Dear lords above and below, Rolling Stone magazine just dropped a list of the greatest TV shows of all-time, and I think my nose is bleeding a little. Their list is an insult to the history of television, to perspective, to ground-breaking significance. The list is so insultingly nonsensical, I fear they are just baiting TV fans like myself. Their Top 10 (TV Shows of ALL-TIME!) includes Fleabag, The Wire, and Atlanta. But no I Love Lucy. No Muppet Show. We need some serious perspective, after all we are trying to live in a society, here! There needs to be recognition of history, inspiration, comedy, impact, and originality. Whomever wrote the list over at Rolling Stone clearly never stayed up all night watching a Nick-At-Nite marathon, singing the theme to Welcome Back, Kotter or Mr. Ed at three in the morning. And here’s another point: Grit does not equal Great. Not necessarily. Perspective!
Here is my correction to their horrifying submission.
The 50 Actual Greatest TV Shows of All-Time:
50. Game of Thrones (The last season or two really tanked it.)
49. Seinfeld (Yeah, that’s right. The jokes haven’t aged well, okay?)
48. Brooklyn 99
47. Little House on the Prairie
46. Married With Children (It defied every notion of humor)
45. Britannia
44. Three’s Company
43. The Jeffersons
42. The A-Team
41. The Handmaid’s Tale
40. What We Do In the Shadows (BAT!)
39. The Kids in the Hall
38. Designing Women (A Sugarbaker woman beLONGS on this list!)
37. Lost
36. Orange is the New Black
35. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
34. Gilmore Girls
33. Schitt’s Creek
32. Father Ted
31. 30 Rock
30. Bewitched (It was ground-breaking and kicked Jeanie’s ass)

29. The Twilight Zone
28. The Price is Right
27. The Simpsons
26. Animaniacs
25. The X-Files
24. The West Wing
23. Supernatural
22. Spongebob Squarepants
21. All in the Family (Yeah, it’s un-airable today, but it was an important message to an older generation, Meat Head.)
20. Saturday Night Live
19. Veronica Mars

18. Unsolved Mysteries
17. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
16. Star Trek
15. Mr. Bean
14. Sesame Street
13. Star Trek: Voyager
12. Absolutely Fabulous

11. The Golden Girls
10. Friends (up this high mostly for it’s dominating global popularity)
9. Firefly
8. The Sopranos
7. Succession
6. The Muppet Show
5. M*A*S*H
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
3. I Love Lucy
2. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
1. Doctor Who

I look forward to your cheerful confirmations of how insanely correct I am, and just how daft you find Rolling Stone’s list. See you on Twitter (@katieusingwords).
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