And dont be naive and put something like "The Brady Bunch" or "Alf"

Huh? :confused: Do you mean "best written show?" If you mean that, im not sure what is the best written shoe.

Let's see, either "The Brady Bunch" or "ALF".

Just kidding Barwars88. Although "ALF" is one of my favorites, I wouldn't say it's one of the best written.

NewsRadio
The Odd Couple
Taxi
Andy Richter Controls the Universe

Are my main picks.

Some shows are funny due to the excellent writing and some shows are funny due to the actors. And some shows are funny due to both.

examples of funny due to the actors:
"Friends" - In my opinion, the writing's not all that great. But the actors make the show funny and interesting to watch.

"Boy Meets World" - One of my favorites, but even I know it's not the best written show. The actors make me laugh so much, mainly Will Friedle as Eric Matthews.

Best written shows:

Square Pegs (of course!)
Star Trek- The Next Generation
Star Trek- Deep Space Nine
Star Trek-the origianl series
The X-Files
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
All In The Family
The Twilight Zone

I think "Frasier" is (or was I guess) the best written show on TV. Very intelligent stuff.

I also think the "Blackadder" series is brilliantly written. That show cracks me up.

I think Cheers has to be in the running for this category.

Seinfeld
Arrested Development
Freaks and Geeks (not really a sitcom, but whatever)

M*A*S*H, Scrubs and Friends all had fantastic writing throughout their runs and from what I've seen of Frasier I'm willing to bet the same can be said for that show as well.

I'd pick the Dick Van Dyke Show and although it's a newer show I think that Monk has really great writing.

I would never forgive myself for not mentioning that "M*A*S*H" was one of the best written shows in TV history.

Please forgive me, oh great and powerful Hawkeye, for not mentioning your brilliant show in my previous post.

:notworthy

;)

Originally posted by TJL
I would never forgive myself for not mentioning that "M*A*S*H" was one of the best written shows in TV history.

Please forgive me, oh great and powerful Hawkeye, for not mentioning your brilliant show in my previous post.

:notworthy

;)

Shouldn't you be apologizing/confessing to Father Mulcahy?

Originally posted by AKA
Shouldn't you be apologizing/confessing to Father Mulcahy?

I thought we had that separation of church and state thing here at Sitcoms Online...

;)

Seinfeld
Star Trek's TNG, DSN, & Voyager
Frasier

I can't believe I see no mention of THE SIMPSONS!!! :confused:

Other shows I love for their great writing:

Wings
NewsRadio
Cheers
Scrubs
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Taxi

Originally posted by Sideshow Kristen
I can't believe I see no mention of THE SIMPSONS!!! :confused:

The Simpsons started out rough and then got quite good for a few seasons, and then went downhill again, and fast. The show today is a shell of its former self, trying to emulate Family Guy and failing at it.

Among sitcoms I think Get Smart had excellent writing especially in the many takeoffs that were done of other series and classic movies and the ways in which they would fit this into the secret agent genre. Also there was an awful lot of social commentary in that show (jokes about bureacracy, the economy, nuclear weapons), plus romantic comedy.

Norman Lear put together some very good shows also in terms of writing. All in the Family was probably his best.

Outside of sitcoms MTM put together several dramas that were very well written: St Elsewhere was probably the best, while Hill St Blues and White Shadow were also top notch. Each blended real pathos and drama with comedy and in St Elsewhere the humor wasn't always obvious until you sat and thought about it for a while and then it would register.

Originally posted by jamesanthony
Outside of sitcoms MTM put together several dramas that were very well written: St Elsewhere was probably the best, while Hill St Blues and White Shadow were also top notch. Each blended real pathos and drama with comedy and in St Elsewhere the humor wasn't always obvious until you sat and thought about it for a while and then it would register.

I can't think of any MTM show that DIDNT have good writing.

Originally posted by barwars88
I can't think of any MTM show that DIDNT have good writing.

What happened to MTM? When did they fold up or get dissolved or absorbed? If Cop Rock was an MTM series then it would be an exception to the good writing category.

Originally posted by jamesanthony
What happened to MTM? When did they fold up or get dissolved or absorbed? If Cop Rock was an MTM series then it would be an exception to the good writing category.

Ohh.... well than that is a HUGE exception, seeing that it was a HUGE failure.

Yes on:
Dick Van Dyke Show
All in the Family
Simpsons
The Mary Tyler Moore Show


Add:
SOAP
My World and Welcome To It
Doby Gillis
Barney Miller
Style and Substance
Buffalo Bill

Out of all of the TV sitcoms I've seen, I would say that Mary Tyler Moore had the absolute best writing. Honorable mentions: The Wonder Years, I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, The Simpsons.

Originally posted by TJL
I thought we had that separation of church and state thing here at Sitcoms Online...

;)

:lol:

"But Father, I'm not Catholic."

"Well, nobody's perfect."

Here's my list of very well-written shows, in no particular order but alphabetic:

Arrested Development
Cheers
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Family Guy
Frasier
Freaks And Geeks
Friends
Futurama
M*A*S*H
The Shield
The Simpsons
South Park
The Sopranos
The Wonder Years

Best Written Show:
Mary Tyler Moore
Roseanne (except for the last season)
Seinfeld
Friends
The Dick Van Dyke Show

Hmm...

MASH
Dick Van Dyke Show
All in the Family
The Odd Couple
The Simpsons
Futurama
Route 66
Hogan's Heroes
The Incredible Hulk (pretty good for a show about a big green guy)

First of all I like "Family Guy", but I would never say that it was trying to emulate "Simpsons," it was "Family Guy" who emulated Simpsons with their emphasis on hillarious/absurd cutaway seens. While FG is more surreal than Simpsons, Simpsons is still the best, IMO.

Best:
NewsRadio: One of my one or two most favorite shows.
Frasier: A class above the rest
3rd Rock from the Sun: Silly but relevant social satire.
Get Smart
Seinfeld: Everything connected together in the end.

The Simpsons is now a shell, yes, but the sheer volume of what's it's done certainly puts it at the top. There are some episodes that are still funny after the 20th time around, andf you still pick up on new things.

Curb your Enthusiasm

Larry David reportedly only writes the outline for each scene in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." He then allows the actors to improv the scenes and uses much of what they create, while writing more lines on the fly.

Larry used the traditional writing method with his "Seinfeld" series.