I am – Hercules!!

Every time a major publication issues an all-time top-10 TV list, three series always make the cut:

1) The Simpsons

2) The Sopranos, and

3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Entertainment Weekly’s latest list does not disappoint in this regard. And it picks SNL as the 12th best series ever. Some entries in the magazine’s top 100:



99. Alias

91. Star Trek

90. Felicity

89. Mystery Science Theater 3000

87. South Park

86. 24

77. Ally McBeal

76. Game of Thrones

72. Battlestar Galactica

71. Beavis and Butt-head

69. Star Trek: The Next Generation

67. The Prisoner

65. Doctor Who

62. Homicide: Life On The Street

60. Deadwood

59. Freaks and Geeks

57. The Shield

52. Soap

51. The West Wing

50. Survivor

48. Friday Night Lights

47. The Rockford Files

45. Gilmore Girls

43. St. Elsewhere

42. Taxi

41. Twin Peaks

40. The Real World

38. The Bob Newhart Show

37. Columbo

35. Hill Street Blues

34. The Larry Sanders Show

27. Monty Python’s Flying Circus

24. Lost

21. Friends

18. Breaking Bad

15. Cheers

13. Twilight Zone

12. Saturday Night Live

10. Your Show of Shows

9. Mad Men

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

7. The Andy Griffith Show

6. All in the Family

5. The Sopranos

4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

3. Seinfeld

2. The Simpsons

1. The Wire

To anticipate the questions, “Eastbound and Down” “Sons of Anarchy,” "Dexter" and “Family Guy” are not on EW’s list.

Neither are “Rome,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” "Fawlty Towers," “Firefly,” “Veronica Mars,” "Deep Space Nine," “TV Funhouse,” “Late Night With David Letterman” or “Justified.” “The Brady Bunch” (#100) is supposedly better than all of these.

“Your Show Of Shows” comes in at #10, suggesting at least one individual who put together this list is in his or her sixties or older. Very little of that series has been available for viewing since the mid-1950s.

If you want to see the whole list and the editors’ rationales, pick up your copy of issue 1266/1267, on newsstands now. (If you see a link to the Top 100s online, kindly share.)

As long as we’re here, the same issue has EW’s top 100 movies too. My favorite movie ever, “The Empire Strikes Back,” comes in at 53, but its 1977 prequel doesn’t make the list at all. Lots of Kubrick and Capra on that list, but no Buster Keaton:



100. The Sweet Smell of Success

99. There Will Be Blood

97. Diner

96. Sullivan’s Travels

95. Rushmore

93. A Face In The Crowd

90. The French Connection

88. The Dark Knight

85. Dirty Harry

81. Blade Runner

80. Dazed and Confused

79. Night of the Living Dead

78. Raiders of the Lost Ark

76. Lawrence of Arabia

71. American Graffiti

69. Dr. Strangelove

68. GoodFellas

66. The Shining

63. Network

62. E.T.

61. The Silence of the Lambs

59. All The President’s Men

53. The Empire Strikes Back

49. Goldfinger

48. It Happened One Night

47. A Clockwork Orange

45. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

41. The Road Warrior

40. Double Indemnity

36. Rosemary’s Baby

35. Apocalypse Now

33. The Graduate

32. Duck Soup

31. Chinatown

25. 2001: A Space Odyssey

22. Toy Story

19. Pulp Fiction

18. Jaws

13. Annie Hall

11. King Kong

10. Gone With The Wind

9. Nashville

8. The Gold Rush

7. Mean Streets

6. It’s A Wonderful Life

5. Psycho

4. Bonnie and Clyde

3. Casablanca

2. The Godfather

1. Citizen Kane

I guess I need to watch “Bonnie and Clyde” again!

And “Gone With The Wind” is better than “Star Wars”! Who knew??

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