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?