2 Live Polls: Best Darn TV Show Ever! Period.

Should be good to go, now.

Ok. Oops. I didn't see your vote/rating stipulations when I made these suggestions. Let me look them up and I'll post again the ones that work.

Ok. Nevermind. None of them have enough votes.

Thanks, for the effort and suggestions. A lot great period shows are going to be omitted, no matter what. I originally started with 7.5 rating and 5000 votes http://www.imdb.com/search/title?num_votes=5000,9999999&title_type=tv_series,mini_series&user_rating=7.5,10. and started with a pool of  about 1,000 shows.

I raised the bar up to an 8.0 rating and 25,000 votes to get an objective list based on user rating, widely seen and a true period definition (25 years- A generation removed). http://www.imdb.com/search/title?num_votes=25000,9999999&title_type=tv_series&user_rating=8.0,10&sort=user_rating,asc&page=5&ref_=adv_nxt to whittle the pool down to a pool of about 250, which I thought about 34 were period.

Four series that were on my original thirty-four list but were cut for being on the wrong side of the 25 year difference from the time period the series started at and when the series first aired: That '70s Show (1998) circa 1975 8.1 rating, The Wonder Years (1988) circa 1968 8.3 rating,  M*A*S*H (1972) circa 1952 8.4 rating and True Detective (2014) circa 1995 9.0 rating.

The only bias I see is the threshold requirements that make it harder for older shows and easier for newer shows to accumulate votes. I will  review your FYC and look to lower the 12,500 voting total requirement to add some mini-series suggestions.  Likewise, I will give some thought to tweaking the regular series requirements. It is a tougher situation though, in order to add worthy titles, I have to cut other worthy titles to make room.

I second "I Claudius"

I agree. I need to adjust the requirements to get some older high-ranking titles that don't have enough votes on the list. I still need to go through the list fully, but these seem like the strongest candidates, so far based on the searches posted below. The Black Adders are each set during a different time period, making each unique and should be listed separately.

ADDED SUGGESTIONS
Mini-Series (8.8+ below 25,000 votes but above 1,500)
I, Claudius
From the Earth to the Moon
Brideshead Revisited
The Godfather Saga
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed
Lonesome Dove

NOT ADDED SUGGESTIONS
The Temptations 3,237 votes 8.5 rating
The Jewel in the Crown 1,580 8.5 rating
Bleak House 7,074 votes 8.4 rating
Rich Man, Poor Man 2,165 votes 8.4 rating
Emma 11,573 votes 8.2 rating
Hornblower reclassified as TV movies 11k votes 8.2 rating
(#1 3,321 votes 8.2, #2 2,860 votes 8.4 rating. #3 2,553 8.2  2,457 8.1 rating)
Shōgun 9,609 votes 8.1 rating
North and South 7,726 votes 8.1 rating
The Thorn Birds 6,493  votes 8.1 rating
Elizabeth I 5,397 votes 8.1 rating
The Winds of War 2,936 votes 8.1 rating
Shackleton 2,253 votes 7.7 rating
The Blue and the Gray 1,198  votes 7.1 rating
Sense and Sensibility 739 votes 6.8 rating
Scarlett 2,417 votes 6.5 rating

ADDED SUGGESTIONS
Multi-Season Series (8.5+ below 25,000 votes but above 1,500)
Endeavour
When Calls the Heart
Avonlea
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Crime Story

Jen,

Thanks for the suggestions. I was able to add some titles, others titles I was not (see ranking notes on other post). I remember seeing a lot of them, back in the day, all were big deals, impressive and captivating to watch.

As a result of your suggestion, I revised the criteria and raised the bar again to catch both the more widely seen titles, as well as the lesser voted but higher rated series with a dual search that helps older and niche titles. I think this more a "Best of the Best" suggestion than before.

REVISED QUESTIONS

Which TV series* period set twenty years in the past or more is the best? *multi season, (25,000+ votes and 8.3+ IMDb user rating) or (1,500+ votes and 8.5+ rating)

Which TV mini-series* period set twenty years in the past or more is the best? limited run, (12,500+ votes and 8.3+ IMDb user rating) or (1,500+ votes and 8.8+ rating)

Reset period threshold to twenty years,
 
Which TV series* period set twenty years in the past or more is the best? *multi season, (25,000+ votes and 8.3+ IMDb user rating) or (1,500+ votes and 8.5+ rating)

Added
Wonder Years 29,632 votes 8.3 rating
 M*A*S*H* 40,617 votes 8.4 rating

Didn't Add
That '70s Show 23,769 votes 8.1 rating
True Detective 363,238 votes 9.0 rating

No need to reset the years just to keep the Wonder Years in - it was set 1968 to 1973.

???
Wonder Years 1968 period-1988 aired=20 years 1973 period-1993 aired=20 years
M*A*S*H 1952 period-1972 aired=20 years 1953 period-1983 aired=30 years

I don't get what you're trying to say. Do they have to be 25 years ago or older when it aired AND when it occurred...or just when it occurred?
I thought you were saying to changed it from 25 years to 20 years just to fit Wonder Years in...?

My thoughts on what qualifies as period.

ONE The whole idea of it being a period set movie, TV, book, etc., is that it is set in a different time period. There is no set definition of what qualifies for period. For historical fiction in novels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_fiction#Definitions twenty-five years is one definition, fifty years is another definition and one even claims a hundred year buffer. But, I think more modern mediums like movies and TV less than that is acceptable. I think once you go back far enough that it feels foreign to what you know now and a bit nostalgic, it meets that requirement. I think anything less than twenty years crosses a line and a reason I felt more comfortable setting the line at twenty-five years. About 80% of the listed titles exceed fifty years or more in past from when they aired, the remaining 20% fall between 20-50 years in past from when they aired.

SECOND. I think measuring it from the date of the time period it was set in to the date it first aired makes the most sense. Every episode of The Wonder Years was set twenty years in the the past from the first show to the last, Therefore, if the question stated: Which TV series* period set twenty-one years in the past or more is the best? The Wonder Years would not qualify then because it misses by one year what qualifies for period, according to the defined terms. I would consider STRANGER THINGS more of a period work of fiction than I LOVE LUCY. One is set in the past when it aired the other is set in the present when it aired. Otherwise, everything is technically period, you just have to wait long enough for it to qualify

THREE. I changed to fit both Wonder Years and M*A*S*H. Which when I was younger and watched the shows, both felt like a different time period to me. Now, that I am older, If I watch a show today set in 1997, I am not sure I would feel the same way. I think twenty-five years or maybe thirty years if more defensible and it still might not be enough. Stranger Things set in 1983 aired in 2016 (33 years) seem period to me today, whereas American Crime Story set in 1995 aired in 2016 (21 years) seems a bit on the fringe.

I think it might be better to go back the original definition, drop two shows and be clearer in the question. As result, it leave less for poll taker interpretation and becomes less debatable.
.
Which period TV series* set a quarter century in the past or more from its first airing is the best?

I like both suggestions, I thought of Reign as a possiblity when I came up with the idea, Reign has the votes but not the rating 33,383,7.6 I didn't think of Crime Story, but is the type of quality series, I want to see competing in this poll. Crime Story has the rating but not the votes 1,896 8.5

I am going to re-visit the poll requirements, I want to level the playing field between older titles and newer ones. But, no matter what I do some titles are going to left off that could make a case for their inclusion, such as Crime Story and The Wonder Years.

Bottom 25%
(removed titles as bar raised from 8.0 to 8.3 rating)
8.2 to 8.0 rated titles with 25,000 plus votes as 12 July 2017

Black Sails
Penny Dreadful
 Victoria
Marco Polo
The Tudors
Da Vinci's Demons
Agent Carter
Masters of Sex

Possible Multi-Season Series Pool (8.5+ below 25,000 votes)
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?num_votes=1500,25000&title_type=tv_series&user_rating=8.5,10

Possible Single Season Mini-Series Pool (8.8+ below 25,000 votes)
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?num_votes=1500,25000&title_type=mini_series&user_rating=8.8,10

Edit: Net result of threshold changes was to remove 8 more widely seen and recent acclaimed multi-season TV series and replace them with even more acclaimed options: 9 TV mini-series and 5 multi-season TV series. Most of which were significantly higher rated with nine of the additions being listed on the IMDb TV Top 250. A few others may enter the IMDb TV Top 250, if they reach the minimum, In addition, the sizes of the two polls are more balanced and better allows for future additions.

thanks, one of my favorites, currently in 3rd

Thanks.