The TV 100
When it isn't defaming former Indonesian dictators, Time Magazine is apt to list the 100 best television shows of all-time. Critic James Poniewozik does a serviceable job with his assigned task. I'm thrilled that he thought to include "Arrested Development," "WKRP in Cincinnati" (including a beautiful description), "Moonlighting," "King of the Hill," and "Deadwood." Many of my other favorites-- and yours-- were obviously included, but I single out here the ones I feared might be neglected. Two other favorites "Newhart," and David Letterman's CBS "Late Show," were left off, but mentioned honorably along with their similarly eponymous series. The list suffers from the absence of "The Jack Benny Program," "Newsradio," "Northern Exposure," "The Golden Girls," "Mister Rogers," "The Muppet Show," and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."My only major complaint with the list is the inclusion of a few stunt picks designed to be "all-inclusive" of the medium. "General Hospital" doesn't belong any more than does "The Price Is Right." "American Idol" has no business being called one of the 100 "best" shows of all-time just because of its enormous popularity. I love "A Charlie Brown Christmas," but it was a one-time special. Why not just include the broadcast coverage of the moon landing? "MTV 1981-1992" is not even a tv "show". (Am I moving too fast?)
The Super Bowl is the annual coverage of a news event, not a tv show, akin to the annual telecast of the President's State of the Union address. Including it on a list like this ignores the fact that it's a different broadcast product depending on which network is broadcasting. It would be like listing the evening news, but not differentiating between news organizations or anchors. Also, it's hideous television. There's been more drama and excitement in any one baseball post-season (2003, for example) than in a generation of Super Bowls. How good can something be if you're watching it for the commercials?
But I digress. Let me know what you think of the list. If you sample the clips, "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and "Arrested Development" are tops.
posted by CM @ 6:44 PM
1 Comments:
I agree. It's a shame they had to include your aforementioned "non-shows", like the Super Bowl, "Charlie Brown Christmas", etc. - I'd exclude "Sportscenter" and "Wide World of Sports" too - particularly when they could have then squeezed "Northern Exposure" and especially "Newsradio" on to the list. (Newsradio is top 10, for sure. The best 50 episodes of Newsradio stand up to any show's.)
"Price is Right" and "General Hospital" are definitely representative picks of their genre and unworthy in and of themselves. Take 'em out.
Yes! Thank you for remembering WKRP. Bring on season 2 on DVD!
Mini-series should count, I guess, considering "Roots" was probably longer than the British "Office" anyway, so... but the American "Office" too? If you say so. As soon as I get over my sense that Steve Carell has become even more annoying than Jon Stewart, I'll give it a chance. I'm a broken record on the subject, I know, but while Jon Stewart has always been a funny guy, the Daily Show has become unwatchable.
It should also be pointed out that the first season of "Kids in the Hall" alone (not to mention the entire 15 hours of "Mr. Show with Bob and David" - still far ahead of its time) have more comic genius and inspiration than any 15 years worth of "Saturday Night Live" and the entire 10+ years of nearly every classic sitcom.
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