Top 11 Favourite TV Shows of all Time

[Darth Knox]

It was about time we did something different, so here comes the tv round. With so much great tv shows available to stream, as well as the classics from days of yore, it will be interesting to see what everyone chooses. Please make sure to read all the rules before posting

Rules of the game:
- You are only allowed to pick 11 tv shows (that's 10 with a bonus pick)
- Only THREE Honourable mentions are allowed
- Your choices DO NOT have to be in order of favourites
- Shows can be from any medium (terrestrial tv, cable tv, satellite tv or online streaming)
- You can only choose a specific show, not an entire franchise (For example: Star Trek - You must choose a specific series rather than the whole franchise)
 
Please remember - That all opinions on tv shows are subjective. There are no wrong or right answers for the shows you love, so no putting down other peoples picks if they choose something you disagree with.

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[Darth Knox]

As previously stated, these are in no particular order. I love them all, for various reasons. The numbers are just there to make sure I limited myself to 11. This was another toughie topic

My picks:

  1- Lost (for all it's flaws, the show as a whole and it's mythology was amazing and works much better when you binge it)

  2- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (The Federation at war and it mixed up the "on a spaceship" nature that every other entry in the franchise had)

  3- Doctor Who (Classic-Who and Nu-Who, it's all good. An immortal alien in a time-travelling spaceship? Hells yes)

  4- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (One of the best tv shows ever made and the beginning of Joss Whedon's rise to geeky god-dom)

  5- Stargate SG-1 (Taking the premise of the movie and creating a MASSIVE galaxy and mythology)

  6- Breaking Bad (Do I really need to say why?)

  7- Sex and the City (It was really funny and touching and had amazing dresses)

  8- Monty Python's Flying Circus (Just as iconic, funny, ingenious and influential today as when it first came out)

  9- OZ (brutal prison drama that was just amazing)

10- Blackadder Goes Forth (If only for the last few minutes of the last episode)

11- ER (Clooney. Top Gun's Goose. The Good Wife. Noah Wyle. So many great characters and great drama)

Honourable mentions:
  i- Friends (comedy classic that is very rewatchable)

 ii- Cheers (Everybody's favourite bar)

iii- Ally McBeal (Lawyers plus some hallucinations)

[scifidude79]

1. Star Trek
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation
3. Firefly
4. Battlestar Galactica (1978)
5. Mission: Impossible
6. The Transformers (1984)
7. Batman: The Animated Series
8. Batman (1966)
9. South Park
10. The A-Team
11. Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)

Honroable mentions: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Enterprise. (Yes, I'm a Trekkie )

This was a fairly easy list for me, as I'm not a huge TV watcher.  I mainly like older stuff, as my current work schedule allows me to watch no currently running TV shows. Obviously, I'm a Sci-Fi fan, hence the net handle.  So, I love me some Sci-Fi TV.  There just doesn't seem to be much on anymore, at least not on stations locally available to me.  So, I watch the classics.

[Darth Knox]

1. Star Trek
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation
3. Firefly
4. Battlestar Galactica (1978)
5. Mission: Impossible
6. The Transformers (1984)
7. Batman: The Animated Series
8. Batman (1966)
9. South Park
10. The A-Team
11. Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)

Honroable mentions: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Enterprise. (Yes, I'm a Trekkie )

This was a fairly easy list for me, as I'm not a huge TV watcher.  I mainly like older stuff, as my current work schedule allows me to watch no currently running TV shows. Obviously, I'm a Sci-Fi fan, hence the net handle.  So, I love me some Sci-Fi TV.  There just doesn't seem to be much on anymore, at least not on stations locally available to me.  So, I watch the classics.

There is some good new-fi stuff on Netflix. But I'm with you. There's a lot of enjoyment to be had from older shows. I was very tempted to put Baywatch and Knight Rider on my list, but those are more guilty pleasures than anything.

Also, you get a point for 1978 Battlestar.

[scifidude79]

Yeah, I love me some Netflix.  In fact, that's how the A-Team wound up on my list.  The whole series is on the US version of Netflix.    Amazon (the US version) has some good stuff on it too, though I like Netflix's selection of Sci-Fi TV series better.  Netflix even has some Sci-Fi originals that I want to try.

Also, you get a point for 1978 Battlestar.

It kind of had that Star Wars for TV vibe going.  It's a shame it was cancelled in its second season.

[Darth Knox]

It kind of had that Star Wars for TV vibe going.  It's a shame it was cancelled in its second season.

At least it got a second season, unlike Firefly. I actually did that backwards. I saw Serenity first and then saw the show. The film was done so well that, even without having watched the show you still could follow everything that was happening and understand (most of) the history of the crew. Watching the show just gave me a higher appreciation of the show.

[scifidude79]

At least it got a second season, unlike Firefly. I actually did that backwards. I saw Serenity first and then saw the show. The film was done so well that, even without having watched the show you still could follow everything that was happening and understand (most of) the history of the crew. Watching the show just gave me a higher appreciation of the show.

I never even heard of Firefly until many years later.  I was actually deployed to Afghanistan during the entire run of the show, that's how short lived it was.  I also saw Serenity first.  I'm glad I saw Firefly on DVD, though, as I got the episodes in their correct order, not the screwed up order in which Fox aired them.  (idiots)  I've seen the order, and I can see why it wasn't a hit.  The shows aren't continuing stories, but some of them flow together and not airing the two hour pilot (Serenity) first was a huge foul-up.  But, I digress.  I love the show.

[Darth Knox]

I never even heard of Firefly until many years later.  I was actually deployed to Afghanistan during the entire run of the show, that's how short lived it was.  I also saw Serenity first.  I'm glad I saw Firefly on DVD, though, as I got the episodes in their correct order, not the screwed up order in which Fox aired them.  (idiots)  I've seen the order, and I can see why it wasn't a hit.  The shows aren't continuing stories, but some of them flow together and not airing the two hour pilot (Serenity) first was a huge foul-up.  But, I digress.  I love the show.

By the time I heard of Firefly it was cancelled too! Must confess, I only watched Firefly for the first time in 2015 (because it was on Netflix). Saw Serenity at the cinema and own it on dvd. Whedon's commentary gives great insight into the show, Fox, it's cancellation and the movie.

[Jev Moldara]

1- Firefly. You can't take the sky from me. Unlike you folks, I actually watched it from the beginning.

2- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

3- MacGuyver

4- Stargate SG-1

5- Archer. Soooooo damned funny.

6. The A-Team.

7- Air Wolf

8- Knight Rider (the original, not the crappy reboot/sequel they did not any of the other series)

9- Miami Vice

10- Magnum P.I. "Ivan? Did you see the sun rise this morning?"

11- Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Honorable Mentions:

A- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Such a great premise and beautiful execution, but it fell victim to the Fox Executives.

B- Dollhouse. Another great Whedon show given the Fox treatment. First time I realized just how good of an actor Alan Tudyk is, as he is legitimately terrifying.

C- The Fall Guy. Something cool about a Hollywood stuntman moonlighting as a bounty hunter.

[scifidude79]

A- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Such a great premise and beautiful execution, but it fell victim to the Fox Executives.

Dude, props (and a point) for bringing up a great show.

The moral of the story:  Don't watch Sci-Fi shows on Fox.  Fox likes the idea of running Sci-Fi shows but can rarely afford to keep them for more than a season or two.  So, they intentionally tank them.  (Terra Nova, anyone?)

[Darth Knox]

5- Archer. Soooooo damned funny.

Dammit! How could I forget Archer. Love that show. I swear though, between that and Austin Powers, the Bond franchise is screwed.

Funny, I'm seeing a lot of shows from the 70s, 80s and 90s but not many newer ones. Is that due to our age or the quality of modern shows?

[Jev Moldara]

Dude, props (and a point) for bringing up a great show.

The moral of the story:  Don't watch Sci-Fi shows on Fox.  Fox likes the idea of running Sci-Fi shows but can rarely afford to keep them for more than a season or two.  So, they intentionally tank them.  (Terra Nova, anyone?)

Oh don't get me started on Terra Nova... However, I imagine the cost per episode would be astronomical given the number of dinosaurs needed to be in there.

Still, we will be getting to see the actress who played the older daughter in Power Rangers, so we've got that going for us, which is nice.

[Jev Moldara]

Dammit! How could I forget Archer. Love that show. I swear though, between that and Austin Powers, the Bond franchise is screwed.

Funny, I'm seeing a lot of shows from the 70s, 80s and 90s but not many newer ones. Is that due to our age or the quality of modern shows?

Probably a combination of our age, nostalgia, and quality.

It seems like a lot of shows today are just formulaic in nature. We have umpteen bajillion versions of the police procedural, the stupid sitcom, and the reality show, and that's the problem. Everyone is getting a shot at making a show, so we get a lot more shows than we used to. Because of the increased volume, quality control is suffering. They just don't care as much about the quality as they used to because someone will pick it up if it has even a halfway decent premise, and even then, the premise can still be crappy.

[scifidude79]

Dammit! How could I forget Archer. Love that show. I swear though, between that and Austin Powers, the Bond franchise is screwed.

I thought it was screwed because the Bond movies went downhill...

[Darth Knox]

I thought it was screwed because the Bond movies went downhill...

Well, that too (Brosnan's invisible car was a particular low point). Casino Royale was a good attempt at rebooting the franchise, but I feel that was the only good movie with Craig in the role. Just my opinion. The Bond troupes are so well known that is why Austin Powers and Archer are so successful spoofing them. So if Bond tries to go back to the things that made it popular, it will be seen as unoriginal and no-one could take it seriously thanks to the spoofs. If they do something different, people will complain that it's "not Bond" and/or too much like Jason Bourne. They're screwed either way. But that's movie talk, and this is TV talk.

Probably a combination of our age, nostalgia, and quality.

It seems like a lot of shows today are just formulaic in nature. We have umpteen bajillion versions of the police procedural, the stupid sitcom, and the reality show, and that's the problem. Everyone is getting a shot at making a show, so we get a lot more shows than we used to. Because of the increased volume, quality control is suffering. They just don't care as much about the quality as they used to because someone will pick it up if it has even a halfway decent premise, and even then, the premise can still be crappy.

Plus, a lot of the people making shows now grew up and were influenced by the same movies and shows as us which would explain the heavy nostalgia throwbacks in many shows. When it's done well we can get a Stranger Things. But shows of that quality are lightning in a bottle.