Previously I did a list of the Best British TV Shows, so how about now for a list of shows from the USA that are “must watch before you die”?
1) Home Improvement – The hit 1990’s American Sitcom starring Tim Allen as the accident-prone Tim “The Toolman” Taylor.
2) Seinfeld – The hit 1990’s American sitcom starring Jerry Seinfeld.
3) Frasier – The hit 1990’s American Sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer as Dr Frasier Crane, relocated to Seattle after a divorce, and of course a spin-off from the sitcom Cheers.
4) South Park – The infamous animated cartoon series set in a fictional Colorado mountain town, following the adventures of a group of kids named Stan, Eric, Kenny & Kyle and a host of other regular characters such as Mr Garrison (their teacher), Chef, Mr Mackey (the school council) + many others.
5) The Simpsons – The legendary cartoon series starring Bart, Homer, Marge, Lisa & Maggie Simpson along with Grandpa Abe Simpson, Mr Burns, and many others.
6) Family Guy – A cartoon series following the family of a fat bloke named Peter Griffin.
7) Futurama – A cartoon series set in the future, made by the creator of The Simpsons. In a theme similar to Buck Rogers, it stars a pizza delivery guy named Fry who had a slight accident where he fell into a machine that froze him for 1,000 years. Once woken up he ends up working for a courier delivery firm owned by an elderly mad Professor who also happens to be a decendent of his, and becomes friends with a messed-up robot named Bender.
8) King of the Hill – Animated Cartoon series set in Texas, following the family of propane salesman Hank Hill + his friends and neighbours Dale, Bill & Boomhauer.
9) Star Trek: Voyager – A spin off from one of the greatest SciFi franchises of all time, set on a Federation Starship named “Voyager” which gets dragged to the far side of the galaxy trying to find a missing undercover operative, then has to try to make it’s way back to the Alpha Quadrant. Includes many excellent episodes encountering The Borg, and of course “7 of 9”.
10) The X-Files – The legendary SciFi series starring FBI Agents Fox Mulder & Dana Scully investigating weird happenings & government conspiracies.
11) Star Trek: Enterprise – a Prequel series of the Star Trek franchise, set before the days of Captain Kirk & Spock, and the last Star Trek TV series made to date. It follows the adventures of the first USS Enterprise, making it’s first voyage.
12) American Dad – An animated series from the people behind Family Guy, following the family of a CIA agent named Stan Smith. It’s good to watch, but doesn’t really take off until around Series1, Episode 5.
13) Rugrats – The animated cartoon series from Nickeloden, following the adventures of a baby named Tommy Pickles and his friends Chuckie and the twins from next door named Phil & Lil, along with his cousin Angelica and the rest of their families, and their dog Spike.
14) Star Trek: Deep Space 9 – another spin off TV series in the Star Trek franchise, set on a Space Station and overseeing a planet recently released back to self-rule after being taken over by the Cardassians.
15) Star Trek: The Next Generation – the first spin off from the original series of Star Trek, set about 70yrs on from the original series following the adventures of the Enterprise-D with Captain Jean-Luc Picard in charge.
16) The Dukes of Hazzard – described by TV critics as a load of crap, but well loved by TV viewers anyway (mostly for Daisy Duke), and famous for the car too.
17) Police Squad: In Color – A cult classic comedy cop show starring Leslie Neilsen as clumsy Detective Frank Drebin.
18) The A-Team – A cult classic action adventure from the 1980’s starring a group of on the run Army commando’s who got made scapegoats for something they didn’t do, and while on the run help people out who are having trouble with bad guys.
19) Knightrider – Cult classic action adventure from the 1980’s starring a talking heavily computerised car named KITT, and it’s driver played by David Hasselhoff.
20) Airwolf – cult classic adventure series from the 1980’s featuring an extremely advanced Helicopter.
21) Streethawk – a shortlived (13 episode) action adventure series featuring a highly advanced motorbike.
22) Battlestar Galactica – the cult classic original 1970’s version of the SciFi franchise.
23) Friends – the cult classic 1990’s Sitcom set in New York.
24) Columbo – the cult classic detective series.
25) 3rd Rock from the Sun – the 1990’s Sitcom about a group of Aliens living undercover in Ohio to learn more about our Planet’s culture.
26) Mork & Mindy – The sitcom featuring the late Robin Williams as an alien sent to learn more about Earth.
27) Extreme Trains – a documentary series about locomotives, riding along a number of important Freight & Passenger routes across America, with additional segments showing the maitenance side of things.
28) Grace Under Fire – a 1990’s Sitcom featuring a tall blonde single mother.
29) Buck Rogers in the 25th Century – SciFi adventures of an Astronaut who wakes up in the future after a slight mishap.
30) Animaniacs – cartoon series created by Steven Spielberg.
