The Greatest Television Show of All Time

[Reg]

What is it?

If you like you can do a few categories:

Drama:
Comedy:
Crime:
Other:

[Waffdon]

Love island

[CJay]

Drama: Breaking Bad
Comedy: Black Books - it's actually perfect

[7om]

Comedy for me is Fawlty Towers. Nothing can touch it.

[Ian]

Comedy is hard, but I have to mention Only Fools and Horses. If it hadn't been for that ill-advised final three episodes it'd have achieved the rare feat of being a long-running show that got better as it went along.

Fawlty Towers is a short-but-perfectly-formed affair. Blackadder too. Though the first series of Blackadder is a bit shit.

[GS]

I like to pretend OFAH finished with "Time on our Hands" and that the reboot didn't happen.

[Lewis]

The Office.

[Reg]

Crime/Drama: The Sopranos, with Breaking Bad taking 2nd place
Comedy: a three-way tie between Fawlty Towers/Friends/The Office (US)* - edit: oh shit! Wullie reminded me of the Simpsons. The previous three sit behind the Simpsons.

*not as highly rated if I was being more cold/critical, but in terms of personal enjoyment it's up there.

[Disco]

Yes Minister and Tinker Tailor.

[John]

The Sopranos is an odd one for me. It's always held up as near perfect, but I don't think I'd have it in a top ten even if I was only doing crime dramas.

The Wire and Breaking Bad are the top two.

[Reg]

What weren't you so keen on, re. Sopranos?

Obz avoiding spoilers for people (fools!) who haven't seen it.

[-james-]

Seinfeld or Peep Show for comedy.


Our Friends in the North is probably up there. True Detective season 1 was pretty great too.

[wullie]

What's probably now only a third of The Simpsons.

[John]

What weren't you so keen on, re. Sopranos?

Obz avoiding spoilers for people (fools!) who haven't seen it.

It just wasn't as dense or well written as I'd been lead to believe. The first season is absolutely wonderful and genuinely is near perfect as a season of television, but after that it just bounces around fairly aimlessly with subplots popping up and being dropped as though they were remnants of a previous draft that hadn't been properly excised in the edit. There's some seriously shady acting in there too.

[Haystacks Horace]

'Thrones.

/thread.

[Browning]

What's probably now only a third of The Simpsons.

Agreed. I've bought the first 9 seasons on DVD over the last couple of years and even though I've seen it all before a million times it's still fucking brilliant.

It's close between The Simpsons and OFAH for me. I don't even mind the final episodes of OFAH, they were still great just not up there with the better ones.

Breaking Bad for drama.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The Wire
The Office UK

[Shindig]

I fear I'll take so long to get through The Sopranos, it'll lose all impact. I want to mention House of Cards (UK) for all it's campness.

[Giggles]

Simpsons when it was good.

[7om]

The best I can think of for other is the original 1960's Thunderbirds series.

[Boydy]

It's The Wire. The only question is which season was best?

[SvN]

Drama: Breaking Bad, very closely followed by The Sopranos
Comedy: The Office (UK)

[igor_balis]

The Wire is the best drama I reckon.

Plenty of honorable mentions, including the Sopranos obviously, but I also think Six Feet Under is pretty great and a bit forgotten.

Classic Simpsons for comedy, then there's about 10 amazing things I can't separate in second. Father Ted, Peep Show, Phoenix nights to just name a few.

[Boydy]

I really cannot stand Only Fools and Horses at all and I reckon anyone who ranks it near the top of their best TV shows list is probably a closet (or not so in some cases) Ukipper.

[randomlegend]

Wut?

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Wire is so far out in front in terms of non-comedy there's no point mentioning anything else. It gets better every time I rewatch it as well. The writing is so nuanced and spot on it's hard to believe.

Comedy, you can eliminate everything American before we even start. I think it's probably Fawlty Towers, and I don't think it's beatable in the same way that Pelé isn't, but The Office and Peep Show are its Messi and Ronaldo challengers.

That said, I am a big admirer of Dad's Army. That can be di Stefano.

[Boydy]

Wut?

https://yougov.co.uk/opi/browse/Only_Fools_and_Horses

[igor_balis]

I like OFAH but I get the H8. My main objection is that it's mawkish as fuck and borderline soap opera at its worst.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm also on the Only Fools hate train. Two shit actors.

[niko_cee]

Killer Net.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I like 'OFAH' but I don't get the huge level of praise. It's decent enough but nothing more in my eyes.

[Jimmy Floyd]

A few other random categories:

American comedy: 'Curb'
Foreign language: Inspector Montalbano (watch it, it's the fucking best)
Factual: Kenneth Clark's Civilisation
Utter crap: Hotel Babylon

[Boydy]

I'd forgotten about Curb. It's is bloody brilliant. American Comedy should have its own category, really. I'd possibly suggest It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I've been watching it recently and I'm on season 9 now. I can't really remember many other programmes that have had me actually lolling as much.

[John]

It gets better every time I rewatch it as well. The writing is so nuanced and spot on it's hard to believe.

:nodd:

The balcony scene is something else. It has about eight different acts somehow compressed into two minutes.


I'd forgotten about Curb. It's is bloody brilliant. American Comedy should have its own category, really. I'd possibly suggest It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I've been watching it recently and I'm on season 9 now. I can't really remember many other programmes that have had me actually lolling as much.

I'd managed to overcome my initial hatred for everyone in it and was just starting to really enjoy it then Danny DeVito turned up and the whole thing went to shit again.

Parks and Recreation would be miles out in front in an American Comedy category for me.

[Disco]

The chess analogy that takes about 3 and a half series to properly pay off gets me every time, so good.

[Spoonsky]

Not having seen most of these British shows, Arrested Development is the funniest, but I could turn on any of the 200 episodes of Seinfeld and enjoy it, so between those two I'm not sure. I haven't watched any of the great 'dramas' of the last few years so I'll choose Firefly for that.

[Jimmy Floyd]

:nodd:

The balcony scene is something else. It has about eight different acts somehow compressed into two minutes.

I've never been quite sure if Stringer knows or not.

[randomlegend]

I don't get the hype over arrested development. It's alright.

[igor_balis]

I'd managed to overcome my initial hatred for everyone in it and was just starting to really enjoy it then Danny DeVito turned up and the whole thing went to shit again.


Heh, funny because I had the exact same thought process. I hated it, then liked it, then Danny DeVito turned up and I hated it again. Then something clicked and I love it even more now.

I only found out quite recently that the first season pre-DeVito is pretty universally panned, and shit loads of people recommend starting with season 2 to people checking it out. So persevere with it. Or not, whatever, don't let me tell you what to do..

[Lewis]

Half of 'Curb' defeats its own object. It is meant to be about 'normal' life being made difficult, but half of the scenarios are stupid by any standard.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Not having seen most of these British shows, Arrested Development is the funniest, but I could turn on any of the 200 episodes of Seinfeld and enjoy it, so between those two I'm not sure. I haven't watched any of the great 'dramas' of the last few years so I'll choose Firefly for that.
I think the fourth (and a lo of the third) let AD down though.

The first two seasons are fucking incredible.

[Spoonsky]

Oh yeah, I don't consider the fourth season in that at all. I only made it halfway through.

[John]

I've never been quite sure if Stringer knows or not.

My read is that he doesn't initially, but over the course of the conversation susses out that something's up, but I don't think he knows what, or how seriously up it is.


Heh, funny because I had the exact same thought process. I hated it, then liked it, then Danny DeVito turned up and I hated it again. Then something clicked and I love it even more now.

I only found out quite recently that the first season pre-DeVito is pretty universally panned, and shit loads of people recommend starting with season 2 to people checking it out. So persevere with it. Or not, whatever, don't let me tell you what to do..

I stuck with it into season three because the bits in season two he wasn't involved with were still good, but he only seems to become more omnipotent as it goes on so I'm out.

[igor_balis]

Curb annoyed me at times because I could never suspend my disbelief with the wacky things people would do around Larry. Maybe it's cultural differences between my dorky gang of neurotic 20-something beardy losers and the Jewish Hollywood Illuminati but I just never really believed people would actually act like that.

[Reg]

Forgot about Curb. There's too many comedies the are at around the same level.

Not an OFAH fan. It's dated horribly.


It just wasn't as dense or well written as I'd been lead to believe. The first season is absolutely wonderful and genuinely is near perfect as a season of television, but after that it just bounces around fairly aimlessly with subplots popping up and being dropped as though they were remnants of a previous draft that hadn't been properly excised in the edit. There's some seriously shady acting in there too.
I agree to an extent regarding the first season as that's arguably the best crafted. The first episode is magnificent and I could watch that over and over.
Disagree on the subplots overall as I think generally the characters who aren't there for the duration add a lot to the show (Ralph for instance.) There's the occasional minor-ish plot that I could take or leave even if enjoyable.
IMO the shady acting is very rare with the odd stinker (never for an extended period of time, though). In the main the cast are great and Gandolfini's character is on another level in terms of writing and performance (the best in any film/TV I've seen).

[Boydy]

:nodd:

The balcony scene is something else. It has about eight different acts somehow compressed into two minutes.



I'd managed to overcome my initial hatred for everyone in it and was just starting to really enjoy it then Danny DeVito turned up and the whole thing went to shit again.

Parks and Recreation would be miles out in front in an American Comedy category for me.
He's the best character in it.

I really like Parks and Rec but it's too saccharine to be top of any comedy list for me.

[Lewis]

I think you need to understand the time to properly appreciate Only Fools and Horses (which is why it has dated). A lot of it is actually quite subtle.

[John]

I agree to an extent regarding the first season as that's arguably the best crafted. The first episode is magnificent and I could watch that over and over.
Disagree on the subplots overall as I think generally the characters who aren't there for the duration add a lot to the show (Ralph for instance.) There's the occasional minor-ish plot that I could take or leave even if enjoyable.
IMO the shady acting is very rare with the odd stinker (never for an extended period of time, though). In the main the cast are great and Gandolfini's character is on another level in terms of writing and performance (the best in any film/TV I've seen).

I wasn't talking about subplots on that level, more the ones that come up then disappear without any sort of resolution. There are plenty of them throughout but the one which comes most immediately to mind is the Russian in the woods, and the mob war everyone during that episode was absolutely certain he was going to start. You can subvert expectations by having the whole thing fizzle out, but to have nothing in that episode ever be referenced again is just bad writing.

There are ten better written and performed characters in The Wire alone. There's shady acting in every episode, because the boy kid is absolutely dismal and Jamie Lynn Sigler isn't much better. It's pretty telling that a year after The Sopranos finished she was popping up in HIMYM to play a one episode part as a 'wooooo girl'.

[Pleb]

Quiz Shows: The Chase

[Alex]

The Shield is probably the best TV show of all time, for me. It was just incredibly well written throughout its entire run. With most great television shows I could still tell you that "season "x" was the worst season", but with that I couldn't. I don't even think of it in those terms. It was all fantastic and it all felt necessary.

[Reg]

I wasn't talking about subplots on that level, more the ones that come up then disappear without any sort of resolution. There are plenty of them throughout but the one which comes most immediately to mind is the Russian in the woods, and the mob war everyone during that episode was absolutely certain he was going to start. You can subvert expectations by having the whole thing fizzle out, but to have nothing in that episode ever be referenced again is just bad writing.

There are ten better written and performed characters in The Wire alone. There's shady acting in every episode, because the boy kid is absolutely dismal and Jamie Lynn Sigler isn't much better. It's pretty telling that a year after The Sopranos finished she was popping up in HIMYM to play a one episode part as a 'wooooo girl'.
Ah man, I loved that episode! It's a classic in many eyes. The main reason it wasn't talked about much is because Christopher and Paulie wanted it to go unmentioned

But fair enough on us basically disagreeing on the show.

I've only seen one episode of the Wire (as apparently outrageous as that is.)

[Offshore Toon]

The Wire was my go-to answer for this, but I haven't watched it in ages. All I seem to watch these days is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, so that's probably my current BEST TV SHOW EVER. Previous holders of the title include: 24, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Simpsons, Pokémon, Biker Mice From Mars, Art Attack and Playdays.

[Ian]

The Shield is probably the best TV show of all time, for me. It was just incredibly well written throughout its entire run. With most great television shows I could still tell you that "season "x" was the worst season", but with that I couldn't. I don't even think of it in those terms. It was all fantastic and it all felt necessary.

The Shield.. :drool:

Fucking Lem, man. :(

[SvN]

Ah man, I loved that episode! It's a classic in many eyes. The main reason it wasn't talked about much is because Christopher and Paulie wanted it to go unmentioned

But fair enough on us basically disagreeing on the show.

Sopranos spoiler
I loved the fact that it was never resolved. That's life - sometimes things don't wrap up neatly in a package. Sometimes you get away with doing something and never face consequences, despite fucking up majorly.

I think there's a big difference between this and other shows where subplots are dropped due to lack of audience interest or poor writing. This was clearly very intentional.

From what I've read, they did discuss referencing it later in the show by having the guy show up as a brain dead mong, sweeping a floor - with the implication being that having half of his skull blown off meant that he had no memory of what happened. But for whatever reason, they didn't.

[Giggles]

Southland is still my favourite cop type one.

[Spikey M]

Drama: The Missing series 2
Comedy: Only Fools and Horses
Crime: Breaking Bad

[Henry]

For drama, nothing tops The Wire.

For comedy, I can't narrow down this list, all of which have been mentioned already I think,

South Park
Fawlty Towers
Only Fools and Horses
The Office
Peep Show
Yes Minister
The Simpsons (early Simpsons only).

[ItalAussie]

Seinfeld is the standard-bearer for comedy, but I'll always prefer Arrested Development. S3 wasn't quite up to the previous two, and S4 never happened. But it still works.

[phonics]

I've been rewatching The Shield. It's really good buy my word does it have some cringeworthy storylines/scenes.

P.S. Y'all got the comedy one wrong. It goes 1) First 9-10 seasons of The Simpsons 2) First 4 Seasons of 30 Rock 3) Frasier

[-james-]

I don't think I've ever enjoyed any TV as much as the first season or two of Lost. I went back and watched the first ten or so episodes a while back and had the same realisation. Hasn't "aged well". The Charlie bits are almost unwatchable.

[Spikey M]

I tried to watch The Sopranos and couldn't do it for the same reason.

[Max Power]

Have the people naming Breaking Bad rewatched it since it first aired? Interested to see how it holds up to repeat viewings seeing as it did lean on suspense and cliff hangers a bit towards the end.

The Wire is the best drama
The Office/Peep Show tied for comedy.

[Spammer]

Comedy: Classic era Simpsons. Not sure when the 'classic' era stopped but I'm pretty sure I watched an episode from season 15 recently that was dead good. Not sure if they all were at that stage though.

Peep show is definitely up and around there too.

Factual: Either The World at War or Cosmos.

Drama: Don't watch dramas much. I enjoyed the Handmaid's Tale and that's the last thing I've properly watched since 24.

[Spikey M]

Oh, The World at War is a great shout.

[Pepe]

The Shield. :harold:

The Wire is the obvious winner. Comedy-wise my favorite is Seinfeld, but I doubt it is the best. Plenty of shite in it.

[7om]

Have the people naming Breaking Bad rewatched it since it first aired? Interested to see how it holds up to repeat viewings seeing as it did lean on suspense and cliff hangers a bit towards the end.

The Wire is the best drama
The Office/Peep Show tied for comedy.

I only saw Breaking Bad very recently as I didn't watch it on release and binge watched the whole lot and consider it to be the best drama I've seen.

[phonics]

Oh I forgot, Justified is pretty up there and probably beats The Shield/Southland so it goes

1) The Wire
2) Justified
3) The Shield
4) Southland
5) Everything else

[Henry]

True Detective (series 1) would be up there with The Wire if it wasn't for the rubbish way that it ended.

[Reg]

Have the people naming Breaking Bad rewatched it since it first aired? Interested to see how it holds up to repeat viewings seeing as it did lean on suspense and cliff hangers a bit towards the end.
I re-watched it thinking it wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable for the exact same reasons, but it's brilliant.

[igor_balis]

Breaking Bad is great but I thought it was a bit of a step down from The Wire and the Sopranos. Without wanting to sound like a wanky dickhead (I will though) I felt like the latter two sorta...TRANSCENDED regular TV shows. Like, I was just constantly thinking something along the lines of "oh so TV can be like THIS? COOL!!", which I never really had with BB. Like, it was just really good TV. Maybe if I''d watched BB before the other two I'd feel differently though.

I also hated all the characters, and I'm probably letting outside influences change my opinion - I got particularly sick of retards thinking Walt was a LEGEND!!! even when it was pretty obvious he was a fallen hero you were supposed to think was a cunt.

[Disco]

Factual: The World at War

By a mile, Cold War is ok but nowhere near as impartial and Kenneth is good but not a patch on Larry.

[Max Power]

I re-watched it thinking it wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable for the exact same reasons, but it's brilliant.

Cool, think I'm going to run through it again soon. See if it deserves its place alongside The Wire (four watches) and Sopranos (two and a half)

[Spikey M]

By a mile, Cold War is ok but nowhere near as impartial and Kenneth is good but not a patch on Larry.

There's a Cold War one? What's the title?

[Disco]

Erm...

[Lewis]

Freezing Grief.

[Spikey M]

I have seen 'The Cold War' is it that one?

[John]

Sopranos spoiler
I loved the fact that it was never resolved. That's life - sometimes things don't wrap up neatly in a package. Sometimes you get away with doing something and never face consequences, despite fucking up majorly.

I think there's a big difference between this and other shows where subplots are dropped due to lack of audience interest or poor writing. This was clearly very intentional.

From what I've read, they did discuss referencing it later in the show by having the guy show up as a brain dead mong, sweeping a floor - with the implication being that having half of his skull blown off meant that he had no memory of what happened. But for whatever reason, they didn't.

The problem for me isn't just that it was never resolved. It's that throughout the episode everyone is sure that bloke will trigger a mob war so the stakes are heightened and when they don't get him it's an 'oh shit' moment. You're primed for that episode to have consequences going forward, so when it doesn't at all it feels like a cheat.

I'm not fundamentally against something having no clean resolution. Three quarters of the stuff that happens on Southland is either completely random, missing a beginning, or missing an end, and I spent about six months recommending that to anyone who'd listen. As an aside, if this had a category for best performance in a TV series Michael Cudlitz in Southland would be up there.


Breaking Bad is great but I thought it was a bit of a step down from The Wire and the Sopranos. Without wanting to sound like a wanky dickhead (I will though) I felt like the latter two sorta...TRANSCENDED regular TV shows. Like, I was just constantly thinking something along the lines of "oh so TV can be like THIS? COOL!!", which I never really had with BB. Like, it was just really good TV. Maybe if I''d watched BB before the other two I'd feel differently though.

I also hated all the characters, and I'm probably letting outside influences change my opinion - I got particularly sick of retards thinking Walt was a LEGEND!!! even when it was pretty obvious he was a fallen hero you were supposed to think was a cunt.

The Wire was created by a journalist and a policeman and primarily written by novelists, and The Sopranos was conceived as a movie, so that 'not TV' feeling was sort of baked in, while Vince Gilligan had come from writing about fifty episodes of The X Files and started off with the intention of doing a TV show.

[Spammer]

I have seen 'The Cold War' is it that one?

If it's the one with Kenneth Brannagh narrating, then yeah.

I've gotten about half way through it so far and haven't touched it in about a year. It's decent though.

[Disco]

I always get to the one about espionage and have to go and watch Tinker Tailor or Smiley's People.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

Drama is Breaking Bad for me, that's an easy one.

Comedy is harder to choose though, my default answer would probably have to be The Simpsons in its prime, I'll give bonus points given how re-watchable it is. Then there's the likes of Partridge, The Thick of It, Parks and Rec, Arrested Development...

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

Comedy: Classic era Simpsons. Not sure when the 'classic' era stopped but I'm pretty sure I watched an episode from season 15 recently that was dead good. Not sure if they all were at that stage though.

I would say the absolute highs finish around season 8/9. It was still excellent for a bit after that but I've just had a look and I don't recognise a single episode synopsis from season 15 on. That was 14 fucking years ago and now there's been 28 seasons, utterly depressing.

[Lewis]

You can make it quite neat if you figure it died after 'Trash of the Titans'. The rest of that series was shit, series ten was crap, and so was series eleven except for the food critic episode. Beyond that it's just an endless wasteland, and every newer episode I've seen has been a sub-Family Guy disgrace.

[Lewis]

That one where Homer invents grunge was almost enough to ruin the entire programme.

[Shindig]

They had a couple of digs at feminism and SJW's lately. It's funny in a way that makes me think one of the writers is checking out in style.

[SvN]

Season 9 seems to be where it fell off. Some good episodes, but some crap too, like the one where Skinner turned out to be an imposter. Season 8 was awesome, 10 was crap. It actually went to shit quite quickly in retrospect.

[Ian]

The amount of retconning of the Homer / Marge stuff always irritated me way more than it probably should have.

[Lewis]

Season 9 seems to be where it fell off. Some good episodes, but some crap too, like the one where Skinner turned out to be an imposter. Season 8 was awesome, 10 was crap. It actually went to shit quite quickly in retrospect.

The timelines of both programmes would suggest that Futurama sucked the life out of it, since they must have been producing that during series nine of The Simpsons.

[Offshore Toon]

Didn't some of the writers leave permanently for Futurama? I'm pretty sure I've read that was the case and almost certainly a significant factor in the downfall. Fry could probably educate us if he was about.

As for Breaking Bad, I stopped watching early in season 3 because it was dull as shit. I ended up watching all of it because my housemates loved it and it just felt like they made up for the crap storyline with good action scenes. Give me Malcolm In The Middle over Breaking Bad any day of the week.

[wullie]

There are probably some way shitter, but the two episodes that represent the downfall most for me are when they all go to Italy and somehow Sideshow Bob's the local mayor, and Homer and Marge's backstory now being that he was in a grunge band in the 90s.

[Henry]

Having checked, there are only a couple of good Simpsons episodes in Series 10, so I'm going to concur that that's when it got shit.
I barely recognise anything on the Series 11 list, so that must have been where I stopped watching.

Still, nine series is more than 200 episodes of quality. That's some going.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Simpsons has been going for 31 years. I challenge anyone to keep quality high on any TV programme for more than about a decade.

[phonics]

Some of the new ones are pretty good if you don't think of it as The Simpsons and just a generic animated comedy show. There's still the occasional punchline that'll get you.

[phonics]

Thoughts on Deadwood?

I thought it was phenomenal first time round and I know it's latter seasons are it's best ones but I tried watching the first season again lately and it's so slow it makes The Wire look like an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit..

[Max Power]

I actually enjoyed Deadwood more on the second time around. I wasn't straining to pick up the flowery dialogue and could appreciate it more. There are some dud plot lines but overall a cracking show, shame it couldn't have had a proper resolution.

[phonics]

I actually enjoyed Deadwood more on the second time around. I wasn't straining to pick up the flowery dialogue and could appreciate it more. There are some dud plot lines but overall a cracking show, shame it couldn't have had a proper resolution.

They've actually started production on a movie that's supposed to cover the final season. It'll probably be a mess a la Firefly/Serenity but a man can hope.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

There are probably some way shitter, but the two episodes that represent the downfall most for me are when they all go to Italy and somehow Sideshow Bob's the local mayor, and Homer and Marge's backstory now being that he was in a grunge band in the 90s.
None of that even rings a bell.

[wullie]

Seasons 17 and 19 respectively

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Italian_Bob
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_%2790s_Show

I keep thinking all the shit episodes are relatively recent but 2005 and it was already stinking, Jesus.

[phonics]

The worst thing about that Italian Bob episode was that Family Guy still stole the only decent joke in it.

[Giggles]

Seasons 17 and 19 respectively

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Italian_Bob
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_%2790s_Show

I keep thinking all the shit episodes are relatively recent but 2005 and it was already stinking, Jesus.

I've never seen the latter of those and after reading that Wiki, I never want to.

The Sideshow Bob one, like all Sideshow Bob episodes, was tripe.

[Disco]

Thoughts on Deadwood?

I thought it was phenomenal first time round and I know it's latter seasons are it's best ones but I tried watching the first season again lately and it's so slow it makes The Wire look like an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit..

I found the end to be the worse part, everything else was great.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

I've never seen the latter of those and after reading that Wiki, I never want to.

The Sideshow Bob one, like all Sideshow Bob episodes, was tripe.
Cape Feare and Black Widower anyone?

[Lewis]

The last new one I saw was a Sideshow Bob one from 2014, and the plot is that he had genetically engineered himself into the perfect evil genius with a load of animal traits. That just about sums the current state of things up.

[wullie]

Brother From Another Series is one I like, although that might just be because of my hardon for Frasier.

[phonics]

Brother From Another Series is one I like, although that might just be because of my hardon for Frasier.

The one where Niles builds the dodgy dam? That was a great episode.

[Lewis]

https://s12.postimg.org/j6ir7tyj1/DE8ti43_Uw_AEPIox.jpg

From off of Twitter. Accurate?

[Browning]

Saying it never got above a 9/10 is just wrong.

[Ian]

Quibbling over where/10 the highs and lows are that's pretty much spot on.

[John]

Saying it never got above a 9/10 is just wrong.

It's in terms of average episode quality in each season. Nothing has ever averaged a ten.

[SvN]

It's pretty much exactly what we said in this thread - the episode I marked as the turning point is even on there right before the plummet.

[Browning]

It's in terms of average episode quality in each season. Nothing has ever averaged a ten.

Oh shit, I barely looked at the other axis and figured they had just plotted specific significant episodes. It's probably because, despite hearing it a lot, I still can't quite believe they've had 28 fucking seasons.

Did Selma really marry Grampa? How the fuck did that work and who thought that was a good idea?

Edit- Looked up the episode on Wiki.... fucking hell.

[Shindig]

The characters staying the same age is the kind of dumb thing that's kinda charming. I mean, at least the Simpsons kinda address it.

[Henry]

The movie was pretty shit, I thought.

[Reg]

I liked the movie. It had a decent amount of good belly laughs and the plot was kinda cool.

[Yevrah]

I've always found the Simpsons hugely overrated, with the main problem being I'd watch it and think "oh, I see what they did with that joke" rather than laugh out loud.

[Reg]

Futurama any different? It ranks pretty close to my top comedies. I was a kid when it started and the concept was pretty exciting.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Futurama is/was trash.

[Shindig]

Futurama was smarter and sharper. Is it still going or did those feature length ones kind of stab it's momentum? People whinge about shit getting cancelled but Futurama got done in at the right time. I wanna say Family Guy got halted at one point as well.

[Reg]

September 4, 2013 was the last episode says wiki. A first cancellation, change of networks and a revival, then a second cancellation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama#Fox_cancellation

[John]

Family Guy has been cancelled two or three times quite early on, but each time was brought back due to DVD sales or petitions and at this point it's probably on a Simpsons level of invincibility, which it in no way deserves.

Futurama was never 'smarter and sharper' than peak Simpsons.

[7om]

Never understood The Simpsons to be honest. At uni my housemates had it on every night so I caught a few episodes and it never it moved the needle for me and these dickheads gobbled up every word.

Family Guy shits on it every way possible. Fight me.

[John]

No need. You'll walk into traffic at some point.

[wullie]

I think the peak for the movie is too high, but otherwise it's pretty accurate particularly with that 90s episode being a new low.

EDIT: Skinner as Armin Tamzarian should probably accelerate a decline too

[Shindig]

Family Guy has been cancelled two or three times quite early on, but each time was brought back due to DVD sales or petitions and at this point it's probably on a Simpsons level of invincibility, which it in no way deserves.

Futurama was never 'smarter and sharper' than peak Simpsons.

Aye, I should've phrased that better. It was better than the Simpsons of that day.

[Dave.]

Never understood The Simpsons to be honest. At uni my housemates had it on every night so I caught a few episodes and it never it moved the needle for me and these dickheads gobbled up every word.

Family Guy shits on it every way possible. Fight me.

I agree with this.

[Giggles]

FG definitely gives more laugh out loud moments.

[Dave.]

FG definitely gives more laugh out loud moments.

With The Simpsons, I go through each show spotting references to other programmes and stuff but don't find it funny at all. Family Guy is very inconsistent but (you're spot on) there are definitely more laugh out loud moments.

[Giggles]

With The Simpsons, I go through each show spotting references to other programmes and stuff but don't find it funny at all. Family Guy is very inconsistent but (you're spot on) there are definitely more laugh out loud moments.

I know there's probably nothing sophisticated about it, but all those "like the time" cutaway bits get me every time.

[phonics]

I thought the South Park Manatee bit nailed that.