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

Soap

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This racy soap-opera parody was over the top of the top, with storylines ranging from Latin American revolutions to alien abductions to religious cults to demonic possession. Built around the saga of the upscale Tate family and the middle-class Campbells, the sitcom was unapologetically outrageous, but it wasn't totally outlandish. Part of its appeal and daring was that it showed, at the tail end of the sexual revolution, that the real world was changing in ways that soaps could barely keep up with. Along with the wacky amnesia plots, there was also interracial marriage and prime time's first un-closeted major gay character, played by Billy Crystal. Sure enough, the show was regularly protested by groups who considered it morally depraved. But, hey, it was the end of the '70s. Who wasn't depraved?