1001 TV Series You Must Watch Before You Die (2015)
Created by Apu.
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This is the 1st edition (October 2015) and the latest addition to the bestselling and highly acclaimed 1001-series.
"From "Leave it to Beaver" to "Breaking Bad", "The Honeymooners" to "Homeland", this compilation of important and groundbreaking television shows is packed full of trivia and will be sure to make you want to pick up the remote or start streaming. Selected by an international team of experts and covering a worldwide spectrum of programs from the classics of the 1950s to the cutting-edge shows of today, 1001 TV Series is one of the most comprehensive books ever published on the topic of television."
This volume is virtually impossible to finish (as you have to watch every single episode of every single entry). Not to mention many of the shows are still running this very day.
If the authors instead chose to focus only on TV-series/TV-Mini-series/TV-movies you might have had a chance, but unfortunately, TV shows - including Game shows, Reality and Talk shows - are also included.
NOTE: the book contains some TV-movies or stand-alone episodes from TV-series, but the vast majority of the entries are either TV-series, TV-Mini-series or TV shows.
The genres are:
Action/Adventure: 43
Animation: 13
Awards show: 3
Biography: 1
Comedy: 246
Comedy/Drama: 31
Crime: 1
Crime/Mystery: 101
Documentary: 18
Drama: 226
Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi: 107
Game show: 26
Historical drama: 60
Music/Musical: 13
Reality: 31
Soap opera: 28
Sports: 2
Talk Show: 16
Variety: 22
Western: 13
= 1001
TV-series/shows/movies that, according to the introduction by Robb Pearlman, "could not be included" (it is never argued why):
The Winds of War (1983)
Lonesome Dove (1989)
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) [???????]
Sybil (1976)
Gia (1998)
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
Duel (1971)
V (1983)
Recount (2008)
Game Change (2012)
An Early Frost (1984)
And the Band Played On (1993)
Brian's Song (1971)
Mildred Pierce (2011)
Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001).
Some entries that most likely will cause some problems in terms of checking them are the Awards shows: Academy Awards (#17), Golden Globe Awards (#50), MTV Video Music Awards (#365) as well as "Eurovision Song Contest" (#32). Instead of adding every single annual event for these shows, I decided to add only the earliest entry I could locate on IMDb (as if you care about those shows and/or will finish this list anyway).
NOTE: "1001 TV Series You Must Watch Before You Die" and "1001 TV Shows You Must Watch Before You DIe" have identical entires (1948-2015) - as well as the same page total (960) - although they're two different books. Generally speaking, the only differences between the two books are:
- the introduciton is longer in "Shows" (an introduction by Robb Pearlman) whereas "Series" have a much shorter introduction and instead have an additional index (Index by Genre). The "Index by Genre" is not featured in "Shows".
- "Shows" is in hardcover whereas "Series" is in paperback.
- The front and back cover are different.
If you spot any errors (or if any of the abovementioned series/shows I've listed earlier has been added to IMDb), or if you have any questions about the entries or the list as a whole, please don't hesitate to PM me.
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8 new
Dragnet
1951, in 0 top lists Check -
9 new
Dragnet 1967
1967, in 0 top lists Check -
24 new
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955, in 0 top lists Check -
41 new
Perry Mason
1957, in 0 top lists Check -
53 new
Peter Gunn
1958, in 0 top lists Check -
57 new
The Twilight Zone
1959, in 0 top lists Check -
137 new
Callan
1967, in 0 top lists Check -
139 new
Ironside
1967, in 0 top lists Check -
145 new
The Prisoner
1967, in 1 top list Check -
150 new
Hawaii Five-O
1968, in 0 top lists Check -
165 new
All My Children
1970, in 0 top lists Check -
180 new
McMillan & Wife
1971, in 0 top lists Check -
183 new
Cannon
1971, in 0 top lists Check -
188 new
Columbo
1971, in 0 top lists Check -
215 new
Barnaby Jones
1973, in 0 top lists Check -
219 new
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
1974, in 0 top lists Check -
231 new
The Rockford Files
1974, in 0 top lists Check -
257 new
Quincy M.E.
1976, in 0 top lists Check -
274 new
CHiPs
1977, in 0 top lists Check -
294 new
Rumpole of the Bailey
1978, in 0 top lists Check -
299 new
Salem's Lot
1979, in 1 top list Check -
308 new
Sapphire & Steel
1979, in 0 top lists Check -
315 new
Juliet Bravo
1980, in 0 top lists Check -
323 new
Bergerac
1981, in 0 top lists Check -
335 new
Cagney & Lacey
1981, in 0 top lists Check -
353 new
Taggart
1983, in 0 top lists Check -
364 new
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1984, in 0 top lists Check -
366 new
Miss Marple: The Body in the Library
1984 — a.k.a. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: The Body in the Library, in 0 top lists Check -
367 new
Miss Marple: The Moving Finger
1985 — a.k.a. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: The Moving Finger, in 0 top lists Check -
368 new
Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced
1985 — a.k.a. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced, in 0 top lists Check -
369 new
Miss Marple: A Pocketful of Rye
1985 — a.k.a. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye, in 0 top lists Check -
370 new
Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage
1986 — a.k.a. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage, in 0 top lists Check -
371 new
Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder
1987, in 0 top lists Check -
372 new
Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel
1987, in 0 top lists Check -
373 new
Miss Marple: Nemesis
1987, in 0 top lists Check -
374 new
Miss Marple: 4.50 from Paddington
1987 — a.k.a. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: 4:50 from Paddington, in 0 top lists Check -
375 new
Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery
1989, in 0 top lists Check -
376 new
Miss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors
1991 — a.k.a. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors, in 0 top lists Check -
377 new
Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
1992, in 0 top lists Check -
379 new
Mike Hammer
1984, in 0 top lists Check -
383 new
La piovra 4
1989, in 0 top lists Check -
384 new
La piovra 8 - Lo scandalo
1997 — a.k.a. The Octopus 8 - The Scandal, in 0 top lists Check -
386 new
La piovra 10
2001 — a.k.a. The Octopus 10, in 0 top lists Check -
400 new
Edge of Darkness
1985, in 0 top lists Check -
401 new
Moonlighting
1985, in 0 top lists Check -
427 new
Matlock
1986, in 0 top lists Check -
428 new
The Singing Detective
1986, in 3 top lists Check -
443 new
Inspector Morse
1987, in 0 top lists Check -
455 new
Poirot
1989, in 0 top lists Check -
473 new
Twin Peaks
1990, in 3 top lists Check
Last updated on Nov 3, 2023; source