Friday.Feb.15.2008

MENSA Big Brain Picks Ten Smartest TV Shows of All-Time

By Jason Perry
JustPressPlay.net

Jim Werdell, chairman of MENSA International - an elite worlwide organization for people with an IQ that falls into the top 2% of the population - selected his top 10 smartest television shows of all-time after being posed the question by Fancast.com.

How does one decide whether a television show is smart or not? Werdell shares his criteria.

“They weren’t pure comedy, mystery or action,” he says. “They tended to be shows that dealt with issues in the world, and from my perspective that’s considered smart. Some sitcoms reach a higher level of intellect than others, and you can say the same about some of the dramas. The stories may be cliché, but the characters and dialogue are smarter.”

Here's the list complete with Werdell's comments:

1. M*A*S*H – It had smart repartee and was so much more than a comedy.

2. Cosmos (with Carl Sagan) – Sagan was able to communicate something extremely complicated to the layman and do it well, and that’s unusual for a scientist at his level.

3. CSI -- The way they use science to solve their programs is intriguing to viewers.

4. House – Again, it’s high level type of show; it’s the personality that makes it a winner, plus it deals with science.

5. West Wing – you had to pay attention to stay up with it. The repartee was fast and furious and you needed a fairly high level intelligence to keep up with it.

6. Boston Legal – It’s primarily because of the characters. The story lines are okay, but the characters are incredible and the writers give them great dialogue.

7. All in the Family – The show dealt with social issues before its time and was on the forefront of trying to show people’s feelings, beliefs and the complexities of personality, in both a serious and comedic way.

8. Frasier – The repartee was sensational; the main characters were very good. Even though they portrayed people who were likely of high intelligence, they also showed their weaknesses.

9. Mad About You – It’s a personal favorite, I loved the characters and the back and forth. It was very smart.

10. Jeopardy – It’s about the only game show that really tries to test people’s intelligence. There’s very little luck involved, and there are few game shows like that. I don’t watch it all that much honestly, but from what I’ve seen it tests more than knowledge, it tests intelligence too.

Personally, all I can say is: Mad About You...seriously?

Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner...that Road Runner was one smart cookie

Those others? They're OK, but not up to the level of the Road Runner

Jeopardy is incredibly dumbed down.

CSI seems to use quite a bit of junk science.

I think it is hard to ignore groundbreakers like St. Elsewhere and my personal favourite, Hill Street Blues, which has sort of been forgotten and ignored.

Seinfeld might deserve to make the list as well.

Hill Street Blues...the only TV show that I never missed a single episode of on it's original airing...not one.

TV is pretty boring now.

Quoted from paddyboyy

Hill Street Blues...the only TV show that I never missed a single episode of on it's original airing...not one.

TV is pretty boring now.

I have never understood why HSB didn't get much love in syndication.  Maybe bad timing.

I remember Thursday nights in the early-mid eighties - Magnum PI at 8, Simon and Simon at 9, flip to NBC for HSB at 10.  That was a sweet evening.  

My choice for one of the most "brilliant" television series goes to  Northern Exposure

MOOSEKETEERS: (from left) John Cullum, Cynthia Geary, Darren E. Burrows, John Corbett, Barry Corbin, Janine Turner, Rob Morrow, and Peg Phillips.

Northern Exposure, perhaps the best example to date of a crossbred television "dramedy," began inauspiciously as a CBS replacement series in the summer of 1990 and quickly garnered critical acclaim as well as an audience sufficient to warrant its return for a short stint the following year. Its popularity grew, and for its first complete season, 1991-92, Exposure received ratings in the top twenty, the Emmy for Best Television Drama, and an unusual, two-year commitment from the network. During its fourth full year, 1994-95, the show's future appeared questionable. The mid-season departure of one of its key players, Rob Morrow, and a move from its established, Monday night time slot to Wednesday, contributed to a decline in ratings and reputation. The program was canceled by the network at the end of the season.

Actor John Corbett  "CHRIS "IN THE MORNING" STEVENS

Awards and Nominations for Northern Exposure
http://home.comcast.net/%7Emcnotes/awards.html

Northern Exposure was a great show, but it fizzled relatively quickly.  

1: M*A*S*H  2: Seinfeld  3: Curb Your Enthusiasm  4: Arrested Development  5: Larry Sanders  6: Law & Order  7: Intelligence  8: Da Vinci's Inquest 9: South Park 10: Family Guy

It's harder to write SMART comedy well.

interesting to note a complete ABSENCE of reality TV among the "smart" shows.  speaks volume to the "dumbing down" of TV in the past decade.   (and with most morning radio hosts spending copious amounts of time talking about reality TV....aww NEVER MIND!)

add me to the list of those lauding HSB.  a shame Fox has only released the first 2 seasons on DVD.

I take it MENSA don't watch HBO or Showtime.

Jericho has a good plot, iunno if its "smart"

Quoted from morning man

I take it MENSA don't watch HBO or Showtime.

...or anything not from an American network.

Since you brought up HBO; how about Deadwood?  Shakespeare with curse words and graphic violence.

Star Trek... all of them.

I like how "plus it's about science" automatically legitimizes it's intelligence...  Shouldn't Weird Science make the list then?  Or Sliders, how about My Secret Identity.. OUH! OUH! Doogie Howser M.D.