Have y'all seen Empire's 50 greatest TV shows? by TheSomnambulist

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Have y'all seen Empire's 50 greatest TV shows?

POSTED BY: THESOMNAMBULIST
UPDATED: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 06:23
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VIEWED: 4128
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Friday, March 28, 2008 7:33 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

http://www.empireonline.com/50greatesttv/default.asp?tv=50

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Friday, March 28, 2008 7:53 AM

NVGHOSTRIDER

Awesome! My heart was skipping all the way to 14. Didn't have to see anything beyond that.

Gots mad skillz, loves playing with matches.

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Friday, March 28, 2008 7:56 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Yes It's ok I guess, considering the premature cancellation. Would like to know if it had the shortest run on the list?

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Friday, March 28, 2008 8:48 AM

SMOKEFATHER

Heck yeah it's 14th. Woohoo!

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Friday, March 28, 2008 9:52 AM

JONGSSTRAW

Pretty awesome that Buffy got # 2.

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Friday, March 28, 2008 10:22 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Pretty awesome that Buffy got # 2.

Yes I was very happy with that. Thoroughly deserved too.

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Friday, March 28, 2008 10:46 AM

HUGHFF

I can't be arsed scrolling through 50 pages now (do they have an index page of the list?) but I did like this comment:

it had Nathan Fillion, whose presence officially makes anything 27% better.

www.cpfc.org - my life

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Friday, March 28, 2008 10:56 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Pretty awesome that Buffy got # 2.

Definitely!

Slayerisall

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Saturday, March 29, 2008 12:49 AM

HUGHFF

Ok, I have now been arsed and here is the list, broken into helpful catagories so that I can express my opinion on each:

Never seen so can't comment:
38 Curb Your Enthusiasm
31 Deadwood
30 Dexter
22 The Shield - should've seen this but circumstances conspired against me and I feel it's too late now
10 Spaced
8 The Wire - has an awesome reputation but Mrs ff is too put-off by it's equally substantial reputation for nastiness.

Only got in because...
50 Quantum Leap - the list was written by a sci-fi nut
47 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - the list was written by a sci-fi nut
45 Farscape - the list was written by a sci-fi nut
37 Star Trek: the Next Generation - the list was written by a sci-fi nut
32 Babylon 5 - the list was written by a sci-fi nut
25 Futurama - the list was written by a sci-fi/animation nut, but I love it
17 South Park - the list was written by a animation nut, but I love it
12 Family Guy - the list was written by a animation nut, but I love it

Current shows that are vastly over-rated simply because they are 1) on now and 2) only having to compete with reality tv
15 Heroes
13 Battlestar Gallactica (new series)
5 Lost
It is quite simply a travesty that these shows (none of which I still watch because they're, IMHO, too earnest, smug and self-important) rank so ridiculously highly. In five years, they will be consigned to the same scrapheap as Magnum PI and Moonlighting.

HUH?
49 Prison Break - actually not an enigma; one brilliant season and then into the tank, so I guess it got here for that first season
40 Life on Mars - a very good gritty cop show so not deserving of the invective of the previous catagory (this show was always watchable) but it cannot compare with The Sweeney
26 Red Dwarf - this show has a dedicated fan base but it never clicked with me at all

Shows which are important by being the exemplar of their genre rather than especially great
43 Star Trek (TOS)
33 CSI
29 ER

Shows that I think have a genuine claim to the list but not this high
35 Alias - a show I liked, apart from the mystical mumbojumbo, which dumbed it down
24 Twin Peaks - had the show ended with the unmasking of who killed Laura Palmer, this would be bang on
21 Angel - the writer is also a Joss Whedon nut
16 Dr Who (but only since 2005!) - but it deserves this slot if you include the 40 OR SO YEARS beforehand of this landmark comcept show
11 Seinfeld - I should love this show but I only like and respect it
9 The X-Files - again, mystic mumbojumbo never moves me but there's no denying the influence and spectacular success of this show
7 Friends - a very important sitcom but top 10...
4 The West Wing - see comment on Seinfeld
2 Buffy the Vampire Slayer - did I mention the writer was a Joss Whedon nut. I know I'll get flamed for this but Buffy never hooked me (again with the mysticism) and I'd drop this show to about 10

Shows that should be a lot higher
48 Veronica Mars - just an intelligent show with characters whom you cared about (even if it was only to hate them)
41 Band of Brothers - strong in every sense, more like a movie in terms of production and development; however, it opens up the question of mini-series, in which case, Brideshead Revisited is not only better but arguably a genuine Number 1 candidate.
39 Monty Python’s Flying Circus - ground-breaking; second only to Spike Milligan in its influence on modern humour
28 Fawlty Towers - once described by Mel Smith as "the Comic Messiah's greatest half-hour"
20 Blackadder - just plain hilarious
14 Firefly - unsurprisingly, I rate this first overall

Shows that are about right, maybe up or down a couple of places
46 Sex and the City
44 Cracker
42 Only Fools and Horses
40 Life on Mars
36 Father Ted
34 Frasier
27 Six Feet Under
23 The Office (British)
19 Scrubs
18 Arrested Development
6 24
3 The Sopranos
1 The Simpsons

Should be there
The Sweeney (as mentioned above) or The Professionals
The Avengers
The Young Ones
3rd Rock From the Sun
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Freaks and Geeks or Undeclared (I go for the latter)
Get Smart
Bonanza or Gunsmoke
Kenny Everrit's Video Show
Minder (for the cockney argot for starters)
Gilmore Girls (for the dialogue and despite being embarrassing to admit)
Danger Mouse
Imspector Morse (or A Touch of Frost or Midsommer Murders or...)
And probably more that I can't think of right now.

Anyone want to reply/debate my opinions?

www.cpfc.org - my life

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Saturday, March 29, 2008 6:22 AM

ANONYMOUS1

Just put the number on the last bit of this link

This is Firefly's page http://www.empireonline.com/50greatesttv/default.asp?tv=14

Shiny, you can right click on the pics and snag them. Without the number or anything else.

So grab some pics of your favorite shows.

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Saturday, March 29, 2008 8:30 AM

CHRISISALL

Max Headroom & Dark Angel not on the list???
THEN IT'S BOGUS!

That's my last word.

GRRRRRChrisisall

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Saturday, March 29, 2008 3:24 PM

BORIS

ha ha love your critique Hughff. I fully agree with your comments re Freeks and Geeks and Undeclared...were "Homicide:Life on the Street" or China Beach on the list? what about "Two Girls a Guy and a Pizza place"?(and not just because Nathan Fillion was in it...just an exceptionally funny show. The episode with no spoken dialopgue is one of my all time favourites). Hope Grey's anatomy wasn't on the list because even watching the first three seconds of an add for it makes me want to slit my throat!

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Saturday, March 29, 2008 5:32 PM

CALLMEATH

The Wire only #8?! I guess it can be hard for the average TV viewer to get into, but that doesn't keep it from being the best show ever made.

Great to see Buffy at #2, though. It deserves it.

"Invader's blood marches through my veins like giant radioactive rubber pants. The pants command me! Do not ignore my veins!"

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Saturday, March 29, 2008 6:48 PM

HUGHFF

Quote:
Originally posted by boris:
were "Homicide:Life on the Street" or China Beach on the list? what about "Two Girls a Guy and a Pizza place"?(and not just because Nathan Fillion was in it...just an exceptionally funny show. The episode with no spoken dialopgue is one of my all time favourites). Hope Grey's anatomy wasn't on the list because even watching the first three seconds of an add for it makes me want to slit my throat!

Nope, Nope, Nope and....Nope (though I know what you mean.) The numbers I put up were where Empire placed them. Thought of another that was a candidate

Married...With Children - a live action version of Family Guy.

www.cpfc.org - my life

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Sunday, March 30, 2008 12:29 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Greatest crime for me is the exclusion of NORTHERN EXPOSURE. However as Empire is a British magazine it's fair to say that most of the people who contributed a vote were largely (as I am) of the 'Tea Drinking' persuasion. Therefore past gems from American TV may well have just been forgotten about... At least that's how I'd like to think of it.

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Sunday, March 30, 2008 4:26 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
Greatest crime for me is the exclusion of NORTHERN EXPOSURE.

THAT TOO!!!!

My last last word.

Joelisall

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Tuesday, April 1, 2008 6:09 AM

SERENITYINSCOTLAND

This list is an absolute scandal.
Excluding M*A*S*H? Are they taking the piss? What a joke.
I'm seriously angry at this, I want to lash out at something.

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Tuesday, April 1, 2008 6:23 AM

STORYMARK

When I saw they'd included Family Guy, and placed it above so many superior shows, yet left out some absolute classics (like M*A*S*H), I knew I couldn't really take the list seriously.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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