Ok, so we're approaching the end of the road. I might lay out the Top 10 a little differently to eek this out a few more days (and reduce the amount of writing I do in a single sitting) But this is the final approach to the top 10.

15: Boston Legal (2004 - ?)

I've spoken in length about this show before. So I won't repeat myself, just read this post instead.

imdb: 8.9
tv.com: 9.1

And now for something completely different.

It's

14: Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969 - 1974)

"Lemon Curry?" - Random Viking

This is the only sketch show I feel is actually worth bothering about (I know I've mentioned a few semi-sketch shows in this list but this is the only pure sketch show). The Python crew have shown time and time again that they are giants in the field of comedy, ones who are yet to be surpassed... It was positively criminal when Channel 4's top 100 sketches ever didn't have the Dead Parrot Sketch at number one (Little Britain? Oh please... Do me a lemon.)

Also the Python lot managed to avoid the prattfall that many other sketch shows get into, using the same characters & catchphrases over and over. While some characters did make multiple apperances there wasn't ever a fixed set of characters. Later sketch shows tend to follow The Fast Show style of same characters, same gag, same script... Milk Comedy Cow, rinse repeat.

Monty Python instead showcased how innovative the cast were by providing fresh jokes and wonderful sketches. Who can forget "Self Defense", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Bicycle Repair Man" and of course the aformentioned "Dead Parrot Sketch"?

Even now, near 40 years after the first episode aired the comedy is timeless and crisp.

imdb: 9.5
tv.com: 8.6 (?!? Sometimes I really do think the people over at imdb are a better breed of tv watcher than tv.com)

13: Father Ted (1995 - 1998)

"That's the great thing about Catholicism - it's very vague and no-one knows what its really all about. " - Father Ted

Possibly the greatest Irish show ever Father Ted is very much a Brit-Com through and through. All about the little irritations in life and the small events instead of the grander scheme. Father Ted is a side achingly brilliant look at the lives of three Irish Catholic priests, there's Father Ted, Father Dougal - who is a bit... dim - and Father Jack - who's a stinking, drunken, foul-mouthed, dirty old man.

Sadly the show didn't run for as long as it could have because of the unfortunate passing away of Dermot Morgan, but we were gifted with 25 episodes of comedic genius before that happened. So sit back and enjoy them.

imdb: 9.4
tv.com: 8.9

12: Six Feet Under (2001 - 2005)

"If we live our lives the right way then everything we do can become a work of art. " - Claire Fisher

Alan Ball's dark comedy/drama about the Fishers, a family that own and run a funeral home is seminal television that changed the face of American drama forever. It's willingness to show death in all it's glory and depth was pretty unique at the time, something that only crime shows tended to do before hand.

Despite being about a funeral home Six Feet Under was not dark or depressing, instead it was a wonderful celebration of life. Of all the good times and the bad, it had two messages to bring to it's viewers. The first is that life is worth living, that it's achingly beautiful and should be grasped tightly and held for as long as possible. The second is that there is something beautiful beyond death, that death shouldn't be feared and instead should be looked on as the next big adventure.

If I was going to pick one mechanism that always stands out in Six Feet Under, one little touch that they put into the show it's the fades. Fading to black is a commonly used cut in most shows, but Six Feet Under decided not to fade to black and went with a fade to white instead. This fade technique just changes the entire feel of the show. Making it hopeful.

The finale of Six Feet Under remains the single greatest finale I've ever seen in any show. It was just total perfection and has to be seen to be believed.

imdb: 9.3
tv.com: 9.1

11: Red Dwarf (1988 - 1999)

"Smeg off Rimmer!" - Dave Lister

Ah, Red Dwarf. The first primetime comedy show that everyone I knew in school used to watch. Red Dwarf started out as a simple idea, essentially 'The Odd Couple' in space. Over the years it's expanded and at it's peak it was truely one of the funniest things being broadcast on British television at the time.

Red Dwarf took the stuffy and dull genre of Sci-Fi and lampooned it seriously. It span so many concepts on their head and milked the funny out of them that it's still staggering to watch. But, at the heart of the show it was a sitcom and it didn't loose sight of this. The core interactions between Lister and Rimmer in what is best described as a 'Hate-Hate Relationship' are without fail, marvelous.

Red Dwarf peaked at season six, which remains my favourite season. And while it did lose a little in the seventh and eight seasons it still was good enough to warrant the 11th slot in this list.

Gunmen of The Apocalypse, Ace Rimmer, The Polymorph, Out of Time, Justice, Back to Reality, The Inquisitor and so much more warrant the 11th slot in this list.

imdb: 9.1
tv.com: 9.0

So what will be in the top ten? Tune in tomorrow to find out.