Top 50 TV Icons

[minus5]

The list of "The 50 Greatest TV Icons," compiled by TV Land network and Entertainment Weekly magazine:
50. Larry Hagman
49. Calista Flockhart
48. Jimmy Smits
47. Simon Cowell
46. Lassie
45. Sarah Michelle Gellar
44. Susan Lucci
43. Flip Wilson
42. James Gandolfini
41. Jon Stewart
40. Sally Field
39. Jennifer Aniston
38. Bea Arthur
37. George Clooney
36. Diahann Carroll
35. Michael J. Fox
34. Bob Barker
33. Ellen DeGeneres
32. Henry Winkler
31. Sarah Jessica Parker
30. Alan Alda
29. John Ritter
28. Howard Cosell
27. Regis Philbin
26. Farrah Fawcett
25. Heather Locklear
24. Michael Landon
23. Barbara Walters
22. Milton Berle
21. Kermit
20. Carroll O'Connor
19. Andy Griffith
18. William Shatner
17. Bob Newhart
16. David Letterman
15. "Not Ready for Primetime Players"
14. Ed Sullivan
13. Jackie Gleason
12. Dick Van Dyke
11. Roseanne
10. Dick Clark
9. Homer Simpson
8. Jerry Seinfeld
7. Mary Tyler Moore
6. Carol Burnett
5. Walter Cronkite
4. Bill Cosby
3. Oprah Winfrey
2. Lucille Ball
1. Johnny Carson


Calista Flockhart???? Sarah Jessica Parker?????Heather Locklear???? Yeah there are some on this list are definitely icons but who the hell decided some of the others? Did they know what "icon" meant? Let's see Dean Martin spent from 1965 until 1984 (or so) on TV and before that with specials and the Colgate Comedy Hour with Jerry Lewis in the mid 50's….Bing Crosby and Bob Hope had countless specials over the years. I still can't think of Christmas television without thinking of either of them. How does Sarah Michelle Geller make the list and not Ron Howard?!?!? Two decades with two iconic characters?!?!? Simon Cowell and Jimmy Smits but they don't have Don Knotts? They have George Clooney for his 2 or 3 seasons of ER and they don't have Jerry Mathers or Paul Lynde? They have Ellen Degeneress but not Merv Griffin?! There are some good ones and they at least did make Johnny Carson #1 but over all this list is terrible. Hell the robot from Lost In Space deserves a spot over Roseanne

[Nugget]

I don't see Kelsey Grammar or James Arness who hold the record for the longest running characters on prime time television.

Seems to be 50 people you can see on TV Land.

[Tom Servo]

No Ed O'Neil as Al Bundy = bad list

[George Anderson]

Andy Griffith is only two spots higher than a frog????

[RichRed]

Andy Griffith is only two spots higher than a frog????

A frog puppet.

[pedro]

Heather Locklear is a TV icon for sure.

She was on Dynasty and TJ Hooker at the same time.

Melrose Place? 'nuff said.

that's the stuff of legends.

[MWM]

No Ted Danson? 'Nuf said.

[Rojo]

Good call on Grammar, Arnes and Danson. I'm kinda surprised Flip Wilson made the list. The guy had one successful show and disappeared. Half the people on this board probably don't even know who he is.

I'm also surprised by the inclusion of Howard Cosell. If your just doing "entertainment", fine, it is TV Land/Entertainment Weekly after all. But how do you include Coselll and not Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Keith Jackson, Pat Summerall, John Madden or Joe Garagiola? Those guys have been in people's living rooms for years.

And Cronkite opens up the possibility of Rather/Brokaw/Jennings/Wallace over such piffles as Flockhart, Gellar.

[RichRed]

The Fonz is ranked too low.

[cumberlandreds]

Andy Griffith,Carol O'Connor and Alan Alda should be top ten. That they are not makes this a very flawed poll. I'm sorry but Oprah is not an icon. A nuisance maybe but not an icon. They got the top two correct but after that it is very flawed.

[minus5]

Good call on Grammar, Arnes and Danson. I'm kinda surprised Flip Wilson made the list. The guy had one successful show and disappeared. Half the people on this board probably don't even know who he is.

I'm also surprised by the inclusion of Howard Cosell. If your just doing "entertainment", fine, it is TV Land/Entertainment Weekly after all. But how do you include Coselll and not Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Keith Jackson, Pat Summerall, John Madden or Joe Garagiola? Those guys have been in people's living rooms for years.

And Cronkite opens up the possibility of Rather/Brokaw/Jennings/Wallace over such piffles as Flockhart, Gellar.

I'm not too surprised at Cosell. Back in 60s & 70s he was sports to most people. All of the impersonators did him, he did the Ali boxing matches on top of everything else. He was pretty huge in his day.

[Johnny Footstool]

Henry Winkler and Roseanne should switch spots.

[Roy Tucker]

Heather Locklear is a TV icon for sure.

She was on Dynasty and TJ Hooker at the same time.

Melrose Place? 'nuff said.

that's the stuff of legends.

She was on "Hannah Montana" the other night as a potential Billy Ray Cyrus beau.

She's still got it.

[KronoRed]

Boy I didn't read past #49

[Rojo]

I'm not too surprised at Cosell. Back in 60s & 70s he was sports to most people. All of the impersonators did him, he did the Ali boxing matches on top of everything else. He was pretty huge in his day.

I understand that. I'm not saying everyone I listed should have made it but surely Keith Jackson, who is college football, is more of an icon than Ellen Degeners or Sarah Jessica Parker. And Mike Wallace? How do you leave him off?

Even though 2/3 of the list is men, I'm guessing that more women than men voted. You know many dudes who read Entertainment Weekly?