Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

[Fresh Tendrils]

http://www.slashfilm.com/writers-guild-of-america-lists-the-101-best-written-tv-shows-of-all-time/

The List:

1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone
4. All in the Family
5. M*A*S*H
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 **** Show
15. Hill Street Blues
16. Arrested Development
17. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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 (2005)
39. Sex & The City
40. Game of Thrones
41. The Bob Newhart Show and Your Show of Shows (tie)
43. Downton Abbey, Law & Order and Thirtysomething (tie)
46. Homicide: Life on the Street and St. Elsewhere (tie)
48. Homeland
49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
50. The Colbert Report, The Good Wife and the UK Office (tie)
53. Northern Exposure
54. The Wonder Years
55. L.A. Law
56. Sesame Street
57. Columbo
58. Fawlty Towers and The Rockford Files (tie)
60. Freaks and Geeks and Moonlighting (tie)
62. Roots
63. Everybody Loves Raymond and South Park (tie)
65. Playhouse 90
66. Dexter and the US Office (tie)
68. My So-Called Life
69. Golden Girls
70. The Andy Griffith Show
71. 24, Roseanne and The Shield
74. House and Murphy Brown (tie)
76. Barney Miller and I, Claudius (tie)
78. The Odd Couple
79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Upstairs, Downstairs (tie)
83. Get Smart
84. The Defenders and Gunsmoke (tie)
86. Justified, Sgt. Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show (tie)
88. Band of Brothers
89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
90. The Prisoner
91. Absolutely Fabulous and The Muppet Show (tie)
93. Boardwalk Empire
94. Will & Grace
95. Family Ties
96. Lonesome Dove and Soap
98. The Fugitive, Late Night with David Letterman and Louie
101. Oz

Seems kind of all over the place.

[Rasco11]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

#56 Sesame Street

For real? Lol. My rubber ducky was amazing and all, but the writing of The Muppets >>>>>>...>>>>> Sesame Street. Jim Henson and Co. got hosed.

[Burns11]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

Jim Henson and Co got hosed because Jim Henson and Co's Sesame Street made the list but Jim Henson and Co's The Muppet Show did not? Okay...

Anyway, I would argue the writing job was better on Sesame Street, it's easier writing for adults than kids and some of the writing especially in early Sesame Street dealing with subjects as heavy as race within the sensitivities of toddlers, all while still making it entertaining and funny is a masterful job.

[daflyboys]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

Friday Night Lights too high.
The Honeymooners.... way too low.
The Daily Show..... shouldn't qualify. Not really a T.V. Show per se.
SNL: too many bad skits over the years.

[deaduck]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

The Daly Show..... shouldn't qualify. Not really a T.V. Show per se.

I would argue that the shows format made/makes good writing even more valuable.

[daflyboys]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

I would argue that the shows format made/makes good writing even more valuable.

But it has the benefit of being fed everyday news/social items versus every other show on the list that utilizes fictional characters and having to develop a storyline. It's a whole different genre.

And now that I look at it.... I think The Shield should be higher as well.

[deaduck]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

But it has the benefit of being fed everyday news/social items versus every other show on the list that utilizes fictional characters and having to develop a storyline. It's a whole different genre.

None of the shows on the list were created in a vacuum. All of them were created within the times and genres of their age.

I think your objection centers on the idea that good writing is FICTION. I don't think the makers of the list were bothered by the idea that good writing is limited to that. A good poet isn't a better writer than a speech writer just by the merits of the form.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

This list is fubar....So many good shows left off, so many shows on this list that shouldn't be.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

The list starts riding off the rails for me at LOST and ER.

[jeremym480]

Boardwalk Empire should at least be in the top half.

Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk 2

[daflyboys]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

None of the shows on the list were created in a vacuum. All of them were created within the times and genres of their age.

I think your objection centers on the idea that good writing is FICTION. I don't think the makers of the list were bothered by the idea that good writing is limited to that. A good poet isn't a better writer than a speech writer just by the merits of the form.

Maybe a bit, but it's still apples and oranges. Nothing happens in a vacuum. But that type of a show being included is like Secretariat being included in the top 50 athletes of the 20th C.

[deaduck]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

But that type of a show being included is like Secretariat being included in the top 50 athletes of the 20th C.

My three hundred pound butt could have rode Secretariat to a couple of victories...give the horse it's props.

Clearly, you want to hang on to your opinion. Ignoring The Emmy's, The Writers Guild and just about all aspects of The Daily Show that mark it as something separate from a "news" program.

Curious, Do you even watch the show?

[daflyboys]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

My three hundred pound butt could have rode Secretariat to a couple of victories...give the horse it's props.

Clearly, you want to hang on to your opinion. Ignoring The Emmy's, The Writers Guild and just about all aspects of The Daily Show that mark it as something separate from a "news" program.

Curious, Do you even watch the show?

Not religiously. I'm not a big fan of his delivery.

[Rocky]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

The Wire>>>>>>>>>>>>>>The Sopranos (except for the first couple of seasons or so).

[55]

Re: Writers Guild 101 Best Written T.V. Shows

Well, my two favorite shows of all-time came in at second and third so I have no major beef with this.

My current favorite show is already in thirteenth and will undoubtedly rise once it's over.