101 Best Written TV Series Of All Time’ From WGA/TV Guide: Complete List

[Mudd]

Here.

TOS made 33rd and TNG 79th, which seems about right. The original Twilight Zone is in the top ten, and a couple of other skiffy shows are on the list.

 

[GNDN18]

Here.

TOS made 33rd and TNG 79th, which seems about right. The original Twilight Zone is in the top ten, and a couple of other skiffy shows are on the list.

TNG = Monty Python.
Interesting.

 

[at Quark's]

apparently, yet another name for TNG is "upstairs, downstairs",

I suppose the "upstairs" is the bridge, where all those fancy career officers are, being pretty and witty, and "downstairs" are the engine and transporter rooms, where all those poor slobs toil.

 

[Mudd]

TNG = Monty Python.
Interesting.

What's all this, then?

 

[GNDN18]

What's all this, then?

The competition for 79th place was tight:

79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents*TIE – CBS – Season One writers – Gwen Bagni, Samuel Blas, Robert Blees, Ray Bradbury, Richard Carr, James Cavanagh, Eustace Cockrell, Francis Cockrell, Marian Cockrell, John Collier, Robert C. Dennis, Mel Dinelli, Stanley Ellin, Fred Freiberger, Irwin Gielgud, Gina Kaus, Terence Maples, Richard Pedicini, Louis Pollock, Joseph Ruscoll, A.J. Russell, Stirling Silliphant, Andrew Solt, Harold Swanton, Victor Wolfson, Cornell Woolrich

79. Monty Python’s Flying Circus *TIE – BBC – Conceived and Written by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Neil Innes, Terry Jones, Michael Palin

79. Star Trek: The Next Generation *TIE – SYN – Created by Gene Roddenberry

79. Upstairs, Downstairs *TIE – PBS – Created by Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins

 

[Mudd]

 

[GNDN18]

View attachment 9514

Boy, is my face red.

 

[Mudd]

By my count, seven or eight of the series are skiffy shows of one kind or another (is The Prisoner really skiffy?)

nuBSG made it in there.

 

[1001001]

Moving to TVM, as this is a broader subject that just Trek.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

is The Prisoner really skiffy?

Yes.*

* - Rover, the beach ball; the ability to tap into the brain,....

And it was good to see it on the list.

 

[Mudd]

So, the CSI shows are skiffy, too?*

*Certainly not well-written.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

So, the CSI shows are skiffy, too?*

*Certainly not well-written.

When it comes to image enhancement, they're more just plain totally wrong than trying to be skiffy-esque. In any case, that show totally blows, and it's also annoying as fuck.

 

[CorporalClegg]

The crime-tech procedurals definitely have their fair share of skiffy bits. So do most medical procedurals

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'll concede that two people typing on the same keyboard is very forward-thinking.

---

I was glad to see Larry Sanders on the list. Besides reminding me to give that a rewatch, the list reinforces my desire to rewatch Moonlighting someday.

 

[GNDN18]

So, the CSI shows are skiffy, too?*

*Certainly not well-written.

When I was a prosecutor, that’s what I’d tell prospective jurors during the pick. “Have you ever seen CSI? Yeah, me too. But I like my science fiction set in space.”

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Happy that Buffy and BSG are on the list.

 

[gblews]

I actually posted this list here last year sometime after it was released. As great a show as Seinfeld was, it was still a bit of surprised at where it was ranked all time by the WGA. I guess because it was "just" a sitcom.

One of the more amusing things posted in response to this list before was one poster objecting to I Love Lucy (TV's first sitcom) being ranked so high, because he thought the show was "formulaic".

 

[The Realist]

Hill Street Blues should be higher on the list. Certainly top five, and I'd be inclined to say first.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Any list like this can be nit picked but not a bad list overall.

My only major qualm is the omission of Parks and Rec.

Obviously I think DS9, Community, Better Call Saul, Silicon Valley and Westworld belong there but I understand more leaving them off.

Yes, Minister also a lesser known show that really should be on lists like these especially for writing.