It’s a little game I play about every 4 months. Usually it’s spurred by me scheduling to record something and being forced to choose, as I already have two other things being recorded at that particular time slot. I make the choice, then decide to flip through the “To Record” list and start deleting stuff.
This time, though, I started writing down everything I was keeping. What’s more, as a complete afterthought, I decided to rank them and try and figure out what my favorite show on the list is. And there’s a bunch of them. Some of them I think have been canceled or have run their course and disappeared. I left the ones I wasn’t sure of on the list only because I am too busy (aka lazy) to Google them and find out if they have actually been dropped. A couple are obscure things I don’t even remember setting to record but wound up really liking the show. How many of them will I actively watch? Maybe the top 10 or so, although I’m sure I’ll be 2-3 episodes behind everything except for the top 3 by the end of October.
So, without further ado, I give you my list of the best shows on TV, and a quick explanation of why I like them. Or not… some shows I like for no reasonable explanation. Oh… and I find it interesting to see where the big four networks fall on my list. No real surprise there, but I think it’s significant. Perhaps the powers that be over there should take a gander outside their own little world of recycled Reality Shows and Cop Shows, and Lawyer dramas. Feel free to chime in with your own additions or disagreements.
The Cleaner (A&E) and The First 48 (A&E)
These are the only two on the list I haven’t made time to check out yet. Honestly, I can’t even remember what intrigued me about them, but I have at least three or four episodes of each already recorded and waiting me to get down to the T’s.
1. Burn Notice (USA)
This show is just plain fun. It is, I think, the best and most consistent writing on TV at the moment, and has remained so from season one into season two. I think they are getting a bit off-track with the increased dramatic focus on Michael’s mother, but it is still a tertiary storyline at best so everything is currently on track in sunny Miami.
2. Doctor Who (SciFi)
Once a fan of the Doctor, always a fan. I could have put this up at number one, but the switch in sidekicks has felt a bit flat for me this season. There are, however, major developments brewing with that ongoing storyline, and I am really anxious to see where they lead.
3. Monk (USA)
Tony Shalhoub has created the single greatest character on TV today. I suppose it’s the actor in me that loves to watch him work more than anything else. The quality of the writing seems to be getting a little inconsistent, but overall it’s smart, funny television. (RIP Stanley Kamel).
4. Saving Grace (TNT)
Holly Hunter. I think that says enough, really. She is simply phenomenal as Grace Hanadarko and Leon Rippy as her Last Chance Angel named Earl is just wonderful. The writers have worked a wonderful blend of humor, sexual tension, and drama throughout each episode. I think what I like most about it is that Holly really is an “everywoman” kind of character and can be simultaneously endearing, pathetic, charming, and frightening. It is the best straight drama on TV, and easily the best “cop show” to hit the tube in the last 10 years.
5. Eureka (SciFi)
Fun show. Wonderful concept, wonderful writing, wonderful characters. The only time it starts to drag is when they get a bit heavy handed with the drama, especially the love triangle. It worked much better when it was left as unspoken sexual tension. This is one step above situational comedy. Insert too much drama and it seems to fight with itself.
6. Pushing Daisies (ABC)
I loved this show last season. It took me completely by surprise, and am looking forward to its return more than any other show.
7. Eli Stone (ABC) ~reviewed here~
Perhaps the best thing to come out of the writer’s strike. This was mid-season filler, and turned out to be a great show. See my review back in March for more details.
8. Charlie Jade (SciFi)
I have no idea how I found this show. Hell, I don’t even remember setting the DVR to record it. It airs at like 3:00 am, and actually I haven’t caught a new episode in about a month or so, but I miss it. It’s a little confusing, but only because it’s talking about some pretty heady stuff like worm holes to parallel dimensions and dystopic alternate-realities. I need to look into this show more and try and get caught up on anything/everything I may have missed. Hopefully it’ll be back soon.
9. Battlestar Galactica (SciFi)
This is in the top ten more because of what the show was than what it has become. Even though last season picked up a bit, it still fell far short of the promise that season one showed. Personally, I think SciFi has milked their first season dry and have spent the last two seasons bogging the show down and more sub-plots and storylines. I am almost to the point where I just want them to find Earth and STFU. I still have hope, though, that they can resurrect their story in this final season.
10. The Closer (TNT)
The second-best cop show on TV. Kyra Sedgwick is charming and tough in this superbly-written drama. I can see the distinct possibility of this show starting to drag a bit, but for now it’s one that I am always sure to keep my eye on.
11. Psych (USA)
This show is just all kinds of silly, and the world needs more silliness. Really, that’s all I can say about it. It’s silly.
12. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)
Surprisingly, this didn’t suck. That alone makes me want to tune in next season, if only to see when exactly FOX screws the whole thing up.
13. Traveler (ABC)
I think this show is canceled as I actually caught it on the CW last summer. I was hoping it would return this summer, but I guess not. It wasn’t anything special, but it was one of those shows I couldn’t help liking. Not sure why, and it’s been too long for me to really remember anything other than vague plot details.
14. Lost (ABC)
I jumped on the Lost bandwagon late. This past season was the first full season I watched, and already my interest is waning a bit. I enjoy the story, but I find the way it’s told to be gimmicky. We’ll see if I last through the entire season next year.
15. House (FOX)
Slowly turning into just another hospital program. Even though Hugh Laurie has created a wonderfully cynical character, I am beginning to see the same plot lines repeated. There are only so many rare diseases, after all. They are bound to start looking the same after a while.
16. Numb3rs (CBS)
A show I enjoy catching when I have a free 50 minutes or so. I am always a fan of geeks that are heroes, and in his own number-crunching way, Charlie Epps is as bad an ass as they come. Besides, I don’t think I have ever not liked Judd Hirsch in anything he has done.
17. Flashpoint (CBS)
Ok, I admit it… I like this show because it’s fun to watch the Pink Power Ranger all grown up (I wonder if she remembers me from my years at SABAN… nahh I don’t think so either). And even though I don’t think it will last a full season, I am betting I lose interest in recording it long before the network gives up on it.
18. The Shield (FX)
99% positive this one is done and over with. It’s still on the record list for that last 1% of uncertainty as it was so damn good.
19. NCIS (CBS)
Good check-your-brain-at-the-door cop drama. The season ended in tremendously dramatic fashion with the entire team being split up, so it will be interesting to see where they go with it. One of the reasons I like the show is the chemistry that developed over the years with the regulars. To throw all that away dropped this show like a rock as far as my expectations go, but I’ll still check in to see if/how they pick up all the pieces.
20. Heroes (NBC)
I think that Heroes has been utterly FUBAR’d and is well beyond salvaging at this point. It used to be at #1 on my list, and it’s significant that it dropped this far over the course of a single season. It’s being recorded now not in any fruitless hope that it will return to being a quality show, but rather that same kind of morbid curiosity that makes me stare at roadkill along the highway – it’s dead, I know it’s dead, but I can kind of recognize it beneath all the blood and guts and stuff.
21. Prison Break (FOX)
This was a great show, but… damn, man…. how many times are these guys going to be arrested? FOX is milking this one for all it’s worth. More than it’s worth, really. I doubt I watch the full season.
22. CSI: NY (CBS)
My favorite of the turning-ever-more-stale CSI slate of shows. It’s been deleted and re-added to the record queue time and again. I wonder how long it will last this time?
23. The 4400 (USA) ~reviewed here~
I really disliked the direction the show went after my review last September. I’ll hang in there for a little while longer, though, to see if it turns around. It’s one of those shows that I really want to like more than I actually do.
24. CSI: Crime Scene (CBS)
(see #22)
25. New Amsterdam (FOX) ~reviewed here~
Pretty sure that this one bit the dust as well. Too bad, as even though it was a mid-season debut, I thought it was better than much of the stuff that the writer’s strike upended. See my review back in April for more details.
26. Knight Rider (NBC)
What happened to the series? Writer strike ate it maybe? The TV movie thing showed a bit of promise. Never was overly gung-ho about the original, but I thought this one looked ok.
27. & 28. Without a Trace (CBS) and Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
Yeah, I don’t know why either, I just kind of like them. GW may actually be canceled, as I think I saw that Jay Mohr has a new series coming out in the fall.
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