When I set out to list 70 TV series that affected me enough to watch hour after hour, in many cases from beginning to end, at first I was skeptical that I could get to 70. But some of my favorite shows ended up between 61 and 70 as I looked back through the list and thought, “OMG, I almost forgot (for example) Bosch.”
We spend a lot of time in front of the television, we humans. Technology has given us more leisure time than past generations, as well as entertainment at the touch of a button, and so we press that button in hopes of finding — well, in hopes of finding entertainment as fine as these programs.
And we share our lists as a kind of shorthand: Hi. Pleased to meet you. I liked these programs a lot, even adored some of them; if you did, too, maybe we’re compatible enough to build a friendship.
Again, these are in no particular order (except for #1) — I only numbered them to make sure I hit 70.
1. Firefly
2. Judd for the Defense
3. Star Trek
4. Eli Stone
5. Sherlock
6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
7. Star Trek: The Next Generation
8. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
9. Midsomer Murders
10. Foyle’s War
11. Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
12. After Life
13. Jericho (2006-2008)
14. 24
15. The X-Files
16. Hill Street Blues
17. Homicide: Life On the Street
18. Wonderfalls
19. Freaks and Geeks
20. Wanted
21. Miranda
22. Dead to Me
23. Cheers
24. Breaking Bad
25. Better Call Saul
26. Doctor Who
27. Lost in Space
28. WKRP in Cincinnati
29. Barney Miller
30. Murdoch Mysteries
31. The Blacklist
32. Lou Grant
33. Soupy Sales
34. Diver Dan
35. The Dick Van Dyke Show
36. Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In
37. Branded
38. The Smothers Brothers
39. The Avengers
40. The Prisoner
41. Longmire
42. Bonanza
43, My Favorite Martian
44. The Addams Family
45. The Munsters
46. The Flintstones
47. The Jetsons
48. The Monkees
49. Shindig
50. C.B. Strike
51. Bewitched
52. I Love Lucy
53. The Twilight Zone
54. The Outer Limits
55. Downton Abbey
56. 800 Words
57. American Idol
58. Bones
59. The Crown
60. Batman: The Animated Series
61. Person of Interest
62. Alias
63. House
64. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
65. House of Cards
66. Jessica Jones
67. Fringe
68. Bosch
69. Pushing Daisies
70. NCIS