#31

X-Men ’97

When it was announced that Marvel Studios was going to do an animated show that picked up after the X-Men: Animated Series from the 1990s, lots of people were interested.

Who would have guessed that it was going to be one of the best things Marvel Studios had done on Disney +?

The return to the world of the X-Men took the best of the show from the ’90s and blended it with some of the best of animation from today. The animation of the show had the flavor of the original, but was also drastically improved and was beautifully rendered.

Some characters really got to shine in the new version. Cyclops, who has never been portrayed well in live action or animation, was immediately shown to be the brilliant character that he was. The show took quite a risk with the character of Wolverine. Undoubtedly the most popular X-Man, Wolverine spent most of the time of the first season on the back burner as other X-Men such as Rogue, Cyclops, Gambit, Nightcrawler took center stage. Wolverine was still there to do something awesome, but he was not everything to the story.

Then, episode five, a show called “Remember It” is, arguably, the best television episode ever done by Marvel. There is no denying that “Remember It” hit hard and showed what kind of storytelling this show was going to present.

X-Men ’97 will be returning for a second season and it was well deserved.

#32

Happy Days

Flashback to the 1950s. A simpler time. When the most important thing was to be cool.

Happy Days was a sitcom on ABC and lasted for 11 seasons. The shows ensemble featured the Cunningham family, Richie’s friends, and a leather-jacked clad mechanic named Arthur Fonzerelli, aka The Fonz.

While the show started off with the Cunninghams, Howard, Marian, Richie, and Joanie (oh, and the totally forgotten Chuck), the show developed into a show about Fonzie and his life. The Fonz became one of the most standout characters of the show (including becoming a member of the EYG Hall of Fame).

The show included an ensemble cast of top line actors including Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Tom Bosley, Marion Ross, Anson Williams, Erin Moran, Donnie Most, Pat Morita, Scott Baio, Al Molinaro, and Lynda Goodfriend.

The friendship between Richie and Fonzie became a center piece of the show, and it was still able to survive when, after seven seasons, Ron Howard left Happy Days to start a career in directing. Though the show tried, they never replaced that Fonzie-Richie bond that had carried the early years of the show.

Happy Days led to several spin offs, including the exceptional Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley.

#34

The Practice

David E. Kelley has created several hugely awesome shows. This is the first one to break the top 100 at the EYG Top 100 (but won’t be the last).

The Practice is set at a small, private law firm in Boston where a group of lawyers, specifically defense attorneys, dealt with moral choices and legal ethics, and, as Kelley stated, was created as a balance to NBC’s LA Law.

The show ran for eight seasons on ABC and won several Emmy Awards.

The ensemble cast was one of the strongest on TV. It featured Dylan McDermott, LisaGay Hamilton, Steve Harris, Camryn Manheim, Kelli Williams, Michael Badalucco, Lara Flynn Boyle, Marla Sokoloff, Jason Kravits, and James Spader.

The Practice had some of the best courtroom drama on TV as the show’s specialty was the closing arguments when the lawyers of Donnell, Young, Dole and Frutt made their final push to defend their clients vigorously. Many times, especially the episodes where there would be defending rapists, the cases were morally questionable and they would step up with some of the most questionable tactics. Yet the show never failed to portray the lawyers of the firm in a noble light, speaking about how difficult being a defense attorney could be.

#35

Murphy Brown

Politics and the media. Murphy Brown was a show ahead of its time.

At the fictional news television newsmagazine program, FYI, investiagtive journalist Murphy Brown searched for the scoops and traversed the ups and downs of Washngton, D.C. with her crew of fellow reporters.

Murphy Brown, played by Candice Bergen, was one of the top sitcoms on CBS and was genuinely funny. It used current world politics to tell some remarkably hilarious stories.

When real world Vice President Dan Quayle made a remark about the fictional TV show Murphy Brown, the show took it into their fictional world and ran with it into a feud with the sitting VP. I would love to have seen what Murphy Brown would have done with Donald Trump (though he was mentioned during a 2017 revival of the shw that lasted one season).

As it is with many of these types of shows, the ensemble’s chemistry is what truly makes the show work. This is true for Murphy Brown as well as Candice Bergen was joined by Charles Kinbrough, Joe Regalbuto, Grant Shaud, Faith Ford, Pat Corley, Robert Pastorelli and eventually Lily Tomlin.

One of the running gags throughout the show was the inability for Murphy Brown to keep a secretary. The joke allowed a countless number of fun cameos over the 10+ seasons of the show.

The multiple Emmy winning show dealt with many issues outside of politics, including breast cancer, feminism, family and single mothers.

#36

Breaking Bad

Considered by many the greatest show on TV, Breaking Bad was a show that I came to in a different manner.

I had never been interested in the show, despite the cultural significance that it was having. It was around the fourth season that I decided to go back and watch the show from the beginning. The first couple of seasons felt kind of… okay. I did not love the show in the first handful of episodes. In fact, near the beginning of season three, I actually considered stopping watching it. The whole plane crash stuff was nearly the straw that broke my back.

I am so glad that I stuck with the show. Almost immediately the show felt better. In season three, I became engaged and enthralled by the characters and the story it was telling. I can’t believe that I nearly gave up on the show.

By the end of the fifth and final season, Breaking Bad was one of my favorite shows on TV at the time.

The all-star cast was sensational. The cast included Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, RJ Mitte, Betsy Brandt, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, and Bob Odenkirk.

The character of Walter White is one of the greatest characters in TV history and the comple performance from Bryan Cranston earned him four Emmy Awards for best Actor in a Drama and Aaron Paul’s work as Jesse Pinkman won him three Emmy Awards for best Supporting Actor in a Drama.

#37

Stranger Things

Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s biggest shows of all time. A supernatural/action/comedy/horror show that grabs you with a ton of nostalgia and coming-to-age drama among a group of wonderful characters that are as charismatic as you could believe.

It started off as a mystery as young Will Byers disappeared. His friends become enveloped in the mystery and the dangers of the Upside Down, a hostile nearby dimension with creatures and monsters.

The cast is sensational. It included  Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Eduardo Franco, Joseph Quinn, and Amybeth McNulty.

However, the key to the show is the kids. Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schapp have unbelievable chemistry together and when you add in the special talent of Millie Bobby Brown, you have something truly special.

The show has run for four seasons, with the fifth and final season preparing to drop later this month.

#38

The Greatest American Hero

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s ….. Ralph?

ABC’s action/comedy The Greatest American Hero was a superhero parody show, but it was so much more.

Teacher Ralph Hinkley was stranded in the desert when he was approached by a UFO. The UFO left him a suit, complete with cape, that gave Ralph a variety of super powers, from super strength to flight to invisibility. One problem… Ralph lost the instruction manuel.

Ralph bumbled his way through misadventure after misadventure, always seemingly coming out on top. Ralph team up with FBI agent Bill Maxwell and the two of them fought the “bad guys.”

William Kitt played Ralph and Robert Culp played Bill, and the two of them had a great chemistry. Their friendship was one of the keys to the shows success, even if at times, Bill could be hard to handle.

Connie Sellecca was on the show as well, as Ralph’s girlfriend Pam Davidson.

One wondered why Ralph did not have a mask on the show. There were so many times where a mask would have helped him. Oh well, part of the comedy I guess.

The theme song of the show was a major hit and reached #2 on the Billboard top 100 chart.

Believe it or not.

#40

Battlestar Galactica

This was another show that I was doing a watch for. I had never seen any of this show but I had seen some episodes of the 1970s Battlestar Galactica with Loren Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. I was never a fan of that sci-fi show so I was not rushing to watch the new version when it came out on the SyFy Network.

The show went for four seasons, along with a starting mini series and a few movie specials. I had heard a lot of positive comments about the show, especially from Marc Bernardin from Fatman Beyond who said that Battlestar was his favorite show ever. It

The cast was excellent. It included  Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, and Grace Park. They are playing new versions from the first series.

Battlestar Galactica became one of the best sci-fi show on television. The complex storylines dove into the human condition. The Cylons, the robotic villains from the first season, were able to be repurposed into human-looking versions. It was such a great move because the Cylons were able to infiltrate the human race. As the seasons progressed, the Cylons became more human than what was expected.

#41

I Love Lucy

Lucille Ball was the undisputed queen of the sitcom for years. She was a powerful force on TV and her show, I Love Lucy will be remembered for ever.

While I may not have followed this on a regular basis, I Love Lucy was a treat every time it made it to my TV screen.

Some of the adventures of Lucy Ricardo were crazy and the iconic woman did what she needed to do for a laugh. She put herself in ridiculous, undignified situations- wrapping chocolates, stomping grapes etc, all for the laugh.

Lucy brought slapstick and pratfalls to TV, making them high comedy. She inspired a ton of female comedians to a career that they may not have believed was possible.

Desi Arnez co-starred as Ricky Ricardo with his real life wife, Lucille Ball. Lucy friend-in-crazy was neighbor Ethel Mertz, played by Vivian Vance. Ethel’s husband was Fred Mertz, played by William Frawley.

I Love Lucy ran from 1951-1957 on CBS. They recorded 180 episodes.

#44

The Tick (2016)

The second time The Tick has appeared in the top 100 is the also the second live action version of the show. This version went two seasons on Amazzon Prime, and still deserved so much more.

The Tick was portrayed, this time, by Peter Serafinowicz and Arthur was played by Griffin Newman.

This Amazon Prime version had more action than the 2001 Tick series. This included classic Tick character The Terror, played by the one and only Jackie Earle Haley. Season one was split into two parts, ending with 12 episodes. Season two was 10 episodes.

The series was a fantastic rendition of the show, combining the bests of both the FOX live action show and the animated program. Once again, despite critical success, it seems as other forces took out the Tick.

Serafinowicz was an excellent Tick and did some cool things to make himself stand out with the other two exceptional actors who had portrayed the big blue superhero.

#45

Batman: The Animated Series

Some may say that “their” Batman was Christian Bale. Some may say “their” Batman was Michael Keaton. Some may say “their” Batman is Adam West or Ben Affleck or Robert Pattinson. Some may even say “their” Batman was George Clooney (I’d have to question those people).

Well, I think my Batman is Kevin Conroy.

Kevin Conroy became THE voice of Batman thanks to his work on Batman: The Animated Series, which went for four seaosns on FOX kids. The show is lauded as one of the greatest animated programs of all time.

The show also featured one of the mst iconic Joker performances ever done. Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker himself, provided the demented Clown Prince of Crime’s voice for the show and helped to make his name as a predominant voice actor.

The series was developed by Bruce Timm, whose style of the show became a trend unto itself. The animation of the Batman series had a flair, a style unlike anything anyone had seen up to that point and it became a sensation.

The writing of the episodes were amazing, too. These stories were not just for kids, though kids could enjoy them. There was an adult complex feel to these episodes that made Batman: TAS stand out among the Saturday morning fare. This style of Batman animation led to several longer movies, including the special Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm, considered one of the greatest Batman movies of any genre.

The iconic character of Harley Quinn made her debut on the animated series, becoming one of DC Comics most popular female characters.