Every time a major publication issues an all-time top-10 TV list, three series always make the cut:
1) The Simpsons
2) The Sopranos, and
3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Entertainment Weekly’s latest list does not disappoint in this regard. And it picks SNL as the 12th best series ever. Some entries in the magazine’s top 100:
99. Alias
91. Star Trek
90. Felicity
89. Mystery Science Theater 3000
87. South Park
86. 24
77. Ally McBeal
76. Game of Thrones
72. Battlestar Galactica
71. Beavis and Butt-head
69. Star Trek: The Next Generation
67. The Prisoner
65. Doctor Who
62. Homicide: Life On The Street
60. Deadwood
59. Freaks and Geeks
57. The Shield
52. Soap
51. The West Wing
50. Survivor
48. Friday Night Lights
47. The Rockford Files
45. Gilmore Girls
43. St. Elsewhere
42. Taxi
41. Twin Peaks
40. The Real World
38. The Bob Newhart Show
37. Columbo
35. Hill Street Blues
34. The Larry Sanders Show
27. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
24. Lost
21. Friends
18. Breaking Bad
15. Cheers
13. Twilight Zone
12. Saturday Night Live
10. Your Show of Shows
9. Mad Men
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
7. The Andy Griffith Show
6. All in the Family
5. The Sopranos
4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
3. Seinfeld
2. The Simpsons
1. The Wire
To anticipate the questions, “Eastbound and Down” “Sons of Anarchy,” "Dexter" and “Family Guy” are not on EW’s list.
Neither are “Rome,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” "Fawlty Towers," “Firefly,” “Veronica Mars,” "Deep Space Nine," “TV Funhouse,” “Late Night With David Letterman” or “Justified.” “The Brady Bunch” (#100) is supposedly better than all of these.
“Your Show Of Shows” comes in at #10, suggesting at least one individual who put together this list is in his or her sixties or older. Very little of that series has been available for viewing since the mid-1950s.
If you want to see the whole list and the editors’ rationales, pick up your copy of issue 1266/1267, on newsstands now. (If you see a link to the Top 100s online, kindly share.)
As long as we’re here, the same issue has EW’s top 100 movies too. My favorite movie ever, “The Empire Strikes Back,” comes in at 53, but its 1977 prequel doesn’t make the list at all. Lots of Kubrick and Capra on that list, but no Buster Keaton:
100. The Sweet Smell of Success
99. There Will Be Blood
97. Diner
96. Sullivan’s Travels
95. Rushmore
93. A Face In The Crowd
90. The French Connection
88. The Dark Knight
85. Dirty Harry
81. Blade Runner
80. Dazed and Confused
79. Night of the Living Dead
78. Raiders of the Lost Ark
76. Lawrence of Arabia
71. American Graffiti
69. Dr. Strangelove
68. GoodFellas
66. The Shining
63. Network
62. E.T.
61. The Silence of the Lambs
59. All The President’s Men
53. The Empire Strikes Back
49. Goldfinger
48. It Happened One Night
47. A Clockwork Orange
45. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
41. The Road Warrior
40. Double Indemnity
36. Rosemary’s Baby
35. Apocalypse Now
33. The Graduate
32. Duck Soup
31. Chinatown
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey
22. Toy Story
19. Pulp Fiction
18. Jaws
13. Annie Hall
11. King Kong
10. Gone With The Wind
9. Nashville
8. The Gold Rush
7. Mean Streets
6. It’s A Wonderful Life
5. Psycho
4. Bonnie and Clyde
3. Casablanca
2. The Godfather
1. Citizen Kane
I guess I need to watch “Bonnie and Clyde” again!
And “Gone With The Wind” is better than “Star Wars”! Who knew??
