10 Most Iconic Images In TV History!

Want to know what the most iconic image from the past 80 or so years? Read on...

So you€™ve read our previous €˜Iconic€™ Top 10 lists that have covered everything from horror images to feature film shots and this week at WhatCulture! we€™ve turned our attentions to television... With the first regularly broadcasting television show airing in 1929, there€™s an immense compendium of images to choose from. What€™s made the cut below covers a variety of genres, nationalities (although, foreign shows are not very well represented due to very little knowledge on them) and eras. Television has provided audiences with hours of memorable viewing, but only a fraction of the medium€™s output can really be considered iconic. Below are ten images that we consider truly are just that!

10. Tintin & Snowy Under Spotlight (1991 €“ 1992)

With Stephen Spielberg's recent smash hit feature film, the teen detective Tintin has come to the forefront of audiences' attentions again. For many of you this will probably seem a random addition, but it's a very personal choice from my childhood. My brother and I would pester our parents to let us rent the videos of this excellent animated series based on Herge's original comic books. The image of Tintin and his pet dog/partner Snowy was used in the opening credits sequence and stands as the most iconic image to come from the popular series. Blending mystery, action and comedy, the series appeals to both children and adults alike and is very faithful to the source material. Tintin merchandise has always been incredibly popular in the character's home country of France and as kids my brother and I would collect anything from figurines and t-shirts to posters and stationary. One item I never managed to buy was a ridiculously huge poster of this image...I couldn't understand at 12 years old why I couldn't buy it, but my Dad explained that it was only there to advertise the Tintin merchandise that was for sale! If that doesn't make it iconic then I don't know what does...

09. David Brent - The King of His Warped World in The Office (2001-2003)

Ricky Gervais€™s mockumentary comedy series, The Office, tapped into the British public consciousness upon its original airing. The vulgar and totally clueless character of David Brent captured the character of a manager that most viewers have had to suffer at some point during their careers and the show proved a huge success. The above image perfectly sums up the comedian€™s construction and portrayal of Brent, making it one of the most iconic images to come from the highly prolific series. The unimpressed facial expression, the arrogant position of his feet up on the desk and the total lack of any style in this image expresses the key characteristics of Gervais€™s creation. Brent is one of the most iconic characters to come out of contemporary British comedy and Gervais managed to give a wholly realistic and hilarious performance (I€™ll never forget my Grandma thinking that the show was a documentary and casually commenting how awful a man Brent was!!). This image will undoubtedly live on in audiences€™ minds forever more, as the majority of us thank God for keeping us from working with a real life David Brent..

08. Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 Survivors On Beach Of Mystery Island - Lost (2004 €“ 2010)

When audiences first caught glimpse of the pilot episode, they knew Lost was going to be the most visually epic show ever seen, with the highest production value of any series in television history. The image of the plane survivors is incredibly memorable for this alone, but it also sparked viewers' interests in a series that kept them engaged and gripped until the culmination of the final season. Lost was like nothing produced on television before for the immense amount of money spent on sets, props, costumes and special effects. Each episode looked like a multimillion dollar feature film and this image perfectly sums up the extent of the high production value of the series. The tropical location, variety of characters and plane crash props revealed that the producers meant business and audiences knew that they would be on to a winner. Although, arguably, the show lost its way towards the end, there€™s no denying that the pilot episode that bore this image was sensational to say the least.

07. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997 €“ 2003)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer earned a cult following with teenagers in the late 90s/early 2000s. I for one was desperately in lust with Sarah Michelle Geller and thought that women couldn't get any sexier than a badass monster destroyer, who's most common accessory, was a wooden stake...not the latest purse or shoes! This image of Geller as Buffy undoubtedly adorned virtually every guy€™s bedroom wall back during Buffy's prime and will remain one of the most resounding images of the series. The show spoke to people from all walks of life with its blend of fantasy, action, horror and teen drama, promoting acceptance of difference (Willow's lesbian relationship) and accepting yourself (Buffy's eventual acceptance of her position as The Slayer). During its peak popularity, Buffy merchandise was everywhere and images of the eponymous character could be found on anything from magazines and comic books to mugs and t-shirts. Today, the Watcher's Guide books can be found in the local £1 shop (well, in Brighton at least!), but despite this loss of popularity with the masses, the Buffy cult will remain forever...as will the iconic nature of this image!

06. ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS (1955 €“ 1962)

He was the most prolific director of his generation: the one director who saw how beneficial it was to step from behind the camera and into the limelight in order to sell his films. When Hitch branched into television his image was already world famous and his use of it to sell the series was a natural move. The director was famous for his caricature profile picture that often accompanied his autographs and it was decided that the use of this in the background of the show€™s opening would quickly familiarise it with audiences. To this day the Hitchcock profile is still used in various forms of marketing in relation to the director and is instantly recognisable €“ associated with the man himself, as well as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Both the show and the image are symbolic of the television mystery genre and remain some of the best examples of such programming.

05. DOCTOR WHO (1963 €“ Present)

Doctor Who has been such a long running programme that it has literally become a British institution. No list of iconic TV images would be complete without a still from the series, but many of you may be wondering why it isn€™t a picture of the Tardis, or one of the many varieties of the Doctor himself here? Well, in answer to this, of all the many memorable images the show has produced, it is undeniably the Daleks that are the most iconic of all. It didn€™t matter that viewers never pondered why the Dr didn€™t run up a flight of stairs in an effort to thwart his enemy...no, the Daleks were possibly the scariest of all the baddies on television and instantly became lodged in the fervent imaginations of children all over the nation (and undoubtedly their nightmares too!). Of all the characters to have featured in the various series €“ the Spearheads from Space still scare the bejesus out of me... €“ the Daleks are by far the most immediately recognisable of the lot. The above image is a perfect representation of the extraterrestrial villains and captures the unnerving atmosphere that they created in the episodes they featured in.

04. THE A-TEAM (1983 €“ 1987)

Ahh, the incredible Mr T! He's quite simply a staple of the 80s and one of the most iconic television personalities since the invention of the medium. The A-Team made actor him a household name and his distinct style and legendary attitude has meant that his image has stayed at the forefront of popular culture for the past 28 years. The image of the whole cast is definitely a memorable shot from a television series that blew 80s audiences away. However, this image of Mr T is undoubtedly the first one from the show that springs to mind for audiences and its notoriety is evident the world over. Today, countless television shows have parodied the character (and actor) including, The Simpsons, Family Guy..., which undoubtedly suggests the notoriety of the image. In fact, Mr T's image is so ingrained within popular culture that he even returned to film Snickers chocolate bar commercial! Now if that doesn't mean the image is iconic, I€™m stumped as to what does...

03. CHARLIE'S ANGELS (1976 €“ 1981)

This sexy crime-busting show was a highlight of the 1970s and the above image is definitely the most memorable from the series (almost as infamous as that Farrah Fawcett poster!). The line up of beautiful busty sleuths went through a number of changes over the course of the series life, but the original trio of Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson is the most fondly remembered. The above cast shot of the women together has become the one most closely associated with the show and the €˜praying hands€™ motif has been replicated innumerably in various forms of media. Charlie€™s Angels proved to be a series that appealed to both sexes, allowing women to feel empowered by the strong female characters and giving men a programme they could comfortably watch with their wives and not get in trouble for ogling at the cast over! The image certainly plays up the sex angle of the women, but is not particularly explicit so doesn€™t alienate female viewers. It was this balance that helped make the show as popular as it was in its prime. Today the image of the original cast remains as iconic as it was upon the programme€™s first showing, with the early 2000s feature film remakes diverting viewers back to the series that inspired them.

02. THE SIMPSONS (1989 €“ Present)

Having run for over 20 years, The Simpsons is easily one of the most recognisable and memorable animated shows in television history. The image of our favourite yellow family sitting on their sofa is ingrained within popular culture and instantly recognisable to all television audiences. The image is also incredibly self-reflexive, as by showing the family sitting in front of their television screen they are mimicking exactly what we as viewers do when we watch the show. With Simpsons branded products everywhere and donning virtually every consumer product available, it is definitely one of the most prolific shows in television history. The characters are lovable and viewers can easily see elements of themselves within them: in fact my wife can see so much of me in Homer Simpson that she thinks Matt Groening based the character on me...I happen to think that my intelligence is slightly above moronic and I don't have quite as much of a penchant for doughnuts as Mr Simpson does! This promotional shot promotes the image of family that the show exhibits - no matter what comes their way they always stay together - and by displaying exactly what the series promotes is what makes this image so iconic to audiences.

01. STAR TREK (1966 €“ 1986)

Star Trek is quite possibly the most iconic television show of all time. Through its many different series and multiple casts, there isn€™t a single generation since its initial inception that hasn€™t garnered devoted fans. The original cast members are some of the most fondly remembered and the above image is representative of the diversity of the series, which helped boost its popularity. For its time, the first Star Trek series was progressive with its multi-ethnic cast of characters (generally) working in harmony. The above image perfectly reflects this mixture and virtually every character pictured is instantly recognisable to even those who aren€™t fans of the show: there€™s barely a person alive who couldn€™t immediately pick out William Shatner as Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura and George Takei as Sulu! Today, the characters and their images are regularly parodied on other television programmes (or through other various types of media) and the above group cast shot is almost always the inspiration. Subsequent series of the show continued the theme of the above image in their marketing (see below for similar images from Deep Space Nine and Voyager), but it is the still from the first series that remains the most iconic. As always happens with this series of €˜Iconic€™ Top 10s, there€™s far too much choice out there to cater to everyone€™s tastes...so if you think I€™ve missed something drastic then check out the honourable mentions below and leave us a comment if it isn€™t there! HONOURABLE MENTIONS: FRIENDS (1994 €“ 2004)THE SOPRANOS (1999 €“ 2007)

THE MUNSTERS (1964 €“ 1966)THE AVENGERS (1961 €“ 1969)
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Stuart Cummins hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.