What qualifies as best shows depends upon the criteria. Some might say that a little-watched show that was very well done might be much better than a very popular show that is largely fluff. I would incorporate popularity in the criteria, as people want to be entertained and a show that doesn't entertain many people can't be "best" in my eyes.
I would put MASH at the top spot. It was funny, with witty one-liners, yet it could touch you and make you think. It made political statements, but in a way that didn't alienate and allowed one to still see the humor. We came to care about the characters, even the bumbling ones like Frank Burns. That is a lot for a little half-hour comedy.
I would put "All in the Family" up there among the best. Again, with silly humor and exaggerated characters, it made people think about issues like race, gender and generational differences . . . at a time when our country was just starting to grapple with them. It poked fun at the hard-set views of Archie Bunker, yet you felt affection for Archie too. And, for a few years, this program was a national sensation -- you knew most other Americans were sitting around watching too, and would talk about it the next day.
The news magazine, "60 Minutes" started the popularity of a genre, "entertainment news", that survives to this day. The investigative reporting, the personalities, the feeling that you were getting "the real story", all made for riveting TV. As with "All in the Family", the 60 Minutes program was can't-miss-TV for most Americans (what a one-two punch CBS had when the two programs were scheduled one after the other). There have been later versions of the news magazine that have also been very popular (and, in some people's opinion, 60 Minutes has fallen behind some other programs by featuring too many personality profiles and too little investigative reporting), but "60 Minutes" really established this as a dominant news format.
Another program I'd list high: "The Carol Burnette Show". Carol could sing, she could dance, and she had great comedic instincts. She got laughs without vulgarity or trying to put others down (sort of like Red Skelton, in that respect). She had a great ensemble cast, especially Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. Those two obviously enjoyed what they were doing, and you couldn't help but laugh at the silliness. I remember one line from Carol, in a skit based on the movie, "Gone With The Wind." Scarlett descends a winding staircase, dressing in curtains, with the curtain rod attached and across her shoulders. Rhett (Harvey) compliments her on the beautiful attire, and Scarlet responds, "When I saw it in the window, I just had to have it!" Great stuff from a great entertainer.
Another show I really enjoyed (not sure others thought that much of it, but it was a staple at our house) was the NBC program, "Unsolved Mysteries". Whether it was an unsolved murder, a person who vanished or a tale of the supernatural, it was always an interesting hour for our family. My elder son and I used to lie on the floor in front of the TV, with a portable heater nearby to warm us, and we were engrossed in the stories. Years later, Rob would talk of those times.
While I'm on a roll, the Fox program, "America's Most Wanted" combines the interest of real-life crime with the knowledge that some good came out of watching it, as criminals were apprehended and there was the feeling that "one person CAN make a difference."
Note that I wouldn't highly rank some other very popular shows: Three's Company, Cheers, Friends among them. While widely watched, and entertaining, I just don't see them as very significant. I didn't come away from watching them with much more than the feeling that it was an so-so use of time.
Someone else's turn.
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