The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME

"First, I apologize. I know I left some of your favorite shows off this list. How do I know that? Because I left some of my favorite shows off this list. The happy and unfortunate fact is that there are far more than 100 great shows, and more created every year. Lists are incredibly important: they are how we define what matters to us, what we want entertainment and art to do, what we expect of our culture."
—TIME TV critic James Poniewozik

The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

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Walter Bennett / Time Life Pictures / Getty

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The idea that there was once an omnipotent, omnipresent and widely respected mainstream media may largely be a myth. But like many myths it has a real-world inspiration, and Uncle Walter's newscast, in its '60s and '70s heyday, is it. Cronkite's steady demeanor and comfortable manner cornered the market on trust and made him all the more influential the rare times when he ventured into commentary. When Cronkite famously declared Vietnam "unwinnable" in 1968, President Johnson reportedly said that once the anchor was against him, he had lost Middle America. Since he left the anchor chair in 1981, no single newsman (or woman) has ever gotten Middle America back.

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