the chairman of MENSA (brain club for "geniuses" as identified by IQ tests) has posted his list of the 10 smartest tv shows of all time:
1. M*A*S*H
2. Cosmos
3. CSI
4. House
5. The West Wing
6. Boston Legal
7. All in the Family
8. Frasier
9. Mad About You
10. Jeopardy!
am i the only one who has some serious problems with this list?
1. M*A*S*H - whatever. i know that the world loved it, and i watched it as a kid, and yes, i probably hated it because i was too young and stupid to understand what was going on. i just didn't understand why a show about war never had any shooting and stuff (that is all i was interested in as a child)
2. Cosmos - i don't know what this is. so far i guess i am pretty dumb by MENSA standards. apparently carl sagan created and it, and from what i understand he's a smart dude. this one gets a pass from me.
3. CSI - the show that's so smart they have to have one in ever city? CSI is not smart. i've seen this show a few times, and it just isn't too brilliant. they solve everything through DNA and all this highly scientific evidence, but it's always fits together way too perfectly.
4. House - never seen it. my friend coates apparently really likes the show, but we believe that is only because he loves shows that are one syllable words (chuck, house, lost, etc)
5. The West Wing - politics are not smart. people who think they like politics and feel smart for liking politics are like people who say they like the british version of the office more than the american version... nobody believes this, they just think they are supposed to.
6. Boston Legal - i used to watch ally mcbeal from time to time. that was a strange time in my life. i can only imagine that this show is just like ally mcbeal, except that calista flockhart is replaced with william shatner. that doesn't sound too smart to me. wasn't there a show called boston public a few years ago about a high school in boston? what's up with boston and shows? everybody thinks boston is all sophisticated. have you ever met a red sox/patriots/celtics fan? about as much sophistication there as a bucket of biscuts.
7. All in the Family - only seen a bit of this one over the years. wikipedia tells me that this guy archie bunker was a "loveable biggot" so that sounds pretty smart. you know what show with family in the title is smarter than this one? family ties. alex p. keaton was brilliant. (other shows with the word 'family' in the title off the top of my head: the adams family, the partidge family, family matters, family guy... so we're not dealing with too much "genius"- level stuff here).
8. Frasier - this one makes perfect sense. the perfect "i watch frasier because i like it and it makes me laugh and if you don't watch it and laugh then you are the subject of that which i am laughing at" show. i love how the show includes the tired old dad and the british maid to represent the "simple folk" while these two blathering psychologist idiots are the pinacle of sophistication. i really do like this show. really.
9. Mad About You - really? i wouldn't have even wrote this post if not for the inclusion of ' mad about you' on a list of smartest television shows ever. this blows my mind. my parents used to watch this show when i was a kid. you know what i thought about 'mad about you' when i was a kid? i thought it was stupid. you know what i think about it now? i think it is stupid. paul reiser? helen hunt? a guy named "ira"? this is smart? i just looked it up on the internet and this show was written by nazis, squirrels and death row inmates. not too smart of a crew there.
10. Jeopardy - ahh. finally. sweet jeopardy. this should be number one on the list. alex trebek should burn down the MENSA headquarters and start TREBEK as the agency that designates the status of genius upon others. "classic concentration" could have also made this list. jeopardy is brilliant. this week is the teen tournament, which is enjoyable, and makes me feel... just a little bit smarter.
if mad about you is more intelligent than seinfeld, then i have never used my brain and i am the dumbest man alive. the simpsons aren't on this list - that seems like a gross oversight. and no love for star trek? none of the shows listed figured out how to film in space - and that is quite the smart accomplishment.
finally, my highschool typing teacher, mr hurley, was a member of MENSA. this man had the largest nostrils i have ever seen. he is actually rather famous because he can "predict earthquakes." this is true. he gets a severe headache when an earthquake is going to hit and he gets very sick. he went on opera once and was ridiculed off the stage. he often walked around with his new balances untied. if mr. hurley is a member of MENSA, and if this list is what MENSA people like to watch on tv, then i guess i can be satisfied with my life as a simpleton.
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3 comments:
i fully concur with your disdain for mad about you. to place this show above seinfeld, the simpsons, or even three's company is a disgrace.
hey everyone, look at us, we're a married couple in new york that doesn't have any kids. wait a second, our ratings are suffering? better have a kid. get out of here. paul reiser can suck it and married couple humor is terrible. why don't you ever put a new roll of toilet paper on the roll? it's not hard. god, you are such a man. wah wah waaaaahhhh.
this actually reminds me of a seinfeld episode. george asks susan to marry him and after she says yes, she becomes a relationship tyrant that ruthlessly dictates his actions. this is topped off when jerry calls george to tell him that they're rerunning a yankee game on television. george gets appropriately excited but then hears susan yell from another room, "come to bed george, i taped mad about you." the look on george's face is priceless and sums up mad about you. watching it is the equivalent to being summoned to jury duty.
smart my ass. if seinfeld goes out of its way to make fun of it, then it doesn't deserve to be mentioned at all...ever.
i actually was thinking of that seinfeld scene the whole time i wrote this little diatribe and laughing all the way to my proverbial bank.
that note about the british office had me laughing outloud. you clever you.
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