The Telly Meme

[jacey]

From klwilliams
Empire Magazine has revealed its list of the "50 Greatest TV Shows" ever. Below is the list and here be the rules.

1. Bold the shows you've watched every episode of
2. Italic the shows you've seen at least one episode of
3. Post your answers

50. Quantum Leap (probably saw most of these but I couldn't guarantee I saw all)
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars (Never had the opportunity to see this)
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex and The City

45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
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 (only saw a few)
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood  (all of Season One but haven't been able to afford the DVDs of the other 2 seasons yet.)

30. Dexter (this is only just showing on digi channels in the UK - I watched a couple but it's a bit slimy and I've stopped)
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf (only caught a few - mostly out of sequence so I never really got it)

25. Futurama (only caught a couple)
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office UK
22. The Shield
21. Angel

20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park (only saw a couple)
16. Doctor Who -- I've seen all of the new and most of the old except for Colin Baker

15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld (I maybe only caught a couple on transatlantic flights)

10. Spaced
09. The X-Files (never watched it much)
08. The Wire
07. Friends (never saw them consistently but liked what i saw)
06. 24

05. Lost (1st 3 seasons, i.e. all that's available to me in the UK so far since i don't have Sky TV)
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons (Only saw a few)

My telly watching is very specific and I catch up with a lot on DVD since some of the SF series are only available on Sky TV in the UK which I do not have and probably will not get. My top ten so far would be:

1) Firefly
2) Doctor Who (New)
3) Buffy
4) Farscape
5) Robin of Sherwood (surprisingly still far up the list after 25 years)
6) Torchwood (this is much higher up on the list currently but when the dust settles i think this is where it will end up)
7) Lost
8) Battlestar Galactica (New)
9)Sharp's Rifles
10) Blakes 7
11) Babylon 5
12) Dark Angel
13) Star Trek TNG
14) Heroes - season one (Season two is not avail to me yet)
15) Survivors (excellent for its day)

Oops it had to be a top fifteen because there were just some I couldn't miss out of the list - and I'm not absolutely sure about the order. I still haven't mentioned: Alias Smith and Jones (fondly remembered);  Inheritance (There's trouble at t' mill, Mester Oldroyd'); Doomwatch (first season only); Doctor Who (Tom Baker Years); A for Andromeda (the original one - which I've never been able to get out of my head, though if I saw it again I would probably be hugely disappointed); Star Trek DS9; Stargate (a potboiler but what the hell); Smallville (good in parts); Primeval (growing on me); Supernatural (first season started out well, missed the second, third may have jumped the shark); and the rest of Doctor Who - old - which still has some amazing high points (as well as low points). Thumbs down for Colin Baker. Have been watching the new Bionic Woman and Sarah Connor Chronicles, but so far have failed to really care much about either. And what about Life on Mars, Poldark and The Onedin Line? And then there's 'The one I'm sure to have forgotten about'.

Comments

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

We'd certainly get along when watching TV. I adore Alias Smith and Jones, and really liked Dark Angel, too. Plus I agree with all of your other list that I've seen.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Re Smith and Jones: I was so sad when Pete Duel died... devastated in fact.

And Dark Angel was highly underrated. I wish they'd had the opportunity to play out a third season. I hate it when shows get cancelled on a cliffhanger ending.

[charlieallery.livejournal.com]

Well I'm surprised that they don't mention Law and Order or Hill Street Blues, but I'd see you both of those and raise you Dixon of Dock Green with a side order of The New Avengers and Space 1999. Why yes, I am stuck in a past era, thank you. *g* And actually my 2 favourite TV shows are ST:Voyager and Xena which, between them have some of the biggest and most active fanfiction communities on the internet, so I'm not actually stuck watching the DVDs, but can have new stories in both series on a fairly regular basis!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

For some reason I missed the first few seasons of ST Voyager and never quite caught up. I am hoping that since Virgin seems to be working its way through the whole ST canon again that eventually they'll get round to VGR. I've only been watching digi-telly since Christmas so I might have already missed it, of course.

I missed Xena too - that was on Sky I think. I'm sure it will come round again on one of the freeview stations.

[charlieallery.livejournal.com]

Well, Channel 5 were showing Xena way back in the mists of time , oh, 1998/9, at the same time as it was on Sky one. But I'm guessing you probably don't have much in the way of C5 reception. :) Don't fall for the superficial bimbo-ness of Xena, the lead actors are actually very good and the stories, once you forgive the tongue-firmly-in-cheek attitude towards Greek or indeed any mythology, are a blast and distinctly feminist in their take. The xenaverse is a law unto itself and cannot be taken seriously and indeed never takes itself seriously.

Actors to watch out for - Karl Urban (Eomare in LOTR) playing Caesar and Cupid, Marton Csorkas (Celeborn in LOTR, Kingdom of Heaven and Aeon Flux) playing Borias, Xena's ex- and father of her first child, and the awesome late Kevin Smith as Ares, King of banter.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I have got decent Channel five reception but for some reason managed to ignore it for years thinking it was that new fangled channel that showed sport and stuff. Yeah, well... I did say I don't watch much telly and sometimes it takes a while. We'd had the digibox for four years before istarted to think there might be something worth watchng on the freeview channels. I was only forced into digibox watching when they started to put Dr Who Confidential on BBC3.

When we used to be singing or a living watching anything on a regular weekly basis was a nightmare because we might be away for a day, a week or seven weeks at a time. I'm only just getting used to the fact that I can do weekly watching again. Though sometimes I just forget what day it is. Working from home does that to you.

I have my daily diabetic medication in a pill pot with days of the week and more often than not I look at the pill box to see what day it is rather than the day to see if I've taken my pills.

[brownnicky.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever watched all the episodes of anything but other than that my list is quite like yours. I loved Dark Angel and was unmoved by the new Bionic woman - the actress who used to be on East Enders is pretty but not very warm somehow i found it surprisingly uninvolving.
I Claudius ?

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I Claudius. I knew I'd forget something. My friend Steve bought me the DVD set for my birthday last year. Now that's a friend. (Best Beloved wouldn't have had a clue.)

I loved it... even the spoof that Morecambe and Wise did 'One Clavdivs'. Patrick Stewart with curly hair playing the villain! Mmmmm.
:-)

[tychist.livejournal.com]

50. Quantum Leap
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex and The City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
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: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5 (Ooooh Yes)
31. Deadwood
30. Dexter
29. ER Stopped watching this halfway through second series
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama Seen two, I think
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office UK
22. The Shield
21. Angel
20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who
15. Heroes second series isn't here yet
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica love the new, hated the old
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
09. The X-Files gave up after the film
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24 Gave it a try, hated it.
05. Lost gave up in second series
04. The West Wing( loved it but gave up on last series)
03. The Sopranos( saw most of it)
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons (Some)