To those of you who may actually be reading this outside of the United States, feel free to skip this blog and return when I release my Top Movies List of 2004, or whenever I need you to send money to my offshore Cayman bank account (ha ha, just kidding IRS.) The rest of you, take a gander at this and feel free to offer up your own suggestions. This list contains only shows that aired new episodes during the 2004 calendar year on a television network that could be seen by at least 30 million homes in the United States (warning - spoliers contained within):
1. The Sopranos (HBO) Show runner/executive producer: David Chase Last year: 2nd
The greatest television drama of the medium's modern era (which I consider the dawn of widespread cable, around 1982 or so to the present) had arguably its finest season yet. The murder of the hapless Adrianna was only the most heartbreaking moment from a year full of well-executed metaphors, riveting family drama and typical black humor. And star James Gandolfini, always excellent, had his best year yet playing complicated boss Tony Soprano.
2. Lost (ABC) Show runner/executive producer: J.J. Abrams Last year: not on air
While his silly spy show Alias seems to be trying to redefine itself every year (as the crazy plot twists get increasingly hard to believe, let alone follow), this Gilligan's Island-meets-The Lost World drama gets more addicitive with each episode. The flashbacks into the main character's pre-plane crash lives are actually well done and surprisingly poignant. Matthew Fox takes the potential he showed in the soapy Party of Five and parlays it into a sexy portrayal of a character so likeable, so real, we could watch him play it on TV for ten years and not tire of him.
3. America's Next Top Model (UPN) Show runners: Tyra Banks & Ken Mok. Last year: 5th.
TV's best reality show is not as guilty a pleasure as it may first seem, thanks to the willingness of Banks and her cohorts to come up with cunning new ways to torture their genetically gifted, but oh-so-clueless contestants. Also, if there is a bitchier, more entertaining milieu than the world of high fashion modeling, I've never seen it.
4. The Daily Show (Comedy Central) Host/head writer: Jon Stewart. Last year: 4th
It's sad when the most penetrating hard news analysis on television comes from a satire of hard news, but that's the state of the American mainstream news media in 2004-05. Bonus points for Stewart putting the pompous Tucker Carlson and the prattling Paul Begala in their places on their own CNN show Crossfire, which was the single most delicious television moment of 2004.
5. The Shield (FX) Show runner: Shawn Ryan. Last year: 3rd
Hands down, the best cop drama on TV, precisely because it picks up where NYPD Blue left off several years ago--showing that cops are human, sometimes bad, sometimes good, often within the same skin. This past season, the focus at times moved away from compelling bad cop Vic Mackey allowing several supporting characters (especially squirrelly Walton Goggins) to shine.
6. Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS) Show runner: Phil Rosenthal. Last year: 1st
TV's top-rated comedy is cruising towards its finale in May 2005 (and the inevitable, inferior spinoff--see Friends and Joey) but it hasn't yet lost it's pungency even within the standard family sitcom format it helped repopularize. Truthfully, it's hangdog brother Robert (Brad Garrett) who more often or not steals almost every episode.
7. The Amazing Race (CBS) Executive producer: Jerry Bruckheimer. Last year: not mentioned
Easily the most amazingly produced and executed weekly television series, the Race puts people into a global chase which inevitably brings out both the best and the worst in all of the contestants. Compelling even when you don't watch it every week or know who all the characters are.
8. Deadwood (HBO) Show runner: David Milch Last year: not on TV
Milch, the cynical, Mamet-esque wordsmith who previously wrote some of television's most realistic dialogue on cop shows like NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues, returned last year with TV's first "blue" Western, a compelling, at times maddening, portrayal of life in the early days of Deadwood, South Dakota. With The Sopranos and Six Feet Under heading into their last seasons, HBO's drama franchise looks to be in good hands with Deadwood.
9. Sex & the City (HBO) Show runner: Michael Patrick King Rank in 2003: 5th
A fond farewell to television's most romantic (and salacious) series which also presented a heartfelt, glorious vision of New York both pre and post-9/11. These gals will be missed--although at least Carrie finally got her Mr. Big.
10. 24 (Fox) Show runners: Joel Surnow & Howard Gordon. Rank in 2003: 8th
Coming up with a way to tell one overarching story about a global or national threat, broken down into 24 individual consecutive one hour "real time" mini-dramas has to be the greatest storytelling challenge on television, so back off of 24 when they produce their inevitable red herrings, Macguffins and ambiguous dead ends. 24 is about payoff, which no other television drama does better and it's about Kiefer Sutherland who is not afraid to show us the humanity (and the moral ambiguity) behind what could have been an almost superhuman TV spy character. The new season starts in two weeks.
Honorable mentions: Nip/Tuck (FX), Arrested Development (Fox), CSI- the original (CBS), SpongeBob Squarepants (Nickelodeon - here's a hint: it's not really for the kids), The West Wing (NBC).
And, as a bonus, the three worst shows on television that I've seen:
1. The O'Reilly Factor (Fox News) - Certainly no factor if you want truthful reporting or any kind of host integrity.
2. Yes, Dear (CBS) - I'm still waiting for someone to admit they watch this show on a regular basis. Every episode I've seen made me cringe.
3. Quintuplets (Fox) - Leave it to Fox to produce one of TV's best and most innovative sitcoms (Arrested Development) as well as one of it's worst, this drivel entitled Quintuplets which manages to waste the considerable talents of Andy Richter. Oy...
Happy New Year and here's to better programming in 2005, despite the odds. When I catch up on my Quality Movie releases, look for my take on the year's top films.
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