#1. The Colbert Report. And it wasn't even very close. No show this year continually entertained and enlightened me with its absolute brilliance other than The Colbert Report. Ok, Arrested Development probably did as well, but that was off the air by February, so most of my viewings were on DVD - as a result, not eligible. Which, leaves Mr. Colbert and his merry band of superb writers as the best television program of 2006. Congrats, Stephen!
Starting off as a very amusing but perhaps one-joke offshoot of The Daily Show, The Colbert Report has come into its own this year, with episode after episode of quotable water-cooler moments... there was his visit to the White House dinner where he kicked ass and took George Bush's name; there was the bridge-naming in Yugoslavia in which his fans boosted him over some famous dead Bulgarian to have a bridge named after him; there was his son, the bald eagle "Stephen Jr.", who is - much to his father's regret, currently somewhere in Canada; there was the Ontario Junior Hockey League team that named its mascot after him; and there were of course, the daily "Word"s, "Threatdowns", "Tip of the Hat, Wag o' the Finger", and the magestically hilarious "Better Know a District"s, interviews with congressmen -- every single one of which ended up winning this fall. But the highlight of all - at least for me - was last week's battle with indie rock heroes (and my #7 favorite band of the year), The Decemberists, who took on Mr. Colbert in a guitar shred challenge on the last show of 2006. The episode also featured Peter Frampton, Cheap Trick, Henry Kissinger, New York governor-elect Eliot Spitzer, and Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo, who penned the amazing "Stephen, Stephen" for the event (Download below). Colbert won the shred-off against Decemberists' guitarist Chris Funk, in a somewhat disputed ruling. The whole thing was absolutely brilliant. Watch a clip explaining the event below, and go to Comedy Central to watch the rest of the episode. A must-see for any indie rock and/or Colbert fan. Well done, Stephen, well done.
#2. Lost It's been a great season so far, and last year finished particularly strong. I'm loving "The Others" and the fact that Michael is off the show it seems. I think I'll miss Eko, and the storylines are still too ridiculously disparate, but I can't wait for the non-stop run of new episodes coming in February. A great year.
#3. The Amazing Race A pretty disappointing season, with some fairly bad racers overall, won by the all-male team of models/former drug addicts, Tyler and James, who were good physically but not the brightest bulbs in the lot. They won pretty easily. Next season is an "All-Star" version, with some classic favorite teams, including Rob & Amber in their 4th go-round on a reality program on CBS. I still love 'em.
#4. The Daily Show Jon Stewart may have been surpassed by his erstwhile former employee, but that doesn't mean his show still isn't brilliant almost every single night. This is also the only news program in the nation to critically analyze President Bush's failing policies, before the rest of the mainstream media actually caught on (if they ever did). Bully for them.
#5. South Park Since this represents the entire year, this show still finds its way into the Top 5, despite a pretty disappointing fall season that just finished.
#6. The O.C. Better this fall than it has been in years. But there's still a bad taste of season 3 that is difficult to wash out.
#7. Entourage The "Aquaman" affair was enjoyable, and Ari was as good as ever, especially when working with the always hilarious Lloyd, but Vince has become almost as annoyingly grating as E. in recent episodes, perhaps because both actors playing those parts are horrendous. It's tough when Kevin Dillon and Jeremy Piven are stealing all the scenes and best lines in supposedly minor roles, and I'm not sure where the show will go from here. I don't think anyone would mind if Eric never returned for season 4.
#8. The Office I just started watching this NBC comedy and have found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. The humor is beyond dry and as such, is difficult to maintain, and Steve Carrell can grate a little in such heavy doses, but I think there's a lot to like here. Especially compared to the state of major network comedies these days.
#9. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia I only caught a handful of episodes from this show's second season this summer, and to be honest, I don't even remember what network it was on, but I do remember I haven't laughed so hard at any comedy on television this season. If it returns for another season, I will definitely be watching. If I can find out what station it's on.
#10. 30-Minute Meals Seriously, I've watched more Rachael Ray on the Food Network this season than every other show in this list combined. I don't exactly have an explanation for it, and I caught her new ABC daytime talk show last week and almost threw up in my mouth. But I absolutely love all things Food Network, and can watch her talk about E.V.O.O. any day and any night.
So that's it for the list. Check out 2005's list here. And enjoy the new year.
Pitiful.
Posted by: LegFuJohnson | December 26, 2006 at 10:50 PM
F LENNY!!!
Posted by: flenny | December 27, 2006 at 09:19 PM