Rob Salem1. The Dick Van Dyke Show
2. Fawlty Towers
3. Star Trek
4. The Sopranos
5. Absolutely Fabulous
6. Black Adder
7. Six Feet Under
8. I Love Lucy
9. The Prisoner
10. The Adventures Of SupermanRob Salem is TV critic for The Toronto Star.
----- Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
1. Brady Bunch
Don't miss the episode where Greg took Tiger out back and shot him in the head.
2. Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Could only come out of my own Minnesota. My pal Bob was their grip for a while.
3. Austin Stories
Short-lived and hilarious.
4. The Real World
Shut up, I know, shut up.
5. The Facts of Life
Those of us who went to an all-girls school in the '80s needed all the help we could get.
6. The Sopranos
Woke up this morning, got myself a rerun.
7. Butterflies
Little-known Britcom that used to run all the time on PBS.
8. All in the Family
The only show that made my WW II-era parents split their sides laughing.
9. Seinfeld
George Costanza is possibly the most fully realized TV character ever.
10. Emergency
OK, this time I'm kidding. But man, Randolph Mantooth could get my toe out of a bathtub faucet any time.
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is the creator of the weblogs Pop Culture Junk Mail and MSNBC's Test Pattern.
----- Marty Beckerman
1. The X-Files
Seasons 1 through 6, before Chris Carter ruined it with the fucking baby, David Duchovny ruined his career, and Gillian Anderson ruined her hair.
2. The Simpsons
3. The Daily Show
4. Conan O'Brien
5. South Park
6. Ninja Turtles ('80s version)
7. Ghostbusters
8. Weird Al Yankovic TV
9. ElimiDATEBecause you can actually watch western civilization crumbling in real-time.
10. Saturday Night Live
When it doesn't suck, which has been all the time lately, because Jimmy Fallon is a cocksucker and Phil Hartman is still dead.
Marty Beckerman is the author of Generation S.L.U.T., which will be released in January from MTV/Pocket Books.
----- Tom Heald
1. The Simpsons
Best. Cartoon. Ever.
2. Most of the shows I've listed as my personal favorites have suffered in quality at one point or another. What better example than Moonlighting: brilliant, self-indulgent, and star making. And like the work of Aaron Sorkin, a series that worked on speech patterns -- "I'm looking for a man with a mole on his nose." "A mole on his nose?" "A mole on his nose." "What kind of clothes?" "What kind of clothes do you suppose?" "What kind of clothes do you suppose would be worn by a man with a mole on his nose, who knows?" "Did I happen to mention, did I bother to disclose, this man that we're seeking with a mole on his nose? I'm not sure of his clothes, or anything else... Except he's Chinese, a big clue by itself." "How do you do that?" "Gotta read a lot of Dr. Suess." "I'm sorry to say, I'm sad to report. I haven't seen anyone at all, of that sort. Not a man who's Chinese with a mole on his nose, with some kind of clothes that you can't suppose. So get away from this door and get out of this place, or I'll have to hurt you, put my foot in your face." "Oh." "Time to go?" "Time to go."
3. NBC's Must See TV is generally absent from my list, with the exception of Night Court, which I rank above The Cosby Show Family Ties and Cheers on the original juggernaut comedy lineup for its refusal to do "special" episodes. Reinhold Weege is a genius.
4. NBC's Must See TV has pretty much filled the Thursday timeslots at ABC with quicksand. Friends, Frasier, and Will & Grace I can avoid for seasons because I know they'll always be around in syndication or on DVD. Not so for a series like Nothing Sacred. From poverty and abortion to an unaired episode on AIDS in the priesthood, Nothing Sacred's deadly sin (with Catholic League protests long before the series aired) was to not to take the easy Touched By an Angel approach to legitimate questions about the differences between faith, spirituality, and religion.
5. A continuation of NBC's classic Overnight with Lloyd Dobbins and Linda Ellerbee, ABC's World News Now has from the beginning embraced its cult following among insomniacs, prisoners and nursing mothers. And while anchor quality and/or quirk have varied, Friday morning always brings a chance to polka.
6. My SNL description below) also applies to Late Night/Show with Letterman but both shows still manage to show brilliance in their continued mocking of the conventions of the variety and talk show formats. Whether 12:30 or 11:35, Letterman has never done a "straight" talk show, but his off-center parody of a late night show. With Dave and Paul, rocket chairs and "Is This Anything," the show always asks, "Can you believe anyone is really watching us?"
7. Saturday Night Live has grown from counterculture to ... well, culture. And even thought it's often a study in quality control, we still watch it every week.
8. Neither respected by NBC or FOX, TV Nation brought a sense of humor, and attitude back to the newsmagazine. Bravo's edition The Awful Truth continued a necessary frustrated rage against bigotry and the corporate machine.
9. Deceptive, seductive, addictive, and maddening in just the right ways, I found the cult of Twin Peaks worth the effort.
10. It's a bit of a cheat, but "Children's Television Workshop." My parents never taught me how to read. I actually taught myself with Sesame Street and The Electric Company and, I'm told one day walked into the living room and started reading them the newspaper. Regardless of age, the continuing experimentation of Zoom 3-2-1 Contact (the original edition with Marc, Lisa & Trini)" and Square One TV have offered genuinely fun education that hooks kids and makes them want to learn more.
Tom Heald is the editor of TV Barn's Remote Patrol.
----- Joe Lavin
1. Boston Red Sox 12 - Cleveland Indians 8, 1999 American League Division Series, Game 5
2. Fawlty Towers
3. Boston Red Sox 7 - California Angels 6, 1986 American League Championship Series, Game 5
4. The Larry Sanders Show
5. Boston Red Sox 13 - New York Yankees 1, 1999 American League Championship Series, Game 3
6. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends
7. Boston Red Sox 2 - New York Yankees 0, May 28, 2000
8. Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers
9. Arizona Diamondbacks 3 - New York Yankees 2, 2001 World Series, Game 7
10. BensonJoe Lavin is the author of But I Digress...