Television has transformed society and virtually everyone with the financial means owns one and watches one. Whether you love the news, sports, drama, movies, or comedy, there is something for everyone on television. Some people use it as a baby-sitter, others as a relaxation tool, and some even preach against it – but it is always on our mind. So, with all of that in mind, we want to know what you think the best program ever made for TV is – from any genre. Don’t forget to give your reasons!
What is the Best TV Show Ever?
My answer: For those of you who have been watching this site for some time (especially those who have been here since the beginning) will know about my love of all things David Lynch. Therefore it will come as no surprise to you to know that I think Twin Peaks is the best TV show ever made. It created a whole new style of program and gave us something quirky and mysterious to watch every week. My only gripe is its early demise.
Woah…difficult question.
Cartoon – Johnny Bravo;
Old sk00l Comedy – Fawlty Towers & Green Acres;
Modern comedy – The Office (tie between UK & US versions);
Mini-series – Murder One & Band of Brothers;
Then again, these are favourites rather than the “best ever”.
M*A*S*H
/discussion over
The National treasure that is Only Fools ánd Horses!!! ‘Rodney You Plonker’
117. Callie: Tough part is, I think, that a lot of people’s favorites are clouded by them being associated with comfort or being very fresh.
I was very fond of the Simpsons, but they jumped the shark a long time ago. They’re really stretching to come up with some fresh ideas for their episodes. I haven’t watched them in years. Family Guy, as well, has been on for, what, six years? Seven? It makes me laugh a couple of times per episode, but, come on, they had a full episode where the running gag was singing the same song over and over again. LAME.
The best show ever should be innovative, expressive, portrays the genre correctly, well casted and acted, have a clear and logical plot, and know when to call it quits. This automatically disqualifies the Simpsons and, dare I say, M*A*S*H*. I’m going to stop there, though, because I really haven’t seen many of the shows hailed as being great- not enough Seinfeld, no Firefly or Law & Order or The Shield or West Wing or 24. Just not into those kinds of shows. Fringe and Heroes are too new.
TMo- Venture Bros., that’s the best you got? Really…
121. kiwiboi- SNL did an excellent sketch on the “original” version of The Office, from Japan. ‘Twas funny.
the best are : Star Trek, The X Files,MASH, Seinfeld…nobody mentioned China Beach? I think it’s one of the best…
1. Twin Peaks – a remarkably cohesive show (despite its quirks) especially considering pretty much every episode had a different writer and director. The great hand of David Lynch controlling all.
2. The Office (British) – Ricky Gervais is quite possibly the funniest man in the history of television. Check out Extras as a bonus.
3. The Office (US) – still consistently original and funny. The Gervais influence still very strong and brilliant.
I think The X-Files at least deserves to be in everyone’s top ten. It encompasses almost every genre- horror, mystery, romance, action, humor, etc. It has well-known characters and everyone knows the theme song. It was the first tv series to be put onto DVD. It spanned nine seasons and is one of very few tv series to have more than one movie. It also won several awards. It dealt with very difficult issues sometimes and although it is a show that is mainly about the paranormal, it has the most realistic characters I have ever seen in any tv show, ever. It also was one of the first tv shows to garner a huge internet fanbase which is still going strong to this day, 15 years after the show premired. It had original and engaging storylines and consistently broke boundaries in the industry. So it’s my number 1, but I think eveyone should at least consider it in the top ten.
SWAT CATS!!!! just the inclusion of radical in its lengthy full name makes it rad. (1990′s rocked my world)
I like the office too.
never really got what people saw in family guy though.
The best show in the history of television is without a doubt the new Battlestar Galactica. It’s brilliantly written, has excellent characterization, and brutal intensity.
The best show according to me, would probably be DEXTER. Ah, I love it so much.
Also I would have to say Mythbusters too, but thats just me haha.
I can’t believe some of you guys choices. Didn’t you see the topic Best TV show EVER. Some of these haven’t been on long enough to earn that title.
My vote is for The Andy Griffith Show. Funny and great values and morals to learn from.
hand down, best show I’ve ever seen has to be the Wire, although the intricacies of its long form narrative don’t lend well to single episodes, it needs to be watched in one big sitting to really get immersed in it. I also think the new Battlestar Galactica is a really great and clever TV show and Deadwood and Rome are also pretty amazing. I loved Twin Peaks when it first aired, but rewatching it recently, im not sure if it still holds up, it felt dated, but it could just be that I remembered the story arc too well. Definetley ground breaking for its time though.
Top Gear
Arrested Development
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Office
But nothing in this world comes close to Top Gear, I can’t live with out it…
Heroes
OH AND SOUTH PARK!
Oh, and I forgot Black Books! The most brilliant British comedy ever!
Blackadder! i forgot about Blackadder!
But Top Gear is the best TV show in history, hands down.
Damn, this is a hard one. I don’t watch that much tv, so I’m a little handicapped, but going back as far as I can reasonably recall I’d have to include the following (not all inclusive):
Twilight Zone
Outer Limits
Science Fiction Theater: These were all wonderfully written shows which made you *think*. You didn’t get to just sit back and watch, you were fully engaged with the story line.
The Dick Van Dyke Show: Another wonderfully written show, but this time a comedy. It starred two women who shared equal story time and talent with the men. It also featured a strong married couple, Rob and Laura Petrie who, unlike the other married couples on t.v. at the time, were a true couple. Rob didn’t “know best”, Laura didn’t didn’t kow-tow. It was engaging, hilarious, and truer than life.
Twin Peaks: This show had it all; drama, suspense, freakish red herrings, freaks, fabulous cinematography, a story line you had to keep notes to follow, characters that could break your heart or give you nightmares (or both). My kids were young, 11, 12, 13 when it started, and they immediately fell in love with the show. Even though it’s regular show time was on later than their bedtime, this was the one exception I made (but for school events), and on Twin Peaks night I always baked a cherry pie and made a pot of decaf coffee to have while watching the show. This little ritual is still one of their favorite memories.
Law&Order (in several of it’s guises): Well written, fast paced, insiders view of the legal system from both sides. I know a couple of the writers, so maybe I’m biased.
House: Again, the writing is excellent. I believe the characters. Some of the cinematography/special effects tricks are just marvelous, and the foley engineers (the sound guys) do a fabulous job matching sounds to the stretching of tendons or muscles, the firing of synapses. I like that, as in real life, everyone has a secret hurt which affects their actions.
Planet Earth/Blue Planet: These two mini-series ought to be required viewing by every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth. Only by being intimately aware of what we have, and what we have at stake, can we be expected to make all the correct actions to save our planet, our atmosphere, our oceans, ourselves.
Hmm, I forgot to mention
24 (Jack Bauer will hunt you down if you don’t agree!)
South Park (especially the most recent seasons)
and I’m sure I’m forgetting other greats…
… like Mythbusters! (dammit! There’s just too much awesomeness in TV!
)
(Looks over at camera and winks) The Office
The Office, pretty good stuff both(US and UK)
Renee: Such hostility!! Your opinion is welcome here but your insults (on 2 lists already) are not.
Twin Peaks season 1 was amazing, probably the best season of television ever. However, it went downhill in season 2 with crazy plot lines. Maybe a season 3 would have cleared it up but it’s hard to name it the best show ever. Freaks and Geeks would rival Twin Peaks for greatest season ever. Both of these shows were so much different, and so much better than anything we’ve ever seen on TV.
My favorites- Wonder Years, Seinfeld, Simpsons, Monk, Veronica Mars, Law and Order. Lost might make the list but I’ll reserve judgment until it’s all said and done in May.
L world…joke!
Oprah….
Dexter…
The Three Stooges…hehehe
chris (133): Thanks for mentioning Rome – it was a brilliant series and I might rank it as 2 behind Twin Peaks. I bought the two series on DVD and watched the lot over a couple of weekends. Excellent acting and they really brought the period to life.
Mad men or Deadwood both really good
Warrreagl: I love Rockford Files. So did Jim Garner, too bad about his damn knees, we could have had a couple more years of reruns.
the sopranos is the best show ever, smart, entertaining, a good story, great actors
The Golden Girls
Dexter- I love this show beyond reason, just has such interesting character development.
Dead Like Me- Anyone else ever watch this? I know it’s been cancelled for a few years but I thought it managed to be really funny while maintaining the a level of character complexity that made it stand out. Really wish they’d bring it back.
Just my opinion
Hill street blues started a lot of good television.But now Deadwood was great and so was Sopranos.Probably not good for children
though,The office and E.r are also good
Having grown up in the 90′s, I’m going to say The Simpsons. It opened the door for so many cartoons, and is quite simply a timeless show. Most of the plots/jokes still have relevance today.
Of course the recent seasons are a damper on the show’s history, but I still love watching The Simpsons.
THE HONEYMOONERS!!!!
w/o it there would be no modern sitcoms
no that 70s show
no friends
not even i love lucy
Renee Pussman has some not so latent hostility issues I think.
Ease up girly, it isn’t a nasty contest. And if you’re a guy, well too bad. You’re still acting like a *****.
Now that ‘Dexter’ was brought up, does anyone remember ‘Six Feet Under’? It was weird, but really good.
Cowboy Bebop, Freaks and Geeks, Dexter, Twin Peaks
I win!
All in the Family
The Odd Couple
Timeless. Classic. Hilarious. Sad. I used to watch these in syndication. They are like no other. Original, fresh, touching.
Maybe WKRP in Cinncinnati.
The wire is the best tv show. Its sapranos in the hood. its the *****
WONDER YEARS!
CSI and King of the Hill pwn.
I’m glad Charlie # 55 and Callie # 53 mentioned I Live Lucy. So many shows have tweaked or totally ripped off the plots to so many of those episodes. Hooray for Segue # 140 for mentioning Twilight Zone (I’m waiting for the next marathon) and The Dike Van Dyke Show (My Favorite).I still watch lots of other shows from the 60s. Including The Andy Griffith Show. Also some of the early Leave It to Beaver shows are just hilarious.
it seems like everyone here likes the more mature, adult shows… but i dont =]
Fresh Prince of Bel Air 10/10
Chuck 10/10
Steve Harvey Show 10/10
Full Metal Alchelmest 10/10
Eyeshield 21(japan with english subs) 10/10
Family Guy 9/10
And some others, but too lazy to list. I wanna see what Entourage is really like though, i have only seen the episode where kanye west guest stars lol
I forgot to mention the mini-series Centennial. Excellent – stellar cast – sweeping saga of the American west. And it was recently released on DVD, so I get to see it again – YAY!
And someone else mentioned China Beach – I have to agree that it’s one of the best.
Arrested Development hands down.
Well, I was going to say Star Trek… Probably not a very good choice now that I think about it.
But hey! At least they relled in the first interracial kiss on TV eh? Learned that here.
Reeled. X( Damnit. Can’t take that back, now I look stupid.
24 – the acting and writing are on par with a first class movie. The fast pace and storyline keep you on the edge of your seat and keeps your interest. Season two was a little weak, as was the last season.
An honorable mention is “Damages.” Glenn Close is a wonderful actress and she and Ted Danson did a wonderful job last year.
As far as for older TV shows, “Hill Street Blues”, “St. Elsewhere”, “Homicide”, “Law and Order”, and “Twin Peaks” are absolutely wonderful.
Good topic!
Somebody said Mad Men and I half-agree. It’s a sly, quite accurate potrayal of people during the golden years of advertising.
Any older shows anyone?
MacGyver? So much so its entry in UrbanDictionary.com is:
‘To achieve a goal through the ingenious combination of common household items, in the spirit of Richard Dean Anderson’s character McGuyver, from the television series of the same name.’?
Oh, and to ever said “MASH discussion over.”
No dude, discussion is on. I wanna know why?!
It has to be Frank’s Place. This was from the time when dramedies were a fad, but this was the best of them and should have stayed on the air more than one season. Tim Reid played a northern college professor who inherits his father’s restaurant in New Orleans. It is hard to explain why the show is so good, but the characters are real and the show is funny without being a punchline show. Some of the episodes were weak, but the strong ones were really, really strong, like The King of Wall Street.
Has anybody even thought of “All in the family” – which still relates to a lot of todays problems. The best writing and superb acting I have ever seen on a sitcom. I could laugh and cry all in one episode.
Seinfeld. As if that was a question.
SEINFELD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEINFELD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha I Put More Exc Points Than You.
simpsons
or family guy
or scrubs
One more that comes to mind – Northern Exposure.
The X-Files it has its own mystery and in every episode it has new thing (theories,conspiracies,mysteries and so on )
i think it the best show ever