The Mofo Top 100 Television Shows

Think breaking Bad whilst undeniably great has benefitted from being a recent show if all TV shows were released 20 years ago then I think the list would look different.

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Breaking Bad at the top was unsurprising, sadly. I like what I've seen of it but always figured that the people who said it was the best TV show of all time really needed to watch some more TV.

Thanks Godoggo for a great thread.

Here's my list, for what it's worth:

1. Deadwood #27
2. The Wire #6
3. Inspector Morse
4. I'm Alan Partridge #51
5. Edge of Darkness
6. The Sopranos #7
7. Porridge
8. GBH
9. The X Files #10
10. The West Wing #63
11. Yes Minister
12. House of Cards (original)
13. House of Cards (remake) #38
14. Starsky & Hutch
15. Planet Earth #90
16. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1980s version with Jeremy Brett)
17. Father Ted
18. Carnivale
19. The Singing Detective
20. Cheers #35
21. Prime Suspect
22. Tutti Frutti
23. Brass Eye
24. Drop The Dead Donkey
25. The Professionals

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Happy to see Porridge was on your list Tatty, that's the one programme I kicked myself for forgetting. Glad to see like me you had the Singing Detective

For years I'd said that Porridge was the best sitcom I'd ever seen but in the last couple have come to the conclusion that Partridge just shades it.

I'm surprised there wasn't any love for Morse.

I do like Morse. If hy husband had done a list there would've been Morse and the Professionals on there and The Sweeney along with most other British police/crime programmes. I think you had The Sweeney too didn't you Tatty like I did? I was the only Z Cars lover tho

The Sweeney was a little before my time, whereas The Professionals (and its repeats) came along just as I was beginning to take notice of cops & robbers - My grandad had a Capri, which helped build the bond. Neither was as good as Starsky & Hutch to my young eyes.

My list:

Pride and Prejudice (BBC, 1995)
The Mighty Boosh
My Mad Fat Diary
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In the Flesh (BBC 2013)
The Office (UK)
Firefly
Blackadder Goes Forth
Spaced
Ashes to Ashes
Sherlock
Blackadder II
Peep Show
Parks and Recreation
This Life (1996)
Father Ted
Doctor Who
Black Books
Friends
The Thick of It
Fingersmith
Flight of the Conchords
Queer As Folk (UK)
Dead Set (2008)
Never Mind the Buzzcocks

More than I expected made the countdown.

My list:


1.Star Trek: The Next Generation
2.Breaking Bad
3.Game of Thrones
4.Only Fool And Horses
5.The X-Files
6.The Simpsons
7.Star Trek Deep Space Nine
8.I'm Alan Partridge
9.Battlestar Gallactica (reboot)
10.South Park
11.Red Dwarf
12.Star Trek: Voyager
13.Star Trek: The OrIginal Series
14.Black Adder Goes Forth
15.The Office (UK)
16.Allo Allo
17.Columbo
18.The Royal Family
19.Bottom
20.Keeping up Appearances
21.Fringe
22.Dexter
23.Cosmos (1980)
24.Planet Earth (BBC)
25.Firelfy

I like The Simpsons a lot but didn't vote for it. I have never seen Breaking Bad, but would like to. I had 8 of my picks show up-

1. Survivor (50)
2. The Shield (30)
3. Saturday Night Live (48)
4. Cops*
5. Married With Children (44)
6. True Detective (15)
7. All in the Family (24)
8. Three's Company*
9. Seinfeld (3)
10. The Honeymooners*
11. Rock Star*
12. America's Most Wanted*
13. The Dukes of Hazzard*
14. Melrose Place*
15. The Fall Guy*
16. The A Team*
17. Knight Rider*
18. The Amazing Race*
19. Family Feud*
20. Laverne and Shirley*
21. Happy Days*
22. The Jeffersons*
23. Cheers (35)
24. The Benny Hill Show*
25. Sanford and Son

Favorites that I forgot to include were The Apprentice and Jackass. I had The Three Stooges very high on my list originally but I guess it's not considered a TV show.

Great work as always, Godoggo!

I watched a couple episodes of BB but couldn't get into it it. Might have give it another try at some point. At least The Simpsons wasn't #1. Never got why that show is so popular.

My list:

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender (#79)
2. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (#52)
3. The Legend of Korra
4. Gargoyles
5. Teen Titans
6. The Muppet Show (Seriously, how did this not make the list?)
7. The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
8. Charmed
9. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
10. Xena: Warrior Princess
11. Sherlock (#21)
12. Blackadder II (#29)
13. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (#11)
14. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
15. Blackadder Goes Fourth (#46)
16. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
17. Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
18. The Beverly Hillbillies
19. Firefly (#8)
20. I Love Lucy (#62)
21. Justice League
22. The Andy Griffith Show (#76)
23. Saturday Night Live (#48)
24. X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997)
25. Samurai Jack

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You will find that if you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, that is all you will ever see.
Iroh

It's interesting, because Breaking Bad and The Simpsons serve as a good proxy for a fundamental question about rating TV shows: how much do you factor in quality dilution? One of the reasons BB does so well is that it doesn't have a bad season; it told a story precisely the size it was prepared to tell, and didn't overstay its welcome. The Simpsons has probably produced more entertainment, but with more gaps in quality.

That's without even getting into how different the shows are, even superficially. Comedy and high-octane drama, live action and animated, etc. I had The Simpsons higher for cultural impact alone, but both are fantastic shows, and I love that they're back-to-back, because together they're a great example of how varied TV can be.

Anyway, that said, great job Amy! Thanks for doing this.

Here's my total list:

1. The Wire
2. The Simpsons
3. Breaking Bad
4. The West Wing
5. South Park
6. Community
7. Arrested Development
8. The Sopranos
9. Firefly
10. Friday Night Lights
11. The Twilight Zone
12. Scrubs
13. LOST
14. Late Night with Conan O'Brien
15. Game of Thrones
16. Frisky Dingo
17. 30 Rock
18. Seinfeld
19. The X-Files
20. Star Trek: The Next Generation
21. Veronica Mars
22. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
23. Frasier
24. Deadwood
25. Battlestar Galactica

You're really not going to like it when the animation list starts. I'm on Pacific time and I work a full time job where I often don't even get home until 7:30 p.m. I expect I'll be posting around 8:30 or so most nights.

Haven't received a ballot from you though...

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Well, I probably haven't seen enough Simpsons episodes to judge the show overall but I didn’t think the episodes I saw were particularly funny. I liked them better than Family Guy but I didn’t The Simpsons was nearly as funny as The Muppet Show or I Love Lucy. Heck, in my opinion there are several shows that aren't even primarily comedies that have funnier scenes and episodes like Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Girls und Panzer, the Hercules and Xena shows, and Teen Titans. I don’t think The Simpsons is a terrible show but I definitely wouldn’t call it one of the best ever either.

As far as quality dilution goes, I generally judge TV shows by season rather than a whole. The first season of Legend of Korra is pretty rocky but it still placed third on my list since season 2, 3, and so far 4 are fantastic and Teen Titans went off the rails a bit with season 5 but I still love the first four.

Yah! another vote for Laverne and Shirley Great list I use to watch alot of those. Loved Sanford and Son.

Whose list had the most shows appear on the too 100??

I think that would be me. I had eighteen make it.

It isn't a big issue, just if it was possible it would be good with these lists to get a new post at a sociable hour so you could get involved in the discussion.


Not sure if I'm going to do an animation list as there's loads of flicks I haven't seen. I try to watch what comes on TV at Christmas like "Up" last year was really good but its just not my thing. Anime allowed?

Films, yes. Television, no.

True Detective and the Wire purchased! Also I bought Twin peaks on Amazon for I think £20, then go to shopping cenetr today and it's £11.99 DOH!!!


If the Wire sucks I will be pursuing a small claim against all those who voted for it.

My humble opinion on top 25 TV shows.


1. Smiley's People (1982)
2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
3. The Shield
4. The Sopranos
5. Band of Brothers
6. Game of Thrones
7. Breaking Bad
8. Sherlock (BBC latest version)
9. The Office- UK of course
10. Phoenix Nights
11. The World at War
12. Sharpe (ITV 1993-97)
13. The X-Files
14. South Park
15. Thundercats (1985)
16. I'm Alan Partridge
17. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
18. Thunderbirds
19. Family Guy
20. Star Trek-Voyager
21. House of Cards (2013-14)
22. Peep Show
23. Only Fools and Horses
24. The League of Gentlemen
25. Red Dwarf