I couldn’t resist creating a chart that breaks down the recent WGA member-voted “Best written series of all time” by decade and type of show.
What conclusions, if any, can be drawn from this?
(If you have trouble viewing the document below, you might need to log in or log out of your Google account, as it uses a Google viewer that sometimes seems to require that.)
[gview file=”https://www.flyingwrestler.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/WGA-Best-written-shows-by-decade-type2.pdf”]
Maybe it reflects the changes in who is voting more than the shows?
Just an idea.
Fascinating breakdown. Thanks.
The one hour drama is overplayed… great 1/2 hour comedies are due for a renaissance.
And not just the rise of dramas, but their rise on the cable networks. A case to be made that loosened standards allow for a broader range of ideas/expression. Very cool breakdown.
I knew I’d probably get some decades wrong — I just fixed those. Thanks Louis!
Yeah, it really seems heavy on current/recent dramas, to me. Not that I can make a case that other shows should be on there instead…
This was a survey of current WGA members, highly subjective, of course, and I think they were asked to suggest up to 20 titles. I don’t think they were given a list to choose from and remember certain titles from the past.
Eric, What it tells me is that the voters in this poll agree that the ’70s were a golden age for sitcoms and that we are living in a golden age for drama. Look at how many sitcoms are in your ’70s grid – could you argue with any of them? I couldn’t. Next, check out the current dramas. While we all have shows we think should have made it (I think Newhart was as good if not better than The Bob Newhart Show) this is a pretty solid list. I’m one of those people who consider Moonlighting more comedy than drama but it had to be there. A couple of anal points: Lonesome Dove aired in 1989, not in the 2000s, and Mad Men already aired three seasons in that decade (and already had the fanatical following it does today).