TVSquad

Great List!

Married With Children was definitely an aquired taste which at first bite was abhorrent. However, if you kept with it you would sense the underlying ensemble genius behind it.

Similarly, Saved By The Bell was such a disposable syndication also-ran that you would be shocked at how many times you would watch it. It was like deliciously cheap candy.

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weak.

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I was going to argue with you on several points, but I will with just one.

ER is number one?!?! Friends should be moved up to that.

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I have to agree with you on Laugh-In. I was in grade school when it was first on, and it was truly appointment television, and we would all talk about it the next day. We thought it was daring and subversive and funny (and yeah, we watched the Smothers Brothers, too--Laugh-In was just different).

Then TV Land brought it back a few years ago and I couldn't wait to watch it. Imagine my surprise to see that it consisted primarily of cheap vaudeville jokes dressed up in flower power. There was maybe one weak political reference per show. Seriously, Bob Hope was more political, and I think his jokes were newer.

I have no idea what we were thinking back then.

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You missed Seinfeld and Mash.

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So glad you managed to include Grey's Anatomy on the list.

It's labeled as a "Medical Drama" and yet, really, there's neither of those two genres in the show at all.

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Kudos for the friends mention although I agree with david that it should have been #1.

-It wasn't Funny.
The jokes were weak.
-The acting was terrible.
-It definitely wasn't a New York City show.
-It sucked on several levels and I argue created new levels of suck that haven't been on television since.

The fact that it got such high ratings, and a show like Arrested Development failed, displays an interesting thought that process in the nation and who watches tv and perhaps the failure of the nielsen television rating system.

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#11. M*A*S*H*

If you've watched a rerun lately, you'll probably agree. I remember laughing my ass off in the pre-After Mash days, but, man, that show really doesn't hold up. (*patting myself on the back for hyphenating "pre" and "after")

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Number 1-3 should be all the CSI's... Don't agree to more than 30 percent of your list. And I'm not a "Friends"-Fan but when a show that has what, 11 seasons(?) does get good after season three it's not a reason to put it on a most overrated list. But then again this list is just your personal point of view and not a presentation of arguments of facts ;-)

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In its prime ER was a giant. Original episodes scored 40 shares. That's something AMERICAN IDOL can't do today.

Even the reruns scored a 20 share.

ER has strayed from its original path, it has become soapy. It used to be slam bang, fast paced medicine. Then it became about slow cancerous death, alcoholism and other personal dramas.

And I think LAUGH-IN still holds up. It wasn't as political as you think - it was just very silly at a time when America needed something very silly.

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Excellent list. I enjoy Family Guy, but of course you're entirely right, the stories are really weak. And I still watch the occasional Saved by the Bell rerun, but purely for nostalgia. And Deal or No Deal infuriates me. Not only does the game require no skill or strategy or anything, but half the show is made up of useless stretching for time under the guise of "building up the drama."

http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/

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Everyone is going to hate me for this, but my pick would have been Firefly. I just don't get that show. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big sci-fi nut but seriously, horses in space? No sound effects during battle scenes? I can appreciate what they are trying to do here, but it never really caught my attention (could be because there were horses in space and no sound effects during the battle scenes) yet people seem to think that this show was the second coming of sci-fi. I guess it's a Joss thing, which again I never quite understood. I don't want snarky (if thats what you can call it) in my sci-fi.

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Kudos to the ER, Grey's Anantomy (The Dr. Whore Show), & Friends mentions. It's about time someone said something.
Married With Children didn't start out so bad. Of all things, the constant hooting from the audience killed it & made it almost unbearable to watch the longer it went on.
One thing I must comment on from the Reader Comments: What is up with the MASH haters. I'll give you that it went on for too long, but it's still way better than half of what is on TV now.

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You knock Jimmy Kimmel for picking on retarded kids and then knock low-hanging fruit like "Saved By the Bell"? It's definitely a guilty pleasure, but who ever said it was GOOD?

"The Sopranos" is good but somewhat overrated. There were a LOT of episodes in the middle seasons that just plodded along without having much to say. The people who call it the greatest show ever and a game-changer are overstating it by a fair margin.

"Studio 60" has taken a beating but still has a reputation for being smart and well written and acted. I only agree with that for about every third episode.

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Deadwood. If this list is about overratedness and not just being plain bad then it should be on the list.

Given I've watched every episode, I'm quite qualified to give an opinion on this one. Very well acted but never hits the dramatic highs that it aims for.

I have to take issue with Paul on a couple of the shows as a couple of them like Grey's for an example, does exemplify guilty pleasure. It does what it does well and that's all you can expect from it. If you think it's out to change the face of television then you're sorely mistaken.

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I completely agree about "Friends," and with #4 on "Seinfeld." Unfortunately, reruns of these 2 shows are on about 10 times a day, so there's no getting away from them when you're flipping thru channels. Currently, I would have to include "Desperate Housewifes" - I don't get the appeal.

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Seinfeld was overrated? In my opinion, no. I do watch the reruns regularly and the show is still hilarious!

Agreed with Friends and Family Guy though. Though FG is a fun watch, it's not as good as everyone says it is...as for Friends, it was only good for a few seasons (seasons 3-6) I think.

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These aren't the top ten overated shows these are just the top ten shows people like that you don't, do a poll or something dont just go assuming these are the top ten.

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Well rick cokely, feel free to not like Firefly but allow me to counter your points.

No sound in space: you do understand that space is a vacuum and sound does not travel in there right? The show was trying to give a more realistic edge to it.

Horses in space: Honestly, if you had paid attention you would have seen that when you saw a horse it was on a colony world. A colony world that was very young and people were living in a pioneer like setting. Of course there would be horses. Episodes that went back to the "core" planets and there was not a horse to be found.

I am curious as to what you think is good sci-fi.

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I was wondering if you'd have the guts to put "Friends" on the list.


That is True Statement.

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