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

[Dr. Octopus]

49 The OA

I ranked this and at least 2 others have as well - surprised it didn’t make the 300.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

. We have all met self-absorbed narcissists

Sometimes we even vote for them.

Sometimes, we ARE them

 

[steelerfan1]

Would be interested in hearing what folks think was the biggest snub.

I really thought Small Wonder was at least going to get enough shtick votes to make it.

I would have thought The Killing or The Sinner would have easily been in the 300.

 

[steelerfan1]

While we wait, here was the rest of my list that didn't make the top 300.

50 V (1983)

That's three people (including me) who had V. Are we sure it didn't make the list?

Ranked 412.

Bottomfeeder Sports
Frostillicus
Scoresman
shuke

Do Black Summer, please - is it just me and shuke?

I loved this show and should have had it.

 

[steelerfan1]

2 - Seinfeld​

Comedy
Score: 2665
Average Rank: 9

The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York friends.

List Breakdown

Chaos34 1
BLOCKED PUNT 1
Scoresman 1
Gally 1
Shaft41 1
Frostillicus 1
steelerfan1 1
landrys hat 2
AAABatteries 2
simey 2
Keith R 2
Dr Octopus 3
Jayrod 3
Tau37 3
Barry2 4
John Madden's Lunchbox 3
ilov80s 4
Atomic Punk 4
The Gator 4
Pip's Invitation 5
shuke 5
Psychopav 6
Tick 6
UncleZen 7
whoknew 7
Runkle 7
Todem 8
krista4 8
Dan Lambskin 9
turnjose7 10
Binky 11
Yo Mama 12
gr00vus 12
kupcho1 12
KarmaPolice 13
Nick Vermeil 13
Brutal Penquin 13
Maik Jeaunz 14
BlackCrowes 14
Don Quixote 17
McBokonon 23
zamboni 52
Rand al Thor 62

I didn't watch it regularly in the beginning because I was first in college and then at my first job and was often too busy to watch much TV -- and I wasn't sure I wanted to invest any time into "a show about nothing." But then it became ubiquitous in syndication and I found myself gravitating to it whenever I could, and I watched much of the final seasons in real time. It may be the best example of a comedy that was ridiculous but relatable. We have all met self-absorbed narcissists whose way of interacting with the universe is hysterical from an outsider perspective. The characters here had a softer edge than those on Curb because of the constraints of network TV, and that made this show easier for me to watch than Curb.

My fantasy baseball team's name is "Serenity Now!"

Mine is Summer of George.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

. We have all met self-absorbed narcissists

Sometimes we even vote for them.

Sometimes, we ARE them

Not me. When it comes to being humble, I'm the best.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

2 - Seinfeld​

Comedy
Score: 2665
Average Rank: 9

The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York friends.

List Breakdown

Chaos34 1
BLOCKED PUNT 1
Scoresman 1
Gally 1
Shaft41 1
Frostillicus 1
steelerfan1 1
landrys hat 2
AAABatteries 2
simey 2
Keith R 2
Dr Octopus 3
Jayrod 3
Tau37 3
Barry2 4
John Madden's Lunchbox 3
ilov80s 4
Atomic Punk 4
The Gator 4
Pip's Invitation 5
shuke 5
Psychopav 6
Tick 6
UncleZen 7
whoknew 7
Runkle 7
Todem 8
krista4 8
Dan Lambskin 9
turnjose7 10
Binky 11
Yo Mama 12
gr00vus 12
kupcho1 12
KarmaPolice 13
Nick Vermeil 13
Brutal Penquin 13
Maik Jeaunz 14
BlackCrowes 14
Don Quixote 17
McBokonon 23
zamboni 52
Rand al Thor 62

I didn't watch it regularly in the beginning because I was first in college and then at my first job and was often too busy to watch much TV -- and I wasn't sure I wanted to invest any time into "a show about nothing." But then it became ubiquitous in syndication and I found myself gravitating to it whenever I could, and I watched much of the final seasons in real time. It may be the best example of a comedy that was ridiculous but relatable. We have all met self-absorbed narcissists whose way of interacting with the universe is hysterical from an outsider perspective. The characters here had a softer edge than those on Curb because of the constraints of network TV, and that made this show easier for me to watch than Curb.

My fantasy baseball team's name is "Serenity Now!"

Mine is Summer of George.

One of my league mates is named George and his email address includes “Summerofgeorge” in it.

 

[FarFromHome]

The sea was angry that day my friends....

 

[Ilov80s]

Seinfeld presents an endless opportunity for fantasy team names

 

[BlackCrowes]

It’s a junior mint….

 

[Dr. Octopus]

FRANK: Let me understand, you got the hen, the chicken and the rooster. The
rooster goes with the chicken. So, who's having sex with the hen?

GEORGE: Why don't we talk about it another time.

FRANK: But you see my point here? You only hear of a hen, a rooster and a chicken. Something's missing!

MRS. ROSS: Something's missing all right.

MR. ROSS: They're all chickens. The rooster has sex with all of them.

FRANK: That's perverse.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Real or not, they were spectacular.

 

[the moops]

Since we're doing this:

13 Taskmaster

We just started watching this show and holy **** is it good. Our kids (11 and 13) love it as much, if not more than me and the wife. Watched 4 episodes of it last night. So so good

 

[Ghost Rider]

2 - Seinfeld​

Comedy
Score: 2665
Average Rank: 9

The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York friends.

zamboni 52
Rand al Thor 62

Stay strong you two! Don't let anyone here tell you this is wrong. Stay away from the hype!

I watched Seinfeld, fairly sure I've seen all the episodes and I get its place in TV history. Heck, I enjoyed the finale that everyone hates. For me its overrated and I'd have it down the list as well. I just don't find it rewatchable.

I intentionally left it off my list secretly hoping it wouldn't get #1. I like Jerry Seinfeld, I enjoyed the Seinfeld show in its day, and the endless times I've watched it on re-runs but I'm way over it at this point. It's like a red 57 Chevy or a black T-Bucket at a car show, an overplayed 70's/80's/90's song, I feel like its become super played out. It's over quoted, over played, over referenced, etc. Nothing at all against it but I've moved on from it a while ago. Again, it was a wonderful show back in the day and I really enjoyed it but if I never see another episode of it I would be perfectly okay with that.

So basically, you went against the spirit of the thread and tried to game the results.

 

[Chaos34]

So basically, you went against the spirit of the thread and tried to game the results.

Yup he did. So ftr, Seinfeld wins this.

 

[Hastur]

So basically, you went against the spirit of the thread and tried to game the results.

Yup he did. So ftr, Seinfeld wins this.

I blanked on putting Seinfeld on my list. I would probably have it top 5 somewhere. I share the blame, just not on purpose.

 

[Tick]

Would be interested in hearing what folks think was the biggest snub.

I'm still fairly shocked that with the demographics of this board that Everybody Loves Raymond didn't make the top 300. Astounded really.

How It's Made. That might be the most hypnotic show ever - when I stumbled across and episode, I would forget to blink.

 

[Tick]

I wholeheartedly agree with The Wire, BB and GOT in the top 5.
The Sopranos falls lower due to the weak final season.
Seinfeld was very good but there's a limit to how much self absorbed NYers I can watch, so it's a lot lower for me.

Great job to all!

Catching up, so I'm sorry if I'm piling on, but...

Sopranos falls due to a weak final season, but GOT belongs in the top 5? Seems like a disconnect.

 

[Gally]

So basically, you went against the spirit of the thread and tried to game the results.

Yup he did. So ftr, Seinfeld wins this.

I blanked on putting Seinfeld on my list. I would probably have it top 5 somewhere. I share the blame, just not on purpose.

I am surprised by this. I had shows I forgot to include but none of them would be top 5 for me. You must have had a real big hiccup to forget Seinfeld. I mean it has references everywhere . Even people that hate it would probably have it pop into their mind with just the mention of a TV show ranking.

 

[Tick]

Trying to evaluate my level of "living under a rock" vs. other people. I have not seen the following of the Top 25: The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, The Office (either one), Band of Brothers, Mad Men, The Twilight Zone, Deadwood, Friends, The X-Files, Arrested Development, and Fargo. Pretty close to not at all. That's 11 shows (44%).

Of the remaining shows in the Top 25, I have seen all of BB, Seinfeld, Wire, BCS, Cheers, Curb, M*A*S*H, Ozark, and Lost. That's 9 shows (36%). Just curious how this compares to other folks. I'm guessing I have seen less than the average bear.

Watched 0%: 5/25
Watched <10%, plan to return someday: 4/25
Watched 100%: 7/25

 

[Tick]

Ok, here's how everyone measured against the overall top 300. I took everyone's lists and compared the ranking of each show to the ranking on the consensus top 300.

So if you put Breaking Bad at 70, you get 69 points for it. 70 (for your rank) minus 1 (overall rank). Total everone's score and the lowest overall score is the "Winner" since the goal is to be closest to the overall list.

This is pretty rudimentary and there's probably a better way of measuring this.

Nick Vermeil 2615
Dr Octopus 2632
Yo Mama 3015
shuke 3170
The Gator 3212
Dan Lambskin 3244
Atomic Punk 3375
Runkle 3394
Scoresman 3445
ilov80s 3509
John Madden's Lunchbox 3510
Chaos34 3572
kupcho1 3580
Tick 3608
AAABatteries 3624
Binky 3728
Frostillicus 3775
Pip's Invitation 3806
zamboni 3838
Barry2 3887
Sullie 3901
landrys hat 3987
Jayrod 4019
simey 4031
Todem 4031
BlackCrowes 4034
whoknew 4065
turnjose7 4155
McBokonon 4184
Bottomfeeder Sports 4247
timschochet 4270
Rand al Thor 4272
gr00vus 4280
Eephus 4282
Maik Jeaunz 4293
Keith R 4397
Brutal Penquin 4438
KarmaPolice 4461
Hastur 4493
Gally 4641
Tau37 4767
Don Quixote 4776
Psychopav 4856
krista4 4860
BLOCKED PUNT 4905
Shaft41 5118
Instinctive 5227
steelerfan1 5282
UncleZen 5427

No matter how you slice it, I'm always #14.

 

[Tick]

Maybe the biggest surprise omission from the top 300 for me as I think more about it is after-school action figure cartoons: Transformers, Masters of the Universe, and GI Joe. I intentionally didn't rank them, but I thought they'd make it.

 

[Hastur]

So basically, you went against the spirit of the thread and tried to game the results.

Yup he did. So ftr, Seinfeld wins this.

I blanked on putting Seinfeld on my list. I would probably have it top 5 somewhere. I share the blame, just not on purpose.

I am surprised by this. I had shows I forgot to include but none of them would be top 5 for me. You must have had a real big hiccup to forget Seinfeld. I mean it has references everywhere . Even people that hate it would probably have it pop into their mind with just the mention of a TV show ranking.

Thanks. I wasn't feeling too awful about it before...

 

[Gally]

So basically, you went against the spirit of the thread and tried to game the results.

Yup he did. So ftr, Seinfeld wins this.

I blanked on putting Seinfeld on my list. I would probably have it top 5 somewhere. I share the blame, just not on purpose.

I am surprised by this. I had shows I forgot to include but none of them would be top 5 for me. You must have had a real big hiccup to forget Seinfeld. I mean it has references everywhere . Even people that hate it would probably have it pop into their mind with just the mention of a TV show ranking.

Thanks. I wasn't feeling too awful about it before...

Crazy Joe Duvola might be coming after you now

 

[FarFromHome]

Maybe the biggest surprise omission from the top 300 for me as I think more about it is after-school action figure cartoons: Transformers, Masters of the Universe, and GI Joe. I intentionally didn't rank them, but I thought they'd make it.

For sure. All three of those are epic shows in that time period. Must watch tv for us kids at the time.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Seinfeld presents an endless opportunity for fantasy team names

"The Mimbos".

 

[Ghost Rider]

I didn't do a list, but I would have had the same top 3, albeit in a slightly different order:

1 Breaking Bad (by a nose)
2 Sopranos
3 Seinfeld

I would have also had Six Feet Under in my top 5, and Ted Lasso, Barry and All in the Family all would have been top 10 for me.

 

[Psychopav]

I wholeheartedly agree with The Wire, BB and GOT in the top 5.
The Sopranos falls lower due to the weak final season.
Seinfeld was very good but there's a limit to how much self absorbed NYers I can watch, so it's a lot lower for me.

Great job to all!

Catching up, so I'm sorry if I'm piling on, but...

Sopranos falls due to a weak final season, but GOT belongs in the top 5? Seems like a disconnect.

Thing is, Sopranos is derivative. It came out after Analyse This and obviously the Godfather and Goodfellas. And GoT was higher quality both in terms of production values, acting, and dialogue imo.

 

[northern exposure]

Here's some missing titles that would have been on my list:

Person of Interest
Longmire
Doctor Who
Ash vs Evil Dead
Everybody Loves Raymond
Bones
Gotham
White Collar

Person Of Interest was a great show and it had an excellent finale!

 

[Frostillicus]

MASH and Twilight Zone are the only two in the top 25 I haven't seen most or all of.

 

[Jayrod]

Here's some missing titles that would have been on my list:

Person of Interest
Longmire
Doctor Who
Ash vs Evil Dead
Everybody Loves Raymond
Bones
Gotham
White Collar

Person Of Interest was a great show and it had an excellent finale!

I had it at 21.

 

[Scoresman]

I wholeheartedly agree with The Wire, BB and GOT in the top 5.
The Sopranos falls lower due to the weak final season.
Seinfeld was very good but there's a limit to how much self absorbed NYers I can watch, so it's a lot lower for me.

Great job to all!

Catching up, so I'm sorry if I'm piling on, but...

Sopranos falls due to a weak final season, but GOT belongs in the top 5? Seems like a disconnect.

Thing is, Sopranos is derivative. It came out after Analyse This and obviously the Godfather and Goodfellas. And GoT was higher quality both in terms of production values, acting, and dialogue imo.

There was great acting in GoT, but If I’m singling anyone out from the Sopranos, it’s Edie Falco who gave one of the all time great tv acting clinics.

Her performance in Whitecaps and then again when Tony was in the hospital was just phenomenal.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

I wholeheartedly agree with The Wire, BB and GOT in the top 5.
The Sopranos falls lower due to the weak final season.
Seinfeld was very good but there's a limit to how much self absorbed NYers I can watch, so it's a lot lower for me.

Great job to all!

Catching up, so I'm sorry if I'm piling on, but...

Sopranos falls due to a weak final season, but GOT belongs in the top 5? Seems like a disconnect.

That's a reasonable question. I think GOT had many more good seasons than Sopranos and the last season of Sopranos was painful to watch.
GOT had some ending issues but overall I liked their final season much more.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

What other show has inspired an entire holiday?

 

[Runkle]

What other show has inspired an entire holiday?

I celebrate Festivus every year

 

[Scoresman]

What other show has inspired an entire holiday?

In our house, Christopher Columbus is a hero!

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

In our house, Christopher Columbus is a hero!

Whatever happened to Gary Cooper?

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I wholeheartedly agree with The Wire, BB and GOT in the top 5.
The Sopranos falls lower due to the weak final season.
Seinfeld was very good but there's a limit to how much self absorbed NYers I can watch, so it's a lot lower for me.

Great job to all!

Catching up, so I'm sorry if I'm piling on, but...

Sopranos falls due to a weak final season, but GOT belongs in the top 5? Seems like a disconnect.

Thing is, Sopranos is derivative. It came out after Analyse This and obviously the Godfather and Goodfellas. And GoT was higher quality both in terms of production values, acting, and dialogue imo.

There were fantasy movies and shows before GoT just like there were mob movies and shows before The Sopranos.

 

[zamboni]

What other show has inspired an entire holiday?

Bundy Sunday Fun Day

 

[Ilov80s]

I wholeheartedly agree with The Wire, BB and GOT in the top 5.
The Sopranos falls lower due to the weak final season.
Seinfeld was very good but there's a limit to how much self absorbed NYers I can watch, so it's a lot lower for me.

Great job to all!

Catching up, so I'm sorry if I'm piling on, but...

Sopranos falls due to a weak final season, but GOT belongs in the top 5? Seems like a disconnect.

Thing is, Sopranos is derivative. It came out after Analyse This and obviously the Godfather and Goodfellas. And GoT was higher quality both in terms of production values, acting, and dialogue imo.

GoT was maybe better dialogue and acting up until it took a turn and definitely wasn't.

Am I the only person here who liked the final season of The Sopranos?

 

[Ilov80s]

I wholeheartedly agree with The Wire, BB and GOT in the top 5.
The Sopranos falls lower due to the weak final season.
Seinfeld was very good but there's a limit to how much self absorbed NYers I can watch, so it's a lot lower for me.

Great job to all!

Catching up, so I'm sorry if I'm piling on, but...

Sopranos falls due to a weak final season, but GOT belongs in the top 5? Seems like a disconnect.

Thing is, Sopranos is derivative. It came out after Analyse This and obviously the Godfather and Goodfellas. And GoT was higher quality both in terms of production values, acting, and dialogue imo.

There were fantasy movies and shows before GoT just like there were mob movies and shows before The Sopranos.

Yep. What GoT and Sopranos really hit on was bringing Goodfellas and LOTR stories (in terms of quality and subject matter) and bringing it to the longform medium of TV.

 

[steelerfan1]

FRANK: Let me understand, you got the hen, the chicken and the rooster. The
rooster goes with the chicken. So, who's having sex with the hen?

GEORGE: Why don't we talk about it another time.

FRANK: But you see my point here? You only hear of a hen, a rooster and a chicken. Something's missing!

MRS. ROSS: Something's missing all right.

MR. ROSS: They're all chickens. The rooster has sex with all of them.

FRANK: That's perverse.

I like when Steinbrenner calls Frank to tell him George is dead and Frank starts going off on him for trading Jay Buhner.

The out takes with Frank and Elaine when Frank says, You want a pice of me? LOL.

Tons of great memories with that show.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

GoT was maybe better dialogue and acting up until it took a turn and definitely wasn't.

I’m not even sure GoT even had such superior acting.

Gandolfini, Falco and Imperiole were masters at their craft and outside of AJ, there really were no holes in the Sopranos cast.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Would be interested in hearing what folks think was the biggest snub.

I'm still fairly shocked that with the demographics of this board that Everybody Loves Raymond didn't make the top 300. Astounded really.

How It's Made. That might be the most hypnotic show ever - when I stumbled across and episode, I would forget to blink.

Yeah I used go just have that on in the background for hours

How They Do It is good too

 

[Dan Lambskin]

My 16 year old also agrees BCS is better than BB

 

[Ilov80s]

GoT was maybe better dialogue and acting up until it took a turn and definitely wasn't.

I’m not even sure GoT even had such superior acting.

Gandolfini, Falco and Imperiole were masters at their craft and outside of AJ, there really were no holes in the Sopranos cast.

Yeah I’m not sure either which is why I said maybe. Sopranos was very well acted overall but Meadow and Jackie Jr were kind of weak too. Steve Van Zandt did a great job for a non actor but Silvio was pretty limited because the actor was too I thought. But the actors you mentioned plus Bracco, Joey Pants and so many more. Thrones had such a large cast where most of the actors weren’t anywhere near Gandolfini or Falco, but they were good for their parts. That was impressive.

 

[AAABatteries]

My 16 year old also agrees BCS is better than BB

16 year olds are morons

 

[Psychopav]

I wholeheartedly agree with The Wire, BB and GOT in the top 5.
The Sopranos falls lower due to the weak final season.
Seinfeld was very good but there's a limit to how much self absorbed NYers I can watch, so it's a lot lower for me.

Great job to all!

Catching up, so I'm sorry if I'm piling on, but...

Sopranos falls due to a weak final season, but GOT belongs in the top 5? Seems like a disconnect.

Thing is, Sopranos is derivative. It came out after Analyse This and obviously the Godfather and Goodfellas. And GoT was higher quality both in terms of production values, acting, and dialogue imo.

There were fantasy movies and shows before GoT just like there were mob movies and shows before The Sopranos.

Sure there were, but Sopranos isn't just any mob story just like GoT isn't just any fantasy story. My point is, in this regards, GoT was groundbreaking in a way that Sopranos wasn't.

 

[Psychopav]

GoT was maybe better dialogue and acting up until it took a turn and definitely wasn't.

I’m not even sure GoT even had such superior acting.

Gandolfini, Falco and Imperiole were masters at their craft and outside of AJ, there really were no holes in the Sopranos cast.

I'll give you Gandolfini and maybe Falco, but Imperiole played a caricature as did the rest of the cast. I agree Steve van Zandt was very good for a non actor and his wife was even better imo.

 

[krista4]

My 16 year old also agrees BCS is better than BB

Bringing him up right.