Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:06:48 — 171.0MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
Two weeks ago we kicked off our Top 100 TV Shows Countdown, and there’s been an amazing response to it! Are you ready for Part 3 of our countdown? Where will your favorite shows rank? Tune into GeekCast Radio and find out! Here’s Part 3 of the GCRN Top 100 TV Shows Countdown. This episode we reveal #50 through #26! And as always “UNLEASH THE GEEK IN YOU!”
Geeks
Steve “Megatron” Phillips
Dan “MovieRevolt” Clark
Kevin “OptimusSolo” Thompson
Amanda “HardCandiMandi” Kosowiec
Mike “TFG1” Blanchard
UNLEASH THE TV GEEK IN YOU!!
Still getting through the entire episode had to comment on Boy Meets World though. Way too high, and people arguing it should be in the top 20 of all time blows my mind a little bit. It was a decent show for its time but lets not go crazy here. The stories are recycled from so many other shows and the characters tend to complain more than they joke.Went downhill with a lot of characters in the later seasons especially Eric. It was TGIF deep. None of those shows were all that extradoary. Clearly those who voted for it that high are basing it more on nostalgia than the quality of the show
Obviously based on my comments on the record…I agree
I could see Top 50, but agreed should not be much higher at all. Fun show for sure. Let’s not get crazy. Even listening to those that rated it high it was a lot of I watched the show when I was younger. Never a good sign for a show when you based on good it is on memories of watching when you were a kid.
To each their own I guess. Boy Meets World does deserve a spot that high iMO. It was so much better than anything else on TGIF and spoke to a generation of kids and still does. One of the goals of a TV show is to build relationships with its audience. BMW did that no doubut.
That’s why I voted for it. It spoke to me at that age. I was a kid going through a terrible divorce and this was one of those outlets that showed me what a kid was supposed to learn and experience. It’s still my #1 over shows like Full House and the majority of the TGIF content.
I like Full House but not for any lessons they taught us. Moreso for Jesse and Joey and their jingles career lol But agreed that BMW held true then, and it still does today.
I still watch BMW in current years. One of the few shows of my past I can return to and enjoy. A lot of programs from when I was a kid it’s better with the nostalgia of having watched over watching again. That’s why I rated it that high, but it was to also ensure it hit the Top 50 at least. I think it at least deserves that for the impact it’s made compared to others like it when it came out.
I had seen BMW when I was younger yes, but since GMW came on the scene….. right before it launched ABC Family ran BMW over and over. I watched the entire series 4 times in the past 2 years. So I have been looking at the series as an adult, without nostalgia glasses on. I know @peterfaith:disqus made the nostalgia comment. Looking at BMW especially the latter seasons where the kids are growing or almost grown up… that’s where the emotion hits me, because of what they all go through. It’s one of the better family shows to come out of the 90s.
I will admit Eric does get more stupid as it goes on. Funny yes but it demeans his earlier version of the character by quite a bit. He was brotherly then appears to have done acid at one point. He does periodically come out of it but still.
But look at Eric at the end of the series…… he does come out of it, and the whole in the future thing at Feeny’s retirement….. that came true!!! in GMW! Eric is the guy that understands people. He always was.
Yea I don’t see it. Their drama was never very extraordinary for me. I liked the comedy but when they got serious I hoping for it to end. Its better than shows like Full House or Family Matters I grant you. I could see it being the highest TGIF show. Shows I didn’t love but I think were better at handling similar situations where like
Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, Party of Five, or classics like Cosby, The Waltons, Facts of Life. I never saw BMW as more than a flash in the pan show that was fun while it lasted. And the spinoff series has tighten my grip on that because that show has been plainly awful. Just another paint by numbers Disney show.
Agree the shows you listed Did drama much better, especially party of five
I’m probably the same. I remember liking the first season when it came out. It doesn’t hold up well but the Mr. Turner years were always my favorite.
I watch Boy Meets World to this day. I can see why some would question it but that show holds a special place in my heart. It was like my life in TV form. Minus having a girlfriend. But being the dork everyone made fun of. That was me!
Yea that goes back to my point though. Its more of a personal bias than overall quality of the show. How many shows from the 70’s 80’s and 90’s did what it did, but better? But just because of that personal relationship it got ranked that high.
Thoughts on Futurama
Agreed!
Still getting through the entire episode had to comment on Boy Meets World though. Way too high, and people arguing it should be in the top 20 of all time blows my mind a little bit. It was a decent show for its time but lets not go crazy here. The stories are recycled from so many other shows and the characters tend to complain more than they joke.Went downhill with a lot of characters in the later seasons especially Eric. It was TGIF deep. None of those shows were all that extradoary. Clearly those who voted for it that high are basing it more on nostalgia than the quality of the show
Obviously based on my comments on the record…I agree
I could see Top 50, but agreed should not be much higher at all. Fun show for sure. Let’s not get crazy. Even listening to those that rated it high it was a lot of I watched the show when I was younger. Never a good sign for a show when you based on good it is on memories of watching when you were a kid.
To each their own I guess. Boy Meets World does deserve a spot that high iMO. It was so much better than anything else on TGIF and spoke to a generation of kids and still does. One of the goals of a TV show is to build relationships with its audience. BMW did that no doubut.
That’s why I voted for it. It spoke to me at that age. I was a kid going through a terrible divorce and this was one of those outlets that showed me what a kid was supposed to learn and experience. It’s still my #1 over shows like Full House and the majority of the TGIF content.
I like Full House but not for any lessons they taught us. Moreso for Jesse and Joey and their jingles career lol But agreed that BMW held true then, and it still does today.
I still watch BMW in current years. One of the few shows of my past I can return to and enjoy. A lot of programs from when I was a kid it’s better with the nostalgia of having watched over watching again. That’s why I rated it that high, but it was to also ensure it hit the Top 50 at least. I think it at least deserves that for the impact it’s made compared to others like it when it came out.
I had seen BMW when I was younger yes, but since GMW came on the scene….. right before it launched ABC Family ran BMW over and over. I watched the entire series 4 times in the past 2 years. So I have been looking at the series as an adult, without nostalgia glasses on. I know @peterfaith:disqus made the nostalgia comment. Looking at BMW especially the latter seasons where the kids are growing or almost grown up… that’s where the emotion hits me, because of what they all go through. It’s one of the better family shows to come out of the 90s.
I will admit Eric does get more stupid as it goes on. Funny yes but it demeans his earlier version of the character by quite a bit. He was brotherly then appears to have done acid at one point. He does periodically come out of it but still.
But look at Eric at the end of the series…… he does come out of it, and the whole in the future thing at Feeny’s retirement….. that came true!!! in GMW! Eric is the guy that understands people. He always was.
I always enjoyed the earlier seasons more. The later seasons got way too melodramatic at times. It became a different show after they left high school. I prefered it when the focus was on Shaun and Corey’s relationship more than Corey and Topanga’s.
I’m probably the same. I remember liking the first season when it came out. It doesn’t hold up well but the Mr. Turner years were always my favorite.
Yea I don’t see it. Their drama was never very extraordinary for me. I liked the comedy but when they got serious I hoping for it to end. Its better than shows like Full House or Family Matters I grant you. I could see it being the highest TGIF show. Shows I didn’t love but I think were better at handling similar situations where like
Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, Party of Five, or classics like Cosby, The Waltons, Facts of Life. I never saw BMW as more than a flash in the pan show that was fun while it lasted. And the spinoff series has tighten my grip on that because that show has been plainly awful. Just another paint by numbers Disney show.
Agree the shows you listed Did drama much better, especially party of five
Yes I don’t disagree. Boy Meets World certainly benefited from the age group of those voting.
I watch Boy Meets World to this day. I can see why some would question it but that show holds a special place in my heart. It was like my life in TV form. Minus having a girlfriend. But being the dork everyone made fun of. That was me!
Yea that goes back to my point though. Its more of a personal bias than overall quality of the show. How many shows from the 70’s 80’s and 90’s did what it did, but better? But just because of that personal relationship it got ranked that high.
Thoughts on Futurama
Agreed!
Initial thoughts are that The Honeymooners is way too low. How can anyone not put that
in their Top 100 TV shows? Seriously one of the all-time greats. Arrested Development is one of my all time favorite comedies. Personally I would have it higher, but hey it’s in a good spot. I always preferred Married…With Children. Roseanne was unbearable to watch. Yea John Goodman is great, she on the other hand I can do without. Super happy that Monty Python’s Flying Circus and MST3k made the list. I did not expect that at all. Both tend to be overlooked, and each was comedy genius in its own way
Yeah if I hadn’t at least seen an episode I didn’t post it. That’s why I didn’t put Honeymooners. I’m not a fan of British comedy or Monty Python or the current or previous lineup of comedies. Different tastes I guess. The MST3K I enjoyed as well as Married.
Still though how could you not put a vote in for Honeymooners? Just based on its place in TV history.
Simply forgot it existed for the sheer fact I haven’t seen it. I missed a few others due to that reason too as I discovered when they were revealed. Would have put it on there as I know the references in it but was overlooked.
I was shocked by the lack of love for Honeymooners. I thought it would be top 10 for sure.
Yep. It was #8 on my list.
Weird it didn’t post. Trying Again. Love this moment.
Love that scene, and oddly I saw this meme long before I started watching the show.
Some great shows went down this week. Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Honeymooners, Friends, Sherlock, Wonder Years, among the best in my opinion. Only shows I question are The Flash being so high. Too recent and not that amazing. The A-Team was good for its time but much better shows like Mission: Impossible that could make the list. Family Guy I get why its here. Just not for me.
The Flash “not that amazing”???? really? If compared to shows of the past I could almost agree, but comparing with the shows of today it’s my #1 fav network superhero show!
I think it being the #1 Superhero show would be the best answer here.
Wasn’t saying the Top 50 but Top 100. I think this will be the one to get the awards in the future not the others. There are a some shows in the Top 100 we’ve done without awards and they’ve made it too. Still think our list is better than IGN despite some small misgivings on my liking placements.
Didn’t in the episode you indicate your rank it in your top 10? What IGN list are you talking about? I don’t get what that has to do with anything. I like the list overall. Just a certain ones I have an issue with and yet of seen an argument for why the Flash was ranked so high.
I said it was in my personal list. But that was partially to get it A on the list and B because it’s my top superhero show.
I was mentioning IGN because they tend to not give reason to a list. Agree to disagree and move on I guess.
The issue with “The Flash” is that it’s still in it’s infancy. Next season it could totally shit the bed and get canned. I do think it ranked too high, and for someone to have it at number 3 was borderline madness considering the grief that “Scrubs” got for ranking number 9 on someone’s list (mine).
To each their own I suppose. It makes for a great talking point on these here boards though!
I made that same point as well. And Scrubs was a very good show that mixed drama and comedy. In fact, the style of comedy is similar to shows like Brooklyn Nine Nine or Arrested Development, which are quirky and are more about the goofy characters and their interactions with each other.
The Flash is where I disagree. But I don’t find any of the other shows you’ve listed to be that amazing. I get too why they showed up. I feel have in some cases they have been replaced with newer shows that don’t seem so dated. Some of the newer ones there or more modern I just didn’t care for.
Thinking The Flash is a Top 10 show of all time screams fanboyism to me. When people can’t separate themselves enough to look at TV in general and realize its not nearly as good as shows like MASH, All in the Family, Roots, Band of Brothers I could go on. You are showing up to a 5 star restaurant and ordering Burger King.
Regardless if it does or not, I find it to be one of my current Top 10. Not saying it should be that on the official Top 100 as it really isn’t. The only one you mentioned above I enjoyed was MASH. And even that isn’t my favorite of shows. It’s in my Top 75 but still not one of my favorites overall.
As far as Marvel and Netflix, I am not a Marvel fan so their shows and the characters chosen aren’t on my particular tastes or radar. I watch them or try to make it 6 episodes and if it isn’t my thing, I move on. I enjoy almost all of DC’s TV, just not their films.
Also the stipulations we had were a show had to have one full season or more to be counted. It hasn’t had much time to prove itself but the cast, acting and story are the most solid and fun out of all the superhero shows I’ve watched so far. Again not disagreeing that it shouldn’t be in the Top 10 but of what I’ve watched it’s in my personal Top 10 at present.
I would have put Heroes Reborn in too had it qualified. It’s done better than Seasons 2-4 of Heroes and made it more like what Season 2 should have been with sprinkling of other characters.
None of that explains how you could rank Flash as a Top 10 or 100 show of all time. Okay its better than other superhero shows. For one I don’t know how true that is cause the original Adventures of Superman was around equally as good for its time. Add its not like that’s a tough crowd to compete in.
The argument here isn’t if Flash is good. It is does it belong with some of the all time greats. Which is crazy that is a position anyone would take. What argument is there that Flash belongs in the category? I’ll I’m seeing or hearing is you based it just on the fact you enjoyed it. That’s not much of anything to rank a show bye to be honest. Hugely subjective to say the least.
I’m being honest. I enjoyed it. That being said, I found the CAST, ACTING, STORIES as I mentioned above to be very strong by comparison to various other Superhero shows presently on or in the past. I find the color palette, special effects and aesthetics and care to the odd creatures or abilities to be better than some in this category as well. I wasn’t saying my bias wasn’t there. I was stating that I feel it is superior in those senses to the others. I’m not running in say “uh huh or nu uh” like other people do, I’m speculating based on the first and partial 2nd seasons it is better. Again same reason you like the shows you do and the ones I do, it’s a agree to disagree. The bias is eliminated with the culmination of 30+ lists arguing otherwise on the other side of the argument.
Same reason I disprove of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Honeymooners, Friends. I dislike their story-telling cast and the style or feel of the shows. I realize the notoriety of Sherlock, Wonder Years and Honeymooners. But those don’t resonate with me and so weren’t on my list. Same reason some of the other hosts missed other shows because of the way they view what they watch or dislike modern TV.
Yes there is bias I get that, but there is also common sense. I wouldn’t rank Arrested Development as a Top 10 Show because even though I love it I can see it doesn’t deserve it. And liking CAST, ACTING, STORIES is not much or an argument for something being in a top 10. Are you ranking solely off of what you prefer? You don’t account for anything else? Shouldn’t you as someone who is a part of this project do your best to remove personal biases? It is a very elementary level way or judging something if you just list based on what you currently enjoy now.
I do have personal biases but I also had a lot of shows I don’t particularly love on there too. I voted for what I’ve watched some of even if it wasn’t something I watched religiously. But we each have our own opinions of what shows fit tastes and that shows up regardless. I do my best to rank shows that I don’t like that have merit. most of those made the list regardless.
Attacking me isn’t proving anything besides you’re hating the fact I voted for the Flash and it made it. Can’t say enough that there were 30+ lists that made this happen, wasn’t just me.
How am I attacking you? I am asking you questions on how you rank things because I HONESTLY have no clue what your decision process is. Maybe my mistake was assuming there was a process to begin with. My apologies.
It just seems like it because of how the Flash convo has gone on ALL day.
I don’t know how much plainer I can make this to the same person who doesn’t understand WHY the Flintstones deserves to be on the list or the love behind it.
I voted on shows for multiple methods. One to be sure for it’s notoriety it even hit the list, whether it is still watchable now as compared to nostalgia glasses, whether it’s talked about, whether I’ve seen the show, how much I remember it and whether it should be in a Top 100 period. If I hadn’t seen the show, it’s hard for me to rank it fairly or know it’s place so I omitted those. In addition if the show EX: Scrubs or Friends was omitted it’s because the premise and the show were terrible in that I couldn’t bare to watch it despite the people who enjoyed it. I did vote on plenty of shows that I didn’t much care for knowing they needed to be on the list.
I’d like to see how you grill others on their list? Or how you would fix the accountability of everyone who voted. Despite what I ranked it you don’t believe the Flash should be here. Which is your opinion but some of the other 30+ list givers thought it was good enough to be on their lists too.
Said my piece and cya next episode.
While it makes for some interesting surprises, ranking shows according to personal tastes greatly skews the rankings. People putting things like The Flash and Supernatural in their top ten scores them more points. I’m surprised that with 29 (?) contributors there are so many of the shows only making it onto 10 or more lists. It makes me wonder if some people only completed a top 10, 20, or 50 list.
I’ll be honest and say I could only do a top 75. There’s a bunch of shows that have made the list that have never travelled to this side of the world, and there’s a bunch of shows I had on my list that never travelled in the States. I’ve just been going through my list and there’s a TON of shows that haven’t appeared, and at this stage are unlikely to. I suspect that there’s a lot like that on some of the other lists. I could have filled 100 spots, but it would have been a case of just putting a show down for the sake of it, not because it deserved it. Like Gotham for instance. I enjoyed the first season, but judging by the conversation in the last three shows I may have been the only one!
Can’t speak for everyone but most of us did a Top 100. I did Top 100 and there were a lot of shows I had to choose between. Personal tastes or not with that big a pool doesn’t let them get where they are. That being said there are plans to correct it in the future.
Man, I am agreeing with you. Preach on!
Honestly surprised Flash isn’t higher to be honest. A show I like but its top 80 or 90 tops.
Agreed.
As you can tell I’m a huge Flash fan all around. I liked the 90’s series. Yea I’m not afraid to admit it. Getting my bias out of the way if I were to rank it I’d probably put it around where it landed. Yes it may be too high, but maybe its blind loyalty or wishful thinking I see it becoming even better as the years come on. The way they are laying out their story lines is brilliant. They are setting up so much to use for years to come. But still have a great sense of whats going on now. Its not high art okay yea. I get that. It is though for me one of the best things comic book related period. Movies included.
Agreed
Odd episode that Married with Children was just in front of Roseanne and The Colbert Report just beat David Letterman. I would have flipped flopped each of them. All are great but that would be my preferred ranking.
Hey we agree!!
Similar to last time I’ll start with the good surprises:
Mystery Science Theater 3000, The A-Team, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus making the list. I did not think any of them stood a chance.
The Flash landing in the Top 50. Man I’m loving that show. DJ (who was great btw) was right on with how the show benefits greatly by strong supporting actors.
Boy Meets World in the Top 50. Personal favorite. Shaun and Corey are OG’s.
The Bad Surprises:
David Letterman beating Johnny Carson. Never watch much of either mind you. Based on rep you’d think Carson would be higher.
Honeymooners so low. Funny how you had Honeymooners and Futurama in the same episode cause when I think of Honeymooners I think of Futurama and the 20th Century Museum that mistook the Honeymooners quote for a phrase about space travel.
The ones I’m still not sure on.
Lost- It’s a show I loved, hated , loved, hated, and loved.(Sometimes in the same episode. Top 30 makes sense but part of me thinks it’s a tad high.
Friends at 41 or 42. Can’t remember exactly. Honestly a show I hated. All the characters were super annoying. I get why its here though. Even I can’t deny it was loved and still is.
double agreed especially on Friends!!!!
I could see the Carson and Letterman issue but I always preferred Letterman. Can’t deny Carson was a legend though.
I love that Lost was where it was, well wish it was higher. I’m on the side that the finale was great. People wanted everything solved and it would be impossible. That show had me hooked from the start and never let go.
Mike, in the Honeymousers, the Jackie Gleeson voice is provided by Daws Butler. You can hear him doing the same voice as Fred in in the pilot episode of the Flintstones, known as The Flagstones.
ahhh cool thanks!!!! Man Daws nailed Gleason’s voice didn’t he?
Initial thoughts are that The Honeymooners is way too low. How can anyone not put that
in their Top 100 TV shows? Seriously one of the all-time greats. Arrested Development is one of my all time favorite comedies. Personally I would have it higher, but hey it’s in a good spot. I always preferred Married…With Children. Roseanne was unbearable to watch. Yea John Goodman is great, she on the other hand I can do without. Super happy that Monty Python’s Flying Circus and MST3k made the list. I did not expect that at all. Both tend to be overlooked, and each was comedy genius in its own way
Yeah if I hadn’t at least seen an episode I didn’t post it. That’s why I didn’t put Honeymooners. I’m not a fan of British comedy or Monty Python or the current or previous lineup of comedies. Different tastes I guess. The MST3K I enjoyed as well as Married.
Still though how could you not put a vote in for Honeymooners? Just based on its place in TV history.
Simply forgot it existed for the sheer fact I haven’t seen it. I missed a few others due to that reason too as I discovered when they were revealed. Would have put it on there as I know the references in it but was overlooked.
I was shocked by the lack of love for Honeymooners. I thought it would be top 10 for sure.
Yep. It was #8 on my list.
Listening to the show now. Just going to comment on a few things now. For once, I am going to agree with Dan. The Honeymooners is a show deserving of a much higher spot. I had it at #8 on my list.
GCRN definitely has a superhero and genre show bias. The first two seasons of Arrow and about half of season three were very strong. But it didn’t make my list because I consider so many other shows better for various reasons. The Flash is doing well, but it’s another young show and I do not feel it is a top 50 show, nor a top 100 show. Jesse L. Martin and others on the cast are great. Joe is my favorite character, and, like Diggle and Felicity on Arrow, he grounds the show. He somehow makes the lines that seem cliche work. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the series immensely, but I have to consider the caliber of show it is compared to 50-60 years of TV. It’s like people want to say that it’s great because it is firing so well, and they poo poo Arrow because it lost its way last season. Well, Flash is only 1/3 of the way into season two right now. What happens if it goes off the rails this season or next? It’s too soon to call this a top 50 (or 100) show of all-time. If we’d done this list before Arrow season 3, I imagine it would have had a much higher ranking, as people seem to vote for what is hot currently without considering the vast amount of TV history.
Good to see Chappelle’s Show on the list. I think it is in a good spot. I actually had it at 49. As DJ said, it was knocking it out of the park Everyone was talking about those skits. There were so many unforgettable and hilarious skits.
The A-Team did not make my list. I enjoyed watching it as a kid, but as iconic as that show may be, I am like Kevin in that I would put some other 80’s shows ahead of it.
Mike hasn’t seen MST3K?!!
nope never.
We certainly do have a superhero bias no doubt. I only voted for one superhero show at number 100. Oddly though Agents of Shield didn’t make it because of GCRN, Well only one member of GCRN voted for it, the rest was elsewhere.
I believe I only had one as well
I don’t remember where I placed David Letterman on my list, but I do remember that I listed it as NBC’s Late Night With David Letterman. I’m guessing those were combined.
Letterman’s later years are weird for me, because I grew up with him as the wacky late night host on the frat party talk show after Carson. The Letterman I remember and found more entertaining was the guy who jumped into the velcro wall, dropped bottles of soda off the building, and swam in a giant bowl cereal. His NBC days were wild.
He was actually a lot more like Conan.
Then hopefully Conan will mello with age! Conan for me….. honestly I’ve tried watching the show…. but when he does the camera in his face thing… ugh I change the channel immediately. And the ads that TBS creates for him ugh… no ty!!!
Conan #1!
At this point I’d say Colbert on late show is the only 1 I even wanna watch.
That’s when Letterman was in his Prime. Nowadays he was the usual late night host of the past.
Letterman was never a usual Late Night host honestly. His style was always his own. Nowadays he’s probably playing golf enjoying retirement.
They weren’t combined. Same thing with Conan and all of his shows. And all other hosts. If I did combine them it would have been a lot higher.
Yay, Parks and Rec. It’s one of the shows we talk about most at work. Especially during lunch time. Meat Tornado is a running joke with all of us.
Weird it didn’t post. Trying Again. Love this moment.
Love that scene, and oddly I saw this meme long before I started watching the show.
Ron is the man. I quote him all the time.
Am I the only one who found it weird that Kevin though Married with Children was too crass but likes Family Guy?
Yeah we’re all a mixed up bunch. That’s why the list mixes work well for us. It is funny but he also dislikes half the shows that showed up it seems. Or at least their placement.
I actually had neither show on my list…
Not a huge fan of either but I had them.
That’s fair. Just seemed weird to me cause I would think if Married with Children was too much Family Guy would have the same effect. Not that you can’t do that mind you. Laugh at whatever you want. I tend to lump their sense of humor together.
I can see that. I only like certain seasons and episodes of family guy…mostly the ones with the least toilet humor
Frankly, I was more shocked that he didn’t like Monty Python.
Me too!
Hey we agree!!
Some great shows went down this week. Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Honeymooners, Friends, Sherlock, Wonder Years, among the best in my opinion. Only shows I question are The Flash being so high. Too recent and not that amazing. The A-Team was good for its time but much better shows like Mission: Impossible that could make the list. Family Guy I get why its here. Just not for me.
The Flash “not that amazing”???? really? If compared to shows of the past I could almost agree, but comparing with the shows of today it’s my #1 fav network superhero show!
I think it being the #1 Superhero show would be the best answer here.
I like the show but lets not go crazy. Top 50 show of all time? Of all time. It hasn’t won anything and its Dark Knight level of greatness. I mean I wouldn’t put any superhero show in the top 50 to be honest.
Wasn’t saying the Top 50 but Top 100. I think this will be the one to get the awards in the future not the others. There are a some shows in the Top 100 we’ve done without awards and they’ve made it too. Still think our list is better than IGN despite some small misgivings on my liking placements.
Didn’t in the episode you indicate your rank it in your top 10? What IGN list are you talking about? I don’t get what that has to do with anything. I like the list overall. Just a certain ones I have an issue with and yet of seen an argument for why the Flash was ranked so high.
I said it was in my personal list. But that was partially to get it A on the list and B because it’s my top superhero show.
I was mentioning IGN because they tend to not give reason to a list. Agree to disagree and move on I guess.
The issue with “The Flash” is that it’s still in it’s infancy. Next season it could totally shit the bed and get canned. I do think it ranked too high, and for someone to have it at number 3 was borderline madness considering the grief that “Scrubs” got for ranking number 9 on someone’s list (mine).
To each their own I suppose. It makes for a great talking point on these here boards though!
I made that same point as well. And Scrubs was a very good show that mixed drama and comedy. In fact, the style of comedy is similar to shows like Brooklyn Nine Nine or Arrested Development, which are quirky and are more about the goofy characters and their interactions with each other.
The Flash is where I disagree. But I don’t find any of the other shows you’ve listed to be that amazing. I get too why they showed up. I feel have in some cases they have been replaced with newer shows that don’t seem so dated. Some of the newer ones there or more modern I just didn’t care for.
Thinking The Flash is a Top 10 show of all time screams fanboyism to me. When people can’t separate themselves enough to look at TV in general and realize its not nearly as good as shows like MASH, All in the Family, Roots, Band of Brothers I could go on. You are showing up to a 5 star restaurant and ordering Burger King.
Regardless if it does or not, I find it to be one of my current Top 10. Not saying it should be that on the official Top 100 as it really isn’t. The only one you mentioned above I enjoyed was MASH. And even that isn’t my favorite of shows. It’s in my Top 75 but still not one of my favorites overall.
As far as Marvel and Netflix, I am not a Marvel fan so their shows and the characters chosen aren’t on my particular tastes or radar. I watch them or try to make it 6 episodes and if it isn’t my thing, I move on. I enjoy almost all of DC’s TV, just not their films.
Also the stipulations we had were a show had to have one full season or more to be counted. It hasn’t had much time to prove itself but the cast, acting and story are the most solid and fun out of all the superhero shows I’ve watched so far. Again not disagreeing that it shouldn’t be in the Top 10 but of what I’ve watched it’s in my personal Top 10 at present.
I would have put Heroes Reborn in too had it qualified. It’s done better than Seasons 2-4 of Heroes and made it more like what Season 2 should have been with sprinkling of other characters.
None of that explains how you could rank Flash as a Top 10 or 100 show of all time. Okay its better than other superhero shows. For one I don’t know how true that is cause the original Adventures of Superman was around equally as good for its time. Add its not like that’s a tough crowd to compete in.
The argument here isn’t if Flash is good. It is does it belong with some of the all time greats. Which is crazy that is a position anyone would take. What argument is there that Flash belongs in the category? I’ll I’m seeing or hearing is you based it just on the fact you enjoyed it. That’s not much of anything to rank a show bye to be honest. Hugely subjective to say the least.
I’m being honest. I enjoyed it. That being said, I found the CAST, ACTING, STORIES as I mentioned above to be very strong by comparison to various other Superhero shows presently on or in the past. I find the color palette, special effects and aesthetics and care to the odd creatures or abilities to be better than some in this category as well. I wasn’t saying my bias wasn’t there. I was stating that I feel it is superior in those senses to the others. I’m not running in say “uh huh or nu uh” like other people do, I’m speculating based on the first and partial 2nd seasons it is better. Again same reason you like the shows you do and the ones I do, it’s a agree to disagree. The bias is eliminated with the culmination of 30+ lists arguing otherwise on the other side of the argument.
Same reason I disprove of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Honeymooners, Friends. I dislike their story-telling cast and the style or feel of the shows. I realize the notoriety of Sherlock, Wonder Years and Honeymooners. But those don’t resonate with me and so weren’t on my list. Same reason some of the other hosts missed other shows because of the way they view what they watch or dislike modern TV.
Yes there is bias I get that, but there is also common sense. I wouldn’t rank Arrested Development as a Top 10 Show because even though I love it I can see it doesn’t deserve it. And liking CAST, ACTING, STORIES is not much or an argument for something being in a top 10. Are you ranking solely off of what you prefer? You don’t account for anything else? Shouldn’t you as someone who is a part of this project do your best to remove personal biases? It is a very elementary level way or judging something if you just list based on what you currently enjoy now.
I do have personal biases but I also had a lot of shows I don’t particularly love on there too. I voted for what I’ve watched some of even if it wasn’t something I watched religiously. But we each have our own opinions of what shows fit tastes and that shows up regardless. I do my best to rank shows that I don’t like that have merit. most of those made the list regardless.
Attacking me isn’t proving anything besides you’re hating the fact I voted for the Flash and it made it. Can’t say enough that there were 30+ lists that made this happen, wasn’t just me.
How am I attacking you? I am asking you questions on how you rank things because I HONESTLY have no clue what your decision process is. Maybe my mistake was assuming there was a process to begin with. My apologies.
It just seems like it because of how the Flash convo has gone on ALL day.
I don’t know how much plainer I can make this to the same person who doesn’t understand WHY the Flintstones deserves to be on the list or the love behind it.
I voted on shows for multiple methods. One to be sure for it’s notoriety it even hit the list, whether it is still watchable now as compared to nostalgia glasses, whether it’s talked about, whether I’ve seen the show, how much I remember it and whether it should be in a Top 100 period. If I hadn’t seen the show, it’s hard for me to rank it fairly or know it’s place so I omitted those. In addition if the show EX: Scrubs or Friends was omitted it’s because the premise and the show were terrible in that I couldn’t bare to watch it despite the people who enjoyed it. I did vote on plenty of shows that I didn’t much care for knowing they needed to be on the list.
I’d like to see how you grill others on their list? Or how you would fix the accountability of everyone who voted. Despite what I ranked it you don’t believe the Flash should be here. Which is your opinion but some of the other 30+ list givers thought it was good enough to be on their lists too.
Said my piece and cya next episode.
Looking above this started because you questioned my opinion on Flash, and I responded. You act like I targeted you out or something. You are adamant
that it belongs and I was defending my position that it no way does. And asking you to provide evidence for not why its good or you like it, which is what you were doing, rather why it should be rank as a all time great show. Which has still yet to happen, and obviously never will because its impossible to defend that position.
And I have called out other rankings I didn’t agree with. Others I conversed with have been much better pointing out reasoning or rational for why they ranked something were.
Don’t really know what you expect me to say. I think I’ve explained it.
I think the problem is that you guys are misunderstanding what each other is asking the other to do. Steve you give great criteria on how shows were voted on but he’s asking how flash outranks other shows based on that criteria listed. He understands you like it and it’s one of the best superhero shows…but does that make it top100 worthy? It’s new so doesn’t have the longevity factor, it could have bad second or third seasons, it doesn’t have a lot of critical acclaim yet, it doesn’t have great ratings, has had some impact on the genre but not tons, so how does it rank in top 100 is all he’s asking. What other criteria did you OR OTHERS use to help it rise up the rankings. No one is attacking anyone, just trying to understand each other
That better explains the playing field Kevin.
However I felt based on what I’ve watched through Season 2 so far, it is doing very well at keeping grounded and as real as a super hero show should be. It isn’t having episodes with throwaway content and it is despite coming from Arrow holding it’s own so far. May I have been premature at lending it to the Top 100? Probably so but I felt it deserved a spot nonetheless. The others who voted, not sure what they voted on there.
I could see the critical acclaim but it is CW’s highest rated show right now to the degree of even out ranking some other stations in their programming. I had read a few reports on that in past weeks due to Season 1 and 2. So that in of itself I thought made it worthy. I think the cast being plucked from other properties that were successful and others who I’ve never heard of have lent themselves to creating a solid performance all the way around. I still feel this is the strongest of the superhero shows and if any were to make it, it would be this one. That was more or less what I was saying.
Arrow I felt is up and down through the seasons and Gotham was horrid in the first season compared to Season 2. Agents of Shield was horrid in Seasons 1-2 and is only been good this season. So again I think Flash has had the benefit of doing well by comparison to these other Superhero comic shows. Daredevil is the only one qualified to battle this show in my opinion and I disliked the show but it had done things good for the genre too.
Same token there are shows in the list with only 1 season or many that I felt shouldn’t have been here besides the fact I had barely remembered them or had seen enough to dislike it.
My main voting tactics were mentioned above but Flash was on here on my list so high for the same reason Kevin put Cosby Show in and that was to make sure it hit the list. By no means did I think it would hit where it did but I was fine with it. My show list is massive and there are some I can only watch once and others multiple times. So that being said I voted on a lot of factors. To me winning awards and acclaim doesn’t mean anything if I can’t bare to watch the show that won the awards or acclaim. I don’t take awards into consideration because my taste usually isn’t rooting for the show that wins, same goes with films.
While it makes for some interesting surprises, ranking shows according to personal tastes greatly skews the rankings. People putting things like The Flash and Supernatural in their top ten scores them more points. I’m surprised that with 29 (?) contributors there are so many of the shows only making it onto 10 or more lists. It makes me wonder if some people only completed a top 10, 20, or 50 list.
I’ll be honest and say I could only do a top 75. There’s a bunch of shows that have made the list that have never travelled to this side of the world, and there’s a bunch of shows I had on my list that never travelled in the States. I’ve just been going through my list and there’s a TON of shows that haven’t appeared, and at this stage are unlikely to. I suspect that there’s a lot like that on some of the other lists. I could have filled 100 spots, but it would have been a case of just putting a show down for the sake of it, not because it deserved it. Like Gotham for instance. I enjoyed the first season, but judging by the conversation in the last three shows I may have been the only one!
Can’t speak for everyone but most of us did a Top 100. I did Top 100 and there were a lot of shows I had to choose between. Personal tastes or not with that big a pool doesn’t let them get where they are. That being said there are plans to correct it in the future.
Man, I am agreeing with you. Preach on!
Honestly surprised Flash isn’t higher to be honest. A show I like but its top 80 or 90 tops.
Agreed.
As you can tell I’m a huge Flash fan all around. I liked the 90’s series. Yea I’m not afraid to admit it. Getting my bias out of the way if I were to rank it I’d probably put it around where it landed. Yes it may be too high, but maybe its blind loyalty or wishful thinking I see it becoming even better as the years come on. The way they are laying out their story lines is brilliant. They are setting up so much to use for years to come. But still have a great sense of whats going on now. Its not high art okay yea. I get that. It is though for me one of the best things comic book related period. Movies included.
Agreed
Similar to last time I’ll start with the good surprises:
Mystery Science Theater 3000, The A-Team, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus making the list. I did not think any of them stood a chance.
The Flash landing in the Top 50. Man I’m loving that show. DJ (who was great btw) was right on with how the show benefits greatly by strong supporting actors.
Boy Meets World in the Top 50. Personal favorite. Shaun and Corey are OG’s.
The Bad Surprises:
David Letterman beating Johnny Carson. Never watch much of either mind you. Based on rep you’d think Carson would be higher.
Honeymooners so low. Funny how you had Honeymooners and Futurama in the same episode cause when I think of Honeymooners I think of Futurama and the 20th Century Museum that mistook the Honeymooners quote for a phrase about space travel.
The ones I’m still not sure on.
Lost- It’s a show I loved, hated , loved, hated, and loved.(Sometimes in the same episode. Top 30 makes sense but part of me thinks it’s a tad high.
Friends at 41 or 42. Can’t remember exactly. Honestly a show I hated. All the characters were super annoying. I get why its here though. Even I can’t deny it was loved and still is.
double agreed especially on Friends!!!!
I could see the Carson and Letterman issue but I always preferred Letterman. Can’t deny Carson was a legend though.
I love that Lost was where it was, well wish it was higher. I’m on the side that the finale was great. People wanted everything solved and it would be impossible. That show had me hooked from the start and never let go.
Listening to the show now. Just going to comment on a few things now. For once, I am going to agree with Dan. The Honeymooners is a show deserving of a much higher spot. I had it at #8 on my list.
GCRN definitely has a superhero and genre show bias. The first two seasons of Arrow and about half of season three were very strong. But it didn’t make my list because I consider so many other shows better for various reasons. The Flash is doing well, but it’s another young show and I do not feel it is a top 50 show, nor a top 100 show. Jesse L. Martin and others on the cast are great. Joe is my favorite character, and, like Diggle and Felicity on Arrow, he grounds the show. He somehow makes the lines that seem cliche work. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the series immensely, but I have to consider the caliber of show it is compared to 50-60 years of TV. It’s like people want to say that it’s great because it is firing so well, and they poo poo Arrow because it lost its way last season. Well, Flash is only 1/3 of the way into season two right now. What happens if it goes off the rails this season or next? It’s too soon to call this a top 50 (or 100) show of all-time. If we’d done this list before Arrow season 3, I imagine it would have had a much higher ranking, as people seem to vote for what is hot currently without considering the vast amount of TV history.
Good to see Chappelle’s Show on the list. I think it is in a good spot. I actually had it at 49. As DJ said, it was knocking it out of the park Everyone was talking about those skits. There were so many unforgettable and hilarious skits.
The A-Team did not make my list. I enjoyed watching it as a kid, but as iconic as that show may be, I am like Kevin in that I would put some other 80’s shows ahead of it.
Mike hasn’t seen MST3K?!!
nope never.
We certainly do have a superhero bias no doubt. I only voted for one superhero show at number 100. Oddly though Agents of Shield didn’t make it because of GCRN, Well only one member of GCRN voted for it, the rest was elsewhere.
I believe I only had one as well
Am I the only one who found it weird that Kevin though Married with Children was too crass but likes Family Guy?
Yeah we’re all a mixed up bunch. That’s why the list mixes work well for us. It is funny but he also dislikes half the shows that showed up it seems. Or at least their placement.
I actually had neither show on my list…
Not a huge fan of either but I had them.
That’s fair. Just seemed weird to me cause I would think if Married with Children was too much Family Guy would have the same effect. Not that you can’t do that mind you. Laugh at whatever you want. I tend to lump their sense of humor together.
I can see that. I only like certain seasons and episodes of family guy…mostly the ones with the least toilet humor
Frankly, I was more shocked that he didn’t like Monty Python.
Me too!
I’m a huge Firefly fan and think its not at a bad spot. This show blew me away. The beauty of the production, the detail in the sets, the well written characters, the intelligent stories and concepts, the fun, the drama, and the excitement all amazed me. The special effects are seamlessly integrated and beautifully detailed. The manner in which the show was presented – the hand-held cameras, the use of zooms, and the occasional off-focus effect – was very intriguing, giving it a look of a show that was real and gritty, something that really caught your attention but didn’t distract you from what was being presented. It made you feel like you were really there, like it was believable.Some may say its too high cause it was only one season but give me its one season over nearly any other show.
In the Boy Meets World vs Wonder Years debate I say BMW was more fun but Wonder Years was a better show. Same thing with Roseanne and Married With Children. Roseanne better. MWC more fun.
I’ve listened to your other countdowns and I think the one I both like and at times dislike about this one is I have no idea what will be on the list and where. The other ones were somewhat predictable. This one I have
no clue whatsoever. MTS3K showing up is out of left field to me. I love the show and never would have expected it. Then something like Flash showing up so high makes me scratch my head very hard. Either way I can’t wait to hear how it finally wraps up.
Many of my rankings closely aligned this time to where they fell in the countdown. Even if you aren’t a fan of a show, you can’t deny the quality and appeal. For instance, I don’t care for Monty Python either, but I still ranked it at #40. I know it resonates and has a place on such a list. Firefly is such a case as well. Again, I tried to watch it on Netflix and I felt like I was forcing myself to watch it. Heck, my wife and I saw Serenity, the movie, in theaters, and enjoyed it. And we both loved Buffy, but neither of us could get into Firefly. I think it’s at a good spot that fans of the show can be happy with, honestly.
Roseanne I ranked at #45, just ahead of Married…with Children by two spots. I didn’t watch Roseanne much, but I have seen a few episodes in rerun and find that it still has an indelible quality. Again, despite what people may think of Roseanne, the show had qualities that warrant it being on the countdown.
Married was a show that I did watch some growing up. It launched Fox. I enjoyed it and I’m glad to see it here.
House of Cards is amazing.
Overall, I think this section of the countdown was more spot-on with the picks. I’m looking forward to the top 25.
I think you’ll be rather happy with how the top 25 works out.
The top 50 looks pretty good so far. Maybe at this stage of the countdown the wildcard personal favorites have been eliminated. Oh, and I checked out the first episode of Louie last night. I think you guys said it took a season or two to find its footing, so I’ll skip ahead. That first one wasn’t that good, IMO.
So I should have stuck with my gut of the top 10. Game of Thrones. 9. Daredevil 8. The Sopranos. 7. 24. 6. The Walking Dead. 5. Seinfeld. 4. Mad Men. 3. I Love Lucy 2. Breaking Bad. 1. MASH. I put Friends in there last time and now it goes down. I’ll go back to my original list. See how it works out.
you do know 24 is out too right? lol
oh darn. I did miss that too. Keep Crushing my dreams.
10. ER 9. Game of Thrones. 8. Daredevil 7. The Sopranos. 6. The Walking Dead. 5. Seinfeld. 4. Mad Men. 3. I Love Lucy 2. Breaking Bad. 1. MASH.
Think that works.
Well you will find out if you are right by the end of this week!
Can’t wait!
Great!
I’m a huge Firefly fan and think its not at a bad spot. This show blew me away. The beauty of the production, the detail in the sets, the well written characters, the intelligent stories and concepts, the fun, the drama, and the excitement all amazed me. The special effects are seamlessly integrated and beautifully detailed. The manner in which the show was presented – the hand-held cameras, the use of zooms, and the occasional off-focus effect – was very intriguing, giving it a look of a show that was real and gritty, something that really caught your attention but didn’t distract you from what was being presented. It made you feel like you were really there, like it was believable.Some may say its too high cause it was only one season but give me its one season over nearly any other show.
In the Boy Meets World vs Wonder Years debate I say BMW was more fun but Wonder Years was a better show. Same thing with Roseanne and Married With Children. Roseanne better. MWC more fun.
I’ve listened to your other countdowns and I think the one I both like and at times dislike about this one is I have no idea what will be on the list and where. The other ones were somewhat predictable. This one I have
no clue whatsoever. MTS3K showing up is out of left field to me. I love the show and never would have expected it. Then something like Flash showing up so high makes me scratch my head very hard. Either way I can’t wait to hear how it finally wraps up.
Some of the greatest things I’ve ever seen were on Futurama. I criminally underrated show. One of my favorite episodes would have to be “Godfellas”. What happens is that the ship is being attacked by Space Pirates (you know – Pirates, but in space!) Long story short, Bender is shot out of a cannon into space, and is unreachable since he was shot at full speed plus the speed of being shot out of a cannon. He floats through space endlessly, until he goes through an asteroid field and a small meteor lodges into him. The meteor contains a group of near-microscopic organisms whom begin to worship Bender as their god. Bender is flattered, and he does anything he can to exploit this. And then, every time he does something to try and help them, he only makes thing worse (ex. The crops are not getting enough light, so Bender uses a magnifying attachment to give more light. The fields, and the people, burn to death.) Well, the people grow disbelieving of him, and the ‘radicals’ find his nuclear stockpile and everyone dies. He floats on more, until he finds a galaxy that is speaking in binary…
In the B-Plot, Fry goes crazy with the loss of Bender, goes to a Tibetan monastery, and locks monks up in a closet. But that’s not important.
The binary-speaking galaxy is actually God. Or a space probe that collided with God. Either way, it’s God. Bender can’t believe it.What follows is as simple but deep exchange.
BENDER: You know, I was God once.
GOD: I saw. You did good until everyone died.
From here in, it becomes the most theological and brilliantly crafted thing about God in modern TV, or even film, history.
GOD: Bender, being God isn’t easy. If you do too much, people get dependent on you. And if you do nothing, they lose hope. You have to use a light touch, like a safe cracker or a pickpocket.
BENDER: Or a guy who burns down a bar for the insurance money.
GOD: Yes, if he makes it look like an electrical thing. If you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.
This was one of the first episodes I watch of the series. And its still one of my favorites. Glad to see ti make it so high.
That’s a great scene. Although I always took issue with the line “If you do td hings right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all”. To an extent yes that’s true but also there’s a lot of people who have done right and people noticed.
Many of my rankings closely aligned this time to where they fell in the countdown. Even if you aren’t a fan of a show, you can’t deny the quality and appeal. For instance, I don’t care for Monty Python either, but I still ranked it at #40. I know it resonates and has a place on such a list. Firefly is such a case as well. Again, I tried to watch it on Netflix and I felt like I was forcing myself to watch it. Heck, my wife and I saw Serenity, the movie, in theaters, and enjoyed it. And we both loved Buffy, but neither of us could get into Firefly. I think it’s at a good spot that fans of the show can be happy with, honestly.
Roseanne I ranked at #45, just ahead of Married…with Children by two spots. I didn’t watch Roseanne much, but I have seen a few episodes in rerun and find that it still has an indelible quality. Again, despite what people may think of Roseanne, the show had qualities that warrant it being on the countdown.
Married was a show that I did watch some growing up. It launched Fox. I enjoyed it and I’m glad to see it here.
House of Cards is amazing.
Overall, I think this section of the countdown was more spot-on with the picks. I’m looking forward to the top 25.
I think you’ll be rather happy with how the top 25 works out.
The top 50 looks pretty good so far. Maybe at this stage of the countdown the wildcard personal favorites have been eliminated. Oh, and I checked out the first episode of Louie last night. I think you guys said it took a season or two to find its footing, so I’ll skip ahead. That first one wasn’t that good, IMO.
So I should have stuck with my gut of the top 10. Game of Thrones. 9. Daredevil 8. The Sopranos. 7. 24. 6. The Walking Dead. 5. Seinfeld. 4. Mad Men. 3. I Love Lucy 2. Breaking Bad. 1. MASH. I put Friends in there last time and now it goes down. I’ll go back to my original list. See how it works out.
you do know 24 is out too right? lol
oh darn. I did miss that too. Keep Crushing my dreams.
10. ER 9. Game of Thrones. 8. Daredevil 7. The Sopranos. 6. The Walking Dead. 5. Seinfeld. 4. Mad Men. 3. I Love Lucy 2. Breaking Bad. 1. MASH.
Think that works.
Well you will find out if you are right by the end of this week!
Can’t wait!
Great!
Jesus, I’ve never seen a list like this with so many people that don’t seem to watch most of the content in the list. I would like to see this play out with people who actually watch a lot of TV. I listen to podcasts with TV lovers and critics. Never have I heard this many never saw its before. It also makes a lot of the more questionable decisions harder to take.
Everyone except @disqus_q0B7XZZe9x:disqus is in the DARK until right before the reveal, so that’s why some reactions are either super reactive, or not at all. I watch and have watched a lot of TV in my 35 years, but there are just some shows even I was too young for. I understand what you are saying though.
I get that they don’t know what’s coming up but I would still have something to say about most of the shows on there. I make the effort to at least give the loved TV shows of today a fair shot at some point and I’ve seen quite a bit of a TV outside of my 33 year window. Growing up there was nick at note and syndication and now streaming allows you to stay on top of so many things. I know work and life get in the way. For some more than others but there are a lot of highly praised or classic TV that have went unwatched by a lot if people in the discussion. It’s just weird to here in a while talking about a list like this. You guys all seem great but I can’t help that it bugs.
That’s part of the reason we had six people on the record. Each brought an overall different perspective and taste. It was planned out that that every show that shows up that I know at least 2 to 3 people watched/voted for that show. Sorry if it seems otherwise but there will be some shows that come up some of haven’t seen. Personally I did seek out many of my TV blind spots for this list so I feel comfortable talking about nearly every show. Also why we had 30 people and 20 podcasts/websites/help create the overall list. I don’t know if you checked out the contributors page but you can see all those that took part. The purpose of the record isn’t to have an in depth review of every show that comes up (the podcast was already over three hours) We have other podcasts where we can go more in depth. That’s also why I reached out to people like Kevin to provide more in depth clips for shows they picked. Some others were going to provide clips but they never came in.
I get what your saying. And I don’t mind that there isn’t a in depth conversation about every show. There just seem to be so many blindspots for the conversations had. So many shows where like one person has seen the show at all. But, to be honest, I should have stopped taking the list seriously a while ago. The Shield at the bottom half. Beavis and Butthead above it. Fucking Boy Meets World at 50. A Team in the top 50. That’s the problem, some of the best shows of our time being ranked low and nostalgia stuff you grew up on getting ranked higher. Many people are voting for their favorites over quality and its thrown this list all over the place. So I’ll just listen and not take it seriously.
That’s a great attitude to have….
I mean it’s like the NFL power rankings. They are fun to talk/debate about but at the end of the day it doesn’t really mean anything.
Our goal is to have fun with it, get people talking, have a good discussion, and hopefully have a pretty decent list.
Also don’t disagree with you regarding your issues with the list. Many of us share the same issues and have been vocal on them. We’ll be more vocal in our wrap-up episode as well. The goal with these lists (this is our third) is to try to get enough of pool of people to contribute that biases and personal tastes have less of effect. It provides its own problems as well, especially with a list that covers such a broad topic like TV.
Agree with you almost 100% except for lost
I surprised you would put Family Guy over Futurama. Futrama always was a smarter written show that was able to have a number poetic episodes with just the right touch of bitter sweetness.
I disagree with that actually. “Futurama” has it’s moments, but “Family Guy” is much more smartly written and much more innovative. I know, people have made fun of it, but it’s not as random as it seems, there’s a method behind it; He often references, mostly other shows and movies, because he’s making a point to subvert the sitcom genre, and he does that at almost every turn. Remember, this is basically a family sitcom, and while “The Simpsons” and “Futurama” are also (“Futurama” a more alternative family structure, granted), they’re definitely more advanced than the “Leave It to Beaver”, but they don’t really sway much outside of the trappings of the genre, “Family Guy”, is and while there’s a lot of influences MacFarland has, from Mel Brooks to the Flintstones to the more classical vaudevillians comics, one influence that nobody ever brings up that really does differentiate him is Gary Larson, from “The Far Side’ comics, and that’s the surreal aspect of his work that is something that, especially at the time, we just hadn’t seen much of before on television. There may be more story-based material in other animated series, but there’s more work on the jokes in this show, in quality and quantity and it shows. To be sure, he can definitely turn it up or down as he pleases, but no, I definitely find more layers to “Family Guy”‘s more eccentric style of comedy than “Futurama”. It’s more unique, at least it was until everybody started copying it and former writers of “Family Guy” went off to create their own shows like ‘My Name is Earl”, “Scrubs”, “Raising Hope”, etc. He’s found a new unique approach to the animated sitcom and it’s bled over to the rest of television. I definitely give him and especially “Family Guy” much more credit.
Some of the greatest things I’ve ever seen were on Futurama. I criminally underrated show. One of my favorite episodes would have to be “Godfellas”. What happens is that the ship is being attacked by Space Pirates (you know – Pirates, but in space!) Long story short, Bender is shot out of a cannon into space, and is unreachable since he was shot at full speed plus the speed of being shot out of a cannon. He floats through space endlessly, until he goes through an asteroid field and a small meteor lodges into him. The meteor contains a group of near-microscopic organisms whom begin to worship Bender as their god. Bender is flattered, and he does anything he can to exploit this. And then, every time he does something to try and help them, he only makes thing worse (ex. The crops are not getting enough light, so Bender uses a magnifying attachment to give more light. The fields, and the people, burn to death.) Well, the people grow disbelieving of him, and the ‘radicals’ find his nuclear stockpile and everyone dies. He floats on more, until he finds a galaxy that is speaking in binary…
In the B-Plot, Fry goes crazy with the loss of Bender, goes to a Tibetan monastery, and locks monks up in a closet. But that’s not important.
The binary-speaking galaxy is actually God. Or a space probe that collided with God. Either way, it’s God. Bender can’t believe it.What follows is as simple but deep exchange.
BENDER: You know, I was God once.
GOD: I saw. You did good until everyone died.
From here in, it becomes the most theological and brilliantly crafted thing about God in modern TV, or even film, history.
GOD: Bender, being God isn’t easy. If you do too much, people get dependent on you. And if you do nothing, they lose hope. You have to use a light touch, like a safe cracker or a pickpocket.
BENDER: Or a guy who burns down a bar for the insurance money.
GOD: Yes, if he makes it look like an electrical thing. If you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.
This was one of the first episodes I watch of the series. And its still one of my favorites. Glad to see ti make it so high.
That’s a great scene. Although I always took issue with the line “If you do td hings right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all”. To an extent yes that’s true but also there’s a lot of people who have done right and people noticed.
I was trying to think of what I would think belongs in the top 10 if we are talking about a actual top 10 compared to my personal top 10.
What I would think belongs in the top 10 –
10. Lost – Lost changed television in so many ways. Networks were afraid to go high concept for a long time and Lost broke that mold. To this day, we see the influence Lost had in terms of storytelling and presentation. Networks have been trying to find the next Lost for year. So beautiful. Hitting so many different notes and genres. The pilot, Beginning of the End, The Constant, Walkabout and many other episodes among the best tv has ever produced.
9. Game of Thrones – It’s like cinema on television 10 weeks a year. Hard to beat it.
8. Doctor Who – Spanning generations and still captivating audiences.
7. Saturday Night Live – This show has help shaped comedy and tv in so many ways. Created so many stars and memories. Not always the best the show but still classic.
6. Twilight Zone – One of the few the shows where you could find someone of every generation that loves it. So creative and groundbreaking.
5. I Love Lucy – Just one of the greatest comedies of all time. Lucille Ball is a absolute legend and this show still holds up over half a century later.
4. Seinfeld – One of the greatest comedies of all time. Brilliant writing. Even if you don’t love it, you can respect it. Still quotable and memorable after all these years.
3. The Simpsons – Quite possibly the best animated show of all time. So many great episodes and it’s just a institution on tv at this point.
2. The Sopranos – TV would never be the same without this show. Broke new ground for what could be done on tv. Perfected the tv anti hero.
1. The Wire – I don’t think any show has been praised across the board like the Wire. Great writing across the board. Storytelling unlike anything else on tv before or since. Possibly the only show everyone needs to see.
And then personally I would have –
1. Friday Night Lights
2. The Shield
3. The Wire
4. Twilight Zone
5. Lost
6. 24
7. The Office (US)
8. The Sopranos
9. Arrested Development
10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
6.
Nice. Solid choices.
I was trying to think of what I would think belongs in the top 10 if we are talking about a actual top 10 compared to my personal top 10.
What I would think belongs in the top 10 –
10. Lost – Lost changed television in so many ways. Networks were afraid to go high concept for a long time and Lost broke that mold. To this day, we see the influence Lost had in terms of storytelling and presentation. Networks have been trying to find the next Lost for year. So beautiful. Hitting so many different notes and genres. The pilot, Beginning of the End, The Constant, Walkabout and many other episodes among the best tv has ever produced.
9. Game of Thrones – It’s like cinema on television 10 weeks a year. Hard to beat it.
8. Doctor Who – Spanning generations and still captivating audiences.
7. Saturday Night Live – This show has help shaped comedy and tv in so many ways. Created so many stars and memories. Not always the best the show but still classic.
6. Twilight Zone – One of the few the shows where you could find someone of every generation that loves it. So creative and groundbreaking.
5. I Love Lucy – Just one of the greatest comedies of all time. Lucille Ball is a absolute legend and this show still holds up over half a century later.
4. Seinfeld – One of the greatest comedies of all time. Brilliant writing. Even if you don’t love it, you can respect it. Still quotable and memorable after all these years.
3. The Simpsons – Quite possibly the best animated show of all time. So many great episodes and it’s just a institution on tv at this point.
2. The Sopranos – TV would never be the same without this show. Broke new ground for what could be done on tv. Perfected the tv anti hero.
1. The Wire – I don’t think any show has been praised across the board like the Wire. Great writing across the board. Storytelling unlike anything else on tv before or since. Possibly the only show everyone needs to see.
And then personally I would have –
1. Friday Night Lights
2. The Shield
3. The Wire
4. Twilight Zone
5. Lost
6. 24
7. The Office (US)
8. The Sopranos
9. Arrested Development
10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Some thoughts on the next batch of the list, sorry I haven’t gotten to it until now, my computer is out, and I’m at the library now so, I’ll try to be quick.
“Boy Meets World”- Good lord, guys take your nostalgia goggles off, please. I like “Boy Meets World” too, and i know it’s found a new audience, but yeah, this is not an all-time great show. If this is the standard, good for a TGIF show, than “Perfect Strangers” should show up on the list soon. I usually defend the show myself, but this is a Top 100 of all-time list! It doesn’t belong here.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”- I ended not putting this on my list, um, you guys made a good argument for it though. I kind decided that if I was gonna do one post-“Seinfeld” show, that I’d rather stick my neck out for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, but I do love “Curb…” a lot, it was a show that I cut very late in the process.
“Mystery Science Theater 3000”,- I’m not the biggest fan of the show per se, I think I find more humor out of people who were inspired by this show than the show itself, but actually that had nothing to do why I left the show off the list. I actually played the technicality card and said that, “Basically, I’m voting for old movies,” which, I know they also did sketches and other things, which were okay, but I-eh, I think’s there’s a bit of a question about how much of this is even television to be honest. I made a point not to vote for something like “The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show” because much of the material on the show, predates television and are actually theatrically-screened short films, and I kinda think this belongs in the same category. Even though it’s just a human and two robots yelling at the screen, we are basically watching a movie and it’s usually not even a television film.
“The Honeymooners”- It’s been said, it’s way too low, I had it in my Top Ten, just for the 39 episodes, not to mention the 150 or so lost episodes that have pulled out of Jackie Gleason’s numerous Variety Show sketches, it’s basically the bare blueprints of nearly every sitcom with a husband and wife since. Yeah, way too low.
“The A-Team”- I don’t hate this show, but I don’t get all the praise it was getting from you guys. I know it’s iconic and at the time is was big, but I mean,… like I had a couple Stephen J.Cannell shows on my list, I would’ve gone through five or six shows before I even considered “The A-Team”. Where’s “The Rockford Files”, where’s “Wiseguy”, “21 Jump Street”, that still holds up. “The Greatest American Hero” even, of all the superhero shows and that one gets missed, I don’t know, I don’t quite rank this that high. Even by ’80s action mystery stuff, I’ll take “Magnum, P.I.” or something like that.
“The Flash”, No, shouldn’t be on here.
“Chappelle’s Show”- I do kinda regret leaving this off. I was trying to find ways to put more African-American-headed series on my list, but after I thought for a second, with sketch comedy, I thought about “Key & Peele”, I thought about “In Living Color”, I thought about “Chappelle’s Show”, but I ended up giving that spot to “The Flip Wilson Show”, mostly based on, just thinking that his comedy holds up better now, but also because without him, there aren’t these other shows.
“House of Cards”-I came very close to putting it on the list, this was probably like a 105 or 106 total if my list went that far. I just found myself getting more tired of the show lately and I’m actually still struggling to get through, whatever season I’m on, season three. I’m already kinda seeing the plotting and outlining where the show goes from here, and I think it just tires me out too much. That and it’s still a pretty young so, I thought that was enough to leave it off. It is a great show though.
“Sherlock”- I do have to get around to watching “Sherlock”, haven’t seen it; I actually had one Steven Moffatt show on my list, and it’s probably the one that got the fewest votes but I ranked it in my Top 25 and that was the British version of “Coupling”; I’m pretty certain in calling that his best series. If you haven’t seen it, look it up, it’s “Friends” meets “Sex and the City”, but like 20x funnier than both those shows, and trust me, sex farce, by far the toughest genre to write of all of them, and I definitely give extra points for anybody who can pull that off well and he, wow, he mastered it. So, most everything else after that, I kinda feel underwhelmed from him by.
“Roseanne” vs. “Married… with Children”, uh, both made my list, I did “Roseanne” in the Top Ten, and “Married… with Children” somewhere in the ’60s, kinda weird that their switched here, although pairing them is okay, but “Roseanne” overall definitely holds up better.
“Star Trek”-I did mean to put the original series on my list, but it fell off after I started thinking about it. Yeah, it’s the first and it’s still pretty good, but no, I only had one “Star Trek” series on the list, and I’m pretty certain it’s the right one to have. Just because it’s important or iconic, doesn’t make it the best.
“The Late Show with David Letterman”-I put “Late Night with David Letterman” on my list, not “The Late Show…”, I did think about it, but I decided that “Late Night…” is probably the more important one to put on. That said, Letterman ahead of Carson, is correct; his influence is greater comedy-wise, even though Carson was classic and solid, Letterman was the one who pushed the poundaries and really was the leader of this sophomoric humor generation of comics that came after. (BTW, Letterman actually has more years on Late Night than Johnny Carson now) I mean, look at the Late Night lineups now, who’s the Letterman acolyte? Well, there’s Colbert, there’s Conan O’Brien, there’s Jimmy Kimmel, there’s Chelsea Handler, there’s Craig Ferguson, Criag Kilbourn,… now who’s the Carson acolyte? Maybe, if you’re stretching Jimmy Fallon, but it took 20 years to find him to do it, and I usually think he’s more influenced comedically by Ellen Degenerous’s Daytime Show than by anything else. Yeah, Letterman ahead of Carson, fine, ahead of “The Colbert Report,” eh, that’s pushing it a bit, but not by that much to be honest.
“Lost”- Yeah, I said “Community” suffered from J.J. Abrams syndrome, because that’s who I usually associate “Lost” with, but I guess it should be Lindelof. I don’t get how anybody thinks this show is any good. I mean, I get mystery, but mystery for the sake of mystery among mystery. I tried, but you recreated “Lord of the Flies” and we all keep seeing are flashbacks?! Ugh, terrible show, and the Emmys should still be apologizing for giving it Drama Series over “The West Wing” that year.
“Arrested Development”- It was on my list, but I hope “Soap” shows up now, ’cause there’s no AD, without that.
“Futurama”-Eh, I heard someone once say that if Groening hadn’t created “The Simpsons” then we’d hold “Futurama” in higher regard. I can see that, but no, it didn’t make my list. I put “Family Guy” easily ahead of it.
“Firefly”-i still stand by what I wrote about Joss Whedon before, although “Firefly” isn’t as bad as some of his other shows, I still don’t see how it’s so acclaimed and why it ranks this high.
Alright, running out of computer time.keep it up guys.
Agree with you almost 100% except for lost
I surprised you would put Family Guy over Futurama. Futrama always was a smarter written show that was able to have a number poetic episodes with just the right touch of bitter sweetness.
I disagree with that actually. “Futurama” has it’s moments, but “Family Guy” is much more smartly written and much more innovative. I know, people have made fun of it, but it’s not as random as it seems, there’s a method behind it; He often references, mostly other shows and movies, because he’s making a point to subvert the sitcom genre, and he does that at almost every turn. Remember, this is basically a family sitcom, and while “The Simpsons” and “Futurama” are also (“Futurama” a more alternative family structure, granted), they’re definitely more advanced than the “Leave It to Beaver”, but they don’t really sway much outside of the trappings of the genre, “Family Guy”, is and while there’s a lot of influences MacFarland has, from Mel Brooks to the Flintstones to the more classical vaudevillians comics, one influence that nobody ever brings up that really does differentiate him is Gary Larson, from “The Far Side’ comics, and that’s the surreal aspect of his work that is something that, especially at the time, we just hadn’t seen much of before on television. There may be more story-based material in other animated series, but there’s more work on the jokes in this show, in quality and quantity and it shows. To be sure, he can definitely turn it up or down as he pleases, but no, I definitely find more layers to “Family Guy”‘s more eccentric style of comedy than “Futurama”. It’s more unique, at least it was until everybody started copying it and former writers of “Family Guy” went off to create their own shows like ‘My Name is Earl”, “Scrubs”, “Raising Hope”, etc. He’s found a new unique approach to the animated sitcom and it’s bled over to the rest of television. I definitely give him and especially “Family Guy” much more credit.
Jesus, I’ve never seen a list like this with so many people that don’t seem to watch most of the content in the list. I would like to see this play out with people who actually watch a lot of TV. I listen to podcasts with TV lovers and critics. Never have I heard this many never saw its before. It also makes a lot of the more questionable decisions harder to take.
Everyone except @disqus_q0B7XZZe9x:disqus is in the DARK until right before the reveal, so that’s why some reactions are either super reactive, or not at all. I watch and have watched a lot of TV in my 35 years, but there are just some shows even I was too young for. I understand what you are saying though.
I get that they don’t know what’s coming up but I would still have something to say about most of the shows on there. I make the effort to at least give the loved TV shows of today a fair shot at some point and I’ve seen quite a bit of a TV outside of my 33 year window. Growing up there was nick at note and syndication and now streaming allows you to stay on top of so many things. I know work and life get in the way. For some more than others but there are a lot of highly praised or classic TV that have went unwatched by a lot if people in the discussion. It’s just weird to here in a while talking about a list like this. You guys all seem great but I can’t help that it bugs.
That’s part of the reason we had six people on the record. Each brought an overall different perspective and taste. It was planned out that that every show that shows up that I know at least 2 to 3 people watched/voted for that show. Sorry if it seems otherwise but there will be some shows that come up some of haven’t seen. Personally I did seek out many of my TV blind spots for this list so I feel comfortable talking about nearly every show. Also why we had 30 people and 20 podcasts/websites/help create the overall list. I don’t know if you checked out the contributors page but you can see all those that took part. The purpose of the record isn’t to have an in depth review of every show that comes up (the podcast was already over three hours) We have other podcasts where we can go more in depth. That’s also why I reached out to people like Kevin to provide more in depth clips for shows they picked. Some others were going to provide clips but they never came in.
I get what your saying. And I don’t mind that there isn’t a in depth conversation about every show. There just seem to be so many blindspots for the conversations had. So many shows where like one person has seen the show at all. But, to be honest, I should have stopped taking the list seriously a while ago. The Shield at the bottom half. Beavis and Butthead above it. Fucking Boy Meets World at 50. A Team in the top 50. That’s the problem, some of the best shows of our time being ranked low and nostalgia stuff you grew up on getting ranked higher. Many people are voting for their favorites over quality and its thrown this list all over the place. So I’ll just listen and not take it seriously.
That’s a great attitude to have….
I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Keep doing your thing. I’m just not invested in it. Just listening and seeing where things go.
I mean it’s like the NFL power rankings. They are fun to talk/debate about but at the end of the day it doesn’t really mean anything.
Our goal is to have fun with it, get people talking, have a good discussion, and hopefully have a pretty decent list.
Also don’t disagree with you regarding your issues with the list. Many of us share the same issues and have been vocal on them. We’ll be more vocal in our wrap-up episode as well. The goal with these lists (this is our third) is to try to get enough of pool of people to contribute that biases and personal tastes have less of effect. It provides its own problems as well, especially with a list that covers such a broad topic like TV.
That makes total sense. Also, I’m sorry if I’m coming off like a dick. But, I think I partially judge harsher because I love TV so much. I know that people will always have different criteria for what’s the best no matter what the subject is. There are just some choices that threw me through a loop. Like no way in a million years I would think some of these shows would be placed. So, I just wanted to voice my thoughts. You guys have taken on a incredibly hard project and you have my respect for that. Despite some of my misgivings, it has been an interesting listen as well.
Much better said here!! Glad you are enjoying it either way!
I was trying to think of what I would think belongs in the top 10 if we are talking about a actual top 10 compared to my personal top 10.
What I would think belongs in the top 10 –
10. Lost – Lost changed television in so many ways. Networks were afraid to go high concept for a long time and Lost broke that mold. To this day, we see the influence Lost had in terms of storytelling and presentation. Networks have been trying to find the next Lost for year. So beautiful. Hitting so many different notes and genres. The pilot, Beginning of the End, The Constant, Walkabout and many other episodes among the best tv has ever produced.
9. Game of Thrones – It’s like cinema on television 10 weeks a year. Hard to beat it.
8. Doctor Who – Spanning generations and still captivating audiences.
7. Saturday Night Live – This show has help shaped comedy and tv in so many ways. Created so many stars and memories. Not always the best the show but still classic.
6. Twilight Zone – One of the few the shows where you could find someone of every generation that loves it. So creative and groundbreaking.
5. I Love Lucy – Just one of the greatest comedies of all time. Lucille Ball is a absolute legend and this show still holds up over half a century later.
4. Seinfeld – One of the greatest comedies of all time. Brilliant writing. Even if you don’t love it, you can respect it. Still quotable and memorable after all these years.
3. The Simpsons – Quite possibly the best animated show of all time. So many great episodes and it’s just a institution on tv at this point.
2. The Sopranos – TV would never be the same without this show. Broke new ground for what could be done on tv. Perfected the tv anti hero.
1. The Wire – I don’t think any show has been praised across the board like the Wire. Great writing across the board. Storytelling unlike anything else on tv before or since. Possibly the only show everyone needs to see.
And then personally I would have –
1. Friday Night Lights
2. The Shield
3. The Wire
4. Twilight Zone
5. Lost
6. 24
7. The Office (US)
8. The Sopranos
9. Arrested Development
10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
6.
Nice. Solid choices.
I was trying to think of what I would think belongs in the top 10 if we are talking about a actual top 10 compared to my personal top 10.
What I would think belongs in the top 10 –
10. Lost – Lost changed television in so many ways. Networks were afraid to go high concept for a long time and Lost broke that mold. To this day, we see the influence Lost had in terms of storytelling and presentation. Networks have been trying to find the next Lost for year. So beautiful. Hitting so many different notes and genres. The pilot, Beginning of the End, The Constant, Walkabout and many other episodes among the best tv has ever produced.
9. Game of Thrones – It’s like cinema on television 10 weeks a year. Hard to beat it.
8. Doctor Who – Spanning generations and still captivating audiences.
7. Saturday Night Live – This show has help shaped comedy and tv in so many ways. Created so many stars and memories. Not always the best the show but still classic.
6. Twilight Zone – One of the few the shows where you could find someone of every generation that loves it. So creative and groundbreaking.
5. I Love Lucy – Just one of the greatest comedies of all time. Lucille Ball is a absolute legend and this show still holds up over half a century later.
4. Seinfeld – One of the greatest comedies of all time. Brilliant writing. Even if you don’t love it, you can respect it. Still quotable and memorable after all these years.
3. The Simpsons – Quite possibly the best animated show of all time. So many great episodes and it’s just a institution on tv at this point.
2. The Sopranos – TV would never be the same without this show. Broke new ground for what could be done on tv. Perfected the tv anti hero.
1. The Wire – I don’t think any show has been praised across the board like the Wire. Great writing across the board. Storytelling unlike anything else on tv before or since. Possibly the only show everyone needs to see.
And then personally I would have –
1. Friday Night Lights
2. The Shield
3. The Wire
4. Twilight Zone
5. Lost
6. 24
7. The Office (US)
8. The Sopranos
9. Arrested Development
10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Mike, in the Honeymousers, the Jackie Gleeson voice is provided by Daws Butler. You can hear him doing the same voice as Fred in in the pilot episode of the Flintstones, known as The Flagstones.
ahhh cool thanks!!!! Man Daws nailed Gleason’s voice didn’t he?
I don’t remember where I placed David Letterman on my list, but I do remember that I listed it as NBC’s Late Night With David Letterman. I’m guessing those were combined.
Letterman’s later years are weird for me, because I grew up with him as the wacky late night host on the frat party talk show after Carson. The Letterman I remember and found more entertaining was the guy who jumped into the velcro wall, dropped bottles of soda off the building, and swam in a giant bowl cereal. His NBC days were wild.
He was actually a lot more like Conan.
Then hopefully Conan will mello with age! Conan for me….. honestly I’ve tried watching the show…. but when he does the camera in his face thing… ugh I change the channel immediately. And the ads that TBS creates for him ugh… no ty!!!
Conan #1!
At this point I’d say Colbert on late show is the only 1 I even wanna watch.
That’s when Letterman was in his Prime. Nowadays he was the usual late night host of the past.
Letterman was never a usual Late Night host honestly. His style was always his own. Nowadays he’s probably playing golf enjoying retirement.
They weren’t combined. Same thing with Conan and all of his shows. And all other hosts. If I did combine them it would have been a lot higher.