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What makes a great TV show? No matter if it's a comedy or drama, the answer is the same: the writing.

Recognizing this, the Writers' Guild of America has created a list of the top 101 best-written television shows ever produced.

Leading that list is the hit HBO show, "The Sopranos," created by David Chase and starring James Gandofini and Edie Falco in the title roles of Tony and Carmela Soprano.

Airing on HBO from 1999 to 2007, Chase told the WGA his original idea for the show was about "a mobster in therapy, having problems with his mother." He said he wanted to write a show where the audience had to pay attention.

"Though 'The Sopranos' did indeed become a show about a mob boss with mother problems, it quickly sprawled to comment upon, or observe, innumerable aspects of American life, from the efficacy of psychotherapy to the ways in which a family-run business, even the Mafia, was dying out to a corporatizing culture," says the WGA.

The top 10 best-written TV shows ever:
1. "The Sopranos" (HBO), created by David Chase

2. "Seinfeld" (NBC), created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld

3. "The Twilight Zone" (CBS, 1959), season one writers: Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Robert Presnell Jr., Rod Serling

4. "All in the Family" (CBS), developed for television by Norman Lear, based on "Till Death Do Us Part," created by Johnny Speight

5. "M*A*S*H" (CBS), developed for television by Larry Gelbart

6. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS), created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns

7. "Mad Men" (AMC), created by Matthew Weiner

8. "Cheers" (NBC), created by Glen Charles, Les Charles and James Burrows

9. "The Wire" (HBO), created by David Simon

10. "The West Wing" (NBC), created by Aaron Sorkin

"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," WGAW president Chris Keyser and WGAE president Michael Winship said in a joint statement. "This list is not only a tribute to great TV, [but also] it is a dedication to all writers who devote their hearts and minds to advancing their craft."

--From the Editors at Netscape