1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfield
3. The Twilight Zone
4. All in the Family
5. M*A*S*H
6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
7. Mad Men
8. Cheers
9. The Wire
10. The West Wing
11. The Simpsons
12. I Love Lucy
13. Breaking Bad
14. The Dick Van Dyke Show
15. Hill Street Blues
16. Arrested Development
17. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
18. Six Feet Under
19. Taxi
20. The Larry Sanders Show
21. 30 Rock
22. Friday Night Lights
23. Frasier
24. Friends
25. Saturday Night Live

Full list:

http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/wgas-10 ... lete-list/

A bit of a strange idea, perhaps, in the sense one ends up weighing I Love Lucy against The Wire, but I am very pleased to see Six Feet Under in such esteemed company.

Seems like it's pretty much interchangeable with any version of a Top 25/101 list of the best shows of all time. Not that they're, for the most part, wrong.

Okay, keep in mind, I am not from the US, but are The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Larry Sanders Show really THAT good to be placed this high and above other acclaimed shows?

Also, I guess they are a bit negatively biased against very new shows (somewhat understandably), but no way Downton Abbey should be outside of the Top 40. It is at least Top 25 material and probably will be recognized as such with time.

It's a pretty good list I must say. Most of my favorite shows have a place on here.

Glad they put older shows higher in the list. Most list tend to put fresher shows way higher. 30 Rock is overated in that list even though I'm a fan of the show.

You are comparing it against shows with over 5 seasons whereas DA only has 3. There may be a few like Twin Peaks and Freaks & Geeks that may have only 1 season but they revolutionized tv writing.
I have to say that Futurama's absence sticks out as a sore eye on the list.

I adore Downton Abbey, but the writing is not always perfect. Consider the godawful subplot in which the wounded soldier claims to be the cousin they thought drowned on the Titanic. Or the "Mr Bates in prison for murder" arc which was never as intense or moving as it should have been. Don't get me wrong, most of the writing is solid or superb, but I believe the series is buoyed more by its performances and production values.

No 24 or Spaced is kind of crap, and the order is a little out there. But it's not a terrible list. What do people think of Sopranos as number one. I'm not sure I'd put it that high, I do think Seinfeld actually go robbed. Maybe it's my bias that comedy is much harder to write than drama, but Seinfeld has been off the air for 20 years and I still laugh at all the jokes more than most comedies today.

Eh, it's a hit and miss list. I don't think talk shows like 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' & 'The Late Show with David Letterman' should be included anywhere in this list.

Also - 'Dark Shadows', 'The Avengers' and 'Dr. Who' got seriously snubbed.

On the contrary. A list with the likes of Six Feet Under, Friends , the Daily Show, and Friday Night Lights is by its nature weighted in favor of new stuff. And Downton Abbey? Yeah, a show so well written it ran out of verve and grace by episode ten. Yeech

Although I immediately regret commenting because this list is such a dumb and unnecessary idea

'Married...With Children' isn't even on the list. We're talking about one of the shows that helped put FOX on the map.

It's a bullshit list.

I agree, certainly more than a show like Roseanne, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Family ties.

Modern Family and Friday Night Lights is kind of awful too.

No Quantam Leap, Tales From The Crypt, Happy Days, and a few other notables.

I agree on the subplots, but when the writing is good, it is REALLY GOOD.

I mean The Simpsons can get on #11 despite having more than ten mediocre seasons!

Also, with all the acclaim I am getting more and more curious about Friday Night Lights. I thought the film was just okay, nothing special. Would I still like the series?

Yes, the series is much better than the movie. Just skip season two. You can go straight from season one to season three and not miss a beat. And I know this seems an extreme solution, but season two isn't merely disappointing but grossly, infuriatingly and apocalyptically awful. So bad that I still haven't fully forgiven the show even after seasons 3-5 ranged from very good to amazing. Its legacy forever tainted by 15 episodes where it was a rotting, stinking corpse of a show. Every moment in season two is wrongheaded and foul and a betrayal of a show that otherwise had its heart and mind in the right place. Just don't do it man. Took me a few years of a break to even get to where I had the stomach to try season three.

Yeah, season 2 really is a blight. The series is worth it alone for the performances of Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, Lecter. And if you like Friday Night Lights, you really should check out Parenthood, which is also from Jason Katims.

So, can I seriously just skip season 2 and not miss much?

If it were me, I'd still watch it. I don't hate it like yoshue does. It just has some...unfortunate storyline developments, to say the least.

I'll check it out then. Damn my list keeps getting longer. I have yet to start Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Mad Men and Homeland...

Add Parenthood and The Good Wife and you're all set!

Isn't The Good Wife a lawyer show, thoguh? I am not a big fan of those, aside from Damages (speaking of which, yoshue, have you finished it...I have yet to start S4).

Oh and I also haven't seen The Wire yet.

If you want to get technical, yes, the main character is a lawyer. But the show is soooo much more than that. It has some of the best writing on TV, which is a remarkable feat for a CBS drama series. I mean, it did rank as #50 on the list by the WGA.

And it also has by far the best guest actors on TV.

Okay, I will give it a try, but I can usually not watch more than 3-4 TV shows at once (time-issues), so it will probably have to wait. I will soon have fully caught up on Downton Abbey and I have only two episodes of Being Human (the UK series) left, so some space will clear up. I will definitely start Homeland after that (I am in the process of rewatching "24" in its entirety to get in the mood for Homeland) and I have not settled on the second series I will start, but I am leaning towards either FNL or Boardwalk or The Wire right now.