The Real Greatest TV Shows of All Time

[Umbran]

I’ve seen the Simpsons. No idea what the rest are!

They are all historical heavyweights of American television.

The Ed Sullivan Show was the seminal variety show - the precursor to the modern "late night tv talk show". It ran from 1948 to 1971.

The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy were among the founders of the "sitcom" genre, back in the 1950s.

Saturday Night Live was (and still is) the leader of sketch comedy shows, having run from 1971 to the present, and is known for having been a starting place for a great many leading comedians.

60 Minutes is a "news magazine" show that's been running for 53 seasons now.

 

[Zaukrie]

Tough, but with giving it zero thought, here are some shows I've loved and (more recent ones I always recommend to people):

MASH
Game of Thrones
Battlestar
Next Generation
Ted Lasso (ya, it's not done, but it is so very good)
The Americans (might be the highest "floor" show ever, with consistently great episodes)
Broadchurch
X Files
Expanse
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Rome
Firefly
Sherlock

There are more, but if someone asked what they should watch, those would all be on the list

(Stranger Things season 1 also, but after that? Not as great)

 

[Ryujin]

They are all historical heavyweights of American television.

The Ed Sullivan Show was the seminal variety show - the precursor to the modern "late night tv talk show". It ran from 1948 to 1971.

The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy were among the founders of the "sitcom" genre, back in the 1950s.

Saturday Night Live was (and still is) the leader of sketch comedy shows, having run from 1971 to the present, and is known for having been a starting place for a great many leading comedians.

60 Minutes is a "news magazine" show that's been running for 53 seasons now.

Saturday Night Live is good and bad, in cycles, but I don't think that anyone can deny its impact on modern entertainment in North America. Other networks tried to recreate the lightning in a bottle, but failed miserably. Fox had two runs at it; "The Edge", in the early '90s, and "Mad TV", which managed a 10 year run but was never as popular and SNL. Oddly enough, though she didn't stick in my mind from previous roles ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Leprechaun", etc.), I did consciously notice Jennifer Aniston for the first time on "The Edge."

 

[Hatmatter]

Do I need to have watched Breaking Bad to watch it?

Hi Blue,

Like most spin-offs, one can derive more from it if one is familiar with the original because of the nods to Breaking Bad and because of directions you know that characters are headed, but it stands on its own as well. Perhaps it would even be interesting to watch as a prequel of sorts before watching Breaking Bad.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Blackadder and Fawlty Towers are just so funny and so sharp. And if you count Blackadder season 4 as the end of the series, well, that's about as pithy and moving an end to a comedy show as you could get.

Game of Thrones is absolutely up there. If you had told kid Ralif that there was going to be a sprawling epic fantasy series on TV with dragons, undead, and magic swords AND it was going to be one of the most popular television shows of its time, he wouldn't have believed it.

 

[Ryujin]

Blackadder and Fawlty Towers are just so funny and so sharp. And if you count Blackadder season 4 as the end of the series, well, that's about as pithy and moving an end to a comedy show as you could get.

Game of Thrones is absolutely up there. If you had told kid Ralif that there was going to be a sprawling epic fantasy series on TV with dragons, undead, and magic swords AND it was going to be one of the most popular television shows of its time, he wouldn't have believed it.

What if you told Young Ralif that it would have full frontal nudity?

 

[Gradine]

Season 1 of the Haunting of Hillhouse is fantastic, and some of the best acting I have seen on tv. I'm less of a fan of Blymanor, it didn't really click with me.

It's a very different style of horror, and like the show calls out at the end, it really is more of a love story than anything, but still a deeply tragic one.

Ironically, I found the acting very hit-or-miss in Hill House and much more consistent in Bly Manor. I never thought I'd live to see the day that Timothy Hutton phones it in, but here we are. The younger version of the dad (fun fact: he was Elliot for E.T.!) nailed it though.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer has stood the test of time. There are just so many great episodes. My favourite episodes are: Conversations with Dead People, The Wish, Hush, The Zeppo, Bewitched Bothered & Bewildered, Help, Dopplegangland, Passion, Revelations, Innocense, Halloween, Lovers Walk, Crush, The Body, Killed by Death, Earshot, Something Blue, Restless, Fool for Love, The Gift, Forever, Normal Again, Him, Bad Girls, and Once More with Feeling.

If that seem like a lot of episodes to list as favourites... yeah...

I'm surprised not to see Tabula Rasa on there, actually. Otherwise, solid list.

 

[Gradine]

Game of Thrones fell off the wagon well before the final season, which was definitely the show at its worst, but it was a steady decline in quality after the 4th season (the excellent first 10 minutes of the Season 6 finale notwithstanding). I think it proved that D&D are pretty great at adaptation but terrible at storytelling on their own.

 

[Morrus]

Blackadder and Fawlty Towers are just so funny and so sharp. And if you count Blackadder season 4 as the end of the series, well, that's about as pithy and moving an end to a comedy show as you could get.

Well, they all die at the end of every series.

 

[Hatmatter]

Game of Thrones fell off the wagon well before the final season, which was definitely the show at its worst, but it was a steady decline in quality after the 4th season (the excellent first 10 minutes of the Season 6 finale notwithstanding). I think it proved that D&D are pretty great at adaptation but terrible at storytelling on their own.

My favorite seasons are later on..probably season 7.