The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Readers pick their all-time favorite TV shows

McGinn: What this city needs is a wrestling commissioner
2/3/12
Gospel music, punk making news locally
2/3/12
Your chance to see St. Valentine’s massacre guns
1/27/12
Clark County teen on album with Hank Jr.
1/27/12
McGinn: Does Bigfoot live here or is he just passing through?
1/25/12
> More headlines

By Terry Morris, Staff Writer 5:45 PM Friday, August 27, 2010

DAYTON — Tears will fall on the day in the unavoidable future when “Glee” gets expelled from TV land.

Last year’s major loss, “Lost,” is still being mourned by some, a grieving that was eased for some and renewed for others with the DVD set released Tuesday, Aug. 24.

But will anyone still care a few years from now?

Judging by results of an informal readers’ survey, the answer is yes. Asked which series ranks as their personal favorite of all time, many voted for shows that went off the air before “Lost” or the kids in “Glee” showed up for their first audition.

Not one of them mentioned “American Idol,” which has been television’s top rated show for six years, supplanting “CSI.”

Tracy Ross of Mason is currently shopping for a new favorite series. Previously a self-described “‘Lost’ fanatic,” she “cried like a baby” when it went off the air. “But now I am pretty much over it.”

She hasn’t been tempted to buy the new box set. “The extra scenes are not going to entice me to get it. It’s such a deep story line that I don’t want to be dragged back into it,” said Ross.

For Jack Collins of Brookville, the all-time number one “would have to be ‘M*A*S*H’ (1972-83), hands down,” and not just because he did military service in Korea. “It was always a good show with good constituent characters and occasionally an episode that would bring a tear to the corner of your eye, if you were the tearing type,” he said.

The finale of “M*A*S*H” ranked at the time as the most-watched television episode in U.S. television history.

Lisa Vannucci of Huber Heights is still on the “Seinfeld” (1989-98) bandwagon. “I watched the series when it was first on and have been watching in reruns ever since. There’s an episode to fit so many life experiences and to make them hilarious,” she said.

Let’s not forget about “24” (2001-10), Pat Corbitt of Dayton suggested. The central character, Jack Bauer, was the main draw for her. “He always captured the bad guy. It was just good. I hated it when it went off.”

Rosemary Scacchetti of Dayton said she can “identify with every one of those girls” on the venerable series “The Golden Girls” (1985-92). My husband died more than two years ago, so I’m alone like those girls are. Their experiences pull together all of those in my life. If I get a second-place vote, it would be ‘All in the Family, (1971-79). We laughed a lot at things that were not really funny,” she said.

“For me, it’s the original ‘Law and Order,’ ” said Jean Longfellow of Dayton. “I loved the way the first part dealt with the investigation of a crime and the arrest of a suspect, then part two was the prosecution.”

Kevin Moore of Dayton never misses “So You Think You Can Dance,” but the series he ranks highest is “The West Wing” (1999-2006). “It was that inside look at politics. It was so exciting. There were Dayton people on it — Allison Janney and Rob Lowe. It had a great cast and excellent writing.”

Jan King of Beavercreek didn’t say why, only that the best series ever is a current one — the AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” which began in 2008.

Other top choices included:

“Emergency!” (1972-77), even though it was never a top-30 series. “It was about fire and rescue. I had an uncle who was deputy chief for the Dayton Fire Department and a grandfather who was a lieutenant,” said Mike Henley of Dayton.

“All in the Family” — Jon Hazelton of Dayton and Valerie Lee of Trotwood, who wishes “the spirit of that series” could be revived now, “with political extremists dominating the news cycle. No political persuasion was spared some degree of ridicule.”

“Northern Exposure” (1990-95) — Don and Jeanne Spencer of Dayton. “It was a quirky show with unusual characters, always a joy to watch. It’s the only series we have purchased in entirety.”

“NYPD Blue” (1993-2005) — Virginia Boone of Springboro. “I worked for 25 years as a chief bailiff in Indianapolis and that show is the way it was. Things weren’t so mamby pamby as they are now. We’ve gone too far with individual rights.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2377 or tmorris@DaytonDaily News.com.

Share this article