Side show

IT'S TV JUNKIES DAY

YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS: TV Guide has resorted to doing so many lists over the past few years -- the best moments on TV, the best episodes, the best Rosie O'Donnell guest appearances (the shortest list to date) -- that readers have been left actually longing for more stories about the WWF.

Its rationalization for its latest rankings is tied to the universal obsession with anniversaries. This is TV Guide's 50th year, and in next week's issue the magazine presents its 50 best shows of all time.

The criteria, according to a short introduction to the piece, included "quality, innovation and the ability to stay in our lives year after year after year."

The top 10, in ascending order:

10. Saturday Night Live

9. The Andy Griffith Show

8. The Simpsons

7. Late Show with David Letterman

6. 60 Minutes

5. The Sopranos

4. All in the Family

3. The Honeymooners

2. I Love Lucy

And at No. 1, a choice surprising enough that it merits the issue's cover tease, "Just try to guess what's No. 1!" . . .

Seinfeld.

DEBATE ALL YOU WANT: I'm a big Seinfeld fan (I still momentarily freeze up right before I lick an envelope), but I spent several hours debating whether it deserves the endorsement of the purported TV industry bible as the best show of all time. Ahead of All in the Family? The Honeymooners? M*A*S*H (25th)? The Twilight Zone (26th)? Family Ties (not ranked)?

Then while glancing more closely at TV Guide's short tribute to Seinfeld, I recalled standing in a crowded restaurant waiting area one day last week and hearing a 30-ish man say to his companions, "This is like the Soup Nazi."

That memory made TV Guide's point more clear.

OTHER NOTABLE ENTRIES: In the close-but-no-cigar spot, No. 11, is The Mary Tyler Moore Show. At No. 12 is The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. That is how the entry is worded. No other version of Tonight Show is listed. Cheers is No. 18. Bonanza is 43rd. Star Trek: The Next Generation is 46th, and it's the only entry for the Star Trek organization. No. 50 is Bewitched.

TRIVIA: Two talk shows made it, Donahue (29th) and The Oprah Winfrey Show (49th). The Sopranos is the newest show (debuted 1999), The Ed Sullivan Show the oldest (debuted 1948, ranked No. 15). The Sopranos is the highest-ranked show on pay cable; only one other program of that ilk is ranked, HBO's The Larry Sanders Show. Fox's The Simpsons does best among shows not on the big three broadcast networks or PBS. And Star Trek: The Next Generation is the only syndicated show ranked that's not a talk show.

THE TALLY: NBC and CBS each has 16 shows ranked that spent their entire run on their respective network. ABC has seven (thirtysomething is the highest, No. 19). There is one ABC-NBC combo: Taxi began on ABC, was canceled, was picked up by NBC and canceled again. HBO, Fox and PBS have two shows each on the list. Three syndicated shows made it. And there is a WB-UPN combo for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (41st), which started on the WB and moved to UPN this season.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright