The 50 Greatest TV Icons

[MrsSpringsteen]

NEW YORK (AP) — This is the list of The 50 Greatest TV Icons, compiled by cable's TV Land and the writers of Entertainment Weekly magazine. It will fuel a two-hour special on the network airing Friday at 8 p.m. ET, as well as a feature story in the upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly.

50. Larry Hagman

49. Calista Flockhart

48. Jimmy Smits

47. Simon Cowell

46. Lassie

45. Sarah Michelle Gellar

44. Susan Lucci

43. Flip Wilson

42. James Gandolfini

41. Jon Stewart

40. Sally Field

39. Jennifer Aniston

38. Bea Arthur

37. George Clooney

36. Diahann Carroll

35. Michael J. Fox

34. Bob Barker

33. Ellen DeGeneres

32. Henry Winkler

31. Sarah Jessica Parker

30. Alan Alda

29. John Ritter

28. Howard Cosell

27. Regis Philbin

26. Farrah Fawcett

25. Heather Locklear

24. Michael Landon

23. Barbara Walters

22. Milton Berle

21. Kermit

20. Carroll O'Connor

19. Andy Griffith

18. William Shatner

17. Bob Newhart

16. David Letterman

15. "Not Ready for Primetime Players"

14. Ed Sullivan

13. Jackie Gleason

12. Dick Van Dyke

11. Roseanne

10. Dick Clark

9. Homer Simpson

8. Jerry Seinfeld

7. Mary Tyler Moore

6. Carol Burnett

5. Walter Cronkite

4. Bill Cosby

3. Oprah Winfrey

2. Lucille Ball

1. Johnny Carson

 

[RavenBlue]

Yeay Simon

 

[lazarus]

Peter Falk (Columbo) HOW DID THEY FORGET THIS GUY?!
Lee Majors (6 Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy)
Richard Dean Anderson (MacGuyver)
Mr. T (The A-Team)
Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: TNG)
James Garner (The Rockford Files, Maverick)
David Hasselhoff & Pamela Anderson (Baywatch) I don't like these two, but the show's a worldwide phenomenon...


This is obviously an American list, but some Brit icons would include:

Tom Baker (Doctor Who)
Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras)
Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner, Danger Man)
Patrick Macnee & Diana Rigg (The Avengers)
Roger Moore (The Saint)
The Monty Python cast
Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean, Black Adder)
Paul Darrow (Blake's 7)

 

[Lila64]

Yay Johnny!

 

[lazarus]

Really, Lucy should have been #1. Carson was a tremendously funny guy who defined late night television for a couple generations, but Lucy was an absolute genius that has inspired so many sitcoms and characters it's impossible to calculate the true measure of her influence.

 

[Lila64]

It could have gone either way, Lucy or Johnny

 

[Dalton]

I'm surprised that Leno isn't on this list. He's no letterman, but I thought he would at least get a mention.

 

[No spoken words]

Kudos to Laz for mentioning the Prisoner!

Be seeing you.

I wonder if Dick Cavett or Tom Snyder should have been worthy. Eh.

 

[LMP]

Fucking Bill Cosby.

I'm sorry, but he bothers me. Speaking in baby-talk to your obnoxiously innocent and dumb kids for a half-hour about life and Jello Puddin' Pops doesn't make for great television. I know that's an over-generalization, but whatever.

 

[No spoken words]

Fucking Bill Cosby.

I'm sorry, but he bothers me. Speaking in baby-talk to your obnoxiously innocent and dumb kids for a half-hour about life and Jello Puddin' Pops doesn't make for great television. I know that's an over-generalization, but whatever.

That's an overgeneralization.

 

[Dalton]

The Cosby show was the schiznit.


It did for black folks what Moonlighting did for the gays.

 

[lazarus]

Old Bill Cosby standup was brilliant (though he was no Richard Pryor). The Cosby Show has got to be one of the most overrated shows in the history of television. Just like Michael Jackson was watered-down R&B for white people, The Cosby Show was aimed at whites as well. I'd take Good Times over that in a second.

That credit sequence when they're all dancing and Cos is making all those obnoxious cutesy faces...makes me want to kick my television in.

Here's someone who knows what he's talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHYzEtR_mY4