Without sounding like a rabid uncompromising Whedon Fan, I don't particuarly see the 'serious flaws' of "Firefly". It was to me, as perfect an example of television as you can get.

Apocalypse | November 12, 01:44 CET

Apocalypse, I have heard many people take issue with the dialogue, finding it silly or overdone with the western/Shakespeare/whatever mix. I think it's fantastic myself, but not everyone is me, as I've often lamented.

sumogrip | November 12, 01:48 CET

I see the massively overrated The Wire is number one, and where the hell is Band of Brothers?!

cdm22 | November 12, 02:25 CET

I agree that Firefly is basically perfect. Both it and Buffy would be way higher on my list.

And I really, really need to watch The Wire. Maybe after my exams

Let Down | November 12, 02:43 CET

They also list Smile Time as one of their top episodes (from shows that haven't made their other lists) of the decade

Let Down | November 12, 03:25 CET

I kind of hate this list, and the little "Essential Episodes" bits are a joke. BSG's Final Cut? Really?

cdm22, I'm not sure what's so "massively overrated" about The Wire. I'm only in the middle of the first season, and I can see that it's an incredibly strong drama. I'm not ready to declare "best show ever" just yet, but I can definitely see this breaking into my top 5 if it builds the way I'm told it does.

Racoon Boy | November 12, 03:26 CET

Red Riding?

Simon | November 12, 03:34 CET

Buffy and Firefly were both Top Ten Shows of the decade. Hard to accept this list because they're so far down and, well, yeah... where's Band of Brothers? Freaks and Geeks listed as high as #3?

Nah....

TDBrown | November 12, 04:43 CET

Great list, 15 of my favourite shows made it on it and that's rare.

escapist_dream | November 12, 05:46 CET

Buffy was way too far down on the list, but they give the impression they were only considering the part that aired in the '00s.

They may have ignored "Band of Brothers" because it was a mini-series.

witchlover | November 12, 06:01 CET

They had a separate list for miniseries, indeed. And Band of Brothers did make it.

sumogrip | November 12, 07:43 CET

Interesting list. Good to see a Venture Brothers nod (and a doubleplus good nod to the soundtrack, which is why I started watching it), and surprised to see Wonder Showzen ("Patience" is the most fantastically audience-abusive episode I've ever seen...Andy Kaufman would be proud). Firefly and Dollhouse would certainly top my list, and I'd be hard-pressed not to include Dead Like Me and Supernatural. I would definitely add Farscape as well. I liked Deadwood a lot, but not as much as Carnivale (I think that's more personal preference rather than show quality though). But I've completely failed to get Futurama. I've tried.

Overall, neat, fun list!

narse | November 12, 08:00 CET

It's great to see some Wonder Showzen love.

wonderflonium | November 12, 09:07 CET

cdm22 wrote:



*is speechless*

guidedby | November 12, 09:54 CET

Based on who the list included alone and thus ignoring the order, that was a very solid list. (I do, of course, have beefs with the order) Glad to see the tragically overlooked "Undeclared" on there, which is possibly the best representation of college life television has ever seen.

E-Rawk | November 12, 15:26 CET

I agree that Firefly should have had a completely different position. One far away from the list.

And the list may have been a bit more accurate had they noted "ended this decade" rather than from this decade.

Band of Brothers had the mini-series list.

Gouki | November 12, 15:59 CET

This list is OK, with some huge exceptions (Tim and Eric,get real). Buffy can be tolerated as low because they are only counting seasons 4-7, or so it sounds.

To me, shows like Big Love totally blow anything like "How I Met Your Mother" completely out of water, and are genius productions. Plus any HBO drama, and as we know, Buffy, is ten times funnier than anything with a laugh track could ever be.

narky | November 12, 21:00 CET

I have to say, How I Met Your Mother seasons 1 and 2 were extremely funny. After that the writing has gone towards more serious drama, relationships and so on. And serious drama with a laughtrack, not so funny. I'm still watching because of Alyson, but if they don't either wrap up or fun up soon, I'm not sure how long I'll keep at it.

Weird series and order of them on the article. But then again, opinions are opinions.

Eerikki | November 13, 00:46 CET

Well The Office (US) BtVS, BSG and Firefly are all some of my favourite shows ever. So I'm pleased with the list but I'm not pleased with the rankings. Most of them, especially Buffy, should have been way higher. Even if they are only including s4-s7 of Buffy it should have been higher even if I do think s2/s3 are the pinnacle of the Buffyverse.

vampmogs | November 13, 02:30 CET

If you consider their breakout lists of Late night comedy/talk, reality/competition, one season and out series and miniseries/tv movies to be part of an overall master list and the list of top episodes from series that didn't make the cut to be the next tier of runners up, there's not much of note from the decade that the AV Club missed.

As far as the specific rankings, I'm quite sure that The Wire stands head and shoulders above these other shows-- and considering how great The Sopranos, Arrested Development, Deadwood, The Office, Mad Men and Break Bad were or have been so far, that's quite an accomplishment. For the first 20 or so, the order seems just about right, too. (My only quibble might be that I'd characterize Freaks and Geeks as a show of the 90's, but given that it created the Judd Apatow juggernaut of this decade and may have been too new to list on best of the 90's lists, it's certainly an understandable inclusion.

Can you really make an argument that what aired of Firefly (not the potential for what the first season would have grown into) was a better show than anything that was listed above it? Or that Buffy's best seasons were behind it in this decade?

drewfidelic | November 13, 09:11 CET

If you ignore the rankings and just pretend they're thrown together in any order you like, this list looks pretty darn cool.

I'd say that I'd rank "The Wire" as the best show on TV about what the world's really like... and I'd rank "Buffy" as the best show on TV about how to make the world better.

ManEnoughToAdmitIt | November 13, 11:32 CET