CW Names the Top TV Show of All Time

[Shady Slim]

the number of people putting peep show (me included) is alarming though very on brand

 

[Teja.]

1. Seinfeld
2. The Sopranos
3. The Wire
4. Silicon Valley
5. Mad Men
6. Better Call Saul
7. Entourage (**** off)
8. Game of Thrones (horrible after S4 but S4 might be the GOAT TV season)
9. Breaking Bad (The fly episode is boring and sucks)
10. The Office (UK)

 

[Teja.]

11. Twin Peaks (horrible quality control, probably the best peaks)
12. The Deuce
13. Rome (Very good but could have been done a lot better considering the subject)
14. Arrested Development (should be higher but I can't get myself to watch it again despite loving it the first time)
15. The Inbetweeners

 

[morgieb]

Do you have a specific cutoff in mind that lists need to be in by?

 

[silentstriker]

Have people not watched the wire, or do they just not like it? One shows ignorance, the other stupidity.

 

[Niall]

The Sopranos
Deadwood
The Wire
Rectify
Justified
The Leftovers
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
The Shield
Peep Show

UK Office
Romanzo criminale
Game Of Thrones
Dather Ted
Only Fools And Horses.



Added

 

[grecian]

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. A Very Peculiar Practice
3. The Larry Sanders Show
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm
5. Fawlty Towers
6. Porridge
7. Blackadder ( would have been higher if they'd not done the first series)
8. Young Ones
9. Peep Show
10 Walking Dead

Oh the simpsons should get in, it's still the first thing I think of when I see various situations evolve on the news, but well over 10 years of obligated watching has worn me down. x-files similar, and I kinda worry that people think it was a factual documentary now, considering everyone "wants to believe" some crap off the internet.
Any Attenbrough show deserves it, but hard to narrow it down to one, Springwatch is a joy and has seriously upped the fanny quotient this series. Freak and Geeks great, but led to so many bad films, and they treated Linda Cardelini awfully, lucky she got to feature in the biggest grossing films of all time.

11. Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy
12. Dexter
13. House (it's never Lupus
14. Black Books (How Do You Want Me? a good shout too, but the second series didn't do it for me like the first)
15. I Clavdivs

 

[nightprowler10]

1. The Wire
2. Futurama
3. Sopranos
4. Simpsons
5. Bojack Horseman
6. Fawlty Towers
7. Breaking Bad
8. Arrested Development
9. Scrubs
10. Game of Thrones
11. The Shield
12. Westworld
13. Mad Men
14. Bob's Burgers
15. Archer

 

[Teja.]

Have people not watched the wire, or do they just not like it? One shows ignorance, the other stupidity.

I enjoyed The Wire and Sopranos about equally.

The Wire was its best at exploring the systemic rot in our institutions and overall the arguments it makes are a lot more grounded in reality than Sopranos. I have watched it more times than Sopranos tbh.

The Sopranos is better at character work though - I had a great grandmother who behaved identically to Tony's mom and no show has ever portrayed the mental state of people like her (evil, losing it, needs to be center of attention) quite like the Sopranos. Janice is amazing at portraying the pure selfish banality of evil and was better at being a **** than anyone I've ever seen in a TV show. Christopher's struggles are incredibly relatable and Tony's character arc is the best ever deconstruction of the 'strong, silent type'.

While both shows excel in either category, I think The Wire tells better constructed stories wheras the Sopranos has richer characters.

 

[grecian]

Wire, get's enough credit, I get the love, but TBH I am not that interested in the governance of Baltimore, obviously much more to it than that, but I always admired it more than enjoyed it, so I'll take the stupidity option on that one I guess.

Oh and I am so bored of the glorification of the American Gangster, and their films and TV shows, goes back to Billy the Kid, through to Cagney films, then Scorcese and the US's childish love of small killing machines, so Sopranos doesn't make my list either, even though, it is obviously brilliant.

 

[Niall]

Interesting reading this thread so far, the major exclusion seems to be Six Feet Under which I deliberated over adding but left out as I really did not like fast few seasons.

 

[NZTailender]

1. The Wire
2. Chernobyl
3. Mad Men
4. Breaking Bad
5. Fargo
6. Better Call Saul
7. Spaced
8. Community
9. Arrested Development
10. Futurama
11. The Simpsons
12. Parks and Recreation
13. Bojack Horseman
14. Deadwood
15. Boardwalk Empire

 

[Spark]

+++++The Americans

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Even Geg has forsaken me. What has this world come to.

 

[Uppercut]

Wire, get's enough credit, I get the love, but TBH I am not that interested in the governance of Baltimore, obviously much more to it than that, but I always admired it more than enjoyed it, so I'll take the stupidity option on that one I guess.

Oh and I am so bored of the glorification of the American Gangster, and their films and TV shows, goes back to Billy the Kid, through to Cagney films, then Scorcese and the US's childish love of small killing machines, so Sopranos doesn't make my list either, even though, it is obviously brilliant.

On second watch The Wire was much more gripping than I remembered. It's the critique that sticks with you, especially the parts that keep resonating and reminding you of it in everyday life. But while you're watching it it's the soap opera drama, the twists, cliffhangers, and gut punches, that make it work.

I think its reputation for density comes from the bizarre editorial decision to pack the first couple of episodes with obscure police jargon. It needs subtitles too, just because most of us aren't used to the accents.

 

[silentstriker]

1. The Wire (Far and away better than anything else on the list)
2. The Sopranos
3. Breaking Bad
4. Chernobyl
5. Curb Your Ethusiasm
6. South Park
7. The Night Of
8. Seinfeld
9. True Detective (1st season)
10. Arrested Development
11. American Crime Story
12. Band of Brothers
13. Boardwalk Empire
14. Game of Thrones
15. Westworld

A bunch of miniseries in there for me.


The Wire was so sublime in the way it tackled human institutions (whether it's the government, business, or the drug trade). Nothing has come close in terms of showing how society really functions - with complex three dimensional human beings working within a corrupt institutional and societal structure. I re-watch it all the time and get more out of it every time. You're right about the subtitles for those who aren't used to the accents, and the jargon (the police jargon and the street jargon).

 

[Line and Length]

Fawlty Towers
Downton Abbey
The Sullivans
Yes Minister
The Good Life
On the Up
Blackadder
Minder
Doc Martin
As Time Goes By

My extra 5:
Monty Python
George Gently
The Bill
Wagon Train (that dates me!)
Black Books

Listed from 1 - 15

 

[Mike5181]

1. Black Books
2. The Wire
3. Firefly
4. Cowboy Bebop
5. Berserk
6. Monster
7. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
8. Game of Thrones
9. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
10. The X-Files
11. Sherlock
12. Battlestar Galactica
13. Freaks and Geeks
14. The Boys
15. Seinfeld

 

[Shady Slim]

if you haven't voted already get voting!! shady only has one exam to go so will be tabulating soon

 

[Shady Slim]

one week to get your votes in! we can do better than "us midterms with uncontroversial president" turnout levels come on CW