The Ten Best Shows on Television
Other than the announcement of a new TV network, which I’ll discuss in my next post, it’s been a slow TV week as far as news goes, so I’m giving you my list of the top ten shows on television right now.
I’ve been thinking about doing a list like this for a while, but I’ve never gotten around to it. The hard part is comparing different types of shows—comedy, drama, reality, what have you—to one another and figuring out which ones are better. I gauged it by ranking the shows in order of how much I look forward to watching them every week. Now of course, the list could change daily, but these shows will pretty much always be on the list. I think I’m most satisfied with the top three, and those pretty much remain constant.
The main reason I’m finally doing this is because I look at the Nielsen ratings in Entertainment Weekly and they make me sad. Shows like Skating with Celebrities and Dancing With the Stars routinely bring in huge ratings, and that’s just depressing when there’s so much good TV out there. So hopefully, with the sway I have over my millions of readers, we can get the word out there and shake people out of the mental fog that causes these atrocious viewing habits. Anyway, the list started out with 16 of my favorite shows (yes, I watch a lot of TV, but there’s a lot of good stuff on). Here’s how it shakes out:
10. Invasion: Good acting and compelling storylines have helped this show go from okay to really good this year. It started out slow but intriguing, and then built every week into something you don’t want to miss.
9. American Idol: I know many will scoff at this one, but I am an addict, and it would be dishonest of me to leave it off the list. I can tell you this much: I enjoy the show a lot more with TiVo. Being able to skip all the fluff and in-show commercials is a big plus. But as for the rest, I love it all. The insults to the bad singers (they go on there to be insulted—come on now), the talent, the cheesiness…I dig it.
8. Supernatural: This is a lesser-known WB show, but despite that inherent disadvantage it really is solid. The two brother characters play very well off of each other, and there’s enough long-term story development that it’s not just a fight-one-monster-per-week kind of show. If you haven’t seen it before, it’s easy to jump in and watch, and I recommend it.
7. Scrubs: Zach Braff and the crew never disappoint in this show. Even when the whole episode isn’t laugh-out-loud hilarious (which it often is), the show is just so clever that you can’t help but enjoy it (see last week’s Wizard of Oz parody).
6. House: House kind of came out of nowhere last year on FOX, when they used it as a midseason replacement show, and once they gave it a solid lead-in, it just took off. Every actor does an outstanding job, and of course Hugh Laurie is fantastic as the grumpy and obstinate Dr. House.
5. The Office: If you can watch this show and not laugh, I don’t know how you laugh at anything. Steve Carrell was the breakout star of last year between this show and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He has the gift of being able to be outrageous and subtle at the same time. He can do over-the-top comedy too, if required. And of course the supporting cast is superb, from Rainn Wilson’s Dwight all the way to Stanley and the HR guy. This one is comedy at its best.
4. Veronica Mars: I discovered this show on DVD, and I’ve been hooked since the pilot. Yeah, it’s about a girl in high school, but it’s not a high school soapy drama. It’s part murder mystery, part comedy, part drama, etc. The main focus is on the life of Veronica Mars and her father Keith. There are so many details and subplots that I couldn’t even begin to summarize here, and this isn’t a review of the show anyway. I’m just telling you it’s a great show (fourth greatest, if we’re being specific here), and you should definitely check out the first season on DVD, and the second when it comes out, and then watch the third season next year. You won’t be disappointed. I promise. This show starts off with the stigma of being on UPN, but they do this one right.
3. Arrested Development: I’ve sung its praises since it’s been on the air. It is without a doubt the funniest show on TV right now (even though it’s not technically on TV right now). As you may have seen, the folks at FOX are being bastards about this whole thing, but hopefully some sensible network will pick up the show and get it the audience it deserves. (Personally, I’d be watching AD over the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, though TiVo makes it a non-issue. The opening ceremonies are right up there with parades on the list of things I hate watching live, but especially on TV. No, I’ve never actually been to an Olympics’ opening ceremonies. I’m just saying it couldn’t be that different from a parade, other than the fact that it’s in a stadium.)
2. Lost: Ever since the beginning of last fall’s new TV season, we’ve had this show to look forward to, and it has very rarely disappointed. To be as good as this show is as consistently as it is—that is a real accomplishment. Hopefully creator J.J. Abrams has more magic up his sleeves for a long time to come.
1. 24: The number one spot was really a toss-up between Lost and 24, but I gave this show the nod because of the difficulty of making it good on a consistent basis. Basically they have to come up with a new storyline every season. Sure, the format is the same, and a lot of the characters are the same, but it’s a lot tougher to do this with a show like 24 than it is with other types of shows. Oh, and also it’s freaking awesome. Can you deny that you get excited every time Jack Bauer starts taking the bad guys to the cleaners? He was ready to cut out a dude’s eye last night! Was that not awesome?!
So there it is. Your top ten shows on TV. Some really good shows that didn’t make the list: Prison Break, Criminal Minds, My Name is Earl, The Amazing Race, CSI:, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
That’s my two cents. Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you think of the list and what you’d put in your own. I’m curious.
I’ve been thinking about doing a list like this for a while, but I’ve never gotten around to it. The hard part is comparing different types of shows—comedy, drama, reality, what have you—to one another and figuring out which ones are better. I gauged it by ranking the shows in order of how much I look forward to watching them every week. Now of course, the list could change daily, but these shows will pretty much always be on the list. I think I’m most satisfied with the top three, and those pretty much remain constant.
The main reason I’m finally doing this is because I look at the Nielsen ratings in Entertainment Weekly and they make me sad. Shows like Skating with Celebrities and Dancing With the Stars routinely bring in huge ratings, and that’s just depressing when there’s so much good TV out there. So hopefully, with the sway I have over my millions of readers, we can get the word out there and shake people out of the mental fog that causes these atrocious viewing habits. Anyway, the list started out with 16 of my favorite shows (yes, I watch a lot of TV, but there’s a lot of good stuff on). Here’s how it shakes out:
10. Invasion: Good acting and compelling storylines have helped this show go from okay to really good this year. It started out slow but intriguing, and then built every week into something you don’t want to miss.
9. American Idol: I know many will scoff at this one, but I am an addict, and it would be dishonest of me to leave it off the list. I can tell you this much: I enjoy the show a lot more with TiVo. Being able to skip all the fluff and in-show commercials is a big plus. But as for the rest, I love it all. The insults to the bad singers (they go on there to be insulted—come on now), the talent, the cheesiness…I dig it.
8. Supernatural: This is a lesser-known WB show, but despite that inherent disadvantage it really is solid. The two brother characters play very well off of each other, and there’s enough long-term story development that it’s not just a fight-one-monster-per-week kind of show. If you haven’t seen it before, it’s easy to jump in and watch, and I recommend it.
7. Scrubs: Zach Braff and the crew never disappoint in this show. Even when the whole episode isn’t laugh-out-loud hilarious (which it often is), the show is just so clever that you can’t help but enjoy it (see last week’s Wizard of Oz parody).
6. House: House kind of came out of nowhere last year on FOX, when they used it as a midseason replacement show, and once they gave it a solid lead-in, it just took off. Every actor does an outstanding job, and of course Hugh Laurie is fantastic as the grumpy and obstinate Dr. House.
5. The Office: If you can watch this show and not laugh, I don’t know how you laugh at anything. Steve Carrell was the breakout star of last year between this show and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He has the gift of being able to be outrageous and subtle at the same time. He can do over-the-top comedy too, if required. And of course the supporting cast is superb, from Rainn Wilson’s Dwight all the way to Stanley and the HR guy. This one is comedy at its best.
4. Veronica Mars: I discovered this show on DVD, and I’ve been hooked since the pilot. Yeah, it’s about a girl in high school, but it’s not a high school soapy drama. It’s part murder mystery, part comedy, part drama, etc. The main focus is on the life of Veronica Mars and her father Keith. There are so many details and subplots that I couldn’t even begin to summarize here, and this isn’t a review of the show anyway. I’m just telling you it’s a great show (fourth greatest, if we’re being specific here), and you should definitely check out the first season on DVD, and the second when it comes out, and then watch the third season next year. You won’t be disappointed. I promise. This show starts off with the stigma of being on UPN, but they do this one right.
3. Arrested Development: I’ve sung its praises since it’s been on the air. It is without a doubt the funniest show on TV right now (even though it’s not technically on TV right now). As you may have seen, the folks at FOX are being bastards about this whole thing, but hopefully some sensible network will pick up the show and get it the audience it deserves. (Personally, I’d be watching AD over the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, though TiVo makes it a non-issue. The opening ceremonies are right up there with parades on the list of things I hate watching live, but especially on TV. No, I’ve never actually been to an Olympics’ opening ceremonies. I’m just saying it couldn’t be that different from a parade, other than the fact that it’s in a stadium.)
2. Lost: Ever since the beginning of last fall’s new TV season, we’ve had this show to look forward to, and it has very rarely disappointed. To be as good as this show is as consistently as it is—that is a real accomplishment. Hopefully creator J.J. Abrams has more magic up his sleeves for a long time to come.
1. 24: The number one spot was really a toss-up between Lost and 24, but I gave this show the nod because of the difficulty of making it good on a consistent basis. Basically they have to come up with a new storyline every season. Sure, the format is the same, and a lot of the characters are the same, but it’s a lot tougher to do this with a show like 24 than it is with other types of shows. Oh, and also it’s freaking awesome. Can you deny that you get excited every time Jack Bauer starts taking the bad guys to the cleaners? He was ready to cut out a dude’s eye last night! Was that not awesome?!
So there it is. Your top ten shows on TV. Some really good shows that didn’t make the list: Prison Break, Criminal Minds, My Name is Earl, The Amazing Race, CSI:, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
That’s my two cents. Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you think of the list and what you’d put in your own. I’m curious.
Tha Docta's two cents. | 12:16 PM
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