Interference's 50 Greatest TV Shows

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Please explain how Malcolm in the Middle is better than Community. It was 20 minutes of six people yelling over the top of each other each week.

Edit, silly comment, because that's essentially what Community is too... but I'd still like an explanation!

I'd be more concerned if "The Middle" was ranked over Malcolm. :huh:
 
Mind you this is off the top of my head and I definitely think I'm forgetting a lot of my top British series and older series.

1. Friday Night Lights
2. The Wire
3. Frontline
4. ER
5. Homicide: Life on the Street
6. Community
7. The Twilight Zone
8. I Love Lucy
9. Arrested Development
10. Futurama
11. Game of Thrones (*, obviously could be premature if its quality falls off a cliff later on)
12. Six Feet Under
13. Spaced
14. Rubicon (RIP)
15. The Muppet Show
16. The Simpsons (penalized for damaging its reputation for the past 12+ years)
17. Luck (RIP)
18. The X-Files
19. Homeland (*, obviously could be premature if its quality falls off a cliff later on)
20. Deadwood
21. Spooks (MI-5)
22. Lost
23. Justified (on the rise)
24. Scrubs
25. Treme (*, obviously could be premature if its quality falls off a cliff later on, or it could rise)
26. Veronica Mars
27. 24 (S1-3 rank it a lot higher, say top 20)
28. Damages
29. Breaking Bad (I'm the contrarian that doesn't laud AMC outside of Rubicon, because their shows lack relatable characters, but the gutwrenching ethical dilemmas of this show rank it on my list)
30. Brotherhood (most underrated award)
31. MASH
32. Carnivale
33. Terriers (RIP(
34. The Office (UK)
35. Batman: The Animated Series
36. Life on Mars (UK)
37. Law & Order
38. Freaks & Geeks
39. Hey Arnold!
40. Pushing Daisies
41. The Hour (*, obviously could be premature if its quality falls off a cliff later on)
42. In Treatment
43. Twin Peaks
44. Extras
45. My So-Called Life
46. Luther (could rise with subsequent episodes)
47. 30 Rock
48. Rome (could have been higher, but not getting a real finish hurts it)
49. Kings
50. Heroes (by virtue of season 1 being one of the most ambitious slow burn developments in TV history, unfortunately for it, the rest of the seasons exist).


There's obvious stuff people want included on top tv lists that I just don't enjoy watching, like Mad Men & The Sopranos, I'm not pissing on their quality, they're just unenjoyable to me.
 
And my list is already torpedoed by virtue of forgetting the entire career of Aaron Sorkin, yeah, I'm tired. Oh well, his shows will have plenty of votes anyway.
 
I'm having trouble ranking dramas and sitcoms in the same list. I feel like it's apples and oranges. Anyone else feel this way?

I hear that, my list has both and some variety shows and nonfiction series thrown in, talk about complicated.
 
l cannot believe I forgot Friday Night Lights.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME.

:(

That's in my top 5 for sure.

I suck at lists.
 
Everyone can keep tinkering with their lists if need be. I'll eventually post a deadline with enough time for people to post another revised ballot and such. I won't be counting any of them until after the deadline.
 
Mind you this is off the top of my head and I definitely think I'm forgetting a lot of my top British series and older series.

1. Friday Night Lights
2. The Wire
3. Frontline
4. ER
5. Homicide: Life on the Street
6. Community
7. The Twilight Zone
8. I Love Lucy
9. Arrested Development
10. Futurama
11. Game of Thrones (*, obviously could be premature if its quality falls off a cliff later on)
12. Six Feet Under
13. Spaced
14. Rubicon (RIP)
15. The Muppet Show
16. The Simpsons (penalized for damaging its reputation for the past 12+ years)
17. Luck (RIP)
18. The X-Files
19. Homeland (*, obviously could be premature if its quality falls off a cliff later on)
20. Deadwood
21. Spooks (MI-5)
22. Lost
23. Justified (on the rise)
24. Scrubs
25. Treme (*, obviously could be premature if its quality falls off a cliff later on, or it could rise)
26. Veronica Mars
27. 24 (S1-3 rank it a lot higher, say top 20)
28. Damages
29. Breaking Bad (I'm the contrarian that doesn't laud AMC outside of Rubicon, because their shows lack relatable characters, but the gutwrenching ethical dilemmas of this show rank it on my list)
30. Brotherhood (most underrated award)
31. MASH
32. Carnivale
33. Terriers (RIP(
34. The Office (UK)
35. Batman: The Animated Series
36. Life on Mars (UK)
37. Law & Order
38. Freaks & Geeks
39. Hey Arnold!
40. Pushing Daisies
41. The Hour (*, obviously could be premature if its quality falls off a cliff later on)
42. In Treatment
43. Twin Peaks
44. Extras
45. My So-Called Life
46. Luther (could rise with subsequent episodes)
47. 30 Rock
48. Rome (could have been higher, but not getting a real finish hurts it)
49. Kings
50. Heroes (by virtue of season 1 being one of the most ambitious slow burn developments in TV history, unfortunately for it, the rest of the seasons exist).


There's obvious stuff people want included on top tv lists that I just don't enjoy watching, like Mad Men & The Sopranos, I'm not pissing on their quality, they're just unenjoyable to me.

a pretty decent list
out of 50, only a couple of wankers

glad to see somebody mention, Brotherhood, that is the series for anyone that likes the actor in Awake.

In Treatment, season one is the best

I would also recommend, Huff
I am not really a Hank Azaria fan, but the whole cast, and writing is top notch.
 
I didn't make it past episode 8 of Brotherhood. The whole thing was just too on the nose when it seemed to be thinking it was making some really profound and evocative television. I can't be done with pretensions when there's no substance to back it up.

Lucius Malfoy was good though.
 
I'd tend to agree with you for much of the first season, but both of the lead actors do impeccable work, as does much of the supporting cast. Really it manages to set up a better subsequent 2 seasons.

In actuality it's probably lower on my list, but no one else is going to vote for it, so it made my top 30.
 
a pretty decent list
out of 50, only a couple of wankers

glad to see somebody mention, Brotherhood, that is the series for anyone that likes the actor in Awake.

In Treatment, season one is the best

I would also recommend, Huff
I am not really a Hank Azaria fan, but the whole cast, and writing is top notch.

Yeah some are nostalgia :wink:.

To be honest In Treatment is on there for season 1 like you said, which, remake or not is very impressive and certainly pulled off a format that nobody had tried here in America and is tailored straight to the central character's occupation. The acting in that first season is some of the best I've ever seen on TV. I couldn't even make it through season 2 because all the patients were so unbearable or written over the top (some of s1's characters are insufferable but they're well written); Byrne's life also made me want to shoot myself during season 2. And while Amy Ryan coming in & the writers coming up with their own material made me curious about season 3 I haven't checked it out yet because the format change seemed to betray the show.

Huff I haven't seen because I'm also not a fan of Hank Azaria (outside of voice acting), I always want to reach through the TV and punch him in the face. I have heard its a good show though, and I'm a fan of Anton Yelchin, so I'll probably give it a chance sometime.
 
and I kind of agree with Woody Allen, he said something like, Awards Shows are stupid, how do you quantify art?

You don't. Quantify white blood cells, red blood cell morphologies and such sure, but art? Naaahhhhhh. :D

Crap, I've no time for TV. I'm too busy studying for my damn finals tomorrow. All of them in one day, right after each other with a 15 minute break between them. FML.:angry:
 
It's astounding how sophisticated TV has become after decades of being maligned, you really can achieve more extraordinary storytelling than film affords. It's also catching up as a visual medium, currently budget constraints prevent a lot of experimentation with look and form, but there are some examples that come close, like Luck. Plus with the advent of original programming from streaming companies & very inexpensive 4K resolution independent production, the world of possibilities is going to get a lot bigger.

Of course with the storytelling it all comes down to the writing staff, 100's of episodes certainly don't make something better by default, just look at CBS.
 
100% agree with you there. I never really made time for TV a while ago, focussing on the more worthy world of cinema. A major change in my home life flipped this and I realised how daft I'd been.

But yeah, imagine something like Game of Thrones made into a movie series. TV, especially HBO, is where it rightly belongs and not due to a lack of source quality.

And thanks for the Brotherhood comments, maybe I'll go back to it later. Also, how does Damages fare after the first season?
 
Damages has always been strong, the second season is probably my favorite, but obviously the novelty of Close' character and the format of the show wear off a tad once you're familiar. She's still ferocious though, and there's always great mysteries being withheld from the viewer, and interesting supporting guest performers.

It's one of the more underrated shows out there as well, which is odd considering how acclaimed and successful the first season was and how it really hasn't taken a dive creatively like I said.


And yeah, Game of Thrones was definitely one of the major examples running through my head there, it makes me think how much further HBO has knocked it out of the park versus the Lord of the Rings films. Of course I'm a tad unqualified for that comment given how I'm very familiar with that source material vs. purposefully staying ignorant of GOT for the sake of enjoying the show on its own. :wink:
 
I've gotta ask... every man and his dog is frothing at the mouth to blow smoke up Game of Thrones' arse. For someone who is very uninterested by the whole medieval thing could I enjoy it? Seems there's a lot of people out there who, like me, have no interest in it, but have fallen hard for GoT.

I only wish Community was this popular.
 
I've gotta ask... every man and his dog is frothing at the mouth to blow smoke up Game of Thrones' arse. For someone who is very uninterested by the whole medieval thing could I enjoy it? Seems there's a lot of people out there who, like me, have no interest in it, but have fallen hard for GoT.

As one of these people, I'd say it's worth a shot. I have very little interest in fantasy and medieval stuff, and yet here I am in complete adoration the show and now the books.
 
Was just face to face with Peyton List, a.k.a. Mrs. Jane Sterling.

Let's just say I feel justified in ranking her near the top of my Mad Men hotties list.

Failed to invite her to drop acid with me.
 
Better face to face than

mvjbs9.jpg
 
Forgot to add:

my So-Called Life
Wonder Years
The Comeback (Lisa Kudrow HBO show, was actually amazing)
The Golden Girls (not only b/c I'm gay, b/c the four of them had more chemistry than the SATC ladies could ever hope to have)

Heck, I'd even consider Magnum PI.
 
lazarus said:
Was just face to face with Peyton List, a.k.a. Mrs. Jane Sterling.

Let's just say I feel justified in ranking her near the top of my Mad Men hotties list.

Failed to invite her to drop acid with me.

But did she give you props?
 
:applaud:

THE HISTORIAN!

This was a professional situation. Pretty much hello and goodbye. Considering the neighborhood she lives in, I doubt I'll be running into her on the hip side of town. Unfortunately.
 
I've gotta ask... every man and his dog is frothing at the mouth to blow smoke up Game of Thrones' arse. For someone who is very uninterested by the whole medieval thing could I enjoy it? Seems there's a lot of people out there who, like me, have no interest in it, but have fallen hard for GoT.

I only wish Community was this popular.

On the internet Community is this popular, and for the # of people that watch both shows in America, it probably is too. For its genre Game of Thrones is huge, but it's not like it's rivaling American Idol or anything.

And if you like intrigue and drama, the medieval thing doesn't matter at all, the characters, scope and ambition alone make it worth your while, absolutely. It's worth all the hype and more, but the first couple episodes put off some people so if you watch it, be patient.
 
Game of Thrones is a lot more popular than you might think. It actually gets around 8 million viewers a week when you count people watching via HBO Go, On-Demand, etc. On top of that, it's the most pirated show ever this season with new episodes recently topping 2 million illegal downloads in just one day, previous record holder is last season of Dexter...

Community comes nowhere close to that 8 million on a weekly basis.
 
lazarus said:
:applaud:

THE HISTORIAN!

This was a professional situation. Pretty much hello and goodbye. Considering the neighborhood she lives in, I doubt I'll be running into her on the hip side of town. Unfortunately.

That series of posts after you hung out with VK is one of my all time favorite Interland moments.
 
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