Top 100 TV Shows

[Rammy]

54. Monty Python's Flying Circus
Points: 46 | Lists: 4 | Number One's: 0 | 2013 Position: 196th | 2011 Position: 157th
Seasons: 4 | Episodes: 45​

Monty Python's Flying Circus is a British sketch comedy which makes its first appearance in the Top 100. Created by the Monthy Pytho ncomedy group, it was broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines.

The Pythons play the majority of the series characters themselves, including the majority of the female characters, but occasionally they cast an extra actor.

 

[Rammy]

53. Homeland
Points: 46 | Lists: 7 | Number One's: 0 | 2013 Position: 61st | 2011 Position: N/A
Seasons: 4 | Episodes: 48

First series was fantastic, and so was the most recent series. Shame about the shite that was served up inbetween. Prick Brody.​

Homeland is an American political thriller based on the Israeli series Hatufim (Prisoners of War). The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a Central Intelligence Agency officer with bipolar disorder, and from seasons 1 to 3, Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Mathison had come to believe that Brody, who was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was "turned" by the enemy and poses a threat to the United States.

First broadcast in 2011, Homeland has now aired four seasons with a fifth coming this September. The series has received generally positive reviews, and has won several awards, including the 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and the 2011 and 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, as well as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Damian Lewis and Claire Danes, respectively.

Trailer for season 5...

 

[BCFC Jordan]

Feels like an age since one of mine came up. Guess I'll have a lot of high-placed ones.

 

[Rammy]

52. Have I Got News for You
Points: 47 | Lists: 4 | Number One's: 0 | 2013 Position: 76th | 2011 Position: 46th
Seasons: 49 | Episodes: 429​

Have I Got News for You is a British panel show broadcast for the BBC. It is loosely based on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been regularly broadcast since 1990. The show has cultivated a reputation for sailing close to the wind in matters of libel with its topical and satirical remit.

Have I Got News for You is often cited as beginning the increasing domination of panel shows in British TV comedy, and remains one of the genre's key standard-bearers. In recognition of this, the show received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2011 British Comedy Awards. It was the first time the honour had been bestowed upon a collective instead of an individual or double act.

Originally broadcast on BBC Two, the shows suucess led to it moving to BBC One in 2000. To date 49 series of the programme have been broadcast. The UKTV channel Dave carries regular repeats of the show.

 

[Alty]

Not quite as good as it once was but still very enjoyable.

 

[TheArtfulDodger]

1. The Office

 

[HarvSFC]

I had Homeland in 16th. As I mentioned the first series and the latest were edge of the seat quality TV. The stuff in between was awfully mindnumbing however. The Brodies were dragging the show down after the first series.

Although Carrie does go mental every series.

 

[Murphy]

HIGNFY was 2nd for me. Absolutely love it. Few of my fave clips below.

 

[mowgli]

If Father Ted isn't in the top 10, I'm ringing the police.

It's hard to think what could beat it to top spot, just class and i never get bored of watching them over and over again.

 

[Hooray]

I don't like it.

 

[Madejski]

I thought top spot would be fairly obvious?

 

[Hooray]

Peep Show hopefully.

It won't be.

 

[BCFC Jordan]

What odds do I get on it being Breaking Bad?

What show won last time out?

 

[This Charming Mike]

Think Breaking Bad won last time and The Simpsons was the highest scorer on the first version of Rammy's list.

 

[Madejski]

I thought GoT would be fairly obvious.

Looks like if programs have recently been on TV they get a good boost up the list.

 

[Mustard]

Completely forgot about Homeland. Agree with what has been said though, seasons in the middle dipped. I like Brody but thought they dragged the initial story line out for a season too long. The most recent season was back almost back to basics, what with who could be trusted and who couldn't, very reminiscent of the first season, and it worked.

 

[Rammy]

51. Dexter
Points: 47 | Lists: 5 | Number One's: 0 | 2013 Position: 19th | 2011 Position: 17th
Seasons: 8 | Episodes: 96

Stop at S4.


Let's pretend that last series never happened. The show peaked with the 'Trinity Killer' series, but my God it was brilliant. Zebra Morgan.​

Yet another show to suffer a big drop having finished highly in previous years. Dexter is an American crime drama. Set in Miami, the series centres on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a blood splatter pattern analyst for the fictional Miami Metro Police Department who also leads a secret life as a serial killer hunting down murderers who have slipped through the cracks of the justice system.

The show's first season was derived from the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004), the first of the Dexter series novels by Jeff Lindsay. Subsequent seasons evolved independently of Lindsay's works.

Dexter aired on Showtime from October 2006, to September 2013. The series has enjoyed wide critical acclaim and popularity, including four straight Primetime Emmy nominations for Best Drama series in its first four seasons.

 

[Rammy]

And we finally enter the Top 50!

50. Last of the Summer Wine **
Points: 47 | Lists: 3 | Number One's: 2 | 2013 Position: N/A | 2011 Position: N/A
Seasons: 31 | Episodes: 295​

Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom that was originally broadast on the BBC, from 1973 to 2010. It is the longest-running comedy programme in Britain and the longest-running sitcom in the world.

Last of the Summer Wine was set and filmed in and around Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, and centred on a trio of old men and their youthful antics; the membership of the trio changed several times over the years. The original trio consisted of Bill Owen as the scruffy and childlike Compo Simmonite, Peter Sallis as deep-thinking and meek Norman Clegg and Michael Bates as authoritarian and snobbish Cyril Blamire. When Bates dropped out due to illness in 1976 after two series, the role of the third man of the trio was filled in various years up to the 30th series by the quirky war veteran Walter "Foggy" Dewhurst (Brian Wilde), who had two lengthy stints in the series, the eccentric inventor Seymour Utterthwaite (Michael Aldridge), and former police officer Herbert "Truly of The Yard" Truelove (Frank Thornton). The men never seem to grow up, and they develop a unique perspective on their equally eccentric fellow townspeople through their stunts. Although in its early years the series generally revolved around the exploits of the main trio, with occasional interaction with a few recurring characters, over time the cast grew to include a variety of supporting characters and by later years the series was very much an ensemble piece. Each of these recurring characters contributed their own running jokes and subplots to the show and often becoming unwillingly involved in the schemes of the trio, or on occasion having their own, separate storylines.

After the death of Owen in 1999, Compo was replaced at various times by his real-life son, Tom Owen, as equally unkempt Tom Simmonite, Keith Clifford as Billy Hardcastle, a man who fancied himself as a descendant of Robin Hood, and Brian Murphy as the childish Alvin Smedley. Due to the age of the main cast, a new trio was formed during the 30th series featuring somewhat younger actors, and this format was used for the final two instalments of the show. This group consisted of Russ Abbot as a former milkman who fancied himself a secret agent, Luther "Hobbo" Hobdyke, Burt Kwouk as the electrical repairman, "Electrical" Entwistle, and Murphy as Alvin Smedley. Sallis and Thornton, both past members of the trio, continued in supporting roles alongside the new actors.

I can't find any short clips, so here's a random episode...

 

[HarvSFC]

I had Dexter in 8th on my list. The 'Trinity Killer' series was just fantastic.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Summer Wine? Dear God no.

 

[Rammy]

Summer Wine? Dear God no.

The fact it finished top of two lists probably tells you a lot as to why it's finished so high up.

 

[Rammy]

49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Points: 48 | Lists: 4 | Number One's: 0 | 2013 Position: 33rd | 2011 Position: 37th
Seasons: 7 | Episodes: 144

Classic. Buffy Bummers.​

Buff the Vampire Slayer is an American supernatural drama which aired from 1997 to 2003. The series was created by Joss Whedon, and was based on the 1992 film of the same name.

The series follows Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the latest in a line of young women known as "Vampire Slayers". In the story, Slayers are "called" (chosen by fate) to battle against vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness. Like previous Slayers, Buffy is aided by a Watcher (Giles, played by Anthony Stewart Head), who guides, teaches, and trains her. Unlike her predecessors, Buffy surrounds herself with a circle of loyal friends who become known as the "Scooby Gang".

A continuation of the series was planned with the character of fellow vampire slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku) in the lead role. However, she turned down the role to star and produce in the ill fated Tru Calling. At the time she said, "It would have been a really hard thing to do, and not that I would not have been up for a challenge, but with it coming on immediately following Buffy, I think that those would have been really big boots to fill."

The series received critical and popular acclaim and usually reached between four and six million viewers on original airings. It was nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe awards, winning a total of three Emmys. However, snubs in lead Emmy categories resulted in outrage among TV critics and the decision by the academy to hold a tribute event in honor of the series after it had gone off the air in 2003.

Buffy's success has led to hundreds of tie-in products, including novels, comics, and video games. The series has received attention in fandom (including fan films), parody, and academia, and has influenced the direction of other television series.

 

[Rammy]

48. Better Call Saul
Points: 48 | Lists: 5 | Number One's: 0 | 2013 Position: N/A | 2011 Position: N/A
Seasons: 1 | Episodes: 10

Another one which has only had one series, but I thought it portrayed the character of Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill outside of Breaking Bad well. Fuck McGill.​

Better Call Saul is an American drama created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, and is a prequel/spin-off of 2013 Top TV Show, Breaking Bad. Set in 2002, Better Call Saul follows the story of small-time lawyer James McGill (Bob Odenkirk), six years before his appearance on Breaking Bad as Saul Goodman.

The first season, which premiered in February 2015, consists of 10 episodes. In June 2014, a second season of 13 episodes was ordered, with the episodes expected to air in early 2016.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Dexter season 4. Not sure it will ever be topped by another tv show.

 

[HarvSFC]

I had Buffy in 18th and Better Call Saul in 6th. Two very different shows, but both are good watches.

 

[Jockney]

Dexter season 4. Not sure it will ever be topped by another tv show.

I mean, when you set the bar that high...

 

[Gladders]

Summer Wine? Dear God no.

Wasn't on my list but its better than 90% of the crap that's in the previous 50

 

[Saddlerrad]

Homeland and BCS were both low on mine I think. Both good shows though.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Wasn't on my list but its better than 90% of the crap that's in the previous 50

Not sure I agree. I absolutely hated that programme.

I watched the first series of Homeland and thought it was excellent. I gave up half way through the second though. Just lost interest in it.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Better call Saul was ok too. I wasn't going to watch it because it sounded dreadful but I gave it ago and liked it. Would never have made my list though.