List of television series considered the best

While there is no general agreement upon the greatest television series, as it is a more subjective and/or consensus-based viewpoint, many publications and organizations have tried to objectively determine the series considered the best. The series mentioned in this article have all been mentioned in notable critics' or public surveys.
There are different categories within television such as drama, comedy and documentary and so it may not be appropriate to compare series from different categories.
United Kingdom
BFI TV 100
The BFI TV 100 is a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. The top ten were:
#Fawlty Towers (BBC: 1975, 1979)
#Cathy Come Home  (The Wednesday Play) (BBC1: 1966)
#Doctor Who (BBC1: 1963-1989, 1996)
#The Naked Civil Servant (ITV: 1975)
#Monty Python's Flying Circus (BBC: 1969-1974)
#Blue Peter (BBC1: 1958-)
#Boys from the Blackstuff (BBC2: 1982)
#Parkinson (BBC1:1971-1982, 1987-1988, 1998-2007)
#Yes Minister / Yes, Prime Minister (BBC2: 1980-1988)
#Brideshead Revisited (ITV: 1981)
United States
TV (The Book)
In 2016, television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz published TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time, where they scored each series based on six criteria: Innovation, Influence, Consistency, Performance, Storytelling, and Peak. They tallied them up to create their list of the 100 greatest American shows of all time. The top five tied each other in their tally, so Sepinwall and Seitz debated and eventually decided on how to sort them in the final list:
#The Simpsons (1989-present)
#The Sopranos (1999-2007)
#The Wire (2002-2008)
#Cheers (1982-1993)
#Breaking Bad (2008-2013)
#Mad Men (2007-2015)
#Seinfeld (1989-1998)
#I Love Lucy (1951-1957)
#Deadwood (2004-2006)
#All in the Family (1971-1979)
Best in TV: The Greatest TV Shows of Our Time
The Best in TV: The Greatest TV Shows of Our Time readers' poll was conducted in 2012 as part of the 20/20 series. As such, its list consists entirely of programs based in the United States.
Best TV Drama
#ER
#The Twilight Zone
#The Sopranos
#The West Wing
#Mad Men
Best TV Comedy
# I Love Lucy
# Seinfeld
# '
# The Cosby Show
# All in the Family
Major publications
Entertainment Weekly
#The Wire
#The Simpsons
#Seinfeld
#The Mary Tyler Moore Show
#The Sopranos
#All in the Family
#The Andy Griffith Show
#Buffy the Vampire Slayer
#Mad Men
#Your Show of Shows
TV Guide
2002 List
#Seinfeld
#I Love Lucy
#The Honeymooners
#All in the Family
#The Sopranos
#60 Minutes
#'
#The Simpsons
#The Andy Griffith Show
#Saturday Night Live
2013 List
#The Sopranos
#Seinfeld
#I Love Lucy
#All in the Family
#The Twilight Zone
#The Wire
#The Mary Tyler Moore Show
#'
#Breaking Bad
#The Simpsons
Rolling Stone
# The Sopranos
# The Wire
# Breaking Bad
# Mad Men
# Seinfeld
# The Simpsons
# The Twilight Zone
# Saturday Night Live
# All in the Family
# The Daily Show

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See Also

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