Writers Guild of America names 101 Best Written TV Series Of All Time
Credit: HBO
Following up on 2006's 101 Best Written Screenplays of All Time, the Writers Guild of America has unveiled its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series in the history of the medium. Unsurprisingly, the big winner is The Sopranos, which beat out an eclectic field that included Seinfeld, The Wire, The West Wing and countless other greats of yesterday and today.
“At their core, all of these wonderful series began with the words of the writers who created them and were sustained by the writers who joined their staffs or worked on individual episodes,” said WGAW President Chris Keyser and WGAE President Michael Winship in a joint statement. “This list is not only a tribute to great TV, it is a dedication to all writers who devote their hearts and minds to advancing their craft.”
Check out the full list below via Deadline:
1. The Sopranos2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone (1959)
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
11. The Simpsons
12. I Love Lucy
13. Breaking Bad
14. The Dick Van Dyke Show
15. Hill Street Blues
16. Arrested Development
17. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
18. Six Feet Under
19. Taxi
20. The Larry Sanders Show
21. 30 Rock
22. Friday Night Lights
23. Frasier
24. Friends
25. Saturday Night Live
26. The X-Files
27. Lost
28. ER
29. The Cosby Show
30. Curb Your Enthusiasm
31. The Honeymooners
32. Deadwood
33. Star Trek
34. Modern Family
35. Twin Peaks
36. NYPD Blue
37. The Carol Burnett Show
38. Battlestar Galactica (2005)
39. Sex And the City
40. Game Of Thrones
41. TIE: The Bob Newhart Show and Your Show Of Shows
43. TIE: Downton Abbey and Law & Order and thirtysomething
46. TIE: Homicide: Life On The Street and St. Elsewhere
48. Homeland
49. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
50. TIE: The Colbert Report and The Good Wife and The Office (UK)
53. Northern Exposure
54. The Wonder Years
55. L.A. Law
56. Sesame Street
57. Columbo
58. TIE: Fawlty Towers and The Rockford Files
60. TIE: Freaks And Geeks and Moonlighting
62. Roots
63. TIE: Everybody Loves Raymond and South Park
65. Playhouse 90
66. TIE: Dexter and The Office (US)
68. My So-Called Life
69. The Golden Girls
70. The Andy Griffith Show
71. TIE: 24 and Roseanne
72. The Shield
74. TIE: House and Murphy Brown
76. Barney Miller
77. I, Claudius
78. The Odd Couple
79. TIE: Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Star Trek: The Next Generation and Upstairs, Downstairs
83. Get Smart
84. TIE: The Defenders and Gunsmoke
86. Justified
87. Sgt. Bilko (The Phil Silvers Show)
88. Band Of Brothers
89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
90. The Prisoner
91. TIE: Absolutely Fabulous and The Muppet Show
93. Boardwalk Empire
94. Will & Grace
95. Family Ties
96. TIE: Lonesome Dove and Soap
98. TIE: The Fugitive and Late Night With David Letterman and Louie
101. Oz
Hard for me to argue with The Sopranos being the top choice, since it's really one of the most well-written shows that the medium of television has ever produced. But I will say that The Wonder Years is way too low, for my liking.
So what do you think of the list? Agree/disagree? Sound off in the comments!
