FALL 2017 TV SURVEY:
40 BEST TV SHOWS
OF THE PAST 20 YEARS

We asked TV fans, “What do you think is the best TV show of the past 20 years?” See which series our survey respondents chose, ranked by popularity, below. The winner took top spot with 11 percent of the vote, while second place got 7 percent, third and fourth place were separated by a mere tenth of a percent and rounded up to 5 percent, and fifth place got 4 percent. (Click here to see the full results by percentage.)

Disagree with the survey results? Tell us in the comments who you think should have made the list or have been ranked higher.

#40

Deadwood
92% 95%

#40

Synopsis: "Deadwood" is set in a mining town that was not part of any U.S. state or territory in the post-Civil [More]

Starring: Timothy Olyphant , Ian McShane , Molly Parker , Powers Boothe

#39

Homeland
85% 86%

#39

Synopsis: When Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody returns home following eight years in captivity, CIA agent Carrie Mathison thinks he has turned [More]

Starring: Claire Danes , Mandy Patinkin , Maury Sterling , Linus Roache

#38

Supernatural
93% 73%

#38

Synopsis: This haunting series follows the thrilling yet terrifying journeys of Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who face an increasingly [More]

Starring: Jared Padalecki , Jensen Ackles , Misha Collins , Alexander Calvert

#37

Six Feet Under
81% 95%

#37

Synopsis: Laced with irony and dark situational humor, the show approaches the subject of death through the eyes of the Fisher [More]

Starring: Peter Krause , Michael C. Hall , Frances Conroy , Lauren Ambrose

#36

Frasier
95% 95%

#36

Synopsis: Dr. Frasier Crane, a successful Boston therapist, moves to Seattle to get a new start on life; he has a [More]

Starring: Kelsey Grammer , John Mahoney , Jane Leeves , David Hyde Pierce

#35

The Good Wife
93% 90%

#35

Synopsis: When a very public sex and political-corruption scandal lands her husband, Peter, in prison, Alicia Florrick (Emmy-winner Julianna Margulies) must [More]

Starring: Julianna Margulies , Christine Baranski , Matt Czuchry , Jeffrey Dean Morgan

#34

House of Cards
77% 76%

#34

Synopsis: U.S. Rep. Francis Underwood of South Carolina starts out as a ruthless politician seeking revenge in this Netflix original production. [More]

Starring: Robin Wright , Michael Kelly , Jayne Atkinson , Patricia Clarkson

#33

Friday Night Lights
97% 93%

#33

Synopsis: "Friday Night Lights" centers on the rural town of Dillon, Texas, where winning the state football championship is prized above [More]

Starring: Kyle Chandler , Connie Britton , Aimee Teegarden , Brad Leland

#32

NYPD Blue
83% 93%

#32

Synopsis: This Steven Bochco-produced series pulls few punches in portraying the day-to-day lives of cops in New York's 15th Precinct. Characters' [More]

Starring: Dennis Franz , Mark-Paul Gosselaar , Gordon Clapp , Bill Brochtrup

#31

Orange Is the New Black
90% 82%

#31

Synopsis: Piper Chapman is a public relations executive with a career and a fiance when her past suddenly catches up to [More]

Starring: Taylor Schilling , Natasha Lyonne , Uzo Aduba , Danielle Brooks

#30

Scandal
93% 72%

#30

Synopsis: "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes is the creative mind behind this ABC drama. Olivia Pope, a former media consultant to [More]

Starring: Kerry Washington , Guillermo Díaz , Darby Stanchfield , Katie Lowes

#29

South Park
80% 87%

#29

Synopsis: The animated series is not for children. In fact, its goal seems to be to offend as many as possible [More]

Starring: Trey Parker , Matt Stone

#28

Mad Men
94% 96%

#28

Synopsis: In 1960s New York, alpha male Don Draper struggles to stay on top of the heap in the high-pressure world [More]

Starring: Jon Hamm , John Slattery , Vincent Kartheiser , January Jones

#27

Modern Family
85% 90%

#27

Synopsis: Told from the perspective of an unseen documentary filmmaker, the series offers an honest, often-hilarious perspective of family life. Parents [More]

Starring: Ed O'Neill , Julie Bowen , Ty Burrell , Sofía Vergara

#26

Arrested Development
75% 85%

#26

Synopsis: Michael Bluth finds himself forced to stay in Orange County and run the family real estate business after his father, [More]

Starring: Jason Bateman , Portia de Rossi , Will Arnett , Michael Cera

#25

Sex and the City
70% 80%

#25

Synopsis: A sex columnist, Carrie Bradshaw, and her three friends -- Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda -- explore Manhattan's dating scene, chronicling [More]

Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker , Kim Cattrall , Kristin Davis , Cynthia Nixon

#24

The Walking Dead
79% 78%

#24

Synopsis: Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, this gritty drama portrays life in the months and years [More]

Starring: Norman Reedus , Melissa McBride , Lauren Cohan , Josh McDermitt

#23

NCIS
- - 82%

#23

Synopsis: Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs leads a group of colorful personalities in investigating crimes -- ranging [More]

Starring: Sean Murray , Wilmer Valderrama , Brian Dietzen , Diona Reasonover

#22

Stranger Things
91% 90%

#22

Synopsis: Mysteries unravel in a small Midwestern town in the 1980s, involving supernatural forces, secret experiments and one strange girl. [More]

Starring: Winona Ryder , David Harbour , Millie Bobby Brown , Finn Wolfhard

#21

Battlestar Galactica
95% 94%

#21

Synopsis: This update of the late-1970s series takes a decidedly darker tone as what's left of humankind struggles for survival against [More]

Starring: Edward James Olmos , Mary McDonnell , Katee Sackhoff , Jamie Bamber

#20

Lost
86% 89%

#20

Synopsis: The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 were 1,000 miles off course when they crashed on a lush, mysterious island. Each [More]

Starring: Naveen Andrews , Nestor Carbonell , Emilie de Ravin , Michael Emerson

#19

ER
- - 87%

#19

Synopsis: Set in Chicago, this medical drama deals with the personal and professional crises of the doctors in the emergency room [More]

Starring: Anthony Edwards , George Clooney , Julianna Margulies , Sherry Stringfield

#18

The Office
81% 89%

#18

Synopsis: This U.S. adaptation -- set at a paper company based in Scranton, Pa. -- has a similar documentary style to [More]

Starring: Steve Carell , Rainn Wilson , John Krasinski , Jenna Fischer

#17

The Simpsons
85% 75%

#17

Synopsis: This long-running animated comedy focuses on the eponymous family in the town of Springfield in an unnamed U.S. state. The [More]

Starring: Dan Castellaneta , Julie Kavner , Nancy Cartwright , Yeardley Smith

#16

24
87% 87%

#16

Synopsis: Counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer fights the bad guys of the world, a day at a time. With each week's episode [More]

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland , Mary Lynn Rajskub , Cherry Jones , Freddie Prinze Jr.

#15

The Wire
95% 96%

#15

Synopsis: This series looks at the narcotics scene in Baltimore through the eyes of law enforcers as well as the drug [More]

Starring: Dominic West , John Doman , Frankie Faison , Wood Harris

#14

Grey's Anatomy
84% 71%

#14

Synopsis: This high-intensity medical drama follows a team of doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital who are faced with life-or death [More]

Starring: Ellen Pompeo , Chandra Wilson , James Pickens Jr. , Kevin McKidd

#13

The Sopranos
92% 96%

#13

Synopsis: Tony Soprano juggles the problems of his fractious family with those of a "Family" of a different sort - the [More]

Starring: James Gandolfini , Lorraine Bracco , Edie Falco , Michael Imperioli

#12

Sherlock
78% 83%

#12

Synopsis: In this contemporary version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective stories, Dr. John Watson is a war vet just home [More]

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch , Martin Freeman , Andrew Scott , Vinette Robinson

#11

The X-Files
74% 85%

#11

Synopsis: In one of the longest-running science fiction series in network TV history, FBI special agents investigate unexplained, mind-bending cases known [More]

Starring: Gillian Anderson , David Duchovny , Mitch Pileggi , Robert Patrick

#10

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
85% 92%

#10

Synopsis: Sarah Michelle Gellar takes on the role of Buffy Summers in this TV version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," based [More]

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar , Nicholas Brendon , Alyson Hannigan , James Marsters

#9

Doctor Who
90% 64%

#9

Synopsis: An eccentric yet compassionate extraterrestrial Time Lord zips through time and space to solve problems alongside companions from planet Earth. [More]

Starring: Jodie Whittaker , Mandip Gill , John Bishop , Tosin Cole

#8

The West Wing
81% 95%

#8

Synopsis: Cutthroat presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business [More]

Starring: Martin Sheen , Stockard Channing , John Spencer , Bradley Whitford

#7

Downton Abbey
88% 93%

#7

Synopsis: This British drama series follows the lives of the Crawley family and its servants in the family's classic Georgian country [More]

Starring: Hugh Bonneville , Laura Carmichael , Jim Carter , Brendan Coyle

#6

Law & Order
- - 83%

#6

Synopsis: Lives hang in the balance as detectives and prosecutors pursue justice in New York City. In cases ripped from the [More]

Starring: Hugh Dancy , Odelya Halevi , Tony Goldwyn , Mehcad Brooks

#5

Seinfeld
89% 92%

#5

Synopsis: Four single friends -- comic Jerry Seinfeld, bungling George Costanza, frustrated working gal Elaine Benes and eccentric neighbor Cosmo Kramer [More]

Starring: Jerry Seinfeld , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Jason Alexander , Michael Richards

#4

Friends
78% 93%

#4

Synopsis: Three young men and three young women -- of the BFF kind -- live in the same apartment complex and [More]

Starring: Jennifer Aniston , Courteney Cox , Lisa Kudrow , Matt LeBlanc

#3

The Big Bang Theory
81% 84%

#3

Synopsis: Mensa-fied best friends and roommates Leonard and Sheldon, physicists who work at the California Institute of Technology, may be able [More]

Starring: Johnny Galecki , Jim Parsons , Kaley Cuoco , Simon Helberg

#2

Breaking Bad
96% 97%

#2

Synopsis: Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, [More]

Starring: Bryan Cranston , Aaron Paul , Anna Gunn , RJ Mitte

#1

Game of Thrones
89% 85%

#1

Synopsis: George R.R. Martin's best-selling book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" is brought to the screen as HBO sinks [More]

Starring: Peter Dinklage , Nikolaj Coster-Waldau , Lena Headey , Emilia Clarke