The first game show on the list is one of the best of all time. Jeopardy, created by Merv Griffin, has been around for decades, originally debut in 1964.
The longest and most successful host of the show was Alex Trebek, who hosted from 1984 until 2020 when he passed away. They have named the stage where they tape Jeopardy the Alex Trebek Stage. Since, Jeopardy has replaced Trebek with Ken Jennings as host. Jennings was one of the most popular and successful Jeopardy champions the show has ever had, earning $2,522,700 over a 75 day run.
The appeal of Jeopardy is the format of answering in the form of a question and how challenging the questions can be. However, there are usually hints written within the clues that help the audience decipher the answer. The feeling you get as a viewer when you are able to answer a question that the players failed with is a remarkably awesome feeling.
There have been several forms of the show, from the regular syndicated version to Celebrity Jeopardy to Jeopardy Masters. All of the versions are always fun and you might learn something.
I liked the ABC sitcom Roseanne during its original run. I am not a fan today of Roseanne Barr for many reasons, but I decided that it would not be fair to leave off this show that I did enjoy because my opinions of Barr changed.
This show was very funny. It had some great sitcom performances from Roseanne, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, and Sara Gilbert.
This show gave a perspective of a low income family during the 1980s, something that we did not see at the time. How they faced all kinds of troubles and they battled through them all, even if they were fighting with each other along the way.
The last couple of seasons of Roseanne was considerably down from the first five or six years. The final season with the Connors winning the lottery was just so opposite what this show was supposed to be.
Apple TV + has its first show in the top 100 with the musical parody Schmigadoon!. Two seasons with two different types of musicals. Season one was much like the Oklahoma type of musical (based upon the 1947 movie Brigadoon) and the second one was based on Chicago or Sweeney Todd.
The show starred Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong, as Josh and Melissa. Some of the other actors appearing on the show were Fred Armisen, Alan Cumming, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Jane Krakowski, Martin Short, Tituss Burgess, Kristin Chenoweth, Jamie Camil, and Aaron Tveit.
Season one was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Season two directed by Alice Mathias and Robert Luketic.
One of the best mini series of this year, Adolescence was four episodes of near perfection. Appearing on Netflix, this show is about the murder of a young girl by a young boy. And it is absolutely brilliant.
Owen Cooper played the 13-year old Jamie and his performance has earned him an Emmy nomination. His work on episode three was spectacular as it was basically him and Erin Doherty in the episode.
The episodes are also shot with a continuous one shot which was unbelievable. I can’t imagine how they shot this and how these actors were able to deliver their lines without any chance for error. It is an amazing accomplishment.
It is this low on the list because it only had four episodes, but those four are so amazing. I initially intended on watching one a week, but, I started on a Sunday and wound up binging the entire thing on that day. It was so compelling and great.
Chernobyl was a 2019 historical drama mini series based on the meltdown that occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union.
A strong ensemble cast included Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Emily Watson, and Paul Ritter.
The five part series won multiple Emmy Awards in the limited series category.
It was a truly powerful series that dealt with the backlash of the monumental failure at Chernobyl and the eventual loss of life of the people in the surrounding area.
The show was fairly accurate with its history, though there were a few things that had been altered for dramatic purposes.
The end of the Civil War was near When quite accidentally A hero who sneezed, abruptly seized Retreat and reversed it to victory
His Medal of Honor pleased and thrilled His proud little family group While pinning it on, some blood was spilled And so it was planned he’d command F Troop
Where Indian fights are colorful sights And nobody takes a lickin’ When paleface and redskin Both turn chicken
When drilling and fighting get them down They know their morale can’t droop As long as they all relax in town Before they resume with a bang and a boom, F Troop
The theme song of this show stuck with me to this very day. A great theme song should not be underestimated in helping to create a great show. F Troop was silliness, slapstick and dumb fun that I loved.
Starring Ken Berry, Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, Melody Patterson, James Hampton and Frank de Kova, F Troop had 65 total episodes over two seasons. The first season was in black and white and the next season was in color.
The iconic war show on HBO was the first TV show that I did this past February during the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. I watched an episode a week every Sunday and I enjoyed it tremendously.
The show focused on the true story behind the Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. The show was executive produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
It was ten episodes and each one of them was excellent.
The cast included Damian Lewis as Major Richard D. Winters, Ron Livingston as Captain Lewis Nixon, Michael Cudlitz as Sgt. Denver Randleman, Scott Grimes as Sgt. Donald Malarkey, and Donnie Wahlberg as 1st Sgt. C. Carwood Lipton. The ensemble also includes Neal McDonough as Capt. Lynn D. Compton, Rick Gomez as Sgt. George Luz, James Madio as Staff Sgt. Frank Perconte, and Shane Taylor as Staff Sgt. Eugene Roe.
A remake of a popular mini-series became one of the biggest shows from 2024. Shogun was unbelievably well done with episodes chocked full of drama and some of the best performances you are ever going to see.
And there may be no greater shock than when Lady Mariko sacrificed herself at the end of episode nine. I did not see that coming and it was a huge event for a show that proved it could do anything.
The show won multiple Emmy Awards and was so good that they wound up giving it a season two despite it supposed to be one season only.
Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis and Anna Sawai led the amazing ensemble cast in this show.
This is at #99 for a couple of reasons. One, I did not see every season of True Detective. However, season one was so great that it can carry a lot through. I also really enjoyed True Detective: Night Country, which was the most recent version of the series.
The second reason was that I was not a fan of season two, which felt like such a step down from the first season. So the outstanding seasons were balanced off by the iffy other ones.
This is the first post for the new Daily Countdown on EYG. We will be counting down a list with a new post every day until we reach #1.
As I stated yesterday, the TV Show list is our first countdown. I had made a list of shows that I wanted to consider during the history of TV and I had to cut quite a few great shows.
Here are the list of shows I cut from the list: Perfect Strangers, The A-Team, Three’s Company, Malcolm in the Middle, Desperate Housewives, Doctor Who, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Animaniacs, White Lotus, One Piece (live action), The Wonder Years, Silo, Dukes of Hazzard, Bewitched, The Carol Burnett Show, Family Ties, Revenge, Land of the Lost, Gilligan’s Island, The Andy Griffith Show, Home Improvement, Poker Face, Baywatch, Unsolved Mysteries, Mindhunter, The Studio, Get Smart, Orphan Black, Dexter, Bosom Buddies, and Man from Atlantis.
Quite a eclectic list, huh?
I should also state that there are some beloved shows that I have never seen so shows such as The Sopranos, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Game of Thrones, The Wire, OZ and so on will not be on my list despite their universal popularity.
With that said, here we go with the first post of the Daily Countdown: TV Shows.
#100.
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
Starring Dan Haggerty as Grizzly Adams, Denver Pyle as Mad Jack, Don Shanks as Nakoma, and Bozo as Ben the Grizzly Bear.
They call me Mad Jack. And if there’s anybody in these mountains that knows the real story of James Adams, that’d be me. So I’m putting it down in writing, just the way it happened, in hopes of settin’ the record straight. My friend Adams was accused of a crime he didn’t commit. So he escaped into the mountains, leaving behind the only life that he ever knew. Now that wilderness out there ain’t no place for a greenhorn, and his chances of survivin’ were mighty slim. Weren’t no time at all ‘for he was beaten down, ragged and nearly starved. Long about then, he come upon a grizzly bear cub, all alone and helpless. Now Adams knew that little critter couldn’t survive without his help, so he started right down that cliff, riskin’ his own life… to save it. Heh Heh Heh heh heh. Now that cub took to Adams right off, and that was when he discovered that he had … a special kind of way with animals. They’d just come right up to him like he was a natural part of the wilderness. But that bear cub, he was extra special. As he growed, he became the best friend Adams ever had and, together, they became a legend.
This voice over opening by Denver Pyle was one of the most memorable part of the show Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, which was a syndicated show that was based on a movie from 1974 with the same title. The show ran for two seasons and had only 37 episodes, which was a lot fewer than I thought.
I remember watching this every Sunday morning. It was always so enjoyable and so hearty. I loved Mad Jack. I loved Mad Jack’s burro Number Seven. Adams and Jack’s relationship was great. It felt like a group of heroes living in the wilderness.
What a greenhorn.
And number 100 is The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.
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