Who's the Daddy of TV?

Bounty Hunter

We have many boards here dedicated to specific shows but who do you all think is the daddy? whats the single best thing on Television? is it Lost, Heroes, Prison Break or maybe The Sopranos or The Simpsons i wonder.

chalkitdown1

Dexter, The Wire and Heroes are probably my favourite shows of this past year.

Dodge

Only things I make sure I watch are the Office (US), Extras, Heroes, The Sopranos and Shameless.


Watch a bit more (mainly comedies) but don't mind missing the odd ep

S.M.B.

The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire
The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire
The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire
The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire
The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire

Head and shoulders above all other current TV shows!

tvnutz

S.M.B. wrote:

The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire
The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire
The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire
The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire
The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire The Wire

Head and shoulders above all other current TV shows!

Ditto

matrim

The best shows I seen over the last while are Prison Break, Heroes, Lost (picked up a bit again this season) and Dexter, with Heroes taking it as the best of them.

Dont be at yourself

Sopranos, followed by Heroes and Lost.

qwertplaywert

battlestar galactica ftw

ixoy

The Wire as well.

It's got the most votes here and it's not even on the poll

Smurfpiss

heroes the wire and dexter.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

LOST, Shameless, Heroes, Prison Break, Skins, 24 and Doctor Who are easilythe best shows of last year.

_Kaiser_

Prison Break is definitely the best show of last year IMO.

Never got in to Lost.. The lads in the house watch it so I've drifted in and out but it just seems like the whole show is made up of flashbacks and too little time answering the questions about what's going on on the island - boring!

Kojak

The wire, ftw

dulpit

I went with Prison Break, but it could just have been Lost or 24 or Sopranos or anything.. Hard decision... Oh and then there's Oz as well (oldie but a goodie )

sozbox

The Wire, no contest.

Pride Fighter

Lost sucks. I just dont like it. Bring back sci fi that rocks.

ixoy

Basquille - any chance we can have the poll edited to include "The Wire"? It's emerging as the favourite here and isn't represented. You know you want to

Bounty Hunter

should have probably added the wire now that i think of it tho there is the other option which at the mo only has the joint most votes with three other shows

matrim

I must give The Wire a look, because of the amount of votes. Also, I forgot to mention My Name is Earl.

Radio Mad.

Also, I forgot to mention My Name is Earl.[/QUOTE]

Pleased to have you on board, Earl.

Killaqueen!!!

LOST, then Heroes. Prison Break was da sh1t last year but dunno about series 2...when is RTE2 gonna shoe it?

Haven't a Clue

Depends. If it's a contest on what's the best show overall out of that bunch then this is the order:

Lost
24
Prison Break
Family Guy
Heroes

I haven't seen the Sopranos though, or I tried to watch it at the start of the season but couldn't get into it. From what I hear though, I'd say that would probably win over the others if I'd seen it.

TheDriver

Bergerac repeats or Hart and Hart or Maigret! (no joking). Modern tv must be CSI

humanji

I have to go with The Simpsons for the shear impact it's had on our culture. Everybody knows it and, even though they've had some dodgy episodes, they still have some of tv's greatest moments.

All the other shows don't really have the longevity, IMO. There are some great shows on the list, but 5 years time, most people will have forgotten them.

prospect

No contest, it has to be The Simpsons. This is no longer a show, its an institution.

I would guess that:

It has had more episodes than any of the others.
It has had more seasons than any of the others.
It has had more awards than any of the others.
It has been seen at least once by far more people.
It is watched frequently by far more people.
It is broadcasted far more often than the other shows.
It has massively more merchandising than any of the others.
It will be around for longer than any of the others.

These are just guesses, but, in my eyes, it still stands way above any of the other listed shows as 'The Daddy' of television.

ixoy

'The Simpsons' will probably outlive the rest, yes, but that doesn't equate it with being the best. It's been bad for far too long (IMO) for me to like it anymore and the original good days have been repeated far too often that the humour has worn thin.

Right now, and for the last 3/4 years, 'The Wire' has been the best show on TV.

qwertplaywert

is the wire over now?in [irish]daily mail tv guide today it said final ever on fx listings

sozbox

No, there is one season left. I can't wait!

Morgans

If the simpsons stopped ten years ago, it would have had stronger claims to being the best program on tv. The Sopranos sets the standard for all other TV programs. I'm happy that its ending as it appears that their hearts arent really in it anymore. I would have had Curb Your Enthusiasm somewhere on the list as well. As Joan Rivers said, sitcoms can never be the same after CYE.

Cant believe these are mentioned in the same breath as Desperate Housewives.

S.M.B.

Morgans wrote:

The Sopranos sets the standard for all other TV programs. I'm happy that its ending as it appears that their hearts arent really in it anymore.

A TV series which has got gradually worse over the seasons cannot set the standard for all other TV. The Wire has been consistently great over 4 seasons and hopefully has one final great season left.

prospect

I agree about the simpsons loosing some of its sharpness in recent years, however the poll does not specify a time frame.
In 10 years time many of these shows will be forgotten but The Simpsons will still live on, even if they stop making it.

About this show 'The Wire'. I have never heard of it. I asked one or two colleagues, and some guys at soccer last night and none have never heard of it. I am not doubting that it is a good show, but there is some serious marketing issues there methinks.

Morgans

S.M.B. wrote:

A TV series which has got gradually worse over the seasons cannot set the standard for all other TV. The Wire has been consistently great over 4 seasons and hopefully has one final great season left.

Your critique of the Sopranos is very subjective and wouldn't have many objective fans agreeing with you. The last season of the sopranos was the worst so date. That is pretty much universally accepted. In fact the first four seasons were outstanding, and do set the standard for all other dramas on TV, in my opinion. It peaked in series 3 and 4 and dipped since. Since then, it seems that they are preparing for a good exit strategy. If any drama gets what the Sopranos had then, they will be a success.

I like The Wire, but i dont rate it in the same league myself.

Dont be at yourself

A TV series which has got gradually worse over the seasons cannot set the standard for all other TV. The Wire has been consistently great over 4 seasons and hopefully has one final great season left.

Sopranos hasn't got any worse over the years! It is, and always has been, an incredibly intense, slow-boiling drama. This last season is the best thing on television at the moment, and I'll be sad to see it go. Tony Soprano is one of the best realised TV characters of our time, I reckon.

ixoy

Morgans wrote:

Your critique of the Sopranos is very subjective and wouldn't have many objective fans agreeing with you. T

Objective fans?! That's a bit of on oxymoron. Fandom, by its nature, is very subjective!

I agree that the show has gradually dipped in quality - S6 first half, to me, was so poor that I haven't bothered yet to watch the latest batch of episodes.

I'll acknowledge the show is well made but I don't think that the quality of writing is necessarily a reflection of its success alone. The fact that it features American-Italian mobsters is a large factor. Since that subject matter doesn't interest me as much as an investigation into drug tafficking, I'm going to like the other more.

FWIW, meta-critic.com analyses TV shows by reviews across the Web. The Wire - S4 is #1 and #2 was Sopranos so we can safely say they're both great shows

grumpytrousers

So - The Wire is good, is it...on the basis of having heard it was 'worth a watch' i picked up S's 1&2 rather cheaply at the weekend. I've a treat in store by the sounds of things... Cool!

I'm gonna give 24 the nod here; it's not the best show on telly, but it ticks more boxes with a level of consistency than most others, and for it's timeslot (9pm the night before you have to go back to work) it tends to do the job of pure unfettered entertainment quite quite brilliantly!

Morgans

ixoy wrote:

Objective fans?! That's a bit of on oxymoron. Fandom, by its nature, is very subjective!

I suppose it is a bit of one but there are objective fans - ones who can appreciate the fact that TV shows do slip in quality and treat the program on its merits.

Having loved the simpsons in its heyday, I cant watch it now without cringing and I think it will be rememebered more as an example of a program that went on too long rather than the best written cartoon ever.

Rjd2

I’d go for the Wire myself its one of those rare television shows that you see which makes you thankful for the medium. The Sopranos while its decline has hardly being startling in the last few series has not maintained the extraordinary standards the first three set. I do admire stuff like 24 but at the end of the day its candyfloss enjoyable s but the best television show ever? You can’t escape flaws like rubbish acting, ridiculous plot twists and the consistent covering of old ground, what flaws does the Wire have?
Apart from what happened in the end of the second last episode of series 3 of course!
The Simpsons has ruined its legacy over the last few years, some of the episodes have beng dismal, full of pointless cameos and of course rubbish pop culture references. King Of The Hill on the other hand has got better and better.

Rjd2

Curb was mentoined and rightfully so by a poster however Arrested Devlopment and Peep Show are two shows whose quality has not dipped at all.
And Yes I know Arrested is no more but the thress series were all very good.

Morgans

Much as all as I resisted in the immediate aftermath, series 3 of Arrested Development was a real let down for me. The uncertainty of its future didnt help but it really lost its mojo. That said, definitely one of the best programs of the last decade.

Rjd2

Morgans wrote:

Much as all as I resisted in the immediate aftermath, series 3 of Arrested Development was a real let down for me. The uncertainty of its future didnt help but it really lost its mojo. That said, definitely one of the best programs of the last decade.

Interesting point, personally I thought Theron(spelling?) was a real weak link. She a fine actress as Monster proved but comedy is a different ball game altogether. Her character as well was absurdly over the top. Season two was where it really hit the spot their was a golden period towards the end where every episode was top notch. It was reminiscent of early Simpson’s, and the middle seasons of Seinfeld. Yes it was that good, for those episodes alone it deserves to be called classic.

jonski

The Sopranos , BSG , Heroes , Lost , in that order .

10000maniacs

The Riches starring Eddie Izzard is not bad. It still has to come over here though.

Dr. Seuss

Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Kazooie

Lost, closely followed by sopranos.

The Sparrow

Rescue Me!!!

Surprised nobody has mentioned yet. I`m half way through season 3 and it is one of the best shows I have ever watched. (haven`t seen any of the wire but want to)

Honourable mentions should go to Curb Your Enthusiasm (and Seinfeld in terms of greatest shows ever), Heroes and The Sopranos. And of course Lost just for keeping so may people gripped whilst giving them so little in the way of answers.

PCros

Scrubs! Best comedy ever.

GhostInTheRuins

Aaaaggghhh! torn between Sopranos and South Park for your poll. I guess I'll have to flip for it....


South park wins it

OPENROAD

Hustle
Spooks.

Pepe LeFrits

Bsg