Top 100 American Television Series

[JaseSF]

15. Three's Company (1976-1984): When fun loving would be chef, even if he's a bit of klutz, Jack Tripper (John Ritter) moves into an apartment with two single gals, the smart and savvy Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and the sexy, curvy but sweet somewhat dumb blonde Chrissy (Suzanne Somers), who would have guessed the arrangement could have provided so many great years of immense laughter, emotional ups and downs and a trio that on screen at least seemed to be true friends?  Some great support in terms of "marital bliss" (or lack thereof) between the Ropers, their landlords downstairs only added even more flavour to the mix and Mr. Roper (Normall Fell) tried to go out of his way to avoid the advances of his love-starved wife Helen (Audra Lindley). Later Chrissy would be replaced by cousin Cindy (Jennilee Harrison) and seemed to be a mix of Jack's clumsiness and Chrissy's ditziness. She'd eventually be replaced by registered nurse Terri Alden (Priscilla Barnes), a much wiser educated and sophisticated blonde who nevertheless was extremely attractive and fetching and also proved quite capable at performing comedy here. The Ropers would be given their own unfortunately short-lived series and would be replaced by new landlord, perennial would-be ladies man extraordinaire Mr. Ralph Furley (Don Knotts). Richard Kline also provided good support especially to John Ritter as next door upstairs neighbor and Jack's best friend the money grubbing and womanizing Larry Dallas.

[Nightowl]

16.)Married With Children (1987-1997): One of the first shows Fox ever created back in 1987. With Married With Children it helped Fox establish an image of a network where anything goes. The show was originally titled We're Not The Cosby's so MWC pushed the limits what could be done on television. In 1989 a housewife saw the show and disgusted when see saw the episode Her Cups Runneth Over then reported and boycotted the show which later backfired giving Married With Children even more publicity.

[JaseSF]

17) The Fugitive (1963-1967): Classic series starring David Janssen as Dr. David Kimble, a man wrongly accused of murder. Kimble escapes and must stay one step ahead of the police as he races against time to also track down the true killer before he's recaptured by the authorities. Barry Morse is also quite memorable here in the role of Lt. Philip Gerard as the lead cop trying to track Kimble down. This was a very compelling show with terrific acting and writing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX4FqaGddHE

[JaseSF]

The Wild Wild West (1965-1969): Two government agents, making use of assorted odd, futuristic gizmos and disguises, work together under President Grant in the Old West. Stars Robert Conrad as James T. West and Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon, the two agents. A very cleverly written series that mixed in elements of Spy-fi with the Western genre and a healthy dose of fun and adventure to boot. Featured numerous great character actors of the era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no8tvQ2EAfM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hI0LeiJSyo

[JaseSF]

19) Thriller (1960-1962): Hosted by Boris Karloff, this early 1960s anthology series was very well done. It started off initially with hour long crime suspense thriller style stories more in the vein of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Later things moved more into the realm of gothic horror, some with a Southern American bent. When Karloff himself appeared, the episodes were often more in the realm of horror and undoubtably the horror stories are the most memorable ones within the series. Also appearing in some of the scariest episodes were William Shatner, Russell Johnson, Henry Daniell, Harry Townes, Alan Napier, Audrey Dalton, John Ireland, Torin Thatcher, Richard Kiel, Jeannette Nolan, James Griffith, Guy Rolfe, Hazel Court, Sidney Blackmer, Henry Jones, Elizabeth Montgomery, Tom Poston, John Carradine, John Newland, Antoniette Bower, Bruce Dern, Oskar Homolka, Martin Kosleck, Ursula Andress, Warren Oates, Alan Caillou, Kenneth Haigh, Robert Vaughan, John Williams, Macdonald Carey, Patricia Medina, Henry Silva, Estelle Winwood, Jo Van Fleet, Jane Greer, Booth Colman, Alejandro Ray, Dick York to name but a few. Some of the scariest and best stories were based on the writings of Robert Bloch. Also appearing in other more crime based, psychological thriller and comedic style episodes were stars like Leslie Nielsen, Natalie Trundy, George Grizzard, Constance Ford, Tom Nolan, Mary Astor, Everett Sloane, Frank Silvera, Rip Torn, Martin Gabel, Richard Chamberlain, Cloris Leachman, Robert Lansing, Elisha Cook Jr., Jack Carson, Jeanne Cooper, Beverly Garland, Charles Aidman, Mort Sahl, Werner Klemperer, Murray Matheson, Susan Oliver, James Gregory, Bethel Leslie, Nehemiah Persoff, Robert Middleton, Edward Platt, Edward Andrews, Patricia Barry, Richard Carlson, Mary Tyler Moore and George Kennedy. The house from PSYCHO turned up a time or two as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJnhoQkXLA8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D38gnfPoAzI

[HappyGilmore]

20) South Park- One of the best written comedy series, which is unapologetic in it's humor.  Has had some controversies over the years dealing in topics such as Tom Cruise, Mohammad, Mormonism, and such, but with comedy you can't have limits or boundaries.  Won numerous awards and such, and has surprisingly lasted 14 years and still going.

Couldn't really find any clips online, but here's the trailer for the movie version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO0RArEENuY

[Couchtr26]

21) Firefly (2002 - later 2002)  Rather enjoyable series that was sadly canceled before its time.  Really need more to flesh out and I am very sad to see it go. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN8UIaMgvbQ

Plus it functions as a good excuse for the Hero of Canton.

22) Archer (2009 - present) Animated show that is very inappropriate at times.  It pokes quite a bit of fun at the spy movies and Cold War espionage.  Airing on FX, if you get a chance to watch give it a shot but don't say I didn't warn you. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq-N3_plNq8

[Hammock Rider]

No explanations needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XyhLbV4bDU&feature=related

[JaseSF]

24) Mary Tyler Moore (1970-1977): Also known as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, this show was influential and different featuring a strong female lead in Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards playing a young single woman trying to get ahead both at her job and in her personal life yet remaining true to herself as a strong, independent woman. We see her strive in her work as an associate producer in a small television newsroom working under her tough, gruff, at least on the outside, boss Lou Grant (Edward Asner) and alongside colleagues Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), humor writer and clueless anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Most everyone likes Mary, who's naturally sweet, nice and friendly but a few characters did act as her foils on the show. Originally her friend/landlady Phyllis played this role being both critical of Mary while herself being insufferable and overbearingly perky. Later Mary's main adversary would become "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White) who came across something like an oversexed Martha Stewart - White nailed the role perfectly here. Mary also had a very good friend in one Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) who offered a listening hear and helping hand and whom Mary also had to often try and help through Rhoda's own romantic misadventures. The show was actually very well done, so well done in fact it lead to three series spin-offs including Phyllis, Rhoda and Lou Grant. These were characters fans came to love and embrace and root for through their ups and downs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iso1cTVXh5M

[RCMerchant]

25. The Ed Sullivan Show (1948-1971)
I usta watch this show as a kid alla time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZRsWGp-XLA

[JaseSF]

26. Bonanza (1959-1973): Great Western series about Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and his sons Adam (Pernell Roberts), Little Joe (Michael Landon) and Hoss (Dan Blocker) who work to defend their Ponderosa ranch from threats while also working to lend a hand and help out their local community. A very enjoyable family oriented Western with heroes who have high morals and believe in doing the right thing, it easy to see why these likable characters remained on the airwaves for so long. The show also featured great terrific guest star character actors. They don't make shows like this anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLg8tZkW71k

[JaseSF]

27. Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000): This was about as close as an American equivalent to classic Degrassi as I've ever seen and it may in fact be an even better series. This show focuses on a group of older "freak" friends who don't quite fit in and a group of younger "geek" friends as each group struggles for acceptance and identity within high school while battling and facing all the challenges life presents them with be it romance, dealing the temptations of drugs and alcohol and the pressure from bullies all around them. It's a great show, certainly one of my personal faves and stars some rather popular film stars today in James Franco, Seth Rogan, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Samm Levine and main series stars Lina Cardellini and John Francis Daley. Also on board is Joe Flaherty as the main character's dad and Becky Ann Baker as their mom. If you've never seen it, I'd say it's worth checking this one out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IopHL3auzNQ

[bob]

28) King of the Hill

[JaseSF]

29) Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995): Arguably the best adaptation of Batman ever created for either the TV screen or the big screen, this 90s Batman series was extremely well done and explored the world of Batman and his rogues gallery of villains in brilliant fashion breathing new life into some characters such as Mr. Freeze, Clayface, the Scarecrow and the Clock King while creating some wonderful new characters such as Harley Quinn and Baby Doll. Also done justice to where classic characters such as the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and Catwoman. It's just a wonderful cartoon show that allows oneself to get lost into the sometimes dark world of Batman and his various villains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Xw89AIKfg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG9Tj7Uq7-w

[bob]

30 Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1989-1999)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdAIy2Wd9Fg&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL179CA68CB899FBA9

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (often abbreviated as MST3K) is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999.

The series features a man and his robot sidekicks who are trapped on a space station by an evil scientist and forced to watch a selection of bad movies, often (but not limited to) science fiction B-movies. To keep sane, the man and his robots provide a running commentary on each film, making fun of its flaws and wisecracking (or "riffing") their way through each reel in the style of a movie-theater peanut gallery. Each film is presented with a superimposition of the man and robots' silhouettes along the bottom of the screen.