"The 50 Greatest TV Icons"

[Odyssey]

BTW, Oprah at #3??????

Why the never-ending lovefest for this woman? More iconic than Burnett, Cosby, and Cronkite?

It's the constant self-promotion. She's about the only person, IMO, who could seriously challenge Steve Jobs in the ego department. "Hey, how about I publish a magazine, name it after myself, and put a picture of me on every cover?"

One of her most annoyingly narcissistic quotes, "I always knew I was destined for greatness." Greatness? You have a talk show (and not a very good one at that), you didn't cure cancer.

[Odyssey]

a few more that I think deserve some consideration


Willard Scott

But this wasn't a list of famous dirty old men.

[mikehardware]

How about Mr. Rogers, or Captain Kangaroo?

[Estonut]

I would argue that Gellar should be higher on the list, especially giving her bonus points for being such a go-to SNL host in recent years.

SMG has hosted SNL a total of 3 times, the most recent being on 10/12/2002. If hosting SNL raises one to icon status, what about Elliot Gould, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin or Christopher Walken?

[Ritterskoop]

BTW, Oprah at #3??????

Why the never-ending lovefest for this woman? More iconic than Burnett, Cosby, and Cronkite?

None of them could have been elected President. OK, maybe Cronkite.



She invented a reframing of the talk show, for those who want to view it. This is not about the magazine. She made a legitimate shift in TV viewing habits for a generation.

I can't put my finger on it, and I could be wrong, but it feels to me like the daytime talk show was on the way out before she came into the picture. There are the morning newsy talk shows, and the afternoon screamfests of Montel/Springer, but I think there was a gap which she filled and surpassed.

She makes the list as an inventor, not necessarily a personality.

[gsabc]

BTW, Oprah at #3??????

Why the never-ending lovefest for this woman? More iconic than Burnett, Cosby, and Cronkite?

None of them could have been elected President. OK, maybe Cronkite.

She invented a reframing of the talk show, for those who want to view it. This is not about the magazine. She made a legitimate shift in TV viewing habits for a generation.

I can't put my finger on it, and I could be wrong, but it feels to me like the daytime talk show was on the way out before she came into the picture. There are the morning newsy talk shows, and the afternoon screamfests of Montel/Springer, but I think there was a gap which she filled and surpassed.

She makes the list as an inventor, not necessarily a personality.

As inventor of the genre, I'd pick Phil Donahue. He may not have been the first, but he certainly brought it national. If we're going to reviving genres, you could go on forever, the way that programming cycles go (doctor shows, lawyer shows, detective/cop shows, science fiction shows, etc.)

Another candidate for the list that occurred to me this morning: Richard Chamberlain, icon for both doctor shows and made-for-TV movies.

[Buffacuse]

All you need to know about how ridiculous this list is Roseanne is rated 12 spots higher than the man who did more to popularize television in its infancy than anyone else--Milton Berle.

[Appa23]

I would argue that Gellar should be higher on the list, especially giving her bonus points for being such a go-to SNL host in recent years.

SMG has hosted SNL a total of 3 times, the most recent being on 10/12/2002. If hosting SNL raises one to icon status, what about Elliot Gould, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin or Christopher Walken?

I probably should not have said "host". IIRC, she has made several other appearances on the show for a sketch.

Every time that she is on the show,s he is a natural in the sketches.

She was awesome as the daughter in the "Dodge Stratus" sketch.

[mellytu74]

We're watching this right now.

The Boyfriend hadn't seen the list yet -- I snuck a peek at work -- and we're missing Red and Art and Arness and Rod.

Of course, you are talking to two people who have seen five episodes of Seinfeld in their collective lives. And The Boyfriend has never seen Seinfeld.

All in reruns. And -- does this count -- two of the five viewings have been the same episode.

So, maybe we aren't the people who should judge this. We are old farts.

Old farts who miss J. Fred Muggs.

[T_Bone0806]

Having thought about this a bit more, I guess my idea of the word "icon" dictates that I consider that it SHOULD be a MAWG-ish thing. I believe that, to REALLY be an icon, one should stand the test of time. If Gellar and Flockhart and Smits and so on are still being mentioned 30 years from now, THEN I'll consider them icons.

Just the way I look at it, anyway.

[eyégor]

EW published 51-100 in this weeks issue

51 Bob Hope
52 Ron Howard
53 Ed McMahon
54 Florence Henderson
55 Fred Rogers
56 Betty White
57 Charlie Brown
58 Don Knotts
59 Ted Danson
60 Merv Griffin
61 Paul Reubens
62 Redd Foxx
63 Ed Asner
64 Phil Donahue
65 Pamela Anderson
66 Kelsey Grammer
67 Tom Selleck
68 Don Cornelius
69 Barbara Eden
70 Bob Denver
71 Rosie O'Donnell
72 Cher
73 Tony Danza
74 Joan Rivers
75 Peter Falk
76 Candice Bergman
77 James Garner
78 Art Carney
79 Angela Lansbury
80 Adam West
81 Dick Cavett
82 Ted Knight
83 Isabel Sanford
84 Cartman
85 Rod Serling
87 Phil Hartman
88 Gavin McLeod
89 Robert Guillaume
90 John Stamos
91 Dennis Franz
92 Judge Judy
93 Neil Patrick Harris
94 Melissa Gilbert
95 Richard Dawson
96 Shannen Doherty
97 'In Living Color ' cast
98 Meredith Baxter
99 Delta Burke
100 Marcia Cross