Writers Guild Of America Lists The 101 Best Written TV Shows Of All Time
By Germain Lussier/June 3, 2013 10:16 am EST
Let the debate begin. Sunday night, the Writers Guild of America revealed its list of the 101 “Best Written TV Series of All Time.” What took the top spot? The HBO drama The Sopranos, followed by Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family and MAS*H. Solid choices all, but are they the five best? Where do some of your other all time favorite shows rank? You’ll find shows like Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, Friends, Lost, The X-Files, South Park, Star Trek and more on the list. Check the ranking to find out how the writers’ guild lined them all up.
Thanks to the WGA for this list. 1. The Sopranos 2. Seinfeld 3. The Twilight Zone 4. All in the Family 5. MAS*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 and Your Show of Shows (tie) 43. Downton Abbey, Law & Order and Thirtysomething (tie) 46. Homicide: Life on the Street and St. Elsewhere (tie) 48. Homeland 49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 50. The Colbert Report, The Good Wife and the UK Office (tie) 53. Northern Exposure 54. The Wonder Years 55. L.A. Law 56. Sesame Street 57. Columbo 58. Fawlty Towers and The Rockford Files (tie) 60. Freaks and Geeks and Moonlighting (tie) 62. Roots 63. Everybody Loves Raymond and South Park (tie) 65. Playhouse 90 66. Dexter and the US Office (tie) 68. My So-Called Life 69. Golden Girls 70. The Andy Griffith Show 71. 24, Roseanne and The Shield 74. House and Murphy Brown (tie) 76. Barney Miller and I, Claudius (tie) 78. The Odd Couple 79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Upstairs, Downstairs (tie) 83. Get Smart 84. The Defenders and Gunsmoke (tie) 86. Justified, Sgt. Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show (tie) 88. Band of Brothers 89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In 90. The Prisoner 91. Absolutely Fabulous and The Muppet Show (tie)
93. Boardwalk Empire 94. Will & Grace 95. Family Ties 96. Lonesome Dove and Soap 98. The Fugitive, Late Night with David Letterman and Louie 101. Oz So, so much to talk about here. Just at a quick glimpse, I’m beyond happy to see The Wire in the top ten but there does seem to be a bit of favoritism for shows released in the past decade or so. Maybe that’s because of the television renaissance or that writers are most familiar with those shows. Other notes, is The Simpsons not making the top ten a reflection on its recent years? Are new shows like Homeland or Game of Thrones really better than Sesame Street or The Wonder Years? What shows were snubbed? Feel free to discuss all this and more below.
Writers Guild Of America Lists The 101 Best Written TV Shows Of All Time
By Germain Lussier/June 3, 2013 10:16 am EST
Let the debate begin. Sunday night, the Writers Guild of America revealed its list of the 101 “Best Written TV Series of All Time.” What took the top spot? The HBO drama The Sopranos, followed by Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family and MAS*H. Solid choices all, but are they the five best? Where do some of your other all time favorite shows rank? You’ll find shows like Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, Friends, Lost, The X-Files, South Park, Star Trek and more on the list. Check the ranking to find out how the writers’ guild lined them all up.
Thanks to the WGA for this list. 1. The Sopranos 2. Seinfeld 3. The Twilight Zone 4. All in the Family 5. MAS*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 and Your Show of Shows (tie) 43. Downton Abbey, Law & Order and Thirtysomething (tie) 46. Homicide: Life on the Street and St. Elsewhere (tie) 48. Homeland 49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 50. The Colbert Report, The Good Wife and the UK Office (tie) 53. Northern Exposure 54. The Wonder Years 55. L.A. Law 56. Sesame Street 57. Columbo 58. Fawlty Towers and The Rockford Files (tie) 60. Freaks and Geeks and Moonlighting (tie) 62. Roots 63. Everybody Loves Raymond and South Park (tie) 65. Playhouse 90 66. Dexter and the US Office (tie) 68. My So-Called Life 69. Golden Girls 70. The Andy Griffith Show 71. 24, Roseanne and The Shield 74. House and Murphy Brown (tie) 76. Barney Miller and I, Claudius (tie) 78. The Odd Couple 79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Upstairs, Downstairs (tie) 83. Get Smart 84. The Defenders and Gunsmoke (tie) 86. Justified, Sgt. Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show (tie) 88. Band of Brothers 89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In 90. The Prisoner 91. Absolutely Fabulous and The Muppet Show (tie)
93. Boardwalk Empire 94. Will & Grace 95. Family Ties 96. Lonesome Dove and Soap 98. The Fugitive, Late Night with David Letterman and Louie 101. Oz So, so much to talk about here. Just at a quick glimpse, I’m beyond happy to see The Wire in the top ten but there does seem to be a bit of favoritism for shows released in the past decade or so. Maybe that’s because of the television renaissance or that writers are most familiar with those shows. Other notes, is The Simpsons not making the top ten a reflection on its recent years? Are new shows like Homeland or Game of Thrones really better than Sesame Street or The Wonder Years? What shows were snubbed? Feel free to discuss all this and more below.
Thanks to the WGA for this list.
1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone
4. All in the Family
5. MAS*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 and Your Show of Shows (tie)
43. Downton Abbey, Law & Order and Thirtysomething (tie)
46. Homicide: Life on the Street and St. Elsewhere (tie)
48. Homeland
49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
50. The Colbert Report, The Good Wife and the UK Office (tie)
53. Northern Exposure
54. The Wonder Years
55. L.A. Law
56. Sesame Street
57. Columbo
58. Fawlty Towers and The Rockford Files (tie)
60. Freaks and Geeks and Moonlighting (tie)
62. Roots
63. Everybody Loves Raymond and South Park (tie)
65. Playhouse 90
66. Dexter and the US Office (tie)
68. My So-Called Life
69. Golden Girls
70. The Andy Griffith Show
- 24, Roseanne and The Shield
74. House and Murphy Brown (tie)
76. Barney Miller and I, Claudius (tie)
78. The Odd Couple
79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Upstairs, Downstairs (tie)
83. Get Smart
84. The Defenders and Gunsmoke (tie)
86. Justified, Sgt. Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show (tie)
88. Band of Brothers
89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
90. The Prisoner
91. Absolutely Fabulous and The Muppet Show (tie)
93. Boardwalk Empire
94. Will & Grace
95. Family Ties
96. Lonesome Dove and Soap
98. The Fugitive, Late Night with David Letterman and Louie
101. Oz
So, so much to talk about here. Just at a quick glimpse, I’m beyond happy to see The Wire in the top ten but there does seem to be a bit of favoritism for shows released in the past decade or so. Maybe that’s because of the television renaissance or that writers are most familiar with those shows. Other notes, is The Simpsons not making the top ten a reflection on its recent years? Are new shows like Homeland or Game of Thrones really better than Sesame Street or The Wonder Years? What shows were snubbed? Feel free to discuss all this and more below.
