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

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Like many postwar Americans, Julia Child took a trip to France and had meals that changed the way she looked at food and eating. Fortunately for us, she brought back a doggie bag of knowledge and enthusiasm. Child's public-TV show taught Americans weaned on frozen and canned food that using fresh ingredients didn't make you superior, it just made you happier; that cooking needn't be intimidating; and that it was OK to make mistakes. Laughing off her kitchen flubs, employing cream and butter in amounts fit to kill an army and ushering America into the foodie era with a disarming warble, Child served up TV dinners that were actually good for us.

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