“The Sopranos” was voted the best written TV series of all time by the Writer's Guild of America. In the WGA Top 101 poll of the top TV shows of all time, “The Sopranos” whacked all competition. Seinfeld, the show about nothing, came in second.

HBO’s mob family saga, “The Sopranos,” broke the shoes of all the other TV shows since the invention of the cathode ray. It was created by long-time TV writer David Chase, who penned scripts for such shows as “The Rockford Files” (which came in at number 58). The series ran from 1999-2007 and went out, not with a bang, but with a resounding silence.

The nineties comedy series “Seinfeld,” was almost master of its own domain. It came in second place. The day-to-day standup comic series starred Jerry Seinfeld and was created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, whose own show, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" came in at number 30. The classic Korean war comedy M*A*S*H also made the top five.

The only current TV series to make the top ten was AMC’s “Mad Men.” Almost half of the shows on the list were aired within the last decade.

The highest rating British show on the list was “Downton Abbey,” which came in at number 43. “The Office” made the halfway point 50. The US version of “The Office” also made the list at 66. Other British series in the top 101 were “Fawlty Towers,” “Monty Python's Flying Circus,” “Upstairs Downstairs and Absolutely Fabulous.”

In a joint statement, WGAW president Chris Keyser and WGAE president Michael Winship said, "This list is not only a tribute to great TV, it is a dedication to all writers who devote their hearts and minds to advancing their craft. At their core, all of these wonderful series began with the words of the writers who created them and were sustained by the writers who joined their staffs or worked on individual episodes."

The full list of the WGA Top 101 follows:

1. "The Sopranos"
2. "Seinfeld"
3. "The Twilight Zone"
4. "All in the Family"
5. "MASH"
6. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
7. "Mad Men"
8. "Cheers"
9. "The Wire"
10. "The West Wing"
11. "The Simpsons"
12. "I Love Lucy"
13. "Breaking Bad"
14. "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
15. "Hill Street Blues"
16. "Arrested Development"
17. "The Daily Show"
18. "Six Feet Under"
19. "Taxi"
20. "The Larry Sanders Show"
21. "30 Rock"
22. "Friday Night Lights"
23. "Frasier"
24. "Friends"
25. "Saturday Night Live"
26. "The X-Files"
27. "Lost"
28. "ER"
29. "The Cosby Show"
30. "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
31. "The Honeymooners"
32. "Deadwood"
33. "Star Trek"
34. "Modern Family"
35. "Twin Peaks"
36. "NYPD Blue"
37. "The Carol Burnett Show"
38. "Battlestar Galactica"
39. "Sex and the City"
40. "Game of Thrones"
41. "The Bob Newhart Show"
42. "Your Show of Shows"
43. "Downton Abbey"
44. "Law & Order"
45. "Thirtysomething"
46. "St. Elsewhere"
47. "Homicide: Life on the Street"
48. "Homeland"
49. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
50. "The Good Wife"
51. "The Colbert Report"
52. "The Office" (British version)
53. "Northern Exposure"
54. "The Wonder Years"
55. "L.A. Law"
56. "Sesame Street"
57. "Columbo"
58. "The Rockford Files"
59. "Fawlty Towers"
60. "Moonlighting"
61. "Freaks and Geeks"
62. "Roots"
63. "Everybody Loves Raymond"
64. "South Park"
65. "Playhouse 90"
66. "The Office" (U.S. version)
67. "Dexter"
68. "My So-Called Life"
69. "Golden Girls"
70. "The Andy Griffith Show"
71. "The Shield"
72. "Roseanne"
73. "24"
74. "Murphy Brown"
75. "House"
76. "Barney Miller"
77. "I, Claudius"
78. "The Odd Couple"
79. "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
80. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"
81. "Upstairs Downstairs"
82. "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
83. "Get Smart"
84. "Gunsmoke"
85. "The Defenders"
86. "Sergeant Bilko"
87. "Justified"
88. "Band of Brothers"
89. "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"
90. "The Prisoner"
91. "The Muppet Show"
92. "Absolutely Fabulous"
93. "Boardwalk Empire"
94. "Will and Grace"
95. "Family Ties"
96. "Lonesome Dove"
97. "Soap"
98. "The Fugitive"
99. "Louie"
100. "Late Night With David Letterman"
101. "Oz"

by Tony Sokol