TV The Book Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time

For me, this kindlebook of TV (the book) Two Experts Pick The Greatest American Shows of All Time by Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Zeitz is a good guide to look into because it exposes me to the awareness of tv shows for me to check out that transcend beyond my targeted demographic. Fortunately, my husband ignored whether I was the target audience when he introduced me to the Vikings television show,Venture Bros., and Doctor Who. Additionally, I would not have found out about the Last Ship Tv show without looking at guides such as Entertainment Weekly or my recent discovery of Westworld (from the Washingtonian magazine website). I understand that sometimes shows tailored to/targeted in ads to someone like me are done with good intent. However, my intuition/logic influencing me to check out even television shows that I know that I’m not the target audience for as a way for helping me to understand good storytelling in a better fashion, fulfill my craving for adventure, and expose me to different ways of thinking (human nature wise) that open my mind to accepting different viewpoints from mine (regardless of whether I think such thoughts are of a dark nature or a good nature). This kindlebook currently has images of various actors/actresses from various tv shows such as Jon Hamm for what looks to be Mad Men, Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad, Kerry Washington for Scandal, actors/actress affiliated with the Seinfeld tv show, an image of what looks to be for the 30 Rock tv show of Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan, and more tv show images on the front cover. One of the criteria that they admit to using is basing it on US Televisions shows (they acknowledge the popularity of such show as Fawlty Towers, Kingdom etc.). One season shows are also featured such as My So-Called Life and shows written about for groups (The Golden Girls, Friends). Detailed explanations are given in the book such as for the reasoning behind the selection of The Simpsons tv show. Read more

If you're an entertainment geek and enjoy debating and discussing television or movies, you'll enjoy this book. I don't agree with all of their rankings and even strongly disagree with some, but these guys make their cases for and against shows in an engaging way. It's the kind of book where you'll read their take on a show you love and shake your head and say "Exacty!," or read their take on a show you hate and say out loud, "What is he smoking?" But that's fun. You feel like you're involved in a discussion. I liked it. Read more

TV (The Book) is an exploration and celebration of television as a narrative form. It presents a ranking of the one-hundred best American television series, with short essays that touch on each series' unique merits and place in TV history. These essays are insightful and fun to read; they will make you want to watch the shows you haven't seen and rewatch the shows you have. The best part of the book is the opening debate, in which Seitz and Sepinwall argue how the top five TV shows, which wound up with tied scores, should be ranked. It's an effective opening for the book because the authors find themselves exploring what TV is at its best, creating a framework that helps the reader understand the significance of the shows that the authors discuss later in the book. It's a slight shame the authors didn't maintain the back-and-forth while discussing the rest of the shows. (I'd love, for example, to hear Mr. Seitz's rebuttal to Mr. Sepinwall's complaints with the fourth season of Arrested Development; I myself am in agreement with Mr. Seitz. The fourth season is structurally ambitious and as funny as the first three seasons.) Though they find much to agree on with regard to the best television series of all time, Seitz and Sepinwall also bring slightly different perspectives to their essays. Mr. Sepinwall often puts the TV shows he examines in the context of other TV, directing the reader's attention to characters and stories that are indebted to TV of the past (referencing, for example, the influence of "NYPD Blue" and "Homocide" on "The Shield," or the way "Seinfeld" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" look like "funhouse-mirror versions of each other." On the other hand, Mr. Seitz tends to put the TV shows within a broader artistic context, referencing everyone from Godard and Dali to Looney Tunes and the Marx Brothers. Both of these approaches work, and both are helpful in arguing for the significance of television as a narrative form. This book does so much more than pit beloved TV series against one another. Authors Seitz and Sepinwall touch on more than a hundred shows, from certified classics like "I Love Lucy" or "The Sopranos" to newer works in progress, such as "The Leftovers" and "The Americans." In this era of Peak TV, Seitz and Sepinwall provide a useful encapsulation of the best television of the past and argue persuasively for the significance of these shows. Read more

Interesting book. But very heavy to hang on to. Needed a pillow for underneath. Read more

I am not American, and as such I have not seen most of the TV shows in the "Pantheon". But I do have a certain affinity for scripted TV, an affinity that has grown to the uber-availability of content these days. I started actively watching TV shows in 2005, and haven't stopped since. Luckily, just about that time the so-called "Golden Era of TV" was about to burst, and burst it did. This book is terrific in that regard and it manages to scale down all the shows and presents a great starting point for anyone who wants to start watching great TV. Not to mention it has amazing insights into shows I already love and adore (hello there Cheers, hey, good seeing you Tony!). Sepinwall and MZS do a great job in carrying across their thoughts and while ranking such a subjective thing as fiction is inherently difficult, they make it fun and inclusive. I loved their scoring model, which they explain in detail at the beginning of the book, not to mention the essays accompanying each show. The clarity of their thoughts makes the reader want to see the show so bad. I wanna rewatch half the shows I watched after reading this book. It invokes that feeling! All in all, a great read for TV fans, old and new, young and old, novices and buffs. Read more