Best TV Shows
by aviramd | created - 02 Jan 2012 | updated - 22 Oct 2012 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Friends (1994–2004)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Romance
Follows the personal and professional lives of six twenty to thirty year-old friends living in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc
Votes: 1,086,488
2. Mission: Impossible (1966–1973)
TV-PG | 50 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
An elite covert operations unit carries out highly sensitive missions subject to official denial in the event of failure, death or capture.
Stars: Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris, Peter Lupus
Votes: 11,457
3. Cheers (1982–1993)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy, Drama
The regulars of the Boston bar "Cheers" share their experiences and lives with each other while drinking or working at the bar where everybody knows your name.
Stars: Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, George Wendt
Votes: 61,940
4. Taxi (1978–1983)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
The staff of a New York City taxicab company go about their job while they dream of greater things.
Stars: Judd Hirsch, Jeff Conaway, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner
Votes: 15,800
5. 24 (2001–2010)
TV-14 | 44 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Counter Terrorism Agent Jack Bauer races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster.
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert
Votes: 196,873
6. House M.D. (2004–2012)
TV-14 | 45 min | Drama, Mystery
Using a crack team of doctors and his wits, an antisocial maverick doctor specializing in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way.
Stars: Hugh Laurie, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Jesse Spencer
Votes: 511,958
7. Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980)
TV-PG | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The investigations of Hawaii Five-0, an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police answerable only to the governor and headed by stalwart Steve McGarrett.
Stars: Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Kam Fong, Herman Wedemeyer
Votes: 8,172
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)
TV-14 | 44 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
A young woman, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.
Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Head
Votes: 159,513
9. The Lost Islands (1976)
25 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Five children travelling on a ship sailing around the world are shipwrecked on an island where the inhabitants are lost in time, ruled over by a mysterious "Q".
Stars: Tony Hughes, Jane Vallis, Robert Edgington, Amanda Ma
Votes: 144
10. ALF (1986–1990)
TV-G | 30 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
When an ugly creature, who loves eating cats, crash-lands into the Tanner family's garage, they treat him as a guest and allow him to live with them as he comments on the stupidity of mankind.
Stars: Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros, Paul Fusco, Max Wright, Anne Schedeen
Votes: 39,076
11. Star Blazers (1979–1984)
22 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
In the year 2199, a starship must make a dangerous voyage to the distant planet Iscandar and back to save Earth from an alien invasion.
Stars: Eddie Allen, Michael Bertolini, Amy Howard Wilson, Lydia Leeds
Votes: 1,567
12. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)
TV-PG | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton
Votes: 135,722
13. Star Trek (1966–1969)
TV-PG | 50 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.
Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols
Votes: 92,751
14.
Rumpole of the Bailey (1978–1992)
Episode:
Rumpole and the Fascist Beast
(1979)
Not Rated | 51 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Captain Rex Parkin of the Pay Corps (retired) is charged with an offence under the Race Relations Act, and finds to his horror that Rumpole has taken under his wing a pupil barrister from the Punjab.
Director: Robert Knights | Stars: Leo McKern, Peggy Thorpe-Bates, Peter Bowles, Patricia Hodge
Votes: 99
15. Are You Being Served? (1972–1985)
TV-PG | 28 min | Comedy
The misadventures of the staff of a retail floor of a major department store.
Stars: Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard
Votes: 9,218
16. Fawlty Towers (1975–1979)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.
Stars: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth
Votes: 100,030
17. Yes Minister (1980–1984)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
The Right Honorable James Hacker has landed the plum job of Cabinet Minister to the Department of Administration. At last he is in a position of power and can carry out some long-needed reforms, or so he thinks.
Stars: Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne, Derek Fowlds, Diana Hoddinott
Votes: 16,511
18. Happy Days (1974–1984)
TV-G | 30 min | Comedy, Family, Music
The Cunningham family live through the 1950s with help and guidance from lovable and almost superhuman greaser Fonzie.
Stars: Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley
Votes: 21,053
19. Soap (1977–1981)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The soap-operish antics of two families: the Campbells and the Tates.
Stars: Katherine Helmond, Rod Roddy, Richard Mulligan, Cathryn Damon
Votes: 8,255
20. Coach (1989–1997)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy, Sport
Hayden Fox is the head coach of a university football team, and eats, sleeps and lives football.
Stars: Craig T. Nelson, Jerry Van Dyke, Bill Fagerbakke, Shelley Fabares
Votes: 8,305
21. Fame (1982–1987)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Music, Musical
The stories of the students and faculty of the New York City High School for the Performing Arts.
Stars: Carlo Imperato, Gene Anthony Ray, Debbie Allen, Albert Hague
Votes: 4,440
22. Frasier (1993–2004)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy
Dr. Frasier Crane moves back to his hometown of Seattle, where he lives with his father and works as a radio psychiatrist.
Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce, Peri Gilpin
Votes: 95,319
23. The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy, Romance
A woman who moves into an apartment across the hall from two brilliant but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory.
Stars: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg
Votes: 866,514
24. The Sopranos (1999–2007)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama
New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life that affect his mental state, leading him to seek professional psychiatric counseling.
Stars: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli
Votes: 469,541
25. The Practice (1997–2004)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
We follow the exploits and cases of defense attorneys of a Boston law firm. Bobby Donnell is the senior defense attorney and founder of the firm.
Stars: Dylan McDermott, Kelli Williams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Steve Harris
Votes: 10,413
26. Boston Legal (2004–2008)
TV-14 | 44 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Boston Legal is a spin-off of the long-running David E. Kelley series The Practice (1997), following the exploits of former Practice character Alan Shore (James Spader) at the legal firm of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt.
Stars: James Spader, William Shatner, Candice Bergen, Rene Auberjonois
Votes: 49,949
27. Three's Company (1976–1984)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
The misadventures of two women and one man living in one apartment and their neighbors.
Stars: John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers, Richard Kline
Votes: 17,082
28. The West Wing (1999–2006)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama
Inside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.
Stars: Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, John Spencer
Votes: 85,409
29. I, Claudius (1976)
Not Rated | 50 min | Biography, Drama, History
The personal and governmental affairs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as recalled by one of its rulers.
Stars: Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed
Votes: 19,339
30. Roots (1977)
TV-14 | 74 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.
Stars: LeVar Burton, Robert Reed, John Amos, Louis Gossett Jr.
Votes: 18,845
31. Shogun (1980)
TV-MA | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, History
An English navigator becomes both a player and pawn in the complex political games in feudal Japan.
Stars: Richard Chamberlain, Toshirô Mifune, Yôko Shimada, Furankî Sakai
Votes: 15,391
32. Callan (1967–1972)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
David Callan is the top agent/assassin for the Security Service (British counterintelligence), but he is an embittered man who performs his duties "for Queen and country" under duress. This... See full summary »
Stars: Edward Woodward, Russell Hunter, Lisa Langdon, Anthony Valentine
Votes: 855
33. Columbo (1971–2003)
TV-PG | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Los Angeles homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo uses his humble ways and ingenuous demeanor to winkle out even the most well-concealed of crimes.
Stars: Peter Falk, Mike Lally, John Finnegan, Bruce Kirby
Votes: 41,878
34. Rich Man, Poor Man (1976)
TV-PG | 63 min | Drama
An examination of the trials and tribulations of the Jordache family, from the period following World War II to the late 1960s.
Stars: Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, Susan Blakely, Dorothy McGuire
Votes: 3,415
35. The Dain Curse (1978)
360 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Private eye investigates diamond theft, and becomes involved with an ancient family curse.
Stars: Tom Bower, David Canary, Malachy McCourt, Hattie Winston
Votes: 357
36. North and South, Book I (1985)
TV-PG | 94 min | Drama, History, Romance
Two friends, one northern and one southern, struggle to maintain their friendship as events build towards the American Civil War.
Stars: Kirstie Alley, Georg Stanford Brown, David Carradine, Philip Casnoff
Votes: 11,884
37. Kane & Abel (1985)
240 min | Drama
Born on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world, both men are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. Kane and Abel battle for the success and triumph that only one man can have.
Stars: Kelly K. Learman, Peter Strauss, Sam Neill, Ron Silver
Votes: 960
38. The Bourne Identity (1988)
Unrated | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An injured, unconscious man washes ashore in a small French town. As he recovers, it becomes quite clear, someone is trying to kill him.
Stars: Richard Chamberlain, Jaclyn Smith, Anthony Quayle, Donald Moffat
Votes: 4,743
39. The Gangster Chronicles (1981– )
60 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The series follows the lives of the three main characters from their youth into becoming major criminal figures in 1920's America.
Stars: Michael Nouri, Joe Penny, Brian Benben, Kathleen Lloyd
Votes: 289
40. McCloud (1970–1977)
TV-PG | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A New Mexico deputy marshal gets assigned to Manhattan's 27th Precinct.
Stars: Dennis Weaver, J.D. Cannon, Terry Carter, Ken Lynch
Votes: 3,759
41. Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990)
PG-13 | 270 min | Crime, Drama
An undercover DEA stationed in Mexico exposed large-scale marijuana trafficking, which led to his own murder and a high-profile investigation into government corruption.
Stars: Steven Bauer, Elizabeth Peña, Miguel Ferrer, Benicio Del Toro
Votes: 669
42. Sword of Gideon (1986 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 173 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Chronicles a Mossad team hand picked to hunt down the terrorists involved in the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre of Israeli athletes.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Steven Bauer, Michael York, Robert Joy, Laurent Malet
Votes: 1,340
43. The X-Files (1993–2018)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
Stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis
Votes: 249,384
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