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Best TV Series of the 1940s

163 series that started in the 1940s, ranked by popularity

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Genres

Genres as assigned by IMDb. Selecting several means a show must match all of them.

Decades

By first-air year. Several selections widen the range; a specific year narrows within its decade.

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Tags

Rating patterns, computed from IMDb episode-rating trajectories. Deliberately strict: only shows with an unmistakable pattern carry one, so expect small numbers.

Rating patterns

Taste tags, judged by our AI taste model. They cover the 5,000 most-rated shows.

Tone & mood
Pacing & structure
Humor style
Themes & subject matter
Characters & perspective
Emotional payoff
Craft & style
Format & audience
Viewing-culture clusters
Intensity & content character
163 series

Arthur Godfrey and His Friends

★ 6.2
46 182 1949–1959
Music

Super Circus

★ 6.4
45 33 1949–1956
Family

Muffin the Mule

★ 6.5
44 1946–1955
Family

Kaleidoscope

★ 7.0
40 104 1946–1953

NBC News

★ 2.5
40 48 1940–present
News

The Silver Theatre

★ 6.0
39 39 1949–1950
Drama · Romance

The Herb Shriner Show

★ 6.8
39 8 1949–1956
Comedy

Public Prosecutor

★ 5.4
39 18 1947–1951
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Your Show Time

★ 6.5
37 26 1949–1949
Drama

Lamp Unto My Feet

★ 7.0
36 621 1948–1979
Talk-Show

Mr. I. Magination

★ 6.7
35 21 1949–1952
Family · Western

Music and the Spoken Word

★ 7.8
35 662 1949–present
Music

Come Dancing

★ 5.4
34 21 1949–1998
Music

The Admiral Broadway Revue

★ 5.9
33 18 1949–present
Comedy · Music

One Man's Family

★ 6.0
33 918 1949–1955
Drama

The Voice of Firestone

★ 6.4
33 302 1949–1963
Music

The Fred Waring Show

★ 6.2
32 114 1949–1954
Music

The Magic Cottage

★ 6.7
32 166 1949–1955

Noveltoon

★ 6.8
31 8 1943–1967
Animation · Comedy · Family

The Adventures of Pow Wow

★ 4.0
31 1949–present
Adventure · Animation · Western

Hollywood on Television

★ 5.2
31 1949–1953

Cavalcade of Sports

★ 7.1
30 21 1944–present
Sport

Okay, Mother

★ 5.1
30 107 1948–1951
Comedy · Family · Music

Juvenile Jury

★ 5.5
30 15 1947–1955
Game-Show
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