Top 10 US TV Shows

The Simpsons

This isn't just the best show ever to come out of the US - it's probably the best show ever made anywhere. You just can't under-estimate the influence of The Simpsons and the way it has made its mark on popular culture (there can be very few people out there who can honestly say they've never seen it), to say nothing of the fact it's also brilliantly written. And it's still going - will it ever end? Hopefully not.

Friends

Friends, I think, deserves to be in this list not necessarily because it's the best show in terms of writing quality or acting (certainly not compared to some of the other shows on here) but in terms of what it achieved - few other sitcoms have been quite as successful and become quite such a part of popular culture as Friends has. Love it or hate it, it's a show that's impossible to ignore, even now several years after its cancellation (since it's repeated ad inifnitum).

Family Guy

A grown-up cartoon for people who want an alternative to The Simpsons, Family Guy is every bit as funny, but it's even more sharp and satirical than that show (and unlike The Simpsons this is definitely not one that the kids can watch). One of the few shows to actually be saved from the axe after fans protested - and frankly I'm glad they did.

Desperate Housewives

Other US shows may come and go but Desperate Housewives has kept us enthralled for several years now and it just carries on being as entertaining as ever. Quite aside from the engaging characters and the 'all is not as it seems in cosy suburbia' undertones, this is one show that just keeps on coming up with the goods no matter how over-the-top or ludicrous some of its plot lines may be. Long may it continue.

The Wire (2002 - 2008)

Roseanne

Arrested Development

Coming up with a completely unconventional kind of humor, Arrested Development is a true gem. No pre-recorded laughs, no conventional sitcom humor... just pure goodness in a more smirk oriented humor than a laugh out loud way (although it does have it's laugh out loud moments). Great series; too bad they cancelled it early.

Futurama

Ratings-wise, clearly not as successful as Matt Groening's other masterpiece (see below), but in the end this series is perhaps the funniest I've ever watched on TV. The fact that it has well built characters, a sci-fi setting and some great, if scarce, tear-jerking moments only help to build the perfect TV show for me.

Game of Thrones