Television hasn’t always been taken seriously as a medium. But the most important and influential TV shows ever made, fromThe Twilight ZonetoThe SimpsonstoThe Wire, have gone a long way toward getting television recognized as a valid artform. Thesemust-see TV showschanged the television landscape, revolutionized the familiar format, and inspired a wave of copycats.
Game Of Thrones
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Based on George R. R. Martin’s ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama set in the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos. It follows noble families like the Starks, Lannisters, and Targaryen vying for control of the Iron Throne while a rising threat from the undead looms in the North. The series received significant critical success and amassed a loyal fan base due to its high production values, sprawling sets, iconic characters, and shocking twists.
The success and popularity ofGame of Thronesextended beyond fantasy enthusiasts and captured mainstream viewers, too.This kickstarted a wave of big-budget genre shows hoping to be the nextGame of Thrones, but none of them managed the balance of genre elements and grounded human stories quite as well asGame of Thronesdid.
At a time of division and uncertainty,Gene Roddenberry imagined a much brighter, more optimistic vision of the distant future.Star Treksaw humanity unified in their quest to explore the cosmos.The crew of the Enterpriseis made up of people of all races and nationalities — this Cold War-era show even had a Russian navigator working alongside Americans.
Ozwas HBO’s first original hour-long drama, and it paved the way for all the rest.It established what would make HBO’s original programming different: it had the production value of a movie, it had recognizable stars like Ernie Hudson and Rita Moreno, and above all, it was chock full of gruesome violence you wouldn’t find on any other network.
Lorne Michaels’ weekly sketch showSaturday Night Livehas been on the air for more than half a century now, and after all these years,it’s still culturally relevant enough to make headlines and score A-list hosts.
SNLis the ultimate training ground for American comedy talent. From Bill Murray to Gilda Radner to Eddie Murphy to Will Ferrell to Chris Rock to Tina Fey, some of the funniest people in the world cut their teeth onSNL.
Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David’s satirical deconstruction of the unwritten rules of society inSeinfeldhas proven to be timeless. Audiences are still discovering it today and relating to its mockery of mundane everyday minutiae.Seinfeldinspired a wave of dark comediesabout terrible, irredeemable people, andit inspired every comedian to make a show where they play themselves.
The media tends to shy away from the darkest chapter of U.S. history, because it’s difficult to confront. But in 1977,Rootsdepicted the horrors of American slavery in all its ugliness, and struck a nerve with millions of viewersacross the country. The story of Kunta Kinte was an unprecedented ratings success, and a powerful historical chronicle.
UntilMASHcame along, sitcoms were solely focused on making the audience laugh. ButMASHproved that, in between the laughter, sitcoms could be a great vehicle to make the audience feel, too. Viewers become endeared to characters that are a weekly staple in their homes, and the laughs have already made them vulnerable.
MAS*Hwas based on the movie of the same name by Robert Altman.
MAS*Hrevolves around a bunch of doctors in the Korean War. Comedically, it showed how people use humor to overcome adversity. But dramatically, it captured the horrors of warfare: the pain, the suffering, the everyday loss. A lot of shows have tried to recapture that balance, but few have done it as effectively as the O.G.
Very few TV shows have had the enduring appeal ofDoctor Who. Since it premiered in 1963,Doctor Whohas changed hands between 14 different stars, a handful of different writers, and even expanded beyond the BBC’s airwaves. This show is ridiculously iconic; even people who don’t likeDoctor Whoknow about the Daleks and the Cybermen and the TARDIS.
With its empowering portrayal of an unmarried, independent, career-driven woman,The Mary Tyler Moore Showwas a major stepping stone in second-wave feminism. It also pioneered a sitcom trope that is still being copied to this day: the workplace family. This trope has since been seen inThe Office,Parks and Recreation,Superstore, andBrooklyn Nine-Nine.
Every mystery-box show fromLosttoOrphan Blackowes a debt toThe Prisoner. This quirky story of an unnamed British intelligence officer being imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village after quitting his job left audiences delightfully baffled, with tons of questions they couldn’t wait to have answered.The Prisonerisa timeless masterpiece of Kafkaesque surrealism.
