The 50 Greatest Television Shows of All Time

Empire, the UK's preeminent entertainment magazine (and really, one of the best out there period) just published a list of the 50 Greatest Television Shows of All Time. While it has a certain British sensibility, and includes several shows many of us in The Colonies haven't seen, it is a solid list and one that deserves comment. So open up another tab in your browser, and follow along with me as I count (most of) them down.

Nice to see some love for Quantum Leap

Would not put Prison Break in the Top 50. Or Top 250.

Veronica's best episode is NOT the S2 finale. And I might put it higher on the list.

DS9's best ep would be "Far Beyond the Stars," Trials and Tribbilations" or "In the Pale Moonlight."

Nice to see Farscape love, too. I would put it higher than 45. I would have never believed I could take seriously a show that featured muppets as aliens, but damned if it didn't work, thanks to inventive scripting and downright sizzling performances by Ben Browder and Claudia Black.

Star Trek at 43? Kidding, right? Dammit, Jim, that's too low!

Band of Brothers. Cool. I hate the way I finally got around to watching this one, though.

For Star Trek: TNG, they rightly named "Best of Both Worlds (Parts I and II)" as the best ep, though I would put "Yesterday's Enterprise" just a notch below that one.

Alias that high? Above 3 Treks and Farscape? I liked Alias, but not that much.

Deadwood at 31. Ahhh, dearly departed Deadwood. I realize there was more to Deadwood's demise than the creation of the trippy, challenging and ultimately frustrating John From Cincinnati, but I would have easily forgone that for one more season with Al Swearingen. And an average of 1,000 "fucks" per 12 episode season? That's 83 "fucks" per episode. That's fucking awesome, fuckers.

Love that Dexter made the list.

Bender on Futurama is named after Judd Nelson's character in the Breakfast Club? Cool.

Nice choice with Angel at 21. Numfar does the dance of joy. And of course, I would have it higher.

Scrubs at 19? Wha? Huh? I mean, I liked Scrubs for a while, until it became all about kids, but 19?

Best. Sitcom. Ever. Arrested Development at 18. Sweet, but it should be even higher.

South Park is still as funny today as it was when it premiered.

Heroes at 15? Has anyone watched season 2? Although I will agree with them about "Five Years Gone." I still have that ep saved on the TiVo, even after all this time.

Firefly at 14! Shiny! How do you pick a "best" episode here? "Out of Gas" is a very solid and obvious choice, though I'm also partial to the more existential "Objects in Space" (Jubal Early is a fantastic creation) and "Shindig" never fails to crack me up. And that's not even mentioning "Our Mrs. Reynolds" with the duplicitous and adorable YoSaffBridge.

Frak Yeah. BSG at 13. Too Low? So Say We All. And for my take on the best episode (and hell, ALL the episodes), check out this Very Special Edition of TNRLM's "The Canon"

Hard to argue with Seinfeld at 11, but I still put Arrested Development as the best sitcom ever, a c-hair ahead of this show and Cheers.

Now we're in the Top 10, with the X-Files at 9. Despite some hits and misses (mostly the unsatisfying wrap up and faltering under its own weight mythology), this still ranks as one of the best shows of all time. Best episode? They cite "Jose Chung," which might be worthy, but there are so many to consider, like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "Bad Blood" and many others, including "Home" (check out the Did You Know blurb at the bottom for the surprising origin of that story).

Never watched The Wire. Dunno. Just no interest.

24 at 6? I love watching Jack Bauer whoop some terrorist (or bystander) ass with the best of 'em, but as Gob Bluth would say...."Come On!"

Lost checks in at 5. Given my obsession with the show (I just received 2 "Dharma" and one "Oceanic Air" t-shirts I ordered last weekend), I can't argue with that one. Another show that's tough to pick a best episode. What about "Walkabout?" Or last season's finale, "Through The Looking Glass?" Or this season's "The Constant?"

You woke up this morning. Got yourself a gun. Mama always said you'd be the chosen one. Or at #3. "Long Term Parking" is indeed a fine episode, but "Pine Barrens" is a fucking masterpiece.

I'm fond of The Simpsons, and it certainly has had a significant cultural impact and impressive staying power. That's their choice for number 1. However, speaking of "The Chosen One," my choice for number 1 would be Empire's choice for number 2. The answer, of course, is the television masterpiece Buffy The Vampire Slayer. If you are still scared by the silly title, you're really missing out (much like I assume some folks are by Battlestar Galactica) and owe it to yourself to go buy all seven seasons on DVD right now. Trust me, you won't regret it. Or, if you like, you can do a little sampling at hulu.com. And then you'll go buy all seven seasons on DVD. I'll even get you started right now:

As for the "best" episode of Buffy? You can check out this other Very Special Edition of TNRLM's "The Canon" right here.

As you can tell, I don't have that many quibbles with the list overall, despite the omission of some "classic" series (Twilight Zone, Magnum PI, Cheers, M*A*S*H, etc.). The only "new" series I would think merits inclusion is the compelling Mad Men.

What's missing? Agree or disagree? What are the best episodes? Whatcha think, TNRLM readers?