TOP SEVEN TV SHOWS OF 2010

Now there is a reason why this is a Top Seven list rather than a Top Ten. I decided this should be for shows broadcast in 2010 and that I viewed in 2010. Three shows I watch on DVD I'm watching in a time delay (so don't tell me spoilers.) I watched the 2009 seasons in 2010 and won’t see the 2010 seasons until 2011 at the earliest. I’m pretty sure they would make the list if I was watching them when broadcast. So there are three less titles on the list in honor of MAD MEN, BREAKING BAD and DEXTER. (And these are all scripted shows, which explains the absence of CASH CAB and Oakland A’s games.)

1) LOST – Yeah, I had problems with the possible purgatory subplot, but that wasn’t the whole story, even in Season 6. No show has ever astonished me, made me cry or even laugh as hard as this show. I loved the characters, and not just because so many of them were so very pretty. And it was always so rewarding to see Linus punched in the face.

2) 30 ROCK – It’s amazing how this show still brings the funny in the fifth season. The Christmas episode alone would have earned this a place on the list with the Black Swans and Jack’s Christmas card (“Happy Holidays…Is what terrorists say, Merry Christmas”)

3) COMMUNITY – This almost took spot #2 and it may next year. Love the characters, Abed speaks the meta truth. Paint Ball and Zombie episodes were fantastic movie parodies while barely keeping within the confines of the world of sitcom.

4) THE PACIFIC –Maybe this would have a higher spot if I had finished the whole thing, but four episodes have earned it this spot. Hope to finish the show before 2011 and that more episodes are like Guadalcanal and less are like Melborne.

5) MODERN FAMILY – Now that LOST is gone, this may be the prettiest cast on television. And quite funny.

6) RAISING HOPE – The only new show on the list. (I like RUNNING WILDE, but it’s about to die and I also like HAWAII 5-O, but that’s because it’s awesome stupid.) Finds a nice balance between gross and sweet, hysterical and bizarre. Particularly like Garret Dillahunt who I’m used to as psycho killer (DEADWOOD and LIFE), but now is a zany sitcom dad (grand dad.)

7) CHUCK – The show is more than inconsistent, but when it’s on, it’s on. Plus Adam Baldwin. ‘Nuff said.

May TV be your friend in 2011. (But just one of your friends. Probably not your BEST friend.)