Best TV

One of the unintended consequences of having a TiVo has been that I have watched a lot more TV than I have movies over the past year. Now that the season is over, I'll weigh in on what I think have been the shows that have been the most worth of my precious time.

The Sopranos: Having not had HBO until a few years ago, I was a little late jumping onto the Sopranos bandwagon. Now, as the series winds down, it seems I'm a little late jumping off too. While most seem to think that the Sopranos has run out of ideas or has become boring, I still think it's pretty fantastic. Oh sure, it's cut back on the violence and action that marked its heyday, but instead there's a lot more introspective, subtle emotional drama as the main characters find that they're less worried about getting whacked by hitman than they are about succumbing to old age and having a fairly meaningless existence to show for it. Should be interesting to see how it all ends.

Veronica Mars: What? You've never heard of this show? Yeah...I don't think I know anyone else who watches it. After all, it's hard to convince any self-respecting adult male to watch a show about a teenage girl who moonlights as a private investigator. Gosh, that really sounds lame. But man, does this show have style and wit. There aren't many...ok, ANY...teenage dramas that make extensive use of film noir and borrow plots from old 50s movies. I probably don't even get half the references in this show, and sadly, I won't even get to try anymore, since it doesn't look like it's getting picked up next year.

My Name is Earl: While this show appears totally retarded on the surface, I find myself laughing out loud several times an episode. I can't remember the last half-hour comedy that could consistently do that. Any show that references "The Accused" as "that porno where Jody Foster does it on the pinball machine," is wickedly funny enough for me to keep watching. Oh, and loved that episode that paid homage to "Rudy."

Lost: Though the ratings are way down from its peak, I think this show is at the top of its game right now. Oh sure, there are a ton of crazy supernatural events that remain unresolved, but the character development has been supplemented by great acting and clever use of flashbacks as a storytelling device. Early episodes were a little weak, but as a whole, this was season is probably as compelling as it gets.

Heroes: NBC's only breakout hit, it certainly owes a lot of its creative success to a little franchise known as X-Men. But the tone and characters are different enough that I can forgive its blatant...let's say "borrowing"...of familiar X-Men storylines (did anyone else catch that Days of Future Past homage?). Also a show that started out a little weak early on, it hit its stride in midseason before delivering a somewhat disappointing finale. Perhaps what I like about it is that it's basically a live-action comic book, and it treats itself as such. You know the writers are major comic book nerds when Stan Lee makes a cameo. With it's likable characters and lots of potential storylines (like X-Men), this show might actually continue to be good for a while.

Next up: TV shows that drive me NUTS with their suckiness.