Top 10 US TV Shows
- The Top1053
- Caroline Westbrook’s version
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×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.
×Curb Your Enthusiasm
Quite possibly the funniest American show ever made, if you haven't ever seen Curb Your Enthusiasm it's about time you did. Larry David, who steps into the spotlight here after making his fortune as the creator of Seinfeld, is a maddening character but it's impossible not to watch as he lurches from one awkward situation to the next, proving that life doesn't always go right even when you're as wealthy and influential as he is. The fly on the wall filming style and improvised script (which served as influences for The Office) just add to the fun.
×Frasier
Cheers might have been the more popular choice here, but I always preferred Frasier, largely because it gave the best character from that series the chance to step into the limelight (let's face it Frasier Crane always got all the best one-liners in Cheers anyway). A great example of how to do a sitcom spin-off and make it even better than its predecessor.
×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
Regarded by many as 'the best TV series ever made' The Wire is fantastic, but may well have bypassed a lot of viewers simply because it has been quietly building up a following over the past decade rather than exploding on to the scene in a blaze of hype. One of those rare police shows which tells stories from the point of view of the criminals as well as the cops, it really does live up to expectations. I urge you to check it out.
×Sex and the City
The films may have been fairly mediocre but Sex And The City is still a superb TV series, largely because of the novelty of the boozing, carousing protagonists being women. Although it's also helped by sympathetic characters - you love Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda in spite of their semi-reckless behaviour, razor-sharp writing and of course the clothes and the shoes, the sort many of us can only dream about being able to afford.
×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.
×The West Wing
Let's face it, there is a lot of trash on screens in the States but this show is a fine example of US ensemble drama at its finest, with a fantastic performance from Martin Sheen as President Bartlet. When US TV gets this kind of thing right they do it better than anybody else - not even UK dramas can compare.
×The Sopranos
Possibly one of the best gangster dramas ever made, The Sopranos works because it shows a more 'human' side to the mob. Yes it's about gangsters and it's violent and brutal at times but unlike many similar shows and films it actually succeeds in creating characters that you care about. Who'd have thought that was possible?
×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).
