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?