The Top 300 Greatest TV Shows of All Time: FBG Consensus: 50 Lists received. 2: Seinfeld 1: Breaking Bad (13 Viewers)

[Todem]

I think I might have over-ranked Downton Abbey a bit in the mid-30's but I can't believe how much I liked that show. You could have said "You will like a drama about British asswipes and the help as they face major crises like did the cake get burnt or was someone rude that one time" and I would have told you to leave. But here we are.

Wife and tried it….cold could not get thru any episode without passing out cold.

 

[Scoresman]

163 - Roots​

Drama
Score: 193
Average Rank: 38.8

A dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.

List Breakdown

timschochet 18
Chaos34 26
krista4 37
Bottomfeeder Sports 43
zamboni 51
Yo Mama 58

 

[Instinctive]

Scooby Doo is the only kid's cartoon I had on my list. I think cartoons peaked here and have gone downhill ever since.

Sounds like a guy who never watched Pokemon

 

[Nick Vermeil]

163 - Roots​

Drama
Score: 193
Average Rank: 38.8

A dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.

List Breakdown

timschochet 18
Chaos34 26
krista4 37
Bottomfeeder Sports 43
zamboni 51
Yo Mama 58

“Roots and Saved by the Bell, almost the same show.” -FBG.com

 

[Yo Mama]

who was the other goody grey dog? He sucked too

Scooby-Dumb (fitting name). He wasn't great but he was way better than Scrappy

Dum, dum, dum, duuuuuuuumb!

 

[Gally]

who was the other goody grey dog? He sucked too

Scooby-Dumb (fitting name). He wasn't great but he was way better than Scrappy

Dum, dum, dum, duuuuuuuumb!

Hahahah. I almost put that in my reply.

 

[Yo Mama]

163 - Roots​

Drama
Score: 193
Average Rank: 38.8

A dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.

List Breakdown

timschochet 18
Chaos34 26
krista4 37
Bottomfeeder Sports 43
zamboni 51
Yo Mama 58

Another one of those shows like Dallas / Who Shot JR, MASH finale, etc. that captured the nation’s attention like few others. Massive cultural impact.

 

[Yo Mama]

With that, 10 of my shows are in the consensus rankings, with 58 left in the top 162 and 2 more that somehow didn’t make the top 300.

30 - Mr. Rogers Neighborhood (193 consensus)
38 - The Pacific (229)
42 - Batman (179)
45 - Good Times (you fools are NOT dynomite)
51 - Fringe (178)
56 - Slow Horses (226)
58 - Roots (163)
60 - Dallas (215)
66 - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (246)
67 - The Rockford Files (218)

 

[Leroy Hoard]

As far as scooby doo, I know there’s a ton of versions, but for me I just tend to consider all of the normal gang as one series, even the scrappy years

Then there’s the kids version and a more adult version (no not that kind) that I would consider separately

Scrappy is terrible though FWIW, who was the other goody grey dog? He sucked too

The only one of those I acknowledge is Scooby. I've always had this theory that he was somehow related to the future Astro Jetson.

 

[zamboni]

165 - Scooby Doo, Where are You?​

Animated
Score: 190
Average Rank: 47.3

A group of friends and their dog (Scooby Doo) travel in a van solving strange and hilarious mysteries

List Breakdown

Hastur 12
Dan Lambskin 28
UncleZen 31
AAABatteries 47
zamboni 53
Tick 68
Scoresman 69
Brutal Penquin 70

ETA has anyone seen clips of the show where the speaking parts of the characters have been edited to be nearly X rated? Hilarious stuff! It's really filthy, and won't share a link for respect to Joe.

And you would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those meddling rules.

 

[shuke]

I'm glad I wasn't the top voter for Saved By the Bell.

Yes, dumb and cheesy, but I also watched it almost every day after school on TBS along with another show that hasn't shown up yet.

Spoiler

Xuxa?

Spoiler

Xuxa

 

[shuke]

164 - American Horror Story​

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Score: 191
Average Rank: 39.2

An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a haunted house, an insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show and a hotel.

List Breakdown

Atomic Punk 10
Frostillicus 30
Keith R 38
simey 43
Psychopav 48
Scoresman 66

Love the first season of this, then watched a few more and they just seemed to go more and more off the rails. Not sure I watched past the third season.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

With that, 10 of my shows are in the consensus rankings, with 58 left in the top 162 and 2 more that somehow didn’t make the top 300.

30 - Mr. Rogers Neighborhood (193 consensus)
38 - The Pacific (229)
42 - Batman (179)
45 - Good Times (you fools are NOT dynomite)
51 - Fringe (178)
56 - Slow Horses (226)
58 - Roots (163)
60 - Dallas (215)
66 - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (246)
67 - The Rockford Files (218)

nice ...I need to do this for my list.

 

[Keith R]

164 - American Horror Story​

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Score: 191
Average Rank: 39.2

An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a haunted house, an insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show and a hotel.

List Breakdown

Atomic Punk 10
Frostillicus 30
Keith R 38
simey 43
Psychopav 48
Scoresman 66

First season was a gem…..tue rest are one giant Meh.

Start great then suck ***.

Season 1 is the only good one, rest are trash. I kept getting suckered in because the first 2 or 3 episodes would be good and then they would just go completely off the rails, think I tapped out in the middle of several seasons and then finally gave up for good
I’ll basically avoid any Ryan Murphy show because he’s so bad

1984 was a later season that is worth watching. The hits were high enough for me to rank this well in spite of the misses

 

[Todem]

164 - American Horror Story​

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Score: 191
Average Rank: 39.2

An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a haunted house, an insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show and a hotel.

List Breakdown

Atomic Punk 10
Frostillicus 30
Keith R 38
simey 43
Psychopav 48
Scoresman 66

First season was a gem…..tue rest are one giant Meh.

Start great then suck ***.

Season 1 is the only good one, rest are trash. I kept getting suckered in because the first 2 or 3 episodes would be good and then they would just go completely off the rails, think I tapped out in the middle of several seasons and then finally gave up for good
I’ll basically avoid any Ryan Murphy show because he’s so bad

1984 was a later season that is worth watching. The hits were high enough for me to rank this well in spite of the misses

1984 was one of three we respoy liked.

Original and Roanoke were the other two.

Freaks started great and then went way off the rails.

 

[simey]

AHS is the first show where the temptation to rank individual seasons comes up because they differ vastly in quality.

Personally, I loved the first two seasons, and a few of the others, but some of them were bad. My ranking gives more weight to the good seasons.

I agree that the AHS seasons were all very different. I watched 8 out of the 12 seasons. The last season I saw was season 9's 1984, which was very much inspired by Friday the 13th. I didn't see seasons 10, 11, or 12, and checked out after 2 episodes of season 6 Roanoke, so I'm not counting that as being watched. I wish Jessica Lange hadn't left after season 4, because she was great at all of her characters, and a big scene stealer. Season 1 is my favorite season, and there are a few more that I found entertaining. The show was different and creative.

 

[simey]

Freaks started great and then went way off the rails.

I liked Freak Show, and I liked Asylum, too.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

It doesn’t help that AHS tends to feature Sarah Paulson pretty frequently, she’s a terrible actress

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

163 - Roots​

Drama
Score: 193
Average Rank: 38.8

A dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.

List Breakdown

timschochet 18
Chaos34 26
krista4 37
Bottomfeeder Sports 43
zamboni 51
Yo Mama 58

Roots (1977)

Maybe not technically the first or original miniseries, but my list is littered with miniseries* thanks in large part to this week in 1977.

*most I doubt make the countdown

 

[titusbramble]

SBTB probably one I would have included if I spent more than ten minutes on my list and recalled regular school holiday morning TV. Batman the same

 

[simey]

163 - Roots​

Drama
Score: 193
Average Rank: 38.8

A dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.

List Breakdown

timschochet 18
Chaos34 26
krista4 37
Bottomfeeder Sports 43
zamboni 51
Yo Mama 58

Another one of those shows like Dallas / Who Shot JR, MASH finale, etc. that captured the nation’s attention like few others. Massive cultural impact.

I remember Roots being a big cultural impact. It was huge. I thought about putting it on my list, but I can't remember many of the scenes from it. I only saw it once when it originally aired. I do remember the characters of Chicken George, Kunta Kinte, Fiddler, and a few others. I should watch it again after all of these years.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

Bree Olson made a pretty good Daphne in another version of the show

TMI

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I didn't rank SBTB that highly and it's possible that it was a nostalgia pick for us but I don't think it's THAT bad. The better version of SBTB, Boy meets World, didn't even crack the top 200.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

never seen AHS or Roots.

My wife likes Dowton Abbey.

Didn't rank Scooby Doo, its ok.

 

[Eephus]

I remember Roots being a big cultural impact. It was huge. I thought about putting it on my list, but I can't remember many of the scenes from it. I only saw it once when it originally aired. I do remember the characters of Chicken George, Kunta Kinte, Fiddler, and a few others. I should watch it again after all of these years.

Roots is free with ads on Tubi as are the first two seasons of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

 

[McBokonon]

Roots came out before I was born, and then I just never got around to it. I recognize its importance and groundbreaking reputation and would likely agree. But now? I just have no desire to watch it.

 

[Psychopav]

167 - Saved By The Bell​

Comedy
Score: 187
Average Rank: 44.3

A TV show centered on six students and their years at Bayside High School in Palisades, California.

List Breakdown

Shaft41 8
KarmaPolice 24
Dan Lambskin 30
Frostillicus 60
BLOCKED PUNT 61
Jayrod 62
zamboni 65

Oh FFS

This sums up my feelings as well.

We definitely shouldn’t reveal to people IRL that our fantasy football message board top television show countdown had Saved By the Bell ranked higher than St. Elsewhere.

I've never watched St Elswhere, but watched probably 100 episodes of Saved By The Bell.

ETA: Mozart is better than Huey Lewis and the News, but which one do you think most of us have enjoyed more in our lifetimes?

Please tell me you aren't equating St. Elsewhere with Mozart or Saved by the Bell with Huey Lewis. Is nothing sacred to you people??

 

[Psychopav]

164 - American Horror Story​

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Score: 191
Average Rank: 39.2

An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a haunted house, an insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show and a hotel.

List Breakdown

Atomic Punk 10
Frostillicus 30
Keith R 38
simey 43
Psychopav 48
Scoresman 66

First season was a gem…..tue rest are one giant Meh.

Start great then suck ***.

Season 1 is the only good one, rest are trash. I kept getting suckered in because the first 2 or 3 episodes would be good and then they would just go completely off the rails, think I tapped out in the middle of several seasons and then finally gave up for good
I’ll basically avoid any Ryan Murphy show because he’s so bad

I liked a few of the other seasons - the one in the asylum was pretty good too. Mainly I was blown away by Jessica Lange and would have been happy if every season would have featured her. From the RT page, it looks like it's still running. I haven't watched it in several years. It definitely went down hill for me.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I would encourage more of you to try What's New, Scooby-Doo? if you have kids or grandkids. Still have some OG voices, with updated graphics and music. Waaaaay better than the Scrappy/Scooby Dum type stuff, and even we started to like it as much as the older version.

 

[Psychopav]

168. Homeland: 85/86
167. Saved by the Bell: --/57
166. Downton Abbey: 88/93
165. Scooby Doo, Where are You?: --/90
164. AHS: 77/66
163. Roots: 76/64

 

[KarmaPolice]

168. Homeland: 85/86
167. Saved by the Bell: --/57
166. Downton Abbey: 88/93
165. Scooby Doo, Where are You?: --/90
164. AHS: 77/66
163. Roots: 76/64

What's New, Scooby-Doo? --/98. Just sayin'.

 

[timschochet]

163 - Roots​

Drama
Score: 193
Average Rank: 38.8

A dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.

List Breakdown

timschochet 18
Chaos34 26
krista4 37
Bottomfeeder Sports 43
zamboni 51
Yo Mama 58

Another one of those shows like Dallas / Who Shot JR, MASH finale, etc. that captured the nation’s attention like few others. Massive cultural impact.

I remember Roots being a big cultural impact. It was huge. I thought about putting it on my list, but I can't remember many of the scenes from it. I only saw it once when it originally aired. I do remember the characters of Chicken George, Kunta Kinte, Fiddler, and a few others. I should watch it again after all of these years.

Roots was so good. And I need to give a shoutout here to the legendary Sandy Duncan as Missy Anne. Though she perhaps only has 20 minutes of screen time in the whole miniseries, I am convinced she belongs on the shortlist of greatest TV villains of all time. She is wonderfully evil.

 

[timschochet]

Scooby Doo might have gone a lot higher if not for you meddling kids.

 

[Atomic Punk]

168. Homeland - really loved the first couple of seasons but overall didn’t rate for me
167. Saved by the Bell - my mother said not to say anything if I don’t have something nice to say
166. Downton Abbey - might have to give this a try
165. Scooby Doo, Where are You? - I really wanted to include this, if I could add all of Hanna Barbera, it might have been top 30
164. AHS - high on my list, sure it had a couple of clunker seasons but most were either awesome or very good (better than Reacher)
163. Roots - I remember watching this and another historical miniseries back in the day. Both excellent, but hard to rank over shows with multiple seasons.

 

[timschochet]

Also: are Shaggy and Scooby getting stoned every episode? They always go off away from everyone else, and then have the munchies.

 

[Eephus]

ETA: Mozart is better than Huey Lewis and the News, but which one do you think most of us have enjoyed more in our lifetimes?

I ranked Mozart in the Jungle at #26 but The Newsroom didn't make the cut

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

Roots was so good. And I need to give a shoutout here to the legendary Sandy Duncan as Missy Anne. Though she perhaps only has 20 minutes of screen time in the whole miniseries, I am convinced she belongs on the shortlist of greatest TV villains of all time. She is wonderfully evil.

One of the shock to the system things about Roots was how many actors and actresses that you only ever saw play "good guy" roles played characters in Roots that beneath a thin veneer of decency were anything but. Which in 1977, and at 13 was hard for me to reconcile with many of my own love ones. (Ending here to not derail with what could easily become political.)

 

[KarmaPolice]

Also: are Shaggy and Scooby getting stoned every episode? They always go off away from everyone else, and then have the munchies.

Is this a serious question?

Of course Shaggy is permabaked.

 

[Eephus]

Roots was so good. And I need to give a shoutout here to the legendary Sandy Duncan as Missy Anne. Though she perhaps only has 20 minutes of screen time in the whole miniseries, I am convinced she belongs on the shortlist of greatest TV villains of all time. She is wonderfully evil.

One of the shock to the system things about Roots was how many actors and actresses that you only ever saw play "good guy" roles played characters in Roots that beneath a thin veneer of decency were anything but. Which in 1977, and at 13 was hard for me to reconcile with many of my own love ones. (Ending here to not derail with what could easily become political.)

Hopefully we can all agree that slavery was bad

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I have 5 animated shows on my list but generally I don't consider cartoons the best tv shows of all time. Still a little shocked by all the SBTB hate.

 

[Todem]

164 - American Horror Story​

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Score: 191
Average Rank: 39.2

An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a haunted house, an insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show and a hotel.

List Breakdown

Atomic Punk 10
Frostillicus 30
Keith R 38
simey 43
Psychopav 48
Scoresman 66

First season was a gem…..tue rest are one giant Meh.

Start great then suck ***.

Season 1 is the only good one, rest are trash. I kept getting suckered in because the first 2 or 3 episodes would be good and then they would just go completely off the rails, think I tapped out in the middle of several seasons and then finally gave up for good
I’ll basically avoid any Ryan Murphy show because he’s so bad

I liked a few of the other seasons - the one in the asylum was pretty good too. Mainly I was blown away by Jessica Lange and would have been happy if every season would have featured her. From the RT page, it looks like it's still running. I haven't watched it in several years. It definitely went down hill for me.

Jessica Lange was the reason for me.

Got my first boner at 6 years old watching her in King Kong.

OG Vixen.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

Bree Olson made a pretty good Daphne in another version of the show

TMI

164 - American Horror Story​

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Score: 191
Average Rank: 39.2

An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a haunted house, an insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show and a hotel.

List Breakdown

Atomic Punk 10
Frostillicus 30
Keith R 38
simey 43
Psychopav 48
Scoresman 66

First season was a gem…..tue rest are one giant Meh.

Start great then suck ***.

Season 1 is the only good one, rest are trash. I kept getting suckered in because the first 2 or 3 episodes would be good and then they would just go completely off the rails, think I tapped out in the middle of several seasons and then finally gave up for good
I’ll basically avoid any Ryan Murphy show because he’s so bad

I liked a few of the other seasons - the one in the asylum was pretty good too. Mainly I was blown away by Jessica Lange and would have been happy if every season would have featured her. From the RT page, it looks like it's still running. I haven't watched it in several years. It definitely went down hill for me.

Jessica Lange was the reason for me.

Got my first boner at 6 years old watching her in King Kong.

OG Vixen.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

I have 5 animated shows on my list but generally I don't consider cartoons the best tv shows of all time. Still a little shocked by all the SBTB hate.

Remember the average age of this board is like 60 so it doesn’t surprise me they hate saved by the bell

 

[KarmaPolice]

I have 5 animated shows on my list but generally I don't consider cartoons the best tv shows of all time. Still a little shocked by all the SBTB hate.

I'm guessing it's bit age dependent as well. When I was watching this crap in High School, some in here were married with kids.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

makes sense. I and some of us younger ones might not like some of the 70s/80's things they like.

 

[Yo Mama]

Roots was so good. And I need to give a shoutout here to the legendary Sandy Duncan as Missy Anne. Though she perhaps only has 20 minutes of screen time in the whole miniseries, I am convinced she belongs on the shortlist of greatest TV villains of all time. She is wonderfully evil.

One of the shock to the system things about Roots was how many actors and actresses that you only ever saw play "good guy" roles played characters in Roots that beneath a thin veneer of decency were anything but. Which in 1977, and at 13 was hard for me to reconcile with many of my own love ones. (Ending here to not derail with what could easily become political.)

Hopefully we can all agree that slavery was bad

Skip: Hopefully we can all agree that slavery was bad

Steven A: Mhmm

Skip: But . . .

 

[Don Quixote]

I have 5 animated shows on my list but generally I don't consider cartoons the best tv shows of all time. Still a little shocked by all the SBTB hate.

I'm guessing it's bit age dependent as well. When I was watching this crap in High School, some in here were married with kids.

Probably some of that. I am a few years younger than you, and in middle school during its run. Missed my list, but if I went up to 100 or so, it probably would have made that. I enjoyed back in the day, but not as much recently during the times I’ve seen it while pausing to scroll through things on the TV.

 

[Instinctive]

So the long lasting impact of Roots was we watched it in fourth grade and for a few years in sports someone would occasionally yell KUUUUUNTA KINTEREEEEEEE

 

[Tick]

I have 5 animated shows on my list but generally I don't consider cartoons the best tv shows of all time. Still a little shocked by all the SBTB hate.

Remember the average age of this board is like 60 so it doesn’t surprise me they hate saved by the bell

Everyone here is 50.

 

[kupcho1]

It's been so long since one of my shows charted that I'm wondering if my submission was erased.