Top 10 Favorite TV Shows

It's time to run down, what I feel, were the best TV shows from 1980 onward. TV has recently been bitten by the shallow reality bug, so the number of good shows have dropped off considerably, but they are putting some of the old gem TV shows on DVD now so you can give the finger to reality TV and sit on your ass watching every episode of some of your old favorites. Does your show make my list? It depends on what you personally enjoy watching. I tend to enjoy comedies more than drama, so there's only 1 drama on my list. Check it out:

10. Everybody Loves Raymond - Labeled as 'the last great TV sitcom' by some people out there. It carried the torch from Seinfeld after Seinfeld left in 1998 and just ended in 2005. What made this so great was the cast that surrounded main star Ray Romano. His brother and his parents made the show in my opinion. I especially loved his dad's sarcastic tone on the show.

9. Roseanne - This is an interesting show on the list considering how much I dislike Roseanne Barr (or whatever you call her these days), yet I found her show so entertaining. This is one of those family type shows that tend to drop-off when the kids get older though. When it was in its prime, the show was very good as it centered around a lower middle class family, the Connors. My favorite character on the show was Dan (John Goodman), Roseanne's husband. Roseanne gets bonus points for having the best Halloween shows of any TV sitcoms.

8. Home Improvement - Another family show where it seemed to drop off when the kids got older, but Home Improvement remains as one of my favorite TV shows from the 90s. Sure it could be corny at times, but what made it so great was the duo of Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor and Al Borland. When they got together on that show, it was at its best. When Bob Vila would show up, those episodes would be among the best. Also, when the kids were young on the show, the shows' Halloween episodes were extremely entertaining.

7. The Simpsons - This becomes one of those situations where my personal preference of the shows ahead of it may make some people disagree with how low this is. I still love this show and have about 5 seasons of it on DVD. While the show has tailed off a bit over its last couple of seasons, The Simpsons remains as one of the longest and most consistent TV comedies ever. It's the wit behind this cartoon that makes it so special.

6. Chapelle's Show - May be higher if he ever does decide to come back and continue the show, but Dave left on bad terms with Comedy Central and considers their airing of the unfinished season 3 to be a good reason not to come back. Regardless, the two season he did do put it near the top of the variety/skit show formats. Dave can take just about anything and make it hilarious. Just take the Rick James true Hollywood story as an example.

5. The Cosby Show - Many already mention that Bill Cosby may have single-handedly revived the TV sitcom with this great 80s show. I believe that to be true. It wasn't the funniest show, despite the great Cosby being involved, but it was one of the most entertaining shows to watch. What made it so great is how some of the children on Bill's TV family were as much fun to watch as Bill. Bill's TV wife Claire was a great contrasting character too as she played the stern lawyer and mother.

4. Cheers - One of the top TV sitcoms in the 80s is also considered one of the best ever. Cheers had one of the best ensemble casts of all time, and one of the best characters in Sam Malone (Ted Danson). It was sad to see the show leave in 1993, but it gave center stage to my #1 show.

3. Curb Your Enthusiam - Larry David's second HR in the TV world centers around Larry David's life out in L.A. dealing with friends, family, and any other weirdo in the entertainment biz. It's almost as good as Seinfeld, the show he helped create with Jerry Seinfeld. Larry constantly gets into trouble with everyone on the show. The show also has a lot of big guest stars playing themselves too. It's an HBO show, so it has free reign to use adult topics and language so that's one of the things that distinguishes it from Seinfeld.

2. The Sopranos - It's hard not to like or get into a show that's done so well. Another great HBO show. My mother ranted and raved about this show for a few years before I would take the time to sit down and watch it. Ever since, I've been waiting for Season 6 (the final season), which starts next weekend after what seems like a 2 year layoff. What a great show. For those of you who don't know, the Sopranos is a mob drama about a New Jersey boss, his family, and his 'other' family. James Gandolfini is phenomenal as a crime boss, and the rest of the cast is just as good. What makes it so great is the gripping stories on t he show.

1. Seinfeld - The gold standard by which all sitcoms should be measured in my mind. What made this show so great was the diversity between the 4 actors (yes I mention Jerry as an actor), and the incredible writing teams that made the show so unbelievably great. With the likes of Larry David, Carol Leifer, Tom Gammill and Max Pross behind the scenes, the focus laid on writing the sitcom, and that is where Seinfeld succeeded. A good sitcom can't just be big names, there needs to be a good writing nucleus.

Honorable mention: Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, Rescue Me, King of Queens, South Park