das Monkey

Yeah, to limit to 5 is incredibly tough. Those 5 I listed were just the first 5 that popped into my head. My criteria for them was quite simply that while other shows may have been as good, no show was better in their genre. But I could list 100 more that are equally worthy. I miss St. Elsewhere. I really wish Bruce Paltrow had kept making shows. Along with St. Elsewhere, his other great work, The White Shadow is one of my all time faves. It's been great to see Kevin Hooks grow as a director since that show. He's now working for my favorite new show Philly. And while Crossing Jordan isn't anything special, it's still good to have Ken Howard back on TV each week.

das

bboisvert

I'm not even going to try to name only 5 shows, but I was just amazed that after so many responses, no one has mentioned STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.

Tscott

Yes, coming up with the top 5 of all time is hard. If you'd asked for the best currently on TV, I'd have no problem, but 'of all time' I can come up with a list of 5 and have at least 5 other shows I feel guilty for leaving off the list. Having said that, here's my attempt at the list:

1) All in the Family- I agree with everything that's been said here.
2) Homicide: Life on the Street - Why, oh why, isn't this on DVD yet?
3) Monty Python's Flying Circus - Surreal and funny
4) Dick Van Dyke show - The best of the 'normal family' sit-coms
5) The Avengers - Pre-dating James Bond (barely), and long before Scully, Buffy or Xena it was one of the first shows to feature a kick-butt female lead (3 different female leads actually)

and as mentioned above, some shows I feel guilty leaving off the list: Buffy, Twin Peaks, X-files, West Wing, MASH, The Muppet Show, Star Trek:TNG....

dj quiksand

1. Degrassi Jr./High
2. You Can't Do That on Television
3. Small Wonder
4. Remote Control
5. Bug Juice

Wizdar

In terms of defining television as we know it today, the concept of having multiple plots (related or not) within the same episode should be considered key. My thought is that MASH was the first to do this, but I could be (and frequently am) wrong.

This is actually something I’ve been pondering for quite some time. I’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking, “Was MASH really the first??” For some reason, the mention by das of The Dick van Dyke Show has filled me with doubt. More sleepless nights…

Another achievement: I can’t think of a show other than Babylon 5 that was conceived with a multi-year plan to show a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. (And end, and end…)

das Monkey

I love B5, and it would certainly sit on my list of most innovative shows. I'd suggest off the top of my head, though, that The Prisoner and Twin Peaks also came to the table with a completely planned show. Many shows seem to be doing it now, but those three strike me as pioneers in that area.

das

AndyCapps

Moonlighting
Night Court
Jack & Jill
Sledgehammer
Happy Days

Wizdar

Thanks das. Did either of those shows actually complete their story?

elektra

das -

St. Elsewhere's was equally as good as Hill St. and it deserves an honorable mention IMO, but Hill St. just did it better for me. X-Files also deserves and HM and so does The Simpsons and South Park. The ones I listed were the ones I was closest too.

What I dislike about ER, et al is that they overdo what Hll St. and St. Elsewhere did well and subtlely. They feel like they have to rip your guts out emotionally in every show. They're doing the typical Hollywood find what works and overdo it. If I want that, I have my real life and the evening news. I don't mind thinking and feeling, but I like that sense of unreal and fantasy to it. And the sense that they don't have to trash you emotionally all the time.

das Monkey

The Prisoner did, but it may technically be a mini-series. Twin Peaks would have had it not been cancelled to the dismay of millions of fans.

das

das Monkey

Good points about ER et al. My only gripe about The X-Files is that it cheated the audience. It kept building and building and twisting and turning until it was so far skewed from where we started, and there was never a payoff. It's the ultimate tease. I don't mind having the carrot dangled in front of me, but to do so for 9 years, and never let me take a bite ... I think that's unfair to the audience and almost negates much of the early greatness. If a show is great and then starts to suck, that's fine ... but The X-Files toyed with me too much and served only to piss me off in the final analysis, and it's hard to watch early episodes knowing full well that I'm just being jerked around by Carter. (Those comments should stir up some trouble in here )

das

zOOmz

My all-time favs.
These are the only shows I never get tired of watching..

The Prisoner

The Bob Newhart Show (the Original one)

Alfred Hitchcock Hour

The Honeymooners

Babylon Five (I loved Kosh)

and..runner up..

Rocky and Bullwinkle


I am one of those folks who doesn't watch much TV. The only new shows
that I actually watch is "6 Feet Under" and "Crocodile Hunter".

zOOmz

slop101

Since you guys are bringing up mini-series; here are my top 5:

in no particular order:


Band of Brothers

I, Claudius

The Decalogue

Twin Peaks (yes, I count this as a mini-series)

Roots

BoatDrinks

In no order...

Homicide - Life on the Streets
Hill Street Blues
M*A*S*H
Cracker (the British version)
Cheers


HM: Simpsons, Miami Vice, Prime Suspect (British), All in the Family, Seinfeld

slop101

No trouble, you're just stating you opinion.

Anyway, I used to kind of feel the same. Then I realised that the show was really going for something else. It wasn't about the "payoff". It was more about all the possibilities and approaching things at every concievable angle. The fact that there are multiple explanations to the many goings on in the X-Files is the reason I find it so compelling. It's a lot more about what MAY lurk in the dark than what actually is in there. You know, kind of like the whole "fear of the unknown" thing. And if by the 6th season you expect some sort of pay-off from the X-files, then you're watching the wrong show. You should instead be watching V or someother thing that spoon-feeds it's audience exactly what's going on.

Apocrypha

Top 5 T.V. shows based on rewatchability

1.Simpsons
2.X-Files
3.TwinPeaks
4.Millennium
5.Red Dwarf

honorable mentions
Ren & Stimpy
The Young Ones
Mystery Science Theater 3000

RaptorsFan

My top 5 based on level of enjoyment:

The Sopranos
The A Team
Law and Order
Knight Rider
Survivor.

das Monkey

I don't particularly need a resolution so much as an undefinable "something." "Something" to make me feel like watching this show was worth my while. I guess it's all up to interpretation. Early on, I loved the nebulous world of The X-Files. Some things were what they seemed, some things weren't, and depending on your perspective, there could be many different interpretations to every event. It was high quality television. But over time, I started to feel like I was being jerked around. Plots became very contrived, characters acted most decidedly out of character ... anyway, no need to go over why the show has declined - I think there's little argument there. It's just that from my viewing experience, watching the decline made me question everything I had previously seen and start to doubt its genius.

I question whether this analysis is fair, since I don't fault All in the Family for Archie Bunker's Place, and I don't fault I Love Lucy for the years where they lived in that cottage, so why should I fault The X-Files for its later seasons? Not exactly sure how to put it into words. And it's not a blanket fault for the show. It's just enough for me to keep it in my Top 100 instead of a Top 20.

Anyway, I don't need a resolution as the "pay-off". In fact my biggest criticism of other shows is heavy-handed morality or implausible resolution of complex plots. But something about the way The X-Files has progressed over the years has really rubbed me the wrong way, and I find myself unable to hold it in such high esteem as I used to, even those early seasons that were so wonderful. I don't need a resolution, but there's a difference between a compelling observation of the unknown and insultingly toying with the audience. The show went from the former to the latter over time, and rewatching the former, I cannot help but think of the latter. Oh well. To each his own. Those first seasons still are some excellent television.

das

cynthia

It's too hard to narrow it down to five.

NewsRadio is the best of them all, hands down.

exConn

5 of my favorites all-time off the top of my head, unordered:

Homicide
X-Files
Law & Order
Cheers
Seinfeld

-exConn

Slumbering Fist

for me...

2- TWIN PEAKS
3- The Simpsons
4- Monty Pythons Flying Circus
5- Buffy the Vampire Slayer

and...

#1...

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (particularly the Comedy Central era)

For me it is MST3k above everything else because in terms of comedy it was all over the place, and my favorite comedic shows- Python, Simpsons, Kids in the Hall, Mr Show, etc have that broad appeal. MST had pop culture and extremely obscure references, general silliness, crude wisecracks, slapstick, surreal, you name it, they flexed every comedic muscle. But, what separates it from the pack, is that the basis of the show, watching a movie with the characters, leant itself to endearing itself to a viewer far greater than any other cult show like Star Trek. In effect, you were watching the show with them, in a strange way- you were part of it, they were broadcasting it to you, and, it was like watching a show with friends. And besides that, it was really damn funny.

I think in terms of the way TV shows look and what they could handle, Twin Peaks really raised the bar. Sure there had been surreal shows, or envelope pushing content shows, and shows that tried to look slicker, but Twin Peaks was like a continuous mini movie, and I really think that 90's shows, like the X-Files, 24, Buffy, and such wouldn’t have gotten the professional, slick, movie quality look and attention to detail if it were not for Twin Peaks.

Thought for sure someone would mention Sesame Street, 60 mins, or maybe Columbo.

btlives

1. Twilight Zone...original series
2. Lassie
3. Sesame Street
4. Mister Rodgers Neighborhood
5. B5

Many forget that PBS helped educate & entertain so many
of our children during the 60's 70's, 80's & 90's.

And who even today really doesn't remember Big Bird......

das Monkey

I typed out about 10 honorable mentions before giving up and claiming to do so was pointless. I already noted The Twilight Zone and Mary Tyler Moore on that list. I had also typed 60 Minutes and Sesame Street.

das

WhoGirl

In no paticular order...

All in the Family
I love Lucy
The Simpsons
The Sopranos
Monty Python's Flying Circus

Wizdar

Columbo?

Columbo??

Hey, I like Columbo. But, I mean, Columbo???