What is the best television series of all time and why?

I am a big fan of Twin Peaks.

Hmm, my gut instinct is to say the first 7 or so seasons of the Simpsons.

M*A*S*H.

humor, drama, politicals, memorable characters… it had a lot of things going for it

Kenan and Kel. That show was just to funny.

@peedub Good answer, but when I watch it now, I can’t help but be horrified at the production quality. Ever seen the prequel movie “Fire: Walk with Me” ?

Star Trek (the original) and
The Phil Silver’s Show

Honorable mention to:
Doctor Who
Battlestar Galactica (the reworked series)
Red Dwarf
Firefly
Rome

FIREFLY! Though shortlived it is not only the most realistic scifi, but generally funny, clever, cool, moving, and it made me cry. Only the good die young.

Think about it. Cowboys, in space.

Just thinking about it makes me really happy..
I’ll be in my bunk.

@mrswho dude, i just couldn’t get into firefly. sucks for me. ;[

im going to go with friends, because it’s fucking friends, man.

Firefly… but @mrswho beat me to it… all I can add is “think about it quazi steampunk cowboys in space”

@timeand_distance I think you misread the question… it was best show of all time

:P I kid, I kid

The Sopranos. It just has everything in that show: drama, comedy, action, great characters…

@AstroChuck I second Astrochuck’s list.

For me, personally, I thought the best was Hill Street Blues because at the time it was introduced, it was a groundbreaking television series that set the standard for future police type shows to live up to. Additionally, the cast was excellently chosen, the episodes were great, and the acting/drama was top notch.

I’m going with @phoenyx on this one.

M*A*S*H does it for me.

@Bluefreedom Good call. you’re right. It was groundbreaking. It created the late night, adult oriented Television drama. It was the first of its kind. Interestingly enough, the head writer on that Show was Dick Wolf, the guy who later went on to create the Television Franchise “Law and Order”

The West Wing, hands down.

@TheIowaCynic. That’s really interesting. I just wish they would put the rest of the seasons of Hill Street Blues out on DVD. I think Law & Order is fantastic too.

@bob_ The west wing was good and the head writer was one of my favorite writers ever. Aaron Sorkin, the same guy who wrote “A Few Good Men”

@Bluefreedom Learn to love bittorrents. I have every single Law and Order Season on my computer. All 18 seasons of the Original Law&Order (not CSI or SVU). It’s 181 Gigabites.

Twilight Zone

little house on the prairie

@forestGeek GOOD ONE! A classic and I own all 10 seasons. A GREAT TV series. good call

@forestGeek lurve

@jonsblond Yes! And I love how Twilight Zone managed to evolve over the years.

@TheIowaCynic Aaron Sorkin is da man.

FRIENDS

@Ivan When American culture is studied in 2,000 years, scholars would be smart to begin their research with “The Simpsons”

Mr. Wizard and Mythbusters

@TheIowaCynic It’s a great marathon television show, don’t you think? I could watch it for hours.

Seinfeld of course.
You can end the thread now.

@jonsblond Everybody has their favorite Twilight Zone episodes. Did you ever see “Amazing Stories” done in 1988 or 89?

The Prisoner is the greatest show of all time. This isn’t in question at all.

2nd would be the original Twilight Zone.

@boots Ya know, when you recommended it to me on wis.dm, I tried getting the torrent, but no dice. I’m gonna try again

@boots- The Prisoner is a good pick. It’s fun to watch after Danger Man (aka Secret Agent Man) as Patrick McGoohan is supposedly playing the same character.

I second AC for Star Trek, jonsblond for Twilight Zone, and M*A*S*H was something I watched during my formative years. I’ve been oddly screwed up (I mean that in a good way) ever since.

@AstroChuck From what I’ve read, it’s not actually the same character… at least he denied it being the same one.

It’s a shame how unknown that show is. It’s true brilliance and art.

@TheIowaCynic I remember a few of those episodes. I was a junior or senior in high school at the time, and didn’t watch much television. I do remember the episode Family Dog. I haven’t seen it in years.

@jonsblond I’m in the process of downloading it as we speak. I think they’re pretty similar to the Twilight Zone. They have a similar appeal

Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand, I don’t care, I’m still free, you can’t take the sky from me

Firefly is a beautiful show, but it is only worth it if you are willing to dive into it unreservedly. It has its plot holes, certainly, but ultimately it is all about the wonderful characters and the chemistry between them. There is a reason it has such a devoted fanbase.

Take me out to the black, tell them I ain’t coming back, burn the land and boil the sea, you can’t take the sky from me

@boots: The Prisoner, oh yes!

@Jayne- I think I may have figured out how you picked your username.

happy days

Really? No one has said The Wire?! Shame on you people—shame on you.

@Jayne Here here. Not only are the character dynamics just great, but its just so much fun to watch. A true delight. I mean, Cowboys, in space. Just think about that. Noting can beat space hookers. Yeah.

My favorite current series is True Blood. The new season starts in June.
Yeaaa.

I forgot about Arrested Development.

Definitely the greatest comedy of all time (on TV, anyways).

Deadwood, M*A*S*H, The Sopranos

Best ever? Hmmm…

I’ma go with Fawlty Towers. Shot-lived, yes, but not a dud in the bunch. It’s John Cleese’s and Connie Booth’s masterpiece and probably one of the best sitcoms ever made. Attempts in many countries to redo the show (4x in the US alone!) fail every time, while Basil just keeps going, 30 years after the last episode on the BBC.

I am going to have to say burn notice it’s first of all origanal also it’s funny while not being ridicolous and has a great cast.

Firefly, Doctor Who.

And Scrubs, for consistently giving me a case of the giggles.

@boots I agree with you about Arrested Development. There aren’t many shows that make me laugh so hard that I cry. That’s one of them. Curb Your Enthusiasm would be my next choice for comedy.

British series ‘I Claudius’ from Robert Graves historical account. A terrific tale of corrupt Roman empire with superb actors. An absolute must.

@Maldadpermanente A great show, in its time, but as an historian, I can say I HATE Robert Graves. He is a sensationalist and so I’m biased against him. He suggested that Livia poisoned Augustus and there is 0 evidence to support this.

@TheIowaCynic Thanks for sharing. I’m not much into history so I guess I watched the show as any other fictional soap back then. British series were highly appreciated in Spain in those years and this one was a great hit.

@Maldadpermanente what would your second favorite british series be? I might like to watch a few

@TheIowaCynic Probably ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ a series about social divide in Englsh society at the beginning of the 20th century.