Top TV Shows of All Time
I don’t have a lot of time now for TV, but did used to watch a lot of TV earlier, and even now, given the time, would love to watch some old favorites like M.A.S.H. or Friends. In fact M.A.S.H. and I Love Lucy make me positively nostalgic. I wanted to do a post about the Top TV Shows like the one I did sometime back about the Top Grossing Films of All time, but I could not find a definitive list like the one Forbes puts out.
TV Guide however, has this list, which puts Seinfeld right at the top as the Top TV show of all time. This is followed by I love Lucy, The Honeymooners, All in the Family, The Sopranos, 60 Minutes, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Simpsons, The Andy Griffith Show and Saturday Night Live. I have to admit that I was rather relieved to see that there are no reality TV shows in that list. I agree with a post I read here, that Reality TV is the nadir of TV.
ClassicTV.com has another list that includes more of my favorite shows. At the top are two of my favorites I Love Lucy and M.A.S.H. These are followed by Star Trek (this dates me a bit, but I can remember a time I used to love that show), The Andy Griffith Show, Cheers (still don’t mind watching the reruns) The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bewitched, The Twilight Zone and All in the Family.
Now here is a the longest running TV poll which declares the top TV shows as Firefly, Xena: Warrior Princess, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Battlestar Galactica (2004), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Farscape, Jericho, Angel, Combat!, and The X-Files. Cannot say I fancy any of them all that much.
As for Forbes, they have a highest earning list, which of course has Chat Queen Oprah as TV’s highest earner, with $260 million earned in a year! Although Jerry Seinfeld’s show ended years ago, he is the second highest earning person on TV, thanks in large part to reruns and makes about $60 mil a year! Then there’s the acerbic Simon Cowell (No. 3 at $45 million), David Letterman (No. 4 at $40 million) and Jay Leno (No. 6 at $32 million). And just FYI Donald Trumps’ earning only from TV is $32 mil (his net worth is $3 Billion).
Well you know what they say, There’s No Business Like Show Business!
I don’t know what’s the hesitation with my comments.
Reply
Seinfeld, Sopranos and Simpsons were the shows I watched regularly. But now I dont have the time to catch on. I like Family Guy and that’s the only show I watch a bit.
Reply
I like classic tv ..a lot
And by seeing this figures i got surprised …..Good to see that There is growth in Tv industry
Reply
Nice roundup. I’ll admit a secret…I’ve never seen an entire episode of Seinfeld. I could just never really get that into it. That, and being a bass player, the synthesized bass that became the musical hallmark of Seinfeld still to this day drives me up the wall everytime I hear it. Now, Battlestar Galactica on the other hand….can’t get enough!
Reply
Okay…so just last week I posted this on my Facebook page:
“Fact: The Top 5 TV Shows of the Past Decade are: The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, The Office, and…..what? Give your input on the fifth best show. If, like these four shows, it makes you feel as if you… Read More’ve been rode hard and put away wet, like you’ve had your heart ripped out and stomped on then crammed back into your chest, and like your ribs are going to explode from laughter, then I’ll consider it.”
Granted, mine is not of all time. I wanted to limit it to a more recent time frame. And I was looking at shows less genre-specific and more encompassing of ALL aspects–humor, drama, etc. I’ll look thru the lists above and see what I come up with. But I’m not seeing my #5 just yet!
Reply
The author daily I read yours ???? and there was a desire to create the . What cms you will advise me?
Reply
Nice, I must say that Seinfeld is one of the few tv shows i watch and still today i watch it. Even if I have already seen the episode and i know what will happen i keep watching because it is all the small details that are so funny. This is humor at a whole new level and not much can compete with it even today. Somehow it seems like tv-shows have gotten worse and worse by time. I guess its a money issue where they pump out new tv-shows really quick and quality comes in second hand.
I cant exactly pinpoint it but it must be all the small details in Seinfeld. Im glad it is rated in the top and it is broadcasted here daily, even if it is 20 years old.
Reply
I like to watch Veronica Mars episodes as well Lost. I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Reply