Empire's 50 Greatest TV Shows Of All Time

[Matt]

You seriously think that some of those sci-fi tv series deserves to be on that list? I'm not a huge fan of Prison Break, but it deserves to be higher.

Like Matt said, where are the shows from the 70's? M*A*S*H? The Mash series finale was the most watched primetime event in television history.

The nerve of leaving off a show like M*A*S*H while making Buffy the Vampire Slayer number 2 is outrageous. And this is coming from someone who liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

[Addendum]

Like Matt said, where are the shows from the 70's? M*A*S*H? The Mash series finale was the most watched primetime event in television history.

In the States. I don't know if it also aired in other countries.

 

[Sawyer]

The nerve of leaving off a show like M*A*S*H while making Buffy the Vampire Slayer number 2 is outrageous. And this is coming from someone who liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Get over Buffy. Buffy has earned a spot on every top 50 list. Hell, it has earned a spot on every top 10 list. Sure, Buffy being #2 may have been a bit off, but that is how Empire sees it. Live with it.

Now, the fact that Prison Break, Star Trek: DS9, Fraiser, Scrubs (Like it, but come on, without Mash, Scrubs wouldnt even be possible), 24, and The Simpsons (#1?! Really?) are on the list and MASH is not, that is absurd.

 

[Matt]

I can name 50 shows that have done more for televison and are of higher quality than Buffy. It is a good show. It is not groundbreaking. It is not revolutionary. It is not one of the 50 best. Hell, it's spin-off was better.

 

[Sawyer]

I can name 50 shows that have done more for televison and are of higher quality than Buffy. It is a good show. It is not groundbreaking. It is not revolutionary. It is not one of the 50 best. Hell, it's spin-off was better.

I do agree that Angel was better, but I dont agree with you saying it wasnt groundbreaking. It was groundbreaking in its ability to blend so many genres in one series. Horror, teen drama, comedy, action, fantasy. Even silent film and musical comedy. All that, and it was able to use metaphor for teen life, and later, adult issues. It spawned many great writers and alot of things, in film, television and comics, probably wouldnt even be possible, if not for Buffy.

 

[Drizzle]

There is no way in hell that "Friends" is a better sitcom than "Seinfeld". In fact, "Friends" has no business being on that list at all. F***ing "Saved By The Bell" was better than "Friends". And where are all the shows from before 1970?

 

[Jspider13]

had prison break not lost the grittiness of season 1, I could see it being in the top 20 or even 10.

 

[Manic]

I'm going to go through Wikipedia's list of TV shows that aired on Nick at Nite, and determine which ones could've been on that list...

Gilligan's Island
Lassie
Dennis the Menace
I Love Lucy
The Brady Bunch
The Addams Family
The Wonder Years
All in the Family
The Jeffersons
The Cosby Show
Roseanne (it shattered the image of the TV housewife, folks. It deserves a mention)
Murphy Brown (when the vice president says your TV show is destroying America, you know you're doing something right)

 

[Darkfly]

Firefly was a good show. That doesn't make it one of the greatest of all time. Far from it, being as it only had 8 episodes and not one fully developed plot arc. It could've been great, but we will never know.

I'm not gonna take this subject any further but I have to point out that Firefly had 14 episodes not 8 (almost double 8) + a 15th episode which is in script form available on the internet.

 

[NewYorkSpider]

There is no way in hell that "Friends" is a better sitcom than "Seinfeld". In fact, "Friends" has no business being on that list at all. F***ing "Saved By The Bell" was better than "Friends". And where are all the shows from before 1970?

Friends deserved to be on the list, but not higher than Seinfeld. Friends should've been towards the back.

 

[The Apocalypse]

Bsg Ftw!

 

[Wyrminarrd]

They really should retitle this article as "Empire´s 50 greatest TV shows of all time as seen by people under 30".

There are a lot of things that I would have done differently but that´s mostly in what order they appear rather then the shows the picked.

I´m really glad that Monty Pythons flying circus made the lis as well as Blackadder, the only thing missing was "Yes, minister" and then all three of my favorite english comedy shows would have made the list.

As for missing shows I´d say that MASH was the biggest over sight.

Edit: Actually, The 4400 is the biggest over sight, that really was a great series.

 

[pyromaniac]

You know the list would be different if it was open to public voting.

 

[WorthyStevens]

That list isn't the 50 Greatest TV Shows on All Time as it is the 50 Greatest Pop Culture Shows of This Time.

And Band of Brothers wasn't a TV show.

 

[Addendum]

It was a mini-series on TV. Last time I checked HBO is a TV station

 

[Manic]

If a miniseries counts, then I demand Roots be on that list!

Also V. Can't forget V.

 

[Addendum]

Roots definitely. And Shōgun.

 

[cerealkiller182]

Simpsons? Number 1? Deserves to be on the list but not at number one.

Love that there is so mnay unappreciated shows up their like Firefly, Futurama, and Arressted Development.

If there was one British show that I would reccommend as a must see for Americans it would be Spaced

To many cheesy sci-fi shows. I question the merit of Farscape and one of the Star Treks (not Kurts or Picards the other one).

Hate Lost because people liked its confusing nature more than John from Cinncinnati's confusing nature

Hate 24- the gimmicks run up. Does anyone really care if Bauer has 24 hours anymore. People will turn in too see just bauer

Hate Prison Break- just because

Shield and Dexter are some of the greatest shows on right now. Surprised to see Heroes after one GREAT and one DISASTEROUS season.

CSI- its a great show because it has little continuity so you dont have to go out of your way to see EVERY episode. Its almost entirey made for syndication (me thinks)

Frasier? Before Cheers? Stupid British people (Empire's a Brit mag right?)

I argue Friends position but not their existence on the list.

Buffy (number 2? really?) is the most overrated piece of crap. Whedon has done miles better with both Angel and Firefly.

MASH, the most watched season finale ever but didnt break 50, come on. I wonder if that show and other classic American shows aired overseas?

 

[Sawyer]

Hate Lost because people liked its confusing nature more than John from Cinncinnati's confusing nature

John in Cinncinnati sucked.

Buffy (number 2? really?) is the most overrated piece of crap. Whedon has done miles better with both Angel and Firefly.

That may be the most wrong I have ever heard in just one sentence.

 

[cerealkiller182]

John in Cinncinnati sucked.

JFC was awesome. Finally some characters I could actually care about. i wish all those damn people on that damn island would just die.

That may be the most wrong I have ever heard in just one sentence.

Buffy was awful.

 

[Lord Valumart]

i really have to ask this....

where the hell is young indy? that show was something that was nearly awesome to it's core... but that list is fecked up anyhow...buffy number 2? only counting new who? bah!! i would have thought empire would know better

 

[Shifty]

I think over the past 20 years more American shows have found success with DVD releases and the expansion of television channels in the UK and that's why it is heavy with shows from the past 15 years. I Love Lucy might not have gotten the play time it has in North America. TV Guide's Top 100 from 5-6 years ago never had any British shows.

On the other hand, we are in the "Golden Age" of quality television. The older shows did have their impact but don't hold up to present day.

The main thing people should get out of Top 100 lists is finding a show or movie they've never heard of or watched and hopefully seek it out and not get annoyed or angry based the the rankings of their favourites.

 

[carrrnuttt]

That is a horrible list. It leaves out a lot of shows that were ACTUALLY groundbreaking, to the point that some of the shows they did list wouldn't even be in existence, if it weren't for the unlisted predecessors.

And c'mon: No MacGyver? That show made "I MacGyver'ed the [insert object]." an actual sentence, for crying out loud. A sentence that has been used more than once in other shows, much less in real life.

 

[vindrow]

What a crappy list, just the fact they had Buffy at number 2, and M*A*S*H (which was still going strong when they decided to end the show)not being on there at all just shows that the people that make this list have no idea what good tv is. Not to mention some of the other shows they had on there.

Buffy(shouldn't be on list)
Angel(same)
Twin Peaks

SNL should be up there, and there are way to many sci-fi shows up there, and some shows are just ranked way to high (Simpsons anyone).

 

[Captain_BluTac]

Most of the shows are from the UK anyways therefore the list can't be considered accurate, another thing is that with the exception of Star Trek from the 60's most of those shows are from the past twenty years of so.

who reads Empire anyway?

You must be terrible at Maths, 11 out of 50 shows on that list are British, but that was crap anyway, although I seriously think people who think Cheers should of been on that list clearly haven't watched it in a while, it's so dated and tacky, yet spawned a brilliant spin off.