For over 70 years, television has been a cultural touchstone for many in the United States, including a way to track aging. That's why, for those of you born in 2001 or earlier, we've accumulated a list of the most popular tv show the year you were born. For a majority of these shows, we've simply been able to take whatever the No. 1 Nielsen-rated series was in a given season. However, for some - such as instances where the show would have been a repeat - we've dug even deeper, pulling up shows that might have finished slightly lower in the ratings, but have arguably had longer-lasting cultural longevity. So, what was the most popular tv show the year you were born? Be sure to let us know.

CBS's Survivor quite literally changed the game for television in the early 2000s. The show was part game show, part Real World, and entirely focused on the backstabbing nature of human beings like Richard Hatch forced to live together "in the elements" on a desert island. The show is still going into the third decade of the 21st century, and diehard fans are not unhappy about that at all. Fun fact: Survivor was actually inspired by a Swedish TV series called Expedition Robinson, which premiered in 1997.

Quiz shows were one of the biggest genres in the early years of television (we'll get to that), but a scandal in the 1950s had knocked them off primetime television for decades. That changed in 1999/2000 when ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? became television's biggest hit. The Regis Philbin-hosted game show was airing three new episodes a week at its peak, and took up the TOP THREE spots on the Neilson ratings for the season.

Friends was actually the No. 2 television series during the '98/'99 season (we'll explain what No. 1 was in a few slides!), though it can be easily be argued that no show from the season has had more cultural popularity than the NBC sitcom. Even today, a couple decades later, it feels like there's no one alive who doesn't love Friends. The series was in the Top 10 for every season of its run, and did eventually reach number one in 2001-2002.

Veronica's Closet was actually the No. 3 show in the United States during the 1997-98 television season (once again, we'll be getting to the shows that dominated the '90s in a few minutes) but it was the new kid on the block, as the Kirstie Alley series scored such high ratings in its first season.  The series remained a ratings juggernaut in the second season, only slipping two slots to No. 5. Things wouldn't last, however, as the series plummeted to No. 86 in the ratings during its third season, and it was swiftly canceled.

Much like Veronica's Closet the following year, freshman series Suddenly Susan burst out on to the television scene in the 1996-'97 series, finishing the year at No. 3 in the ratings (hmm, those shows must have had some good lead-ins huh?). However, the Brooke Shields-led series wasn't even able to match the Veronica's Closet's momentum. The series was moved to a different night on the schedule, and quickly plummeted to No. 65 in the ratings, then to No. 81 and No. 94 the following two seasons before being canceled.

Alright, we've finally reached the two shows that dominated the 1990s, and buoyed shows like Veronica's Closet and Suddenly Susan to ratings success. The first of which was the medical drama ER, which NBC broadcast from 1994 to 2009. The series, which was based on an idea by author Michael Crichton, was the No. 1 series on television three times, in 1995-'96, 1996-'97, and 1998-'99. If you aren't familiar with the show, it follows the goings-on of emergency room employees at County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.

And from ER we move to the second half of NBC's mid-'90s ratings wrecking ball: Seinfeld. The iconic "show about nothing" first reached the pinnacle of American television ratings for the 1994-'95 season. From there, the series traded the No. 1 slot with fellow NBC Thursday night series ER for the next several years, with Jerry and company coming out on top in the aforementioned '94-'95 season, as well as its final season in 1997-'98.

While the likes of Seinfeld and Friends are often thought of as the most successful shows of the 1990s, a case could be made that Home Improvement could also take that title. The Tim Allen-led sitcom lasted eight seasons, every single one of which saw the show finish in the Top 10. the show finished in the Top 5 four times, including No. 4 in 1991-'92, No. 3 in 1992-'93 and 1994-'95 and No. 2 in 1993-'94.

Coach, a show starring Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, the head coach of the fictional NCAA Division I-A Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles football team, was a surprise hit in the 1990s. Despite arguably not being as memorable as other '90s hit shows, the series was in the Top 20 for six of its nine seasons, and finished at No. 6 in both 1992-'93 and 1993-'94. In the last two seasons, Coach Fox coaches the Orlando Breakers, a fictional NFL team.

While Murphy Brown was the No. 3 series during the 1991-'92 season, it can be argued it was the No. 1 most socially influential show thanks to comments made by then-Vice President Dan Quayle, who took umbrage with the show's title character - played by Candice Bergen - being a single mother. The controversy vaulted the show into the Top 5 for two seasons. Bergen plays Murphy Brown, an investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a CBS television newsmagazine, and later for Murphy in the Morning.

Believe it or not, Cheers was the lowest-rated show on television at the end of its first season, which is pretty unbelievable given how beloved the show is today. However, it wasn't cancelled and instead slowly crept up in the Nielsen Ratings, eventually becoming one of the most successful TV shows of all time. the show spent its final eight seasons in the Top 10, including finishing out 1990-'91 as the No. 1 show on television.

While America's Funniest Home Videos wasn't the No. 1 show of the 1989-'90  television season, one could very easily argue it was the most popular. The Bob Saget-led home video series was the No. 1 show for a period of time during the season, and overall has remained a solid hit throughout numerous incarnations to this day. Sadly, Saget passed away on January 9, 2022 and the comedy world will absolutely never be the same.

We can say with confidence that Roseanne changed the face of television in the late 1980s. The relatable working-class series exploded onto the scene in in the 1988-'89 season, peaking at No. 2 in its debut year, before tying for the No. 1 spot in its second season. Overall, Roseanne remained in the Top 10 for eight of the nine seasons of its original run. The show has been highly praised for its realistic depictions of working-class American life.

Although Cosby Show spinoff A Different World was never able to overtake its father series for the No. 1 slot (oops, spoiler for a later slide), the college-based sitcom was a massive hit. Aiming for a younger and more aware audience, the show tackled issues that many shows of the time completely ignored. The series was a Top 20 hit for its first five seasons, including Top 5 for its first four, before falling to No. 71 and being cancelled in its sixth year.

Murder, She Wrote, the iconic murder-mystery series which starred the legendary Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, aired for twelve seasons. The show was in the Top 20 for a whopping eleven of them, including three years in the Top 5. The show follows the life of Jessica Fletcher, an amateur detective and mystery writer who finds herself involved in a string of murders that occur in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, and across the nation.

There's no doubt that it's hard to talk about The Cosby Show in this day and age without thinking of the sad downfall of Bill Cosby, however, there's no denying how incredibly successful the series was while it aired. Over eight seasons, the show never fell from the Top 20, and had a five-year run in the No. 1 spot, from 1985-'86 to 1989-'90 (though it should be noted that that final year was shared with Roseanne).

Family Ties may have only been the No. 5 series in the 1984-'85 television season, however its popularity, buoyed by lead actor Michael J. Fox's performance in hit films like Teen Wolf and Back to the Future (which opened that summer), made the show a much larger part of the zeitgeist than some of the shows ahead of it. Overall, the show spent four of its seven seasons in the Top 20, including two seasons at No. 2.

The apt description of Dynasty might be "Big Ratings, Bigger Shoulder Pads." The series, which may be the epitome of fashion in the '80s, aired from 1981 through 1989, and was a Top 10 series for four out of its nine seasons. The show peaked at No. 3 in 1983-'84 before making the leap to No. 1 for the 1984-'85 seasons. The show's premise revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy family living in Denver, Colorado.

Similar to the upcoming Three's Company (in what might be the only similarity these shows ever shared) M*A*S*H never achieved No. 1 in the ratings, but the series had remarkable consistency. After finishing at No. 46 in its first season, the series spent the next decade in the Top 20, and nine of those years in the Top 10. The show reached its peak during its final season in 1982-'83, when it placed at No. 3 for the year and its finale drew a record 125 million viewers.

The Jeffersons, a spin-off of the wildly popular (and upcoming) All in the Family, had a very interesting ratings journey throughout its 11-year run. The show finished its first season (1975) in fourth place for the year. However, the show fell out of the Top 20 for the next four seasons. Then in 1979-'80, the show jumped back into the Top 10, and remained in the Top 20 for another five seasons before plummeting back to No. 50 and getting canceled. The show's peak came in 1981-'82, when it reached No. 3.

No drama series personifies the 1980s more than Dallas, a show about the affluent Texas Ewing family who own Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork. The massively successful nighttime soap opera dominated for most of the decade, thanks to famous storylines like "Who Shot JR.?" The series spent seven out of its fourteen seasons in the Top 10, including 1980-'81, 1981-'82, and 1983-'84 at No. 1 and 1982-'83 and 1984-'85 at No. 2.

60 Minutes is just about the most successful and well-respected news program in history. The weekly magazine program has been airing on CBS since 1968, and in that period has never ended a season outside of the Top 25. 60 Minutes has also been ranked within the Top 10 17 times, and No. 1 four times, the first of which being in 1979-'80. The program differs from others like it in that it uses a unique style of reporter-centered investigation.

Three's Company, the iconic farce comedy that starred John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, and Suzanne Somers (seasons 1–5), Jenilee Harrison (seasons 5–6), and Priscilla Barnes (seasons 6–8) as a trio of roommates, never reached the No. 1 slot in the ratings. However, the series was so successful, in part because it was remarkably consistent. For seven of its eight seasons, the show was in the Top 11 on television, including within the Top 10 for six consecutive years.

Laverne & Shirley is a rarity on our list, as it's a spinoff that's just as - if not more - successful than the show it spun out of. Coming out of Happy Days (that's coming up soon), Laverne & Shirley revolved around the titular two roommates, portrayed by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, respectively, living in Milwaukee in the late 1950s (and eventually Los Angeles in the 1960s). The series was in the Top 3 for its first four years, including No. 1 for the third and fourth season before falling sharply for the second half of its run.

Happy Days was arguably the first example of nostalgia for an earlier time taking over American popular culture. The show, which starred Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Tom Bosley, and Marion Ross, takes place in the 1950s and early 1960s. Interestingly, the series was initially met with negative reviews from critics but it wasn't long before it began to take America by storm. By 1976-'77 it had taken the No. 1 spot in the ratings, and it remained in the Top 20 until 1982.

Rich Man, Poor Man was "based on the best-selling 1969 novel by Irwin Shaw" and spanned the period from 1945 through the late 1960s. The story followed the divergent career courses of the impoverished German-American Jordache brothers. Rudy (Peter Strauss) was the titular rich man, a well-educated and very ambitious entrepreneur who triumphed over his background and constructed a corporate and political empire. Poor man Tom (Nick Nolte) was a rebel who eventually turned to boxing to support himself. Axel and Mary were their parents, and Julie Prescott was Rudy's lifelong sweetheart who eventually married him.

Chico and the Man followed the young "energetic" Chico who wanted to "form a partnership with cynical Ed Brown [played by Jack Albertson] in the old man's garage. His efforts bring in customers and the crabby Ed softens toward Chico." The series aired for four seasons, but peaked with its No. 3 ranking during the first year. Fun fact: Chico and the Man was the first American TV show to be set in a Mexican-American neighborhood.

The Waltons reached No. 2 during the 1973-'74 season thanks to its family-friendly, wholesome content. The series, which was based on a book entitled Spencer's Mountain and a 1963 film of the same name, was built around the story of a family in rural Virginia during the era of the Great Depression and World War II. The series and its family-centric story was surely the perfect tonic for the volatile culture of the early 1970s.

While Sanford and Son never reached the No. 1 slot on the Nielsen chart thanks to a ratings behemoth (that we're about to cover in the next slide, so stay tuned!), the series was groundbreaking nonetheless. Its representation of the African-American diaspora in the United States was not only revolutionary for the time - it's still considered radical today. The show was known for its edgy, racialized humor and is considered a precursor to many successive African-American sitcoms.

All in the Family kicked off one of the most dominant runs in television history in 1971-'72. The series - which starred Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers, and Rob Reiner - was the No. 1 show in the United States for an impressive five consecutive years, and then remained in the Top 20 for the rest of its run. The show's examination of American society and taboo topics for the time remains highly influential, as well as controversial.

Marcus Welby, M.D. might not be super well-remembered today, but during its heyday, the series was one of the most popular in America. The show starred Robert Young as "a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, who was on a first-name basis with many of his patients." Additionally, James Brolin (father of Josh Brolin) played Steven Kiley, M.D., Dr. Welby's younger partner. The series reached No. 1 in its second season, and spent the first four years of its run in the Top 20.

Mayberry R.F.D. was both a continuation to and spin-off of the beloved Andy Griffith Show. During the final season of the latter series, the new characters of widower farmer Sam Jones (played by Ken Berry) and his young son Mike (played by Buddy Foster) are introduced, and the two gradually become the show's focus. The show's title was changed to Mayberry R.F.D., and it aired for three highly rated seasons before CBS abruptly canceled the show.

Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In combined the the "humor of vaudeville and burlesque, but its most direct influences were Olsen and Johnson's comedies (such as the free-form Broadway revue Hellzapoppin'), the innovative television works of Ernie Kovacs, and the topical satire of That Was The Week That Was. The show was characterized by a rapid-fire series of gags and sketches, many of which were politically charged or contained ... innuendo." The series was a massive hit upon its premiere, and finished No. 1 in back-to-back years during its second and third seasons. Overall the show was in the Top 25 for five of its six years on the air.

From its well-known opening credits sequence and theme song and the father-son relationship between Andy Griffith's Andy Taylor and his son Opie (played by Ron Howard) to the comedic stylings of Don Knotts, The Andy Griffith Show was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1960s, which made it fitting that the series hit No. 1 in its final season. The series remains a cultural touchstone for many to this day thanks to its humor, moral lessons, and ear worm of a theme song.

The Red Skelton Hour otherwise known as The Red Skelton Show was one of the most successful shows during the first two decades of television. Some version of the series aired from 1951 all the way until 1971, surviving several name and format changes as well as the evolution of American culture in the 1960s. The show never got to No. 1, but was in the Top 10 nine times, and peaked at No. 2 twice including 1966-'67.

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is one of the more peculiar shows to make our list. The series, which was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, was a comedic take on war... right in the middle of cultural and political tensions over the United States involvement in Vietnam. The show peaked at No. 2 in both 1965-'66 and 1968-'69, and never finished outside the Top 10 over the course of its five season and, 150 episode run.

Bewitched was a massive hit right out of the gate, as the Elizabeth Montgomery-starring series tapped into the cultural zeitgeist like few shows before or since thanks to the magical, nose-wiggling antics of Montgomery's titular witch Samantha Stevens. The series peaked at No. 2 that first season, though many television industry aficionados and fans have long theorized that the show was actually No. 1 and it was only politics that kept it out of the top slot.

NBC's Bonanza reached the No. 2 position in the 1963-'64 season, its fifth on the air. From there, the show catapulted into the No. 1 slot for three seasons. All in all, the series finished in the Top 20 for 13 of its 14 seasons. This incredible longevity helped Bonanza become one of the longest-lasting, and most acclaimed dramatic series in history. The series remains in circulation in syndication and on numerous nostalgia-based networks to this day.

The Beverly Hillbillies was a quite a revolutionary sitcom for its time. The show, which followed the Clampett family from their "backwoods" Ozark home to California after they discovered a massive oil reserve on their property, debuted at No. 1 in its first season, ending the five-year streak of dramatic westerns at No. 1. The show never reached that height again, but it was a Top 20 show for six of its remaining seven seasons.

Hazel was arguably the most popular sitcom in America during the early 1960s, as it was only out-rated by the popular westerns of the day. The series, which was based on a long-running comic strip, starred Oscar winner Shirley Booth as the titular Hazel, the acerbic maid who worked for the Baxter family. The aforementioned single-panel comic strip of the same name by cartoonist Ted Key, had famously appeared in then-highly influential periodical The Saturday Evening Post.

Another in the long line of westerns that dominated television in the late 1950s and early 1960s, The Real McCoys followed the culture shock felt by a family who moved from the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia to California. The series never reached the No. 1 spot in the ratings (thanks to other westerns we're about to cover) but it was a Top 20 hit for five of its six seasons, peaking at No. 5 in 1960-'61.

Have Gun-Will Travel is the first of three consecutive westerns (each of which was in the 1-2-3 slot for four years in a row. The show was based around the "adventures of a man calling himself 'Paladin' (played by Richard Boone on television and voiced by John Dehner on radio), taking his name from that of the foremost knights in Charlemagne's court. He is a gentleman investigator/gunfighter who travels around the Old West working as a mercenary for people who hire him to solve their problems."

Wagon Train, which was the No. 2 television series this season, focused on the "the adventures of a wagon train as it makes its way from St. Joseph, Missouri, across the Midwestern Plains and the Rocky Mountains to Sacramento, California, and the trials and tribulations of the series regulars who conducted the train through the American West." This premise allowed for the show to feature famous guests stars, as travelers coming and going from the train.

Truth be told, Gunsmoke was the number one series for several of the years we've already listed as it's one of the most successful, longest-lasting television series of all time. The show ran for 20 seasons (1955 to 1975) and lasted for a mind-boggling 635 episodes. Gunsmoke still holds a vast majority of longevity records for a live action series (many of the overall records have been taken by The Simpsons) which will likely never be broken thanks to the changed television landscape.

The Ed Sullivan Show was a television staple from the medium's earliest days in 1948 all the way through 1971, and is iconic for introducing musical acts like Elvis Presley and The Beatles to the American public. The talk and variety show reached its highest ratings in the 1956-'57 season, reaching No. 2 in the Nielsen ratings. Sullivan's show remained a cultural touchstone throughout the 1960s, remaining in the Top 20 through the majority of the decade.

The $64,000 Question was one of television's first successful game shows. The competition played out simply, where "Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the questions became more difficult. The final question had a top prize of $64,000." The show was a massive success, however it became a focal point of the so-called "quiz show scandals" later in the decade, which revealed cheating and collusion amongst producers and contestants, and damaged the genre's popularity for years.

The Jackie Gleason Show was one of the most successful variants of a variety show starring the iconic Jackie Gleason and his so-called "cavalcade of stars." The show, which was actually No. 2 this season, is best remembered for introducing many of the characters Gleason would portray on various sitcoms and variety shows for the rest of his career, including bus driver Ralph Kramden, who would go on to lead the revolutionary sitcom The Honeymooners.

Dragnet was actually the No. 2 series of the 1953-'54 television season (hmmm), but it's arguably one of the best known - and most often parodied and referenced - crime and cop shows in television history. The show, which was also known as Badge 714, was created and produced by Jack Webb, who also starred as the show's lead detective Sergeant Joe Friday. If nothing else, you're likely familiar with the show's "dan-da-dandan-dan-dan" theme song.

And this is why we've been listing off No. 2 television series for the proceeding several slides, because the iconic I Love Lucy was the reigning No. 1 show on television from 1952 through 1955. What more can be said about the legendary series? Husband and wife team Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball essentially invented the concept of a television sitcom, perfecting everything from typical humor sitcom and cadence to the concept of multiple cameras and filming for later broadcast.

As its name would imply, Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts (which evolved from a radio show of the same name) featured Godfrey's "talent scouts" bringing in acts to "compete" in front of judges and audience members. The show was popular for most of the decade, before falling out of favor as westerns and game shows took over the medium. It would be more than 50 years until shows like American Idol and America's Got Talent revived the genre's popularity.

Like many of television's earliest programs, the medium's first No. 1 show, the Texaco Star Theater, originated on the radio. That version of the show ran from 1938 to 1949. The televised version of the variety show comedy was on the air from 1949 to 1956, and its greatest claim to fame (beyond being the first ever Nielsen No. 1-rated series) was that it introduced Milton Berle to television audiences, and played a major part in earning him the nickname Mr. Television.