Your Top Twenty Shows of All Time (As of 2024)

We have done film, now it is TV time.

I think I will split my list between comedies and dramas.

 

I don’t think I’ve watched any new TV shows since we last did this, so the below probably still stands for me!

Actually, I did like Australian sitcom, “Colin from Accounts” - that gets to be an honourable mention as probably the last new TV show I watched.

 

When you rank a show, how much do you factor in the entirety of the show? For example, if you are ranking the Simpsons, how much does it lose that you're really only talking about a quarter of the show?

 

0%. Same thing with bands for me. Just because St. Anger exists doesn’t mean Master of Puppets is any retroactively worse

 

I mostly agree with this, because you are going to revisit and appreciate the good while the bad will fade away.

I think of it a lot with Francis Ford Coppola versus Martin Scorsese. Coppola's four best are better than Scorsese's four best, but then the dropoff is much steeper for Coppola. Who is the better director, then?

 

I can do 10 (not 100% in order). There's so much quality TV I have not seen so this list will be weak to many.

1. Breaking Bad
2. Better Call Saul
3. Bojack Horseman
4. Peep Show
5. The Shield
6. The Office
7. SNL
8. Friends
9. The X Files
10. Arrested Development

 

Bad seasons should be weighed in accordance to how important continuity and overarching story is to a show. If every episode is self contained they dont matter. Story based Shows like Game of Thrones and Lost should be penalised heavily for bad seasons and endings. US office is in the middle, It had long storylines but they werent the mainfocus then jumped the shark and continued with bad seasons.

 

Clear cur number 1 is

The Simpsons

Rest I could pull off top of my head in no order!

The Sopranos
Arrested Development
30 Rock
Veep
Better Call Saul
Breaking Bad
Beavis & Butthead
Jackass
Community
Parks & Recreation
Seinfeld
South Park
The Leftovers
Succession
Freaks & Geeks
The Bear
Always Sunny
The Office
Girls
Curb Your Enthusiasm

 

I made a shortlist today and I forgot how many things I have watched.

 

Top 3 in order, the rest of it is looser

Mad men
Friday night lights
Lost
Succession
The Chris gethard show
The leftovers
Fleabag
Parks and Rec
High maintenance
Atlanta
The Americans
The simpsons
Twin Peaks
Arrested Development
Breaking Bad
The Bear
The Wire
Watchmen
You’re the worst
Halt and catch fire

 

Gonna have to put some thought into the bottom five but this is my top 5

Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Sopranos
The Shield
Nathan For You
Trailer Park Boys (the Showcase seasons in particular)

 

Top 3 are locked and after that it’s off the top of my head

The Sopranos
South Park
The Simpsons
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Seinfeld
Breaking Bad
Better Call Saul
Succession
The Leftovers
Arrested Development
Invader Zim
Twin Peaks
Mr. Robot
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Community
Eastbound & Down
Futurama
Wonder Showzen
Nathan For You
Saturday Night Live

 

This will be way harder for me than films so I'll have to do one without thinking too much about it.

 

1. Breaking Bad
2. Scrubs
3. Curb Your Enthusiasm
4. Mr Robot
5. Spartacus
6. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
7. Twin Peaks
8. Peep Show
9. You're the Worst
10. Girls
11. Nathan for You
12. Game of Thrones
13. Fleabag
14. The Office
15. Arrested Development
16. Scenes from a Marriage
17. The Sopranos
18. Dexter
19. Catastrophe
20. Lost

Feels right for today.

 

I decided to separate dramas and comedies because of how differently they are built for television, from episode length to longevity to cameras used. Obviously there are a lot of dramas that are very funny and some comedies with dramatic elements, but there is still a division.

Dramas:
1. The Sopranos
2. Deadwood
3. Twin Peaks
4. The Shield
5. Mad Men
6. Succession
7. The Wire
8. Friday Night Lights
9. Better Call Saul
10. Treme
11. Justified
12. Breaking Bad
13. The Americans
14. John from Cincinnati
15. The Leftovers
16. Boardwalk Empire
17. Carnivale
18. Hannibal
19. Rectified
20. Game of Thrones

I only had 25 dramas on my list. I gave up on Lost and The West Wing, and Six Feet Under is the worst show I watched all the way through. Rome and Oz were too trashy to make it.

Comedies:
1. Seinfeld
2. The Larry Sanders Show
3. The Simpsons
4. Nathan for You
5. The Critic
6. Extras
7. King of the Hill
8. Veep
9. Bojack Horseman
10. South Park
11. The Office (UK)
12. Eastbound and Down
13. Atlanta
14. 30 Rock
15. Barry
16. Girls
17. Jackass
18. Fleabag
19. Vice Principals
20. Flight of the Conchords

Everything after 20 was stuff that has not aged well or fell off after some promise.

 

Ill just add to my previous list with the only shows ive watched since

The Curse
I Think You Should Leave
Atlanta

Sunny got worse since then, and Peep Show should have been included on the orginal list.

 

Maybe I can actually do this one lol

 

1. The Simpsons
2. The Sopranos
3. Seinfeld
4. Mad Men
5. The Wire

 

Did you ever watch Treme?

 

I didn't finish

 

Let me think. Not even sure if I've finished 20 shows. I'll list the shows I've completed (or watched all of the current episodes) and just rank those.

1) Breaking Bad
2) Avatar: The Last Airbender
3) That '70s Show
4) Dragon Ball Z
5) Shameless
6) Its Always Sunny in Philadelpha
7) Stranger Things
8) The Walking Dead
9) Outer Banks
10) The Last of Us
11) The Mandalorian
12) Viva La Bam
13) Eastbound & Down
14) Dragon Ball Super
15) Dragon Ball GT

As you can see I have not started and finished many shows. These 16 are the only ones I can think of.

 

The sopranos
The wire
X files
The shield
Twin peaks
Six feet under
Mr robot
Justified
King of the hill
Neon Genesis evangelion
Station eleven
Watchmen
Chapelles show
The leftovers
Boardwalk empire
Lost
Eastbound and down

 

No order

The wire
Parks and recreation
The expanse
Rectify
Bojack horseman
Band of brothers
Boy meets world
Fresh prince of bel air
Justified
Deadwood
Veep
Hannibal
Always sunny
Party down
Making it
Bluey
Who’s line is it anyway (1998)
Devs
Barry
Battlestar galactica

 

Some good lists here right away. It seems the tv greats are more solidified than film