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

King of the Hill

BACK
NEXT

View All

Digg
Facebook
Twitter
MORE
- Add to my:
- Blog this on:
  - TypePad
  - LiveJournal
  - Blogger
  - WordPress
  - MySpace

The most acutely observed, realistic sitcom about regional American life bar none, this animated series is a lot like its protagonist, Texas propane salesman Hank Hill: it isn't flashy, never gets a lot of attention, but it does its job year in and year out. With a harsh war-veteran father, a pudgy son more interested in prop-comedy than football and a stubborn, Boggle-obsessed wife, Hank tries to avoid both his dad's callousness and P.C. feel-goodism while sticking to his principles of hard work in a world that rewards shortcuts. Creator Mike Judge makes Hank funny in his pained Boy-Scout rectitude without making him a figure of fun for it, and with its canvas of mega-stores and Laotian yuppies, the show sees modern America's fine detail like an electron microscope.