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Writers Guild Of America Best 101 Written TV Shows....


Just Jack

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Awesome list, and I'm not much for lists. I'd have put Cheers and All in the Family above Sopranos,but not by a lot. Taxi would likely be in my top 10; possibly top 15. Friends being in the top 25 is a crime. Lou Grant and Honeymooners are easily far better. Nonetheless, good list.

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Got no real quibbles...though I would likely rank Breaking Bad a tad higher...especially in terms of writing. Kind of difficult in most cases to compare dramas and comedies, side by side, making no distinctions. Like all these things, it all comes down to personal tastes I suppose.

Edited by Buftex
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No way does Battlestar Gallactica deserve to be on that list. It started out good, but the "writers" had no plan and just made things up as they went (they even admitted that... In the middle of the series). That isn't good writing - that's sloppy, crappy writing.

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When I saw the thread, I thought 'if The West Wing isn't on it, it's a sham'..

 

#10: The West Wing

“The people who get angry at us on one Wednesday night will be standing up and cheering the next Wednesday night,” Aaron Sorkin wrote in Written By before The West Wing premiered. Sorkin’s White House will forever be associated with the Clinton presidency, both because it debuted during the end of Bill Clinton’s two terms and addressed a certain Camelot magnetism that Clinton evoked (former Senate staffer Lawrence O’Donnell and former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers wrote and contributed to the show). Sorkin’s President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) was different from Clinton in significant ways, including the fact that he was a Catholic from New Hampshire. The world crises the show sampled were believable, while the fanciful beats came via the president’s staff, who comprised a winning band of hyper-smart, quick-witted but fallible planners and semanticists, harmonizing the sardonic tones of Sorkin’s dialogue like a gospel choir.

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What topic couldn't that be applied to? Is there anything worth discussing?

 

:thumbsup: Excellent point! I made a post earlier, then thought better of it, wondering how the hell "I Love Lucy" was the #12 best written show in television history? Really? I admit, I always hated that show, but I acknowledge that Lucy was a pioneer in many ways, and as it turns out, so was the head writer for the show...one of the very first females to hold such a big title in tv history. I can understand that it might be funny to many, but the writing, in my eyes is pretty formulaic..it almost defines that term. I can see it being somebodys' favorite show of all time, because it made them laugh their ass off...but the if writers are juding the shows on their writing merits, it seems like a bit of a dis-service to all tv writers. I can like a show ("Dexter" comes to mind) even if it is poorly written...but I can recognize the difference.

 

When I saw the thread, I thought 'if The West Wing isn't on it, it's a sham'..

 

#10: The West Wing

"The people who get angry at us on one Wednesday night will be standing up and cheering the next Wednesday night," Aaron Sorkin wrote in Written By before The West Wing premiered. Sorkin's White House will forever be associated with the Clinton presidency, both because it debuted during the end of Bill Clinton's two terms and addressed a certain Camelot magnetism that Clinton evoked (former Senate staffer Lawrence O'Donnell and former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers wrote and contributed to the show). Sorkin's President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) was different from Clinton in significant ways, including the fact that he was a Catholic from New Hampshire. The world crises the show sampled were believable, while the fanciful beats came via the president's staff, who comprised a winning band of hyper-smart, quick-witted but fallible planners and semanticists, harmonizing the sardonic tones of Sorkin's dialogue like a gospel choir.

 

Hey Chandler...do you watch "The Newsroom" on HBO, Sorkins' newest show? I think it is awful, but I have never seen the "West Wing". One of those shows I consider plunging in to...but then the "The Newsroom" was so disappointing, I hesitiate. How do they compare?

Edited by Buftex
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:thumbsup: Excellent point! I made a post earlier, then thought better of it, wondering how the hell "I Love Lucy" was the #12 best written show in television history? Really? I admit, I always hated that show, but I acknowledge that Lucy was a pioneer in many ways, and as it turns out, so was the head writer for the show...one of the very first females to hold such a big title in tv history. I can understand that it might be funny to many, but the writing, in my eyes is pretty formulaic..it almost defines that term.

 

Is it possible to be pioneering and formulaic at the same time?

 

The writing may be formulaic looking through a 60-year historic prism, but they should be honored for being the first to employ that formula (which is obviously very successful, since it was copied so much)

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Is it possible to be pioneering and formulaic at the same time?

 

The writing may be formulaic looking through a 60-year historic prism, but they should be honored for being the first to employ that formula (which is obviously very successful, since it was copied so much)

 

Good point.

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Hey Chandler...do you watch "The Newsroom" on HBO, Sorkins' newest show? I think it is awful, but I have never seen the "West Wing". One of those shows I consider plunging in to...but then the "The Newsroom" was so disappointing, I hesitiate. How do they compare?

 

No, I'm not Chandler, but I have watched West Wing. It's available on Netflix streaming if you want to compare.

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Good to see Deadwood getting some respect at 32. Outside of the Sopranos it's the best series HBO ever produced and I'm still pissed that they canceled it.

 

Deadwood's creator David Milch quit the show--HBO didn't want to cancel it. Milch wanted to focus on John from Cincinnati ..remember that show...with the guy who was maybe an angel/surfer. Come on, you remember right? The show about the guy? The angel guy?

 

No way is Sopranos Number 1. You can't put out 4 season of complete dreck and expect to be Number 1. I always imagined those later season writer's meetings going like this: "Get out the list of people we haven't done some episodes about and let's create a character arc. Oh good, JAnice Soprano...and Bobby Bacalla and his kids. Let's make them center stage because god knows we don't want more Tony, Paulie, Christopher etc."

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