More lists! More controversy! More complaining! Discuss!

(Also, this list represents what EW thinks are the television shows that have had the greatest cultural impact of the past 25 years, not a definitive list of the best all-time television shows, so please place it in that context.)
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EW'S TOP 100 TELEVISION SHOWS OF THE PAST 25 YEARS (PART 1)

1. "The Simpsons"
2. "The Sopranos"
3. "Seinfeld"
4. "The X-Files"
5. "Sex and the City"
6. "Survivor"
7. "The Cosby Show"
8. "Lost"
9. "Friends"
10. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
11. "The Wire"
12. "South Park"
13. "Freaks & Geeks"
14. "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart"
15. "The Oprah Winfrey Show"
16. "Arrested Development"
17. "The Office" (UK Version)
18. "American Idol"
19. "ER"
20. "Beverly Hills, 90210"
21. "Roseanne"
22. "The Real World"
23. "The West Wing"
24. "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
25. "Miami Vice"
26. "Chappelle's Show"
27. "Law & Order"
28. "The Larry Sanders Show"
29. "The Shield"
30. "Late Show With David Letterman"
31. "The Civil War"
32. "Gilmore Girls"
33. "My So-Called Life"
34. "24"
35. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
36. "thirtysomething"
37. "NYPD Blue"
38. "Beavis & Butthead"
39. "Six Feet Under"
40. "Mr. Show With Bob & David"
41. "Frasier"
42. "L.A. Law"
43. "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"
44. "Jeopardy!"
45. "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
46. "Homicide: Life on the Street"
47. "30 Rock"
48. "Ally McBeal"
49. "Twin Peaks"
50. "Baywatch"

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Atypical,

EW'S TOP 100 TELEVISION SHOWS OF THE PAST 25 YEARS (PART 2)

51. "Melrose Place"
52. "Felicity"
53. "Will & Grace"
54. "Moonlighting"
55. "Pee-Wee's Playhouse"
56. "Desperate Housewives"
57. "The Amazing Race"
58. "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno"
59. "Battlestar Galactica"
60. "Xena: Warrior Princess"
61. "The Office" (US Version)
62. "House"
63. "Mystery Science Theater 3000"
64. "The Osbournes"
65. "Family Guy"
66. "Grey's Anatomy"
67. "Planet Earth"
68. "Jackass"
69. "The Colbert Report With Stephen Colbert"
70. "Everybody Loves Raymond"
71. "Friday Night Lights"
72. "Newsradio"
73. "Oz"
74. "Wiseguy"
75. "Project Runway"
76. "In Living Color"
77. "The Golden Girls"
78. "I'll Fly Away"
79. "The Comeback"
80. "King of the Hill"
81. "Murphy Brown"
82. "The Hills"
83. "Absolutely Fabulous"
84. "Northern Exposure"
85. "The Kids in the Hall"
86. "Prime Suspect"
87. "Deadwood"
88. "Malcolm in the Middle"
89. "SpongeBob SquarePants"
90. "Dawson's Creek"
91. "Mad Men"
92. "The Ben Stiller Show"
93. "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"
94. "Married . . . With Children"
95. "Designing Women"
96. "The Arsenio Hall Show"
97. "Party of Five"
98. "MacGyver"
99. "The Bachelor"
100. "Saved by the Bell"

Woo hoo!
SURVIVOR at #6!
Wait for one more year, Pushing Daisies will make it to the list.

But the Simpsons beat the Sopranos?
That's arguable..

Who cares? If there's one thing I hate is Ivy Leaguers who work for magazines, who create useless lists like this. I mean come on, Oprah Winfrey has done more to change t.v. in terms of how people view their lives and problems and that certainly ranks higher than Freaks & Geeks.

Same goes for Roseanne. Yeah the show lost its way but it showed a more "typical" or "normal" family than say The Cosby Show. I only wish my mother had been a lawyer and my father a doctor. If only.

quote:

82. "The Hills"
99. "The Bachelor"

This list is officially null and void.

Freaks & Greeks should not be that high or well even on the list. That's just silly.

This list isn't supposed to be the best it is the tv shows with the most cultural impact of the last 25 years.

I actually read the article, so in context, they were not saying the "Best" shows on television- they were naming the top shows that have made an impact on television in some shape or form- quality, direction of a genre, cult following, etc.

So in context, while I'd make some changes, not a bad list.

When we're copying these lists, the poster should also post the explanation of the list or accompanying text. This happened with Robert Bianco's emmy thread as well...

agreed smileynate not a perfect list but a very good one in the context its supposed to be in.

quote:

Originally posted by taloson:

quote:

82. "The Hills"
99. "The Bachelor"

This list is officially null and void.

i agree. The Hills & The Bachelor are there, but ALIAS isn't??? riiiiiiight...

OK, let me officially say that this list is bulls***. You can tell because show's that have had cultural impact over the past 25 years and THE GOLDEN GIRLS is ranked as #77? How is Beavis and Butt-head on there and Sex and the city, a show that wouldn't have existed if a certain show, The Golden Girls, hadn't been around first with 4 women as main character paving the way. THE GOLDEN GIRLS is shown in over 200 different countries, still to this day, and it has a global following, so you can tell this show is complete bulls***. I'm sorry, but it's true that more people have seen THE GOLDEN GRILS than all of most of these shows put together, but yet "The Sopranos", "Sex and the City" is ranked higher???? Yeah, like I said, Bulls***.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Academygirl25,

quote:

Originally posted by Smileynate:
I actually read the article, so in context, they were not saying the "Best" shows on television- they were naming the top shows that have made an impact on television in some shape or form- quality, direction of a genre, cult following, etc.

So in context, while I'd make some changes, not a bad list.

When we're copying these lists, the poster should also post the explanation of the list or accompanying text. This happened with Robert Bianco's emmy thread as well...

What I found on the web site were the actual lists, which is what I posted. There wasn't accompanying text there, only in the magazine, and I wasn't going to type all of that for those shows. If you can find the accompanying text on your own or type it or whatever else, then do so. As for the introduction to the article, post that as well if you like. I read it too, and I just summarized it as "best" thinking most people would have grasped what I was trying to get at with what EW was getting at. I'll edit it to "cultural impact" instead.

What a crap list this is. It seems like EW creates these types of things just to be provocative.

I understand and agree with many of the choices.

But I can't believe that in terms of cultural impact "Will & Grace" wasn't ranked higher.

Where's Alias?


30 Rock at #47? Gimme a break. That show is officially the most overpraised thing on tv.

quote:

Originally posted by GH:
Where's Alias?


30 Rock at #47? Gimme a break. That show is officially the most overpraised thing on tv.

While I believe it was the best comedy series this year, I have to agree with you. The show is VERY overpraised to the point of backlash and it's ridiculous that in two seasons it's already higher than Will & Grace, The Office, The Golden Girls AND Desperate Housewives, and that's just including comedies.

"Baywatch" in 50th place???

Wow; Wiseguy made it on this 'list'.
It's interesting to see the many ground-breaking shows which DIDNT make this list. Ugh.
They were eating too many donuts. Just, too many.

I think one of the biggest omissions from this list is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, while not a great show it certianly has had an impact on television.

and it says a lot about the strength of MSCL's material that all these years later it's still listed as one of the best.

"CSI" is #35 on the list.