The Bestest TV Shows Evar

 The Bestest TV Shows Evar

For quite some time I have been recommending TV shows to friends and then adding, "it’s probably one of the best shows ever."  After saying it twice in the past couple of days, it got me thinking about what it means to be the best in TV programming. 

To be the best it can’t just be entertaining to me. Sorry TV’s Benson, but as much as I like you and your snarky but wise ways, you don’t make the cut. Nor does it have to simply be ground-breaking. As much as All in the Family changed TV, it remains a pretty lame program. 

The best programs have to be thought-provoking, emotionally engaging, innovative, beautifully filmed, and ultimately, unique. But the two themes that run through most of the shows on this list is that they have excellent characters and they have an idealist approach. Even the Twilight Zone, which occasionally had cynical moments, could not be considered anything but idealist.

On the list below you will notice that most of these programs are more recent. There’s a reason for that: TV is better now than in the past. Unlike film where people can argue that there was a "Golden Age" of film, it’s hard to truly argue for a Golden Age of TV. Like film, television has gone through eras. But unlike film, TV seems to consistently get better as opposed to going through cycles.

So, on to the list!

The Top Ten Television Shows of All Time (arranged by date of first broadcast)

– I Love Lucy (1951-1957)

It is still funny. No matter how many times you see Veetavitavegamin, or Lucy setting her fake nose on fire, or the mirror scene with Harpo, it remains funny. That I was born nearly a quarter century after its broadcast and can still enjoy this program says so much about the brilliance of this show.

Not only was it funny, but I Love Lucy transcended the acting styles of its era to create fully drawn characters that you cared about. Sure, the show was slapsticky and still pretty theater-based like most programs from that era. But you believed in the existence of Ricky and Lucy and Fred and Ethel. More importantly, you cared about them–and that’s one of the most important keys to making a show work.

– The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)

You can tell the difference between a Rod Serling episode of Twilight Zone and one written by someone else. Episodes written by others tend to have creepy, sometimes vengeful endings. For instance, William Matheson’s "Nightmare at 20,000 Ft.," has Shatner eventually taken away in a straightjacket for seeing something unbelievable but arguably real. 

But "Eye of the Beholder," with the lady having the plastic surgery, and the doctors that all look like they’re on the goofballs, and the flavin’ and huygens… Sorry, got some Jerry Lewis stuck in my throat. Anyway, that episode is a perfect Rod Serling episode. It’s more than just a simple morality play. It sticks with you. Even for the era the visuals are very striking. But it’s the feel of this episode that lets us in on what makes Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone tick.

Serling cared about people. He fought for equality, fought against war, fought against ignorance. But instead of doing it with silly protest signs or panty-waisted complaining, he created art. There aren’t many anthology shows on my Top Ten list, and that’s because few deserve to be here. Perhaps the reason is that there just aren’t enough people like Rod Serling.

– The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968)

As much as I love this show, I had some serious concerns about putting it in the top ten. First off, a better name for the series is "Don’t F With Andy." In nearly every episode, somebody in Mayberry does something stupid and good ol’ Andy Taylor, with his aw-shucks attitude, tells them they are wrong. Inevitably, that person continues their alarmingly dumb ways. So, Andy sets up a contrivance to prove that person wrong and teach them just how wrong they are. Don’t you dare F with Andy.

But that only becomes apparent after watching a bazillion episodes of the Andy Griffith Show–something I have gladly done. Every character was unique and thoughtfully created. We not only know Aunt Bee, Opie, Barney, Otis, Gomer, et al, but we understand their motivations.

Additionally, the way the Andy Griffith show was shot was quite different for a sitcom of its era. Even though there were sets, the feeling of Mayberry as a town was made real by filming scenes in the street, around the corner from the sheriff’s office, down at Floyd’s, the fishing hole, and just about everywhere else.

– Star Trek (All series – 1966 – 2005)

Why do people still watch Star Trek? There’s even a new Star Trek movie coming out next year. This show was canceled after three seasons, had low viewership, mediocre acting, and cheap special effects. What made Star Trek hold up that didn’t work for Lost In Space, Space 1999, or most other sci-fi shows produced during the 40+ years that Star Trek has been around?

Idealism is the heart of Star Trek. Not only did it show the obvious nice things about the future–star travel, contact with other life forms, a racially integrated society–but there were a lot of subtle details that helped create this idealized future. The greatest illustration is that the future wasn’t so different as to be unrecognizable. Sure, Vulcans served aboard the biggest baddest mama-jama starship, but there wasn’t much of a difference between the Enterprise and an office building. The subtext of Star Trek is, "Hey, we’re almost there, and it’s not the technology that helps us get along–it’s us."

– The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978)

Here again, as is the case with the shows above, it’s people that make the Bob Newhart Show so good. Bob and Emily Hartley are a realistic couple. The show rarely traps them in a sitcom style fabrication. Instead, they deal with everyday situations such as buying a house, having neighborhood watch over for dinner, or going to a children’s restaurant for Bob’s birthday ("Party Pooper!"). Much like Newhart’s stand-up comedy, the Bob Newhart Show mined the quirks of regular life for its humor. In so doing, it showed that all of us can be as funny as Newhart if we step aside and watch ourselves for a bit. 

One question, though: Why does Bob cross the Chicago River three or four times after leaving work? He just keeps going back and forth, and then takes a train across.

– Top Gear (2002 – )

This might seem the oddest inclusion on the list, but Top Gear has always been more than a car show. Sure, watching Clarkson take some monsterous sports car for a spin at 200+ mph on the test track is fun to see for a bit. But if that’s all the show offered then it wouldn’t be BBC2’s highest rated show nor the most downloaded TV show of all time.

Here again, idealism is the key factor behind the greatness of Top Gear. An episode where Clarkson reviews the amazing Bugatti Veyron has him driving to the astonishing Millau Viaduct in France. There he equates the Veyron with two other achievements by mankind: This bridge and the Concorde.

Top Gear serves to remind us that these cars are the craft of people, not machines that have somehow popped into existence. May, Hammond, and Clarkson talk foremost about passion and heart instead of reliability and technical prowess. This is why they would choose an Alfa Romeo over a Mazda RX-8 or an Audi TT. The Alfa is, objectively, the worst car of the three, but they are all drawn to it.

Watching Top Gear is a bit like watching a history show (May and Clarkson even have their own history shows that air on BBC). We are seeing the achievements of mankind presented with an understanding of the people and passion behind them. That this show is contemporary with these achievements is, in itself, a view at how great humans can be.

– Rescue Me (2004 – )

Okay, it can be silly and over the top. They occasionally introduce characters and then forget about them (where is Tommy’s other brother Timo?). But few shows have ever had such richly developed characters as the cast of Rescue Me. Even with the truly hateful things that Tommy Gavin does we see care about him because we see him as a real person.

But this isn’t the Denis Leary show. Every actor on that show has created someone that is compelling and fully realized. There are plenty of scenes that stick with you because they become a part of your own emotional makeup. When Tommy speaks on behalf of their chief after he commited suicide, the scene is incredibly powerful. We know that Chief O’Reilly isn’t real, but we also know that Denis Leary is talking about real people. Perhaps its the heroism of real firefighters that comes through on Rescue Me. Perhaps its something deeper. Whatever it is, Rescue Me is simply not escapist television.

– Lost (2004 – )

There is a scene in season 1 of Lost that encapsulates what makes Lost one of the best shows ever made. The scene is brief and really quite simple: The character of John Locke is looking at a window on a hatch. On a basic level he’s upset because he can’t open this hatch. While having a breakdown a light turns on behind the hatch. This is one of the most startling and shocking moments I’ve even seen on television or in film.

Think about this: The only "special effect" was turning on a light switch. Yet this light switch was borderline miraculous. There IS something behind the hatch. John Locke hasn’t wasted his time. The people who have worked, sometimes unwittingly, toward opening this hatch did not die in vain. How many shows can create such an intense moment and symbolize so much about the struggles of characters and offer so much about the future of these characters by only turning on a light switch?

Lost is a show that is successful on so many levels that it is almost impossible to appreciate. It combines romance, sci-fi, mystery, crime, action-adventure, comedy, philosophy, artsy-fartsy, and who knows what else into a surprisingly concise and compelling program. That it is more successful at this than Twin Peaks or the Prisoner (two shows that almost made this list) is all the more amazing.

Much like Top Gear where we are shown the advancements that will be remembered in the future, Lost is a work of art that is unfolding now. I have no doubt that Lost will become a staple of future university courses.

– Life On Mars (2006 – 2007)

Where to start with Life on Mars? What is this show? As with Lost, Life on Mars combines myriad elements of other genres. But unlike Lost, it is also bad-ass. Gene Hunt, as with Rescue Me’s Tommy Gavin, is an incredibly anti-hero. He’s a jerk and possibly a horrible person, and yet, you know that he is the good guy. Nothing comes ahead of his quest to put the bad guys in jail or in the ground. Many shows and films have had cop-on-the-edge characters similar to Gene Hunt, but none have been as compelling or scary.

This show could have been a comedy (it almost was). But they took the premise of someone lost in time and made it thoroughly real. That realism offers us a glimpse at how far we have come in only 35 years. The show is not a paean for times gone by, but a reminder of how much better life is now. However, it does also serve to remind us that people are what matter most–not the technology, gadgets, and geegaws of today. Sam Tyler’s ultimate choice is because of his connection to people.

So that’s it. I don’t imagine you will agree with me about these shows–no one will ever agree about the best TV shows ever. But before you respond, think about what makes a program good. Special effects and set pieces are transient. It’s the characters and idealism that makes a show lasting.

 Yr fthfl bddy,
Mike