The Top 300 Greatest TV Shows of All Time: FBG Consensus: 50 Lists received. 2: Seinfeld 1: Breaking Bad (7 Viewers)

[Dan Lambskin]

I’ve gone through and checked most of the cable networks / streaming platforms

Now I need to try and pour through a list of all of the network sitcoms and dramas

I’m sure I’ll end up overlooking something, oh well, im just going to try and treat this as a fun exercise. Of course I will bash any show I don’t care for or claim old crap from the 70s or whatever is overrated

 

[Gally]

I’m sure I’ll end up overlooking something,

My take would be if you overlook something then it probably wasn't worthy of being in the top 70 overall TV shows. Those should all readily come to mind.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I feel the opposite of most and I'm having a hard time getting to 70 - but I think a lot of it is just having a hard time remembering shows, I'm not claiming I don't watch a lot of TV but sports and news stations are a big part of what I watch - and I also tend to watch the same sitcoms over and over.

 

[Scoresman]

In.

Are documentary series eligible? For example, 30 for 30, Ken Burns multi-part series, etc.

Yes.

 

[Scoresman]

Is SportsCenter a sporting event?

I’ll allow it.

Then what about “Monday Night Football”?

Isn't it a sporting event?

 

[Don Quixote]

I feel the opposite of most and I'm having a hard time getting to 70 - but I think a lot of it is just having a hard time remembering shows, I'm not claiming I don't watch a lot of TV but sports and news stations are a big part of what I watch - and I also tend to watch the same sitcoms over and over.

I was feeling the same as I started going through last night. Started running into a wall after around 50 or so. If I’m not watching sports, I’m more inclined to throw on a movie than watch a TV show these days.

 

[shuke]

Should I include cartoons from my childhood? Stupid sitcoms I loved as a teenager?

Absolutely.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Is SportsCenter a sporting event?

I’ll allow it.

Then what about “Monday Night Football”?

Isn't it a sporting event?

I think you can look at it as a specific “show” that features a different game each week but I’m not looking for loopholes or to confuse the issue so it’s not eligible.

 

[Shaft41]

I'll put in a list if there's space since I'm old and fat and sit on the couch a lot.

 

[Scoresman]

I'll put in a list if there's space since I'm old and fat and sit on the couch a lot.

There is space and no limits at the moment.

But I would love early submissions because we're over 20 lists now.

 

[Psychopav]

Should I include cartoons from my childhood? Stupid sitcoms I loved as a teenager?

Absolutely.

I can't take seriously any list that doesn't include Battle of the Planets.

 

[Psychopav]

As far as the approach, I figured I'd start with listing some top shows by genre, then trying to shuffle them together, then seeing where I am.

Glad we have a couple weeks...

 

[NewlyRetired]

Should I include cartoons from my childhood? Stupid sitcoms I loved as a teenager?

Absolutely.

I can't take seriously any list that doesn't include Battle of the Planets.

I can’t imagine adding anime (or even the Americanized versions like Battle of the Planets and Starblazers).

The state space just gets too big for me to try and whittle down.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I can’t think of tv from my youth and not think about Looney Tunes and or Merry Melodies.

But neither of those tv staples from childhood were actually “made for tv”. I believe they were all shorts that were shown before movies way before my time and the eventually many many years later, compiled and shown on tv.

Can people consider things like Looney Tunes for their lists?

 

[Scoresman]

I can’t think of tv from my youth and not think about Looney Tunes and or Merry Melodies.

But neither of those tv staples from childhood were actually tv shows. I believe they were all shorts that were shown before movies way before my time.

Can people consider things like Looney Tunes for their lists?

I think I remember watching half hour blocks of things like Looney Toons/Merry Melodies when I was a kid in the 80s. Anyone else remember this? Maybe at some point they packaged them all and made shows out of the classic cartoons?

 

[NewlyRetired]

I think I remember watching half hour blocks of things like Looney Toons/Merry Melodies when I was a kid in the 80s. Anyone else remember this? Maybe at some point they packaged them all and made shows out of the classic cartoons?

Yes that is exactly what they did.

My point was though that these tv show compilations we remember from the 70’s and 80’s were made up of items that were not originally intended for tv.

 

[Don Quixote]

I can’t think of tv from my youth and not think about Looney Tunes and or Merry Melodies.

But neither of those tv staples from childhood were actually tv shows. I believe they were all shorts that were shown before movies way before my time.

Can people consider things like Looney Tunes for their lists?

I think I remember watching half hour blocks of things like Looney Toons/Merry Melodies when I was a kid in the 80s. Anyone else remember this? Maybe at some point they packaged them all and made shows out of the classic cartoons?

The Bugs Bunny Show - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[NewlyRetired]

I can’t think of tv from my youth and not think about Looney Tunes and or Merry Melodies.

But neither of those tv staples from childhood were actually tv shows. I believe they were all shorts that were shown before movies way before my time.

Can people consider things like Looney Tunes for their lists?

I think I remember watching half hour blocks of things like Looney Toons/Merry Melodies when I was a kid in the 80s. Anyone else remember this? Maybe at some point they packaged them all and made shows out of the classic cartoons?

The Bugs Bunny Show - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yes there were many versions of these compilation shows, some shown on the classic Saturday morning cartoon slots or during 30 minute weekday after school slots.

But I keep coming back to the point that these shorts were not tv shows originally.

Do we want to draw a line in the sand and say that we should only consider shows that were originally meant for broadcast/cable/streaming to tv’s when they were first made?

I don’t have a strong feeling either way, I just thought it was an interesting question to ponder.

 

[Scoresman]

I think I remember watching half hour blocks of things like Looney Toons/Merry Melodies when I was a kid in the 80s. Anyone else remember this? Maybe at some point they packaged them all and made shows out of the classic cartoons?

Yes that is exactly what they did.

My point was though that these tv show compilations we remember from the 70’s and 80’s were made up of items that were not originally intended for tv.

Ehh, dont overthink this. If, like in this case, it aired at some point in half hour episodes like they did, just count it.

 

[Scoresman]

I'm down to 76 shows with absolutely none left I want to remove off my list.

I'm also not completely sure I haven't missed stuff. It's very easy to do that with this broad a category.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

lets just shame people that list a reality show

 

[Dan Lambskin]

lets just shame people that list a reality show

I doubt it will make my Final Cut, but first few seasons of Survivor were pretty captivating

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Also don’t think I can make room for Small
Wonder, even though I really really want to

 

[Scoresman]

lets just shame people that list a reality show

I doubt it will make my Final Cut, but first few seasons of Survivor were pretty captivating

Yeah there's a few that fall under "Reality" that are not complete trash.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I do love me some Chopped/other cooking shows but I couldn't imagine calling them one of the best of all time.

 

[Hastur]

Should I include cartoons from my childhood? Stupid sitcoms I loved as a teenager?

Absolutely.

I can't take seriously any list that doesn't include Battle of the Planets.

BOTP or Voltron? Both? I may have to meditate on this. Seriously.

 

[Psychopav]

lets just shame people that list a reality show

I doubt it will make my Final Cut, but first few seasons of Survivor were pretty captivating

Yeah there's a few that fall under "Reality" that are not complete trash.

The Real World will almost certainly be on my list. It was revolutionary and spawned a genre, after all. Fight me!

 

[Yo Mama]

Yikes - my first list of shows was 150, and this excluded a bunch of highly-regarded shows that I never watched or gave much of a chance.

After my first attempt at putting things into tiers, I’m down to 90. Not sure how I’m going to get to 70, especially if I include a bunch of favorites that aren’t necessarily “best”.

It’s also hard to know what to do with newer shows with one or two good/great seasons without knowing how they’ll end up.

 

[Gally]

I plan to submit a straight list with no commentary. It's just shows I liked a lot. Some are bad, some are good, some are nostalgic. That's just what I am doing.

 

[Maik Jeaunz]

sounds like fun.

 

[krista4]

I will try. I'm more in the Dr. Octopus/Don Quixote bucket of people who might have a harder time coming up with 70. And I will have a little reality TV on there, so suck it.

 

[krista4]

Are people including series that are not yet complete? I have at least one that I would put on there, but if it runs off the rails in the future then I'd regret it.

 

[Tau837]

Struggling to get to 50, much less 70. I expect to get there, but it's harder than I expected...

 

[Yo Mama]

Are people including series that are not yet complete? I have at least one that I would put on there, but if it runs off the rails in the future then I'd regret it.

I have a couple current shows on my list, but was hesitant to include too many with the incompleteness of things a drawback.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

Are people including series that are not yet complete?

i am

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

And I will have a little reality TV on there, so suck it.

SHAME!

 

[The Gator]

Are people including series that are not yet complete?

i am

Dune: Prophecy top 20 for me

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

lets just shame people that list a reality show

Now now, that isnt good Karma.
What if some craps all over one of your favorite shows for [Insert Reason here]?

Up to 865 shows. Might have to start cutting them down soon.

 

[Gally]

List sent

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I'm being slightly facetious. Personaly, I think reality tv is pretty awful. Yeah, back in the day when road rules/real world first came out I watched it but I was a teenager and didn't know any better. My stance is "if you like it, you like it and there's no shame in it."

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I am considering one show though. Is sketch comedy a reality show? no right?

 

[Yo Mama]

I am considering one show though. Is sketch comedy a reality show? no right?

No. I’ll potentially have a good number of these on my list.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

What is our stance on "watched some/most of this show but not finished yet." include or exclude?

 

[Scoresman]

Are people including series that are not yet complete? I have at least one that I would put on there, but if it runs off the rails in the future then I'd regret it.

Yes I’m ranking them based on how I like it so far fully aware my ranking might change in the future.

 

[Scoresman]

The way I’m ranking is I came up with 5 categories. Drama, comedy/sitcom, sci-fi/horror etc, games shows, and reality. I then ranked the shows in each category from best to worst.

I will then go row by row, and create the overall list by looking at whatever is the top most show for each category, and picking the best of each set of 5. Then for the next set of 5, I replace the one I picked with next highest in that category and continue. This makes it less overwhelming.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

I do love me some Chopped/other cooking shows but I couldn't imagine calling them one of the best of all time.

Ah crap forgot about Top Chef

 

[Gally]

The way I’m ranking is I came up with 5 categories. Drama, comedy/sitcom, sci-fi/horror etc, games shows, and reality. I then ranked the shows in each category from best to worst.

I will then go row by row, and create the overall list by looking at whatever is the top most show for each category, and picking the best of each set of 5. Then for the next set of 5, I replace the one I picked with next highest in that category and continue. This makes it less overwhelming.

Too complicated. As I thought of shows I put them in a list. Then I ranked 1 to XX and sorted. Then I copied my list that ended at 70 and sent them to you. Easy peasy. I am sure to have some shows on this list that nobody else does.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

Struggling to get to 50, much less 70. I expect to get there, but it's harder than I expected...

I think we're supposed to list OUR favorites - not just popular shows. I am going to gauge things based on "was this a MUST WATCH" back in the day. Like "Dallas" was a big deal ...never watched it - won't be on my list.

I have over 70 comedy related shows after a couple of google searches -

over 50 drama type shows and another 25+ docs and misc. shows


and some questions ... @Scoresman can you lay this out for us?

* Ken Burns docs - treat each series separately but not each episode within those series?

* Doc series that deal with similar subject matter but have different episodes (like Blue Planet, Planet Earth, The World At War, various Costeau docs, Cosmos, etc) - treat them as ONE show?

* Where did we land on the separate seasons for True Detective and Fargo seasons?

 

[Dr. Octopus]

* Where did we land on the separate seasons for True Detective and Fargo seasons?

These are anthology series but should count as one show I would think. Fargo’s seasons all have at least one connection to the movie or other seasons.

 

[Tick]

The way I’m ranking is I came up with 5 categories. Drama, comedy/sitcom, sci-fi/horror etc, games shows, and reality. I then ranked the shows in each category from best to worst.

I will then go row by row, and create the overall list by looking at whatever is the top most show for each category, and picking the best of each set of 5. Then for the next set of 5, I replace the one I picked with next highest in that category and continue. This makes it less overwhelming.

Too complicated. As I thought of shows I put them in a list. Then I ranked 1 to XX and sorted. Then I copied my list that ended at 70 and sent them to you. Easy peasy. I am sure to have some shows on this list that nobody else does.

I'm doing almost exactly what Scoresman is, I started with a big list, then sorted into 9 genres, then combined down to 4 genres, now I've got 70-100 4-way battles set up.