Saturday, June 8, 2013

Best Written TV Series Ever?

From USA Today:
Did The Sopranos have better scripts than Seinfeld?
According to the Writers Guild of America, yes. Last night the WGA released a list of the "101 Best Written TV Series" of all time, and today it's sparking some discussion and disagreement.
The top 10:
1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
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
http://www.usatoday.com/story/popcandy/2013/06/03/writers-guild-tv-shows/2385261/
For me, I have never seen any episodes of The Sopranos, Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, Mad Men, The Wire and The West Wing, so I have no clue if these shows are any good.  And yes, pretty bad record.
The others on the list, I would say that M*A*S*H's early years were quite good but then it became a preachy show and not worth watching.  All in the Family was good but top 10?  Mary Tyler Moore Show deserves it's honors along with Cheers, especially after Diane left.
My list of the top 10 best written shows, in no particular order:
Hill Street Blues
Bun Heads
Night Court (after Christine joined the show)
Roseanne
Little House on the Prairie
ER
Family Guy
WKRP
Barney Miller
Emergency!

What shows would you put on your list?

1 comment:

  1. That's not a bad list, Dan! Yes, West Wing and Seinfeld deserve writing honors. Never saw The Sopranos, The Wire or Mad Men, and didn't really care for M*A*S*H. Loved Night Court (though not sure for it's top-knotch writing). But I'd keep WKRP, Roseanne (early years), and throw in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Arrested Development, Better Off Ted, Nurse Jackie, X-Files and Fringe.

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