Top 5 TV shows

Skeletor's 'Lost' thread was the inspiration behind this.

I don't watch shows while airing on TV anymore, but will watch complete seasons on DVD.

1) Star Trek (original series)
2) Robin of Sherwood (BBC)
3) Rome (HBO)
4) Star Trek: DS9
5) Tour of Duty (it was impressionable when I was young)

Now, I'm not a trekkie _at_all_ but enjoy the campiness of the OS and the relationship between the main three. DS9 was the show my brother and I watched in High School. We were in very different places then and didn't hang much, but we always got together for that, so there's more sentimental value there than anything else. Not a big fan of the movies or the Star Trek franchise as a whole though.

Odd, that comedies didn't make my cut, but I do enjoy Father Ted (BBC), Young Ones (BBC), MASH, Night Court, and Seinfeld.

In no particular order:

Twin Peaks - there's a definite drop in quality after Laura's death is (mostly) resolved as the show loses a lot of its momentum at that point, but this is still a near-perfect mixture of humour, sexuality, horror, and the surreal. I think it stands as David Lynch's best work.

Arrested Development - beats any other show for laughs per minute. And not chuckles, or smiles, but big laughs.

The Wire - the show felt very organic and very real (despite some over-the-top stuff), and I was riveted throughout the series. I also loved the politics always at play, whether it was at City Hall, the police service, the drug dealers, the union workers, or the journalists.

South Park - it's juvenile, but so am I. Some episodes are complete misses, but the episodes that hit on all cylinders leave me in tears.

The Office (BBC) - completely authentic, completely discomforting, completely hilarious.

My favorites would have to be:

1) The Simpsons - It's coasting on my goodwill now, but laughs is laughs, and the Simpsons has provided more entertainment than any other show ever made.

2) Lost - I loved the characters, and the breathless storytelling made this a favorite of mine.

3) Futurama - Almost as good as The Simpsons. If it had the same longevity it might have passed it up.

4) Mythbusters - My favorite unscripted show, I love the delight they take in science, and of course, in explosions.

5) Friends - I feel like a tool for saying it, but this sitcom showed how well-written characters can sell a fairly by-the-numbers sitcom.

Honorable mention to: Battlestar Galactica (new), Mystery Science Theater 3000, King of the Hill, Star Trek TNG

1/ Star Trek (also not a Trekkie) OS

2/ The Prisoner

3/ The Ren and Stimpy Show

4/ The Singing Detective

5/ Firefly

That was a harder list to make then I thought it would be...

1. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
2. Mad Men (AMC)
3. Twilight Zone -- 33% Crap, 33% Weird, 33% Genius
4. Seinfeld
5. Sopranos (HBO)

I love how everyone likes to explain away their love of Star Trek by saying "not a trekkie." No shame in it, brothers.

I just started watching Arrested Development on Instant Watch, and it feels like it would probably make this list eventually. I just need to see more of it.

1. The Wire (based on first 11 episodes, haven't seen the rest yet)
2. Firefly
3. Homicide (first five seasons)
4. News Radio (Phil Hartman seasons)
5. Jonny Quest

1. Original Star Trek
and I'll admit to being a trekkie (I have an Kirk uniform I wear to movie premeires)

2.Outer Limits
always end up watching these when sci fi channel runs them

3. Survivor
mostly because it's something my wife and I both enjoy

4. Monster Quest
as above but my son loves it.

5. Deadliest Warrior
everyone needs a guilty pleasure

close but not quite award goes to Futurama and Family guy.

Squigherder wrote:

1. Original Star Trek
and I'll admit to being a trekkie (I have an Kirk uniform I wear to movie premeires)

That qualififes you. Wow... I thought my t-shirt was nerdy (yellow kirk shirt but t style). You are awesome!

No ST shirt, no books, no figures, nothing. Just enjoy the OS when it comes on syndication late at night.

5. The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. - This was the best action show on TV when I was a kid. It was wittier than The Wild Wild West, had a better cast, and was more fun.

4. M*A*S*H* - Yeah, a lot of it was unsubtle and maudlin, but it was a damn good show. Winchester smashing the Mozart record in the finale was one of the greatest TV moments ever.

3. The Ren & Stimpy Show - The best kids show ever made. Period. Not up for debate.

2. The Simpsons - I haven't watched it in years, but Homer Simpson is just the most funny and endearing character I've ever seen.

1. All in the Family - There isn't, and never will be a television show as great, or as important, as this one.

the barefoot killer wrote:

In no particular order:
Twin Peaks
Arrested Development
The Wire
South Park
The Office (BBC)

I could take this list, substituting FUTURAMA for SOUTH PARK.

THE REN & STIMPY SHOW was amazing, but it was so hit and miss, I can't include it.

I haven't owned a TV for six years, so I'm pretty out of touch with what's on nowadays. Guilty of the occasional TV on DVD, though:

1) Arrested Development
2) Firefly
3) Scrubs, seasons 1 & 2
4) Veronica Mars
5) I don't know. Planet Earth? The David Attenborough version, not the Sigourney Weaver one.

Nobody loves Big Bang Theory, huh?

Hmmm ... this is hard because there are comedies and dramas and dramadies and 1 hr shows and 30 mins shows …

1. Twin Peaks: This is my all-time favorite TV show ever. It's got comedy, soap opera drama, horror and pure WTF moments. Special Agent Dale Cooper is the greatest hero to ever grace the small screen. Damn, it's one fine cup of coffee.

2. Arrested Development: This is probably my favorite 30-minute comedy show, which is why I'm giving it my No. 2 slot. No series makes me laugh as hard, especially on repeated viewings (not even Seinfeld). The way they string along jokes and build upon them throughout the series is fantastic. Each time you watch the show you catch more and more layers of the humor.

3. Doctor Who (the relaunched series): Wow, I always thought Doctor Who was just a campy show with an awesome theme song, but the relaunch is brilliant (as the 10th Doctor would be more than likely to exclaim)! This is another show that's got it all: Humor, action, horror, suspense, tear jerking moments. It has a good mix of adventure-of-the-week episodes with a season-long narrative.

4. Firefly: You guys may not own up to being trekkies (or trekkers or whatever) but I'll fess up to being a Whedonite. I almost gave Buffy: The Vampire Slayer the honor of representing, but I decided on Firefly for its original mix of Western and SciFi genres, its hilarious characters and themes of freedom and individuality that I can relate with more than B:TVS's theme of female empowerment.

5. Lost: Haters are going to hate, but Lost is awesome. It's had me hooked with its small-group politics, paranoia, WTF moments and smoke monsters. I almost gave this slot to Red Dwarf, which I was really into in my high school years, but Lost wins for being the all-around better show. Plus they tapped my favorite comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan to be a writer on the show.

Runners up: Red Dwarf, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Mad Men, The Office (UK), Angel, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Seinfeld, 30 Rock

metalface13 wrote:

5. Lost: Haters are going to hate, but Lost is awesome.

Not many people seem to realize it (and I've never seen Lost but my brother loves it) but it is a re-working of my favorite novel. The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. My brother says that knowing that going in made the show much easier to figure out and he guessed the ending (mostly) in the first season as a result.

I highly reccomend reading The Third Policeman if your interested in Lost. It's a much faster read then you'd expect.