Television Does NOT Rot Your Brain?

I watch an absurd amount of television.  During the school year (which happens to coincide with the traditional "TV season"), I am far too brain-wasted to force my mind to create images while reading.  It's not that I don't enjoy reading.  I love it, in fact.  It's just that, after performing in front of one hundred and seventy-five teenagers all day, it is easier to sit back and enjoy a suspense-filled, explicative-laden, character-driven serial.  As an English teacher, I have always felt a bit guilty about my shameful habit.  Shouldn't I model the behavior that I expect from my students and devour novels like Tony Soprano devours ice cream?  When the Writers Guild of America published its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series, however, my guilt was assuaged.  Not only have I faithfully watched fifty-eight of the shows on the list (perhaps "absurd amount" was an understatement), but I am an enthusiastic fan of all of the shows in the top ten!  I am not filling my mind with filth; I am absorbing the brilliance of scribes such as Larry David (Seinfeld) and Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing).  Rationalization for a repugnant habit?  Maybe.  Probably, even.  But this writer finds comfort in knowing that an entire guild of writers believe that some of my favorite shows are, indeed, valued and respected - by them, at least.  I do not agree with all of their decisions (Friends higher on the list than Downton Abbey?  Have they missed all of Maggie Smith's dialogue?), but I believe that they have selected a beautiful sampling of shows that include riveting plots and rich characters.  For your enjoyment, I have included the top ten.  For the entire list, visit http://wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=4925

1.

THE SOPRANOS Created by David Chase "A mobster in therapy, having problems with his mother," was how The Sopranos initially sparked, according to creator David Chase, though he was thinking about the premise for a feature film... READ MORE

2.

SEINFELD Created by Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld At the end of Seinfeld’s run, Jerry Seinfeld commented that one of the more underrated aspects of his show was the number of its locations and sets, creating a sense of indoor-outdoor movement... READ MORE

3.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE Season One writers: Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Robert Presnell, Jr., Rod Serling No show in the history of television has lingered in the imagination quite like Rod Serling’s anthology series... READ MORE

4.

ALL IN THE FAMILY Developed for Television by Norman Lear, Based on Till Death Do Us Part, Created by Johnny Speight Asked how he’d been able to be so controversial on All in the Family, creator Norman Lear said in 2009: “I don’t really know how to explain it...” READ MORE

5.

M*A*S*H Developed for Television by Larry Gelbart M*A*S*H remains the only long-running series, comedy or drama, set around a war zone... READ MORE

6.

THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW Created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns The MTM brand, under Moore and then-husband Grant Tinker, was responsible for an iconic run of comedies (and dramas) in the 1970s, beginning with The Mary Tyler Moore Show... READ MORE

7.

MAD MEN Created by Matthew Weiner Matt Weiner wrote the Mad Men pilot nearly a decade before it found a home as the first scripted drama at AMC, where the series debuted in the summer of 2007... READ MORE

8.

CHEERS Created by Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows The qualities that made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a seminal sitcom in the 1970s gave Cheers the same importance to the ’80s... READ MORE

9.

THE WIRE Created by David Simon No series, arguably, is more responsible for the novelistic ambitions possible for television writers now... READ MORE

10.

THE WEST WING Created by Aaron Sorkin “The people who get angry at us on one Wednesday night will be standing up and cheering the next Wednesday night,” Aaron Sorkin wrote in Written By before The West Wing premiered... READ MORE     List and graphics courtesy of WGA.org