Diego Benevides 
O Sindicato dos Roteiristas de Hollywood divulgou uma lista com os 101 melhores programas ficcionais (séries, séries animadas, teleteatro, variety shows e talk shows) de todos os tempos, encomendada pela revista TV Guide. Segundo a especialista Fernanda Furquim, a seleção teve como base os programas que são mais que entretenimento popular, refletindo a cultura de sua época e podendo promover mudanças na sociedade. Como qualquer lista, injustiças acontecem. Alguns programas foram representados apenas pelo piloto ou pela primeira temporada. Empates também foram registrados. Veja a lista:
1. Os Sopranos – HBO – David Chase (foto)
2. Seinfeld – NBC – Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone/Além da Imaginação – Primeira Temporada – CBS – Rod Serling
4. All in the Family/Tudo em Família – CBS – Norman Lear (remake de Till Death Do Us Part, de Johnny Speight)
5. M*A*S*H – CBS – Larry Gelbart
6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show – CBS – James L. Brooks e Allan Burns
7. Mad Men – AMC – Matthew Weiner
8. Cheers – NBC – Glen Charles & Les Charles e James Burrows
9. The Wire – HBO – David Simon
10. The West Wing – NBC – Aaron Sorkin
11. The Simpsons – FOX – Matt Groening
12. I Love Lucy – CBS – (Piloto) Jess Oppenheimer & Madelyn Pugh & Bob Carroll, Jr.
13. Breaking Bad – AMC – Vince Gilligan
14. The Dick Van Dyke Show – CBS – Carl Reiner
15. Hill Street Blues – NBC – Michael Kozoll e Steven Bochco
16. Arrested Development – FOX – Mitchell Hurwitz
17. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – Comedy Central – Primeira Temporada – Madeleine Smithberg e Lizz Winstead
18. Six Feet Under – HBO – Alan Ball
19. Taxi – ABC – James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis e Ed Weinberger
20. The Larry Sanders Show – HBO – Garry Shandling & Dennis Klein
21. 30 Rock – NBC – Tina Fey
22. Friday Night Lights – NBC – Peter Berg, adaptada do livro de H.G. Bissinger
23. Frasier – NBC – David Angell, Peter Casey e David Lee (spinoff de Cheers, criada por Glen Charles e Les Charles)
24. Friends – NBC – Marta Kauffman e David Crane
25. Saturday Night Live – NBC – Primeira Temporada – Walter Kempley (supervisor de roteiros), Harry Shearer, Ann Beatts, Chevy Chase, Tom Davis, Al Franken, Rosie Michaels, Garrett Morris, Michael O’Donoghue, Herb Sargent, Tom Schiller, Alan Zweibel
26. Arquivo X – FOX – Chris Carter
27. Lost – ABC – Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams e Damon Lindelof
28. ER – NBC – Michael Crichton
29. The Cosby Show – NBC – Ed Weinberger, Michael Leeson e William Cosby, Jr.
30. Curb Your Enthusiasm – HBO – Larry David
31. The Honeymooners – CBS – Primeira Temporada – Herbert Finn, Marvin Marx, A.J. Russell, Leonard Stern, Walter Stone, Sydney Zelinka
32. Deadwood – HBO – David Milch
33. Star Trek – NBC – Gene Roddenberry
34. Modern Family – ABC – Steven Levitan e Christopher Lloyd
35. Twin Peaks – ABC – Piloto – Mark Frost e David Lynch
36. NYPD Blue – ABC – David Milch e Steven Bochco
37. The Carol Burnett Show – CBS – Primeira Temporada – Bill Angelos, Stan Burns, Don Hinkley, Buz Kohan, Mike Marmer, Gail Parent, Kenny Solms, Saul Turtletaub e Arnie Rosen (supervisão de roteiros).
38. Battlestar Galactica (2005) – SYFY – Ronald D. Moore (remake de Battlestar Galactica de Glen A. Larson)
39. Sex and the City – HBO – Darren Star, adaptação do livro de Candace Bushnell
40. Game of Thrones – HBO – David Benioff e D. B. Weiss, adaptação da obra de George R. R. Martin
41. The Bob Newhart Show – CBS – David Davis e Lorenzo Music (empate)
41. Your Show of Shows – NBC – Primeira Temporada – Mel Tolkin, Lucille Kallen, Max Liebman (empate)
43. Downton Abbey – PBS – Julian Fellowes (empate)
43. Law & Order – NBC – Dick Wolf (empate)
43. thirtysomething – ABC – Marshall Herskovitz e Edward Zwick (empate)
46. Homicide: Life on the Street – NBC – Paul Attanasio, adaptação do livro Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, de David Simon (empate)
46. St. Elsewhere – CBS – Joshua Brand, John Falsey, Mark Tinker e John Masius (empate)
48. Homeland – Showtime – Howard Gordon e Alex Gansa, adaptada da série israelense Hatufim de Gideon Raff
49. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – WB – Joss Whedon
50. The Colbert Report – Comedy Central – Primeira Temporada – Stephen Colbert, Rich Dahm, Eric Drysdale, Peter Gwinn, Jay Katsir, Laura Krafft, Allison Silverman (empate)
50. The Good Wife – CBS – Robert King e Michelle King (empate)
50. The Office (UK) – BBC – Ricky Gervais e Stephen Merchant (empate)
53. Northern Exposure – CBS – Joshua Brand e John Falsey
54. The Wonder Years/Anos Incríveis – ABC – Neal Marlens e Carol Black
55. L.A. Law – NBC – Steven Bochco e Terry Louise Fisher
56. Sesame Street – PBS – Joan Ganz Cooney
57. Columbo – NBC – Richard Levinson e William Link
58. Fawlty Towers – BBC – John Cleese e Connie Booth (empate)
58. The Rockford Files – NBC – Roy Huggins e Stephen J. Cannell (empate)
60. Freaks and Geeks – NBC – Paul Feig (empate)
60. Moonlighting – ABC – Glenn Gordon Caron (empate)
62. Roots – ABC – William Blinn, M. Charles Cohen, Ernest Kinoy, James Lee, adaptação da obra de Alex Haley
63. Everybody Loves Raymond – CBS – Philip Rosenthal (empate)
63. South Park – Comedy Central – Matt Stone e Trey Parker (empate)
65. Playhouse 90 – CBS – Primeira Temporada – Edna Anhalt, Edmund Beloin, Harold Jack Bloom, Marc Brandel, George Bruce, James P. Cavanagh, Whitfiled Cook, Helen Doss, Scott Fitzgerald, Devery Freeman, Frank D. Gilroy, Helen Howe, Speed Lamkin, Ernest Lehman, Herbert Little, Jr., Don Mankiewicz, Elick Moll, Paul Monash, Dean Reisner, Norman Retchin, Selma Robinson, William Sackheim, Rod Serling, Leonard Spigelgass, Leslie Stevens, Brandon Thomas, David Victor, Charles M. Warren, Hagar Wilde, Cornell Woolrich
66. Dexter – Showtime – James Manos, Jr., adaptação da obra de Jeff Lindsay (empate)
66. The Office (US) – NBC – Greg Daniels, remake de série britânica de Ricky Gervais e Stephen Merchant (empate)
68. My So-Called Life – ABC – Winnie Holzman
69. The Golden Girls – NBC – Susan Harris
70. The Andy Griffith Show – CBS – Piloto: The New Housekeeper – Jack Elinson e Charles Stewart
71. 24 – FOX – Joel Surnow e Robert Cochran (empate)
71. Roseanne – ABC – Matt Williams e Roseanne Barr (empate)
72. The Shield – FX – Shawn Ryan
74. House – FOX – David Shore (empate)
74. Murphy Brown – CBS – Diane English (empate)
76. Barney Miller – ABC – Danny Arnold e Theodore J. Flicker
77. I, Claudius – PBS – Rupert Graves e Jack Pulman
78. The Odd Couple – ABC – Piloto: The Fight of the Felix – Peggy Elliott e Ed Scharlach
79. Alfred Hitchcock Presents – CBS – Primeira Temporada – Gwen Bagni, Samuel Blas, Robert Blees, Ray Bradbury, Richard Carr, James Cavanagh, Eustace Cockrell, Francis Cockrell, Marian Cockrell, John Collier, Robert C. Dennis, Mel Dinelli, Stanley Ellin, Fred Freiberger, Irwin Gielgud, Gina Kaus, Terence Maples, Richard Pedicini, Louis Pollock, Joseph Ruscoll, A.J. Russell, Stirling Silliphant, Andrew Solt, Harold Swanton, Victor Wolfson, Cornell Woolrich (empate)
79. Monty Python’s Flying Circus – BBC – Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Neil Innes, Terry Jones, Michael Palin (empate)
79. Star Trek: The Next Generation – SYN – Gene Roddenberry (empate)
79. Upstairs, Downstairs – PBS – Jean Marsh e Eileen Atkins (empate)
83. Get Smart – NBC – Piloto – Mel Brooks e Buck Henry
84. The Defenders – CBS – Reginald Rose (empate)
84. Gunsmoke – CBS – Piloto: Matt Gets It – Charles Marquis Warren e John Meston (empate)
86. Justified – FX – Graham Yost, adaptação de Fire in the Hole, de Elmore Leonard
87. Sgt. Bilko (The Phil Silvers Show) – CBS – Nat Hiken
88. Band of Brothers – HBO – Erik Bork, E. Max Frye, Tom Hanks, Erik Jendresen, Bruce C. McKenna, John Orloff, Graham Yost, adaptada da obra de Stephan E. Ambrose
89. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In – NBC – Primeira Temporada – Chris Beard, Phil Hahn, John Hanrahan, Coslough Johnson, Paul Keyes, Marc London, Allan Manings, David Panich, Hugh Wedlock, Digby Wolfe
90. The Prisoner – CBS – Piloto – George Markstein e David Tomblin
91. Absolutely Fabulous (UK) – BBC – Piloto: Fashion – Jennifer Saunders e Dawn French (empate)
91. The Muppet Show – Canais Regionais – Primeira Temporada – Jack Burns, Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl, Marc London (empate)
93. Boardwalk Empire – HBO – Terence Winter, adaptação da obra de Nelson Johnson
94. Will & Grace – NBC – David Kohan & Max Mutchnick
95. Family Ties/Caras e Caretas – NBC – Gary David Goldberg
96. Lonesome Dove – CBS – Bill Wittliff, adaptação da obra de Larry McMurtry (empate)
96. Soap – ABC – Susan Harris (empate)
98. The Fugitive/O Fugitivo – ABC – Piloto: Where the Action Is – Harry Kronman (empate)
98. Late Night with David Letterman – CBS – Primeira Temporada – Merrill Markoe (supervisão de roteiros), Andy Breckman, Tom Gammill, David Letterman, Richard Morris, Gerard Mulligan, Max Pross, Karl Tiedemann, Steve Winer (empate)
100. Louie – FX – Primeira Temporada – Louis C.K.
101. Oz – HBO – Tom Fontana