Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time" (1 Viewer)

[The Obsolete Man]

I welcomed the list to see what shows have some kind of consensus from their panel that I might want to actually check out. We are television addicts, after all, who grew up with and still look to the medium with eager anticipation for our entertainment. So, I'll wait for The Americans to finish it's run and look into the box set or on Netflix.

I decided to check out The Americans for a different reason.

John Boy as a Fed.

Yes, I've heard it was a good show, and I pretty much trust FX shows after The Shield, Rescue Me, and Sons of Anarchy... but Richard Thomas having a recurring role put it over the top for me.

/Wait a minute, no Sons of Anarchy on the list, but Portlandia and Eastbound and Down and... Party Down? Broad City? What the hell are those?

 

[bigshot]

These things say more about the age of the people putting the list together than they do about the quality of the shows themselves. If something hasn't been syndicated or released on DVD, it falls right off the radar.

 

[TravisR]

So, I'll wait for The Americans to finish it's run and look into the box set or on Netflix.

The Americans is well worth your time. Top notch acting from the leads down to the day players and some really suspenseful spy stuff. No one is watching it but it's FX's prestige show so they've already renewed it for another two years which will wrap it up.

 

[Jack P]

The very premise of "The Americans" is one of the reasons why I find almost all television from the last 30 plus years to be a colossal waste of my time.

 

[Frank Soyke]

No Get Smart??? You kidding me. How about those other classics that were trendsetters for their time: Route 66, UNCLE, Bewtiched and Beverly Hillbillies.... and the real travesty,,,,, no Holmes and YoYo. Lol
Seriously this list is crap done by little kids who memories go no further back than 95.

 

[Frank Soyke]

I will say that despite my love of classic tv, the best shows I've ever seen from an all around standpoint (acting, writing, directing, production) are probably Breaking Bad and Lost.... I feel like such a sellout. Lol.

 

[bmasters9]

Being that The Bob Newhart Show is on this list, which, as I said before, gladdened me a good bit, I edited my first post in this thread to say that, based on what I saw, Mannix was not included. Mannix should have been included, because what I have most liked about it is its title sequence, and its waltz-style triple-time title track.

 

[TravisR]

I will say that despite my love of classic tv, the best shows I've ever seen from an all around standpoint (acting, writing, directing, production) are probably Breaking Bad and Lost.... I feel like such a sellout. Lol.

I'd call that being a well-rounded viewer. Seriously though, people who have some knowledge of all eras of TV should be the ones who compile 'best of' lists. If they did that, lists like this would actually cover the entirety of the medium rather than turning a blind eye to any one era.

 

[Neil Brock]

So, no Defenders, no Playhouse 90 (or any classic 50s anthology show like Studio One, etc.). No East Side West Side, Outer Limits, Naked City, Ben Casey, Route 66. I don't like Seinfeld, couldn't get into The Sopranos on several attempts. Suffice it to say, my list would be vastly different.

 

[Mr. Handley]

Scans list...doesn't see Dark Shadows...moves on.

 

[bigshot]

Another thing about this list is that it's heavily skewed towards US TV. Only one British show... Monty Python. But I can think of dozens of recent European shows like Forbrydelsen and Luther that are every bit as good as the recent US ones, and classic TV like Upstairs Downstairs and The Two Ronnies that are fantastic as well. What about The Prisoner or The Professionals?

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Another thing about this list is that it's heavily skewed towards US TV. Only one British show... Monty Python. But I can think of dozens of recent European shows like Forbrydelsen and Luther that are every bit as good as the recent US ones, and classic TV like Upstairs Downstairs and The Two Ronnies that are fantastic as well. What about The Prisoner or The Professionals?

Doctor Who and Downton Abbey were also on there.

But I get your point. Yes Minister is a better show than probably half the list. And Life on Mars/Ashes To Ashes...

 

[Frank Soyke]

Ok, their list sucks most of us seem to agree on that... so let's do our own. I'll only do 50. It's all I have time for and they are in NO particular order. Tried to be open to all eras in my analysis. And not a personal fav list. Some of these shows I don't even like. Just the most well made important shows of the era

Top 50 of all time

Breaking Bad
Lost
Sopranos
Arrested Development
The Fugitive
Mannix
Get Smart
Route 66
The Defenders
The Office (US)
Parks and Recreation
Beverly Hillbillies
I Love Lucy
Cosby Show
MTM
Barney Miller
Happy Days
Ed Sullivan
Bonanza
Gunsmoke
UNCLE
Hogans Heroes
Ben Casey
Peyton Place
Seinfeld
Friends
Naked City
Frasier
Mr. Robot
24
Twilight Zone
Outer Limits
Bewitched
Mission Imposssible
Hawaii Five 0
Mr. Peepers
Bilko
Roots
Little House
All In The Family
Voyage to Bottom...
Wild Wild West
Untouchables
Sunday Mystery Movie (Colombo, mcCloud, etc)
Walking Dead
Game of Thrones
Silicon Valley
Dick Van Dyke
Ozzie and Harriet
Bob Newhart

Tried to be very even and objective with this

 

[BobO'Link]

Other than Gunsmoke (at #96 no less!) and Deadwood there are no westerns on the list. I'd also have to ask where are Bonanza, Wagon Train, Rawhide, Maverick, Death Valley Days, or any of several other, influential, westerns?

For that matter, where are The Avengers, Hawaii Five-O, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave it to Beaver, Little House on the Prairie, and more?

If they're going to include mini-series it should include Cosmos: A Personal Voyage from Carl Sagan.

The more I look at it the more I wonder just *who* was on the selection panel...

 

[Race Bannon]

Mad Men for the win. No show ever got the Emmy for best drama in its first four seasons. Most nominations and nominated across a wide swath of categories.

But really it's just because it's the best.

 

[bigshot]

Ranking stuff is useless. It's more useful to just list the best in specific genres and eras. How do you compare The Ed Sullivan Show to Monty Python's Flying Circus? Two completely different things. Besides, I don't feel qualified to judge all genres... there are some that I know more about than others.

 

[BobO'Link]

Another thing about this list is that it's heavily skewed towards US TV. Only one British show... Monty Python. But I can think of dozens of recent European shows like Forbrydelsen and Luther that are every bit as good as the recent US ones, and classic TV like Upstairs Downstairs and The Two Ronnies that are fantastic as well. What about The Prisoner or The Professionals?

Doctor Who and Downton Abbey were also on there.

But I get your point. Yes Minister is a better show than probably half the list. And Life on Mars/Ashes To Ashes...

Fawlty Towers is also on the list. BUT I could easily include a dozen more. Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley, Last of the Summer Wine, 'Allo 'Allo, Rising Damp, Rumpole of the Bailey, Lovejoy, Poirot, and many more.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Fawlty Towers is also on the list. BUT I could easily include a dozen more. Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley, Last of the Summer Wine, 'Allo 'Allo, Rising Damp, Rumpole of the Bailey, Lovejoy, Poirot, and many more.

Dad's Army, Father Ted, Good Neighbors/The Good Life, The Royle Family, Steptoe and Son, Miranda...

We could cobble together a British list by itself.

 

[BobO'Link]

Dad's Army, Father Ted, Good Neighbors/The Good Life, The Royle Family, Steptoe and Son, Miranda...

We could cobble together a British list by itself.

Very Easily.

Chef, Open All Hours, Two's Company, Are You Being Served?, The Brittas Empire, Keeping Up Appearances, Waiting For God, Coupling, Men Behaving Badly, Black Books, Blackadder, Marple (any of them), Red Dwarf, As Time Goes By, One Foot in the Grave, The Thin Blue Line, To the Manor Born, Jeeves & Wooster, Inspector Morse, Cracker, Upstairs Downstairs (the original - has that been mentioned yet?)...

 

[bmasters9]

I read that Rolling Stone article at the Wal-Mart earlier today, and I saw that they listed Northern Exposure as one of the worst of all time. I dislike saying this, but Rolling Stone and I meet on the same page, as I never did like Northern Exposure, not now, or ever!