Best TV shows of all time
by loretta-simic | created - 25 Mar 2013 | updated - 25 Mar 2013 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003)
TV-PG | 95 min | Comedy
Comedy that follows two brothers from London's rough Peckham estate as they wheel and deal through a number of dodgy deals and search for the big score that'll make them millionaires.
Stars: David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Roger Lloyd Pack, Buster Merryfield
Votes: 56,634
2. Friends (1994–2004)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Romance
Follows the personal and professional lives of six twenty to thirty year-old friends living in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc
Votes: 1,086,613
3. Mad Men (2007–2015)
TV-MA | 45 min | Drama
A drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.
Stars: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones
Votes: 260,181
4. Downton Abbey (2010–2015)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, Romance
A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle
Votes: 224,587
5. Mildred Pierce (2011)
TV-MA | 67 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Divorced single mom Mildred Pierce decides to open a restaurant business, which tears at the already-strained relationship with her ambitious elder daughter, Veda.
Stars: Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, Evan Rachel Wood, Brían F. O'Byrne
Votes: 24,047
6. Gilmore Girls (2000–2007)
TV-PG | 44 min | Comedy, Drama
A dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
Stars: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Keiko Agena, Scott Patterson
Votes: 147,801
7. The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy, Romance
A woman who moves into an apartment across the hall from two brilliant but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory.
Stars: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg
Votes: 866,614
8. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012–2015)
TV-PG | 60 min | Crime, Drama, History
A female sleuth sashays through the back lanes and jazz clubs of Melbourne in the late 1920s, fighting injustice with her pearl-handled pistol and her dagger-sharp wit.
Stars: Essie Davis, Nathan Page, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Ashleigh Cummings
Votes: 17,695
9. How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014)
TV-14 | 4,576 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A father recounts to his children - through a series of flashbacks - the journey he and his four best friends took leading up to him meeting their mother.
Stars: Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris
Votes: 727,719
10. Hawaii Five-0 (2010–2020)
TV-14 | 42 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When Steve McGarrett returns home to Oahu to find his father's killer, the Governor offers him the chance to run his own task force: Five-0.
Stars: Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Taylor Wily, Daniel Dae Kim
Votes: 78,603
11. NCIS (2003– )
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Follows the Major Case Response Team (MCRT) from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), as they get to the bottom of criminal cases connected to Navy and Marine Corps personnel.
Stars: David McCallum, Sean Murray, Mark Harmon, Brian Dietzen
Votes: 162,713
12. Castle (2009–2016)
TV-14 | 43 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
When a psychopath commits murders based on novelist Castle's books, Detective Beckett seeks his help to solve the case. He decides to work with her and uses his experiences as research for his novels.
Stars: Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Susan Sullivan, Jon Huertas
Votes: 174,215
13. Bones (2005–2017)
TV-14 | 40 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
F.B.I. Special Agent Seeley Booth teams up with the Jeffersonian's top anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan, to investigate cases where all that's left of the victims are their bones.
Stars: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne
Votes: 175,955
14. Grey's Anatomy (2005– )
TV-14 | 41 min | Drama, Romance
A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors.
Stars: Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Justin Chambers
Votes: 341,157
15. Desperate Housewives (2004–2012)
TV-14 | 45 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Secrets and truths unfold through the lives of female friends in one suburban neighborhood after the mysterious suicide of a neighbor.
Stars: Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria
Votes: 139,570
16. Nikita (2010–2013)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A rogue assassin returns to take down the secret organization that trained her.
Stars: Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Aaron Stanford
Votes: 53,865
17. Seinfeld (1989–1998)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy
The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York City friends.
Stars: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander
Votes: 350,833
18. Modern Family (2009–2020)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three different, but related, families face trials and tribulations in their own uniquely comedic ways.
Stars: Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell
Votes: 482,509
19. Midsomer Murders (1997– )
TV-14 | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A veteran Detective Chief Inspector and his young Sergeant investigate murders around the regional community of Midsomer County.
Stars: John Nettles, Jane Wymark, Barry Jackson, Neil Dudgeon
Votes: 39,327
20. The X-Files (1993–2018)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
Stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis
Votes: 249,417
21. ER (1994–2009)
TV-14 | 44 min | Drama, Romance
The doctors who work in the ER at the County General Hospital in Chicago grapple with ups and downs in their personal and professional lives while trying to give apt medical care to their patients.
Stars: Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Eriq La Salle
Votes: 67,630
22. The Cosby Show (1984–1992)
TV-G | 30 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
The goings-on in the life of a successful African-American family.
Stars: Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe
Votes: 36,322
23. M*A*S*H (1972–1983)
TV-PG | 25 min | Comedy, Drama, War
The staff of an Army hospital in the Korean War find that laughter is the best way to deal with their situation.
Stars: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr
Votes: 63,703
24. China Beach (1988–1991)
TV-14 | 120 min | Drama, History, War
The trials of a weary nurse, her friends and colleagues in a Vietnam War field hospital.
Stars: Dana Delany, Marg Helgenberger, Brian Wimmer, Oliver Theess
Votes: 3,534
25. The Practice (1997–2004)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
We follow the exploits and cases of defense attorneys of a Boston law firm. Bobby Donnell is the senior defense attorney and founder of the firm.
Stars: Dylan McDermott, Kelli Williams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Steve Harris
Votes: 10,414
26. Ally McBeal (1997–2002)
TV-PG | 45 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Follows the personal and professional life of lawyer Ally.
Stars: Calista Flockhart, Greg Germann, Jane Krakowski, Vonda Shepard
Votes: 36,373
27. Cheers (1982–1993)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy, Drama
The regulars of the Boston bar "Cheers" share their experiences and lives with each other while drinking or working at the bar where everybody knows your name.
Stars: Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, George Wendt
Votes: 61,945
28. Married... with Children (1987–1997)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy
Al is the quintessential working class dad. Peggy, his wife, always wants more from him. With their children, they go through the highs and lows of ordinary life.
Stars: Ed O'Neill, Christina Applegate, Katey Sagal, Amanda Bearse
Votes: 111,003
29. That '70s Show (1998–2006)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A comedy revolving around a group of teenage friends, their mishaps, and their coming of age, set in 1970s Wisconsin.
Stars: Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson
Votes: 189,172
30. 24 (2001–2010)
TV-14 | 44 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Counter Terrorism Agent Jack Bauer races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster.
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert
Votes: 196,882
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