And no, I'm not talking about "Love Boat" or "Charlie's Angels" a horrid show made even worse by the movie. I'm talking classic TV shows like St. Elsewhere, or Hill Street Blues(both of which narrowly missed out on my list). List your own favorites. It passes the time while waiting for the latest AOTK or the NFL draft. In other words, I'm ranking shows from the end of the 70's till now, which is why "The Beverly Hillbillys" or "Hawaii Five-0" aren't listed.
10. 'Newhart'. The Britcoms will usually always be better than American sitcoms, but Bob Newhart's dry humor, the late Tom Poston, & Larry, Darryl, and Darryl were always fun, plus the series finale was brilliant and hillarious.
9. 'WKRP in Cincinnati'. Two words: Thanksgiving Turkeys.
http://radio.about.com/library/blwkrpturkeydropaudio.htm. Still one of the funniest shows of the late 70's-early 80's, which CBS cancelled, it was revealed many years later, by a mistake. BYW: I always thought Bailey(Jan Smithers) was WAY hotter than Jennifer(Loni Anderson), who got most of the attention.
8.'NCIS'. One of my favorite shows to watch these days, it has a sense of humor, though Donozo is pretty annoying, and the Israeli chick isn't nearly as hot as Sasha Alexander, who either quit or was written out of the series.
7.'L&O: Criminal Intent'. The original 'Law and Order' is dead. Just stick a fork in it. But when you get to Vince DiNofrio or Chris Noth getting the murderer in interrogation in the last few minutes, you know what's going to happen. Some episodes are kinda pedestrian, but the great episodes are the ones you record on your DVR or Tivo. When you see them break a suspect, it's worth watching.
6. 'The X-Files'. The coolest show of the '90s. I had 'Monk' in this spot before being reminded by Sarek that it had indeed existed(I confess, I completely forgot about Mulder and Scully). I don't think there has ever been a cooler TV villain than the Cigarette Smoking Man, and that includes JR Ewing.
5. 'House'. If you'd never seen "Blackadder" 3 or 4, you'd never realize that Hugh Laurie is British. Like NYPD Blue and Hill St. Blues before I threw them both out for my next pick, I juggled this one with St. Elsewhere, for about a second. This is the funniest medical drama on television now, or for the last 30-40 years. Where else do you get to see a pretty good looking babe called "Cutthroat B*tch" by everybody else on the show, or replace one hottie with another, even sexier one: Cameron says bye, wheel in 13.
4. 'Homicide: Life on the Street'. Baltimore PD show(and I think the inspiration for L&O: CI). Great actors, great scripts, and NBC stuck it in a Friday night slot where nobody would ever watch it. Shame on them, because whenever Frank Pembleton(Andre Brauer) took somebody into "The Box" you knew it was going to be better than NYPD Blue could ever hope to achieve. Don't get me wrong, NYPD Blue was good, but Homicide was brilliant. Just watch the fireworks when he squares off with Steve Buschemi, which is amazing from both sides, if you ever happen on that episode.
3. 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. As a TOS fan, it's hard to admit, but Jean-Luc and his crew did grow on me, but it took me, and a lot of other fans to see "The Best of Both Worlds I & II" before we finally gave in and admitted that TNG was a pretty good show.
1. Tie. 'Magnum PI' and the new 'Battlestar Galactica'. I'll leave the rest to you other folks, but it's hard for me seperate how much I enjoyed 'Magnum' when I was growing up or now, when BSG is the most intense show on TV now. Best episodes are "Did You See the Sun Rise? I & II" and the original ep of BSG.
True Magnum fans will remember that as one of the most intense episodes they ever did, but it's hard to stand up to the Cylons nuking Caprica. Tough call, but I can't decide.
Topic: Best American TV shows of the last 30 years or so.... (Read 6041 times)