When TV critics compile their list of the best television shows of all time, the lists usually seem to include in the top ten the following shows: “Breaking Bad,” “The Wire,” “The Sopranos,” “I Love Lucy,” “Mad Men,” and “The Simpsons.” That got me to thinking about what I would consider if I were to make a list. Which of the hundreds of TV shows that have influenced my life, personality, and interest in the medium itself, would I cart in a suitcase (along with a DVD player) to my proverbial desert island, to watch again and again? Although I liked “The Sopranos,” I felt it was overrated and not worthy of repeat viewing, and “The Wire,” which was well executed and highly realistic, was slowly paced. There are too many episodes of “The Simpsons” for me to place it high on my list, even though it is deservedly a great show (the same with “South Park”). “Mad Men?” Meh. And “I Love Lucy” is a cultural milestone that would be too tiring to view any episode for the thousandth time. So, I made a list. Here, then, are my top 13 favorite TV shows – feel free to dissect, debate, and judge (or ignore):
1. Survivor (2000 – Present) – When I watched the first season during the summer of 2000, I was blown away by the premise, and even more astounded at how perfect this reality show was edited to present a storyline that seemed impossible not to be scripted. A snarky, but savvy, gay guy and an old crotchety, conservative and homophobic Navy SEAL forming an alliance and a friendship? Starving castaways roasting and eating rats? Contestants enduring hunger, thirst, and the elements, with no amenities, who wind up experiencing life altering changes? I am in! Over the years, countless survivors have become shining personalities: the aforementioned Richard and Rudy, Ozzie, Boston Rob, Sandra, Rupert, Coach, Tony, Russell, Tyson, Parvati, Cirie! The list is endless! Over forty plus seasons, host master general Jeff Probst has evolved the show to keep it fresh, and always asks the perfect spot-on questions to bring the most out of his cast. Let us hope the tribe continues to speak and Jeff continues to snuff out torches for a very long time.
2. All in the Family (1971 – 1979) – I was only eleven years old when I first started watching this show, the mainstay of probably the most perfect night of television during its second golden age: Saturday, with a line-up that also included “M*A*S*H,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert,” and “The Midnight Special,” and later on, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and “Saturday Night Live.” This groundbreaking show from Norman Lear, with its working-class family and sepia toned set, changed television forever. The cast was phenomenal – Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton as Archie and Edith Bunker, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers as Mike and Gloria Stivic. Archie was a conservative bigot who tangled with his liberal son-in-law, Mike, and hot topics, never presented before on TV let alone in a situation comedy, were debated and argued over in single camera plays filmed before a live audience. Racial slurs flew out of Archie’s mouth (along with multiple malapropisms), shocking the nation. Subjects such as the Vietnam war, draft dodging, antisemitism, abortion, women’s liberation, homosexuality, rape, religion, death, swinging, protesting, menopause, and impotence, were dealt with humor, and helped bring Americans to a better understanding of society at large. Watching reruns today, it is startling how relevant and timely the material still is, and how well it holds up, so much so that Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear presented two “All in the Family” scripts acted by a new cast, including Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei as Archie and Edith, in 2021 and 2022, to great acclaim. I still have the giant Archie Bunker poster and “Archie for President” buttons I bought at a Yellow Front store in 1972.
3. Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969 – 1974) – Five Englishmen, graduates of Oxford and Cambridge, and an American animator, assembled this hodgepodge of outrageously absurd sketches, many with no endings, in a show that, when it finally made its way across the pond stateside, influenced me in my teenage years like no other comedy show. I became a rabid fan, digesting every episode, book, movie, record album, and related TV show, that I could, and memorizing pretty much all of the scripts. “Hails of derisive laughter, Bruce!” Who can ever forget the Argument Clinic, the Knights Who Say “Ni,” the Ministry of Silly Walks, Hell’s Grannies, Spam, the Lumberjack Song, and the dead parrot? And now for something not quite that different ….
4. Fawlty Towers (1975 – 1979) – From Monty Python came the immortal John Cleese, and from John Cleese came this amazing 12-episode masterpiece. Quite possibly the funniest show ever made. I still recall the first episode I saw (“The Builders”) and how I actually laughed hysterically with real (no joke) tears streaming down my face. Basil Fawlty, an irascible, crabby bastard who owned a small hotel in Torquay along with his ball-busting wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), worked alongside their sensible chamber maid Polly and hapless, English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel, while Basil insulted and assaulted nearly every guest who came through the door. Cleese’s physical comedy, as well as his muttered asides, were priceless. This is comedy at its finest.
5. The Honeymooners (1955 – 1956) – I have watched and rewatched the classic 39 episodes, along with the hundred or so “lost” episodes, and it never ceases to amaze me how impressive and utterly perfect this show is. The scripts with their immortal punchlines, the timing of the cast in the delivery of their dialogue, the sad and dingy apartment that Ralph and Alice Kramden call home, the stellar acting from Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, and Art Carney – all of this from a series created and broadcast during the infancy of television’s history.
6. Dark Shadows (1966 – 1971) – Yes, I was one of the baby-boomers who really did rush home after school each day to watch this gothic, horror-fringed soap opera, becoming a Barnabas Collins fan from the very beginning. However, it wasn’t until years later that I actually viewed all 1,225 episodes, and it was then that I developed a true appreciation of how classy and well-written this show was. It is of course well-known that the small budget and tight filming schedule resulted in lots of bloopers, flubbed lines, and cameras and staff ending up in frame (causing the show to be often referred to as “Mike Shadows”), but, frankly, it only lends to the shows overall charm. The supernatural denizens of the house of Collinwood and the town of Collinsport, Maine, included vampires, ghosts, a phoenix, werewolves, witches and warlocks, and involved time travel and parallel universes. The show started out simple and became quite complicated, but the cast was delightful, and the stories enriching.
7. Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul (2008 – 2013; 2015 – 2022) – Both of these shows charted a trajectory of a story arc that was made evident right at their outstart. “Breaking Bad” was going to be about a seemingly good man who becomes a bad man, first by what he perceives as necessity (he is dying and wants to provide for the family he is leaving behind by cooking meth) and later because he comes to realize that he enjoys the power. And since we already knew the “Better Call Saul” character’s outcome from “Breaking Bad,” that show was going to be a prequel about how Jimmy McGill, a guy with morals and a good heart, becomes a soulless lawyer named Saul Goodman. And both shows were extremely well written and meticulously plotted out in every little detail, with tons of humor interrupted by shocking violence. But “Better Call Saul” gets an edge on “Breaking Bad,” and I feel is actually the better of the two shows, as it serves not just as a prequel to “Breaking Bad,” but also as a sequel, as it ingeniously shows its audience what becomes of its characters after the concluding storyline of its predecessor.
8. The Walking Dead (2010 – 2022) – What can I say? Zombies had been around for quite some time before this show came along, but nothing prepared me for the exhilaration and apprehension I felt while watching the ever-changing group of survivors navigate a hellish landscape where no one was safe, and I mean no one. Viewers never knew when one of their favorite characters might meet their death, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. The ghoulish make-up and special effects, and the realistic storylines, were rewarding. Unfortunately, as the seasons dragged on, the show began to become tiresome and ridiculous, and as it veered further and further away from its comic book source material, it lost its luster, But, man, those first several seasons were appointment television, with the phones turned off and no one allowed to talk except during commercials.
9. Lost (2004 – 2010) – In the summer of 2004, I was vacationing at the beach, and saw a plane flying over the surf with a banner advertising “Lost.” Then billboards all over Southern California promoting the show. So, I tuned in. And what a thrilling ride this show was. I joined the worldwide web of fans analyzing every aspect of the show, its mythology, its mysteries, the easter eggs, the throwaway scenes, lines, and character names. For every six questions introduced, only one or two would wind up being answered, but I didn’t care. Polar bears! Black smoke! Flashbacks! Flashforwards! The cliffhangers (what is in the hatch?)! The characters (Jack and Kate! Sawyer! Hurley! Locke! Sayid! Jin and Sun! Charlie and Claire! Ben! Mr. Eko! Desmond and Penny!)! This was the most fun I have had with a show ever, and although the finale was disappointing (how could all of the mysteries ever be expected to be resolved?), I have rewatched the show and felt the same zeal all over again, as I would getting on a familiar roller coaster for another ride.
10. The Twilight Zone (1959 – 1964) – Rod Serling’s morality plays disguised in bizarre tales with twist endings were some of my first encounters with master storytelling, and I watched each episode as they unfolded in syndicated reruns with utter amazement. Some of the greatest writers and actors were involved in the making of this show, and it helped me seek out new authors, and further explore the world of science fiction literature. It also boasts one of the most excellent theme songs in all of television.
11. Seinfeld (1989 – 1998) – These awful, narcissistic, and selfish characters are also hilarious and entirely recognizable, both inside me and around me. I loved the scripts, and this is the type of series that I can rewatch at any time and laugh at jokes I have previously heard many times before. They are that good. Personally, I can’t get enough of how cringey George can be, and the catch phrases that came out of this show alone have made “Seinfeld” indelible, and, well, you know, yada yada yada.
12. Second City Television (1976 – 1979) – I am only referring to seasons 1 and 2 of the Canadian sketch comedy show, and not any other variations. This is the show that brought into my life Harold Ramis, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas and Catherine O’Hara. Later seasons (“Second City TV,” “SCTV Network 90,” and “SCTV Channel”) were weak and pretentious. But the original was a powerhouse of pure gold, and along with Monty Python and National Lampoon, set me up for the rest of my life on how I perceive comedy and what I think is funny. This is also my Holy Grail, as these two seasons have never been released on tape or DVD, and only exist as isolated sketches presented on the later shows or available on YouTube.
13. Reservation Dogs (2021 – 2023) – This streaming series, created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, is a wonder. It fully realizes the lives of four indigenous teenagers, and the citizens and elders who live alongside them, in the small reservation town of Okern, Oklahoma in the Muscogee Nation. The show is brilliantly plotted and paced, and tells the story of how Elora, Bear, Cheese, and Willie Jack deal with the suicide of their friend by wanting to get away from Okern but eventually come to appreciate their community, with touching warmth and humor, and a bit of surreal and outrageous moments along the way.
Honorable Mention: Freaks & Geeks; Green Acres; Match Game 73 – 74; Hill Street Blues; The Monkees; Better Things; M*A*S*H; The Dick Van Dyke Show; The Bob Newhart Show; The Larry Sanders Show; Outer Limits; Twin Peaks; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
The 13 Best Television Shows
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When TV critics compile their list of the best television shows of all time, the lists usually seem to include in the top ten the following shows: “Breaking Bad,” “The Wire,” “The Sopranos,” “I Love Lucy,” “Mad Men,” and “The Simpsons.” That got me to thinking about what I would consider if I were to make a list. Which of the hundreds of TV shows that have influenced my life, personality, and interest in the medium itself, would I cart in a suitcase (along with a DVD player) to my proverbial desert island, to watch again and again? Although I liked “The Sopranos,” I felt it was overrated and not worthy of repeat viewing, and “The Wire,” which was well executed and highly realistic, was slowly paced. There are too many episodes of “The Simpsons” for me to place it high on my list, even though it is deservedly a great show (the same with “South Park”). “Mad Men?” Meh. And “I Love Lucy” is a cultural milestone that would be too tiring to view any episode for the thousandth time. So, I made a list. Here, then, are my top 13 favorite TV shows – feel free to dissect, debate, and judge (or ignore):
1. Survivor (2000 – Present) – When I watched the first season during the summer of 2000, I was blown away by the premise, and even more astounded at how perfect this reality show was edited to present a storyline that seemed impossible not to be scripted. A snarky, but savvy, gay guy and an old crotchety, conservative and homophobic Navy SEAL forming an alliance and a friendship? Starving castaways roasting and eating rats? Contestants enduring hunger, thirst, and the elements, with no amenities, who wind up experiencing life altering changes? I am in! Over the years, countless survivors have become shining personalities: the aforementioned Richard and Rudy, Ozzie, Boston Rob, Sandra, Rupert, Coach, Tony, Russell, Tyson, Parvati, Cirie! The list is endless! Over forty plus seasons, host master general Jeff Probst has evolved the show to keep it fresh, and always asks the perfect spot-on questions to bring the most out of his cast. Let us hope the tribe continues to speak and Jeff continues to snuff out torches for a very long time.
2. All in the Family (1971 – 1979) – I was only eleven years old when I first started watching this show, the mainstay of probably the most perfect night of television during its second golden age: Saturday, with a line-up that also included “M*A*S*H,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert,” and “The Midnight Special,” and later on, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and “Saturday Night Live.” This groundbreaking show from Norman Lear, with its working-class family and sepia toned set, changed television forever. The cast was phenomenal – Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton as Archie and Edith Bunker, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers as Mike and Gloria Stivic. Archie was a conservative bigot who tangled with his liberal son-in-law, Mike, and hot topics, never presented before on TV let alone in a situation comedy, were debated and argued over in single camera plays filmed before a live audience. Racial slurs flew out of Archie’s mouth (along with multiple malapropisms), shocking the nation. Subjects such as the Vietnam war, draft dodging, antisemitism, abortion, women’s liberation, homosexuality, rape, religion, death, swinging, protesting, menopause, and impotence, were dealt with humor, and helped bring Americans to a better understanding of society at large. Watching reruns today, it is startling how relevant and timely the material still is, and how well it holds up, so much so that Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear presented two “All in the Family” scripts acted by a new cast, including Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei as Archie and Edith, in 2021 and 2022, to great acclaim. I still have the giant Archie Bunker poster and “Archie for President” buttons I bought at a Yellow Front store in 1972.
3. Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969 – 1974) – Five Englishmen, graduates of Oxford and Cambridge, and an American animator, assembled this hodgepodge of outrageously absurd sketches, many with no endings, in a show that, when it finally made its way across the pond stateside, influenced me in my teenage years like no other comedy show. I became a rabid fan, digesting every episode, book, movie, record album, and related TV show, that I could, and memorizing pretty much all of the scripts. “Hails of derisive laughter, Bruce!” Who can ever forget the Argument Clinic, the Knights Who Say “Ni,” the Ministry of Silly Walks, Hell’s Grannies, Spam, the Lumberjack Song, and the dead parrot? And now for something not quite that different ….
4. Fawlty Towers (1975 – 1979) – From Monty Python came the immortal John Cleese, and from John Cleese came this amazing 12-episode masterpiece. Quite possibly the funniest show ever made. I still recall the first episode I saw (“The Builders”) and how I actually laughed hysterically with real (no joke) tears streaming down my face. Basil Fawlty, an irascible, crabby bastard who owned a small hotel in Torquay along with his ball-busting wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), worked alongside their sensible chamber maid Polly and hapless, English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel, while Basil insulted and assaulted nearly every guest who came through the door. Cleese’s physical comedy, as well as his muttered asides, were priceless. This is comedy at its finest.
5. The Honeymooners (1955 – 1956) – I have watched and rewatched the classic 39 episodes, along with the hundred or so “lost” episodes, and it never ceases to amaze me how impressive and utterly perfect this show is. The scripts with their immortal punchlines, the timing of the cast in the delivery of their dialogue, the sad and dingy apartment that Ralph and Alice Kramden call home, the stellar acting from Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, and Art Carney – all of this from a series created and broadcast during the infancy of television’s history.
6. Dark Shadows (1966 – 1971) – Yes, I was one of the baby-boomers who really did rush home after school each day to watch this gothic, horror-fringed soap opera, becoming a Barnabas Collins fan from the very beginning. However, it wasn’t until years later that I actually viewed all 1,225 episodes, and it was then that I developed a true appreciation of how classy and well-written this show was. It is of course well-known that the small budget and tight filming schedule resulted in lots of bloopers, flubbed lines, and cameras and staff ending up in frame (causing the show to be often referred to as “Mike Shadows”), but, frankly, it only lends to the shows overall charm. The supernatural denizens of the house of Collinwood and the town of Collinsport, Maine, included vampires, ghosts, a phoenix, werewolves, witches and warlocks, and involved time travel and parallel universes. The show started out simple and became quite complicated, but the cast was delightful, and the stories enriching.
7. Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul (2008 – 2013; 2015 – 2022) – Both of these shows charted a trajectory of a story arc that was made evident right at their outstart. “Breaking Bad” was going to be about a seemingly good man who becomes a bad man, first by what he perceives as necessity (he is dying and wants to provide for the family he is leaving behind by cooking meth) and later because he comes to realize that he enjoys the power. And since we already knew the “Better Call Saul” character’s outcome from “Breaking Bad,” that show was going to be a prequel about how Jimmy McGill, a guy with morals and a good heart, becomes a soulless lawyer named Saul Goodman. And both shows were extremely well written and meticulously plotted out in every little detail, with tons of humor interrupted by shocking violence. But “Better Call Saul” gets an edge on “Breaking Bad,” and I feel is actually the better of the two shows, as it serves not just as a prequel to “Breaking Bad,” but also as a sequel, as it ingeniously shows its audience what becomes of its characters after the concluding storyline of its predecessor.
8. The Walking Dead (2010 – 2022) – What can I say? Zombies had been around for quite some time before this show came along, but nothing prepared me for the exhilaration and apprehension I felt while watching the ever-changing group of survivors navigate a hellish landscape where no one was safe, and I mean no one. Viewers never knew when one of their favorite characters might meet their death, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. The ghoulish make-up and special effects, and the realistic storylines, were rewarding. Unfortunately, as the seasons dragged on, the show began to become tiresome and ridiculous, and as it veered further and further away from its comic book source material, it lost its luster, But, man, those first several seasons were appointment television, with the phones turned off and no one allowed to talk except during commercials.
9. Lost (2004 – 2010) – In the summer of 2004, I was vacationing at the beach, and saw a plane flying over the surf with a banner advertising “Lost.” Then billboards all over Southern California promoting the show. So, I tuned in. And what a thrilling ride this show was. I joined the worldwide web of fans analyzing every aspect of the show, its mythology, its mysteries, the easter eggs, the throwaway scenes, lines, and character names. For every six questions introduced, only one or two would wind up being answered, but I didn’t care. Polar bears! Black smoke! Flashbacks! Flashforwards! The cliffhangers (what is in the hatch?)! The characters (Jack and Kate! Sawyer! Hurley! Locke! Sayid! Jin and Sun! Charlie and Claire! Ben! Mr. Eko! Desmond and Penny!)! This was the most fun I have had with a show ever, and although the finale was disappointing (how could all of the mysteries ever be expected to be resolved?), I have rewatched the show and felt the same zeal all over again, as I would getting on a familiar roller coaster for another ride.
10. The Twilight Zone (1959 – 1964) – Rod Serling’s morality plays disguised in bizarre tales with twist endings were some of my first encounters with master storytelling, and I watched each episode as they unfolded in syndicated reruns with utter amazement. Some of the greatest writers and actors were involved in the making of this show, and it helped me seek out new authors, and further explore the world of science fiction literature. It also boasts one of the most excellent theme songs in all of television.
11. Seinfeld (1989 – 1998) – These awful, narcissistic, and selfish characters are also hilarious and entirely recognizable, both inside me and around me. I loved the scripts, and this is the type of series that I can rewatch at any time and laugh at jokes I have previously heard many times before. They are that good. Personally, I can’t get enough of how cringey George can be, and the catch phrases that came out of this show alone have made “Seinfeld” indelible, and, well, you know, yada yada yada.
12. Second City Television (1976 – 1979) – I am only referring to seasons 1 and 2 of the Canadian sketch comedy show, and not any other variations. This is the show that brought into my life Harold Ramis, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas and Catherine O’Hara. Later seasons (“Second City TV,” “SCTV Network 90,” and “SCTV Channel”) were weak and pretentious. But the original was a powerhouse of pure gold, and along with Monty Python and National Lampoon, set me up for the rest of my life on how I perceive comedy and what I think is funny. This is also my Holy Grail, as these two seasons have never been released on tape or DVD, and only exist as isolated sketches presented on the later shows or available on YouTube.
13. Reservation Dogs (2021 – 2023) – This streaming series, created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, is a wonder. It fully realizes the lives of four indigenous teenagers, and the citizens and elders who live alongside them, in the small reservation town of Okern, Oklahoma in the Muscogee Nation. The show is brilliantly plotted and paced, and tells the story of how Elora, Bear, Cheese, and Willie Jack deal with the suicide of their friend by wanting to get away from Okern but eventually come to appreciate their community, with touching warmth and humor, and a bit of surreal and outrageous moments along the way.
Honorable Mention: Freaks & Geeks; Green Acres; Match Game 73 – 74; Hill Street Blues; The Monkees; Better Things; M*A*S*H; The Dick Van Dyke Show; The Bob Newhart Show; The Larry Sanders Show; Outer Limits; Twin Peaks; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
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