Monday, June 3, 2013

Writing 101...



The Writers Guild of America has released an interesting list...

Television is filled with an unmeasurable amount of shows and some are good, many are bad and a few are great.  The WGA has released a list of what they consider the top 101 television shows of all time.  Will yours be on it?  Do you agree with the top ten?  The number one of all time?  Take a look and judge for yourself.


1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone
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 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 ReportThe 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 FugitiveLate Night with David Letterman and Louie
101. Oz



A very good list although I don't know if SNL should be on that list since I've watched some pretty bad seasons of that show.  No "Supernatural"?  Blasphemy.  Taste is subjective and sometimes quality is as well, overall I like what I see.

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." has a tall mountain to climb...

7 comments:

sherrill777 said...

Some good shows, some I've never heard of. Overall, a fairly decent list though. Personally, I'd have had 'Sesame Street' higher since there's probably not too many people alive today who haven't watched at least a few episodes once upon a time. Also, although I was never a fan of either of these shows, I admit I'm surprised that neither 'Survivor' nor 'American Idol' made the list.

Thanks for sharing Honor!

Jeff Probst said...

It's a list of scripted shows so those shows wouldn't be on the list.

They're considered reality shows even if they're rigged.

Anonymous said...

I won't comment on the shows, but I can only imagine that the list is voted on by thirty-somethings. Usually the shows that make the biggest impressions are the ones you saw from mid-childhood to young adulthood.

Anonymous said...

I actually agree with the top 20, and it's nice to see both Hill Street Blues and Taxi are remembered.

I'm surprised Curb Your Enthusiasm is even on a writer's list, because (as is intimated by the title) much of that show is improvised, though based on scripted situations. Just surprised me because although it's a great show, no one, especially in the writer's guild, would name Robert Altman's "Nashville" as one of the best screenplays ever simply because of the improvisation involved, even though it's a brilliant film.

Anonymous said...

SNL doesn't have good writing? You try writing and producing a complete 90 minute show in a week and see if you don't produce any duds...

Anonymous said...

Ummmm, no "the Walking Dead"?

Anonymous said...

No Supernatural, Doctor Who or NCIS. Color me baffled.