UKmix Top 100 TV Series Countdown [#1 REVEALED]

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Postby toni_pest » Sun Apr 08, 2012 5:21 pm

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I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). After the series ended in 1957, however, a modified version continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials, running from 1957 to 1960, known first as The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and later in reruns as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.
Originally set in New York City, I Love Lucy centers on Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) and her singer/bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz), along with their best friends and landlords Fred Mertz (William Frawley) and Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance). During the second season, Lucy and Ricky have a son named Ricky Ricardo Jr. ("Little Ricky"), whose birth was timed to coincide with Ball's real-life delivery of her son Desi Arnaz Jr. by Caesarean section.[4]
Lucy is naive and ambitious, with an overactive imagination and a knack for getting herself into trouble. Known for her fiery red hair, (despite the fact the show aired in black and white), Lucy appears as a scatter-brained homemaker with the matchless ability to turn an ordinary household chore into a complete and unprecedented disaster. Yet, underneath the cover of her wild behavior and crazy antics, she honestly yearns for stardom. She longs to join her husband in show business, despite his refusal to cooperate. Fred and Ethel are former vaudevillians and this only strengthens her resolve to prove herself as a performer. Unfortunately, she has few marketable performance skills. She does not seem to be able to carry a tune or play anything other than off-key renditions of songs such as "Glow Worm" or "Sweet Sue" on the saxophone, and many of her performances devolve into disaster. However, to say she is completely without talent would be untrue, as on occasion, she is shown to be a good dancer and a competent singer.
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Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from traditional versions of the legend in many ways. It is produced by independent production company Shine Limited.
Merlin is a young wizard who arrives in the kingdom of Camelot after his mother arranges for him to stay with the court physician, Gaius. He discovers that the king, Uther Pendragon, has outlawed magic and imprisoned the last great dragon deep under the kingdom. The dragon tells Merlin that he plays an important role: to protect Uther's son, Arthur, who will bring forth a great kingdom. When Merlin meets Arthur, he believes that he is an arrogant bully and Arthur, likewise, has a less than stellar opinion of Merlin. Merlin must keep his magic secret or face being executed by Uther.
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Six Feet Under is an American drama television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on June 3, 2001 and ended on August 21, 2005, spanning five seasons and 63 episodes.
The show stars Peter Krause as Nathaniel Samuel "Nate" Fisher, Jr., whose funeral director father (Richard Jenkins) dies and bequeaths to him and his brother David (Michael C. Hall) co-ownership of the family funeral business. The Fisher clan also includes widow Ruth (Frances Conroy) and daughter Claire (Lauren Ambrose). Other regulars include mortician and family friend Federico Diaz (Freddy Rodriguez), Nate's on-again/off-again girlfriend Brenda Chenowith (Rachel Griffiths), and David's long-term boyfriend Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick).
On one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as interpersonal relationships, infidelity, and religion. At the same time, the show is distinguished by its unblinking focus on the topic of death, which it explores on multiple levels (personal, religious, and philosophical). Each episode begins with a death – anything from drowning or heart attack to sudden infant death syndrome – and that death usually sets the tone for each episode, allowing the characters to reflect on their current fortunes and misfortunes in a way that is illuminated by the death and its aftermath. The show also has a strong dosage of dark humor and surrealism running throughout.
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Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy. Each episode typically involves the cosmetic procedures of one or more patients, and also features the personal and professional lives of its main cast.
his drama is set in a plastic surgery center, McNamara/Troy, centering around the two doctors who own it. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) is having problems at home, trying to keep his family together, trying to patch up the rocky road he and his family are living. On the other hand, sex-craving Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) uses his charm to bring in potential female candidates and conducts shady business deals, often for the love of money. While Sean takes his job seriously, he often has to fix Christian's mistakes.
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Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010.[1] The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea.
Betty Suarez is a quirky, 22-year-old Mexican American woman from Queens, New York who is sorely lacking in fashion sense. She is known to be bold, good-hearted, and slightly naïve. She is abruptly thrust into a different world when she lands a job at Mode, a trendy, high fashion magazine based in Manhattan that is part of the publishing empire of the wealthy Bradford Meade. Bradford's son Daniel has been installed as Editor-in-Chief of Mode following the death of Fey Sommers (Bradford's longtime mistress). Bradford hires the inexperienced Betty as his womanizing son's newest personal assistant to curb his habit of sleeping with his assistants. As time goes by, Betty and Daniel become friends and help each other navigate their individdual professional and personal lives.
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Postby Serby » Sun Apr 08, 2012 5:34 pm

Nip Tuck ImageImageImage

One of my all time fave series!
Love the cast, love the story...everything! :D
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Postby Benny » Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:27 pm

"Six Feet Under" was my number 3, fantastic show!

Nice to see "Nip Tuck" and "Gilmore Girls" as well :D.
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Postby Spartan » Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:07 pm

First season of Ugly Betty was decent but I stopped during the second.

Nip/Tuck is really brilliant - so OTT at times but I love it.

Merlin is also a fantastic TV show and a brilliant re-telling of the Arthurian legend headed by an outstanding young cast.
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Postby naughty » Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:33 pm

Ugly Betty is my #6 I loved that show, never expected to love it the way I did.

I really liked Nip/tuck but I didn't vote for it as I only watched first season, I have the rest on DVD never found time to watch them.
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Postby summer » Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:39 pm

Adored I Love Lucy when I was in HS :oops: 8-)
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Postby NothingFails » Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:11 pm

I know its by far the oldest series here, but Lucy deserves top 10. Sitcoms as we know it wouldn't exist without it... without Lucy we'd have no Friends, Seinfeld, Roseanne, Golden Girls, etc...
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Postby stevyy » Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:55 pm

Six Feet under and Nip/Tuck both held my alltime #1 series rank for quite some while. Love both shows. SFU has the best and most emotional series finale of all times and NT has had the best and most exciting and most shocking season finale (season 2)
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Postby Wolfsmagik » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:57 am

Nip/Tuck and Merlin- Some of my all time favorite series. :P
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Postby Thriller » Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:46 pm

I didn't vote for Six Feet Under but it is a great show, I just haven't finished it all yet. Ugly Betty had a brilliant first season and even the second was great but I stopped watching during the third one.
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Postby Noahh » Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:50 pm

Ugly Betty was pretty good! :)
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Postby matthew_dixon » Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:30 pm

I ought to have voted for Merlin - thing is I haven't watched it for a few years as it goes head to head with X Factor in the schedules! Father Ted and The Good Life are both classics!

NothingFails wrote:I know its by far the oldest series here, but Lucy deserves top 10. Sitcoms as we know it wouldn't exist without it... without Lucy we'd have no Friends, Seinfeld, Roseanne, Golden Girls, etc...
I guess it does deserve a placing in the list somewhere - though I only know of it through the film "Rat Race". I have to say I've never seen the fuss in what little I've seen of the shows you listed there. For some reason, situation comedy is one thing that is dramatically different either side of the pond - give me "Fawlty Towers", "Blackadder", "Dad's Army", "Keeping Up Appearances" and "The Brittas Empire" over "Friends" any day - far funnier, IMHO.
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Postby Wayne » Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:46 pm

Queer As Folk USA - my #1.

The most revolutionary television program in history, with regards to introducing the masses to gay culture. I mean what this show did, no other show has ever done before, or since - world class acting, incredible storylines, and the most amazing friendships any show has ever portrayed.

This sounds really corny, but Queer As Folk USA changed my life; I saw my first bit of it on E4, on a Monday morning when I used to stay up to watch WWE Ra, and I ordered the US first series on DVD, on the sly on recorded delivery, and stayed home from college to make sure that I was the one to receive it as at the time I wasn't "out" to my mum. I watched the first series in its entirety within 3 days and "came out" that same year. I've since ordered the boxset - it was marked down from £99 to £30 by play.com about a year ago - and to this day, I haven't been able to watch the final season. As its one of probably...two or three shows that I feel impacted my life, and I don't really want to have to say goodbye to it.

I still watch the first four seasons sometimes, and the dance scenes on YouTube - the show introduced me to some amazing music! :D I own I think...three of the soundtracks and used to have a giant poster of Brian Kinney on my wall! :oops: The strong opinions I have on LGBT culture and equal rights, a lot of it stems from the grittiness and realism that this show put forward. Nothing has ever remotely come close to matching Queer As Folk USA IMO - the greatest show in television history for me.

Of the others, Queer As Folk UK is alright, its like Shameless, only for gays.

24 is an OUTSTANDING show. The 7th and 8th seasons are undoubtedly the best; the female President [Alison Taylor] is played by an amazing actress!
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Postby toni_pest » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:06 pm

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Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. The show is set in the Cheers bar (named for the toast "Cheers") in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, chat and have fun.
Nearly all of Cheers took place in the front room of the bar, but they often went into the rear pool room or the bar's office. Cheers did not show any action outside the bar until the first episode of the second season, which took place in Diane's apartment.
Cheers had several running gags, such as Norm arriving in the bar greeted by a loud "Norm!" Early episodes generally followed Sam's antics with his various women, following a variety of romantic comedy clichés to get out of whatever relationship troubles he was in during each episode. As the show progressed and Sam got into more serious relationships, the general tone switched to a comedic take on Sam settling into a monogamous lifestyle. Throughout the series, larger story arcs began to develop that spanned multiple episodes or seasons, interspersed with smaller themes and one-off episodes.
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Smallville is an American television series developed by writers/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. It is based on the DC Comics character Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
The regular cast is introduced in Season one. Storylines regularly included a villain deriving a power from kryptonite exposure. The one-episode villains were a plot device developed by Gough and Millar. The first season primarily dealt with Clark trying to come to terms with his alien origins, and the revelation that his arrival on Earth was connected to the deaths of Lana Lang's parents. After the first season, the series used fewer villain-of-the-week episodes, focusing more on story arcs which affected each character and explored Clark's origins. Main story arcs include Clark's discovery of his Kryptonian heritage. The disembodied voice of Clark's biological father, Jor-El, is introduced. He communicates to Clark via his spaceship, setting the stage for plots involving the fulfillment of Clark's earthly destiny.[8] In another arc which comprises the fourth season, Clark seeks three Kryptonian stones, at the instruction of Jor-El, which contain the knowledge of the universe and form his Fortress of Solitude. Clark also battles Brainiac in his attempts to release the Kryptonian criminal General Zod. Clark must either capture or destroy other escaped Phantom Zone criminals. Clark's biological cousin Kara arrives, and Lex Luthor finally discovers Clark's secret. The eighth season features storylines involving the introduction of Davis Bloome, who is Smallville's interpretation of Doomsday, and a woman named Tess Mercer replaces Lex Luthor, who exits the series. Justin Hartley joins as a series regular in the role of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, having been a recurring guest in season six. With the ninth season, Major Zod (Callum Blue), along with other members of Zod's military group, are revived by Tess Mercer, though without their Kryptonian powers. Their efforts to obtain those powers become the central conflict for the season's story arc. The tenth and final season revolves around Clark's attempts to get rid of his doubts and fears in order to become the hero he is meant to be, while also confronting his biggest challenges—the coming of Darkseid and the return of Lex Luthor.
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Keeping Up Appearances is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. Centred on the life of eccentric, social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket (who insists that her surname is pronounced Bouquet), the sitcom portrays a social hierarchy-ruled British society. It jokes about a small obsessive world where a determined snobbish middle class woman desperately and continually looks for opportunities to climb the social ladder, despite being wedged between a working class background and upper class aspirations.
Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge)—who insists her surname is pronounced Bouquet—is a social-climbing snob who passes her time visiting stately homes, hosting "executive-style" candlelight suppers (with her Royal Worcester double-glazed Avignon china and Royal Doulton china with "the hand-painted periwinkles"), bragging of her "white slimline telephone with automatic redial", and maintaining the integrity of her woodblock floor, wallpaper, and status in the community, name-dropping at any hint of an opportunity.
Her aim in life is to impress neighbours, friends, and important people. When answering the telephone, she greets the caller with "The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking!" Frequently she receives calls asking for a Chinese take-away, causing her great consternation. Always hindering her best efforts are her underclass sisters Daisy (Judy Cornwell) and Rose (Shirley Stelfox and Mary Millar), and Daisy's proudly "bone-idle" husband Onslow (Geoffrey Hughes). This threesome, along with Hyacinth's senile father, are forever turning up inconveniently and embarrassing Hyacinth, who goes to great lengths to avoid them ("Richard, you know I love my family, but that's no reason why I should have to acknowledge them in broad daylight!").
Such excessive snobbery makes life difficult for those around her, especially long-suffering hen-pecked husband Richard Bucket (Clive Swift). Most people either dislike or are afraid of Hyacinth, to the point of running or hiding when seeing her or hearing her voice, exclaiming "The Bucket Woman!". The only recurring character who actively seeks out Hyacinth's company is the Major (Peter Cellier), although a few other people show interest in Hyacinth in some episodes (e.g. Signor Ferrini, the Commodore, the incoherent rural man, etc.)...
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Sherlock is a British television series that presents a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. It was created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson.
In this modernized version of the Conan Doyle characters, using his detective plots, Sherlock Holmes lives in early 21st century London and acts more cocky towards Scotland Yard's detective inspector Lestrade because he's actually less confident. Doctor Watson is now a fairly young veteran of the Afghan war, less adoring and more active...
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Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a blood spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer.
Orphaned at the age of three due to the murder of his mother, Dexter Morgan is adopted by Miami police officer Harry Morgan and his wife Doris. After discovering that young Dexter has been killing a multitude of neighborhood pets for several years, Harry tells Dexter that he believes the need to kill "got into" him at too early an age, and that he believes Dexter's need to kill will only grow. To keep Dexter from killing innocent people, Harry begins teaching Dexter "The Code". In this code, Dexter's victims must be killers themselves who have killed someone without justifiable cause and will likely do so again. Dexter must also always be sure that his target is guilty, and thus, frequently goes to extreme lengths to get undeniable proof of his victim's guilt. Most important, Dexter must never get caught. Flashbacks throughout the series show Harry, who died several years before, instructing Dexter on how to fake human behaviour, how to cover his tracks after a kill, and even how to stranglehold a target to knock them out and capture them...
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Postby Wayne » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:10 pm

I voted for Keeping Up Appearances! <3

One of the greatest UK sitcoms of ALL-TIME.
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Postby toni_pest » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:31 pm

Dexter annoys the hell out of me and so does Smallville, season 1 was okay-ish, seasons 2 was unbearable and then I stopped watching.

Loved Cheers at the time, but I can't remember a single thing that was going on in the show.

Sherlock just premiered here and I'm thinking of watching it, even though the promo doesn't look that promising. :-?
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Postby Spartan » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:42 pm

Keeping Up Appearances was alright in small doses. Hyancinth Bucket is legendary though.

Smallville was my #1. The show is brilliant (for simple-minded people like me anyway). Although it was very formulaic in the first couple of seasons, it ended up concentrating on the main characters more. I was so sad when it ended last year but it was the right time for the show as it was getting a bit tired and became far too Clark and Lois-centric. It's not normally a genre I'm that interested in but it quickly became my favourite TV series of all time. The best thing about the show was Chloe though - she was just such an empowering woman and the perfect best friend that Clark needed on his journey to becoming Superman. Allison Mack did a brilliant job fleshing out the character.
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Postby NothingFails » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:53 pm

Loved the first two seasons of Dexter but lost interest afterwards
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Postby Noahh » Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:04 pm

Keeping Up Appearances!! <3

I've seen every episode sooo many times! :P
Hyacinth is epic! :lol:
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Postby CrazyCrazy » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:53 pm

Keeping Up Appearances is amazing, Hyacinth is hilarious!! :lol: :lol: 8-)
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Postby matthew_dixon » Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:03 pm

04wayne wrote:I voted for Keeping Up Appearances! <3

One of the greatest UK sitcoms of ALL-TIME.
Absolutely agreed, Wayne - Mrs Bucket is a true TV icon!

My No. 22 has fallen.

Only 8 of my votes to go - and 7 of them were in my top 10.

Why do I get the feeling some of them missed the top 100 though? :( (Are we going to see who's at 140-101 sometime? :D )
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Postby toni_pest » Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:05 pm

matthew_dixon wrote: (Are we going to see who's at 140-101 sometime? :D )
:lol: yeah, I'm gonna post some in the next update
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Postby Blondini » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:48 pm

04wayne wrote:
Of the others, Queer As Folk UK is alright, its like Shameless, only for gays.
I'm surprised/ amazed that Spartan praised the US version but had nothing to say on the UK one - and you've dismissed it with that line! I watched all the UK one - right through to the Thelma and Louise finale *naff!*. I presumed the US one would just be the usual direct copy - in fact, i thought it would be watered down and inferior. So i never bothered. (I only watched the UK one to see how far they would go with the boundary pushing!).

So the UK one really didn't do all those things you mention - in your opinion? I would say it definitely brought gay culture to the masses here (at least through the tabloid outrage) and effectively enabled soap operas to feature gays more openly and honestly.
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Postby Thriller » Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:17 pm

Dexter was my #6, absolutely brilliant show! Seasons 1, 2 and 4 are the best ones - the season 4 finale is one of my favourite episodes of anything ever. It was jaw-dropping at the time. Cannot wait for the the next season, never fails to impress me with its twists and turns!

Keeping Up Appearances has hilarious moments, mainly when she's trying to stop someone seeing her family and she runs around the house, it just looks so funny because of her build. Or when she wipes the phone after someone undesirable calls, as if their germs has travelled through :lol: Hyacinth is a scream - some of her facial expressions are amazing.

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Postby toni_pest » Tue Apr 17, 2012 2:26 pm

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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