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 Oprah Winfrey Show

  • Print

Is it an exaggeration to say that Oprah (why did anyone ever bother giving her a last name?) is the biggest star in TV history? Certainly no one has ever done so much with the power of a camera, a philosophy (uplift, pop-psychology, confession) and a magnetic personality. Half therapist, half saleswoman and all businesswoman, Oprah leveraged her show with Warren Buffett-like skill into a financial and philanthropic empire. Even her train wrecks—Tom Cruise, James Frey—are entertaining. America's Best Girlfriend has a supernatural gift for making you think she is talking to and about you, even when—more often than not—she is actually talking about herself, and that makes her the spirit of daytime TV incarnate.

View the full list for "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME"

Most Popular »

Full List »
  1. The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell
  2. Sex, Please, We're British: London's Erotica Expo
  3. The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
  4. California Judge Challenging Obama on Gay Rights
  5. Obama's 'Mistakes': Way Too Early to Judge
  6. Zhu Zhu Mania: Hamster Toys Are Ruling Christmas
  7. Toilets
  8. The Fall of Greg Craig, Obama's Top Lawyer
  9. Woman Loses Benefits over Facebook Photo
  10. Will Private Equity Be the Next Meltdown?
  1. The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
  2. Zhu Zhu Mania: Hamster Toys Are Ruling Christmas
  3. The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell
  4. Obama's 'Mistakes': Way Too Early to Judge
  5. California Judge Challenging Obama on Gay Rights
  6. Toilets
  7. Sex, Please, We're British: London's Erotica Expo
  8. Will Private Equity Be the Next Meltdown?
  9. East Antarctica, Long Stable, Is Now Losing Ice
  10. Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin
  • Print

Lists by Topic

Topics

Most Popular