The Top 300 Greatest TV Shows of All Time: FBG Consensus: 50 Lists received. 2: Seinfeld 1: Breaking Bad (20 Viewers)

[BassNBrew]

Glad four others had "This Week in Baseball". Catching this on a Saturday when I was a kid was everything to me. Mel Allen was my hero.

Guess this means MNF, SNF, TNF should all make the list.

 

[krista4]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
201	Good Eats	4
202	Miami Vice	6
203	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	3
204	Sanford and Son	5
205	Cobra Kai	5
206	The Practice	4
207	House of Cards	4
208	The Punisher	5
209	John Adams	4
210	Sports Night	4

​

I was one of the three for this Anthony Bourdain show and had it all the way up at #25. It was hard to choose between the two, and I'm sure he would have done better if we didn't have them split (though it's logical that we did). I've gone to soooo many restaurants around the world as a result of his shows, and I can say I've never once been disappointed. Also went to see him live 13-14 years ago in Memphis, and his live show was as charming and brilliant as his TV appearances. I loved him and miss him.

 

[Gr00vus]

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.

Agree on Damages, which I ranked #37. What an amazing cast across at least parts of the show's 5 seasons (many in just 1 season):

• Glenn Close
• Rose Byrne
• William Hurt
• Judd Hirsch
• John Goodman
• Ted Danson
• Marcia Gay Harden
• Timothy Olyphant
• Ryan Philippe
• Zeljko Ivanek
• Martin Short
• Lily Tomlin

Regarding the Vietnam War, it has been pretty heavily criticized for inaccuracies and omissions. Maybe it isn't possible to make a serious documentary series on a subject like that without heavy criticism.

Ted Danson was so freaking good on Damages. He was off the rails.

As far as Burns goes, all of his docs get criticized for that stuff (& other things I won't go into). I don't like them as history books, but as entertainment.

I had Burns's The West (1996) at # 42 on my list - pretty sure it's not showing up on this countdown. I really liked its treatment of the subject material. In particular, it hammered home just how badly the Native Americans were treated after Europeans showed up in America. This lead me to do follow up reading on that subject. Very depressing. Yet I do recommend the show.

 

[krista4]

Sanford and Son definitely a top tier theme song if nothing else. Written by the great Quincy Jones.

I nearly chose it almost entirely for the theme song.

 

[Don Quixote]

Glad four others had "This Week in Baseball". Catching this on a Saturday when I was a kid was everything to me. Mel Allen was my hero.

Guess this means MNF, SNF, TNF should all make the list.

I’m not sure I see the comparison. Sporting events were ineligible. This Week in Baseball was a 30 minute clip show.

 

[steelerfan1]

so far I've had 8 shows not crack the top 200

Supernatural
Boston Legal
Boy Meets World
Loudermilk
True Blood
Yellowstone
Black Sails
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

If I have 34 shows remaining that means that 28 of mine didn't make it. I wonder if I had the highest # of shows to not make it.

I think I have you beat.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Ted Danson was so freaking good on Damages. He was off the rails.

Martin Short was also very good in a dramatic/villainous role.

 

[Don Quixote]

Sanford and Son definitely a top tier theme song if nothing else. Written by the great Quincy Jones.

I nearly chose it almost entirely for the theme song.

Was my preliminary #1 in my discarded TV theme song theme list.

 

[rockaction]

I should have done this. Anthony Bourdain, Mork and Mindy, and TWIB all bring back fond memories and I've only seen twenty on the list so far. So that's at least three out of twenty to consider. I just couldn't recall off of the top of my head that many shows to include in a list, but I easily could have if I'd thought about it a bit and had a list of shows in front of me. This looks like it should be fun, so have fun ladies and gentlemen.

Sanford and Son did have a great theme song, too.

 

[BassNBrew]

Glad four others had "This Week in Baseball". Catching this on a Saturday when I was a kid was everything to me. Mel Allen was my hero.

Guess this means MNF, SNF, TNF should all make the list.

I’m not sure I see the comparison. Sporting events were ineligible. This Week in Baseball was a 30 minute clip show.

TWIB was a sporting event.

I didn't read the rules, but seems like sporting event summaries should be off limits too if something like MNF with an intro, big personalities, and the fastest two minutes in sports on a weekly basis isn't elighble.

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

about a million copycat shows).

I have one of those copycat shows on my list from almost a decade later. It is actually the lowest IMDB rated show on my list by a full ratings point, but I did see all of this one and considered it a guilty pleasure. And if the 46-51 list were accurate, this is not one of my 18 "solo" picks. (Though I still highly doubt it made the countdown.)

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I think shows like sportscenter etc. fall under talk shows so if TWIB is like sportscenter then it should be fine

 

[UncleZen]

Weeds is ranked criminally low. I can't believe only 3 people had it on their list. The first 3 seasons were freakin amazing. The last 5 seasons did drop it down it my rankings but still, a good show. The fact that this finished lower than Dallas is whack.

Miami Vice was culture changing. The show was shot with such a fresh new look and yes, it completely influenced 80's fashion.

Sanford and Son - Tremendous theme song and Redd Foxx is one of the all time comedy greats.

 

[UncleZen]

Almost forgot, as others have said, Cobra Kai was great the first few seasons and was a nice trip down memory lane. I lost interest and still haven't watched the last 2 seasons yet.

 

[Eephus]

Cunk

I had Cunk on Life somewhere in the #60s.

Didn’t rank it, but really liked it

I probably overranked Cunk on Life because I just watched Cunk on Earth so it was fresh in my mind.

Cunk on Earth was great. With Cunk on LIfe I didn't pay attention and didn't realize it was a one off, I was sad when it ended and there was no next episode.

Sorry, I had my Cunks reversed. I ranked On Earth at #69.

On Life was funny but I wanted more.

 

[Eephus]

I was one of the three for this Anthony Bourdain show and had it all the way up at #25. It was hard to choose between the two, and I'm sure he would have done better if we didn't have them split (though it's logical that we did). I've gone to soooo many restaurants around the world as a result of his shows, and I can say I've never once been disappointed. Also went to see him live 13-14 years ago in Memphis, and his live show was as charming and brilliant as his TV appearances. I loved him and miss him.

I had No Reservations at #2 and Parts Unknown at #12. May have ranked them a bit high but they're among the shows I can rewatch again and again.

 

[Instinctive]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
207	House of Cards	4

​

One more off my list. I had House of Cards at #15. I really thought it was interesting and could imagine how the back room deals are done and how things are bartered. I don't really count the last season when Spacey was exiled as that was kind of silly. But all in all I was so surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I also didn't watch it first run. I caught it well after it had concluded so even going in with highish expectations it exceeded them by a lot.

Cobra Kai was a miss. I really enjoyed it and the concept. It definitely got outlandish but I didn't care. Johnny is still the best part and it would have been better to have more of him stuck in the 80's the last couple seasons but it was still there occasionally which kept my interest. Loved the call backs to the movie and all the people they brought back along the way. Great concept and fun show. I wish I would have remembered it because it would have been in the top 70 for me.

I had House of Cards in consideration but it was so incredibly bad without Spacey that I couldn't keep it on there.

 

[Instinctive]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
201	Good Eats	4
202	Miami Vice	6
203	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	3
204	Sanford and Son	5
205	Cobra Kai	5
206	The Practice	4
207	House of Cards	4
208	The Punisher	5
209	John Adams	4
210	Sports Night	4

​

Another 2 down for me.
Miami Vice and Cobra Kai.
Cheesy, corny, whatever, I like it!

208 the Punisher is also absolutely awesome. Only two seasons probably really hurt it here. But damn if they aren't two freaking awesome seasons.

 

[Instinctive]

Weeds is ranked criminally low. I can't believe only 3 people had it on their list. The first 3 seasons were freakin amazing. The last 5 seasons did drop it down it my rankings but still, a good show. The fact that this finished lower than Dallas is whack.

Miami Vice was culture changing. The show was shot with such a fresh new look and yes, it completely influenced 80's fashion.

Sanford and Son - Tremendous theme song and Redd Foxx is one of the all time comedy greats.

I also thought of it but didn't include it because it got worse and worse as it went and ive never had a rewatch urge.

 

[Rand al Thor]

Ricky
Ricky Gervais? Hard pass, don’t find him funny

Yeah, same here. He's unwatchable for me.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

Watching a show that is on my list that reminded me of another show that I didn't think of (and I doubt many did) Haven't seen it in forever but I'm thinking about trying to find an episode to see how well it holds up

Spoiler

vh1:Behind the music

 

[Rand al Thor]

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?

Agree, I had The Pacific at #31. So well done. I'm thinking most rankers never saw it.

I think that once you've seen Band of Brothers, the Pacific was sort of "more of the same" and didn't have the same impact. It's like watching a great movie for a second time. For whatever reason, the characters are not memorable nor is the storyline. But I could describe some of the characters and their story arcs from BOB and it's been 20 years since I've seen it. Also, if you're watching The Pacific, you've probably already seen Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima and Hacksaw Ridge. I don't think The Pacific stands out from those movies. So for those reasons, it didn't make my list. But the Flintstones did make my list, so perhaps my taste in TV shows is suspect.

 

[Rand al Thor]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
209	John Adams	4

​

#29 on my list

John Adams
This should have been called Abigail Adams as the real hero of this story. And the tolerable figure.

I thought the first two episodes were all-time great TV and I've rewatched at least 5 times, and still get choked up when they're reading the Declaration of Independence at the end of episode 2. Then it lost its way somewhere when Benjamin Franklin was having orgies in France. Or something like that.

 

[Keith R]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
209	John Adams	4

​

#29 on my list

John Adams
This should have been called Abigail Adams as the real hero of this story. And the tolerable figure.

I thought the first two episodes were all-time great TV and I've rewatched at least 5 times, and still get choked up when they're reading the Declaration of Independence at the end of episode 2. Then it lost its way somewhere when Benjamin Franklin was having orgies in France. Or something like that.

At least it stayed true to life

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Timothy Olyphant

I never would have said I was a huge fan but my list has three shows he was on (in two of them the main character and one only 2-3 episodes).

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

240-231​

Rank	Title	Lists
235	Young Sheldon	3

​

Only one of my entries in this batch. Young Sheldon was at #19 for me. Probably a bit high but it was lumped with a bunch of shows that I just kind of listed as they were all kind of in the same tier/type for me and they had to be in an order. I enjoyed all the characters and Georgie and Meemaw were awesome. Just a well put together cast. I liked it better than it's predecessor by just a hair.

I've seen a lot of complaints that some shows just lasted too long. This one had a built-in time limit. They made it work. I was very surprised.

And I can vouch for the accuracy of the scripts since I live in that part of the country. Someitmes, they are almost too on point.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

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.

As I just mentioned, I was really surprised. It is not at all like Big Bang.

But the George and Mandy thing - hell no. Awful stuff.

 

[Instinctive]

Timothy Olyphant

I never would have said I was a huge fan but my list has three shows he was on (in two of them the main character and one only 2-3 episodes).

He's also in my favorite movie as a funny comic relief character

 

[Jayrod]

Hooray! Good Eats made the list. For some reason I was oddly passionate about that show. Brilliant concept and great execution.

I only had it at #29, but it's the only cooking show I've ever enjoyed.

 

[Jayrod]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
201	Good Eats	4
202	Miami Vice	6
203	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	3
204	Sanford and Son	5
205	Cobra Kai	5
206	The Practice	4
207	House of Cards	4
208	The Punisher	5
209	John Adams	4
210	Sports Night	4

​

Another 2 down for me.
Miami Vice and Cobra Kai.
Cheesy, corny, whatever, I like it!

208 the Punisher is also absolutely awesome. Only two seasons probably really hurt it here. But damn if they aren't two freaking awesome seasons.

Had it at #35. Bernthal is as perfect for the Punisher as RDJ was for Ironman.

The villain in season 2 got a little lame (I just rewatched it), but the rest of it is well done. It is also one of the most gruesome things I've ever watched. Some of the death scenes are slasher level gore.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
201	Good Eats	4
202	Miami Vice	6
203	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	3
204	Sanford and Son	5
205	Cobra Kai	5
206	The Practice	4
207	House of Cards	4
208	The Punisher	5
209	John Adams	4
210	Sports Night	4

​

Here we have our first case of a season so dreadful that it knocked the entire show out of my top 70. The first season of House of Cards was incredible. Seasons 2 and 3 were good enough to keep interest and season 4 was almost as good as the first one. But season 5 was so atrocious that it ruined the rest of the series for me in retrospect (the real-life trouble that Kevin Spacey got himself into around this time didn't help). It made the final 2 seasons of True Blood look like Breaking Bad in comparison. I didn't bother to stick around for the Spacey-less season 6. The show does deserve credit for bringing Mahershala Ali into the spotlight.

I've seen a few episodes of Sanford and Son and Miami Vice, but not enough to consider them. Have not seen any of the others. I've seen lots of people on the internet rave about Sports Night but I don't know if I can deal with the Sorkin of it all.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

never even knew they made a punisher tv show. Where is is streaming at?

 

[Pip's Invitation]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
201	Good Eats	4
202	Miami Vice	6
203	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	3
204	Sanford and Son	5
205	Cobra Kai	5
206	The Practice	4
207	House of Cards	4
208	The Punisher	5
209	John Adams	4
210	Sports Night	4

​

Good Eats is one of the best cooking shows, and while I’ve watched a lot of cooking shows I just can’t fit them in. Love the way Alton scienced things up

I must say, if you are a fan of Alton Brown and haven't done it yet, you MUST watch the season of Worst Cooks in America that he appeared on (season 18). He gets more exasperated with each episode to the point where you can tell he is gradually going insane. It's hilariously chaotic and, subtly, great storytelling.

 

[Jayrod]

never even knew they made a punisher tv show. Where is is streaming at?

It's on Disney Plus now. It was made by Netflix as a spinoff from the Marvel Daredevil/Defenders series' (which included Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist). Punisher shows up in season 2 of Daredevil and was so great they gave it 2 seasons of its own which are essentially unrelated to the other shows save for 1 crossover character (Karen Page played by a goddess named Debra Ann Woll).

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

i will check it out

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Timothy Olyphant

I never would have said I was a huge fan but my list has three shows he was on (in two of them the main character and one only 2-3 episodes).

He’s great

 

[DA RAIDERS]

If I had made a list, And since I didn’t, I have no leg to stand on. I would have heavily weighted the impact the show had on me at the time. Rather than ranking them across eras. For example, Miami vice was a force of nature. The wire is much better in the grand scheme of things. But I would have them very close in ranking due to impact they had on me when I watched them.

Much like like trying to rank sports stars across eras.

 

[Tick]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
201	Good Eats	4
202	Miami Vice	6
203	Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations	3
204	Sanford and Son	5
205	Cobra Kai	5
206	The Practice	4
207	House of Cards	4
208	The Punisher	5
209	John Adams	4
210	Sports Night	4

​

Another 2 down for me.
Miami Vice and Cobra Kai.
Cheesy, corny, whatever, I like it!

208 the Punisher is also absolutely awesome. Only two seasons probably really hurt it here. But damn if they aren't two freaking awesome seasons.

Had it at #35. Bernthal is as perfect for the Punisher as RDJ was for Ironman.

The villain in season 2 got a little lame (I just rewatched it), but the rest of it is well done. It is also one of the most gruesome things I've ever watched. Some of the death scenes are slasher level gore.

I think my favorite part was when he got in a bar fight and made gorilla grunts before wiping people out.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

210-201​

Rank	Title	Lists
207	House of Cards	4

​

One more off my list. I had House of Cards at #15. I really thought it was interesting and could imagine how the back room deals are done and how things are bartered. I don't really count the last season when Spacey was exiled as that was kind of silly. But all in all I was so surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I also didn't watch it first run. I caught it well after it had concluded so even going in with highish expectations it exceeded them by a lot.

Cobra Kai was a miss. I really enjoyed it and the concept. It definitely got outlandish but I didn't care. Johnny is still the best part and it would have been better to have more of him stuck in the 80's the last couple seasons but it was still there occasionally which kept my interest. Loved the call backs to the movie and all the people they brought back along the way. Great concept and fun show. I wish I would have remembered it because it would have been in the top 70 for me.

I had House of Cards in consideration but it was so incredibly bad without Spacey that I couldn't keep it on there.

First few seasons and it was headed toward becoming a great TV show.
The cast were excellent and Spacey is such a good actor with a meaty role.
Writing fell off, and the last season was an impossible watch.
It ended up at #81 for me, but could have been so much higher.

 

[turnjose7]

Sports Night was my #1. Absolutely love the show. The other show people mentioned is fine and a huge fan of some of his movies, but I think Sports Night is the best thing Sorkin's done.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

220-211​

Rank	Title	Lists
211	King of the Hill	6
212	NOVA	4
213	After Life	3
214	From the Earth to the Moon	3
215	Dallas	4
216	Weeds	3
217	The Real World	5
t-218	The Tick	3
t-218	The Rockford Files	9
220	Bates Motel	4

​

The Tick was #6 on mine.

How do you feel about giant digestive enzymes?

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

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

​

Just going to reiterate to the Family Feud people that a better version of the game is on the BBC in Pointless. Instead of guessing the most popular answer, you win by coming up with the most obscure. It's more trivia-based, so instead of blindly guessing everyone else's favorite fruit to put in a pie, you're digging deep to come up with a country smaller in area than Texas that no one else thought of.

The actual show is padded out to 45 minutes by a lot of contestant interviews, but you can fast-forward on Youtube and get through the questions in a brisk 10 minutes per episode.

Thanks. I'll be watching these.

 

[Todem]

220-211​

Rank	Title	Lists
211	King of the Hill	6
212	NOVA	4
213	After Life	3
214	From the Earth to the Moon	3
215	Dallas	4
216	Weeds	3
217	The Real World	5
t-218	The Tick	3
t-218	The Rockford Files	9
220	Bates Motel	4

​

Another strike out from me. None on my list and I don't think I have watched any of these except for a few Rockford Files way, way back in the day.

Dallas was on my list. It was a rite of passage warching this and another monster night time soap with my mom.

Pure cheese and I loved it.

 

[Todem]

My list took a bit a a blow, but it makes more sense that many of mine would get knocked out in the 1st 100 than I would stay near the top of the pack with shows left in the 200. Comments with some @s because a couple of these I've recommended a lot. (my rank is listed)

NOVA - #11 Not many shows made great science stories so accessible. Such a quality show that I'd want access to on my island.
After Life #48- @steelerfan1 and somebody else sang it's praises. In movies and shows I place a high value on things that can make me laugh and cry in one episode. I complain about Netflix a lot, but this and another show that I don't think we have seen are the 2 that I recommend to people a lot. Of course a bit might depend on how grating you find Gervais.
Dallas #33 - Just one that stood out from childhood that my parents weirdly let us stay up to watch.
The Real World #26 @guru_007 is underestimating the impact of this one. This was a core part of my college and MTV watching, which where I put 5 shows that were essential watches for me around then. This is also admitting that I haven't seen more than 1/2 the seasons. I was a little late to the OG, so I hopped on with LA and jumped off after New Orleans. Our favorite was probably London (Jacinda!) and of course SF with Pedro and Puck. Good memories here.
Bates Motel #49 I will echo fellow MADer @simey here. This was one of my bigger surprises when I was heavier into TV in the 2010s. The leads of Fermiga and Highmore were great and they did a good job with the atmosphere and creep factor. A well done show that did the movie/book and characters justice. It also didn't overstay it's welcome at 5 seasons. Another I recommended a lot in the video store days.

Cobra Kai #42 I freakin' LOVED the first couple seasons. Yes, I get what some of you are saying that is was always a bit corny. But it was that in the way that the first movie was - it was corny, but also well made, funny, and I thought they hit a HR by flipping it a bit and having us have some sympathy for Johnny. Problem is that lasted about 3 seasons then the inevitable happened and they started to trot out the side characters and villains from the movies with diminishing returns. To me it got too much to keep watching. Even Kreese I found cringeworthy and that was pretty early in the seasons. I haven't bothered with S5+ yet.

Bates Motel is fantastic and one I for some reason forgot about. And I don’t know how because my wife and I have watched it 3 times.

So good. Just an almost perfect show.

 

[steelerfan1]

My list took a bit a a blow, but it makes more sense that many of mine would get knocked out in the 1st 100 than I would stay near the top of the pack with shows left in the 200. Comments with some @s because a couple of these I've recommended a lot. (my rank is listed)

NOVA - #11 Not many shows made great science stories so accessible. Such a quality show that I'd want access to on my island.
After Life #48- @steelerfan1 and somebody else sang it's praises. In movies and shows I place a high value on things that can make me laugh and cry in one episode. I complain about Netflix a lot, but this and another show that I don't think we have seen are the 2 that I recommend to people a lot. Of course a bit might depend on how grating you find Gervais.
Dallas #33 - Just one that stood out from childhood that my parents weirdly let us stay up to watch.
The Real World #26 @guru_007 is underestimating the impact of this one. This was a core part of my college and MTV watching, which where I put 5 shows that were essential watches for me around then. This is also admitting that I haven't seen more than 1/2 the seasons. I was a little late to the OG, so I hopped on with LA and jumped off after New Orleans. Our favorite was probably London (Jacinda!) and of course SF with Pedro and Puck. Good memories here.
Bates Motel #49 I will echo fellow MADer @simey here. This was one of my bigger surprises when I was heavier into TV in the 2010s. The leads of Fermiga and Highmore were great and they did a good job with the atmosphere and creep factor. A well done show that did the movie/book and characters justice. It also didn't overstay it's welcome at 5 seasons. Another I recommended a lot in the video store days.

Cobra Kai #42 I freakin' LOVED the first couple seasons. Yes, I get what some of you are saying that is was always a bit corny. But it was that in the way that the first movie was - it was corny, but also well made, funny, and I thought they hit a HR by flipping it a bit and having us have some sympathy for Johnny. Problem is that lasted about 3 seasons then the inevitable happened and they started to trot out the side characters and villains from the movies with diminishing returns. To me it got too much to keep watching. Even Kreese I found cringeworthy and that was pretty early in the seasons. I haven't bothered with S5+ yet.

Bates Motel is fantastic and one I for some reason forgot about. And I don’t know how because my wife and I have watched it 3 times.

So good. Just an almost perfect show.

with you being the horror guy i thought for sure you were going to be 1 of the votes.

 

[KarmaPolice]

My list took a bit a a blow, but it makes more sense that many of mine would get knocked out in the 1st 100 than I would stay near the top of the pack with shows left in the 200. Comments with some @s because a couple of these I've recommended a lot. (my rank is listed)

NOVA - #11 Not many shows made great science stories so accessible. Such a quality show that I'd want access to on my island.
After Life #48- @steelerfan1 and somebody else sang it's praises. In movies and shows I place a high value on things that can make me laugh and cry in one episode. I complain about Netflix a lot, but this and another show that I don't think we have seen are the 2 that I recommend to people a lot. Of course a bit might depend on how grating you find Gervais.
Dallas #33 - Just one that stood out from childhood that my parents weirdly let us stay up to watch.
The Real World #26 @guru_007 is underestimating the impact of this one. This was a core part of my college and MTV watching, which where I put 5 shows that were essential watches for me around then. This is also admitting that I haven't seen more than 1/2 the seasons. I was a little late to the OG, so I hopped on with LA and jumped off after New Orleans. Our favorite was probably London (Jacinda!) and of course SF with Pedro and Puck. Good memories here.
Bates Motel #49 I will echo fellow MADer @simey here. This was one of my bigger surprises when I was heavier into TV in the 2010s. The leads of Fermiga and Highmore were great and they did a good job with the atmosphere and creep factor. A well done show that did the movie/book and characters justice. It also didn't overstay it's welcome at 5 seasons. Another I recommended a lot in the video store days.

Cobra Kai #42 I freakin' LOVED the first couple seasons. Yes, I get what some of you are saying that is was always a bit corny. But it was that in the way that the first movie was - it was corny, but also well made, funny, and I thought they hit a HR by flipping it a bit and having us have some sympathy for Johnny. Problem is that lasted about 3 seasons then the inevitable happened and they started to trot out the side characters and villains from the movies with diminishing returns. To me it got too much to keep watching. Even Kreese I found cringeworthy and that was pretty early in the seasons. I haven't bothered with S5+ yet.

Bates Motel is fantastic and one I for some reason forgot about. And I don’t know how because my wife and I have watched it 3 times.

So good. Just an almost perfect show.

When I think of my reaction to it at the time and how many times I have suggested it to people, it should have been higher on my list than some other lesser shows. I just watched it the one time though, and didn't fully trust my memory the other day. Of my shows that have been crossed off my list so far, Bates Motel and Gravity Falls are my highest recommends for the people in this thread.

 

[kupcho1]

He's also in my favorite movie as a funny comic relief character

He pops up in my #3 show.

 

[guru_007]

The Real World #26 @guru_007 is underestimating the impact of this one. This was a core part of my college and MTV watching, which where I put 5 shows that were essential watches for me around then. This is also admitting that I haven't seen more than 1/2 the seasons. I was a little late to the OG, so I hopped on with LA and jumped off after New Orleans. Our favorite was probably London (Jacinda!) and of course SF with Pedro and Puck. Good memories here.

Real World destroyed MTV. It went from playing music videos and presenting music news with the occasionally off music show to you couldn't turn the damn channel on without a non-music show running non-stop. I watched the entire SF season, not by choice, but rather my roommates at the time had MTV on non-stop in the living area, so when I was in there with them, it would be on. That's all these ****ers talked about, Puck did this or Jud and that girl did that, and blah blah blah blah blah.
I'm not judging people that liked this show (yes I am), I just despised it and cannot stand reality television at all. My wife watches Survivor (SPOILER ALERT) and big brother and it's the same damn thing over and over and over again. I honestly think Survivor will not be happy until someone perishes during one of their seasons.
/rant
Nothing personal KarmaPolice. I didn't submit a list for this because a) I hardly have watched any tv series over the past 20 years and b) don't like certain genres of television at all. I appreciate you all who did, and I'm just here to make a comment from time to time

 

[guru_007]

On the latest batch that was listed, No Reservations is on there. I loved Bourdain, seemed like a real salt of the earth guy, guy I'd like to hang out with any time he was in town. But, you can only do so much with a food show. Yeah it was a travel show as well, but, I wouldn't have listed it. I'd put it on when I saw it, but it got to be the same thing with a different background.
Sanford and Son criminally underrated here. Yeah, I'm an old, but that show was funny. And the Grady season was top notch. Should have been top 100 for theme song alone.

 

[zamboni]

Real World destroyed MTV. It went from playing music videos and presenting music news with the occasionally off music show to you couldn't turn the damn channel on without a non-music show running non-stop

I do think this is The Real World’s legacy - the day the music videos died.