as they did seven years earlier for the infamous "Heidi" Game!) When the Disney Channel Premered in the 1980s may of these wonderful shows returned, but now Disney does not show them at all.

Re: Five favorite TV shows of all time?

Alphabetical:
Futurama - BrianW said it best.
Mr. Show - Bob and David are masters of their craft.
The Simpsons - The only show my entire family could watch together.
The Sopranos - I will truly miss it.
Upright Citizens Brigade - The most brilliant sketch comedy show that ever was.

Honorable Mention:
Strangers with Candy
Six Feet Under
Twin Peaks

CJ