TV Guide's 50 best TV shows

A few years ago, TV Guide posted the 50 best TV shows. NBC had the most shows on the list, CBS came in second but had the most shows in the top 10.

The following is the complete list:
1. Seinfeld (NBC)
2. I Love Lucy (CBS)
3. The Honeymooners (CBS)
4. All in the Family (CBS)
5. The Sopranos (HBO)
6. 60 Minutes (CBS)
7. Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
8. The Simpsons (Fox)
9. The Andy Griffith Show (CBS)
10. Saturday Night Live (NBC)
11. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS)
12. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC)
13. The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS)
14. Hill Street Blues (NBC)
15. The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS)
16. The Carol Burnett Show (CBS)
17. Today (NBC)
18. Cheers (NBC)
19. thirtysomething (ABC)
20. St. Elsewhere (NBC)
21. Friends (NBC)
22. ER (NBC
23. Nightline (ABC)
24. Law & Order (NBC)
25. M+A+S+H (CBS)
26. The Twilight Zone (CBS)
27. Sesame Street (PBS)
28. The Cosby Show (NBC)
29. Donahue (syndicated)
30. Your Show of Shows (NBC)
31. The Defenders (CBS)
32. An American Family (PBS)
33. Playhouse 90 (CBS)
34. Frasier (NBC)
35. Roseanne (ABC)
36. The Fugitive (ABC)
37. The X-Files (Fox)
38. The Larry Sanders Show (HBO)
39. The Rockford Files (NBC)
40. Gunsmoke (CBS)
41. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB/UPN)
42. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (NBC)
43. Bonanza (NBC)
44. The Bob Newhart Show (CBS)
45. Twin Peaks (ABC)
46. Star Trek: The Next Generation (syndicated)
47. Rocky and His Friends (ABC)
48. Taxi (ABC/NBC)
49. The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
50. Bewitched (ABC)

I think this list is fairly accurate, at least in the top 10. While The Simpsons is my favorite show, I agree that Seinfeld is the best.

 

Interesting List.

I have a few questions though, why is the cosby show so low, and where is the Wonder Years and Quantum Leap, who knows maybe its just me, but i loved those two...Also i am glad Letterman got the props, and Leno got snubbed, but would argue that Carson should be ahead of letterman.

 

Seinfeld is not the best series ever. Let's wait 50 years and see if it is remembered like I Love Lucy or the Honeymooners.

Frasier is 5 times funnier the Seinfeld.

 

yeah i agree with you on the sienfeld thing too, i have never been a nig fan. Actually i think it is a pretty stupid show, not my style i guess.

 

Well, you gotta be from the Metropolotan area (like me) to get a lot of it.....methinks

 

i get it, i just dont think its all that funny.

 

I agree with number one...the rest is just background noise.

 

21. Friends (NBC)

Lie.


49. The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)

Lie.

 

Frasier, The X-Files and The Bob Newhart show should all be in the top ten.

Great as I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners might be, Bob Newhart and Frasier are funnier, or at least they were . . . Frasier's taken a nose dive. The x-Files remains the best drama series in television history.

Seinfeld should be in the top five for sure, so I won't quibble with it's placement.

And where the heck is Conan O'Brian. He's funnier than Letterman and, God forgive me for blasphemy, but it's true, Carson.

 

Where the heck is Hogan's Heros? That is one of the greatest shows of all time!

I think that the X-Files should have the number one spot.

 

I would have put the Original Star Trek series on there, instead of TNG.

While TNG is one of the best science fiction shows ever created for television, TOS is the one that started it all.

 

Beleive that TOS was on that list, and in the top 25.

 

MasterKingsama:

Oh man, I DEFINITELY agree with you. The Wonder Years and Quantum Leap were my two favorite shows.

Seriously, I would think they deserve some props. Especially Wonder Years...that show was on for a LONG time. thirtysomething? Man, I don't think anyone will even remember that show existed in a few years.

The Wonder Years is classic. It's the story of growing up, even if you never were around for the 60s and 70s. It's the one show about younger people that's timeless. Both my mom and my brother and I watched that show all the time. Heck, I would definitely kick Buffy off the list for it. The Wonder Years was accessible at least.

And Quantum Leap--I have every episode on tape. It's just a really good show: a sympathetic main character with a noble and good heart, and the funniest sidekick to ever grace NBC. A different plot every week, each episode stands alone (except for the two part ones), and it was fun, good, and a really great show. I learned a lot of history and culture from that show.

 

Seinfeld is great, but I don't believe for one minute it's the best.

 

yeah i dont get that buffy thing eityher,

another question what about Gilligans Island, that is classic tv...

 

Buffy definatly belongs on the list. In fact I'm surprised it isn't higher on the list considering how much they gush over it in TV Guide. I'm kinda shocked that Angel and Alias aren't on the list. Not that I really think that right now they should be but those are another two shows that seem to come up in every TV guide.

 

Sesame Street is higher than Buffy, The X-Files and Star Trek TNG???

*laughs to death*

 

Well, of course Sesame Street is gonna be rated higher then those shows..

How many shows do you know that have lasted for 34 years, and show no signs of slowing down?

(X-Files, as much as i loved it, should have died after season 5.. It was allll downhill from there... And Buffy? Bleh.. I do not understand the popularity of that show.. Horrendously overrated..)

 

Um, excuse me? How is 24 not on there? Bogus list.

 

M*A*S*H at number 25!??! That alone shows that this list, like all others like it, is bogus.

 

Um, excuse me? How is 24 not on there? Bogus list.

I was enraged by it's snub as well, until I looked at the date of the list and relized that the list was made before the debut of 24. Think before you post. I said a few years ago.

 

1. Seinfeld (NBC)- Bash it all you want, I still think Seinfeld belongs at the top. Seinfeld had to be the most watched show ever. "Why?" it's bashers ask. Answer: Because people loved it! And it was great. Kramer may as well be one of the funniest characters in the history of TV. Up there with Lucy, Archie and Homer and the Simpson cast. I love the Soup Nazi

2. I Love Lucy (CBS)- I Love Lucy, the woman not the show. While this may be considered one of the best and funniest shows ever, I don't really like it. I think that Lucy is hilarious though. Babaloo is annoying, but Vitameatmagivin(sp?) is a classic.

3. The Honeymooners (CBS)- Can someone tell me why there were only 39 episodes of this show. Thois was a great show. Jackie Gleason was a great actor. I especially like the one when Gleason's character hires a Bing Crosby look alike to perform at a concert.

4. All in the Family (CBS)- Another classic comedy. Archie was a bigot, but he was also lovable. He was defying the laws of physics! Ethel, Meathead, and Maude were good as well.

5. The Sopranos (HBO)- This is the only drama in the top 5 and it's largely because the show is revolutionary. It had more violence and curses in one hour than anything but a Quentin Tarantino film. It also has great plotlines. I especially love Joe Pantoliano.

 

This is the only drama in the top 5 and it's largely because the show is revolutionary. It had more violence and curses in one hour than anything but a Quentin Tarantino film. It also has great plotlines.

so why does violence and crudeness = revolutionary?

 

I'm so happy to see 'Roseanne' on the list, as well as 'All in the Family'.

But 'The Simpsons' is the best television show ever. Period. In my opinion, it's untouchable.

 

so why does violence and crudeness = revolutionary?

Have you seen anything so violent and crude on TV before The Sopranos which allows the F word and allows on screen decapitation.