What are the best TV Shows of all
time?
Fan of The Sopranos? Enjoy
Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, and the Game of Thrones?
Then you’re going to want to
stick around, as we’ve put together a list of the 50 best TV shows of all time,
including everything from iconic British sitcoms to epic American sagas; you’ll
find it all below!
So, without further ado, here’s a
list of the 50 best TV shows of all time.
The 50 Best TV Shows of All Time
The list of TV shows and figures
mentioned below have been compiled from various sources around the web, such
as IGN, IMDB & Empire.
These are the 50 best TV shows of
all time:
50. House
American television medical
drama, House, follows Dr. Gregory House, a medical genius who leads a
team of diagnosticians at a fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in
New Jersey.
His team helps several patients
while House guides the deliberations and diagnosis.
The series was first aired on the
Fox network in November 2004 and ran for eight seasons until it came to an end
in May 2012.
49. Oz
Oz is an American television
drama series that was released in July 1997.
It follows the story of the daily
activities of a rather unusual prison facility called “Emerald City,” and its
carefully managed, criminal inhabitants.
Oz was produced by the premium
cable network HBO and ran for six seasons, with the finale aired in February
2003.
48. Fargo
Fargo is an American black
comedy-crime drama television series.
It follows Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob
Thorton), who, on passing through Bemidji, Minnesota, influences the community
with his malice, violence, and deception.
The series premiered on April 15,
2014, and ran for three seasons. Another season is in the pipeline but delayed
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
47. Only Fools And Horses
Next on our list of the best TV
shows of all time is Only Fools And Horses.
This British television sitcom
debuted in 1981, on BBC One, and ran for ten years, with a further sixteen
sporadic Christmas episodes.
In a nutshell, the series follows
the “Trotters,” a south-east London family of market traders and
wheeler-dealers, as they do what they can to make their fortune.
46. Fleabag
Fleabag is a British
comedy-drama television series that follows the daily activities of a
free-spirited, confused and angry young woman in London.
The show was released in July
2016 and ran for two series until it concluded in April 2019.
45. Stranger Things
Stranger Things is an
American science fiction drama-horror web series that premiered on Netflix on
July 15, 2016.
The show's first season focuses on
the investigation into the disappearance of a young boy and the strange
goings-on in and around the town in which it’s set: Hawkins, Indiana.
Also, a young girl appears out of
nowhere that has some unusual psychokinetic abilities.
Stranger Things ran for
three seasons, with a total of twenty-five episodes.
44. Roots (2016)
Roots is a 2016 remake of
the 1977 miniseries of the same name.
It first aired on May 30, 2016,
and chronicles the life and events of an African man that was sold as a slave
in the United States of America.
Roots ran for a single
season with a total of four episodes.
43. Sons of Anarchy
Sons of Anarchy is a 2008
American crime television series that follows the day-to-day lives of an outlaw
motorcycle club operating in the fictional Californian Central Valley town of
Charming.
The series premiered on September
3, 2008, and ran for seven seasons totaling 92 episodes.
42. 24
24 is an American action
drama television series that follows the operations of Jack Bauer, Director of
Field Ops for the Counter-Terrorist Unit of Los Angeles.
To save his nation from the
ultimate threat, Bauer must race against the clock to figure out terrorist
plots and end them once and for all.
24 premiered on November 6,
2001, and spanned 192 episodes across eight seasons.
41. Frasier
Next on the list is the American
sitcom television series, Frasier.
The series follows the life and
shenanigans of psychiatrist Fraiser Crane after he returns to his hometown of
Seattle, Washington, to build a new life as a radio personality.
The TV show premiered on
September 16, 1993, and ran for 11 seasons.
40. Six Feet Under
Six Feet Under premiered on
HBO in the United States on June 3, 2001.
The American drama television
series follows the lives and daily activities of the Fisher family, who own and
operate a funeral home in Los Angeles.
The series spanned sixty-three
episodes across five seasons.
39. ER
ER is an American medical
drama television series that premiered on NBC on September 19, 1994.
The show follows the physicians
and staff members of the emergency room (ER) of the fictional County General
Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
ER ran for 331 episodes
across 15 seasons.
38. Blackadder
Blackadder is a
pseudo-historical British sitcom series that ran from 1983-1989.
Each series was in its own
historical period and followed the shenanigans of Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson)
and his partner in crime, Baldrick (Tony Robinson).
Blackadder ran for 24
episodes across four series.
37. The Shield
American crime drama, The Shield, follows
the activities of a new division of the Los Angeles Police Department, that’s
been set up to control and maintain peace in the fictional district of
Farmington, which has a particularly bad history of drug trafficking,
prostitution, and gang activity.
Related: The 20
Richest TV Hosts in the World
The Shield premiered on
March 12, 2002, and ran for 88 episodes across seven seasons.
36. The Walking Dead
The next best TV show of all time
is The Walking Dead.
This American post-apocalyptic
horror television series was based on the comic book series by Robert
Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard.
It’s about a group of survivors
that are trying to stay alive while being consistently hunted by flesh-eating
zombies, known as “walkers.”
The Walking Dead premiered
on October 31, 2010, and ran for 146 episodes across ten seasons.
35. NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American
police procedural drama television series that reflects the struggles of the
fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan.
The series was initially
broadcast on the ABC network and ran from September 1993 to March 2005.
NYPD Blue received critical
acclaim with praise directed toward its realistic portrayal of the cast’s
professional and personal lives.
34. Orange Is the New Black
Orange Is the New Black is
an American comedy-drama web television series.
It’s based on Piper Kerman’s
memoir; Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison (2010), which
documents her experiences in a minimum-security federal prison.
The TV show debuted on Netflix on
July 11, 2013, and went on to become Netflix’s most-watched original
series.
33. Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul is an
American television crime drama series and a prequel and spin-off of Breaking
Bad.
The show follows the life of
Jimmy McGill, a con-man turned lawyer who transforms himself into a criminal
for hire under the persona of “Saul Goodman.”
The show premiered on AMC on
February 8, 2015, and ran for five seasons to date, with the sixth season
scheduled to be released in 2021.
32. 30 Rock
The next best TV show is the
American satirical sitcom television series, 30 Rock.
The show follows the behind-the-scenes events of a fictional live sketch comedy show and derives its name from
30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
30 Rock was released on
October 11, 2006, and ran for a total of 138 episodes across seven
seasons.
31. Sherlock
Sherlock is a British crime
television series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes
and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson.
It’s based on the Sherlock Holmes
detective stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and ran from 2010 to 2017, across
four three-part series.
Sherlock won numerous
industry awards and was praised for its writing, acting, and direction.
30. Parks and Recreation
The thirtieth best TV show of all
time is Parks and Recreation.
The American political satire
sitcom is about the antics of Indiana town’s public officials as they endeavor
to clean up the city and make it a better place for all.
The show premiered on NBC on
April 9, 2009, and ran for 125 episodes, across seven seasons, finishing up in
February 2015.
29. Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an
American comedy television series that premiered on HBO on October 15,
2000.
It follows semi-retired
television writer and producer, Larry David, as he gets himself into
all sorts of trouble with his friends and total strangers throughout Los
Angeles.
The show ran for 100 episodes
across ten seasons and won several industry awards, including the 2002 Golden
Globe Award for Best Television Series.
28. The Tonight Show Starring Johny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johny
Carson was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johny Carson that
premiered on NBC from October 1, 1962, until May 22, 1992.
The show was ranked No. 12
on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
27. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Buffy's The Vampire Slayer is
an American supernatural drama television series that was based on the 1992
film of the same name.
The show follows a young female
vampire slayer called “Buffy Summers” as she’s chosen to battle against all
different kinds of vampires, monsters, and demonic forces.
The series received critical
acclaim and, when the show was aired, used to reach between four and six
million viewers per episode.
26. Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders is the
twenty-sixth best TV show of all time.
The British period crime drama is
set in Birmingham, England, and follows the shenanigans of the fictional Shelby crime
family after the First World War.
The series premiered on September
12, 2013, and ran for 30 episodes across five seasons.
25. The X Files
The X-Files is an American
science fiction drama television series that revolves around FBI special agents
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully as they work their way through a series of unsolved
paranormal cases, known as X-Files.
The show aired from September 10,
1993, to May 19, 2002, spawning 202 episodes across nine seasons.
24. Arrested Development
Next up is Arrested Development.
This American television sitcom
follows a formerly wealthy dysfunctional family, the Bluths. It documents their
day-to-day lives by handheld camera work, voice-over narration, historical
footage, and archival photos.
The show received critical
acclaim upon release and won six primetime Emmy Awards and one Golden Globe
Award.
23. Deadwood
Deadwood is an American
Western television series that’s set in Deadwood, South Dakota, in the 1870s
and depicts the towns rise from a camp to a town.
The show premiered on March 21,
2004, and spanned three seasons and 36 episodes.
Deadwood received widespread
critical acclaim and is regarded as one of the greatest TV shows of all
time.
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Expensive Stocks in the World
22. Friends
American sitcom television
series Friends follows the lives of six friends in their 20s and 30s
as they go about their lives in Manhattan, New York City.
The show premiered on NBC on September
22, 1994, and spanned ten highly successful seasons.
Friends received critical
acclaim across each season, won countless industry awards, and became one of
the most popular television shows of all time.
21. Band of Brothers
Band of Brothers is about
the history of 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, of the 101st
Airborne Division, the “Easy” Company.
It follows their progression in
struggles from jump training in the United States to significant action in
Europe, until the end of World War II.
The series premiered on HBO on
September 9, 2001, and won an Emmy and Golden Globe award in the same year for
“Best Miniseries.”
20. Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British
television sitcom that premiered on BBC2 in 1975.
It’s set in a fictional hotel
called Fawlty Towers, in the seaside town of Torquay on the “English Riviera.”
It centers around Basil Fawlty, the proprietor of the hotel, and his wife Sybil
as they attempt to run their hotel amidst several farcical situations and
demanding guests.
Two series of six episodes were
produced, and the show was named the greatest ever British TV sitcom by a panel
of comedy experts compiled by the Radio Times.
19. South Park
South Park is the nineteenth
best TV show of all time.
This American animated sitcom
follows the lives of four fictional boys – Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric
Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, as they get up to no good in their hometown in
Colorado.
The show debuted on August 13,
1997, and ran 307 episodes across 23 seasons.
South Park won numerous
industry awards and was ranked as the tenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time
by TV Guide.
18. Battlestar Galactica
The 2004 American military
science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica premiered in
October 2004.
The series is set on a group of
planets, known as the Twelve Colonies, in a far-flung star system. After the
colony comes under attack, a crew is formed to protect the last of humanity.
Battlestar Galactica spanned
76 episodes across four seasons and earned critical acclaim from several of the
most significant industry publications.
17. All in the Family
The seventeenth best TV show of
all time is American sitcom, All in the Family.
The series follows the life of a
working-class father in his efforts to support his family and documents the
squabbles of their day-to-day life.
All in the Family debuted on
January 12, 1971, and ran for 205 episodes across nine seasons.
16. Boardwalk Empire
Boardwalk Empire is an
American period crime drama series set in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
It follows the life of Enoch
“Nucky” Thompson as he tries to control and run. Atlantic City during the
Prohibition period of the 1920s and 1930s.
The show received widespread
critical acclaim, with praise directed toward its visual style and basis on
historical figures.
Boardwalk Empire received
several industry awards, including a Golden Globe Award for “Best Television Series-Drama”
in 2011.
15. Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American
mystery horror drama series that first premiered on April 8, 1990, on
ABC.
It follows the investigation into
the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer in the fictional town of Twin
Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper heads up the investigation and is met with
exciting twists along the way.
The show spanned 48 episodes
across three seasons and received fourteen nominations at the 42nd Primetime
Emmy Awards for a number of different categories.
14. The West Wing
The West Wing is a 1999
American serial political drama series that is primarily set in the West Wing
of the White House during the Democratic administration of Josiah
Bartlet.
It’s regarded as one of the
greatest and most influential television series of all time. It’s won a
multitude of awards, including three Golden Globe Awards and 26 Primetime Emmy
Awards.
13. Doctor Who
Coming in at number thirteen on
our list of the best TV shows of all time is the British science fiction
television program, Doctor Who.
The series is about the escapades
of a Time Lord called “the Doctor” as he explores the entire universe in a
time-traveling machine called the TARDIS.
The show is recognized as one of
Britain’s most exceptional television programs, and won countless industry
awards, like the 2006 British Academy Television Award for Best Drama
Series.
12. Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original
Series is an American Science-fiction television series that follows the
adventures of the Starship USS Enterprise and all its crew.
The purpose of the Enterprise is
to seek out and explore strange new worlds, life, and civilizations, and to
“boldly go where no man has gone before.”
The series ran for a total of 79
episodes across three seasons.
11. The Office
The Office is a British
television mockumentary sitcom, created, written, and directed by Ricky
Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
The show explores the day-to-day
lives of several office employees that work for a fictional paper company,
Wernham Hogg.
The Office ran for a total
of 14 episodes split across two series, and became one of the most successful
British comedy exports ever!
10. Saturday Night Live
The tenth best TV show of all
time is Saturday Night Live.
The American TV show sees a
famous guest host perform several sketches and parodies created by the cast to
a live audience.
Related: The
30 Richest Actors in the World
Saturday Night Live premiered
on NBC on October 11, 1975, and ran for 889 episodes across 45 seasons, making
it one of the longest-running TV shows in history.
9. Lost
Lost is a 2004 American
drama television series, comprising of 121 episodes over six seasons.
The show follows a group of
survivors that are stranded on a mysterious South Pacific island after their
plane crashes. It contains elements of science fiction and the
supernatural.
Lost is regularly praised by
critics as being one of the greatest television series of all time and has won
countless industry awards, including a Golden Globe and a British Academy
Award.
8. Seinfeld
American sitcom television
series, Seinfeld, debuted on NBC on July 5, 1989, and ran for 180 episodes
across nine seasons, coming to an end in May 1998.
The show is about a fictional
version of Jerry Seinfeld, one of the creators of the show, and follows
his personal life as he lives in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Seinfeld is widely regarded
as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms of all time.
7. The Simpsons
The next best TV show is The
Simpsons.
The animated American sitcom
depicts working-class life in the fictional town of Springfield follows the
Simpson family and mimics typical American culture and society.
The Simpsons debuted on
December 17, 1989, and have since broadcast 684 episodes, making it the
longest-running American sitcom of all time!
6. The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an
American anthology television series, which ran from 1959 to 1964 on CBS.
In each episode, characters find
themselves dealing with disturbing events, which is described as entering “the
Twilight Zone.” Each episode often had a surprise ending and a moral, and the
phrase “twilight zone” was inspired by the series.
The series ran for 156 episodes
across five seasons and won a Golden Globe in 1963 and a Primetime Emmy Award
in 1960 and 1961.
5. Mad Men
The fifth-best TV show of all
time is Mad Men.
The American period drama series
follows Don Draper, a creative director at Sterling Cooper, an advertising
agency on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, and tracks his friends'
and professional colleagues' lives throughout the 1960s.
Upon release, Mad Men received
widespread critical acclaim and was praised for its writing, directing, visual
style, acting, and historical authenticity.
4. Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is one of
the most successful American fantasy drama series of all time.
The show is an adaptation of
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R Martin’s series of fantasy
novels and has several plots and story arcs.
Critics praised the series for
its complex characters, story, acting, scope, and production values, and it
received the most Primetime Emmy Awards by any drama series, with a total of 58
to its name.
3. Breaking Bad
The third-best TV show of all
time is Breaking Bad.
The American neo-Western crime
drama series consists of 62 episodes across five seasons, and follows the life
of Walter White, a depressed high school chemistry teacher – turned
methamphetamine drug dealer, in hopes of securing a financial future for his family
after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Breaking Bad won numerous
industry awards and is often regarded as one of the greatest television series
of all time.
2. The Wire
American crime drama television
series, The Wire, comprises 60 episodes over five seasons and follows
the Baltimore drug scene through the eyes of both law enforcement and drug
dealers.
The Wire has won a variety
of industry awards, including the Directors Guild of America Award, a TCA
Heritage Award, a Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Dramatic
series, and many, many more.
1. The Sopranos
The best TV show of all time
is The Sopranos.
The American crime drama
television series focuses on the life of New Jersey-based Italian-American
mobster Tony Soprano, as he tries to lead his criminal organization while maintaining
his family life.
The Sopranos premiered on
HBO on January 10, 1999, and ran for six seasons totaling 86 episodes.
The multi-award-winning series is
widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, having 21
Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes to its name!
Summary
We hope you enjoyed our list of
the 50 best TV shows of all time.
Who doesn’t love a good TV show,
right?! We certainly do.
The Sopranos is our absolute
favorite, followed by Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and Game
of Thrones. We binge-watch them all!
Here’s a quick recap of the 50
best TV shows of all time:
1. The
Sopranos
2. The
Wire
3. Breaking
Bad
4. Game
of Thrones
5. Mad
Men
6. The
Twilight Zone
7. The
Simpsons
8. Seinfeld
9. Lost
10. Saturday
Night Live
11. The
Office
12. Star
Trek: The Original Series
13. Doctor
Who
14. The
West Wing
15. Twin
Peaks
16. Boardwalk
Empire
17. All
in the Family
18. Battlestar
Galactica
19. South
Park
20.
Fawlty Towers
21. Band
of Brothers
22.
Friends
23.
Deadwood
24.
Arrested Development
25.
The X Files
26.
Peaky Blinders
27. Buffy
The Vampire Slayer
28.
The Tonight Show Starring
Johny Carson
29.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
30.
Parks and Recreation
31. Sherlock
32.
30 Rock
33.
Better Call Saul
34.
Orange Is the New Black
35.
NYPD Blue
36.
The Walking Dead
37. The
Shield
38.
Blackadder
39.
ER
40.
Six Feet Under
41. Fraiser
42.
24
43.
Sons of Anarchy
44.
Roots
45.
Stranger Things
46.
Fleabag
47.
Only Fools And Horses
48.
Fargo
49.
Oz
50.
House
What’s your favorite TV show? Leave a comment below.
