34 Favorite TV Shows: List the 7th

BFE Michelle has sent me a couple suggestions for my continuing series of 34 lists of 34 things to celebrate my 34th birthday. A couple were simple, a couple were hard, but they'll all show up here eventually. Today I've chosen:

The 34 Best TV Shows That Have Ever Been On The Air (In my opinion of course).

1. M*A*S*H My favorite era is the season or two between Henry being killed, and Radar leaving the show. Klinger was great, but the Radar/Col. Potter relationship was the best. And yes... it featured one of my childhood crushes.
2. The Dick Van Dyke Show With only a few minor tweaks this show could be put on the air today, using the exact scripts that it originally aired with and still be a hit. The scripts remain fresh, funny, and surprising 40 years later.
3. Ultraman Monsters, giant robots and science fiction! How could a 6 year old resist? And check these funky opening credits! The music and the swirly goop at the beginning still give me chills!
4. Survivor Shut up. You know you watch it. Favorite seasons? Africa and Pearl Island
5. Sports Night One of the sharpest, funniest, most touching shows ever on TV. It was a SHAME that ABC couldn't manage to get this show an audience. This was where I fell in love with Aaron Sorkin.
6. Northern Exposure Disregarding the absolutely AWFUL final season, of course.
7. Sex and the City You did know I was gay, right?
8. Roseanne Another show with an awful final season, only rescued by the incredible final episode.
9. Gargoyles Cutting edge children's television, smart beyond it's audience, and well animated to boot!
10. Wonder Woman Oh, Lynda Carter... is there any end to the wonders you can do? (Childhood crush #2 for those keeping score.)
11. Twin Peaks I don't think I'll ever forgive David Lynch for not finishing this series properly.
12. Hee Haw I have searched and searched the net for a sound clip of one of the "What's for Dinner Grandpa?" sketches, and can't find one anywhere.
13. Land of the Lost "Marshall, Will and Holly... on a routine expedition..." Everybody sing!
14. The Match Game The best game show ever! And how can you resist half in the bag B List 70's celebrities smoking, drinking and making lewd jokes on air? Not to mention the theme.
15. The Mole PLEASE ignore the stupid, stupid celebrity version. Smart, sexy reality tv, with a smart super-sexy host in Anderson Cooper.
16. Amazing Race Beats out Survivor as the best reality TV ever.
17. Night Court Was there ever a better 2 hour block of TV than NBC's 80's Thurdsay night? Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers and Night Court? Will there ever be it's like again? I doubt it.
18. Fraggle Rock Another great kid's show that didn't talk down, had as many scary moments as funny, and actually had a point of view. Did you know there was a movie coming?
19. The Price Is Right This show will forever be summertime at my grandmother's.
20. The Bionic Woman Why her bionic ear could hear through a wall, but she had to move her HAIR out of the way, I'll never know. But I loved the show anyway.
21. Family Ties The source of one of the first male crushes I can remember... but was it Alex? Nope... Nick.
22. The Carol Burnett Show The funniest cast ever collected.
23. Babylon 5 This show got the short end of the stick in terms of how the networks handled it, but seasons 2 through 4 have to be the best sci-fi ever on television.
24. WKRP in Cincinatti In a perfect world all of the record execs would take their stupid heads out of their stupid asses and allow the music rights for this show to be signed off on so that it can finally be released on DVD.
25. The Muppet Show What other variety show could put Zero Mostel and Rudolf Nuryev on the same stage as Alice Cooper?
26. Muppet Babies Okay, please ignore that I was 14 when this show was on the air. I loved it anyway.
27. The Dolly Parton Variety Hour Variety shows were to the 70's what talk shows were to the 90's: everybody had one. But I still remember that butterfly trapeze in thw show's opening, and how could I not mention the lady who rounds out my childhood crush trifecta?
28. Challenge of the Superfriends Zan and Janna kicked Marvin and Wendy's asses.
29. The West Wing At least up to Season 5, after that... all bets are off.
30. You Can't Do That On Televsion In the brief time that my dad had cable TV I fell SO in love with this show.
31. Buffy The Vampire Slayer I lucked onto Buffy when I was working an over night shift and it was still in syndication.
32. Nowhere Man Another unfinished series, another late night syndication, a show you probably have never heard of.
33. Max Headroom Some fine, fine post-apocolyptic sci-fi tv.
34. Quantum Leap One of the best final episodes ever, and a series that actually improved just a bit in the final season!

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