TV Shows

I have been flat out, so I have not had a chance to respond earlier.

You guys have stolen my thunder. Of course, Thew listed 57 total shows in his Top 10, so our common shows are well commonplace:

M*A*S*H - satire, political comedy and a character named "Hot Lips."
The Tonight Show - JC, we miss you.
I Love Lucy - Red-headed wedded to a minority? In the 50's! And funny to boot.
Seinfeld - The show about nothing.
Happy Days - Single handedly revived the family sitcom. And spawned Laverne & Shirley.
Saturday Night Live - At its best, there was none better.
The Simpsons - I can hear the pitch...an adult cartoon?
All in the Family - "Boy, the way Glenn Miller played..."
Sesame Street - Bert and Ernie were NOT gay.

That's nine. My 10th is a made-for-TV drama: The Day After. Not quite "War of the Worlds" impact, but this was a very powerful program done extraordinarily well. Context is important. Coming off of the Carter years, Reagan had just started standing up to the Soviets and was moving Pershing II missiles into Europe. The Soviets had been particularly aggressive in the late-70s, emboldened by our Vietnam failure; Nixon's crippling of the Presidency and Carter's flaccidness. There was a serious discussion of actually fighting and winning a tactical nuclear war. (For an engrossing look, see The Third World War.) The Day After had an incredible scene where the news reporters are just waiting for the missiles to hit. They do, certain screens go blank. Really great stuff.

BTW, Thew's great post on Norm quotes caused me much regret...the Top 10 list should have been Top 10 TV Characters.