Tuesday, June 11, 2013

POLL UPDATE! "TEN GREATEST TV SHOWS OF ALL-TIME!": IN LIGHT OF WGA'S OWN RECENT LIST!



Well, while we here, having been painstakingly compiling a poll of the "TEN GREATEST TV SHOWS OF ALL-TIME!", the WGA, the Writer's Guild of America, which for the few who may not know, is the Screenwriters' Union in Hollywood, released their own list last week, of the "101 Best-Written TV Shows of All-Time".  Not gonna lie, being as list-obsessed as I am, I took a day and a half or so, pouring over it. Oh, if you haven't done that yet, here's the link to their list below:

http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=4925

You should also the introduction to the list, written by Paul Brownfield, it's quite a good opening.

http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=4857

Personally, I think it's actually quite a good list they compiled. Sure, there's a few complaints like all lists do, it certainly looks very different from a list I would've compiled, overall.... I mean there's maybe 3 or 4 shows, that I think, no good reason or argument can be made for their inclusion, and some of them were pretty high too but, that's not bad for these kind of lists, and the rest, I can certainly understand it getting on this list, even if a few wouldn't have made mine, or if it should've been in another order, but generally, I think the Writer's Guild did quite a good job on this. They did one a few years ago, regarding the Best Screenplays of all-time, and this one, and I like that they chose to do one for television, as I'm doing here. This poll was constructed to be a television equivalent, at least structurally, to "Sight & Sound"'s movie poll, so there's a lot of admiration I have for it.

In case you're wondering about their top-sheet results, they named "The Sopranos" as the Best-Written TV show of All-Time, with "Seinfeld", 2nd, followed by "The Twilight Zone", "All in the Family", "M*A*S*H", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Mad Men", "Cheers", "The Wire" and "The West Wing" rounding out the Top Ten. (Alright, "The West Wing" was way too low, there I said it.) The rest, I'll let you look up, but it's actually not that different from the way our Poll has been looking. For the most part anyway, there's currently one show in the Top Ten, of our Current Results, that didn't make their list, (I'll tell you which show that is in a bit) but keep in mind, they're judging the writing only, of a show. The writing is one aspect, and a crucial one at that, but it's not necessarily the only aspect that makes great show. Especially in our poll, where we accept votes for TV shows, that don't even have writing. So there you go.

Speaking of votes, let's take a look at the newest ballots to be received in our poll, and a special thank you to Josh Lyons of Couch Potato Club, for participating. He's the latest entertainment blogger to participate, I sincerely hope we get many more of them soon.

JOSH LYONS (Couch Potato Club; http://www.couchpotatoclub.com/ )
Friends ('94)
Cheers ('82)
Roseanne
The Walking Dead
The Office ('05)
Married...with Children
The Simpsons
Monk
The Big Bang Theory
Alfred Hitchcock Presents ('55)

ARON FELLOWES
1. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer
2. Scrubs
3. Angel ('99)
4. Firefly
5. Boardwalk Empire
6. Breaking Bad
7. The Big Bang Theory
8. Dollhouse
9. Modern Family
10. New Girl

VONDA JACOBS
Survivor
The Voice ('11)
The X-Factor ('11)
American Idol
Revolution
Touch
Hell's Kitchen ('10)
MasterChef ('10)
Big Brother ('00)
The Amazing Race

LARRY BRAUS
M*A*S*H
Star Trek ('66)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Saturday Night Live
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Mad Men
The Sopranos
The Walking Dead
The Bob Newhart Show ('72)
Dragnet ('67)

Well, we're still quite a ways from actually finishing that Poll, but we're getting closer. We're almost 3/4th the way done. The top sheet, still pretty much looks the same, with "Seinfeld" still way ahead of the field, although "M*A*S*H", is getting closer to them. Other than that, the only completely new entry into the Top Ten, making it into the Top Ten, for the first time, is "The Walking Dead," which, yes, that's also the show, that didn't make WGA's list. (I haven't seen it, you can complain to the WGA.)

Right now, we're still a little short of our goal of 100 ballots, so we still need more people, like you, to participate! In case you're new to this, the "TEN GREATEST TV SHOWS OF ALL-TIME!" poll, like I said, was a television reaction to "Sight & Sound"'s Movie poll, only thing is that, anybody can participate. If you want to submit your ballot, there dozens of places all over Facebook in movie groups, and movie reviewer groups, as well as on my Facebook page, you can Comment with your ballot their, you can send it to me, you can message it to me on Facebook, or you can just comment with it on this blogpost below. However you can get ahold of me, get ahold of me, basically. And leave your name too, I won't accept Anonymous ballots; if it's your choices for the "TEN GREATEST TV SHOWS OF ALL-TIME!", you should be proud enough to put your name down, and also because, I need a way of contacting you, in case I have a question on your ballot. For instance, in case a title has been used for multiple TV shows, like "The Office", or "Hawaii Five-O", or "Dragnet", most recently, or a few other cases, regarding rules. Here are the rules by the way:

RULE #1: As long as it originated on television, it's eligible for the poll, regardless of genre.
That basically means, you can vote for anything you want. Sitcom, drama, talk show, reality shop, soap opera, news magazine, children's shows, animated shows, instructional shows, miniseries, TV movies, network shows, cable shows,.. etc. As long as it originally aired on television, it's eligible. (ie. you can't vote for "M*A*S*H", the original movie, because that was first shown in movie theaters,  but you can vote for "M*A*S*H", the TV series, 'cause that aired on TV.)

RULE #2: You must select 10, and ONLY 10 SHOWS. No picking more, no picking less. Just 10!

It's been rare, but there have been a couple occasions where I had to disqualify a vote, for something like "Looney Tunes", which, the version of that, that most people mean when they say that, actually aired in movie theaters originally, so, things like that, that come up. So yeah, make sure, I can in some way, contact you, in case this happens.

So, that it's. Be as specific as possible, but don't worry, it's only ten shows. Time for to vote, and submit your ballot, to name the "TEN GREATEST TV SHOWS OF ALL-TIME!"

20 comments:

David Baruffi said...

It took a little time, and a lot of rule violations, but eventually Matthew Kennedy submitted his final ballot!

MATTHEW KENNEDY
1. Star Trek ('66)
2. Wild Wild West
3. Cosmos
4. Sesame Street
5. Breaking Bad
6. Sanford & Son
7. The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show
8. The Andy Griffith Show
9. Mystery Science Theater 3000
10. The Twilight Zone ('59)

David Baruffi said...

LOL. I know the feeling.

David Baruffi said...

John Wagner, has submitted his ballot on Annette's Debates!

JOHN WAGNER
1. Twin Peaks
2. The Muppet Show
3. The Simpsons
4. Rocky and His Friends (aka Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends)
5. Community
6. Grimm
7. South Park
8. Freaks and Geeks
9. Late Night with Conan O'Brien
10. One Step Beyond

James the Reviewer said...

No Doctor Who or Firefly on WGN's list? Although I suppose those are mostly nerd shows, but the shows are awesome. I am not sure if you are familiar with Doctor Who but something that you might want to consider is that both the new and old Doctor Who series are still technically the same series just with several year hiatus between. It is about the same basic character It does take place within the same continuity.

You said that I could ask people I know about their lists so here is the list of my co-author of my blog and brother Jacob.
1: Doctor Who
2: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
3: Firefly
4: Seinfeld
5: Fringe
6: Stargate: SG-1
7: Batman: The Animated Series (90s series)
8: Stargate Atlantis
9: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
10: Sherlock

Can I change my list? Since voting on your post, I have been watching the entire Firefly series and loved it. Sorry for changing my list.
1: Doctor Who
2: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
3: Firefly
4: Seinfeld
5: Fringe
6: Stargate: SG-1
7: Batman: The Animated Series (90s series)
8: Stargate Atlantis
9: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
10: Sherlock

I know my brother's list is the same as mine, but we like the same things.

-James

David Baruffi said...

The new "Dr. Who," is on my Netflix, I haven't seen it yet. I am through three seasons of "Torchwood" though, but that's it, so far. Frankly, if I was picking a Steven Moffatt show, I'd pick "Coupling", which I consider one of the greatest sitcoms and sex farces of all-time, but-I'm okay that. As to your ballot, I do allow people to change, for a time, but you submitted your ballot, almost 2 months ago, that's a little too long ago. Your vote's long been counted already. Sorry, about that, but I will accept your brother Jacob's ballot, under the name "Jacob, the Movie Reviewer" (I'm assuming that's his last name since you're both brothers.) and post that, along with a link to you website, next time I post an update. Again, sorry about saying no, to having you change your ballot, but I've this come up before, and I had to no before, when it was this far after, and I have to be consistent.

David Baruffi said...

Stephanie Juste, has submitted a PROVISIONAL ballot, also on Annette's Debate, thank you Stephanie.

STEPHANIE JUSTE
1. I Love Lucy
2. The Andy Griffith Show
3. Rocky and His Friends (aka Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends)
4. The Flintstones
5. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
6. City Confidential
7. Cold Case ('03)
8. Hawaii Five-O ('68)
9. Despierta America
10. Huckabee

David Baruffi said...

Oh, and please feel free to bring in as many people as you can to submit their ballots, though; I truly appreciate that. Thank you very much. :)

David Baruffi said...

Demitry Courtney, has submitted his ballot on "MOVIES AND TV CRITICS" on FB.

DEMITRY COURTNEY
24
The Wire
The Cosby Show
Oz
The Sopranos
Three's Company
Chappelle's Show
Family Guy
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Scandal

James the Reviewer said...

I have not seen "Coupling", but anything Moffat writes has been fantastic so I probably will check it out.
No problem, I complete understand why it cannot be changed. Also thank for accepting my brother ballot and yes add his name as "Jacob the Movie Review" with a link to my and his blog. :) If I can get a list from some family and friends I will come back and vote for them.

-James

David Baruffi said...

The more you can get, the better. I'm aiming for 100 ballots, and I'm almost 4/5 the way there, so if you can get them, keep them coming. Right now, you can find "Coupling" on Netflix streaming, (And DVD is you choose that) if you want to catch. I describe it to people as "Sex and the City" meets "Friends", only it's 10x funnier than those shows put together, so I highly recommend it. So, if you want to catch, I'd recommend finding it there.

David Baruffi said...

A correction. Demitry has changed his ballot, replace "Family Guy", with "Martin". Thank you Demitry

David Baruffi said...

Matt Wells, the awesome movie Vlogger from "Matt's Movie Madness", has graciously participated in the poll! Thank you Matt!

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdynVV7Vfqma3CU0ZL12how

MATT WELLS
1. Spaced
2. Sherlock ('10)
3. Freaks and Geeks
4. Friends ('94)
5. Batman ('92 Animated Series)
6. Scrubs
7. The Sopranos
8. Entourage
9. Sons of Anarchy
10. Breaking Bad

Daniel said...

My Choices

Battlestar Galactica (2004)
Arrested Development
The Wire
Rome (HBO)
Peep Show (BBC)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine
The Simpsons
DC Animated Timmverse (Batman & Superman The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited)
Cheers
Breaking Bad

http://www.Flicksfan.blogspot.com

David Baruffi said...

Thanks Daniel! However, I can't accept the entire Timmverse, as a vote. One show, one vote, but nice try. You're not even the first one today to try that, but it's ten shows only.

David Baruffi said...

Jeff Blackwood has submitted his ballot on "Annette's Debate"!

JEFF BLACKWOOD
Firefly
Star Trek ('66)
Doctor Who ('05)
Magnum, P.I.
Fantasy Island
Sherlock ('11)
Foyle's War
M*A*S*H
The Muppet Show
Sons of Anarchy

David Baruffi said...

Sam Levi has posted his ballot, thank you Sam.

1. House, M.D.
2. Dexter
3. Firefly
4. Scrubs
5. Married...with Children
6. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
7. South Park
8. Entourage
9. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
10. The Walking Dead

David Baruffi said...

Thomas Coburn has submitted his ballot on Annette's Debates as well. Thank you Thomas.

THOMAS COBURN
Gunsmoke
The Andy Griffith Show
M*A*S*H
Wings
Maverick
All in the Family
Combat
Law & Order
Magnum, P.I.
Cheyenne

David Baruffi said...

My friend Jack Shrute of "The Cinema Jack" has selected his Top Ten. Thank you Jack

JACK SHRUTE
Afro Samurai
Arrested Development
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Batman ('92 Animated Series)
Case Closed ('96 Anime)
House, M.D.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
The Office ('05)
South Park

David Baruffi said...

Here's a provisional ballot from Daniel Spradco, posted on Annette's Debates as well.

DANIEL SPRADCO
The West Wing
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Carol Burnett Show
Planet Earth
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Northern Exposure
Fawlty Towers
Game of Thrones
Taxi
Hill Street Blues

David Baruffi said...

Okay, Daniel has now officially said that only "Batman" ('92 Animated Series) is his vote. Thank you Daniel.