Entertainment

The Best CBS Shows of All Time  

Ranker TV
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CBS: Everybody's watching!

"America's Most Watched Network" is the home of modern TV favorites The Big Bang Theory, CSI, and Criminal Minds, but the network has been a favorite for decades. Since its acceptance into homes around the world in the 1950s, television has been a vital part in molding character and asserting social influence. We have watched Elvis and The Beatles perform, and watch the launch of Space shuttles into orbit; television is deeply ingrained into our social lexicon At the time there were only three channels - ABC, CBS, and NBC. This list has been ranked by men and women television to rank the best shows on the Columbia Broadcasting system or CBS.

The transmission of moving images through television has allowed the public to live vicariously through stories of imagination and also see themselves reflected in stories more based in reality. From cartoons, to variety programs, to daytime, to comedies, television gives us a myriad of programs for endless entertainment and information. Answering the question, “What is the best CBS show of all time?” this list includes top television shows like "Murphy Brown," "The Carol Burnett Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and "I Love Lucy."

Vote up your favorite CBS shows below or vote down the shows you thought should have been cancelled immediately.

list ordered by
1
M*A*S*H is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swi
M*A*S*H is an American television series developed by Larry Gelbart, adapted from the 1970 feature film MASH. The series, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ...more
2
I Love Lucy is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, ...more
3
The Andy Griffith Show is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom, which originally ran on CBS from October 3, 1960 to April 1, 1968. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show, starred Andy ...more
4
All in the Family is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, ...more
5
The Carol Burnett Show is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence, Harvey Korman
The Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, ...more
6
The Dick Van Dyke Show is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke, Rose ...more
7
Everybody Loves Raymond is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom starring Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Brad Garrett, and Monica Horan. It originally ran on CBS from September ...more
8
The Big Bang Theory is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head ...more
9
The Munsters is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Yvonne De Carlo
The Munsters is an American television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. It stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The ...more
10
NCIS is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette
NCIS is an American police procedural drama television series, revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts investigations ...more
11
How I Met Your Mother is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014. The series follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his group of friends in ...more
12
Magnum, P.I. is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Tom Selleck, John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the ...more
13
The Ed Sullivan Show is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Ed Sullivan, Bern Bennett, Ralph Paul
The Ed Sullivan Show was an American TV variety show that ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was ...more
14
60 Minutes is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Andrew Rooney, Lesley Stahl, Steve Kroft
60 Minutes is an American newsmagazine television program that is broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt, who chose to set it apart from ...more
15
Newhart is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Bob Newhart, Mary Frann, Tom Poston
Newhart is an American television situation comedy which aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990. The series starred comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an ...more
16
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Laurence Fishburne, Marg Helgenberger, George Eads
This show is an American drama television series that premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It is filmed primarily at ...more
17
WKRP in Cincinnati is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Gary Sandy, Gordon Jump, Howard Hesseman
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy television series that features the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was ...more
18
The Twilight Zone is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Vance Berk added Rod Serling, Robert McCord, Jay Overholts
The Twilight Zone is a 1959 American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. It is a series of unrelated stories containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, ...more
19
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Curtis Joyce added Mary Tyler Moore, Edward Asner, Gavin MacLeod
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. The program was a television breakthrough, with the ...more
20
The Honeymooners is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows
The Honeymooners is an American sitcom, based on a recurring 1951–55 sketch of the same name. It originally aired on the DuMont network's Cavalcade of Stars and subsequently on the CBS network's ...more
21
Hawaii Five-O is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Kam Fong
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and ...more
22
Criminal Minds is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
BabyGirl added Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler, Thomas Gibson
Criminal Minds is an American police-procedural television program that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based ...more
23
Late Show with David Letterman is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
David Letterman, Paul Shaffer, Alan Kalter
Late Show is an American late-night television talk and variety show on CBS. Late Show with David Letterman first aired in August 1993 with host David Letterman, who previously hosted Late Night ...more
24
The Jeffersons is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Isabel Sanford, Sherman Hemsley, Marla Gibbs
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. ...more
25
Dallas is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best CBS Shows of All Time
Larry Hagman, Ken Kercheval, Patrick Duffy
Dallas is an American television drama series developed by Cynthia Cidre and produced by Warner Horizon Television that aired on TNT from June 13, 2012 to September 22, 2014. The series was a ...more