Pajiba

The Wire

Oh sure, make it tough.

I'm going with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Funny without preachiness, sharply written characters, delving into both the believable and the unbelievable. And it's got the best series finale ever.

Carson's run on the Tonight Show

Mr Rogers Neighborhood

Arrested Development. Topical, quick as a whip, absent of nearly any heartwarming moment that wasn't delightfully perverted. It remains the only show that I was ever compelled to force on my friends in a lame attempt to boost viewership and I can't imagine any other show that would make me do the same.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"Carson's run on the Tonight Show"

Ditto. Double fucking ditto. Double fucking ditto with a side of dittodip.

I refuse to pick one. Rome/Sopranos. Both good to the last drop.

I Love Lucy.

What do I win for giving the right answer?

Well I guess I'm in the right place because I immediately thought to myself "Should I choose Arrested Development or The Wire?"

I'm going with another vote for Arrested Development.

I'd have chosen Deadwood if it had a satisfying conclusion though.

Wow... really hard to pick "the One". ("There can be only one.")

However, if we're going to go OF ALL TIME and pick something that actually has stood the test of time, I'm gonna have to cast my lot with "Carson on the Tonight Show".

Buffy.

The Wire.

I am shameless in my love for Freaks and Geeks, but I'm sort of hesistant to declare it as the best, because despite its near-perfection, there was only one season.

So yeah. Sesame Street.

Veronica Mars.

Seasame Street. Hands down. For all it's done, so as long as it's been on. Mr. Hooper dying? Snuffy? Grover? MOTHERF'N Oscar!

If we're talking about adult primetime entertainment it's hard to do better than MASH.

Buffy. I'm re-watching the whole thing right now and given it a lot of thought and Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my favorite series of all time.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

King if the Hill.

*King of the Hill, what I meant of course.

SIMPSONS! Which I love as much as The Wire.

The Wire.

The Sopranos comes close, but the last few seasons could have been better. Same with Season 3 of Arrested Development.

Thank you sars. I was begining to worry about people on here. Let's throw in Family guy while we're at it!

The Wire. No doubt in my mind. However much I've loved the shit out of a lot of shows, it's really hard for me to believe that anyone who has seen The Wire could possible vote for another show.

Honestly, there are other shows I want to vote for, but I can't do it with a clear conscience.

See, this is hard because of shows that started out amazing and wound up totally crap...but I'm going with Scrubs, if only for the first few seasons, which would have you laughing your ass off til it punched you in the stomach.

Gut answer: Friday Night Lights.

Arrested Development, hands down.

West Wing. Hands down. Not for the politics, either. Great writing and perfect casting.

Family Guy? Let's throw Jamey outta here!

Yeah, 10 years ago I would have said The Simpsons without even a second thought, much less more than a second to consider. Now, though, no. And that saddens me more than I can say. But the entire length of the show must be considered, and the town of Springfield just can't live up to itself anymore.

So... gun to my head... I want to say Lost... but I'm a go with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'd like to say Arrested Development but at the moment I think I like Community more, and I wouldn't put that in the top spot. Yet. And while I like Johnny, I always liked Letterman more.

There is no right answer, Robert, but I Love Lucy would probably win for most influential, and having the strongest legacy. Though, I do see where The Mutt is coming from: TDS may just end up being one of the most important TV shows of all time.

Apparently, I need to watch The Wire.

I've got to go with MASH too. There's never been another one like it.

Oh, I just remembered All in the Family.

The Muppet Show.

Yes, I had to think about that. What show would I happily watch over and over and over again, could watch with anybody else in the room, and still enjoy no matter how many times I've seen it before?

That's the one.

MASH had bad, preachy seasons. Seinfeld has aged badly IMO. The Wire is worth the hard work, but more than once? Probably not. Too many others simply stayed on the air too long (Scrubs, Cheers, Friends, The Office), others not long enough (Deadwood, Firefly, Veronica Mars, Freaks and Geeks).

So I'm going with Kermit & Company for the win.

Friday Night Lights. Remarkable in its ability to not only make me invest in the characters, but to replace like half the cast and then make me care about the new folks.

I hadn't seen an episode of M*A*S*H in years when I caught one in a hotel room a month ago. It was late in the run, with Winchester but no Radar.

It was just awful. Truly stupid and obvious and schmaltzy and preachy and not funny at all, though the characters kept saying things that THEY obviously thought were funny.

And the laugh track! Dear gawd! It's the most horrible thing I've ever heard. What's worse is that you can recognize it from other, much older sitcoms. That kookely-googely sound will haunt my dreams.

RobP, I know there's no right answer. I just knew that someone had to represent for the show that mastered the three-camera format, provided America with it's first interracial marriage and minority leading character, first pregnancy/birth on camera, and first female comedic lead anchoring a show. That's not even accounting for some of the most inventive costumes, props, and set dressing that have ever appeared on television. And the wonderful music and dance numbers and physical comedy and supporting cast and slew of pitch-perfect guest stars.

It's a tough crowd around here and I knew that many would choose The Wire or Arrested Development. Someone needs to hold down the fort for the black and white three-camera comedy.

Seinfeld

For me it would have to be either The Office (UK) or Fawlty Towers. There's not a single episode of either that isn't a classic.

Summer Heights High

Clone High.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

It was so much a part of my childhood and the lessons in some of the episodes had a great influence on my impressionable young mind.

Oh my God, Lucas. I thought I was the only one left who remembered Clone High.

Muppet Show - I bought the DVDs to share with my children, and they love it too. Sesame Street would be a close second, with Mr. Dressup or original Electric Company as honourable mentions. The Muppet Show wasn't truly a kids show, but I see that is the direction I am going.

The Wire.

Farscape.

There, I said it. Judge me as you wish.

Starved.

Very short lived dark comedy about people with eating disorders. Having just a touch of the bulimia, I loved it.

Or

Are you being served?

Because I loved the talk about Mrs Slocumbs' pussy.

The Twilight Zone

Serling did over-rely on the O'Henry twist, especially towards the end of the run, but I can't think of any show that's given so many memorable stand-alone episodes over its run. Where do you possibly begin in picking a favorite episode with that show? Just to name three "Its a Good Life", the Tina episode and that episode involving a voodoo curse and a walk though Central Park at midnight still give me chills decades later, and again, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hands Down, didn't even have to think about it. Plus, it had one of the best opening theme songs of all time. OF ALL TIME!

(sorry, he keeps making me touch him. send help!)

The Wire.

M*A*S*H*

It was sitcom funny but also has made me cry so hard that I could barely breathe. Henry's leaving and Hawkeye cracking up and Winchester's band, Potter and his horse.
It was an amazing show.

My gut reaction is to say The West Wing, and since it's one of the few shows I can watch over and over and over for (YES REALLY) the entire duration of its life, I'm going to pick it.

Carson is great, yes. MASH is great, yes. But I'm not qualified to talk about the greatest of all time to everyone on Earth. Just for me.

West Wing it is.

In your pants.

In your pants.

Posted by: TheOtherGreg at January 28, 2011 9:03 PM

Do you see what I’m up against Maria? This guy is a destroyer and not a builder. His soul is dark and his chosen path is ever downward to a bottomless pit. He feeds off of the rotted corpse of despair, he is forever hungry for light.

So far I count the most votes 'Wire' at ten. My all-time fave show was 'Mary Tyler Moore', but the first 5 years of 'Andy Griffith' come in really close behind.
My happiest surprise was counting Carson's 'Tonight Show' as second with tasteful voters like D-Day,Skitt, MM, Pookie, fine people with excellent memory and good taste. (a couple of 'Simpsons' and 'MASH' seasons were season-selected)
Love the shout-outs to 'Rome'/'Sopranos',Python's Flying Circus.
However, Diablo gets the unimpeachable prize for 'Police Squad!' - six beautiful, purely unique episodes jam-packed with so much comedic genius (all on ONE DVD!!), horribly under-promoted and neglected when ABC first ran it.
The true beauty of it is, the entire collection of shows pulled out so many 'Airplane'-and 'Top Secret!'- class gems that it most likely would have burned itself out had it been given more than an entire season. But who knows?

'Your Show of Shows'
starring Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca with Carl Reiner, Howard Morris & Nanette Fabray (among others).
written by Reiner, Mel Brooks & Neil Simon (among others).
performed live.
greatest show ever...

The Wire. As someone wrote earlier--it's just on a whole other level.

Bill: Police Squad! was brilliant, no questions asked. But like "The Prisoner", which I almost picked, I consider picking a show that didn't even last one season to be cheating. The biggest problems with a television show are 1) consistency and 2) the slow slide towards mediocrity at the end of its run. A show that only lasted six episodes (or 17, in the case of the Prisoner) and were likely completely mapped out before the first episode was taped never faced that challenge.

A show that only lasted six episodes (or 17, in the case of the Prisoner) and were likely completely mapped out before the first episode was taped never faced that challenge.

I agree, these types of shows are more like a mini series, but there is still an art and craft to them. The recently canceled Terriers is a great example.

Maria, Pookie is right. There is nothing I can do for you.

It's The West Wing.

I love the heck out of The Wire, but on a down day it would just tear me to bits. The West Wing is good for all moods.

You got me there, Irving Washington, 'Police Squad!' really doesn't fit the definition. So let me try again:

I want to pick the 1st 5 seasons of 'Andy Griffith'- like Edith leaving 'All In The Family', it just got more pathetic when Don Knotts left and color and Howard Sprague arrived;

'The Wire' was the single most riveting, consistently entertaining and crucial series for me, and watching it exclusively on DVD made it that much better to anticipate (Oh, the weekend viewing 'orgies' I'd have with THREE NetFlix DVD's at once to indulge in); however, one must recognize 'Homicide: Life on the Street' as a direct influence for 'Wire', and it's entire run was brilliant, being hampered only in broadcast network restrictions. So I toss in the 'non-ground-breaking' card on that one.

And 'MASH' had some very uneven episodes and indeed became more preachy near the end - plus it focused on a specific war from decades before in a specific span of time, not to mention that their 'Mobile Unit' and O/R looked a little too clean, the sets looked more fake in the last seasons, not to mention entirely too Alda-focused, and Hawkeye's hairstyle throught the entire run was about 2 inches longer than most of the men his age in the 50's, military or not.

So, having considered the combo of the above criteria, I have to go with 'Mary Tyler Moore': it just got better and better, from the original cast to every single addition that came after, and it was the best-written and increasingly hilarious show through each season up to the very last.

So okay, NOW I've defined the BEST single show on television, we can indeed put this to rest, glad I could help.

Pushing Daisies.

It was killed off much too soon. *sigh*

I'm with the FNL crowd.

It's Always Sunny In Philidelphia

If you didn't answer The Larry Sanders Show you're wrong.

Listen Mutt, you don’t come here looking down your nose on fuckin’ Rickles. Rickers made his bones and he paid his dues. These goddamn comedians today got it easy, with their fancy cars and their twitters, and their HBO concerts. Rickles had to travel by grayhound, sleep in some rat infested motel and iron his own clothes. Comedians today man, in their skinny jeans and plaid shirts, all about the dollars man all about the dollars.

Greg, I understand your allegory, but Hawkeye still had a Beatles haircut ten years before the group existed, and he bleated his righteous indignation about MacArthur and Eisenhower, not Johnson & Nixon.

'The Wonder Years' did a much better job of accurately addressing how we reacted to the Vietnam war as a nation, and as such is more representative of a 'time capsule' of our 20th-century history that we can relate to in a way the majority of us couldn't with MASH.

So now I want to add 'The Wonder Years', but if there were a separate list of single-season shows, I'd go with 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' (originally conceived as a one-season 'miniseries'-type thing), so there's no accounting for my taste, really.

(Personal favorite is "Friends")

Daria.

Well fuck, it's clear I can't put off watching The Wire anymore. Dexter, you're on hold until further notice.

Of course it's Six Feet Under

So where's my prize?

"My Mother The ..." Carson.

Heh, just fuckin' wit ya. Johnny was king.

Kinda surprised not to see any love for "All In The Family," but then the demographic here doesn't exactly skew my age either. Appreciate the nods to "The Twilight Zone," but there were just too many shitty episodes.

Seinfeld

A Bit of Fry and Laurie.
Behold... BERWHALE THE AVENGER! Weapon of the Chosen One!

I choose Deadwood. I know it didn't have an official ending...but endings are overrated. The journey is what counts. And man, what a journey.

Plus: Ian McShane.

The Simpsons.

Posted by: Snrub at January 29, 2011 12:46 AM

I think we could have guessed that one from your user name...

twin peaks

Yep, hate to go geek out on this one, but with seven awesome seasons, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

My head says The Wire, but my heart days Deadwood.

The Wire. It's not my favorite show -- that would be The X-Files (I think) -- but if we're talking "best," there is no competition.

Lost.

i know that's not the "right" answer, but then again, i see the whole series through a different lense than most (and not just the stoner lense--though if you think about it, that whole series was just one long stoner movie).

great challenge, but would have been more fun with a top 5...where Dexter could have said 'hello.'

You'll all laugh at me but I just love That 70's Show. When my husband asks "why are you watching that AGAIN" I say "because I love hangin out with them in the basement"

It brought to life a particular time, high school in the 70's when life was a lot simpler. No computers, no cells, no AIDS, no video games, just kids hanging around getting high and talking to each other. Great characters, funny writing.... S 1-6 was classic. S7 went downhill and S8, DON'T GET ME STARTED!!! WHYYYY???

All time greatest show? No, just for me. But I gotta go with Seinfeld. Funniest show ever. No hugging, no learning.

Buffy. Buffy Buffy Buffy. Buffy Buffy? Buffy.

P.S. Buffy; Buffy.

I have a question for anyone and everyone whose answer is The Wire. Did you also watch Homicide: Life on the Street?

I forgot Richard Belzer aka John Munch.

Shooting Stars. Like the Gong Show, but British and completely inane.

Sorry, kids: I Love Lucy!

Shonda,

You're right, "Homicide" was excellent, and was probably the best show on TV in its time. But there are a lot of really good ensemble dramadies for which could probably say the same thing and they've all been shut out here:

"Hill Street Blues"
"L.A. Law"
"St. Elsewhere"
Hell, maybe even "House"

Fuck, as much as I love Buffy, I'm going to have to agree with you about M*A*S*H.

Instead of buying a new dishwasher, my Dad dropped the 200 or so bucks for the entire show.

...we still don't have a dishwasher, and that was over a year ago.

The Wonder Years.

Being too young to even see "Carson on the Tonight Show" (I was 8 when his run ended), I can't comment on that. But for a sheer massive undertaking in terms of bringing a city alive, and weaving multiple storylines together, I have to say The Wire. It had humor, drama, politics, and it was ambitious and made that work. No other show, that I've personally seen, has given such a good glimpse into the reasons why our systems fail us, no matter where we fall on the political spectrum.

Someone needs to hold down the fort for the black and white three-camera comedy.

Robert January 28, 2011 7:32 PM

Robert makes an excellent case for 'I Love Lucy', especially in the context of "greatest single television show" of all time, for all the reasons he states plus the fact that it was the first big 'event' sitcom that drew record numbers of weekly viewers, and really set the standard that's still being used today.

BUT, If we're limited to using the term greatest, rather than best or favorite or even most popular of all time, then there simply isn't one single answer. How does one justify placing a half-hour comedy show above an hour-long drama, or a variety show over a news or documentary program? Hell, even The Mutt could do far worse than choosing 'Jonny Quest', which was at least dependably consistent, like 'Gunsmoke' or 'Marcus Welby, MD' (see? another factor to consider)

30 rock.

Johnny Carson did introduce us to many of our favorite comics, singers, and other artists, but before him there was The Ed Sullivan show. Ed was a total square, but where else could you see The Beatles followed by a circus act followed by Don Rickles? His show was a Sunday night staple for decades, and many of us older "get-the-hell-off-my-lawn"s grew up with it.

MASH got so self- righteous, the last few seasons are barely watchable. Does Masterpiece Theater count as a series?

What a cruel, cruel question.

I never saw MASH. I barely remember Buffy, watched it in my tweeny years, and keep putting off seeing the whole thing start to finish.

Sigh, I'd have to be completely unoriginal and go with The Wire.

No, Veronica Mars.

No wait. Yes okay. No.

Clearly I'm not the only one here having a major conflict between The West Wing and The Wire. The first 4 seasons of TWW were complete brilliance, but man oh man The Wire really is on its own level, so I think I have to go with the Wire.

Buffy. I mean, she saved the world. A lot.

The Wire, without a doubt..

What about Married with Children?

The Wonder Years. God I miss that show.

Lost, Veronica Mars, Friday Night Lights....Lost kinda lost steam at the end. I didn't have problems with the finale like others, but I can't say it blew my mind like I wanted. Veronica Mars' third season completely disappointed me (while still being 120% better than anything else on television at the time).

Friday Night Lights never disappoints. I don't worry about the finale in two weeks, it's going to be sweet and emotional and heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.

SCTV