WGA/TV Guide: ’101 Best Written TV Series Of All Time’

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Top 10.

1. The Sopranos – HBO – Created by David Chase

2. Seinfeld – NBC – Created by Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld

3. The Twilight Zone (1959) – CBS – Season One writers: Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Robert Presnell, Jr., Rod Serling

4. All in the Family – CBS – Developed for Television by Norman Lear, Based on Till Death Do Us Part, Created by Johnny Speight

5. M*A*S*H – CBS – Developed for Television by Larry Gelbart

6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show – CBS – Created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns

7. Mad Men – AMC – Created by Matthew Weiner

8. Cheers – NBC – Created by Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows

9. The Wire – HBO – Created by David Simon

10. The West Wing – NBC – Created by Aaron Sorkin

Rest of the list: http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/wgas-101-best-written-tv-series-of-all-time-complete-list/
 
well i certainly agree with number 1. the best drama on tv of all time. so much depth to those characters.

i think the wire should at least be number 4 on that list though.

edit: shoutout to matthew weiner who was a pretty integral part to sopranos later seasons.
 
The Good Wife in a tie at #50 with The Colbert Show and The Office (UK)

Oh hell no.....

50. The Colbert Report *TIE – COMEDY CENTRAL – Season One writers: Stephen Colbert, Rich Dahm, Eric Drysdale, Peter Gwinn, Jay Katsir, Laura Krafft, Allison Silverman

50. The Good Wife *TIE – CBS – Created by Robert King & Michelle King

50. The Office (UK) *TIE – BBC – Created by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
 
39. Sex & the City

40. Game of Thrones
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Lists are lists, so I'll take issue with a relatively minor thing - TOS and TNG instead of Deep Space Nine? :P If you're going to list a Star Trek series for its writing, it has to be DS9.
 
I love game of thrones, but 40 is fine.

I am very pleased to see seinfeld and the sopranos to make the top places. they are the best in comedy and drama I have ever seen, no doubt.
 
Lost is #27 and Fringe didn't even make the 101 list? And people really think The Sopranos is better than The Wire? I'm at a loss with this list.
 
People taking issue with Lost being on the list need some perspective. Like 24 before it, it was a game changer for serialized drama. Whatever issues you have with where it ended, the impact of that first season (even the pilot alone) is still being felt today.
 
27. Lost – ABC – Created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof
32. Deadwood – HBO – Created by David Milch

...

66. Dexter *TIE – SHOWTIME – Developed for Television by James Manos, Jr., Based on the Novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
72. The Shield *TIE – FX – Created by Shawn Ryan

:/
 
I absolutely love Cheers but I'm on a rewatch of that show right now and there are some absolutely terrible episodes in the first couple seasons.

I agree with Seinfeld being that high, though. That show was written so well. It will last forever.
 
Any list like this without the Wire being #1 is a fraud. Further evidence is that Lost appears at all.

Also, needs more Yes, Minister, Blackadder, and Benny Hill. I know it is a US-centric list, but come on!
 
I still cant believe that Scandal didn't make it on the list at ALL.

Robbery seriously. Some of those people in the WGA need to watch scandal
 
BertramCooper said:
I'm amused by nostalgia-laden crap like this.

The overwhelming majority of this list should be shows from the past 15 years.
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Not really true. In fact more kudos should be given to groundbreaking TV storytelling from before the 90s, especially on places like these forums where you'd find tons of 'old movie' fans but not so much for TV. I mean, mini series in the UK, for example -- Brideshead Revisited, I, Claudius, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy -- all among the greatest works of filmed fiction of all time.

Looking at the top 10 it's impossible to say M*A*S*H is not one of the funniest, best written series on TV, one of the most watchable now as back then.

The list is very lacking despite some worthy old inclusions, though.
 
whats the difference between #1 spot and #2? Or even #6? Listing them numerically seems pointless. Just say they're well written.
 
BertramCooper said:
I'm amused by nostalgia-laden crap like this.

The overwhelming majority of this list should be shows from the past 15 years.
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Wow. No. While you accuse this of being a "nostalgia-laden" list, when you make a statement like this it makes it appear like you're in the other ditch on the other side of the road.
 
The Wire at #8? The Shield at #72 and tied with fucking 24? Louie at #100? No Mr. Show? List sucks, etc.

TUSR said:
Even at 16 Arrested Development is too low.
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That's probably around where it belongs. It certainly shouldn't be ahead of Curb Your Enthusiasm, though.
 
Even at 16 Arrested Development is too low.

Seinfeld doesn't deserve the #2 spot at all. Nor Sopranos at 1.

#listthread
 
Just because arrested development has clever callbacks and layered jokes doesn't mean it's well written (though it is), its intricate. Seinfeld destroys any other sitcom in writing.
 
Plinko said:
Wow. No. While you accuse this of being a "nostalgia-laden" list, when you make a statement like this it makes it appear like you're in the other ditch on the other side of the road.
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I'll admit to exaggerating slightly, especially considering it's a list of 101 shows. But most of the shows at the very top of the list should be recent ones.

If you want to talk about the most influential shows, that's another conversation, but we're in the midst of a golden age of television, with more writing and acting talent working in the medium than ever. The best shows of today are far better than the best shows of 30 years ago.
 
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