This guy must have been born in the eighties

[jb60606]

or did the British just not receive classic American television shows? Where's Mash? The Honeymooners? Gilligan's Island? Three Stooges? et al?

Either way, defining "Buffy - the Vampire Slayer" as the the 2nd greatest show of all time... is just a frickin travesty and denies this list of legitimacy, IMO. I can't say I'm surprised though. These are the same guys that trashed the movie "Office Space".

Empire Online: 50 greatest television shows of all time

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex and the City

45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek (classic series)
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers

40. Life On Mars
39. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted

35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood

30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf

25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office (British version)
22. The Shield
21. Angel

20. Blackadder (all incarnations)
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who (2005-present)

15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica (2003-present)
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld

10. Spaced
9. The X-Files
8. The Wire
7. Friends
6. 24

5. Lost
4. The West Wing
3. The Sopranos
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1. The Simpsons

 

[marbles]

hmmm some odd choices allright ... not even a mention of The Green Wing .

BTW , some of the choices on there are Brit made ....and the best on there imho..........
.......but I sold my telly ages ago though( never anything on when you want it anyway) so maybe I shouldn't comment

 

[72930]

Spaced above Fawlty Towers.

Angel is there, but Heroes is not.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Given that Empire is a British magazine, it's only natural that the list will heavily favour homegrown shows.

But no Dad's Army? Stupid boy...

 

[marbles]

Spaced above Fawlty Towers.

tough call that for me ....both are belly laugh material

 

[jb60606]

hmmm some odd choices allright ... not even a mention of The Green Wing .


sold my telly ages ago though( its all rubbish on there anyway ) so maybe I shouldn't comment

I don't watch much TV either (aside from news, a little sports and hobbyist/documentary/nature channels (WTTW, to fellow Americans)). I spend maybe two hours a week watching the tube, thanks to Tivo and alike.

But to give no credit to the "been there/done that", and groundbreaking shows, aired decades before most of today's actors were even born, is pretty strange.

It's just a very subjective list.

 

[marbles]

maybe they just had a tea break and a bit of space to fill a few gaps in the mag and asked the tea lad to do the write up

 

[zap2]

18. Arrested Development

18!!!!

WRONG!

 

[Queso]

Father Ted not even in the Top 10??!? That has to be the funniest show of the past 20 years!

 

[bigandy]

I disagree with four out of the top five. But then again I disagree with everything said in that horrifically bad magazine.

And I certainly wouldn't have put MASH in there - in fact, there are far more British shows I'd more readily put in my own Top 40.

Lastly, what in the hell is Seinfeld doing in there? Was that even a comedy? I thought it was something people watched to prepare them for the pain of conscious, pain-killer-free open heart surgery.

 

[Gray-Wolf]

top 50 can depend on the era your were born in.

M.A.S.H
Dallas
should both have been on there. I Love Lucy, HoneyMooners, Andy Griffith, Marcus Welby, Rawhide, Bonanza so many choices.

 

[Surely]

18. Arrested Development

18!!!!

WRONG!

Placing AD at #18 has made this list null and void.

 

[leekohler]

WTF? Those are the best TV shows of all time? Remind me never to read that magazine- ever.

 

[roland.g]

c'mon Buffy at #2, that should tell you something right there.

 

[Gelfin]

The Prisoner is not on the list. Thanks for playing, but the judges award no points.

 

[marbles]

top 50 can depend on the era your were born in.

M.A.S.H
Dallas
should both have been on there. I Love Lucy, HoneyMooners, Andy Griffith, Marcus Welby, Rawhide, Bonanza so many choices.

M.A.S.H was great , I loved watching that as a nipper ... but DALLAS wtf

all the other 'cept Bonanza( which was also a fave growing up) I've never heard of

 

[decksnap]

That list reads like he threw darts at a list of all the shows ever. Prison Break? GET. OUT.

 

[PlaceofDis]

i don't even watch TV and i know this is a horrible list.

 

[r1ch4rd]

You would think that they only showed Sci-Fi and comedy on British telly.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I am totally insulted that Blackadder only made number 20 and demand immediate satisfaction.

I find the top ten completely baffling actually. Is he havin' a laugh?

 

[marbles]

I am totally insulted that Blackadder only made number 20 and demand immediate satisfaction.

My liege ~ I will instantaneously run down to the offices of said magazine and berate them until they place a more acceptable list for all

 

[marbles]

You would think that they only showed Sci-Fi and comedy on British telly.

well actually that can be shortened too :

S H I * E


...because that is all they show on British telly

 

[MacHipster]

Empire's not the best source for lists such as these. It's basically the Entertainment Weekly of British magazines.

 

[BlakTornado]

10. Spaced - no
9. The X-Files - no
8. The Wire - no
7. Friends - certainly not
6. 24 - no

5. Lost - no. Is good but not the best
4. The West Wing - No
3. The Sopranos - No
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Definitely not
1. The Simpsons - Was good but isn't that great anymore. Should be in the top 20 but not number 1

 

[solvs]

I like Buffy, and hear Spaced was good, but this list is just wrong for so many reasons. As these kinds of lists usually are. As it's not that big a deal, I guess I shouldn't care though. I don't even read Empire.