Seinfeld is number 8.

Obviously missed that.

This list is absurd. It is actually pretty good for about the top 10 or 20 but after that....

Roseanne Barr at number 11?

Heather Locklear at on the list at all let alone #25?

Henry Winkler should be much higher as should Micheal J Fox and Bob Barker.

In the are you serious group:
Sarah Jessica Parker
Jennifer Aniston
James Gandolfini
Flip Wilson
Jimmy Smits
Calista Flockhart
Diahann Carroll
Ellen DeGeneres (maybe but not over the people they left off)

Especially when you consider what was left off:
Charlie Brown, Mister Rogers, and Big Bird. Three really enormous icons that a VERY large percentage of the population grew up with for the past 3-4 decades. How can you get much bigger then that?

Ron Howard
Don Knotts (how is he not in the top 20 at least?)
Ted Danson
Kelsey Grammer (this is just absurd, Callista Flockhart over Kelsy Grammer?)
Barbra Eden
Peter Falk
Angela Lansbury
Tom Selleck
Steve Urkel
Conan O Brian Hello? how can he be left out but Jon Stewart is in there?
Tom Brokaw
The crocodile hunter (maybe not but better then some of their other choices)

And there are numerous cartoons left out:
Jetson
Scooby Doo
Flinstones

This list really kind of shows you how few TV icons have been made in the last decade or so. There is so much TV to choose from that everyone watches something different. It is so hard to have "water cooler" talk about TV shows anymore. More choices are great, you can watch what you want but still, it feels like TV as a unifying cultural past time ended with the last few remaining big sitcoms of the late 90's i.e. Friends, Frasier, Sinfield, etc.

Ready for more? Here are 100-51:

100. Marcia Cross
99. Delta Burke
98. Meredith Baxter
97. "In Living Color" cast
96. Shannen Doherty
95. Richard Dawson
94. Melissa Gilbert
93. Neil Patrick Harris
92. Judge Judy
91. Dennis Franz
90. John Stamos
89. Robert Guillaume
88. Gavin MacLeod
87. Phil Hartman
86. Jerry Mathers
85. Rod Serling
84. Cartman from "South Park"
83. Isabel Sanford
82. Ted Knight
81. Dick Cavett
80. Adam West
79. Angela Lansbury
78. Art Carney
77. James Garner
76. Candice Bergen
75. Peter Falk
74. Joan Rivers
73. Tony Danza
72. Cher
71. Rosie O'Donnell
70. Bob Denver
69. Barbara Eden
68. Don Cornelius
67. Tom Selleck
66. Kelsey Grammer
65. Pamela Anderson
64. Phil Donahue
63. Ed Asner
62. Redd Foxx
61. Pee Wee Herman
60. Merv Griffin
59. Ted Danson
58. Don Knotts
57. Charlie Brown
56. Betty White
55. Fred Rogers
54. Florence Henderson
53. Ed McMahon
52. Ron Howard
51. Bob Hope


At least some of the omissions from the top 50 are in there, but Marcia Cross? John Stamos? (Have mercy.) If anyone from Full House was to make it, it should have been Bob Saget who hosted another popular show.

If the cast from "In Living Color" can be on there, why couldn't they have just listed the "Friends" cast instead of one of the ensemble?

I'd like to know how they defined "icon." If it's just someone who is recognizable from tv, that's one thing. But if it's someone who has, as a result of their work, CHANGED tv or made some sort of difference, that's another thing. Many people criticize Jerry Seinfeld, but like him or not, he made a big impact on television....

See, this is my issue with those who don't understand why Flip Wilson should be on the list. Many may not get it but having shows where a Black person was the lead was still a bit new back then and so one could say that Flip was up there with Redd Foxx and other Black people with shows.

Bob Hope at # 51?

Now I know this list is full of crap!

Chris

too high or too low?
I've never been a fan of Bob Hope, but I think he should be higher on the list...

I don’t understand why Jimmy Smits got a better ranking than Dennis Franz? I mean, that’s just craziness.

I would think anyone would know Sipowicz more than Bobby Simone and whatever character Smits played on The West Wing (didn’t watch TWW). I like Smits, don’t get me wrong, but Franz should’ve made it higher than Smits IMO.

I still think of LA Law first when I see Smits

Much, much higher. He was on network television (NBC) longer than anyone else (since 1939).

Chris

Has anyone mentioned Bugs Bunny?

Yes post #62.

Good list overall. Heather Locklear was queen of '80s night-time soaps and an all-time favorite, T.J. Hooker, she belongs on the list.

I had to give some thought as to which show Smits was being recognized for and of course, LA Law

Why is Jon Stewart on the list and I have no idea which show was lead by Diahann Carroll?

EDIT: RE: Diahann Carroll, it must be Julia per IMDB. I remember the name of the show, but I never watched it....

I also was wondering why Jon Stewart was on, but if your going to have Walter Croncite on the list. But why not Bill O'Reilly then he has been on longer on t.v. and has huge ratings over Jon Stewart. And why no Jay Leno but David Letterman? Leno has beaten Letterman in the ratings also. And how can Larry Hagman's J.R. be number 50 and George Cloony's character be so high? When J.R. Ewing had board games, running for President bumper stickers, and the WHO SHOT J.R. was a big thing on t.v.
It sure looks like another Hollywood liberal biased list to move an agenda!

I know Steven Hill was only in the first season of Mission: Impossible but he was one of the founding members of the Actors Studio and I’m sure quite a few people (even people that don’t watch) have seen him on Law & Order, the ten seasons he was in as Adam Schiff.

Speaking of Mission: Impossible (pick up the third season on DVD today), how come Peter Graves didn’t even make it on the list? I can think of a whole bunch of people on that list that didn’t deserve to be on it as much as him. I can see why Landau or Bain didn’t make the list, but no Graves?

No love for David Janssen or Barry Morse either? I mean, I could go on and on but so many memorable people have been left off this list, for people who aren’t that memorable.

Because George Clooney & Jon Stewert had to make the list by any means even if it ment knocking off people that had more creditability to be on the list.

Is it that I expose what's going on that upsets you?