Favorite TV shows of all-time
 

Curious to know what everyone's favorite TV shows of all-time are. I can't possibly list just 10, so I'm going with 20.

Not in any particular order:

1) Gilligan's Island
2) The Jeffersons
3) Lost
4) The Sopranos
5) Eight is Enough
6) Three's Company
7) Dallas
8) Breaking Bad
9) Friends
10) The Big Bang Theory
11) The OC
12) Six Feet Under
13) The Shield
14) Charlie's Angels
15) Game of Thrones
16) The Brady Bunch
17) Mad Men
18) Frasier
19) Buffy the Vampire Slayer
20) Dexter

What I'm able to remember at this late hour (in no particular order):

1) Seinfeld
2) Justified
3) Parks and Rec
4) 24
5) Friends
6) Damages
7) Grey's Anatomy
8) Law & Order: SVU
9) House
10) Lost

The Wire

I was a Journalism major, and watching a lot of TV was required for my classes. I loved my major!

Here are a few of my favorites:

The Twilight Zone
Frasier
Northern Exposure
Murphy Brown
Arrested Development
Homicide
Breaking Bad
Mr. Show
How I Met Your Mother (with the exception of the finale, which ruined the entire nine year run in a single episode)
Newhart
Key and Peele

M*A*S*H
Sports Night
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Murphy Brown
Little House on the Prairie (Yes, really. Even The Bong Years.)
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Alias
Lost In Space
The Brady Bunch


It's early, but so far The Muppets is keeping me entertained. We'll see.

In no particular order (except for the first one):

The Andy Griffith Show
The Carol Burnett Show
I Love Lucy
Batman
Hogan's Heroes
The Wild, Wild West
Designing Women
Frank's Place (cancelled much too soon)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Murphy Brown
Twin Peaks
Fawlty Towers
To the Manor Born

I guess that's a good baker's dozen

I have yet to see the finale of "How I Met Your Mother" because I heard so many bad things about it. Wondering if it's as bad as the "Dexter" finale.

The Wire. Nothing has or will ever get close. Seasons 1, 3, and 4 are probably the three best seasons of any show, ever. The hyper-realism, the ability to showcase incredible depth and nuance of dozens and dozens of characters, the engaging story, the powerful Shakespearean nature of some of the story lines (AVON AND STRINGER), the universally phenomenal performances (with the exception of Kima, one of the best characters ever but one of the worst actresses), without EVER sliding over into sensationalized or over the top stories...a true powerhouse of story telling. Unbelievable.

But for other various reasons:

Game of Thrones
30 Rock
Arrested Development
The X-Files
Homeland (seasons 3-5, particularly)

Are ones that stay with me as truly, consistently excellent. There are some other shows (Entourage, for example) that played a huge role in my life at one point but don't quite age as well with me.

After a long pause, I've seen some of the episodes from the most recent few seasons of South Park and am happy to see it is still as biting, scathing, and witty as ever, with the constant ability to challenge my thoughts on things. Looking past the immaturity of the humor at times (which I enjoy too), the show has had a tremendous run without any real sign of slowing down (19 seasons???).

This is the fourth time I've typed this!
 

I no longer watch much (if any) network television, so this will be an older list. There are so many good shows, outnumbered only by truly nasty shows! I also made two tiers: the excellent shows, and the ones which were usually good. In no particular order:

WKRP In Cincinnati
The Andy Griffith Show
ER
Jeopardy!
M*A*S*H
Designing Women
where in the world is carmen sandiego?
Keeping Up Appearances
Friends
Seinfeld
LA Law


Evening Shade
Saturday Night Live, the first few years
Taxi
The Tim Conway Show, all 6-8 episodes. THIS is where the term "Fashion Police" started!
The Waltons
The Carol Burnett Show
Soap
Everybody Loves Raymond

Special mention: Roots

I tried watching "The Wire", but just couldn't get into it. I need to give it another try.

My mom loved comedies and especially female-driven shows, so I'm blessed to have grown up watching "I Love Lucy", "Golden Girls", "Designing Women", "Laverne & Shirley", and "The Carole Burnett Show".

I forgot to add "Roseanne" on my list, one of the most real sitcoms ever (until she won the lottery, then it detoured greatly).

Whaaaaaaat?! Well I never!

The Odd Couple
WKRP
Seinfeld (after the first season)

These hold up viewing after viewing over all the years of my life, with relatively few if any clunker episodes, and I truly enjoy them as opposed to ironically or nostalgically watching them (i.e. Brady Bunch etc).

Also the Law and Order franchise but that's a separate thread since there are just too many variables with the changing casts.

Let me jump back to childhood/ teen years:

Hey Dude
Salute Your Shorts
Dawson's Creek
Bug Juice
Private Practice
Grey's Anatomy (though it's fading last several years)
Road Rules ;)

I will limit this to shows I would still be addicted to, if they came back tomorrow:

Northern Exposure
Star Trek: TNG

In no particular order:

Star Trek: TOS and TNG
Babylon 5
Firefly
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Doctor Who (both classic and new)
Stargate SG-1
Andromeda
Farscape
I Love Lucy
Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister
The Avengers (the 1960s series with Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg et al)
Continuum
Heroes / Heroes Reborn

You may have noticed a recurring theme here - I'm into sci-fi. Star Trek: TOS was my "gateway drug" ;)