"I apologize. I know I left some of your favorite shows off this list. How do I know that? Because I left some of my favorite shows off this list. The happy and unfortunate fact is that there are far more than 100 great shows, and more created every year. Lists are incredibly important: they are how we define what matters to us, what we want entertainment and art to do, what we expect of our culture." —TIME TV critic James Poniewozik
In this aliens-among-us mystery, sci-fi writer and surfer Chris Carter melded ’60s don’t-trust-the-Man paranoia with ’90s black-helicopter paranoia. FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) was his own biggest x-file, pursuing a conspiracy that involved the alien abduction of his sister. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) was his rational foil, doubting his outlandish theories even after she experienced a disappearance-and-implantation episode herself. Mulder and Scully also solved standalone paranormal cases, but the the big draw of the show was its baroque mystery—as well as its comic relief and Mulder and Scully’s nerdy sexual tension—and the show petered out after Duchovny jumped ship. But for years this conspiracist gem drilled into our reserves of horror and mistrust, and struck black oil.
With a staff that included Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbart (M*A*S*H), Sid Caesar’s variety show indirectly launched a generation of movie, TV and theater comedy brilliance. But the main attractions here were Caesar and costar Imogene Coca, who paired up on outstanding live skits and parodies. Coca was a versatile performer, who could play aristocrats as well as hoboes; Caesar was fast-talking and dynamic. It was a tremendous weekly output for a relative handful of performers and after four years Caesar and Coca split up, but not before giving birth to sketch comedy as we know it—a show of shows indeed.