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Hollywood Reporter’s Top Television Programs Includes Friends, X-Files

Ryan Ly

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As principal of Curate Entertainment in Los Angeles, Ryan Ly leverages extensive experience as an entertainment agent, including as Creative Artists Agency television literary department head. Having overseen the sale of Emmy-award-winning series, Ryan Ly has a strong interest in television trends past and present.

A recent Hollywood Reporter article brought focus to the top 100 TV shows of all time, with Friends taking the top spot. Running on NBC from 1994 to 2004, Friends has had a lingering influence on the zeitgeist that those who produced and acted in it find hard to define. Encapsulating the vibrancy of single life in New York City, including an iconic coffee shop that served as the group’s home base, the impetus of the series was described by co-creator Marta Kauffman as filming a show “we would actually watch.”

With Breaking Bad number two, another 1990s mainstay, The X-Files, took the third spot on the list. Airing from 1992 to 2003, the paranormal thriller defined Fox’s early lineup and brought the world of alien-centered conspiracy theories back to the public consciousness for the first time since the Twilight Zone (17). Featuring a saga-like story that presented puzzle after puzzle, it also presaged popular 21st century programs such as Lost (15).