Showing posts with label Best Television Shows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Best Television Shows. Show all posts

Monday, August 08, 2022

The Twenty-Five Best Shows of 2021-22


1. Only Murders in the Building 

2. Yellowjackets 

3. The Great 

4. The White Lotus 

5. Minx 

6. Ghosts 

7. The Dropout 

8. Vigil 

9. Abbott Elementary 

10. Girls5Eva 

11. Love Life 

12. Dopesick 

13. Hacks 

14. Leverage: Redemption 

15. Doom Patrol 

16. Dollface 

17. Single Drunk Female 

18. Reservation Dogs 

19. Peacemaker 

20. La Brea 

21. Made for Love 

22. Hawkeye 

23. Pivoting 

24. The Righteous Gemstones 

25. Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail


Shows that aired a majority of their season between August 2021 and June 2022 were eligible for this list.


Tuesday, August 10, 2021

The Twenty Best Television Shows of 2020-2021


1. Loki 1.x

2. The Mandalorian 2.x

3. The Flight Attendant 1.x

 4. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist 2.x

5. Mare of Easttown 1.x

6. Hacks 1.x

7. Cruel Summer 1.x 

8. This Way Up 2.x

9. Two Weeks to Live 1.x 

10. The Good Lord Bird 1.x

11. WandaVision 1.x

12. Made for Love 1.x

13. Cosmos: Possible Worlds

14. The Challenge: All Stars 

15. Dummy 1.x

16. Superstore 6.x

17. The Capture 1.x

18. Black Monday 3.x

19. Selena + Chef 1.x / 2.x

20. The Handmaid's Tale 4.x


Shows that aired a majority of their season between August 2020 and July 2021 were eligible for this list.

Monday, September 07, 2020

The Twenty Best Television Shows of 2019-2020



1. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist 1.x

2. The Great 1.x

3. Harley Quinn 1.x/2.x

4. The Good Place 4.x

5. Looking for Alaska 1.x

6. Dollface 1.x

7. Veronica Mars 4.x

8. Watchmen 1.x

9. Dickinson 1.x

10. G.L.O.W. 3.x

11. Castle Rock 2.x

12. Harlots 3.x

13. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 3.x

14. Normal People 1.x

15. The Outsider 1.x

16. Love Life 1.x

17. Little Fires Everywhere 1.x

18. This Way Up 1.x

19. Homeland 8.x

20. Impulse 2.x


Shows that aired a majority of their season between July 2019 and August 2020 were eligible for this list.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2017-2018



1. The Good Place 2.x (NBC)

2. GLOW 1.x (Netflix)

3. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt 3.x (Netflix)

4. The Handmaid’s Tale 2.x (Hulu)

5. Good Girls 1.x (NBC)

6. Future Man 1.x (Hulu)

7. Claws 1.x (TNT)

8. Shameless 8.x (Showtime)

9. Homeland 7.x (Showtime)

10. The Americans 6.x (FX)


Shows that aired a majority of their season between July 2017 and June 2018 were eligible for this list.

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

The Ten Best Shows of 2016-2017




1. The Handmaid's Tale 1.x (Hulu)

2. The Good Place 1.x (NBC)

3. Mr. Robot 2.x (USA)

4. Good Behavior 1.x (TNT)

5. Harlots 1.x (Hulu)

6. BrainDead 1.x (CBS)

7 Masters of Sex 4.x (Showtime)

8. Black-ish 3.x (ABC)

9. Angie Tribeca 3.x (TBS)

10. Billions 2.x (Showtime)


Shows that aired a majority of their season between July 2016 and June 2017 were eligible for this list.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2014-15



For my list of best shows of the year, I only consider shows that finished their seasons between July 2014 and June 2015 so the final season of Mad Men which stupidly was split into half season is finally eligible even though the season started almost seventeen months ago. What is not eligible is the show that topped last year's list Hannibal as it just started its third season. Here are the ten best shows that aired their episodes in the same twelve month periods.

1. Justified 7.x (FX)
2. Masters of Sex 2.x (Showtime)
3. Marvel's Agent Carter (ABC)
4. The Americans 3.x (FX)
5. Homeland 4.x (Showtime)
6. Parenthood 6.x (NBC)
7. Gotham 1.x (FOX)
8. Mad Men 7.x (AMC)
9. Blackish 1.x (ABC)
10. Orphan Black 3.x (BBC America)

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2013-14



For my list of best shows of the year, I only consider shows that air a majority of their episodes during the past year so I did not consider the most recent season of Mad Men which stupidly was split into half season with the remaining episodes not airing until spring of 2015. Here are the ten best shows that aired their episodes in the same twelve month periods.

1. Hannibal, Season 2 (NBC)

2. Justified, Season 5 (FX)

3. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (FOX)

4. Masters of Sex, Season 1 (Showtime)

5. The Blacklist, Season 1 (NBC)

6. Orphan Black, Season 2 (BBC America)

7. The Americans, Season 2 (FX)

8. Penny Dreadful, Season 1 (Showtime)

9. Parenthood, Season 5 (NBC)

10. Sons of Anarchy, Season 6 (FX)


And for fun, here are the shows that had the most Quotes and Songs of the Week from the past year.

Quotes of the Week:
Justified – 8
The Bridge – 6
Mad Men – 5
Homeland – 4
Shameless – 3
The Big Bang Theory – 2
Masters of Sex – 2
Once Upon a Time – 2
Orphan Black – 2
Penny Dreadful – 2
Pretty Little Liars – 2
Survivor – 2
The Challenge – 1
Community - 1
How I Met Your Mother – 1
King of the Nerds – 1
Nashville – 1
NFL Draft – 1
The Neighbors – 1
Ray Donovan – 1
The Sing-Off – 1
Tyrant – 1
Under the Dome – 1

Songs of the Week:
How I Met Your Mother – 6
Pretty Little Liars – 5
The Goldbergs – 4
The Americans – 3
Nashville – 3
Ray Donovan – 3
The Blacklist – 2
Growing Up Fisher – 2
Orphan Black - 2
Revenge – 2
Suburgatory – 3
The Big Bang Theory – 1
The Bridge – 1
Californication – 1
The Colbert Report – 1
Community - 1
Crisis – 1
Dominion – 1
House of Lies – 1
Mad Men – 1
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – 1
The Millers – 1
Perception – 1
Sons of Anarchy – 1
Tyrant – 1


Wednesday, July 03, 2013

The Best Television Shows of 2012-13



I have been making top ten lists of the best television shows of the year since 2006 and this is the first time ever that all ten spots went to dramas. Comedies really need to step their game up. Of the shows that used to be on this list, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, and How I Met Your Mother are just getting long in the tooth, Suburagtory suffered a sophomore slump, and the Dan Harmon-less Community was a disaster while newbies The Neighbors and Go On were solid, they just were not good enough. Here were the shows that were.

1. Justified Season 4 (FX)

2. Homeland Season 2 (Showtime)

3. Hannibal Season 1 (NBC)

4. Parenthood Season 4 (NBC)

5. The Americans Season 1 (FX)

6. Nashville Season 1 (ABC)

7. Mad Men Season 6 (AMC)

8. Bunheads (ABC Family)

9. Dallas Season 1 (TNT)

10. Sons of Anarchy Season 5 (FX)



After playing the bridesmaid for three straight seasons, Justified finally topped this list for the first time ever while FX took up two spots for the first time since I declared it the best network on television back in 2010 (which was also the last time Sons of Anarchy made the list). It also lifted FX over CBS for the third most shows on my best television shows list over the past eight years (12), just short of NBC (18) and ABC (15). CBS (11) is the only other network over five shows over that time. Now here are the shows that amassed the most Quote, Song, and Scene of the Week.

Quote of the Week
Pretty Little Liars – 5
Dallas – 4
Justified – 4
Mad Men – 4
Hannibal – 3
The Big Bang Theory - 2
Homeland – 2
Leverage – 2
The Neighbors – 2
Revenge – 2
2 Broke Girls – 1
Bunheads – 1
The Challenge – 1
Franklin and Bash – 1
Go On – 1
Grimm – 1
Happy Endings – 1
House of Lies – 1
Modern Family – 1
Nashville – 1
Parenthood – 1
Shameless – 1
Suburgatory – 1
Survivor – 1
The Walking Dead – 1
Weeds – 1

Song of the Week
Bunheads – 5
Suburgatory - 4
Go On – 3
The Neighbors – 3
The Americans – 2
Castle – 2
Community – 2
Covert Affairs – 2
Dallas – 2
House of Lies – 2
How I Met Your Mother – 2
Justified – 2
Mad Men – 2
Parenthood – 2
Pretty little Liars – 2
2 Broke Girls – 1
The Big Bang Theory - 1
Franklin and Bash – 1
Last Resort – 1
Nashville – 1
Once Upon a Time – 1
Shameless – 1
Sons of Anarchy – 1
Totally Biased – 1
The Walking Dead – 1
Weeds – 1

Scene of the Week
Bunheads – 8
Suburgatory – 7
The Neighbors – 6
Go On – 3
Hannibal – 3
Community – 2
Modern Family - 2
Parenthood – 2
Pretty Little Liars – 2
Don’t Trust the B---- in Apt. 23 – 1
Castle - 1
The Big Bang Theory – 1
Last Resort – 1
Nashville – 1
The Voice – 1

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Best Television Shows of 2011-12


The very first year I ranked television shows was the hardest to pick the best show as I wrestled between Veronica Mars and Lost (remember when Lost was actually a great show, that was a long time ago). Since then Veronica Mars and Friday Night Lights took the top crown every year. And with both shows off the air, I had a harder choice than that first year. So without further ado, the ten best shows of the past year.

1. Homeland, Season 1 (Showtime)

2. Justified, Season 3 (FX)

3. Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head, Season 8 (MTV)

4. Parenthood, Season 3 (NBC)

5. Suburgatory, Season 1 (ABC)

6. Revenge, Season 1 (ABC)

7. Mad Men, Season 5 (AMC)

8. Once Upon a Time, Season 1 (ABC)

9. The Big Bang Theory, Season 5 (CBS)

10. Community, Season 3 (NBC)





Below is a running tally for the past year of shows that had a Quote or Song of the week during my weekly television round up.

Quote of the Week
The Big Bang Theory – 7
Justified – 5
Rescue Me – 4
Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 –2
Friday Night Lights – 2
Homeland – 2
Leverage – 2
Modern Family – 2
Parenthood – 2
Survivor - 2
The Voice – 2
Weeds – 2
2 Broke Girls – 1
Castle – 1
The Challenge – 1
Community – 1
Dallas - 1
Death Valley – 1
Mad Men – 1
Pretty Little Liars – 1
Shameless – 1


Song of the Week
Mad Men – 5
Pretty Little Liars – 4
Suburgatory – 4
Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 – 3
How I Met Your Mother – 3
Community – 2
Friday Night Lights - 2
The Lying Game – 2
Modern Family – 2
Rescue Me – 2
Shameless – 2
2 Broke Girls – 1
Bent – 1
The Big Bang Theory – 1
Chuck – 1
Free Agents – 1
Happy Endings – 1
Homeland – 1
Justified – 1
Men at Work – 1
Parenthood – 1
Revenge - 1
Saturday Night Live – 1
Weeds – 1

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Best New Shows of Fall 2011


Every year after the hubbub of all the new shows has died down, I like to look back and see which shows liked up to expectations and which ones did not. The networks already did a good job thinning the heard already with The Playboy Club, Free Agents, Charlie’s Angels, How to Be a Gentlemen, and H8R already canceled and being left off the midseason schedules do not bode well for Pan Am, Man Up, and Prime Suspects. With the holiday break fast approaching here are the shows you should be catching up on while everything is in repeats and where you can catch up at.

1. Homeland (Showtime)
Not just the best new show of the season, but the best show currently on television (at least until Justified returns). The crazier Claire Danes gets, the better the show is.

2. Suburgatory (ABC) iTunesAmazon Instant Video - Hulu
Jane Levy is easily the breakout star of the season even if Emma Stone broke out with the same persona two years ago. And Dalia is easily the scariest thing on television, yes scarier than the zombies on The Walking Dead.

3. Revenge (ABC) iTunesAmazon Instant Video - Hulu
I basically only started watching this show for Amy Abbott and she remained the only character I actually care about, yet this show is still extremely addictive.

4. Once Upon a Time (ABC) iTunesAmazon Instant Video - Hulu
When I heard about this show (as well as Grimm) I was hoping for Pushing Daisies with fairytales but unfortunately we just got Lost with fairytales.

5. Two Broke Girls (CBS) CBS.com
Kat Dennings is comedy gold, but the rest of the cast certainly is not.


But who cares what I think, so I asked sometime contributor Doug, who apparently watched as many new shows this fall as I watched total, his thoughts and here is his favorite new shows of the fall.

1. 2 Broke Girls (CBS)
They need to get a new song for in-between songs. I'm already sick of it.

2. Revenge (ABC)
Classic trashy fun.

3. Suburgatory (ABC)

4. Ringer (The CW) iTunesAmazon Instant Video - Hulu
Have no idea how they can keep this show going longer than 1 season.

5. Hart of Dixie (The CW) iTunesAmazon Instant Video - Hulu
Cute throwback to the WB days. Hope The CW gives this time to develop.

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

The Best Television Shows of 2010-11


I usually like to post my best shows of the year list after the May finales but at that point The Killing was still in the middle of its season so I decided to delay it because how the season ended would play a role in how it would land on the list. But after actually seeing the finale it was all for naught because the show dropped itself out of the top ten (and the top twenty at that). But even without The Killing, AMC actually managed its first two series on my end of year list. So here are the ten that did not have a finale so bad I wanted to throw the remote at my television:

1. Friday Night Lights, Season 5 (DirecTV / NBC)

2. Justified, Season 2 (FX)

3. Parenthood, Season 2 (NBC)

4. The Big Bang Theory, Season 4 (CBS)

5. Community, Season 2 (NBC)

6. Terriers, Season 1 (FX)

7. Modern Family, Season 2 (ABC)

8. The Walking Dead, Season 1 (AMC)

9. Rubicon, Season 1 (AMC)

10. Leverage, Season 3 (TNT)



Below is a running tally of shows that landed a Quote or Song of the Week over the past year.

Quotes of the Week
The Big Bang Theory – 6
Friday Night Lights – 5
The Killing – 4
Community –3
Justified – 3
Rubicon – 3
Castle – 2
Chuck – 2
Modern Family – 2
Pardon the interruption – 2
Pretty Little Liars – 2
Rescue Me – 2
Glory Daze – 1
Greek – 1
How I Met Your Mother – 1
No Ordinary Family - 1
Survivor – 1
Terriers – 1
The Voice – 1
The Sing Off – 1
The Walking Dead – 1
Two and a Half Men – 1

Songs of the Week
Chuck – 4
Friday Night Light – 4
Community – 3
Parenthood – 3
Pretty Little Liars – 3
How I Met Your Mother – 2
Glory Daze – 2
Lights Out – 2
Modern Family – 2
Outsourced – 2
Rubicon – 2
Sons of Anarchy – 2
Terriers – 2
The Big Bang Theory – 2
Castle- 1
Covert Affairs – 1
Franklin and Bash – 1
Greek – 1
Memphis Beat – 1
No Ordinary Family – 1
Rescue Me – 1
Shameless – 1
Survivor - 1
The Voice – 1

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

The Best New Shows of Fall 2010


It seems like every other year, most people are complaining about how bad the new crop of shows are, and after the big buzz last year around Modern Family, Glee and Vampire Diaries, this year follows that tend with a dud of a season. Before we even went to the polls to vote in the midterm elections, we had already voted Lone Star and My Generation off our television with Outlaw and Undercovers joining the scrap heap once NBC burns off their remaining episodes. Thankfully cable saved us from the network slop with a few shows to talk about. Like I do every year, I invited some television blog buddies to help me compile a list, then take their votes, send them overseas, and this is the list that was sent back from India along with places where you can stream or download if you would like to catch up:

1. The Walking Dead (AMC) Hulu - iTunes

Sandie of Daemon’s TV says: It's on AMC, it has zombies in it, but it's really about the human condition. What's not to love?

Kim of TV Screener says: Totally not into the vampire or zombie thing in general, but this is just entertaining TV.

2. Raising Hope (Fox) HuluiTunes

Vance of Tapeworthy says: The crassest new show also has the most heart. Plus Martha Plimpton is simply amazing.

Kim says: It has the same mix of quirky humor and heart that made My Name Is Earl good, and it has the cutest baby I've ever seen on TV.

3. Terriers (FX) HuluTerriers

Scooter of the 9th Green says: Some people like to say that AMC is the best network on basic cable, but with Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Rescue Me and now Terriers, I’d rather tune into FX.

4. Blue Bloods (CBS) CBS.comiTunes

5. Hellcats (The CW) CWTV.com - iTunes

Doug of the 9th Green says: Everyone loves a good guilty pleasure. Is better than a show about college cheerleading should be.

6. Outsourced (NBC) HuluiTunes

Vance says: Started off terribly, but improving along nicely.

7. Luther (BBC America) iTunes

8. Sherlock (BBC/PBS) iTunes

Sandie says: A modern Sherlock Holmes from the brilliant mind of Steven Moffat = Must See Television.

9. Glory Daze (TBS)

Scooter says: This is the funniest original show ever on TBS (sorry Outback Jack) and better than the similarly theme ABC Family show Greek (though not as good as similarly period piece Everybody Hates Chris).

10. No Ordinary Family (ABC) Hulu - iTunes

Doug says: Great concept but poor execution. I'm sticking with it for 1 reason only: Michael Chiklis

Also receiving votes: Nikita, The Big C, The Event, Tower Prep, Better with You, The Defenders, Detroit 1-8-7, IRT: Deadliest Roads


And in a measure of full disclosure, here is my list:

1. Terriers – Some people like to say that AMC is the best network on basic cable, but with Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Rescue Me and now Terriers, I’d rather tune into FX.

2. The Walking Dead – Suck it whiny vampires, this is the decade of zombies.

3. Glory Daze – This is the funniest original show ever on TBS (sorry Outback Jack) and better than the similarly theme ABC Family show Greek (though not as good as similarly period piece Everybody Hates Chris).

4. The Event – After being burned by the Lost finale just months before, I gave this show an episode by episode trial run and keeps me engrossed enough without annoying me.

5. Outsourced – I am still waiting until the show hits its stride, the elements are there, and once it does it would be one of the funniest shows on television.

Monday, July 26, 2010

The Best Television Shows of 2009-10 Season


A little late this year for my best shows of the season list because I wanted to get a good chunk of Friday Night Lights under my belt before declaring it the best show of the year. Short of Landry killing another dude, I am confident in calling it just that. My list covers shows that air a bulk of their season between June 2009 and July 2009 (so any current summer show will be eligible next year. Here is the makeup of this year’s list.

1. Friday Night Lights, Season 4 (NBC)

2. Justified, Season 1 (FX)

3. Modern Family, Season 1 (ABC)

4. Parenthood, Season 1 (NBC)

5. The Big Bang Theory, Season 3 (CBS)

6. Rescue Me, Season 5 (FX)

7. Sons of Anarchy, Season 2 (FX)

8. Castle, Season 2 (ABC)

9. Leverage, Season 2 (TNT)

10. Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (CBS)



It should be noted that this is the first time a cable network landed the most shows and had more than one show in the top ten. Also notably missing from the list is the final season of Lost in all its excruciating flashsidewardsness. And to show just how far it fell, here is how the other season landed in their respected years:

Season 1: 2nd
Season 2: 4th
Season 3: 8th
Season 4: 7th
Season 5: 6th
Season 6: Not Ranked

Keep in mind, the only other show with five appearances is Survivor (Friday Night Lights presumably will join that club next season assuming Landry doesn’t go on a killing spree). Below is a running tally of what shows racked up the most Quotes and Songs of the week.


Quotes of the Week
Chuck 5
Friday Night Lights 5
The Big Bang Theory 4
Greek 4
Mercy 4
Modern Family 4
Justified 3
Leverage 3
Rescue Me 3
Survivor 3
Castle 2
Community 2
Eli Stone 2
Kings 2
Lost 2
How I Met Your Mother 1
Ochocinco: The ultimate Catch 1
Pardon the Interruption 1
Parenthood 1
Pushing Daisies 1
Raising the Bar 1
Real World/Road Rules: the Ruins 1
Sons of Anarchy 1
Tool Academy 1

Songs of the Week
Rescue Me 7
The Big Bang Theory 4
Chuck 4
Friday Night Lights 4
Greek 4
Pardon the Interruption 4
Mercy 3
Modern Family 3
Parenthood 3
Castle 2
How I Met Your Mother 2
Late Night 2
Lost 2
Sons of Anarchy 2
Trauma 2
Leverage 1
2010 ESPY Awards 1
Community 1
Eli Stone 1
The Philanthropist 1
Pushing Daisies 1

Monday, November 09, 2009

The Best New Shows of Fall 2009


Every year in August and September we are bombarded by best new shows of the fall list which can be daunting. Add to that those list are typically only based on one episode of which the second one typically isn’t filmed until months later. That is why every November a corral up a cabal of television bloggers to see what live up to the hype and what what was a big a let down as the new Weezer album (*cough* Flash Forward *couch*). Then I throw in their ballots into my patent pending algorithm which so advanced that Sarah Palin accused it of being Communism. Here are the results and places to catch up if you missed the shows:

1. Glee (5) – Fox – Amazon VOD - Hulu

Glee on iTunes


2. Modern Family (2) – ABC - Amazon VOD - Hulu

Modern Family free on iTunes


3. Vampire Diaries – The CW – Amazon VOD - Stream

Apple iTunes


4. Community – NBC – iTunes - Amazon VOD - Hulu

5. Cougar Town – ABC - iTunes - Hulu

6. V – ABC – iTunes - Amazon VOD - Hulu

7. White Collar – USA - iTunes - Amazon VOD - Hulu

8. The Good Wife – CBS - iTunes - Stream

9. Mercy – NBC - iTunes - Amazon VOD - Hulu

10. The Middle – ABC - Hulu

Numbers in parenthesis denote first place votes
Voters: Dan, Kath, Kim, Sandie, Scooter, TV Fan, Vance


In a measure of full disclosure, here is my ballot:

1. Modern Family – ABC
2. Mercy – NBC
3. Community – NBC
4. Trauma – NBC
5. Rescue Ink Unleashed – National Geographic Channel

And in one last television tidbit, let me remind you that you still have until Sunday to enter in The Prisoner Contest where I am giving away one DVD and one Blu-Ray set of the classic series.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Television Shows of the 00's


By now I hope you have had the chance to digest The 100 Greatest Television Shows of the 00’s. If not, follow the link to give it a look before reading further. I didn’t do an introduction to the list because I tend to get wordy when I get on a roll and I just wanted the list to speak for itself, only adding a quick note to the requirements. So I will get wordy today instead.

Yesterday kicked off a year long look back at the decade that is about to end. Every month for the next twelve months (sans December where I will be too busy doing my usually year end retrospective) I will release a new comprehensive list remembering the best of the 00’s. I do mean comprehensive because I have been researching these list for the last two years to make sure they are as complete as they could be. Of course I am only an armchair pundit and will not have gotten to experience your favorites, so if they are missing, that most likely be the case. Granted there is an off chance I did catch it and just didn’t like it (I’m talking to you the people who still think Heroes is watchable).

Like I said before, I wanted to have the lists speak for themselves so just like yesterday future list will be just that. But much like today, the day after a “Greatest of the 00’s” list, I will delve a little deeper and over digest each list. I would first like to say that I may the eligibility requirement September 1999 to August 2009 because it seemed easy to include full season and thus eliminating such quandaries like “should Freaks and Geeks included even though it only aired half a season?” So here is the 100 Greatest Television Shows of the 00’s by the numbers:

Shows by Network
NBC - 14
ABC - 11
VH1 - 11
FOX - 10
CBS - 8
MTV - 7
WB - 6
Comedy Central - 5
HBO - 5
CW - 4
Showtime - 4
ESPN - 3
TNT - 3
UPN - 3
ABC Family - 2
Bravo - 2
G4 - 2
National Geographic - 2
Cartoon Network - 1
CMT - 1
DirecTV - 1
FX - 1
MSNBC - 1
PBS - 1
Spike - 1
Tech-TV - 1
USA – 1

Shows by Genre
Drama - 30
Comedy - 19
Competition - 10
Documentary - 10
Sci-Fi - 10
News - 9
Variety - 6
Music - 4
Animation - 2

(Scooter’s Note: There is no “reality” because I divided those shows into Competition and Documentary)

Shows by Debut Year
Pre-1999 – 15
1999 – 5
2000 – 4
2001 – 9
2002 – 8
2003 – 13
2004 – 7
2005 – 9
2006 – 8
2007 – 9
2008 – 7
2009 – 6

Shows by End Year
2000 – 2
2001 – 4
2002 – 6
2003 – 5
2004 – 8
2005 – 7
2006 – 8
2007 – 8
2008 – 2
2009 – 8

Creators with Multiple Shows
Brian Fuller - 3
Joss Whedon – 3
Aaron Sorkin – 2
Denis Leary – 2
Greg Berlanti – 2
J.J. Abrams – 2
Norm McDonald – 2
Rob Burnett and Rob Beckerman - 2
Rob Thomas – 2

Cast Member in Multiple Shows
Adam Baldwin - 3
Denis Leary – 3
Tom Cavanaugh – 3
Allison Hannigan – 2
Chi McBride - 2
Ian McShane – 2
James Purefoy – 2
Jason Segal – 2
Julie Gonzalo – 2
Katie Finneran - 2
Kevin McKidd – 2
Lee Pace - 2
Mark Valley - 2
Nathan Fillion - 2
Norm McDonald – 2
Rachel Nichols - 2
Sarah Paulson – 2
Seth Rogan - 2


Still on the Air - 42

One and Done Seasons – 26

Jumped Networks – 4

(Scooter’s Note: The UPN/WB and G4/Tech-TV mergers and the special Friday Night Lights agreement with DirecTV and NBC are not included in the number. Monday Night Raw is only counted once.)

Disappeared in the Digital Age (no DVD, no streaming, no (legal) downloading): 18

One last thing, since the decade is over and there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on what to call it, when you see me talk about “Greatest of the 00’s” think the last syllable of Cheerio’s.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

The 100 Greatest Television Shows of the 00's


1. Veronica Mars (UPN/CW)

2. Friday Night Lights (NBC/DirecTV)

3. Wonderfalls (FOX)

4. Ed (NBC)

5. Rome (HBO)

6. Arrested Development (FOX)

7. Pardon the Interruption (ESPN)

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB/UPN)

9. Chappelle's Show (Comedy Central)

10. Survivor (CBS)

11. Rescue Me (FX)

12. Chuck (NBC)

13. Deadwood (HBO)

14. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

15. Pushing Daisies (ABC)

16. Angel (WB)

17. Dead Like Me (Showtime)

18. Freaks and Geeks (NBC)

19. Sports Night (ABC)

20. My Name Is Earl (NBC)

21. The Knights of Prosperity (ABC)

22. Contest Searchlight (Comedy Central)

23. Lost (ABC)

24. Leverage (TNT)

25. Eli Stone (ABC)

26. American Dreams (NBC)

27. Kings (NBC)

28. The Job (ABC)

29. Boston Public (FOX)

30. Everwood (WB)

31. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC)

32. Firefly (FOX)

33. Dexter (Showtime)

34. Keen Eddie (FOX)

35. The Middleman (ABC Family)

36. Tool Academy (VH1)

37. Greek (ABC Family)

38. Undeclared (FOX)

39. Made (MTV)

40. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

41. Joan of Arcadia (CBS)

42. Project Greenlight (HBO/Bravo)

43. Big Love (HBO)

44. Everybody Hates Chris (UPN/CW)

45. Rich Girls (MTV)

46. Real World/Road Rules Challenge (MTV)

47. Bands Reunited (VH1)

48. A Minute with Stan Hooper (FOX)

49. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

50. Beauty and the Geek (WB/CW)

51. Ego Trip's (White) Rapper Show (VH1)

52. Ice-T's Rap School (VH1)

53. South Park (Comedy Central)

54. Dateline NBC (NBC)

55. The Lone Gunmen (FOX)

56. Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)

57. The Osbournes (MTV)

58. Charm School (VH1)

59. Busted (MTV)

60. X-Play (Tech-TV/G4)

61. The Norm Show (ABC)

62. Alias (ABC)

63. Star Wars: Clone Wars (Cartoon Network)

64. Bands on the Run (VH1)

65. CMT Crossroads (CMT)

66. Sorority Life (MTV)

67. Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

68. Storytellers (VH1)

69. Meet the Press (NBC)

70. Attack of the Show (G4)

71. Cupid (ABC)

72. I Love Money (VH1)

73. Jim Rome Is Burning (ESPN)

74. Late World with Zach (VH1)

75. HardBall with Chris Matthews (MSNBC)

76. Saturday Night Live (NBC)

77. The Surreal Life (WB/VH1)

78. The Drew Carey Show (ABC)

79. Monday Night Raw (USA/Spike/USA)

80. Locked Up Abroad (National Geographic)

81. The Philanthropist (NBC)

82. The Office (NBC)

83. Sportscenter (ESPN)

84. Gary Unmarried (CBS)

85. Beat the Geeks (Comedy Central)

86. Castle (ABC)

87. Undressed (MTV)

88. Smallville (WB/CW)

89. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo)

90. Weeds (Showtime)

91. The Inside (FOX)

92. Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Showtime)

93. Listen Up! (CBS)

94. Trust Me (TNT)

95. Journeyman (NBC)

96. Love Monkey (CBS/VH1)

97. Austin City Limits (PBS)

98. Dogtown (National Geographic)

99. Pasadena (FOX)

100. My Boys (TBS)


(Scooter’s Note: Only shows that completed at least one full season between September 1999 and August 2009 were eligible for this list. For a complete breakdown on the list, check out Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Television Shows of the 00's)