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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18 new
The Quatermass Experiment
1953, in 0 top lists Check -
86 new
Doctor Who
1963, in 0 top lists Check -
91 new
The Outer Limits
1963, in 0 top lists Check -
113 new
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1964, in 0 top lists Check -
128 new
Raumpatrouille - Die phantastischen Abenteuer...
1966, in 0 top lists Check -
134 new
The Time Tunnel
1966, in 0 top lists Check -
136 new
Urutoraman: Kûsô tokusatsu shirîzu
1966 — a.k.a. Ultraman: A Special Effects Fantasy Series, in 0 top lists Check -
141 new
The Invaders
1967, in 0 top lists Check -
152 new
Land of the Giants
1968, in 0 top lists Check -
155 new
The Champions
1968, in 0 top lists Check -
166 new
UFO
1969, in 0 top lists Check -
197 new
The Stone Tape
1972, in 1 top list Check -
208 new
The Tomorrow People
1973, in 0 top lists Check -
212 new
Welt am Draht
1973 — a.k.a. World on a Wire, in 2 top lists Check -
220 new
Planet of the Apes
1974, in 0 top lists Check -
238 new
Space: 1999
1975, in 0 top lists Check -
247 new
Survivors
1975, in 0 top lists Check -
254 new
The Bionic Woman
1976, in 0 top lists Check -
258 new
The Krofft Supershow
1976, in 0 top lists Check -
284 new
Blakes 7
1978, in 0 top lists Check -
289 new
Mork & Mindy
1978, in 0 top lists Check -
308 new
Sapphire & Steel
1979, in 0 top lists Check -
310 new
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
1979, in 0 top lists Check -
332 new
The Day of the Triffids
1981, in 0 top lists Check -
334 new
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
1981, in 0 top lists Check -
339 new
Knight Rider
1982, in 0 top lists Check -
358 new
V
1984, in 0 top lists Check -
441 new
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987, in 0 top lists Check -
442 new
Max Headroom
1987, in 0 top lists Check -
445 new
Mystery Science Theater 3000
1988, in 0 top lists Check -
450 new
Red Dwarf
1988, in 0 top lists Check -
454 new
Alien Nation
1989, in 0 top lists Check -
486 new
Dark Season
1991, in 0 top lists Check -
509 new
The X Files
1993 — a.k.a. The X-Files, in 0 top lists Check -
535 new
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
1994, in 0 top lists Check -
546 new
Star Trek: Voyager
1995, in 0 top lists Check -
548 new
Bugs
1995, in 0 top lists Check -
550 new
Sliders
1995, in 0 top lists Check -
558 new
3rd Rock from the Sun
1996, in 0 top lists Check -
574 new
Stargate SG-1
1997, in 0 top lists Check -
587 new
Ultraviolet
1998, in 0 top lists Check -
619 new
Futurama
1999, in 0 top lists Check -
620 new
Farscape
1999, in 0 top lists Check -
663 new
What Where
2000, in 0 top lists Check -
678 new
Firefly
2002, in 0 top lists Check -
707 new
Jake 2.0
2003, in 0 top lists Check -
732 new
The 4400
2004, in 0 top lists Check -
745 new
Stargate: Atlantis
2004, in 0 top lists Check -
780 new
Threshold
2005, in 0 top lists Check -
799 new
Torchwood
2006, in 0 top lists Check
Last updated on Nov 3, 2023; source