TVSquad

Merv Griffin at #60?

John Ritter at #29? Ahead of Alan Alda? And Lassie?

Jimmie Smits at #48? Maybe because he's the token Hispanic on the list?

Mr. Rogers is only #55?

Who comes up with this crap?

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Oh, yeah. And Delta Burke?

Um, Why?

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After the top ten I think they just took 1000 names and threw them in a hat. The first 90 they picked went on the list. Then they put those 90 back in the hat and drew them again for the order they are in.

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I was surprised Roseanne was at #11. That, to me, is the biggest head scratcher of all.

I mean, it was a good show, don't get me wrong, but it was no more revolutionary than either of Bob Newhart's shows (in fact, she kind of stole his idea in many ways)

She's 19 spaces higher than Alan Alda and I can't imagine there's a person out there who thinks Roseanne (the show) had a bigger impact on TV than MASH did. She even beat Letterman by 5 spots for cripes sakes

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I haven't read the whole list but based on the ones mentioned and thier ranking Entertainment Weekly has a short attention span. Who's number one? The star of "Grey's Anatomy"? Rod Serling being anything less then on the top 10 or even top 5 makes the list already nil and void in my book. In the mist of the writer's strike, he's the gold standard when it comes to quality dramatic television.

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atleast they gave bill cosby his fair due. the cosby show might be one of the most overlooked show on these kinds of lists, but im sure he is included because of his work before and including the cosby show. the first 5 seasons were some of the best tv ever made. adding cousin pam and olivia were very sad sad disasters.

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About three hours ago, I was in my car listening to someone on the radio talking about gambling. The guy said that gambling appealed to people because it was so irrational.

The only thing appealing about this list is the irrationality of it. Seriously, who came up with it?

It seems to me they went overboard trying to: 1) Have enough stars from the last ten years or so included. 2) Have enough females in the mix.

Look, I'm a thirty-five year old female, and I appreciate the consideration. But get real. Having Heather Locklear and Calista Flockhart that high on the list is just silly. Just because they did multiple tv shows in the modern tv era? I loved Marcia Cross when she was on One Life to Live twenty years ago and wondered for a long time afterward why she hadn't become a bigger star. I think I can be objective when I say she doesn't belong. And is it just a bit too coincidental that they placed Susan Lucci and Sarah Michelle Gellar next to each other numerically, at 44 and 45, considering that Gellar originated the role of Erica Kane's daughter Kendall Hart on All My Children?

The two glaring omissions I see (unless I'm mistaken) are Kiefer Sutherland and Martin Sheen. Jack Bauer and Jed Bartlett-two of the great iconic and heroic characters of modern tv. They included James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, why not them?

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Actually, I think Roseanne Barr deserves #11, and possibly higher.

ROSEANNE portrayed working class America in a manner rarely seen on television, and what I mean is that, when you watched the show, you KNEW they were struggling financially. The Connor house, and even their work environments, did not reflect a family living beyond their means.

Then you must consider that the two leads on ROSEANNE were obese. This is actually pretty radical for television. Many people bemoan the "fat husband with hot wife" trend in sitcoms, but here we had a bonafide fat couple, who more accurately respresent a typical American couple than, say, Doug and Carrie Heffernan on THE KING OF QUEENS. A fat couple leading ANY television show is radical in my book.

And then there was the progressive politics of ROSEANNE, and especially, the show's inclusion of homosexual characters that weren't broad, cookie-cutter cliches of homosexuality. Again, this was in the pre-Ellen era when fair representation of homosexuality was nearly non-existent on television. Again, this was ground-breaking, radical stuff.

As much as I love Bob Newhart, I'm at a loss to think of anything revolutionary about either of his two shows...

So, Tom, respectfully - I think you're entirely wrong in your assessment of Roseanne the show, and the woman...In my estimation, she's as important to the history of the medium as just about anyone else I can think of, and if it were my list, she'd likely make the TOP FIVE...

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Some of the best have been overlooked. Desi Arnaz help to establish the three camera shoot for TV most usually situation comedies and did a terrific job as a straight man for Lucille Ball. Don't recall seeing Walt Disney on the List. Not a single Superman, considering his three popular incarnations perhaps the character ought to be mentioned instead/as well as the actors.
Jennifer Aniston was my favorite friend but while the show may be considered iconic by some, it was the group dynamic not a single performance that made that show popular.

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@mandraski - Can I ask how old you are? I don't mean that in an insulting way I'm just wondering if maybe Roseanne was "your breakthrough show". Which is to say the most breakthrough show for your generation which makes you rank it higher than it otherwise would be.

I mean, I hate to go back to the same example, but I have to think that MASH broke as much ground as Roseanne in its day and MASH was a hit for its entire run while Roseanne was barely being watched in its last season.

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I looked at that list and wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry.

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Pamela Anderson?? Based on both her assets or do you include the hair, too? And Jennifer Aniston?

Ill agree to the top, oh, the top 20, but everything below is rather suspect in my mind.

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Most glaring omission: Bob "Captain Kangaroo" Keeshan. And while we can all flap our arms in the air and scream "Yaaaaay!!" that Kermit made the list, where are Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, Oscar, etc.?

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Better yet why not just switch Kermit with Jim Henson. Guess they have to actually been on the air to get recognized but come on. Is there another man (or woman) you can think of who pretty much revolutionized Children's Programming?

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I think the head Scratcher for me is that Calista Flockhart is in the top 50. 48 I think, she doesnt even belogn int he top 1000, how is she ahead of people like candice bergon, angela landsbury, charlie brown, kelsey grammer, and florence henderson. Two marginally successful shows does not make her a tv icon.

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Other than a handful of people who are the top in a particular arena these sort of lists are incredibly pointless and stupid. Arguably Larry David should be joint with Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld "acted" in the thing but they both wrote and Larry was the basis of lots of stories, one of the characters and ran the show, he also created and stars in Curb.

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I could not agree more with the guy that said larry david, he is the first guy I thought of that should be on it that wasn't. In fact, I would put him top 10 for curb alone, it is the funniest show of the last 10 years in my opinion. The man is a genius. I also believe curb is better than seinfeld ever was.

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As a young female television viewer, I grew up loving Friends and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That being said, I think to include Jennifer Aniston and Sarah Michelle Gellar is completely inaccurate. If the list was going to include entire casts (In Living Color, SNL), then I think the cast of Friends would have been an appopriate addition, rather than singling out Jennifer Aniston. And with all due respect to Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy as a tv icon? Seriously? Depsite the fact that I totally disagree with adding her to the list at all, if we're going to go that route, I'd much rather see Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars!

Also, to add to the Roseanne debate...I personally did not like that show at all. But I do believe that was because I was a bit too young to realize how groundbreaking it was- the fact that a show starring an overweight couple with a wife/mother that would not have won any "mother of the year" contests who were not in the upper-middle class socioeconomic status was truly groundbreaking.

I guess my biggest issue with this list is that it seems completely arbitrary- and I think there would be a lot less complaints if they didn't attempt to rank the icons as well- I mean I was too young to watch MASH and even I think Alan Alda should have been higher! And also, there is a difference between an iconic tv CHARACTER and an iconic tv ACTOR...

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I think you people are placing a lot of gravitas in the vague term 'icon'. It's not that deep folks, get over it.

I like the list a lot--though, I think Roseanne should have made it to the top 10.

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How could you list William Shatner w/o Leonard Nimoy????

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