Scripted television shows have only been around since the early 1950s, and the medium has changed a lot over the decades.
But almost every decade since the ’50s has had its own breakout series that transformed the idea of what a TV show can be.
Compiling a list of the greatest television shows is subjective, and there are always great series that don’t make the final cut.
Regardless, Watch With Us firmly believes that the following are the 10 best TV shows of all time, as ranked by IMDb.
10. ‘Law and Order’ (1990 – 2010, 2022 – Present)
IMDb rank: 7.8
There were legal dramas and cop shows before Law & Order, but usually not in the same series. Dick Wolf combined both into the ultimate procedural, and its staying power is legendary. Even during Law & Order‘s 11-year hiatus, multiple spinoffs were still on the air. That’s why the first spinoff, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has 28 seasons to the flagship’s 26.
The secret to Law & Order‘s success is that almost every episode is a self-contained story that can be watched in any order. Wolf also had a knack for casting compelling actors as the series regulars, including Jerry Orbach, Sam Waterston, Benjamin Bratt and Angie Harmon. That kept viewers coming back, and so did the show’s “ripped from the headlines” stories that still keep the series going to this day.
9. ‘ER’ (1994 – 2009)
IMDb rank: 7.9
The late Michael Crichton wasn’t just a great sci-fi author. Decades before he wrote Jurassic Park, Crichton was a medical student, and he used that real experience to create ER, one of the longest-running medical dramas in TV history. When the series premiered on NBC, it broke new ground for the genre and made several of the cast members into stars.
Former ER executive producer John Wells opened up about battling with network executives over some of the medical drama’s hard-hitting story lines. “I really appreciate not dealing with Standards and Practices on a daily basis anymore,” Wells, 69, admitted to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Thursday, August 7. “It’s fear-based and doesn’t […]
George Clooney was among the original cast as Doug Ross, a maverick doctor at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital. Ross’ relationship with nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) added some romance and drama, and it wasn’t the only one to unfold on the show. But unlike many of its soapy successors, ER treated the medical cases seriously, and the creative team didn’t shy away from depicting tragedy or unhappy outcomes.
8. ‘Cheers’ (1982 – 1993)
Woody Harrelson, Shelley Long, George Wendt, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, Ted Danson, John Ratzenberger. Paramount Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock
IMDb rank: 8.0
Cheers hails from an earlier era of television where a show on the verge of cancellation in its first season could rise to become such a ratings juggernaut that the finale 11 years later was like a national event. It was a very blue-collar comedy set at a bar in Boston, with a strong lineup of comedic performers and one of the catchiest TV theme songs ever made.
The first five years were primarily focused on the on-and-off romance between Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long). Cheers could have ended when Long left the series to pursue a film career, but the introduction of Kirstie Alley as Sam’s new boss, Rebecca Howe, powered the show through another six seasons.
7. ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ (1970 – 1977)
‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ CBS via Getty Images
IMDb rank: 8.3
Mary Tyler Moore had already starred on a successful sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show, prior to landing her own series. The latter was a great sitcom in its own right that could have easily made this list. But The Mary Tyler Moore Show gets the nod over it because this was groundbreaking television for its era. Single career-oriented women didn’t headline their own TV shows until Moore did it.
That historical significance wouldn’t have mattered if the series hadn’t been one of the sharpest comedies of the ’70s. Moore starred as Mary Richards, an associate news producer at a local TV station in Minneapolis. The series surrounded Moore with an impeccable supporting cast, including Lou Grant (Ed Asner), Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman) and Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper). That trio also headlined their own spinoffs from this show, but none of those series could match the humor and heart of the program that spawned them.
6. ‘I Love Lucy’ (1951 – 1957)
IMDb rank: 8.5
I Love Lucy was TV’s first blockbuster sitcom, and it’s still very popular seven decades after its original run. Lucille Ball and her then-husband, Desi Arnaz, headlined the series as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, a married couple living in New York City near their friends and neighbors, Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance).
Ball and Arnaz may have shared top billing, but this was her show from the start. Lucy’s obsession with being famous and get-rich-quick schemes got her and Ethel into a world of trouble on a regular basis. Ball’s madcap delivery and gift for physical comedy proved to be timeless. This is a show that’s been ranked at No. 1 on several other all-time TV lists, and it’s more than worthy of that honor.
5. ‘The Simpsons’ (1989 – Present)
The Simpson family gathers to watch TV in promo art for The Simpsons. 20th Century TV
IMDb rank: 8.6
The Simpsons actually debuted in 1987 as a recurring series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show before going on to its own series in 1989. It’s never stopped running since then, and it’s the Fox network’s signature hit. Matt Groening loosely based Homer (Dan Castellaneta), Marge (Julie Kavner), Bart (Nancy Cartwright), Lisa (Yeardley Smith) and Maggie Simpson on his own family. But they quickly took on a life of their own.
Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer and other talented voice actors helped populate The Simpsons‘ hometown of Springfield with countless memorable characters. The show may be far past its peak, but the earliest episodes of The Simpsons had some of the best writing and humor of any show, animated or otherwise. With almost 800 episodes and counting, The Simpsons could be one of the few TV series to go on forever.
There was nothing going on with Elaine and Jerry on Seinfeld, but according to star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, there almost was. “Oh, the network wanted it! They wanted a ‘will-they, won’t-they,’ all that crap,” Louis-Dreyfus, 63, said in a Sunday Times profile published on Sunday, August 4. “But Larry [David, the show’s creator] was just immovable […]
4. ‘Seinfeld’ (1989 – 1998)
Jerry Seinfeld and Julia Louis-Dreyfus on ‘Seinfeld.’ Cover Images
IMDb rank: 8.9
Few shows have ever defined an era like Seinfeld. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld co-created the series with Larry David in addition to starring as a fictionalized version of himself. The show followed Jerry’s misadventures with his friends, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards).
Seinfeld has famously called the series “a show about nothing,” but it mined humor from everyday experiences and some occasionally shocking topics. “The Contest” was particularly controversial because the friend group competed to see who could go the longest without pleasuring themselves. A lesser show may not have gotten away with that, but Seinfeld was simply hilarious, and it was one of the last true blockbuster sitcoms. Seinfeld and his cast members called it quits after only nine seasons, but they went out on top.
From Get Out to Nope, Jordan Peele has been involved in quite a few TV and movie projects through his production company, Monkeypaw Productions. Peele started his career in sketch comedy as a cast member on Fox’s MAD TV series. He branched out with Keegan-Michael Key, whom he frequently collaborated with on a number of […]
3. ‘The Twilight Zone’ (1959 – 1964)
Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone. Everett
IMDb rank: 9.0
Rod Serling wasn’t just the host of The Twilight Zone; he was also the show’s creator and a singular talent who went on to write or co-write 92 out of the series’ 156-episode run. Each episode was a standalone story that often mixed horror, sci-fi, drama and fantasy into surreal tales.
The Twilight Zone has largely been remembered for its then-startling plot twists and surprises. But at its core, The Twilight Zone was a collection of morality tales. Bad people who made terrible choices tended to suffer the consequences of their actions. That’s not to say there weren’t some innocent people who suffered as well, but the show did reward some who deserved it. The Christmas episode, “The Night of the Meek,” is a prime example of that, as a drunken department store Santa, Henry Corwin (Art Carney), finds his redemption through a magical bag that lets him bring Christmas to everyone he encounters.
2. ‘The Sopranos’ (1999 – 2007)
IMDb rank: 9.2
In an earlier era of television, it would have been unthinkable to have a show center on a bad guy like Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini). The Sopranos never shied away from Tony’s true nature as a mob boss and a murderer. But he was also a family man who loved his wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), and their children, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and Anthony Jr. “A.J.” Soprano (Robert Iler).
James Gandolfini was memorialized by his former cast members in The Sopranos documentary as they revisited the HBO show’s success in a two-part documentary titled Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos. Released via HBO on Saturday, September 7, the film shows director Alex Gibney sitting face-to-face with the show’s creator, David Chase, on a […]
Tony’s panic attacks led to his ongoing therapy sessions with Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), which helped humanize him even more. Series creator David Chase really pushed the envelope by having Tony do some truly terrible things for his “other family.” Yet TV audiences couldn’t get enough of The Sopranos and the show redefined HBO’s original series. From this point forward, the TV medium entered the age of the antihero.
1. ‘Breaking Bad’ (2008 – 2013)
IMDb rank: 9.5
Without The Sopranos, there would be no Breaking Bad. And if you thought Tony Soprano was a bad man, wait until you meet Walter White (Bryan Cranston). The show’s creator, Vince Gilligan, introduced Walt as a struggling school teacher battling terminal lung cancer who turned to his former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), to make and sell drugs so he could provide for his family after his death.
Once Walt dived into the criminal underworld, it gradually changed him into an unrecognizable and morally repugnant man. And yet the stories were so well-written and performed that Breaking Bad was a generational hit. Gilligan and his collaborators brought a cinematic style to the show, and they wisely ended it after only five seasons. Breaking Bad never had a drop-off in quality like some of the other series on this list, and it earned its place as the best TV show of all time.
