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Empire Magazine's 50 Best Shows Of All Time

post #1 of 64
3/30/08 at 1:42am
Thread Starter 
I say this without any hyperbole: This may, in fact, be the worst top 10 list on this particular subject in a long, long time. And I say that as someone who loves, unashamedly, three of the shows on this list. I know that it's passe, but I guess it's cool to ride the failroad in England.

http://www.empireonline.com/50greatesttv/

Top Ten:

10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24
05. Lost
04. West Wing
03. Sopranos
02. Buffy
01. Simpsons

As a buddy of mine said: "Too bad, everything before the early 1980s."

And I mean, really, The Wire before Friends? I'm of the belief that tv dramas and comedies need separation in lists like these, but Friends? Really? Really?

Also, according to Empire Magazine, Prison Break is the 49th greatest television show in history.
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post #2 of 64
3/30/08 at 1:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
06. 24
alkjdfjadfkjahfjk
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post #3 of 64
3/30/08 at 1:47am
Thread Starter 
I know. I skimmed down to the top 10 through the AICN link, but I'm reading the full list now and it's making me actively angry.
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post #4 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:06am
Thread Starter 
Okay, really now, I don't want to be that asshole, but if Heroes is on your 50 best anything having to relate to television, you are not allowed to ever have an opinion about tv ever again.
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post #5 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
Okay, really now, I don't want to be that asshole, but if Heroes is on your 50 best anything having to relate to television, you are not allowed to ever have an opinion about tv ever again.
Band of Brothers at 41? That's a sign of mental illness, not a top 50 list.
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post #6 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:11am
Here's the whole thing

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex and the City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek (classic series)
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers
40. Life On Mars
39. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted
35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood
30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office (British version)
22. The Shield
21. Angel
20. Blackadder (all incarnations)
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who (2005-present)
15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica (2003-present)
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
9. The X-Files
8. The Wire
7. Friends
6. 24
5. Lost
4. The West Wing
3. The Sopranos
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1. The Simpsons
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post #7 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:16am
The list does suck shit. No Freaks and Geeks means it doesn't count.
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post #8 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:16am
Thread Starter 
Oh, yeah, Sex and the City on a list in a genre magazine. It's like they said "We need a show for the women!" and it came down to that or Grey's Anatomy. Or they just put every show from HBO's Golden Age on the list. In which case, where the fuck is the one that started it all, Oz and its comedy counterpart, Larry Sanders?
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post #9 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:21am
The list was voted on by the readers.
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post #10 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:26am
Thread Starter 
Oh, well. That makes sense.

British people are stupid.
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post #11 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
Oh, well. That makes sense.

British people are stupid.
And what's with their teeth? OH SNAP!
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post #12 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:58am
What's Empire doing TV for? Damn, I used to love that mag, but it sure smoked a big bag of sellout.
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post #13 of 64
3/30/08 at 3:04am
Why post these lists on CHUD when every single thread leads to the same angry responses? Nobody comments on these lists except to bitch and moan, which is old, old, old. Maybe this is the tragedy of being a long time message board poster.
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post #14 of 64
3/30/08 at 3:18am
Thread Starter 
I rarely, if ever, comment on these or post them. But this was so unbeliveably ridiculous, it could not go unmentioned. I'm not the guy from Cracked, I'm the guy you buy off.
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post #15 of 64
3/30/08 at 4:51am
I'm complaining because Empire used to be great - I collected it for about 4 years and credit it for introducing me to a whole heap of classic films - Empire got me into Kurosawa. But I stopped when it started getting lightweight, dedicating 10 pages to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, for instance. Then it started including readers in its articles - I don't care what Harmony from Blackpool thinks about The Godfather. It's become the FHM of movie mags.
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post #16 of 64
3/30/08 at 5:35am
Plus, you have to take into account the fact that someone's going to read this list and take away the idea that one or two of these shows are truly great, when chances are a much better show with similar themes is out there languishing on the DVD market. I mean, Heroes over Arrested Development or even Futurama? Fuck you.
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post #17 of 64
3/30/08 at 6:14am
I shouldn't comment on this at all since I don't care, but isn't Dexter just into it's 2nd season or just finishing it or something?
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post #18 of 64
3/30/08 at 10:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu
As a buddy of mine said: "Too bad, everything before the early 1980s."
Pretty much.

I know better than to take a list like this seriously. Reading the forums, I'm genuinely convinced no one in Empire's readership is over the age of 18, which *kinda* excuses the willful, and stunning ignorance......and for the moment, never mind the fact that any list of this sort that doesn't have The Twilight Zone is automatically invalid....

...but Family Guy ranked higher than Monty Python's Flying Circus, Futurama, South Park, Scrubs, and Arrested Development.

FAMILY GUY.

No one involved in the making, voting, or defending of this list should be allowed entry into Heaven.
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post #19 of 64
3/30/08 at 11:05am
So... Buffy is the 2nd best show IN ALL OF HISTORY?
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post #20 of 64
3/30/08 at 11:51am
The list is make believe, right? Or sarcasm or irony or something? Is it that dry British wit that sometimes falls flat in the United States of America?
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post #21 of 64
3/30/08 at 12:57pm
Where in the name of fuck is THE PRISONER?
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post #22 of 64
3/30/08 at 1:12pm
Not to already join the choir but that list is bullshit for not having Hill Street Blues.
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post #23 of 64
3/30/08 at 1:33pm
The Wire after Friends and 24??????

That's just one of 50 things wrong in this shitlist.

Heroes?
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post #24 of 64
3/30/08 at 1:40pm
Gee...did someone forget:

'All in the Family'
'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'
'The Bob Newhart Show'
'The Prisoner'
'Rising Damp'
'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'
'Mystery Science Theater 3000'
'Our Show of Shows'
'Milton Berle'
'SNL' - sure, it has major issues, but who can deny the influence that this show has had? While it sometimes sucks in major way, it is certainly one of the 50 best shows of all time.

This list is ridiculous.
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post #25 of 64
3/30/08 at 1:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
'SNL' - sure, it has major issues, but who can deny the influence that this show has had? While it sometimes sucks in major way, it is certainly one of the 50 best shows of all time.
Very much doubt a British audience would vote that for one of the best shows ever. You're right about the rest.

I expected more from you, Europe!
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post #26 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:21pm
I didn't explode into a ball of flames until I saw Heroes.

Lists like these are posted to remind people who think "Heroes" is great to jump in front of a suicide robot.
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post #27 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:40pm
Arrested Development at 18!

What the Fuck?
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post #28 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:41pm
With a list like this, perhaps it would have been better if Hitler conquered your limey asses.

U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!
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post #29 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Kimbell View Post
Here's the whole thing


49. Prison Break
45. Farscape
26. Red Dwarf
16. Doctor Who (2005-present)
15. Heroes
I finally understand what Devin meant about Fanboys.
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post #30 of 64
3/30/08 at 2:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quarant View Post
So... Buffy is the 2nd best show IN ALL OF HISTORY?
Maybe not, but it's up there. That's actually one of the few things that's right with the list.
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post #31 of 64
3/30/08 at 3:02pm
If Empire is a british mag then why aren't there more british shows on that list?
Keeping Up Appearances at number one!
(i'm not kidding)
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post #32 of 64
3/30/08 at 3:16pm
Brits prefer "Frasier" over "Cheers?"

I appreciate the hard work and sacrifices of John Adams now more than ever.
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post #33 of 64
3/30/08 at 3:41pm
For one of the few times, I feel proud to be an American.

Still gonna go to Manchester next year but damn if I won't be there putting my yank bastardness to good use.
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post #34 of 64
3/30/08 at 3:48pm
We can talk shit about the Brits all we want, but Entertainment Weekly's lists aren't any better.
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post #35 of 64
3/30/08 at 3:49pm
Good point there Eaton. Good point indeed.
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post #36 of 64
3/30/08 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
Gee...did someone forget:

'All in the Family'
'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'
'The Bob Newhart Show'
'The Prisoner'
'Rising Damp'
'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'
'Mystery Science Theater 3000'
'Our Show of Shows'
'Milton Berle'
'SNL' - sure, it has major issues, but who can deny the influence that this show has had? While it sometimes sucks in major way, it is certainly one of the 50 best shows of all time.

This list is ridiculous.
Christ! All in the Family changed the very face of television when audiences were still lapping shit up like "Green Acres" and "Bewitched."

Where is "The Twilight Zone?"

Typical lists like this are made by people who know nothing about tv. Ya know, if the objective is to make a list of the best of all time, show some historical perspective and contributions.

If being on the air for a long time makes a show contender for best of all time then "Gunsmokle" should be number one instead of "The Simpsons," which does not deserve that title, maybe in 1997 it could have made a case, but now, no way!
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post #37 of 64
3/30/08 at 4:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Zod View Post
Christ! All in the Family changed the very face of television when audiences were still lapping shit up like "Green Acres" and "Bewitched."
Audiences still love shit like Green Acres and Bewitched.
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post #38 of 64
3/30/08 at 5:59pm
Look, I love me some Family Guy. But #12 of all-time?!?! And where the fuck was All in the Family, The Andy Griffith Show, Law & Order or MST3K (among many other shows)?
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post #39 of 64
3/30/08 at 6:48pm
They really should have realized that making this a list made by the readers was an awful idea. TV, for some people, is much more disposable than film is. I think a lot of people have fish-like memories when it comes to TV. That's why the oldest show in the top 10 is The X-Files. Hell, I bet some of these older shows wouldn't even be on here if they weren't on DVD.

Oh, and no Get Smart? Fuck you.
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post #40 of 64
3/30/08 at 6:58pm
No Crime Story, Miami Vice or Magnum PI. Disgusting.
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post #41 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:11pm
Do you guys think these kinds of lists become enshrined as absolute reality thanks to some kind of quantum mechanics magic? If FAMILY GUY now empirically better than your favorite show thanks to this list? I never understand people getting riled up about this stuff.
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post #42 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
I never understand people getting riled up about this stuff.
Ah, yeah, I forget how you always let dumb, annoying shit slide right by uncommented upon.
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post #43 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:30pm
Ordinarily, I'd agree. But in this case, there's a part of me fairly disturbed by the fact that, for the people who voted in this thing, this *is* reality.

The near-total lack of meaningful disagreement on the Empire forums about this (seriously, there are people bemoaning the absence of Damages and Smallville) is icing on an already piss-poor cake.
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post #44 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:32pm
Wait, you mean ordinary people like really crummy TV shows? My whole worldview is destroyed!

I've seen the shows you guys discuss here... it's all about degrees, as far as I can tell.
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post #45 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:34pm
Fair enough.

What are some of your favorite shows, Devin?
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post #46 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:36pm
Who gives a shit.
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post #47 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:39pm
Just making friendly conversation. Apparently I do.
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post #48 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
Who gives a shit.

I don't care for game shows.
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post #49 of 64
3/30/08 at 7:41pm
I'm failing to see a difference between people bitching here that the general public likes shitty TV and people bitching here and on the main page that the general public likes shitty movies.
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post #50 of 64
3/30/08 at 8:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
Who gives a shit.
Weren't you just all riled up about people liking Farscape or some such show?

I haven't seen a lot of the shows, but it does seem to be a pretty dumb list. Was it just a reader poll, or did they actually try to lay out some kind of judgment criteria in the mag?
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