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Name Time's 100 Greatest TV Shows (2)

You get the actor and genre — can you figure out which iconic series it is?

Name Time's 100 Greatest TV Shows (2)
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About This Quiz

You get the actor and the genre. Now figure out which of Time's top 100 shows it is. Harder than it sounds.

Lucille Ball in a sitcom? Easy. William Shatner in sci-fi? Duh. But Kyle MacLachlan in a drama? Daniel J. Travanti? Good luck.

Time's list has 100 shows from like the past 60 years. I Love Lucy, M*A*S*H, Lost, all mixed together.

Some actors you'll recognize. Some you won't. Some shows you forgot even made the list.

Getting 50 is pretty good. Above 70 and you've definitely watched too much TV.

1/25

Sitcom, Jerry Mathers?

[A] Leave It to Beaver | Beaver Cleaver's wholesome suburban childhood became nostalgia template Americans romanticize despite never existing.

2/25

Comedy-Drama, Lauren Graham?

[B] Gilmore Girls | Rapid-fire dialogue required actors memorizing pages daily, creating television's densest script-per-episode ratio historically.

3/25

Drama, Matthew Fox?

[D] Lost | Polar bears and smoke monsters confused audiences weekly, pioneering online fan theories before Twitter existed.

4/25

Animated, Mike Judge?

[A] King of the Hill | Hank Hill selling propane in Texas suburbia humanized conservatives when sitcoms typically mocked them.

5/25

Sitcom, Ed O'Neill?

[B] Married... With Children | Al Bundy's hand-in-pants posture and miserable marriage offered Fox's anti-Cosby alternative during family-friendly dominance.

6/25

Comedy-Drama, Alan Alda?

[B] M*A*S*H | Hawkeye's operating room wisecracks masked antiwar commentary, sneaking politics past censors throughout Vietnam era.

7/25

Soap, Anthony Geary?

[B] General Hospital | Luke and Laura's wedding drew 30 million viewers, peak numbers daytime soap operas never matched.

8/25

Sitcom, Jennifer Aniston?

[D] Friends | "The Rachel" haircut dominated salons nationwide, generating more cultural impact than any scripted storyline ever.

9/25

Western, James Arness?

[C] Gunsmoke | Arness's Marshal Dillon anchored twenty consecutive seasons, outlasting every primetime drama until Law & Order.

10/25

Drama, Keri Russell?

[C] Felicity | Russell's haircut episode tanked ratings overnight, proving fans cared more about hairstyles than plotlines.

11/25

Sitcom, Ernie Kovacs?

[B] The Ernie Kovacs Show | Kovacs pioneered visual comedy techniques, using camera tricks when competitors simply filmed stage performances verbatim.

12/25

Sketch Comedy, John Cleese?

[A] Monty Python's Flying Circus | Ministry of Silly Walks absurdity conquered American audiences despite initially baffling PBS programmers completely.

13/25

Talk Show, David Letterman?

[C] Late Night with David Letterman | Letterman's stupid pet tricks and Gap Girls sketches redefined what late-night television could accomplish.

14/25

Sitcom, Lucille Ball?

[D] I Love Lucy | Ball's physical comedy in chocolate factory scene remains television's most referenced slapstick sequence seventy years.

15/25

Variety Show, George Burns?

[A] The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show | Burns broke the fourth wall constantly, addressing cameras while Gracie remained oblivious throughout sketches.

16/25

Sitcom, Jackie Gleason?

[B] The Honeymooners | Gleason's "To the moon!" threats toward Alice defined working-class marital tensions through exaggerated bluster.

17/25

Television Serial, Derek Jacobi?

[C] I, Claudius | Jacobi's stammering emperor navigated Roman intrigue on BBC budgets, proving great acting trumps production values.

18/25

Sitcom, Louise Lasser?

[C] Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman | Soap opera parody featured Mary's nervous breakdown over waxy yellow buildup, satirizing housewife obsessions.

19/25

Sitcom, Mary Tyler Moore?

[D] The Mary Tyler Moore Show | Mary Richards threw her beret celebrating singlehood, giving working women their first sitcom heroine.

20/25

Comedy-Drama, Linda Cardellini?

[D] Freaks and Geeks | Apatow's failed show launched careers of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel into Hollywood stratosphere.

21/25

Drama, Daniel J. Travanti?

[D] Hill Street Blues | Overlapping dialogue and handheld cameras revolutionized police procedurals, abandoning clean studio aesthetics completely.

22/25

Sitcom, Garry Shandling?

[B] The Larry Sanders Show | Shandling's backstage peek at talk shows inspired every mockumentary sitcom that followed after cancellation.

23/25

Cooking Show, Julia Child?

[A] The French Chef | Child's warbling voice and dropped chicken normalized kitchen disasters, making French cuisine accessible to housewives.

24/25

Drama, Andre Braugher?

[A] Homicide: Life on the Street | Braugher's interrogation room monologues were filmed uncut, showcasing acting mastery rarely attempted on television.

25/25

Sitcom, Davy Jones?

[C] The Monkees | Pre-Fab Four's manufactured band became real through sheer willpower, winning Grammy despite being television creation.

Your Scorecard

Name Time's 100 Greatest TV Shows (2)

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