‘The Sopranos’ Chosen As The Best-Written Show Of All Time

The Sopranos is still receiving honors years after the final episode aired.

The folks at the Writers Guild of America recently put together a list of the best-written shows of all time. Positioned at the very top of the heap was HBO’s critically-acclaimed gangster drama.

This is the first time the WGA has assembled a list of the television programs its members consider to be the very best. In addition to The Sopranos, the organization included such memorable shows as M.A.S.H., The Rockford Files, and The Twilight Zone.

However, the list isn’t exclusive to dramas. The Writers Guild of America also honored such notable sitcoms as The Honeymooners, Seinfeld, and I Love Lucy, among many others.

WGA East and West joined forces to vote on the list.

“This list is not only a tribute to great TV, it is a dedication to all writers who devote their hearts and minds to advancing their craft,” the organization said in a joint statement.

The released continued, “At their core, all of these wonderful series began with the words of the writers who created them and were sustained by the writers who joined their staffs or worked on individual episodes.”

The Sopranos is just one of several HBO programs that made the list. In addition to the award-winning gangster show, the Writers Guild of America also recognized Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, and Sex and the City.

Judging from the list, it would also seem that the WGA has a fondness for sketch comedy and variety shows. Saturday Night Live, The Carol Burnett Show, Your Show of Shows, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,. and Monty Python’s Flying Circus were also counted among the best programs ever written.

The complete list is included below.

1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone
4. All in the Family
5. M.A.S.H.
6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
7. Mad Men
8. Cheers
9. The Wire
10. The West Wing
11. The Simpsons
12. I Love Lucy
13. Breaking Bad
14. The Dick Van Dyke Show
15. Hill Street Blues
16. Arrested Development
17. The Daily Show
18. Six Feet Under
19. Taxi
20. The Larry Sanders Show
21. 30 Rock
22. Friday Night Lights
23. Frasier
24. Friends
25. Saturday Night Live
26. The X-Files
27. Lost
28. ER
29. The Cosby Show
30. Curb Your Enthusiasm
31. The Honeymooners
32. Deadwood
33. Star Trek
34. Modern Family
35. Twin Peaks
36. NYPD Blue
37. The Carol Burnett Show
38. Battlestar Galactica
39. Sex and the City
40. Game of Thrones
41. The Bob Newhart Show
42. Your Show of Shows
43. Downton Abbey
44. Law & Order
45. Thirtysomething
46. St. Elsewhere
47. Homicide: Life on the Street
48. Homeland
49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
50. The Good Wife
51. The Colbert Report
52. The Office (British)
53. Northern Exposure
54. The Wonder Years
55. L.A. Law
56. Sesame Street
57. Columbo
58. The Rockford Files
59. Fawlty Towers
60. Moonlighting
61. Freaks and Geeks
62. Roots
63. Everybody Loves Raymond
64. South Park
65. Playhouse 90
66. The Office (US)
67. Dexter
68. My So-Called Life
69. Golden Girls
70. The Andy Griffith Show
71. The Shield
72. Roseanne
73. 24
74. Murphy Brown
75. House
76. Barney Miller
77. I, Claudius
78. The Odd Couple
79. Star Trek: The Next Generation
80. Alfred Hitchcock Presents
81. Upstairs Downstairs
82. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
83. Get Smart
84. Gunsmoke
85. The Defenders
86. Sergeant Bilko
87. Justified
88. Band of Brothers
89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
90. The Prisoner
91. The Muppet Show
92. Absolutely Fabulous
93. Boardwalk Empire
94. Will and Grace
95. Family Ties
96. Lonesome Dove
97. Soap
98. The Fugitive
99. Louie
100. Late Night With David Letterman
101. Oz

Do you agree that The Sopranos is the best-written television series of all time?