And the Best TV Series of the Past 20 Years Is....

To celebrate E!'s 20th birthday, we're running down the best 20 shows of the past 20 years

By Kristin Dos Santos May 28, 2010 4:45 PMTags
E! Placeholder Image

How can you possibly choose one series as the very best TV show of the past two decades? That's just crazy-bananas-nutzo, my friend!

But I did it.

To celebrate 20 years of entertainment, as E! hits its 20th birthday this week and gets thisclose to finally being able to get rid of that fake ID (congrats!), here are my picks for the Top 20 shows from 1990-2000 (and you'll get your chance to weigh in too)…

TOP 20 TV SERIES OF THE PAST 20 YEARS

  1. Lost
  2. Friends
  3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  4. Alias
  5. Felicity
  6. Dexter
  7. Arrested Development
  8. Veronica Mars
  9. Seinfeld
  10.  The Office
  11.  Modern Family
  12.  The Daily Show
  13.  Sex and the City
  14.  24
  15.  Six Feet Under
  16.  True Blood
  17.  Friday Night LIghts
  18.  The Sopranos
  19.  Grey's Anatomy
  20.  Survivor

That's right. I picked Lost—the series that has started all kinds of throwdowns at the watercooler this week—as the number one best series of the past two decades. 'Cause from where I'm sitting, Sunday's Lost series finale was the most brilliant work of television of all time. (Sorry, Saved by the Bell.) If you're still struggling to see the light of why Lost was so fantastic, join me in this happy place, will ya? You can get more Lost answers here, and more posted today right here.

Disagree with any part of this list? Of course you do! And, guess what? You get to be heard, too. Take the poll below, and then please comment below with any series I've missed...

Poll

20th Anniversary TV Poll

What is the best TV series of the past 20 years?
24
3.4%
30 Rock
0.1%
Alias
1%
American Idol
0.1%
Arrested Development
0.5%
Battlestar Galactica
0.7%
Beverly Hills, 90210
0.3%
Breaking Bad
0.2%
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
23.6%
Curb Your Enthusiasm
0%
CSI
0.2%
The Daily Show
0.1%
Dawson's Creek
0.2%
Deadwood
0.1%
Dexter
0.8%
Everwood
0.1%
ER
0.5%
Everybody Loves Raymond
0.1%
Family Guy
0.2%
Felicity
0.1%
Firefly
0.7%
Fringe
0.2%
Friday Night Lights
0.3%
Freaks and Geeks
0.1%
Friends
4.1%
Glee
0.5%
Grey's Anatomy
1.6%
Law and Order
0.2%
Lost
5.6%
Mad Men
0.2%
Modern Family
0.1%
My So-Called Life
0.1%
The Office
0.2%
Party of Five
0%
Pushing Daisies
0.2%
The Real World
0%
Seinfeld
0.8%
Sex and the City
0.5%
The Simpsons
0.4%
Six Feet Under
0.4%
The Sopranos
0.5%
Supernatural
23.9%
Survivor
0.1%
True Blood
0.4%
Veronica Mars
1%
Weeds
0.1%
Wonderfalls
0%
The West Wing
0.7%
The Wire
0.9%
The X-Files
2%
Twin Peaks
0.2%
Sons of Anarchy
0.1%
The Vampire Diaries
1.4%
Chuck
14.2%
Desperate Housewives
0.3%
Fraiser
0.1%
House
0.8%
Entourage
0.1%
Charmed
0.5%
Gilmore Girls
0.9%
NCIS
0.4%
Bones
0.6%
How I Met Your Mother
0.3%
The OC
0.4%
Angel
0.2%
Smallville
1.2%
Law & Order: SVU
0.2%

Feel free to list your own Top 20 below!

________

Help celebrate E!'s 20th birthday with loads of cool stuff right here. (Don't worry, you don't need to bring a gift.)

Follow me on Twitter so you can tell me directly what you think of this list. I can take it!