Top 5 TV Shows of All-Time

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Come on, you guys are just giving your favorite tv shows with recency bias.

[D-train]

Come on, you guys are just giving your favorite tv shows with recency bias.

True. The Andy Griffith show is only 66 years old. lol I guess I should have went with Meet the Press....

[Sibelius Hindemith]

I wonder what Mostonmike's top 5 would be. Perhaps...

Doctor Who
Fawlty Towers
The Bugaloos
Red Dwarf
Upstairs Downstairs

[Michael K.]

Come on, you guys are just giving your favorite tv shows with recency bias.

I disagree. As a kid I came home from school, grabbed a snack and watched Flintstones and Gilligan's Island. Then I went out and did stuff outside until dinner. I wouldn't put either of those shows in my top 5. I remember watching Different Strokes with my parents, but again, not much more and wouldn't put it in my Top 5!

I played three sports a year in High School. Not a lot of time to watch TV. Saturday's were spent recovering from football while watching College Football most of the day with my buddies. Again, Cheers was all I remember really being into.

College? Come on, so much more to do. Even later in life. I worked two jobs or went to school and had a job basically from college in 1991 until 1997. I remember an awful lot of good times, but not many in front of a TV. You want my favorite moment watching TV back then it would probably be the Huskies beating Nebraska in Nebraska, or one of the Rose Bowl wins!

Today? You can stream, and watch when ever you want. Not to mention the quality is better. Jaws was a fantastic movie. But that Shark? Watch Deep Blue Sea from the early 2000s. No comparison. And CGI and Special Effects have only gotten better since that movie came out.

The Shows on my list make sense to me. Nothing about my Childhood or early adult years take me back to sitting in front of a TV set....besides live sporting events and Cheers.

[Walla Walla Dawg II]

I took this thread to mean.... your favorite TV shows of all time.

Was that right?

[D-train]

Not sure of my order, might end up editing this.

1. Game of Thrones
2. Sopranos
3. Suites
4. Cheers
5. Breaking Bad

I'm sure I've left some off, since I'm basically winging it. There are probably some shows that I have seen and would put in the top 5 that I am not thinking of.

Cheers is probably actually my #1. We used to have watch parties on Thursday night for Cheers. For the last Cheers I was working nights, raced home....we had a keg! Needless to say I didn't make it to my college class the next day. But I did have a court appearance as a result of the party!

I really need to watch the Sopranos. Good fellas is my second fav movie ever. I guess we need to start a top 5 movie thread. Should make it top 10.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

I took this thread to mean.... your favorite TV shows of all time.

Was that right?

That's just plain selfish and lazy. What's wrong with you guys?

[Sibelius Hindemith]

If i went with my favorite 5 shows it would look something like this...

Gilligan's Island
The Munsters
Wild Wild West
Star Trek
Magnum PI

with honorable mention to Leave it to Beaver, Batman, the Flintstones, Twilight Zone and Little House on the Prairie.

[Walla Walla Dawg II]

If i went with my favorite 5 shows it would look something like this...

Gilligan's Island
The Munsters
Wild Wild West
Star Trek
Magnum PI

with honorable mention to Leave it to Beaver, Batman, the Flintstones, Twilight Zone and Little House on the Prairie.

If you are going to get TOTALLY CORNEY, why not add The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Hour.

[mostonmike]

I wonder what Mostonmike's top 5 would be. Perhaps...

Doctor Who - (maybe) had some great episodes, I think everyone in the UK has their "favourite Doctor" and for me it was Tennant. So can't keep it in the Top 5
Fawlty Towers - (yes) it's genius
The Bugaloos - (no) never heard of it
Red Dwarf - (yes) also genius, that would be in my Top 5 of UK shows
Upstairs Downstairs - (no) absolutely painful, same for Downton Fkn Abbey, something the UK women watch.

Only Fools and Horses and Blackadder would be in my top 5 UK shows along with Red Dwarf and Fawlty Towers, I could spend years picking the 5th one.

BUT- I'll go with "Top 5 TV Shows of All-Time that didn't originate in the UK" to keep this as some kind of recognition of the USA's best work:

1. Family Ties - first introduction to American humour as a kid, Fox was funny and is someone I hold in high esteem.
2. Star Trek (Shatner series) - my dad loved it and I watched it with him a lot. I even remember recording all 79 episodes on VHS for him so he could watch it when he wanted. That was some task when they effectively syndicated it here every night for about 16 weeks. He watched every subsequent version whereas I couldn't, but fond memories of that show.
3. Dallas & Dynasty - strange choice but again we were wowed with the glossy production and we thought "that's what America is like" - they'd run Dallas for 22 weeks or whatever it was then we'd see the next series of Dynasty. Don't tell me you didn't go mad over "Who Shot JR" - it was incredible stuff.
4. L.A. Law - All legal procedurals were fascinating to me and Mrs Moston - we loved The Practice and Boston Legal too, remember Murder One? Great shows which we could get nowhere near producing. It's L.A. Law that wins it.
5. Cheers - bit sad that we couldn't watch it religiously over here as it was buried late on Friday nights and it was pre-DVR era, but the fact I've watched numerous episodes again-and-again suggests it stands the test of time. Friends on the other hand - a load of bollocks and I've never watched a single episode in full.

Close mentions - Lost could have been the greatest of all-time if it didn't disappear up its own arse after about 2 seasons. Diff'rent Strokes was cool. Twilight Zone was mentioned earlier and I agree - what a pity it never became a mainstream classic instead of the cult hit it is. I hear Netflix has bought Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected and that might be the one - so far Black Mirror is the best Anthology show but not strong enough for Top 5.