Best of TV - Fall 2005 and Winter 2006 Season

I know. I'm a little late. Here it is:

Best of TV – The 2005-2006 TV Season

Remember, this is based on the old-school Fall – May Sweeps season so Entourage, Rescue Me and Weeds does not qualify. Nor does Sopranos or Big Love cause I just don’t get them here on my basic cable. (Feel free to make donations to get me Tivo and all the cable channels in the world).

I will say this. Particularly my top 4 shows, are pretty much interchangeable in the order. Since every week as soon as I watch Everwood on Mondays, it’s the BEST show, Veronica Mars on Tuesdays, it’s the BEST show, Lost on Wednesdays, it’s the BEST show, and The Office on Thursdays, it’s the BEST show. Alas, after much thought and debate (you wonder what I do all day at my jobs huh?), here is the final order and I’m sticking to it!


1. Everwood – Alas, it was the most human and humane drama of them all, simple, realistic and yet completely thrilling and emotionally draining and will be much missed. Four years and at this point, the Browns, the Abbotts, Hannah, Nina, hell, even Jake, became part my world, as we watched them live, make mistakes, yet still strive to become good people, albeit with a wicked sense of sarcasm.


2. The Office – The fact that I actually care about Creed, Toby, Phyllis, Kelly, Kevin, Stanley, Jan, Angela, Oscar on top of loving Dwight, Michael, Ryan, Pam and Jim makes you realize how deep into the lives of the employees of Dundler Mifflin this series has gotten over the past season. And all funny to watch!


3. Lost – Can you believe Season 2 only started out with the hatch? Pre Anna, Pre Desmond, Pre Mr. Eko, Pre Button pushing, Pre Henry Gale, Pre Dharma Initiative. Pre giant toes, Pre Libby, Pre Arctic foreigners, Pre gigantic . And you thought this show was SLOW? I beg to differ, as it slowly investigates each of these castaway survivors and their place in whatever world they are in. Does fate, logic, destiny or our own doing create the world we live in?


4. Veronica Mars – A bus crash, gang wars, a pedophile, 2 rapists, a bomber, con artists and of course, the aptly named rival detective Vinnie Van Lowe, and our favorite, Sherrif Lamb. Seriously, how much funnier and heartwarming can this show get? I’m being totally serious too! Kristen Bell leads off the show with charm and sass to spare, and is surrounded with the fantastic, though questionable characters around the town of Neptune, which makes this show not just a great detective show, but a great comedy, drama, mystery, action and romance as well. To those who haven’t seen the finale, and wanted to know who made the bus crash? They answer it in season 1 already, you just didn’t know it. Brilliant and Fun!


5. Grey’s Anatomy – We laugh, we cry, we want to throw things at Meredith. Finally a smart soap with imperfect characters that still resonate with us, in all its’ realities. A top notch cast that balances the dramatic pathos and the comedic high jinxes set within Seattle Grace Hospital headed by writer Shonda Rhimes.

6. Arrested Development – A perfect cast for hilarious absurdity. The fact that they went all out nuts, from Busters hook hand, George Michael and cousin Maeby (Oh I GET IT NOW… MAEBY maybe is not…)’s back and forth crushes, Tobias and Lindsay’s “marriage”… to the brilliant guest appearance from Charlize Theron. However, nothing topped the perfect series finale and Ann-yungs return.

7. Scrubs – Another perfect cast for more hilarious absurdity, this time with a dose of heart and moroseness. Zach Braff, Judy Reyes, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke make the best buddy/couple foursome with a bit of John C. Dr. Cox McGinley thrown in. Don’t forget The Todd, Dr. Kelso, Sam, Laverne, Jordan or The Janitor who round out Sacred Heart with sacred hearts. (You know I had to).


8. Gilmore Girls – I give it that this was an incredibly frustrating year, where as another internet post put it, Lorelai and Luke were possessed by aliens. At least that’s what must have been it to explain the inconsistencies in their characters actions. Still, leave it to Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson that even when we wanted to give them a nice smack in the head, we still wanted to hug them right after. The charms, the dialogue, the wonderful world of Stars Hollow had made us deeply care for these characters, to the point where when we saw them do wrong, it made us viewers mad in the real world. Lorelai and Rory’s fight for the first half of the season was true, wicked, and heartfelt, we just wish now they could find men who would treat them perfectly, and not realistically, the way Luke and Logan have actually been written. Still, throw in Sebastian Back singing Hollaback Girl and we still find ourselves adoring this show.


9. How I Met Your Mother – Neil Patrick Harris is BACK folks and at the top of his game as Barney, the soul sucking womanizing wanna-be who “suits up” for a “legen-...wait for it...and I hope you're not lactose-intolerant 'cause the second half of that word is...dairy” time. Add in perfect couple (so we think) Marshall and Lily and a charming lead in Josh Radnor, we get the next young people’s traditional (thought to be dead) sitcom that makes us laugh out loud and makes us care.


10. The Loop – Bret Harrison, Philip Baker Hall and Mimi Rogers in the corporate setting duking it out. Add a hilarious bitter Chinese secretary and you’ve got the perfect workplace comedy. Lose the home stuff, with lazy brother, kooky blonde roommate and the unrequited love, (granted, some of those scenes are still hilarious) and we have The Loop. Another crazy comedy from Fox that I thought would never last, but will be joining the American Idol lineup next year so please people. Give this a try.

11. The New Adventures of Old Christine
12. My Name is Earl
13. Everybody Hates Chris
14. Bones
15. Boston Legal
16. Love Monkey
17. Kitchen Confidential
18. The Amazing Race
19. Supernatural
20. Survivor: Exile Island
21. House
22. American Idol
23. ER
24. Without a Trace
25. Sons & Daughters

25.5 Desperate Housewives - Overall the story arcs have sucked but there are still some of the funniest lines and moments on.

25.7 Alias - Totally ridiculous 5 x over but that was always its curse yet its' asset.

Other Guilty Pleasures

Dancing with the Stars, Freddie, The OC, Out of Practice, the last 5 minutes of Extrememe Makeover: Home Edition.