Putting aside my own personal preferences and trying to look at it objectively:

First off, how can you name one single show, given all the different genres over the years? Can you really compare the best sitcom to the best drama to the best news program?

Second, how do you define best? By your personal preference? By longevity? By ratings? By critical acclaim?

I think you need to look at programs the way you look at almost any art: a balancing of critical acclaim, commercial appeal, influence on others and longevity.

Using that standard, I'd say that (while it's not a personal favorite of mine) the best sitcom is "I Love Lucy." It pretty much invented the genre (both creatively and technically). It was a critical and commerical success and it is still enjoyed by fans to this day (on Nick at Nite).

Similarly, I'd say the best news program was "60 Minutes," hands down. Every thing else is an imitation and it's still the number one news mag around.

As far as dramas go, that's a little trickier. I'm not sure there was one groundbreaking drama, that one huge hit that wrote the rules the way that Lucy and 60 Minutes did and is still popular today.

I'm tempted to say "Hill St. Blues." It was the first drama to bring a true cinematic sensibility to TV drama, with hand held cameras, overlapping, Mametesque dialogue and better than average production values). It was wildly influential, with its use of multiple story lines and a varied cast of gritty characters (shows as divergent as "the West Wing," "the Sopranos" "24" and "Alias" are owe a debt to HSB and the way that storylines were allowed to continue from week to week, major characters were allowed to change or die and heroes could be cast in shades of grey). And it was a commerical and critical success.

Other thoughts?

Comedy: M*A*S*H

Drama: Law And Order

SF: Star Trek (the original's the definitive show, the NEXT GENERATION was better drama)

Variety: Carol Burnett

i can't really judge anything before my lifetime, so i'll stick with:

simpsons, seinfeld, and cheers

honorable mentions go to ER and the sopranos.

Scifi: Babylon 5

Action: Alias

Comedy: Mash

Drama: NYPD Blue, I think.

Overall, Babylon 5.

I'm gonna go with Buffy the Vampire SLayar. This show shouldn't have worked. It was based on Kristy Swanson movie, and it was a mid-season replacement- on the WB!! And yet, it lasted seven seasons, spawned a spin-off which lasted 5 seasons, and has had comics, novels, video games, RPGs, etc. They deftly managed to blend comedy, drama, & horror.

Seinfeld and Six Feet Under.

Mr Ed it was about a talking horse! HA! a talking horse!

Tell me more about this... 'Mister Ed'.

I heard he was really a zebra.

Shouldn't he be called 'Mister Zed' then?

Babylon 5

Others worth mentioning:

South Park

Newsradio (The Phil Hartman years)

Highlander: The Series

Robotech/Macross

Aquateen Hungerforce

Sealab 2021

Batman The Animated Series

Best TV shows ever?

I'd go with Farscape, Futurama, and perhaps Red Dwarf...

I'm not much of a Drama guy when it comes to TV shows, it's mostly Sci-Fi and Comedy I watch.

24 was HUGE dissapointment for me.


King of Queens is good too

M.A.S.H.
Simpsons
Cheers
Highlander
Star Trek Next Generation

The Transformers

Futurama

Family Guy

South Park

Seinfeld

Star Trek

Highlander