The Top 300 Greatest TV Shows of All Time: FBG Consensus: 50 Lists received. 2: Seinfeld 1: Breaking Bad (11 Viewers)

[zamboni]

Really liked Yellowstone and its prequels, but hasn't quite stood the test of time for me yet to make a fair comparison.

 

[zamboni]

Hoped the Flintstones would have been higher, but probably not everyone here grew up with them in reruns.

 

[Runkle]

TWIB just missed out on my list in the mid-70s.

The IT Crowd was in the 60s on mine. Very funny show. The episode with the play has one of the funniest gags I've seen in a sitcom, the whole episode is great.

 

[shuke]

Only two other jackasses? In this crowd?!

Right? I was one of them. Between this and Remote Control, I'm starting to question how cool this board is.

Where did you rank Rick and Morty?

Never seen it.

 

[McBokonon]

240-231​

Rank	Title	Lists
231	Yellowstone	3
232	Only Murders in the Building	5
233	The Flintstones	4
234	This Week In Baseball	5
235	Young Sheldon	3
236	Burn Notice	3
t-237	The Night Of	6
t-237	The Inbetweeners	2
t-237	Family Feud	6
240	The IT Crowd	3

​

None of these are on my list.

-I'll never watch Yellowstone - I can tell it's not for me
-OMITB is fun, but like @krista4 said it has dropped a bit every year, and it was never really in the "greatest" conversation for me, anyway.
-I watched Flintstones as a kid, obviously, but it wasn't among my favorites even then. Loved TWIB but never considered it for this. Doubt it would have made it, though.
-My g/f loves Big Bang Theory, all 158 annoying seasons of it. I tolerate it and look at my phone when she wants to watch one; I'm not gonna watch a spinoff.
-Never watched Burn Notice, Inbetweeners or IT Crowd. I DO want to watch IT Crowd and it's on my list - seems up my alley.
-Family Feud is fun enough but not pantheon-worthy for me.

 

[shuke]

This Week In Baseball

Forgot about this and probably would have included it. Another nostalgia-related sports show I considered was

Spoiler

George Michael's Sports Machine

 

[Scoresman]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
221	Damages	3
222	I, Claudius	3
223	This Is Us	3
224	Law & Order SVU	4
225	Black Sails	3
t-226	Slow Horses	4
t-226	It	4
228	The Chosen	2
229	The Pacific	4
230	Ken Burns' The Vietnam War	3

​

 

[zamboni]

This Week In Baseball

Forgot about this and probably would have included it. Another nostalgia-related sports show I considered was

Spoiler

George Michael's Sports Machine

Spoiler

x.com

x.com

 

[shuke]

Damages and It both on my list. I realize It was probably only a 3 episode miniseries, but has had a lasting impact on me.

Damages is a very underrated drama.

 

[steelerfan1]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
221	Damages	3
222	I, Claudius	3
223	This Is Us	3
224	Law & Order SVU	4
225	Black Sails	3
t-226	Slow Horses	4
t-226	It	4
228	The Chosen	2
229	The Pacific	4
230	Ken Burns' The Vietnam War	3

​

Nothing here for me. Started Slow Horses a while back and kinda forgot about it. The wife watches The Chosen, but i never watched this one together.

 

[zamboni]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
t-226	It	4

​

Have been seeing this on cable a lot lately. Enjoyable watch although the ending is pretty ridiculous compared to the book. Tim Curry was really good as Pennywise.

 

[Keith R]

IT was the highest miniseries on my list and my #24 overall. As much as I like the theatrical versions (Chapter 1 at least), Tim Curry truly was Pennywise. Could have flirted with Top 20 overall status had it not been for the webby final showdown. Nevertheless, one that has stayed with me long after its initial airing

 

[Uruk-Hai]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
t-226	It	4

​

Have been seeing this on cable a lot lately. Enjoyable watch although the ending is pretty ridiculous compared to the book. Tim Curry was really good as Pennywise.

The casting was really interesting.

 

[zamboni]

IT was the highest miniseries on my list and my #24 overall. As much as I like the theatrical versions (Chapter 1 at least), Tim Curry truly was Pennywise. Could have flirted with Top 20 overall status had it not been for the webby final showdown. Nevertheless, one that has stayed with me long after its initial airing

Agree that the theatrical versions were scarier and less campy, but Curry was light years better than the theatrical Pennywise.

 

[Instinctive]

240-231​

Rank	Title	Lists
231	Yellowstone	3
232	Only Murders in the Building	5
233	The Flintstones	4
234	This Week In Baseball	5
235	Young Sheldon	3
236	Burn Notice	3
t-237	The Night Of	6
t-237	The Inbetweeners	2
t-237	Family Feud	6
240	The IT Crowd	3

​

Burn Notice not even in the top 200?!?! Ok y'all got a do better. Is it the most high row drama? No. Is it awesome every episode? Yeah pretty much.

I think I've seen every single episode at least ten times.

I own the sunglasses from Michael Western. All around amazing. Thank God two of you also had it.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Damages is a very underrated drama.

Agreed. Loved that show.

 

[shuke]

I would argue that Curry's Pennywise is one of the top 5 villains in all of TV/film history.

 

[zamboni]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
t-226	It	4

​

Have been seeing this on cable a lot lately. Enjoyable watch although the ending is pretty ridiculous compared to the book. Tim Curry was really good as Pennywise.

The casting was really interesting.

Indeed. Particularly sad to see John Ritter - I'm sure we'll be getting to him later.

 

[shuke]

Agree that the theatrical versions were scarier

Totally disagree here.

 

[Don Quixote]

I, Claudius was a great adaptation of a great book. The cinematography feels a bit dated since from the 1970s, but otherwise holds up as a predecessor to various modern political machination shows. I own the DVD set of it and enjoy popping in.

 

[steelerfan1]

240-231​

Rank	Title	Lists
231	Yellowstone	3
232	Only Murders in the Building	5
233	The Flintstones	4
234	This Week In Baseball	5
235	Young Sheldon	3
236	Burn Notice	3
t-237	The Night Of	6
t-237	The Inbetweeners	2
t-237	Family Feud	6
240	The IT Crowd	3

​

Burn Notice not even in the top 200?!?! Ok y'all got a do better. Is it the most high row drama? No. Is it awesome every episode? Yeah pretty much.

I think I've seen every single episode at least ten times.

I own the sunglasses from Michael Western. All around amazing. Thank God two of you also had it.

where did you have it Instinctive?

 

[Gatorade]

. I saw plenty of Little House when growing up because my sister loved it, but it’s not my thing. Not seen anything else in this group

Same, my sister loved that show so I was predisposed to not liking it (but I kind of did).

This was my daughter's favorite

 

[Scoresman]

240-231​

Rank	Title	Lists
231	Yellowstone	3
232	Only Murders in the Building	5
233	The Flintstones	4
234	This Week In Baseball	5
235	Young Sheldon	3
236	Burn Notice	3
t-237	The Night Of	6
t-237	The Inbetweeners	2
t-237	Family Feud	6
240	The IT Crowd	3

​

Burn Notice not even in the top 200?!?! Ok y'all got a do better. Is it the most high row drama? No. Is it awesome every episode? Yeah pretty much.

I think I've seen every single episode at least ten times.

I own the sunglasses from Michael Western. All around amazing. Thank God two of you also had it.

This makes sense considering it was your number one show. Forgot to mention that.

This is one of those shows I always saw advertised but never gave much thought. What makes it so good?

 

[Psychopav]

260-25​

​

I had What's Happening!! at 40 and True Blood at 49.

What's Happening!! reruns appeared regularly on one of Philly's UHF stations in the late '70s and early '80s, and I watched them frequently. I loved the characters and their chemistry, and as @zamboni will attest, the Doobie Brothers bootlegging episode is an all-time classic.

True Blood went off the rails in its final two seasons, but before that it was an entertaining mix of drama, mystery, fantasy and erotica. It is one of two series on my list that my wife and I watched together to be entertained and for the romantic aspects. Maybe we will see the other one.

I watched a few episodes of Get Smart back in the day but not enough to consider for my list. Have never seen anything else from this group.

I was the other What's Happening fan. Not only were the characters great, but I gave it extra points because I think it was an important show for improving race relations in our country. It's the first show I remember watching as a kid where all the characters were black, and who knew that they were just as funny and cool as white people. I don't know how to do a spoiler alert, but when that cassette recorder fell out of Rerun's jacket and the band stopped playing, that's just an all time great TV moment.

I loved Dee’s sarcasm.

She was great. Unfortunately, the actress (Danielle Spencer) did very little after WH, returned to guest appear on WH Now in the mid-'80s, and then left Hollywood to attend college and become a veterinarian.

Too bad, she could have been the OG Aubrey Plaza.

 

[Tick]

Ren and Stimpy was groundbreaking animation. Loved The Young Ones.
We're watching Bob's Burgers for the first time. In the middle of S7. I've heard there's a dropoff after S8...is that true?

Bob's Burgers question, as I've only ever watched a couple of episodes (they were funny, I just never went back for no reason)...

Archer did a crossover episode where the Bob's Burgers people showed up. Did it happen in the other direction too? Was there a Bob's Burgers episode where the Archer people showed up?

 

[Shaft41]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
221	Damages	3
222	I, Claudius	3
223	This Is Us	3
224	Law & Order SVU	4
225	Black Sails	3
t-226	Slow Horses	4
t-226	It	4
228	The Chosen	2
229	The Pacific	4
230	Ken Burns' The Vietnam War	3

​

I know it's not the typical FBG-liked type of show, and I don't typically watch dramas like it, but This Is Us hooked me from the beginning. Very well-written and acted. Since I rarely watch a series without my wife after 25 years of marriage, I doubt if this was one I would have started on my own, but it was good television.

 

[Tick]

I wonder about The Pacific's low ranking, given that we're likely to see its predecessor very highly rated. Did people watch it but not care for it, or just never watched it at all?

 

[Psychopav]

I think that's criminally low for OMITB. Great show.

I had it on my list that just missed the cut. If it stopped after one or two seasons, it would have been on mine. Thought the concept got a bit tired.

This last season actually had a perfect episode of television IMO. It wasn't one of the GOAT's of all time, but for what they're doing, they hit an absolute home run.

I agree this should should at least have been in the top 200. More people on this board need to check it out imo.

 

[zamboni]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
221	Damages	3
222	I, Claudius	3
223	This Is Us	3
224	Law & Order SVU	4
225	Black Sails	3
t-226	Slow Horses	4
t-226	It	4
228	The Chosen	2
229	The Pacific	4
230	Ken Burns' The Vietnam War	3

​

I know it's not the typical FBG-liked type of show, and I don't typically watch dramas like it, but This Is Us hooked me from the beginning. Very well-written and acted. Since I rarely watch a series without my wife after 25 years of marriage, I doubt if this was one I would have started on my own, but it was good television.

Agree - was on my list. Watched the whole show with my wife - the writing and acting were outstanding.

 

[Gally]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
224	Law & Order SVU	4

​

Another single entry out of this batch. I had SVU at #48. Another show that I can just put on and be entertained. I will say that the last couple seasons are not my favorite as it went away from what made it good. But the longevity of quality was worth a spot on my countdown.


Haven't seen any of the other shows except for Slow Horses and I have only seen a couple episodes. It didn't catch me to make me want to continue. It was fine but not nearly up to the hype I have read about it.

 

[Yo Mama]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
221	Damages	3
222	I, Claudius	3
223	This Is Us	3
224	Law & Order SVU	4
225	Black Sails	3
t-226	Slow Horses	4
t-226	It	4
228	The Chosen	2
229	The Pacific	4
230	Ken Burns' The Vietnam War	3

​

A couple of my ranked shows in this group.

The Pacific - my #38 - I liked this nearly as much as Band of Brothers (hence the high ranking). To me, it paints an incredible picture of the desperation, the thirst and heat, the unyielding opposing force in the Pacific theater. It led me to go down more of a rabbit hole digging into the specific battles portrayed in the show. Highly recommended.

Slow Horses - my #56 - one of only a handful of current shows on my list. Gary Oldman is fantastic in it and the rest of the cast is great. To me it does a really good job of staying true to the book series. Definitely check this out if you haven’t already.

 

[Psychopav]

This Week In Baseball

Forgot about this and probably would have included it. Another nostalgia-related sports show I considered was

Spoiler

George Michael's Sports Machine

I preferred his work in Wham! tbh.

 

[Instinctive]

Damages is a very underrated drama.

Agreed. Loved that show.

Had on my list. It was too heavy to make my final 70. Really good though.

 

[Instinctive]

240-231​

Rank	Title	Lists
231	Yellowstone	3
232	Only Murders in the Building	5
233	The Flintstones	4
234	This Week In Baseball	5
235	Young Sheldon	3
236	Burn Notice	3
t-237	The Night Of	6
t-237	The Inbetweeners	2
t-237	Family Feud	6
240	The IT Crowd	3

​

Burn Notice not even in the top 200?!?! Ok y'all got a do better. Is it the most high row drama? No. Is it awesome every episode? Yeah pretty much.

I think I've seen every single episode at least ten times.

I own the sunglasses from Michael Western. All around amazing. Thank God two of you also had it.

This makes sense considering it was your number one show. Forgot to mention that.

This is one of those shows I always saw advertised but never gave much thought. What makes it so good?

Every episode is some version of clever, heist, funny, little guy beats the big bad guy, and there's a solid underlying story tying all of them together through each season.

 

[Instinctive]

240-231​

Rank	Title	Lists
231	Yellowstone	3
232	Only Murders in the Building	5
233	The Flintstones	4
234	This Week In Baseball	5
235	Young Sheldon	3
236	Burn Notice	3
t-237	The Night Of	6
t-237	The Inbetweeners	2
t-237	Family Feud	6
240	The IT Crowd	3

​

Burn Notice not even in the top 200?!?! Ok y'all got a do better. Is it the most high row drama? No. Is it awesome every episode? Yeah pretty much.

I think I've seen every single episode at least ten times.

I own the sunglasses from Michael Western. All around amazing. Thank God two of you also had it.

where did you have it Instinctive?

I believe I had it number 1 overall. Again, without a criteria beyond "favorite" I had a hard time putting anything above a show I've watched the entirety of almost once a year since it aired.

 

[Frostillicus]

I also had It, and pretty high I think. I can still go back and watch it.

 

[Instinctive]

I wonder about The Pacific's low ranking, given that we're likely to see its predecessor very highly rated. Did people watch it but not care for it, or just never watched it at all?

I've never even heard of it

 

[Gally]

I wonder about The Pacific's low ranking, given that we're likely to see its predecessor very highly rated. Did people watch it but not care for it, or just never watched it at all?

I have never heard of it. I have no idea what it is about.

 

[titusbramble]

The Inbetweeners never really cut it for me, but I'll allow it on the list because

a) Series that have an episode which is ostensibly set somewhere you know and hence you recognise when they are filming somewhere completely different are always funny
b) Buswankers

 

[The Gator]

Ren and Stimpy was groundbreaking animation. Loved The Young Ones.
We're watching Bob's Burgers for the first time. In the middle of S7. I've heard there's a dropoff after S8...is that true?

Bob's Burgers question, as I've only ever watched a couple of episodes (they were funny, I just never went back for no reason)...

Archer did a crossover episode where the Bob's Burgers people showed up. Did it happen in the other direction too? Was there a Bob's Burgers episode where the Archer people showed up?

I think so. I believe Archer was basically Bob as an undercover sting iirc

 

[Psychopav]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
221	Damages	3
222	I, Claudius	3
223	This Is Us	3
224	Law & Order SVU	4
225	Black Sails	3
t-226	Slow Horses	4
t-226	It	4
228	The Chosen	2
229	The Pacific	4
230	Ken Burns' The Vietnam War	3

​

So I ran my list by my wife and a couple friends, and have been sharing these as they have been coming up.

This is the first one where I'm expecting a real backlash. Among the 6 of us on the text string, there are going to be strong objections to This Is Us, SVU, It, and The Chosen.

I forwarded along this block of 10 and . lol

 

[Runkle]

I enjoy Slow Horses but it just doesn't crack my "best of all time" criteria. It's good, not "GREAT!"

 

[Yo Mama]

I wonder about The Pacific's low ranking, given that we're likely to see its predecessor very highly rated. Did people watch it but not care for it, or just never watched it at all?

I have never heard of it. I have no idea what it is about.

Same producers as Band of Brothers, but in the Pacific theater. Miniseries on HBO. I highly recommend it if you liked BoB.

 

[the moops]

When do we get to the good shows?

 

[simey]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
221	Damages	3
230	Ken Burns' The Vietnam War	3

​

These two were on my list, and I ranked both pretty high. I ranked Damages #7, and Ken Burns' The Vietnam War at #13. Damages was a great drama/thriller series, and Glenn Close was fantastic as the merciless lawyer Patty Hewes. I loved that show. Ken Burns' The Vietnam War is my favorite documentary series based on a war.

 

[Todem]

260-251​

Rank	Title	Lists
251	Get Smart	5
252	Top Gear	3
253	Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown	2
254	MythBusters	6
t-255	What's Happening!!	3
t-255	The Young Ones	3
257	Shark Tank	2
t-258	Yellowjackets	4
t-258	True Blood	4
t-258	Remote Control	4

​

Shark Tank probably should have made my list since I’ve enjoyed it for a long time.

Just couldn’t remember everything and turned my list in early to avoid driving myself crazy.

None of the rest even got consideration from me.

Shark Tank only being on 2 lists is the first real surprise to me. I don't know if I thought it would make the top 300 but assumed it would be on more lists than mine and one other.

Just missed the cut for me.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

230-221​

Rank	Title	Lists
221	Damages	3
230	Ken Burns' The Vietnam War	3

​

These two were on my list, and I ranked both pretty high. I ranked Damages #7, and Ken Burns' The Vietnam War at #13. Damages was a great drama/thriller series, and Glenn Close was fantastic as the merciless lawyer Patty Hewes. I loved that show. Ken Burns' The Vietnam War is my favorite documentary series based on a war.

I figured you were one of the 3 for Damages. Wasn't there a thread on it here?

I would have had several Ken Burns docs on my list if I had done it.

 

[Maik Jeaunz]

Only two other jackasses? In this crowd?!

Right? I was one of them. Between this and Remote Control, I'm starting to question how cool this board is.

Jackass was another show I forgot. probably would have been in my top 50. smh.

 

[simey]

I figured you were one of the 3 for Damages. Wasn't there a thread on it here?

I would have had several Ken Burns docs on my list if I had done it.

Yeah, there was a thread for it. I remember you being active in it.

Ken Burns does have a lot of great documentaries.

 

[krista4]

Slow Horses - my #56 - one of only a handful of current shows on my list. Gary Oldman is fantastic in it and the rest of the cast is great. To me it does a really good job of staying true to the book series. Definitely check this out if you haven’t already.

#63 for me and agree with everything you said. I can't get over how good Gary Oldman is. An acting master class.

ETA: I watched this specifically to see if I should put it on this list, so I could have some recency bias in there.