Comedy: Probably The Office. Even with how bad the last couple of seasons have been. Just a truly funny show that I can watch over and over. Drama: Spartacus. Even with the actor who played Spartacus dying and being replaced, this show is fucking incredible. I don't remember a show that I have looked forward to each week as much as this one when it is on.
Comedy: Arrested Development - Pretty much goes without saying. Drama: The First 48 - I for one LOVE crime shows, and the fact that it's all real, makes it (in my opinion) one of the most compelling TV shoes to be on in years.
God I could not hate this bullshit more. Her constant childish cursing always reminds me that I am watching Showtime. My top five dramas since I've been trying to rank them for a while. I basically rate them on how much the show stirred me emotionally and consistent quality through out the show's run. 1: The Sopranos. I think KIMaster has sort of a point, there were some mediocre seasons/plotlines in the series. The quality still put it above 99% of tv shows but it wasn't totally consistent. It did touch and move me more than any show Ive seen to date. I think it's because I identified with Tony's caring/blood family side of his character. It was supposed to be an all American show and dealt with a lot of things I deal with. Crafted beautifully. 2 Deadwood. A show ended way before its time. It stayed top notch for three seasons. Dark, complex, characters ALL impeccably cast. So far Game Of Thrones has had near the same record for pitch perfect casting. Touching, brutal, real. 3. Mad Men. So far this show hasn't had any missteps at all. I'd say the characters were less compelling than Deadwoods. 4. Breaking Bad. I'd put this behind Mad Men as its a little too Hollywood concepty in its underlying story. Still great. 5. Six Feet Under. As anything better is escaping me right now I'd say this is close to top five. It got kind of boring a little later on and it was good they decided to end it when they did. One of the best endings that could be conceptualized for a show's subject. But dealing with life and death with great characters. Honorable mentions: Big Love: Could be interchanged with my number five, of series Ive watched. Despite an abysmal forth season it stayed pretty solid through out. Game Of Thrones: Still kind of early to really rank it all time. But if it stays as good as it is, it could be in the running. Honestly, I don't see it as ground breaking as The Sopranos or Deadwood, aside from trying to out doggystyle sex everyone.
I have a couple honorable mentions that I can't believe I forgot about. KIM's mention of British sitcoms made me think of one of my all time favorites, Coupling. This should speak for itself: One of my biggest honorable mentions in the 60-minute 'drama' category, and quite possibly my #2, would have to be Star Trek: The Next Generation. Ever since I watched it with my dad way back during season one, I have always loved it. I remember him taping the episodes so that we could watch them together when I would go to spend the weekend with him. Definitely a classic.
Sitcom: First off, how spoiled are we right now with a shitload of good sitcoms in the last ten years? South Park, Community, the Office, Futurama, The Walking Dead (come on, how can you not laugh at this show?) and many more. Older shows have also been mentioned, but I also have to point out we forgot about Fawlty Towers. Every episode John Cleese managed to let everything spiral into a clusterfuckinferno, which was always hilarious. But should I get stuck on a deserted island and only had one show to watch, I'd take Archer. It's always balls-out crazy like Futurama, it's as offensive as South Park, it has the character-work of Community, but it also has the greatest one-liners per minute ratio than any other show. Every episode, even the mediocre ones, have a lot of funny stuff to justify a re-watch. Drama: Breaking Bad. (This comes from someone who hasn't seen the Wire yet.) This show doesn't fuck around. It makes every bad decision and action Walter White made understandable but also reprehensible. It shows the consequences of those actions and how he ruins everything around him. And the plot and character development always goes relentlessly forward. Walter White, little by little, changes each and every episode. But not in a good way. It's the amazing accomplishment of Bryan Cranston that he can make a unrepentant monster like Walter White actually sympathetic and worth rooting for. Even though he deserves everything that's coming for him. The showrunner (Vince Gilligan) always wanted this story to have a definitive ending and had a maximum of five seasons in mind (unlike The Shield, which was also strong but had two seasons too many). Now he gets to tell the story and I believe he will finish it a lot better than Walter eating in a diner and fading to black. Or somethingsomething smoke-monster time-travelling.
30 Minute Sitcom: Friends. I own all ten seasons, and that shit is still funny. There are shows out there with promise, but they have a lot of work to do to be as consistently good as Friends was. 60 Minute Drama: Lost. You need to ask? DMix, Sherwood and I were like the three musketeers of that thread. I've been on the damn radio talking about that show. I'm not gay, but I would let Damon or Carlton fuck me in thanks for that show.
30 Minute Sitcom: MASH. This a bit of a tough call, as you could argue that any show set in a war zone and dealing with some heavy issues is hardly a comedy, its overall tone and makeup was that of a sitcom. And it passes the critical litmus test of holding up over time. I could still watch this show over and over and laugh my ass off. 60 Minute Drama: Battlestar Galactica. I have the folks here to thank for this. Great story arc, great casting, great writing, great acting. Love this show. All the hot chicks don't hurt either.
30 min comedy: The Simpsons. Every character brought something to the show and was hilarious and weird in their own way. Recently, The Simpsons has slumped to mediocrity, but at its high point nothing was funnier. I used to be able to kill entire afternoons watching reruns. Hour: I have to go with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Certainly not for everyone, but the show had it all. Constant action, comedy, absurdity, drama that made you care, and pushed the limits of innovation for how you could craft an episode for television. The show followed a story arc that came with some predictability, but you never knew what the show could throw at you next week. It wasn't gold every minute. However, no show that I've ever seen so perfectly captured and satirized American life. Nothing comes close actually. I also can't think of any show that brought you so deep into characters heads' and forced you (the show doesn't really give you a choice) to sympathize with their motivations and choices.
Comedy: Old School call would be M*A*S*H - I've seen every episode multiple times. For YEARS it was my favorite show. Before I knew the words to the theme song, I used to routinely go to sleep to old VHS episodes playing. How I Met Your Mother or Big Bang Theory are probably current favorites. Current season HIMYM isn't really grabbing me and Big Bang Theory is about 70%/30% the best show on television/completely unwatchable. Drama: Fucked if I can split Sopranos, The Wire, Sons of Anarchy and Doctor Who. All massive favorites. If Heroes had stopped at Season 1 or if Firefly had gone past Season 1 they'd probably both be in that list as well. Dollhouse gets an honourable mention as well. Justified and The Shield are both on the current high value rotation, but both new starters for me. And for some reason I'm still addicted to Dark Angel, despite the fact that it's actively terrible. Buffy and Angel probably get points for the most rewatched series. If we were talking #1 show without the comedy or drama limitation? Myth busters and UK Top Gear would be beyond challenge. Clear and undisputed leaders.
Sitcom: Modern Family. I was close to wanting to say Friends, Big Bang Theory, or HIMYM, but I HATE laugh tracks. Drama: West Wing. Drama has never been done as well as Sorkin did it in seasons 2 - 4 of that show. I have seen and absolutely love The Wire, The Sopranos, and Lost, but they just aren't quite as good as WW was at its peak.
Sitcom: South Park. For all seasons in pretty decent quality, allsp.com has everything you ever need. How anyone would take the Simpsons, much less far inferior tripe Family Guy, over this genius is beyond me. I hope they do another 16 seasons. 60 minute drama: The Shield. I don't think it has the best writing, or the best characters, but something about this show hooked me in and never let go. This may have happened during the scene where Vic chases down a crackhead and instead of climbing an old wooden fence after him, smashes through it like Ray Lewis and books the tweaker. I've watched seasons 1 - 7 three times now, and will continue to do so, though far less frequently. This is a show I will force my children to watch should I ever spawn them.
Sitcom First of all, every great sitcom went on too long. Cheers, Seinfeld, M.A.S.H., Golden Girls, Scrubs, Mary Tyler Moore, South Park, Beavis and Butthead, to name a few. I've watched 3 episodes of Family Guy, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Futurama, and pretty much everything that's come out on Network T.V. over the past 20 years, and most of them have been profoundly pedestrian, at best, or amazingly condenscending and obvious, at worst. That being said, despite its poor ending, my favorite is That 70's Show. The first and last two years were not very good, but the years in-between? Holy shit. Some of the funniest stuff I've ever seen on TV. Drama: I was on the 'these Wire lovers are just bandwaggoning' train for a while. Then a friend lent me the series. I finished it (all 5 seasons) in two weeks. Second best thing on TV ever. If it counts, my favorite 'Drama' is Band of Brothers. If that doesn't count, The Wire. While there are many great dramas, including Sopranos, Deadwood, LA Law, The Practice, Hill Street Blues, ER, nobody touches the Wire.
Comedy: Taxi. Christopher Lloyd and Andy Kaufman were comedic gold. Drama: The Shield. Totally pushed the TV envelope. Runners: The West Wing, Fringe, Hill Street Blues, All in the Family, Seinfeld, The Homeymooners.
Comedy: Gonna go with everyone else and say Seinfeld. I've seen episodes of other shows that have made me laugh harder than Seinfeld episodes, but it's hard to ignore the huge impact it had and how well the humor has held up over the years. It doesn't feel nearly as dated as other shows of the era. Drama: Wanted to say The Wire, but I still have yet to see Season 5. I'm gonna go with Battlestar Galactica. It makes some pretty damn nuanced points about the struggle between security and liberty, how people act under pressure, familial relationships, and a whole bunch of other shit. And it never lost the sense that there was a lot of thought put into not just the plot, but the themes behind it.
Comedy: The Big Bang Theory Drama: Firefly. Seriously, how can I be only the second person in three pages to say this is the greatest show ever made?
Comedy: That 70's Show - Every other comedy I can think of has some flaw or detraction that is hard to look past. With that 70s show it's the 8th season, which is surprisingly easy to ignore. The show is still fresh and fun regardless of how long ago it aired now Drama: Firefly and Doctor Who I don't think I can do any service by trying to praise, they're just awesome.
Comedy: Arrested Development ruined comedy for me. Every comedy I have watched since then has never measured up. I may chuckle here and there, but nothing has been as funny. Parks and Rec and the early seasons of The Office come close. Drama: This is an interesting question. If the question is "which show is the best?" then I would have to say Breaking Bad narrowly edges out The Wire. It was clear to me while I was watching them that they were superbly written, and they made me question much of what I thought about right and wrong. I give BB, the edge because it answers my next question. "What show is the most entertaining?" is an entirely different question. I find BB to be more entertaining than the Wire. Totally subjective I know. While I can appreciate the quality and subtlety of those shows, LOST is easily the most entertaining show I have ever seen. I knew full and well that the writers were mind effing me every week. I was mad to the point of property destruction about Nikki and Paolo, and Jack's stupid tattoos. Can you remember how you felt when Charlie died, or when Sayid shot baby Ben Linus? I was in shock and spent the rest of the night combing the internet for theories and analyzing screen caps. Before I even knew what happened, I was hooked. When the finale aired, I was working an hour and a half away from where I lived. Rather than stay at the apartment provided to me, I stayed the night at my place so I could watch it on my TV in surround sound, then woke up at 4 to make it to work by 6 am. I never had that kind of a reaction to BB.