The Critics List : Best of 2010

1. Mad Men
2. Breaking Bad
3. Boardwalk Empire
4. Community
5. The Good Wife
6. Louie
7. Modern Family & Parks and Recreation
9. 30 Rock
10. Lost
11. Terriers
12. Treme
13. Friday Night Lights
14. Fringe & The Pacific
16. True Blood
17. Rubicon
18. Dexter
19. The Walking Dead
20. Justified

The Critics List : Best of 2009

1. Mad Men
2. Modern Family
3. Lost
4. Nurse Jackie
5. Breaking Bad
6. Friday Night Lights
7. Glee
8. True Blood
9. Big Bang Theory
10. Parks and Recreation
11. Dexter
12. Battlestar Galactica
13. Men of a Certain Age
14. Big Love
15. The Good Wife
16. Sons of Anarchy
17. 30 Rock
18. Torchwood
19. Chuck
20. Fringe

The Critics List: Best of 2008

Time for a new list to let you know what TV shows the critics think you should be watching. This year the top ten lists of thirteen critics were taken into account.

1. Mad Men
2. Lost
3. The Wire
4. The Shield
5. The Daily Show & The Colbert Report
6. 30 Rock
7. In Treatment
8. The Rachel Maddow Show
9. Battlestar Galactica
10. Breaking Bad
11. Dexter
12. Fringe
13. John Adams
14. Life
15. Chuck
16. Friday Night Lights
17. The Big Bang Theory
18. House
19. Pushing Daisies
20. Dr Horribles Sing-Along Blog / The Sons of Anarchy

Mad Men continues to dominate the critics lists by a significant margin with an equally successful second season, and surprisingly Lost achieves its best position since way back in 2005 when it was still at number one.

We bid a fond farewell to The Wire, The Shield, Friday Night Lights and Pushing Daisies, all shows which have consistently appeared on these lists and the latter two of which are ending well before their time. Sniff.

I don't normally take note of political or current events shows (aside from The Daily Show & The Colbert Report of course), but this year The Rachel Maddow Show was so prominent on the lists that it simply couldn't be ignored. As a Brit I have no idea who this woman is, but she sure seems popular with TV critics.

With a number of acclaimed popular series drawing to a close, there are also a handful of brand new shows to check out. Ingenius HBO psychodrama In Treatment, AMC's drug-fuelled romp Breaking Bad, JJ Abram's new scifi show Fringe and biker drama The Sons of Anarchy are the ones which break the top twenty. Meanwhile, shows from last year such as Life, Big Bang Theory and Chuck seem to have endeared themselves to the critics with their second years and all make their first apperance.

Critically-acclaimed comedy 30 Rock still performs strongly. Battlestar Galactica was suspiciously absent from last years list (was the climax of Season 3 too bizarre even for the critics?), but comfortingly it returns in the top ten this year. Dexter is one show which isn't ranked quite as high as I would like this year, and House is just barely hanging in there as it lumbers on with its fifth season.

Notable absences include Heroes, which the critics continue to find as wearisome as I do, and two of the best comedy shows around; The Office and South Park. I would also mention the final season of Peep Show, but it may not even air in the US for all I know.

Also worth mentioning is the presence of mini-series John Adams, and the absence of Generation Kill. And how sweet is it that Dr Horribles Sing-Along Blog made the cut?

Breaking Bad (New AMC show)

It's good that despite the WGA situation we still have decent collection of new shows coming out this January. The latest comes from AMC (originally American Movie Classics, but the full name is rarely used these days due to a shift towards a more diverse schedule), who brought us "Mad Men", probably the most critically-acclaimed show of last year.

With "Breaking Bad", AMC may well have established themselves up alongside HBO, NBC and Showtime as one of the leading purveyors of quality original programming. This show was created by writer/producer Vince Gilligan ("The X-Files", "The Lone Gunmen"), and the pilot episode is the best I've seen since "Pushing Daisies" last year.

The story itself is one that's been told many times before; a disillusioned, put-upon man has an epiphany and decides that he's mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore. But rarely is it done quite this well. In the case, the man in question is a high school chemistry teacher played by Bryan Cranston (the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, really superb in this role), who has his epiphany once he is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, and decides to provide for his family, and inject some excitement into his own life, by starting his own meth lab.

It seems to me that there's enough talent on this show to keep up the high quality in further episodes, and I'll be watching with great interest to see how this show develops.

Sarah Connor Chronicles Actually Pretty Good Shocker!

Since the success of Battlestar Galactica, television networks have been trying their darndest to resurrect classic science fiction franchises. Even the Sci Fi Channel humiliated themselves last year with their embarrassingly-bad misguided take on Flash Gordon, while NBC's Bionic Woman failed to work her robo-magic on the critics.

It seems unlikey that the best venture so far would arrive from FOX, but that's the wacky world of television for you. I was expecting The Sarah Connor Chronicles to be awful, but as it turns out it has a surprising amount in common with the films, notably the sharp writing, good characterisation and pulsing action sequences. The series is set inbetween the second and third films, and out of all the trilogy it has the most in common with Terminator 2 : Judgement Day. This is undoubtably a good thing, since that was the best installment.

It is, I'll admit, a complete cash-in, but it's a cash-in made by people who seem to love and truly understand the nature of James Cameron's vision (much more so than Terminator 3). I urge you to take a look at this show.

The Critics List : Best of 2007

I thought I'd just remind you what you're missing out on thanks to the writers strike. This list is compiled from the top ten lists which prominent TV critics put out at the end of every year, and this year there were twenty lists taken into account. Here we go:

1. Mad Men
2. 30 Rock
3. The Sopranos
4. Pushing Daisies
5. Dexter
6. Friday Night Lights
7. Damages
8. Planet Earth
9. House
10. The War
11. Lost
12. The Shield
13. Flight of the Conchords
14. Big Love
15. Ugly Betty
16. Extras
17. Tell Me You Love Me
18. Reaper
19. Rome
20. Burn Notice

This year the shows which critics seemed to pick without exception were Mad Men, 30 Rock and of course the final season of The Sopranos. The first two were a big surprise to me, I haven't even been watching Mad Men and didn't really how insanely popular it was with critics, although I should have known that the brain child of a "Sopranos" writer would be worth watching. I've never been a massive fan of 30 Rock but it seems it's very much won the critics over in its second year. House has also had a popular year, performing almost as well as it did in its first season.

Aside from 30 Rock its also been a good year from brand new comedies, with the brilliant Pushing Daisies up at number four, as well as the clever Flight of the Conchords and the charming Reaper which both sneaked their way onto the list. The only new dramas to make the list were Damages and Tell Me You Love Me, although Californication and Gossip Girl came close. It's also great to see two documentaries, Planet Earth and The War, both make the top ten.

Two of my favourite shows, Dexter and Friday Night Lights, continue to perform extremely well but there are also some notable absences from this list. The Office didn't quite make the top twenty, and bizarrely Battlestar Galactica appeared on hardly any lists. Heroes didn't even get a single vote, which surprised me to be honest. I know it's gone downhill, but you'd expect at least SOMEbody to pick it.

Otherwise it's really nothing too surprising this year ... well done Lost for somehow hanging on there in mid-table, and well done the critics for giving the brilliant UK comedy show Extras a place on their lists.

WGA Nominations

Apparently the writer's guild being on strike only gives them all the more time for self-congratulation, which is nice. Yesterday they came out with their annual nominations for their television awards, and they pretty much read like a list of my favourite shows. I'm going to have to start following these awards every year.

As you'd expect, HBO and NBC more or less have everything wrapped up.

Dramatic Series
Dexter--Showtime
Friday Night Lights--NBC
Mad Men--AMC
The Sopranos--HBO
The Wire--HBO

Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm--HBO
Flight Of The Conchords--HBO
The Office--NBC
30 Rock--NBC
Entourage--HBO

New Series
Damages--FX
Flight Of The Conchords--HBO
Mad Men--AMC
Pushing Daisies--ABC
The Sarah Silverman Program--Comedy Central

Episodic Drama
"Final Grades" (The Wire), Teleplay by David Simon; Story by David Simon & Ed Burns; HBO
"The Second Coming" (The Sopranos), Written by Terence Winter; HBO
"The Round File" (The Closer), Written by Michael Alaimo; TNT
"Flashes Before Your Eyes" (Lost), Written by Damon Lindelof & Drew Goddard; ABC
"The Hobo Code" (Mad Men), Written by Chris Provenzano; AMC
"The Dark Defender" (Dexter), Written by Tim Schlattmann; Showtime

Episodic Comedy
"Pie-Lette" (Pushing Daisies), Written by Bryan Fuller; ABC
The Job (The Office), Written by Paul Lieberstein & Michael Schur; NBC
"Negotiation" (30 Rock), Written by Matt Hubbard; NBC
"Local Ad" (The Office), Written by B.J. Novak; NBC
"Phyllis's Wedding" (The Office), Written by Caroline Williams; NBC
"Sally Returns" (Flight of the Conchords); Written by James Bobin & Jemaine Clement & Bret McKenzie; HBO

Animation - Episode
"The Haw-Hawed Couple" (The Simpsons), Written by Matt Selman; FOX
"The Homer of Seville" (The Simpsons), Written by Carolyn Omine; FOX
"Kill Gil Volumes 1&2" (The Simpsons), Written by Jeff Westbrook; FOX
"Stop or My Dog Will Shoot!" (The Simpsons), Written by John Frink; FOX
"The Passion of the Dauterive" (King of the Hill), Written by Tony Gama-Lobo & Rebecca May; FOX
"Lucky's Wedding Suit" (King of the Hill), Written by Jim Dauterive; FOX

Best Halloween Episodes 2007

5. House, "Guardian Angels"

House and his new cohort have to treat a patient who keeps seeing dead people. Spooky, and effective. Rolling into it's fourth season, this show still has plenty of ammunition to surprise us with.

4. Supernatural, "Bedtime Stories"

Okay, so this episode only made one fleeting reference to halloween, but lets face it; all Supernatural episodes are halloween episodes. And this one more than most.

The populace of a small town start acting out Grimm brothers fairy tales with gruesome results. It has something to do with the ghostly spectre of a little girl. Macho spirit-hunting ensues.

3. The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror XVIII"

Sooner or later they're going to run out of roman numerals, right?

Another alien invasion story, a take on "Mr & Mrs Smith", and another Flanders-as-the-devil segment. Looks like they're still struggling to come up with new ideas for this show. But this episode did make me smile a few times.

2. Reaper, "Leon"

The devil on halloween; "I detest it with every fiber of my being. It’s the commercialization of evil. the one day when not a soul on Earth fears me, or even believes in me. I become a party gag. A plastic mask."

True words, true words. This episode marks the first departure from the formulaic 'monster of the week' standard plotline for the show, as there are actually two escaped souls that feature in this thrilling halloween episode. Plus it has a werewolf-dog-thing, so it must be good.

1. Pushing Daisies, "Girth"

It's almost spooky how this show continues to stay fresh. Kind of like those rotten strawberries that Ned 'resurrects' for his pies.

Turns out Ned has problems with halloween, ever since the year he realised that his father was a complete loser. But thanks to the arrival of a murderous 'ghost jockey', this halloween may well be his worst yet.

The Best Show on Television

It's like with books, where you've got popular fiction and literary fiction. Popular fiction is the stuff that gets churned out for the masses, generally using tried-and-tested formulas and familiar genres to deliver a particular entertainment product to an eagerly awaiting market. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's generally considered limited in terms of artistic merit. Then on the other hand you've got literary fiction, where the author offers a truly original artwork with an engaging insight into the human experience. That's the serious stuff.

Literary television is a rare thing, simply because it doesn't generally equal great ratings. But in recent years there has been quite a surge of it, mostly due to the existence of HBO (see : The Wire, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Rome). The only problem is, most of those shows have ended or are about to end. Looking at the current shows that might continue to carry the flag, two spring to mind and neither of them are HBO shows. The first is, oddly enough, a network show named Friday Night Lights, but the second is yet another cable show, which I consider to the best television show currently airing.

The first season of Dexter was dubbed as everything from "mediocre" to "grotesque" by its detractors, but generally the critics agreed that it was one of the best new shows of the year (in most cases second only to the aforementioned Friday Night Lights). In twelve episodes from October to December 2006 we entered the mind of Dexter Morgan, a serial serial killer killer. No, that wasn't a typo. A serial killer who kills serial killers. If another character shows up who hunts down and kills people like Dexter, he'd be a serial serial serial killer killer killer.

Anyway, we went on to delve into Dexter's past and childhood, learning how he came to be the way he is. There were some scenes in the final episodes which ranked not only as the best television moments of the year, but of all time. The second season, currently airing, moves things forward in suitably unpredictable directions and continues to develop all of the characters in the show. Nothing happens to these characters that doesn't affect them in some way, and nothing about them feels false.

At the moment it's cable that seems to be the haven for television of this calibre, but if Friday Night Lights keeps soldiering on then the networks, and the viewers, may eventually begin to see the light. Otherwise I say we unleash Dexter on them.

Urgh.

So yeah, the bad news is that the british sitcom Spaced is getting remade as an american show. The good news is that it's being made by Fox, which means it'll only last about four episodes or so before getting cancelled.

As far as I know there's only been one case in history where a british show has been successfully converted by an american network, and that was The Office. The most amusing incident was when a network bought the rights to americanise the show Coupling, not realising that Coupling was just a britishised version of Friends (and not a particularly good one). We now live in a world where television networks are just trading the same retooled ideas back and forth across the atlantic.

The main difference between the remake of The Office and the new Spaced remake is that the creators of the former, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, supported the idea of the american version. It's not the same story here, with Spaced co-creater Edgar Wright coming out with a rather bitchy blog entry where he makes clear that he only heard about the remake through the grapevine, and nobody even approached him to discuss the idea.

If anyone was ever going to miss the point a show like Spaced, two names come to mind. McG, and Will & Grace's Adam Barr; the only two names who have been thus far mentioned in connection with the show. We can all have a pretty good idea of the kind of show they'd see in Spaced, the kind of show they want to make, and to be honest I don't even know why they bothered buying the rights and calling it Spaced.

I'm with Edgar Wright in henceforth referring to the new version as McSpaced.