I'm sure this thread has already been made at some point, but I didn't feel like digging it up.

It probably comes down to The Sopranos vs. The Wire, but what other shows do you guys think might qualify as the greatest TV show ever?

My vote is definitely for The Wire.

5/4/2010 8:45:26 PM

Night Court

5/4/2010 8:47:21 PM

5/4/2010 8:58:46 PM

LOST

5/4/2010 9:06:43 PM

the simpsons, duh.

5/4/2010 9:19:52 PM

the wire.

5/4/2010 9:33:35 PM

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 9:34 PM. Reason : but seriously, it's arrested development]

5/4/2010 9:34:12 PM

I actually just finished season 1 of The Wire and it's already enough for me to put that on the nominees.

That said, I will submit Twin Peaks.

5/4/2010 9:38:45 PM

season 2 of the wire solidified its status on my personal top 5

5/4/2010 9:50:22 PM

The Wire

Lost

Quote :

"That said, I will submit Twin Peaks."

maybe, but it completely fell apart on itself. thus, no.

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 10:09 PM. Reason : .]

5/4/2010 10:08:22 PM

never saw enough of the wire although i've always meant to get into it. that being said, my vote is for the sopranos since i have seen all of that. i think LOST has the best character development i've seen in a tv show though. john locke and ben linus have the most amazing character arcs i have ever seen.

5/4/2010 10:15:55 PM

it's a close call between LOST and the wire, but i need to see the end of LOST first.

5/4/2010 10:19:13 PM

Lost has a ridiculous amount of ground to cover in the final 2 episodes to even come close to being on the same level as The Wire

5/4/2010 10:21:24 PM

final 3 episodes (4 hours)

5/4/2010 10:21:50 PM

dexter?

5/4/2010 10:53:11 PM

Quote :

"Lost has an ridiculousimpossible amount of ground to cover in the final 2 episodes to even come close to being on the same level as The Wire"

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 10:58 PM. Reason : s]

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 10:59 PM. Reason : edit fail]

5/4/2010 10:58:39 PM

The character arcs of Ben Linus and John Locke simply do not compare to the character arcs of Omar Little, Stringer Bell, or even Boadie and Frank Sobotka in The Wire--and Frank Sobotka is only in one season.

5/4/2010 11:02:58 PM

All In The Family
Andy Griffith
Hill Street Blues

5/4/2010 11:13:57 PM

The Wire suffers from the classic case of being underrated so long that its now become somewhat overrated.

It was a fantastic show and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I don't think it belongs in the discussion of best ever.

5/4/2010 11:16:00 PM

5/4/2010 11:21:31 PM

Couldn't disagree more about The Wire. That show literally changed my perspective on a lot of things. It is easily the most poignant TV series I've ever seen. The entertainment value was just an added bonus, for me.

That IS how I feel about Lost, though, without the underrated part--that it's a good show that entertains me and I enjoy watching, but not one that belongs in the "best ever" discussion.

5/4/2010 11:23:39 PM

Quote :

"The character arcs of Ben Linus and John Locke simply do not compare to the character arcs of Omar Little, Stringer Bell, or even Boadie and Frank Sobotka in The Wire--and Frank Sobotka is only in one season"

i'm going to watch the wire just so i can disagree with you afterwards

and aside from his character arc, not even jesus christ is as tragic a character as john locke

[Edited on May 4, 2010 at 11:29 PM. Reason : .]

5/4/2010 11:26:14 PM

^ Whatever it takes to get you to watch it As long as you promise to do it with an open mind, not just a mind to prove me wrong.

5/4/2010 11:28:48 PM

Quote :

"It was a fantastic show and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I don't think it belongs in the discussion of best ever."

You saying that makes me think you didn't actually watch it in it's entirety. The Wire combines social commentary, gallows humor, accurate and complex characterizations and nearly flawless narrative arcs in a way that no other TV show has ever really come close to...and that's not even mentioning the excellent acting and directing that's been consistent throughout every season on The Wire.

There are really only a handful of shows you could seriously argue deserve to be considered as the best tv show ever and The Wire is easily at the top of that list...others I would include would be Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, The Sopranos, Twin Peaks, Breaking Bad, Deadwood and perhaps Mad Men. Pretty much every other show has serious flaws and inconsistencies that aren't overwhelmed by their positive attributes.

[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 12:06 AM. Reason : .]

5/5/2010 12:06:00 AM

5/5/2010 12:11:56 AM

Quote :

"My vote is definitely for The Wire."

and fwiw, I started watching it live during season 2, went back and watched season 1

hell I remember watching the Sopranos premiere up on the 12th floor of Sullivan, but it just fell off too much in the last year or two to be considered the best ever, although its a great fucking story

The Wire on the other hand, left you wanting more and more seasons...you see Marlo dip out from the party at the end, and know that the legit lifestyle isn't for him and you're like...god fucking dammit I want a 6th season

The same Marlo who wasn't even in the series during the first 2 seasons, yet those 2 seasons were also pristine

The Wire is like the NFL...great players, great teams, but nobody is bigger than the shield...and the shield is king

And I mean the NFL logo...not The Shield which while decent, was like The Wire for people too dumb to afford HBO

5/5/2010 12:30:49 AM

hands down: Dexter

and then The Wire




[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 12:32 AM. Reason : .]

5/5/2010 12:32:24 AM

Quote :

"others I would include would be Freaks and Geeks"

lol. no.

5/5/2010 7:17:15 AM

Freaks & Geeks is a great show, but I have a hard time including any show that only had 1 season into the discussion of Greatest Ever. But like i said, that one season is amazing.

The same goes with Twin Peaks, season one was incredible and then it fell apart on itself. Once the main story arc was solved everything else just couldn't hold up. It's eventual demise really hurts it in this category.

5/5/2010 7:40:37 AM

Quote :

"Freaks & Geeks is a great show, but I have a hard time including any show that only had 1 season into the discussion of Greatest Ever. But like i said, that one season is amazing."

Definitely. I love, love, love that show, but with one season I can't include it in my thoughts for greatest show ever.

Also, I could never get into lost. Watched up through 3 seasons I think and it seemed ok but I didn't get hooked at all like so many other people did. I'm surprised so many people here are considering it the best TV show of all time. /shrug

5/5/2010 7:55:06 AM

I thought The Wire was pretty awesome and I have no objection to other people saying it's the greatest show ever


I just tend to think more highly of shows with a better rewatchability factor like AD or Seinfeld so I think you'd have to break it down into Greatest Drama ever and so on and so forth. Like Dexter is one of my favorite shows but I'm not exactly sitting down and putting in a random disc of a season to kill time.

5/5/2010 8:00:59 AM

My top 2 are dexter and arrested develpoment.

I couldn't make it through the first season of Lost, but I heard so much bad stuff about it from friends, I'm surprised it's getting this many votes too.

I haven't seen the wire, but I think I'll pick up the dvds this summer and have some marathons. Sounds like I would love this show.

5/5/2010 8:34:09 AM

lost had its faults early yes, but the character development and seeing everything come full circle has really paid off for those of us that stuck it out through the years or caught up on dvd and grew to love it.

Seinfeld and AD are great shows and like someone said they are rewatchable over and over again and both perhaps deserve honorable mention or "greatest ever" in another category but when i think about shows that could be the greatest ever I tend to think about shows that have made me fall in love with characters and grow, laugh, cry, and suffer right along with them. Shows like Lost and the Wire are so great about that. you can literally feel the same emotions the characters do and when they fail or succeed the writing is so compelling that you feel it too. And when it all comes together in the end the pay off is something that a sitcom just can't deliver.

5/5/2010 8:50:57 AM

LOST
Seinfield
Sex and the City
Nip/Tuck (well... I guess this is debatable.. the last few seasons were meh compared to the first ones but I still watched)
The Golden Girls
Rocko's Modern Life

5/5/2010 8:59:10 AM

M*A*S*H

5/5/2010 9:02:40 AM

For me, LOST is definitely the most impressive TV show I've ever watched. To keep things as cohesive as they have with the sheer number of characters and scope of the plot has been a goddamn feat. It's definitely had some missteps and bad episodes/story arcs here and there, but by and large it's been incredibly consistent without becoming stale. Of course, it's biggest strength is the quality of the acting and that's what really puts it in the conversation for greatest TV show ever.

[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 9:08 AM. Reason : :]

5/5/2010 9:07:59 AM

^^ MASH is the best TV show ever. You can not appreciate what it did for TV at the time (and going forward.)

I would slot the The Wire into 2nd place though.

5/5/2010 9:53:40 AM

5/5/2010 9:55:45 AM

This thread should be called "the greatest show you've seen most recently". Or maybe its just luck that most of the "greatest shows of all time" were made in the past decade (and all happen to be American too).

My knowledge of TV is kinda limited, but if I had to take a guess it would probably be Gunsmoke. It set the standard for the hour-long drama format and entertained viewers longer than almost any other show in History. I figure they were doing something right. But like I said thats just a guess.

Doctor Who would probably also be up there. Even though the show has been on and off for almost 50 years, they are still able to keep coming with interesting ideas and character developments.

[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 10:15 AM. Reason : ``]

5/5/2010 10:14:23 AM

The Wire
Frasier
MASH
Seinfeld
Lost


for me.

5/5/2010 10:33:16 AM

Wanderlust

5/5/2010 10:40:05 AM

I haven't seen too many, but for me personally its:

Dramas:
The Wire
Sopranos
Rome
Deadwood
BSG

Sitcoms:
Seinfeld
AD
Sunny

5/5/2010 11:07:35 AM

Quote :

"Freaks & Geeks is a great show, but I have a hard time including any show that only had 1 season into the discussion of Greatest Ever. But like i said, that one season is amazing."

Not including a show because it only lasted one season makes no sense, you have to judge by the quality not the quantity.


Lost being included is laughable, especially given it's extremely inconsistent nature. I can name at least a dozen episodes that are basically worthless, probably more and the current season isn't doing the show any favors either.

5/5/2010 11:23:02 AM

true, but shouldn't we also weigh the show's effect on history (any. tv or human), (pop) culture, and lasting influence? I'm not saying F&G doesn't have these qualities, but i still think they are a little too light to be considered the greatest show ever. the lasting influence i have is that i will always be wanting more F&G

I think these are reasons why i agree with a poster above that said that we are perhaps overlooking some of the classics like gunsmoke or mash. it really is an impossible task to decide though.

[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 11:42 AM. Reason : we]

5/5/2010 11:41:27 AM

Duck Tales

5/5/2010 11:48:25 AM

Quote :

"but shouldn't we also weigh the show's effect on history (any. tv or human), (pop) culture, and lasting influence?"

Judd Apatow is a comedy colossus in Hollywood, James Franco and Seth Rogen are bonafide movie stars, and pretty much the rest of the principal cast have had successful acting careers since then (at least in part because of that show). I'd say Freaks and Geeks more than meets that criteria.

Quote :

"I think these are reasons why i agree with a poster above that said that we are perhaps overlooking some of the classics like gunsmoke or mash. it really is an impossible task to decide though."

yeah, this thread is definitely biased towards more recent show, but none of us were born in the 50s or 60s so we weren't exposed to a lot of the older shows.

5/5/2010 11:53:55 AM

Quote :

"Judd Apatow is a comedy colossus in Hollywood, James Franco and Seth Rogen are bonafide movie stars, and pretty much the rest of the principal cast have had successful acting careers since then (at least in part because of that show). I'd say Freaks and Geeks more than meets that criteria."

you are 100% correct. F&G does deserve a big case in this discussion.

5/5/2010 11:58:01 AM

If there were one recent show that would stand up to any of the older classics, I would think it'd be The Wire. That's one of my reasons for picking it as the greatest. I think 50 years from now when we look back at TV history, The Wire will stand out. I think the legacy of its accomplishments and commentary will only grow with time.

EDIT: Also, I fucking love Freaks & Geeks. If we're bringing sitcoms/comedies into the realm, I would absolutely put it up there with Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, etc. I also think South Park deserves consideration for comedies (not sure if that's been mentioned). The writers of that show are a lot smarter than the average Joe might realize.

[Edited on May 5, 2010 at 12:00 PM. Reason : .]

5/5/2010 11:58:24 AM

Star Trek.

No other TV show has spawned 4 other series and 11 movies.

5/5/2010 12:00:21 PM

fawlty towers

5/5/2010 12:01:07 PM