They say that television is a writer’s medium, so it makes sense that the Writers Guild of America would have its own list of the 101 greatest TV shows of all time.

At the top of the list is “The Sopranos,” HBO’s multiple award-winning hit series that ended its run in 2007.

Assembled for the very first time, the list selects the best of TV from early sitcoms, like “The Honeymooners,” to current programs such as “Homeland” and “Louie.”

PHOTOS: WGA’s top 101 TV shows


While it’s not surprising that reality shows are entirely absent from the list, those who are doubtful that we’re living in a golden age of television may be shocked to learn that 17 of the top 100 are shows still on the air, including longtime champs such as “The Simpsons,” “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show.”

Here is the complete list of the 101 best shows as selected by an online poll of writers of film and TV.

1. “The Sopranos”

2. “Seinfeld”


3. “The Twilight Zone”

4. “All in the Family”

5. “MASH”

6. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”


7. “Mad Men”

8. “Cheers”

9. “The Wire”

10. “The West Wing”


11. “The Simpsons”

12. “I Love Lucy”

13. “Breaking Bad”

14. “The Dick Van Dyke Show”


15. “Hill Street Blues”

16. “Arrested Development”

17. “The Daily Show”

18. “Six Feet Under”


19. “Taxi”

20. “The Larry Sanders Show”

21. “30 Rock”

22. “Friday Night Lights”


23. “Frasier”

24. “Friends”

25. “Saturday Night Live”

26. “The X-Files”


27. “Lost”

28. “ER”

29. “The Cosby Show”

30. “Curb Your Enthusiasm”


31. “The Honeymooners”

32. “Deadwood”

33. “Star Trek”

34. “Modern Family”


35. “Twin Peaks”

36. “NYPD Blue”

37. “The Carol Burnett Show”

38. “Battlestar Galactica”


39. “Sex and the City”

40. “Game of Thrones”

41. “The Bob Newhart Show”

42. “Your Show of Shows”


43. “Downton Abbey”

44. “Law & Order”

45. “Thirtysomething”

46. “St. Elsewhere”


47. “Homicide: Life on the Street”

48. “Homeland”

49. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

50. “The Good Wife”


51. “The Colbert Report”

52. “The Office” (British version)

53. “Northern Exposure”

54. “The Wonder Years”


55. “L.A. Law”

56. “Sesame Street”

57. “Columbo”

58. “The Rockford Files”


59. “Fawlty Towers”

60. “Moonlighting”

61. “Freaks and Geeks”

62. “Roots”


63. “Everybody Loves Raymond”

64. “South Park”

65. “Playhouse 90"

66. “The Office” (U.S. version)


67. “Dexter”

68. “My So-Called Life”

69. “Golden Girls”

70. “The Andy Griffith Show”


71. “The Shield”

72. “Roseanne”

73. “24"

74. “Murphy Brown”


75. “House”

76. “Barney Miller”

77. “I, Claudius”

78. “The Odd Couple”


79. “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

80. “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”

81. “Upstairs Downstairs”

82. “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”


83. “Get Smart”

84. “Gunsmoke”

85. “The Defenders”

86. “Sergeant Bilko”


87. “Justified”

88. “Band of Brothers”

89. “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”

90. “The Prisoner”


91. “The Muppet Show”

92. “Absolutely Fabulous”

93. “Boardwalk Empire”

94. “Will and Grace”


95. “Family Ties”

96. “Lonesome Dove”

97. “Soap”

98. “The Fugitive”


99. “Louie”

100. “Late Night With David Letterman”

101. “Oz”



