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 Odd Couple

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It's the concept that launched a million lousy pitches. ("He's an uptight accountant in jail for securities fraud! His cellmate's a fast-talking pimp! They're the original odd couple!") But this classic sitcom made lightning strike twice by casting Tony Randall and Jack Klugman as finicky Felix and slovenly Oscar, fitting the roles as perfectly as Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau did in the film (based on the Neil Simon play). The pair were lonely ex-husbands—at a time when it had just become acceptable to talk about D-I-V-O-R-C-E on TV—slowly, reluctantly realizing their faults and culpability for their problems. Urban, urbane and stagey in the best sense of the word, this sitcom affirmed that opposites could attract an audience. I still don't forgive it for the Lethal Weapon movies, though.