Continuing with the Writer’s Guild top 100 TV shows of all time.
Coming in at No. 53 is Northern Exposure – another critically acclaimed and long running show I never watched. But I do remember the main girl and her beauty mole. 54. The Wonder Years – another one we watched regularly with the kids. I thought it was great. 55. L.A. Law – always watched, but never with the kids. Susan Dey had me since her Partridge Family days. 56. Sesame Street – likely approaching genius stuff here.
57. Columbo – watched this a lot, but my favorite Peter Falk role was Sam Diamond in Murder By Death. 58. Fawlty Towers and The Rockford Files (tie) – Don’t know Fawlty Towers and never watched Rockford. 60. Freaks and Geeks and Moonlighting (tie) – Didn’t care about either of these, either. 62. Roots – I thought this was a series, not a miniseries with an end. If so, as much as I liked Roots, how can Lonesome Dove be below it, or be below anything for that matter? 63. Everybody Loves Raymond and South Park (tie) – Greatness here. 65. Playhouse 90 – Before my time, but I might try to find them somewhere. 66. Dexter and the U.S. version of The Office (tie) – I like both of these. I got tired of The Office and I’m addicted to Dexter. I can’t wait for the last season. 68. My So-Called Life – Never heard of it. 69. Golden Girls – I admit I watch it. 70. The Andy Griffith Show – Nothing ever better. 71. 24, Roseanne and The Shield – I watched season one of 24 and then never again, I watched a lot of Roseanne (whatever happened to her?), and I never watched The Shield. 74. House and Murphy Brown (tie) – I like House but don’t go out of my way for it; kind of the same with Murphy Brown. 76. Barney Miller and I, Claudius (tie) – Barney Miller was classic stuff. I guess I need to check out I, Claudius. 78. The Odd Couple – very funny. 79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Upstairs, Downstairs (tie) – No to all four. Sorry, Data, but it’s true. 83. Get Smart – One of my favs as a kid. I saw a rerun a few years ago and didn’t get it, 84. The Defenders and Gunsmoke (tie) – Never did The Defenders and thought Gunsmoke was overrated at the time. I like it much better now but still put it behind Bonanza and The Big Valley, neither of which made this list. 86. Justified, Sgt. Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show (tie) – I never watched any of these. 88. Band of Brothers – I guess I need to see what all the fuss was about. 89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In – now that was entertainment. 90. The Prisoner – I never watched it. 91. Absolutely Fabulous and The Muppet Show (tie) – I never saw Absolutely and wasn’t Muppets the same as Sesame Street? 93. Boardwalk Empire – Don’t know it. 94. Will & Grace – I hardly ever watched it but it was pretty funny when I did. 95. Family Ties – loved it. 96. Lonesome Dove and Soap (tie) – See above. Lonesome Dove at 96? Really? Are you kidding me? Soap was a bit ahead of its time. 98. The Fugitive, Late Night with David Letterman and Louie – From rarely watched, to never watched – I’ll let you guess which. 101. Oz – Sorry, got nothing on this, either.
So, in my opinion, was anything left out? Well, besides the few I already mentioned, I’d have to add Bewitched (big crush on Sam, especially when she became her brunette cousin) Also, Happy Days, The Practice, The Wild, Wild West, House of Cards and Pee Wee’s Playhouse.