Friday Night Lights
Don't let the title fool you; this is not just a football drama full of jocks, clichés, and stereotypical performances. This look at small-town life in Dillon, Texas, where high school football reigns supreme, resonates on many levels. Most importantly, it feels REAL. We feel for young quarterback Matt Saracen, thrust into the spotlight after hot-shot Jason Street suffers a devastating injury. Matt is the heart of this show, whether he's dealing with his sweet, awkward, yet totally believable budding relationship with the coach's daughter Julie, or trying to be the man in his family and take care of his ailing grandmother. And the kids aren't the only ones getting the juicy storylines ... Coach Taylor and Tami have a marriage and most importantly a friendship that is unlike any other on TV. Gritty, real, heartbreaking, yet often full of hope, this drama was a slam-dunk choice for our list and is one of television's finest hours. (Note to NBC: don't even THINK about not renewing this show for a second season!)
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Planet Earth
We may be living on Earth, but there's a lot of our planet that even the most adventurous of us will never see or experience. "Planet Earth," though, is the next best thing. The first natural history series to be shot entirely with high-definition technology, "Planet Earth" lets viewers discover their home planet like they've never seen it before. There's magnificent footage of rare, almost mythical animals interacting with their habitats, as well as breathtaking views of locations from all across the globe. You'll laugh at the strange dancing birds of paradise, your heart will break when the blind baby elephant gets lost in a sandstorm, and your adrenaline will soar each time a diver descends into the depths of a dark cave. Viewers are given an up close and personal learning experience where all the most astounding secrets and details of Earth and its inhabitants are examined. This epic journey will leave you amazed and in awe of the natural beauty and wonder Earth has to offer.
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Lost
No one was quite prepared for "Lost" to become the mega-hit that it did. Although co-creator J.J. Abrams had won fans with his spy thriller "Alias," the premise of "Lost" didn't excite people at first, and the cast didn't offer much in the way of name recognition (with the possible exception of "Lord of the Rings'" Dominic Monaghan). What emerged, though, was a fiendishly well-planned psychological thriller with crackling dialogue, a dash of sci-fi, and a multi-ethnic ensemble cast with enough chemistry to detonate a small city. This season has been all about the "Others," and while the initial episodes caused quite a few fans to drift away and find other things to do on Wednesday nights, by mid-season the writers had reestablished their stranglehold on the audience as Desmond revealed that Charlie was doomed to die, two secondary characters flirted with the spotlight only to be buried alive, and Sawyer was emotionally manipulated into killing Locke's father for him. What sets the show apart from nearly every other drama is that - according to rumor anyway - the rough progression of its entire six-season run was planned out from the start, so there’s no need for the creators to pull rabbits out of hats to keep the storyline alive. It unfolds slowly, torturously, promising that all the mysteries of the island will be revealed ... but not a moment before their time.
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Dexter
As if "House" weren't already pushing the envelope when it comes to unsympathetic lead characters, this unique new series stars a murderous sociopath in search of a normal life. At a very young age, Dexter Morgan was adopted by a police officer, and luckily for Dexter his new father recognized in him the signs of a future serial killer. Dexter's father then trained him to channel his murderous urges toward people who deserved them, i.e., other murderers. The genius of this show is the way that it wins the audience's sympathy toward a character who should be the story's villain. What makes Dexter appealing is that although he doesn’t understand human emotion, he genuinely wants to – in one chilling scene, he asks a couple how they make their relationship work, listens to their answers, thanks them for their help, and then slits their throats. Above all, the audience can't help but notice that the people he chooses to kill are so vile that any sane person would want them dead. The show also makes use of classic suspense and surprise, exemplified in the cat-and-mouse game between Dexter and the "Ice truck killer." All in all it's a fascinating watch ... though perhaps not for the faint of heart.
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30 Rock
This sitcom stumbled and sputtered through its first few episodes and then all at once found its wings and soared, delivering one of the funniest half-hours on TV each week. "30 Rock" introduced a lexicon of one-liners that fans raced to the message boards with to relive and re-laugh. Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is the everywoman - if every woman ran her own network sketch-comedy show. She is a brainy, insecure, food-fixated, easily manipulated, single, cynical, hard-ass workaholic ("All I want to do is go home, eat a hunk of cheddar cheese and put on that little people show"). Her new boss is Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), a no-nonsense corporate suit who is unpredictably loveable ("God, it's like dating Katie Couric all over again. I didn't use you. I created a situation that could have been mutually beneficial and you blew it."). And the cast is rounded out perfectly by show staffers like the chemically imbalanced Tracy Jordan ("If you get rich off this stuff just take care of my family. I don't want my kids to have to go to college"), the over-eager and naive Kenneth ("Didn't you tell me to live every week like it's Shark Week? And that nothing's impossible except dinosaurs?"), and the shallow but harmless Jenna ("Kabbalah is a wonderful religion that mixes the fun part of Judaism with magic"). Everyone is so perfectly quirky and flawed that you can't help but laugh with them, and then at them, and then with them again.
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Heroes
In just one season, the TV phenomenon "Heroes" has already taken the world by storm. The forward momentum of its arresting storyline keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, wanting to learn more about the characters, their amazing powers, their hidden connections, and how they fit into the big overarching mystery. The sci-fi drama boasts an attractive ensemble of sympathetic characters with vivid, comic-book appeal. Most notably, we've fallen head over heals for the time-traveling Japanese office worker Hiro and his loyal friend/sidekick Ando. Dark, dense and off-the-wall, "Heroes" may be one of TV's most imaginative creations this year. Filled with just the right touches of blood and gore, cliffhangers and three-dimensional villains, "Heroes" is a skillfully constructed serial. The show's catchphrases ("Save the Cheerleader, Save the World"; "Are you on the list?"; "Someone flies, Someone dies"; "No One Is Safe") have been readily assimilated into pop culture, while the twist endings and relentless reversals make constant water cooler fodder. Any show that can make our jaw drop week after week deserves to be on a "best of" list.
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Dancing With the Stars
There is nothing hip or cool about this show. Even the title drips with cheese. The men wear tight, shiny unitards, and the ladies wear feathers and sequins and green-glitter eye shadow. But what makes "Dancing with the Stars" absolute genius is that while everyone is in on the joke, turning the goofy-factor up to 11 with the spray-on tans, over-the-top gyrations and gimmicky stunts, it is still a fierce competition -- all for a disco-ball trophy. And as a member of the audience, you can't help but be drawn in and blown away by what mere mortals can accomplish in one week as the "stars" give it all they've got. Having said all that, what really put "DWTS" into our Best Shows list, winning out over other popular reality-based competitions, is that the "Dancing" results show is freaking fantastic. Not your typical self-indulgent filler, this results show is a vaudevillian spectacle with dancing, singing and laugh-out-loud comedic skits. Whoever dreamed up Jimmy Kimmel Dance Lessons is our new hero. P.S. Go Joey! I mean, Laila! I mean, Apolo!
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The Office
With the original British version of "The Office," Ricky Gervais co-wrote and starred in fourteen of the most highly-regarded episodes of television comedy ever. The American version had already made twice as many shows by the time it began its third season, yet creator Greg Daniels and his writers have kept the series vibrant. Their secret: keeping true to the original's format while expanding the depth of its characters. At the heart of its success, of course, is Steve Carell, who is so committed to his character Michael that we feel for him even though his narcissism causes him to bungle everything he touches. Meanwhile, everyman Jim Halpert is back in town after a change of office scenery at the start of the season. His relationship with officemate Karen once again proves the writers' ability to keep things fresh, as it has reversed the "Jim pining for Pam" tension that the show sustained for two seasons. Even the adversarial relationship between Jim and the delightfully creepy Dwight was shaken up when Dwight defended Jim from Pam’s ex-fiancé. Now, with Michael coming out of a borderline-abusive romance with his boss Jan, suspicions arising over Dwight and Angela's secret affair, and the Jim-Pam-Karen triangle finally coming to a head, the oddball comedy about a humdrum workplace is becoming as compelling as any drama. Watch a few episodes of "The Office," and not only will you believe once again in the power of the sitcom, but you may find yourself with a new appreciation for your own coworkers!
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Battlestar Galactica
It's not about the spaceships. (Watch video) Don't get me wrong; there's nothing more thrilling than watching Cylon raiders come slicing through space like the Reaper's own scythes to trade fiery blasts with a flock of Galactica Vipers. But here the similarity to "Star Trek" ends. This high-budget twenty-first century re-imagining of "Battlestar Galactica" - a multilayered struggle to the death between humans and the Cylons they created - is a frighteningly relevant epic about war, faith, the military, terrorism, and desperation. But more than that, "Battlestar" is about the people who sweat and bleed and gamble and drink and search for meaning in the middle of it all. Because of the sci-fi setting, "Battlestar" can explore hellishly touchy modern themes (such as military occupations and suicide bombings) with a kind of unflinching, gritty realism that forces its audience to see both sides of every issue. The same viewers who might tune out current events will sit and watch spellbound as a son defends a corrupt president in his father's own courtroom or a terrorist executes his own wife for aiding the occupying military force (and hey, he's one of the good guys!). Thrilling, complex, and uncompromising, "Battlestar" is a show that truly has to be seen to be believed.
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House
Dr. Gregory House of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital has to be one of the most fascinating lead characters of recent television. A brilliant yet miserable diagnostician with a bum leg, Dr. House isn't your typical tortured soul pleading for redemption and the love of a good woman. All he wants is his next "fix" – be it another Vicodin or another medical mystery solved. His stubborn refusal to grow past his misery would make him impossible to love if it weren't for his charm, his scruffy good looks, and most of all, his clever, razor-edged, no-holds-barred, "he did NOT just say that" wit. House alone could carry the show, but once you add in some genuinely fascinating medical details and a team of well-drawn and complicated supporting characters, you have a show that keeps its viewers tuning in week after week. Plus, during the scenes with patients, it's always fun to try and guess what's going to suddenly come pouring out of what orifice. Each week, whether House is getting ready to slice into a guy's belly with no anesthesia or advising a doomed father to commit suicide so his son can have his healthy heart, "House" always promises plenty of moral ambiguity, medical oddity, sharp banter, and human drama.
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How I Met Your Mother
In a time when the classic sitcom seems all but dead, it's refreshing to find a show like "How I Met Your Mother," which is true to the age-old "formula" while striking just the right chord with today's twenty- and thirty-somethings. With Bob Saget as the uncredited voiceover, this smartly written comedy makes good use of flashbacks to illustrate the unique stories of this well-balanced cast of characters. Probably the one factor that pushes the show over the edge from "good" to "great" is Barney, the unforgettable secondary character played by Neil Patrick Harris. Overall it is the people, not the premise, that make this show laugh-out-loud funny. By turns heartwarming and snarky, the show's humor stems from its relationships. One of the best episodes revolves around Barney and Marshall's bet that they can guess the details of Robin's secret Canadian past. Both have to admit defeat when it's revealed that she was a pop star. This unpredictable quality is part of what makes "How I Met Your Mother" one of the year's best shows ... and gives us hope for the future of the sitcom.
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Grey's Anatomy
Before we go any further, we'd like to set the record straight. We, too, are in complete agreement that the "Grey's Anatomy" three-part ferry-crash-Meredith-almost-dying episodes were less than stellar. They played like a poor, drawn out "ER" understudy and EVERYONE knew that they weren't going to actually kill off the show's main character, so the shocker element jumped ship just as some say the show itself has. A telltale sign that something is wrong is when the only redeeming factor of the episodes was the brief return of the rugged, beloved Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and EMT Dylan Young (Kyle Chandler). Despite the disastrous disaster trilogy, "Grey's Anatomy" earns a place on our list because we absolutely loved the first half of the season. The doctors' emotions ran high and their personal lives made them constantly question their abilities as doctors. Izzie was still reeling from Denny's death (instead of fiending for her penisfish George), Meredith had to choose between McVet and McDreamy, Addison was drunk and in sweats trying to cope with the demise of her marriage, Alex realized that plastic surgery might not be his calling after all, the Chief dyed his hair in an effort to move on after his divorce, Bailey opened the clinic, Cristina dealt with Burke's career-threatening injury (by the way, Cristina's voiceover in the season's ninth episode was a refreshing change and should happen a lot more) and George's father passed away. Here's hoping that "Grey's Anatomy" will stick to unearthing these diverse characters and their intense relationships and steer clear of disaster-related melodrama.
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Ugly Betty
Over the top, campy, bright pastel colors, soap-opera twists, and oh yes, a back-from-the-dead transsexual. What's not to love?! In what easily could have been a one-note caricature, Betty shows that she's not just a style-challenged idealist but also an everywoman who proves that a good attitude, compassion, humor, and a strong sense of worth can overcome even the most intimidating work environment. Acceptance is the real buzzword for this show, whether it's the Suarez clan accepting nephew Justin just as he is or Betty begrudgingly getting the respect (despite endless teasing) of catty co-workers Amanda and Marc. Speaking of Amanda, this girl is our favorite scene-stealer. Whether she's binging on donuts and flan or "converting" a gay up-and-coming fashion designer, this receptionist/sexpot is always ready with a biting comment or snappy comeback. Spinoff anyone? More than anything, this show is sheer fun, and for that reason alone it deserves kudos and a spot on our list.
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Brothers & Sisters
The trials and tribulations of the Walker family (5 siblings plus mother Nora, Uncle Saul, one half-sister and various in-laws and kids) are always entertaining, whether it's the cops catching 60-year old Nora smoking pot in her car with a friend, or gay brother Kevin's tentative romance with a closeted soap star. The Walkers fight just like any other family, but there's always an undercurrent of love and fierce loyalty on display as well. Oldest sister Kitty's conservative leanings are a good springboard for debate and drama with her family, as is her relationship with Senator McAllister (Thanks, ABC, for bringing Rob Lowe back to network TV!) A poignant mix of tragedy (father William's tragic passing in the pilot, Justin's struggles with drug and alcohol addiction) and comic insanity (Nora and her husband's mistress Holly's unforgettable food fight), this is a family pretty much everyone can relate to, and even want to be a part of.
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Veronica Mars
Look, we knew it was highly unlikely that The CW would give us a fourth season of "Veronica Mars," which makes this entry into our Best Shows list bittersweet. This is the last time we will ever (sob) write about (weep) what is easily one of the sexiest, hippest mysteries on the small screen. This season (Season 3) our young heroine brought her part-time sleuthing, full-time wise-cracking to the campus of Hearst College where she helped locate a stolen guitar, a football playbook, a lost brother, a lab monkey and, oh yeah, a rapist and a murderer. Meanwhile the girl's got some serious relationship drama with her boyfriend Logan, who is not averse to lying and cheating, breaking up, and then dating the enormously generic dorm-mate of her best friend. We love this show for the same reason we love Veronica - it's original, spunky and has great hair.
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Rome
The second and final season of HBO's ode to ancient times definitely seemed to hit the fast-forward button (Octavian aged miraculously before our eyes and even morphed into a new actor; the Cleopatra-Marc Antony love story accelerated at warp speed as well), but all this did was ratchet up the drama, backstabbing and hedonistic pleasures that make this show such a visual masterpiece. Several storylines long in the telling were wrapped up nicely (the parentage of Caesarion, the murder of Eirene, the fierce rivalry between Atia and Servilia). What was once a guilty pleasure turned into a can't miss, edge-of-your seat story that left us breathless with anticipation for the next episode. Even though "Rome" took place thousands of years ago, the lessons and morals still resonate today. Watching "Rome" made learning history a delicious treat.
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