[misappear]

There are a lot of great shows mentioned here.  All very meritorious. I was talking with my wife on this topic. She mentioned that she would have to have a lot of sub-categories. For example, best 10 nonAmerican shows, best black and white shows, best westerns, etc.

How could I put Supercar in the same list as Orphan Black?

I could list top ten shows I would have watched if my parents didn?t control the TV dial! 

See folks, there was a time when dials......oh, never mind.

(Heh heh)

[Robb_K]

HoneyMooners has to be way up there.shares with Faulty Towers that there were only 12 episodes and both series were legends.
For the UK Tele shows, I was today reminded of 'Life on Mars' which made John Simm and Philip Glenister household names in the UK and Australia.
And for comedy, Steptoe and Son. 
Cheers!

There were actually a total of 39 episodes of The Honeymooners' 1955-56 CBS TV Series, plus 107  6 to 20 minute Honeymooners "sketches" inside Jackie Gleason's hour-long variety shows running from 1951-1970, with several also scattered between 1971 and 1985.

[crashryan]

I confess that I've never understood the appeal of The Honeymooners. My parents watched it and The Jackie Gleason Show when I was young. I think Dad laughed at it though I don't remember if Mom did. As for me, I found it distasteful, even scary. Gleason's character was always loud, angry, and aggressive, constantly threatening his wife with violence. My own household was peaceful and restrained. My father, a kind and generous man, seldom lost his temper. When he did I was terrified. Not because he got physically violent; his physicality was limited to the occasional 1950s spankings, which he obviously did not enjoy administering. Maybe it was because he was so gentle 99% of the time that seeing him blow his top frightened me. Maybe that's connected to why Ralph Kramden horrified me. Further speculation must be referred to a therapist. Anyway, over the years many popular sitcoms have featured abusive "heroes," most of them male. All in the Family springs immediately to mind. I never could stand any of them.

[SuperScrounge]

"the Starlost' was a great idea for a series BTW, should be revived, with no input from Ellison of course.

Put away the Ouiji board, we don't want any input from Ellison. 

Harlan died in 2018.

[The Australian Panther]

Given your home background I can understand your reaction to the portrayal of Ralph.
The point was tho, that Ralph was just a big bag of wind, and his wife was never taken in by him for a second.
However,   

Anyway, over the years many popular sitcoms have featured abusive "heroes,"

There are those of us that believe that the consistent negative portrayals of Fathers on US TV [In particular] have contributed to a general perception by the wider community that all men are bombastic and violent and should be ignored. 

[The Australian Panther]

Robb,

There were actually a total of 39 episodes of The Honeymooners

not sure how I got that wrong. I have the box set, but its not currently accessible so I didn't do my homework.
However 'Honeymooners' Like 'Faulty Towers' is a situation comedy that is considered a Masterpiece and inspires generation after generation of viewers. 
Crash,

I confess that I've never understood the appeal of The Honeymooners.

This was produced at a time when many of the comedy actors on TV had graduated from Vaudeville and had worked on stage extensively, so their comic timing was superb and so was the scriptwriting.
In a way, the narrative framework of these comedies is only important as a framework for the gags.
Phil Silvers Bilko was another example.
I wonder if youv'e gone back and had another look at it as an adult?   

I presume you were very young at the time for it to have had such a shocking effect on you.
I was 10 before I watched TV for the first time and probably 8 before I saw a movie in a theatre for the first time. So I never had any trouble mistaking what was on the screen for reality. Although I did get emotionally involved in the storyline. I, being a young boy, liked Westerns or Adventure films, but I had no idea what the theatre was going to show for the matinee. So when I saw my first, 'Woman's picture' and after the screening 2 women emerged in tears, I have never forgotten my astonishment.
You have to wonder about the mental and spiritual development of children who are subjected to everything under the sun on the screen - even on phones - from an very early age.
I actually have standards I adhere to. I don't watch modern horror movies, and will never watch 'Silence of the Lambs' for example, and I won't watch 'Game of Thrones' because I appreciate that certain images and concepts are impossible to forget, and I think, I don't need to see ......... for entertainment. I don't want to deliberately dull my sensibility. I often read a review first and then say, thanks but no thanks.
When it comes to comics the same applies. My tastes aren't totally black and white, but I don't like horror comics with pages of gore or violence. Not a fan of Vampirella for example, that's not comment on the quality of the creators or the concept, I just am not in general entertained by Vampires.
But I like Blade as a character, and Gene Colan's Dracula, so its not cut and dried. I take everything on its merits.

Cheers.   

[profh0011]

When I was really young, I grew up watching THE FLINTSTONES, probably starting with the 3rd season.

My introduction to THE HONEYMOONERS was when Jackie Gleason decided to revive it as one-half of his hour-long Saturday night JACKIE GLEASON SHOW, broadcast from Florida.  I had only just seen Art Carney that same week on BATMAN.  In the 1st of the new episodes, Ralph wins an around-the-world cruise, and the next half of the season was taken up with them visiting other countries and having LOVE BOAT style adventures.  I recall the 2nd half all took place in the NYC apartment.  Alice & Trixie were played by different actresses.  It was some years before I saw the one full season of THE HONEYMOONERS in syndication.

I'm pretty sure at age 7, I recognized the similarities between Fred and Ralph, Barney & Ed, etc.  My Dad probably explained that the series had been around long before the cartoon show.  Many years later, and shortly before he passed away, Gleason had an interview in PLAYBOY magazine.  In that, he was asked about THE FLINTSTONES.  His flip answer was... "We thought about suing, but decided not to bother."



As it happens... my Dad had a hair-trigger EXPLOSIVE temper, could get VIOLENT at times, never knew when to stop, and could hold onto rages for weeks-- sometimes, MONTHS.  And, as I long ago noted, among his favorite TV shows were THE HONEYMOONERS, ALL IN THE FAMILY, SANFORD AND SON, and what he referred to as "The Argument" segments of THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW.

Dad never got to see either TILL DEATH DO US PART or STEPTOE AND SON, but thanks to Youtube, I finally have.  It's amazing how close the "early" version of Edith was to the wife on "TILL DEATH..."

I once ran "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT" for my Dad, and during a break, explained to him WHO the actor who played Paul's Grandfather was, and the significance of his being in the film.  (STEPTOE AND SON was the #1 most-popular show in England at the time, and they included him so the parents would have someone to watch... heh.)