By Dustin Rowles | Industry | June 3, 2013 |
By Dustin Rowles | Industry | June 3, 2013 |
The Writers Guild of America, in combination with TV Guide (?), has gotten together to rank the 100 best written shows of all time, because the world loves a good list. By including 101 shows, it’s hard to argue about omissions because nearly everything is included (although, an argument certainly could be made for the omissions of, say or “Sports Night” or “Veronica Mars,” and especially “Slings and Arrows”). If anything, most folks will complain about the ranking, and there’s where it’s easier to quibble (and that’s also what list are all about: Quibbling). For instance, “Sex and the City” is a good 50 spots higher than “Justified” (it’s also higher than “Game of Thrones”). “Louie” is too low; “Downton Abbey” is too high, and there are various other issues we could take.
But all things considered, it’s a solid list. What we can also surmise from it are that Vince Gilligan and Matthew Weiner are basically the best television writers on the planet.
1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone (1959)
4. All in the Family
5. M*A*S*H
6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
7. Mad Men
8. Cheers
9. The Wire
10. The West Wing
11. The Simpsons
12. I Love Lucy
13. Breaking Bad
14. The Dick Van Dyke Show
15. Hill Street Blues
16. Arrested Development
17. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
18. Six Feet Under
19. Taxi
20. The Larry Sanders Show
21. 30 Rock
22. Friday Night Lights
23. Frasier
24. Friends
25. Saturday Night Live
26. The X-Files
27. Lost
28. ER
29. The Cosby Show
30. Curb Your Enthusiasm
31. The Honeymooners
32. Deadwood
33. Star Trek
34. Modern Family
35. Twin Peaks
36. NYPD Blue
37. The Carol Burnett Show
38. Battlestar Galactica (2005)
39. Sex & the City
40. Game of Thrones
41. The Bob Newhart Show *TIE
41. Your Show of Shows *TIE
43. Downton Abbey *TIE
43. Law & Order *TIE
43. thirtysomething *TIE
46. Homicide: Life on the Street *TIE
47. St. Elsewhere *TIE
48. Homeland
49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
50. The Colbert Report *TIE
50. The Good Wife *TIE
51. The Office (UK) *TIE
53. Northern Exposure
54. The Wonder Years
55. L.A. Law
56. Sesame Street
57. Columbo
58. Fawlty Towers *TIE
58. The Rockford Files *TIE
60. Freaks and Geeks *TIE
61. Moonlighting *TIE
62. Roots
63. Everybody Loves Raymond *TIE
63. South Park *TIE
65. Playhouse 90
66. Dexter *TIE
66. The Office (US) *TIE
68. My So-Called Life
69. The Golden Girls
70. The Andy Griffith Show
71. 24 *TIE
71 .Roseanne *TIE
71.bThe Shield *TIE
74. House *TIE
75. Murphy Brown *TIE
76. Barney Miller *TIE
77. I, Claudius *TIE
78. The Odd Couple
79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents *TIE
79. Monty Python’s Flying Circus *TIE
79. Star Trek: The Next Generation *TIE
79. Upstairs, Downstairs *TIE
83. Get Smart
84. The Defenders *TIE
85. Gunsmoke *TIE
86. Justified *TIE
87. Sgt. Bilko (The Phil Silvers Show) *TIE
88. Band of Brothers
89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
90. The Prisoner
91. Absolutely Fabulous (UK) *TIE
92. The Muppet Show *TIE
93. Boardwalk Empire
94. Will & Grace
95. Family Ties
96. Lonesome Dove *TIE
96. Soap *TIE
98. The Fugitive *TIE
99. Late Night with David Letterman *TIE
100. Louie *TIE
101. Oz
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