Author Topic: Quasi-OT: Mensa's Top 10 (Read 4396 times)

tpirfan28 · « **on:** February 22, 2008, 06:04:21 PM »

http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/6076

The brains over at Mensa have release their "Top 10 Smartest TV Shows of All Time". Alex Trebek and the answers and questions made the list. I'm more interested in the rest...didn't realize I was watching "smart" programming (Frasier, J!, House, All In The Family, and M*A*S*H).

Now of course, this is their take, but interesting, nonetheless.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #1 on:** February 22, 2008, 06:11:36 PM »

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'178528\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 06:04 PM\']"Top 10 Smartest TV Shows of All Time". [/quote]
"As composed by someone in his early thirties who remembered to include All in the Family because he heard it was a good show."

Honestly, House? Boston Legal? Mad About You? I know we're supposed to take these lists with a grain of salt, but when it's Mensa talking about smart stuff, a little more...well..."thought" should have gone into it.

tpirfan28 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 22, 2008, 06:26:17 PM »

I'd give them House and Boston Legal or <insert medical drama> or <insert courtroom drama> out of sheer use of terms. They don't seem to dumb down the language just to reach people. But yeah, Mad About You is a little farfetched. So is Fraiser and probably All in the Family.

I had the container of Morton's ready to go for this one.

Kevin Prather · « **Reply #3 on:** February 22, 2008, 06:33:10 PM »

I like the choice of M*A*S*H on that list though. Especially in the later years, you'd be surprised how educational the show was.

J.R. · « **Reply #4 on:** February 22, 2008, 06:41:19 PM »

[quote name=\'whoserman\' post=\'178531\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 05:33 PM\']I like the choice of M*A*S*H on that list though. Especially in the later years, you'd be surprised how educational the show was.[/quote]
M*A*S*H* was indeed a brilliant show. "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" is the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life.

clemon79 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 22, 2008, 07:18:54 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'178529\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 03:11 PM\']
Honestly, House? Boston Legal? Mad About You? I know we're supposed to take these lists with a grain of salt, but when it's Mensa talking about smart stuff, a little more...well..."thought" should have gone into it.
[/quote]
You don't want to hear my rant on their "Mensa Select" boardgame awards.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #6 on:** February 22, 2008, 07:27:55 PM »

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'178530\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 06:26 PM\']
I'd give them House and Boston Legal or <insert medical drama> or <insert courtroom drama> out of sheer use of terms. They don't seem to dumb down the language just to reach people.[/quote]
But that's my problem. House and Boston Legal aren't even the smartest representatives of their genre, they just happen to be on the air right now. In general, the more modern entries a list of "all time greats" contains, the more suspicious I am of it. And Mad About You, while a fine and certainly not stupid situation comedy, is a nonsensical choice here. As long as they're pandering to a modern audience, and given what I perceive to be their criteria, The Big Bang Theory would have been a better choice.

Joe Mello · « **Reply #7 on:** February 22, 2008, 07:39:32 PM »

I can understand All in the Family and House, but I would think that Law & Order would be a better representative than Boston Legal. It's been on for so long for a reason, right?

clemon79 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 22, 2008, 07:43:27 PM »

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/9759/picardbv6rw9.jpg

Dbacksfan12 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 22, 2008, 08:39:42 PM »

[quote name=\'JRaygor\' post=\'178533\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 06:41 PM\']
M*A*S*H* was indeed a brilliant show. "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" is the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life.[/quote]And all this time, I thought a certain someone who debuted in January 1989 was the greatest thing.

TLEberle · « **Reply #10 on:** February 22, 2008, 08:49:55 PM »

[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'178536\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 04:39 PM\']I can understand All in the Family and House, but I would think that Law & Order would be a better representative than Boston Legal. It's been on for so long for a reason, right?[/quote]You're seriously equating "intelligence" with how many shows they put out? That would make TPIR and [/i]Entertainment Tonight the stuff of geniuses.

Your inanity knows no bounds.

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'178530\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 03:26 PM\']I'd give them House and Boston Legal or <insert medical drama> or <insert courtroom drama> out of sheer use of terms. They don't seem to dumb down the language just to reach people. But yeah, Mad About You is a little farfetched. So is Fraiser and probably All in the Family.[/quote]But that's the thing. Frasier wasn't afraid to venture into the lands of art, classical music or other topics of perceived intelligentsia. And while the writers weren't above a sight gag, they eschewed the easy joke. And that's as good as any measure of how smart a television show can be.

Quote

I had the container of Morton's ready to go for this one.

Oh yeah. Never mind that I wouldn't join a group that I have to pay to have them tell me I'm smart, but people who would thumb their noses at Einfach Genial can go screw.

Robert Hutchinson · « **Reply #11 on:** February 22, 2008, 08:56:34 PM »

[quote name=\'whoserman\' post=\'178531\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 06:33 PM\']I like the choice of M*A*S*H on that list though. Especially in the later years, you'd be surprised how educational the show was.[/quote]
It certainly taught me how preachy Alan Alda could be.

chris319 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 23, 2008, 08:44:19 AM »

Ew, I'm glad I'm not a member of ~~Densa~~ Mensa (no wisecracks, please).

BTW, Jeopardy! is a test of knowledge, not intelligence.

rialtus · « **Reply #13 on:** February 23, 2008, 11:17:43 AM »

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'178582\' date=\'Feb 23 2008, 08:44 AM\']BTW, Jeopardy! is a test of knowledge, not intelligence.[/quote]Yeah, and The Joker's Wild is a game of definitions.

/obvious?

clemon79 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 23, 2008, 02:42:24 PM »

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'178542\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 05:49 PM\']
Oh yeah. Never mind that I wouldn't join a group that I have to pay to have them tell me I'm smart, but people who would thumb their noses at Einfach Genial can go screw.[/quote]
Now now, they didn't thumb their nose at Einfach, they simply failed to realize it was ALREADY a game they thumbed their nose at when it shipped as Ingenious and they decided they liked it.
[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'178544\' date=\'Feb 22 2008, 05:56 PM\']
It certainly taught me how preachy Alan Alda could be.[/quote]
It taught me that it's okay to cry over killing a chicken. Or treating a patient. Or being in this damn Korean War. Or stubbing your toe. Particularly if you're the director of that particular episode.