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Are these the Greatest Shows of All Time?

Rolling Stone puts The Sopranos at the top of the all team TV heap.

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The Sopranos is the Greatest TV Show of All Time, according to a pool of  US creators, actors, writers, producers, and critics collated by Rolling Stone.

The publication has a list of 100 TV shows, which updates a list it pulled together in 2016.

The Simpsons comes in at #2 followed by Breaking Bad at #3.

Fleabag is the highest UK entry at #5, amongst only a handful of British entries, with South Korea’s Squid Game at #95. There are no Australian entries.

It even put The Office US at #34 ahead of the UK original at #53.

  1. The Sopranos
  2. The Simpsons
  3. Breaking Bad
  4. The Wire
  5. Fleabag
  6. Seinfeld
  7. Mad Men
  8. Cheers
  9. Atlanta
  10. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
  11. Succession
  12. The Twilight Zone
  13. Veep
  14. The Americans
  15. The Larry Sanders Show
  16. Twin Peaks
  17. The Leftovers
  18. Saturday Night Live
  19. I May Destroy You
  20. 30 Rock
  21. All in the Family
  22. Star Trek
  23. Watchmen
  24. Freaks and Geeks
  25. M*A*S*H
  26. Sesame Street
  27. Deadwood
  28. Friday Night Lights
  29. Roots
  30. Parks and Recreation
  31. Game of Thrones
  32. Better Call Saul
  33. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
  34. The Office (U.S.)
  35. Lost
  36. I Love Lucy
  37. Arrested Development
  38. Hill Street Blues
  39. Curb Your Enthusiasm
  40. The Good Place

You can check out the rest here.

25 Responses

  2. This is an interesting discussion point,Of course you’ll never get everyone to agree on all time lists,but it is an interesting conversation piece.Personally I’m glad that the wonderful Mary Tyler Moore show wasn’t forgotten after all this time and made the top ten.As Mary said herself,this show had the best cast ever,certainly for a comedy series.There were so many acting legends on this show who were perfect for the roles they played.

  3. The original Office, I think, deserves a higher spot than the US series. The US series is far less plausible and occasionally inconsistent in quality, and much too farcical and cartoonish to the point of frustration at its worst (cough, Dwight and to a lesser extent Kevin). I can see myself revisiting the show in future (I’m in the process of watching it for the first time from beginning to end, currently on season 7) , but I can’t see myself rewatching it like I do the UK series, which is so much more believable, and there is very little that I would have changed about it.

    I’ve seen all of 30 Rock but found it much too silly and cartoonish (even more so than The Office US). Seinfeld was solid, but bested by Curb. Twin Peaks was brilliant, and Mad Men was very enjoyable. I also love classic Simpsons and the Pythons. King of the Hill should be up there.

    The rest of the list doesn’t particularly interest me, but I am curious about Larry Sanders and Mary Tyler Moore.

  4. Forgot to mention Northern Exposure, that was a big show for me growing up…I tend to think of David Chase as not the Sopranos creator, but as the man who ruined Northern Exposure 😉 although to be fair, the show should have ended when Dr Fleischman left.

  5. Was curious to check out the full list, a shame that Scrubs and Will & Grace were not considered worthy. I suspect Roseanne would have been on there too had the star not effectively trashed her legacy in more recent years. No Brooklyn Nine Nine, no Letterkenny….as you think about it more it gets more ludicrous…no AbFab? No Young Ones!?!? I’m pretty sure Orange Is The New Black is on the full list. But yeah, if this is meant to spark debate, mission accomplished.

  7. 32 shows on that list i wouldn’t go near.Some of the so called funny shows Curb Your Enthusiasm,The Larry Sanders Show,30 Rock what horrible shows.What about Family Ties,or Home Improvement,or dare i say The Cosby Show.Very poor list

      1. Enjoyed it as well, along with Garry’s: “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” so off the wall that one, being a character who is aware he is a television sitcom character along with all the supporting characters as well.

  8. Top picks for me based on originality and creativeness GOT, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Americans, Twin Peaks, The Watchman, Better Call Soul. Sadly no mention of Fraser, The Good Wife, True Blood, Orange is the New Black or Nurse Jackie to name a few. I think some collaborators with Rolling Stones have very limited taste, as for the actors they probably picked the ones they starred because I sure would given the chance. As for the critics that’s a matter of opinion. But wouldn’t it be good if they named these collaborators to gauge their tastes on the shows they liked.

  9. For mine the TV Show Psych is one of the best, 8 seasons and while there weren’t episodes as good as others and some just exceptional, can’t say there was an actual bad one, it also spawned 3 TV Movies (so far) in Psych: The Movie, Psych: Lassie Come Home, Psych: This Is Gus.

    Sure the first Movie was average (still good though) but that had extenuating circumstances with actor Timothy Omundson having a massive stroke shortly before filming and it being rewrote it in 48 hours (as they’d already done location shots). Psych: Lassie Come Home is fantastic and quite an emotional ride, Psych: This Is Gus is pretty much classic Psych, so many funny moments in it. In all though that the cast can come back and fit together again like they’ve never been gone is a testament to it for mine (plus never heard one cast member have a bad word about another).

    Anyway waffled on enough; all things being subjective to individual taste, for me nothing touches Psych or ever will.

    1. I’m with you Get Smart should be Number 1. Best comedy of all time Seinfeld 2nd. And Columbo is that on the list at all?? Ffs it should be at least number 3. I’d say only about half a dozen on there I’d give the time of day to.

  11. Americans wouldn’t have seen many of the shows that we have seen! Very few shows from UK or anywhere else get shown there.
    American humour is also very different from English and Australian humour.
    Consequently this list is incredibly biased by American attitudes and opinions

  12. Well that list is rubbish. I only watched 1 show in the top 10 Cheers & didn’t even watch it in later seassons. Succession & The Americans should definitely be in the top 10.

  14. Yet another silly list, ‘The Americans,’ seriously? But if i was to take it seriously hah, i would’ve put Simpsons at #1 except for the show has kept going way past they’re heyday of the 90’s and there are probably more bad episodes than classics like the first 7 seasons. I loved the Sopranos but in terms of ‘clever’ shows with no plot holes & everything wrapping up with a gutsy ending, Breaking Bad tops the list for me. I’ve attempted to watch the Wire a few times but couldn’t get into it for some reason, is it maybe overhyped?

  16. Boy Hill Street Blues at 38. It was a groundbreaking show and introduced the concept of running multiple parallel storylines and stretching stories across multiple episodes. Surprised it finished so low.

  17. No mention of any of the classic TV westerns such as “Gunsmoke” (which ran for 20 years and 635 episodes) – a genre which dominated the ratings for years. This list seems to have a lot of comedies and shows made after 1990, which kind of makes you think about all the great TV shows this pool of people have missed out on.

    1. A click bait story for a dying magazine.

      Very few older shows are included, because most of the demographics they are trying to appeal to with this story only know of the Nicole Kidman movie version.

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