What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

The Great 2020 All Time Television Draft: The Simpsons is judged the greatest show of all time (4 Viewers)

Corporation said:
I thought the mean joe greene ad should have been top 3.

The one-armed man was different for me though, because he only appeared in 10 of the episodes (less than 10% of the whole series).  His concept was a great villain, but ultimately didn't have enough screen time to earn a higher ranking. I also ranked the Trinity Killer low for a similar reason.  Outstanding villain and well played by Lithgow, but only for 1 season.
Click to expand...
wOw. the opposite. OK -

 
This was the mess up - I had given Cigarette Smoking Man a 16 instead of 1.  Totally my fault - I don't know who took CSM but you have my profound apology.

12 - Cigarette Smoking Man (5 pts.) - rankings (7, 9, 16)
It was intended to refer to the likely longterm result of his tobacco habit, but this conspiratorial character's second sobriquet, "Cancer Man," is in many ways more apt. He and his shadowy Syndicate ate away the system from the inside, preparing the planet for alien invasion with a ruthless, decades-long cover-up — which, ironically, only Mulder and Scully managed to uncover. Played with weathered gravitas by William B. Davis, he is perhaps the prime example of the mastermind model of TV villainy.

I will make the adjustments to the other rankings.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Villains Rankings - Part 3

7 - Al Swearengen (10 pts.) - rankings (8, 10, 9)

Open the ####### canned peaches —it's time to celebrate the ########## who made David Milch's wondrous Western what it was. Black of both hair and heart, Swearengen wore many hats, though none were ten-gallon: bar owner, pimp, gangster, multiple murderer, and eventually, ersatz community organizer. Ruling from the Gem Saloon like a spider at the center of a web, he wound up just as ferocious in defending the town as he had been in exploiting it, with his hatred of the rich — and pathological fear of the Pinkertons — exposing a human side to his oily insectoid malevolence. Throughout the series, Ian McShane delivered every word of Milch's gutter-Shakespeare patois like a man savoring the best drink he's ever been poured, making Swearengen not just a great villain, but the prime exponent of a great show.

6 - Charles Montgomery Burns (11 pts.) - rankings (13, 6, 10)

When our great-grandchildren use time machines to travel back to our era, all they'll need to understand capitalism is this man. Homer Simpson's plutocrat boss (voiced, along with his obsequious minion Smithers, by Harry Shearer) is a man so wealthy that he's completely out of touch with the reality that the rabble experience — and so obsessed with becoming even more wealthy that it almost qualifies as both a mental and phyisical illness. We think we speak for all of us when we say Boo-urns!

5 - The Borg (12 pts.) - rankings (12, 13, 11)

"You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." For a collective consciousness of cybernetic organisms, the Borg sure have a way with words. While great Star Trek villains from Khan to Q draw strength from their individual idiosyncrasies and performances, the power of this alien race stems from the dystopian sci-fi perfection of the concept, courtesy of writer Maurice Hurley. The idea of a vast, cool, unsympathetic intelligence floating through the remote corners of the universe, absorbing entire civilizations unimpeded for centuries, is exactly the kind of heady stuff that characterized the franchise at its best. Of course, making them look like Hellraiser gone cyberpunk didn't hurt either — nor did briefly assimilating Captain Jean-Luc Picard as "Locutus of Borg," literally turning him into his own worst enemy.

 
Villains Rankings - Part 4

4 - Cersei Lannister (13 pts.) - rankings (11, 12, 16)

"When You Play The Game Of Thrones, You Win Or You Die."  - no write-up

3 - J.R. Ewing (14 pts.) - rankings (15, 14, 4)

"Who shot J.R.?" That was the question that commanded the pop-culture zeitgeist of a nation, after the oil-magnate patriarch of primetime got popped. A better question: Given the opportunity, who wouldn't have? As played by Larry Hagman, Ewing was proof of Hamlet's lament "that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain"; no matter how dirty his deeds, he looked like he was having the time of his life. And given the subsequent ascendency of big-business, greed-is-good, the Dallas villain ended up being as much a prophet as he was a profiteer.

2 - Joffrey Barratheon (15 pts.) - rankings (14, 16, 13)

Seven gods, seven kingdoms, zero redeeming qualities — the atrocious boy king who bedeviled House Stark was a living embodiment of George R.R. Martin's furious fantasy revisionism: If you're a rich man with a good family name, you can get away with literally anything. In Joffrey's case, this included torture, murder, sexual assault, the beheading of the show's main character (R.I.P. Ned, you were too good for this world), and generally being a sneering little ####. He was so hateful that the few times he received any kind of comeuppance—an insult, a slap, a good old-fashioned regicide at the so-called Purple Wedding — are among the show's most meme-able moments. Actor Jack Gleeson retired from showbiz immediately upon completion of the role; by scraping the bottom, he went out on top.

1 - Gustavo Fring (16 pts.) - rankings (16, 15, 15)

Long live the Chicken Man! It's difficult to overstate how crucial this criminal genius was to the appeal of Breaking Bad's central seasons, which first helped solidify the show's cult following before turning it into a massive mainstream phenomenon. A brutal druglord beneath a legitimate-businessman exterior, everything about this fast-food exec-cum-ruler of a meth empire was as carefully constructed as his impeccable wardrobe and soft, precise speaking voice. (We can still hear actor Giancarlo Espositio croaking "I will kill your infant daughter." Shudder.) He simply seemed impossible to outwit or defeat, which made the times Walter White pulled it off all the more impressive.

 
Villains Final Rankings

  1. Gustavo Fring - 16 pts.
  2. Joffrey Barratheon - 15 pts.
  3. J.R. Ewing - 14 pts.
  4. Cersei Lannister - 13 pts.
  5. The Borg - 12 pts.
  6. Charles Montgomery Burns - 11 pts.
  7. Al Swearengen - 10 pts.
  8. Ben Linus - 9 pts.
  9. Stringer Bell - 8 pts.
  10. Marlo Stanfield (The Wire) - 7 pts.
  11. Arthur Mitchell (Trinity Killer) - 6 pts.
  12. Cigarette Smoking Man (X-Files) - 5 pts.
  13. Vern Schillinger - 4 pts.
  14. Livia Soprano - 3 pts.
  15. The One-Armed Man - 2 pts.
  16. Bob (Twin Peaks) - 1 pt.
 
Some thoughts on the top half

  • Cigarette Smoking Man - I kept wondering why in the hell Mojo had him so high - realize I was just high.  He had him last  :lmao:
  • Al Swearengen - I absolutely loved this character and the show.  Great casting too.  He was always too likable at times but he still fits the villain role well
  • Charles Montgomery Burns - this may have been the most difficult one for me to rank.  Definitely a villain and I may have given him too much credit for the humor and the longevity but he's an all-timer character
  • The Borg - another tough one.  Longevity, popular culture and the concept made it high-ish on my list
  • Cersei Lannister - I'm a book guy over the TV show but the little bit I saw on TV she came across almost as loathsome as the books
  • J.R. Ewing - I personally bumped him up a couple spots as I couldn't have my name on a list with him not in the top-3.  When I thought of the category he was the 2nd name to come to mind.  Nobody has as much fun being a villain as J.R.
  • Joffrey Barratheon - total credit to the kid who played him in the TV show because I would never have had him this high based just on the books.  But that kid was born to play the part
  • Gustavo Fring - one of my personal favorite characters of all-time on any TV show.  He had so many memorable scenes but when he goes to the meth lab and cuts the guys throat right in front of Walt and Jesse - that was some f'd up villainy.
 
AcerFC said:
@AAABatterieswhere would ramsay bolten have landed
Click to expand...
For me, I struggle with that one for two reasons - 1. having so many villains from one show - they kind of cannibalize each other.  2. As I just mentioned, I'm a books guy more than the TV show.  I remember him being somewhat of a bit player so he didn't have the impact on me. 

Maybe around 3-5?

 
1 --Yo Mama--495

2 --tuffnutt--404

3 --mphtrilogy--391

4 --timschochet--402

5 --Tolstoy--387

6 --KarmaPolice--376

7 --jwb--376

8 --Gally Steiner--366

9 --Zow--370

10 -AcerFC--358

11 -Doug B--355

12 -Hov34--359

13 -TripleLayne--346

14 -Mrs. Rannous--343

15 -rick6668--327

16 -Pitchfork--319

 
AcerFC said:
1 --Yo Mama--495

2 --tuffnutt--404

3 --mphtrilogy--391

4 --timschochet--402

5 --Tolstoy--387

6 --KarmaPolice--376

7 --jwb--376

8 --Gally Steiner--366

9 --Zow--370

10 -AcerFC--358

11 -Doug B--355

12 -Hov34--359

13 -TripleLayne--346

14 -Mrs. Rannous--343

15 -rick6668--327

16 -Pitchfork--319
Click to expand...
Not that it matters a whole lot, but...

 
AAABatteries said:
AcerFC said:
@AAABatterieswhere would ramsay bolten have landed
Click to expand...
For me, I struggle with that one for two reasons - 1. having so many villains from one show - they kind of cannibalize each other.  2. As I just mentioned, I'm a books guy more than the TV show.  I remember him being somewhat of a bit player so he didn't have the impact on me. 

Maybe around 3-5?
Click to expand...
I thought of him as well.  That's the problem with that show is that there were so many villains but he would have been high on my list.  Probably would have had him between Joffrey and Cersei as (like Joffrey) there were simply no redeemable qualities at all.

 
Corporation said:
I sent a list to @AAABatteriesfor Action! @Zow I sent you a list awhile back on TV Dad, let me know if you want a list for 90s actor comedy/drama.  If I can get 2 other lists I can do Finale.
Click to expand...
Yep, feel free to send me the list for 90s stuff. I got the dad one and started working on it but then got distracted the last week or so by work fires. 

 
Curious how Hannibal Lector would have fared in the villains.   Took the show, and didn't want to double up for some reason, but it probably would have netted more points.    

 
KarmaPolice said:
Curious how Hannibal Lector would have fared in the villains.   Took the show, and didn't want to double up for some reason, but it probably would have netted more points.    
Click to expand...
I mentioned him earlier.  Just on name recognition/cultural significance he would have placed well for me.  Probably lower top half.

 
Yo Mama said:
Cultural significance and name recognition 100% comes from the character in the movies though. 
Click to expand...
Agree but how do you separate that?  I mean, I would have him top-3 maybe if it's movies so I'm not giving him full credit.  I'd need to think about it more and refer to online lists but my gut still thinks he'd end up middle of the pack or a little higher.

 
AAABatteries said:
Agree but how do you separate that?  I mean, I would have him top-3 maybe if it's movies so I'm not giving him full credit.  I'd need to think about it more and refer to online lists but my gut still thinks he'd end up middle of the pack or a little higher.
Click to expand...
It's probably impossible to separate but since the movie success let to the show you probably would have needed to focus on the actual actor/character on the show only as to how he was portrayed to really get a fair TV only impression.  It would be tough to do.  

 
Gally said:
It's probably impossible to separate but since the movie success let to the show you probably would have needed to focus on the actual actor/character on the show only as to how he was portrayed to really get a fair TV only impression.  It would be tough to do.  
Click to expand...
Otherwise someone could have drafted Darth Vader from the Star Wars Holiday Special :)

I wonder how the Joker from Batman the Animated Series would have fared.  Many people think Hamill's work in that is the definitive Joker.

 
AAABatteries said:
Agree but how do you separate that?  I mean, I would have him top-3 maybe if it's movies so I'm not giving him full credit.  I'd need to think about it more and refer to online lists but my gut still thinks he'd end up middle of the pack or a little higher.
Click to expand...
I don’t think it would be that hard to do. The Sci Fi judge was able to separate Star Trek original series from the movies and the spin off series. Heck, he even ranked TNG ahead of the original series. Not that I’m bitter or anything. 
 

While I’m sort of complaining, I understand the reasoning on ranking One Armed Man being low due to screen time (and I took him super late so it’s no big deal). My counter would be the threat, yes the menace, of him was present throughout most of the show. The character was present even if the actor wasn’t. He was the poster child for tv villain for a generation. I’m good with the overall villain rankings though - they’re better than the heroes that’s for sure. 

Impressed I could complain about three different categories at once (while in 1st place no less). 

 
Gally said:
It's probably impossible to separate but since the movie success let to the show you probably would have needed to focus on the actual actor/character on the show only as to how he was portrayed to really get a fair TV only impression.  It would be tough to do.  
Click to expand...
Mads Mikkelsen's performance was every bit as good, if not better, than Anthony Hopkins' and since it was a series the character had more depth and was better developed than the film version - but yes the cultural impact and name recognition surely comes from the movies.

 
timschochet said:
I have the greatest tv shows of all time revved up and ready to go. Just waiting for the other categories. 
Click to expand...
Hey Tim,

Would you be interested in judging foreign shows?  We still need a judge there and I am not familiar with enough of the shows to do it justice. 

 
AAABatteries said:
Villains Final Rankings

  1. Gustavo Fring - 16 pts.
  2. Joffrey Barratheon - 15 pts.
  3. J.R. Ewing - 14 pts.
  4. Cersei Lannister - 13 pts.
  5. The Borg - 12 pts.
  6. Charles Montgomery Burns - 11 pts.
  7. Al Swearengen - 10 pts.
  8. Ben Linus - 9 pts.
  9. Stringer Bell - 8 pts.
  10. Marlo Stanfield (The Wire) - 7 pts.
  11. Arthur Mitchell (Trinity Killer) - 6 pts.
  12. Cigarette Smoking Man (X-Files) - 5 pts.
  13. Vern Schillinger - 4 pts.
  14. Livia Soprano - 3 pts.
  15. The One-Armed Man - 2 pts.
  16. Bob (Twin Peaks) - 1 pt.
Click to expand...
Dammit, I was late-scrolling the thread and was all set to pounce with a "the One-Armed man got robbed,"  comment.  Inspired pick, whoever took him.

I would have been at an impasse had I judged this category when it came to the cigarette smoking man on x-files.  For about 15 years, my only memories of Sunday evenings were Pat Summerall, Mike Wallace,  Andy Rooney, and Dairy Queen.

Honorable pick for the category:  Julie Newmar, Cat Woman :wub:

 
OK Foreign Shows This will be quicker write ups than normal, sorry, as I did it off the cuff: 

1pt Rumpole of the Bailey Based on the books, an old fashioned drama of the “Masterpiece Theater” kind 

2 pts Dark Kudos for the only European non-British show on the list. Like “Stranger Things” only stranger. 

3 Pts Benny Hill Fun slapstick. Random trivia- Benny Hill was the shopkeeper in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang who warns the kids about the Child Catcher. 

4 Pts Blackadder Limited run sitcom very highly thought of overseas. 

 
Foreign shows 

5pts Fleabag This has been much loved recently by the critics. I found it slightly derivative but what do I know? 

6pts Upstairs Downstairs The original Downton Abbey. Dated but stlll great for its time. 

7 Pts The Office (UK) Not as good as the American version (IMO) but very funny nonetheless. 

8 Pts Dr. Who The good doctor has been around a long time. As iconic as Star Trek to Brits. 
 

 
Foreign Shows 

9 Pts Luther Excellent dark police procedural. Introduced the world to the phenomenal Ruth Wilson. 
 

10 Pts The Fall (my pick) One of the best serial killer dramas I have ever seen, on a par with Silence of the Lambs. 
 

11 Pts Faulty Towers John Cleese at perhaps his most brilliant. 
 

12 Pts Peaky Blinders British Boardwalk Empire but much better. Superb drama 

 
Foreign Shows 

13 Pts Sherlock Cumberbatch is probably the best Holmes ever. 

14 Pts Downton Abbey Great acting, great writing (Julian Barnes), great cinematography, great soapy drama- what’s not to love? 

15 Pts Monty Python’s Flying Circus Ah my youth. The Philosopher’s Song, the Ministry of Silly Walks, so many great moments. Sublime comedy. 

16 Pts Schitt’s Creek Steal of the draft. Daniel Levy’s comedy was brilliant in all aspects. It’s very rare that a comedy show can achieve the emotional aspects of great drama but this one consistently managed to do so. 

 
Foreign shows 

16 Pts Schitts Creek 

15 Pts Monty Python’s Flying Circus 

14 Pts Downton Abbey 

13 Pts Sherlock 

12 Pts Peaky Blinders 

11 Pts Fawlty Towers 

10 Pts The Fall 

9 Pts Luther 

8 Pts Dr Who 

7 Pts The Office (UK) 

6 Pts Upstairs Downstairs 

5 Pts Fleabag 

4 Pts Blackadder 

3 Pts Benny Hill 

2 Pts Dark 

1 Pt Rumpole of the Bailey 

 
timschochet said:
Foreign Shows 

13 Pts Sherlock Cumberbatch is probably the best Holmes ever. 

14 Pts Downton Abbey Great acting, great writing (Julian Barnes), great cinematography, great soapy drama- what’s not to love? 

15 Pts Monty Python’s Flying Circus Ah my youth. The Philosopher’s Song, the Ministry of Silly Walks, so many great moments. Sublime comedy. 

16 Pts Schitt’s Creek Steal of the draft. Daniel Levy’s comedy was brilliant in all aspects. It’s very rare that a comedy show can achieve the emotional aspects of great drama but this one consistently managed to do so. 
Click to expand...
Is Schitt’s Creek a foreign show? Genuinely curious as I’m watching now and wouldn’t have guessed. 
 

ETA: It’s Canadian. I looked it up. I knew Eugene Levy was Canadian and assumed his son was as well but doesn’t seem like a “foreign” show.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Damn kinda thought I hit a sleeper with Dark. 
 

It’s nothing like Stranger Things. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

timschochet
The Great 2020 All Time Movie Draft- The judging is heavily biased against me. It’s a hoax! Fake news.
212 213 214
Replies
11K
Views
237K
Don Quixote
Don Quixote
timschochet
2020 Greatest of All Time Sports Draft-Zow wins, Judges still suck
120 121 122
Replies
6K
Views
164K
joffer
joffer
BobbyLayne
The 25 Greatest Films of the 21st Century So Far
2 3 4
Replies
155
Views
6K
El Floppo
El Floppo

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 5 (members: 0, guests: 5)
Top