Channel 4 - the home of great telly

The Writers Guild of America has voted for the 101 best-written TV series of all time – and a rather magnificent 26 of them have been on Channel 4. (It may, in fact, be more, that’s just the ones I recognised. It’s this utter lack of attention to detail that so endears me to my employers. I have better things to do. Did you not notice sun is out?)

Anyway, not only did we have over 25 per cent of the shows, we also had more than A QUARTER OF THEM!!! I KNOW! But even better? We had the number one. What was it, I hear you ask? Why, it was The Word, of course. No, no it wasn’t actually, it was The Sopranos.

Cheers came it at number 8 (and spin-off Frasier at 23, one spot ahead of Friends). The West Wing was at 10, and The Simpsons at 11. Current smash-hit drama Homeland is at 48, and another current favourite, The Good Wife, is at 50.

I could go on and name them all, complete with places, but that would be incredibly boring. So I will.

Sopranos 1, Cheers 8, The West Wing 10, The Simpsons 11, Hill Street Blues 15, The Daily Show 17, Six Feet Under 18, Frasier 23, Friends 24, Lost 27, ER 28, NYPD Blue 36, Sex & The City 39, Thirtysomething 43, Homicide: Life on the Street 46, St Elsewhere 46, Homeland 48, The Good Wife 50, Northern Exposure 53, The Wonder Years 54, Freaks and Geeks 60, South Park 63, The Golden Girls 69, Roseanne 71, Will and Grace 94, Oz 101.

Like I say, there may have been more. On the other hand, there may have been less than 26. I may have appropriated one or two that weren’t on C4 (I wouldn’t swear about The Wonder Years or St Elsewhere, for example). If there are any factual errors in this article, please be sure to email someone who gives a good goddam.

Anyway, the message in all of this is clear. For the best in foreign acquisitions, Channel 4 is the place to go. So you might want to see our fruity little French supernatural thriller, The Returned, starting on Sunday at 9pm. It is, ‘ow you say, tres bien.