Season in Review

What a roller-coaster television season, one marked mostly by disappointment, but with a few bright pleasures, including a single brilliant shining example of quality network television comedy.  There was little else.  I've stopped watching TV as much in recent years, which you've probably noticed in my lack of blogging about the pleasures of television, and it is admittedly quite freeing.  I don't miss having shows to watch, for it seems as if (even with DVR) you become beholden to the shows as more than mere entertaining distractions from daily obsessions.  Several times this season, even with my limited schedule of must-watch programs, I've stared at a list with three or four O.C.s and a couple Losts and felt more resigned than anything at my need to watch them.  The truth is, it's better not to get involved, to spend my time socializing or reading or writing or listening to music -- heck, almost anything is better than being forced to watch another confusing episode of Lost... and that's one of my favorite shows.  And I've found I can only take my television in small bites for the most part.  The Daily Show and The Colbert Report - yes, of course, but they only take about 15 minutes each and then some Food Network, some baseball, maybe a glimpse of Seinfeld, and that's basically my viewing day.  I have other things to do.  The point is, when I was younger, for better or worse, I could easily make a list of some top 20 or 30 programs in a season that I've at least watched on a semi-regular basis.  Most of those were sitcoms, back when sitcoms were still programmed, but still, I had serious trouble coming up with 10 shows to make this season's list.  And I don't regret it.  Looking at the state of the top 10 in fact, I'm kind of glad that at least three of the programs will not be returning next season.  I just don't have the time anymore.

#1.   The Office (NBC, last season N/L)

• For the second straight season, my #1 show has been a veteran comedy program in its third season that I sampled on occasion but never really liked, was gifted the DVDs for a previous season for Christmas, and fell madly in love.  Last year, it was the now-defunct but still brilliant Arrested Development, while this year I discovered Season 2 of The Office on DVD and never looked back.  This season that I'm ranking #1 was not as good as Season 2 (I haven't actually watched all of the abbreviated Season 1), but still had more than enough wonderful highlights and was far and away my favorite show of the year.  And Jim and Pam got together in the season finale.  Nice, nice.

#2.  Lost (ABC, last season #4)

• This is definitely the most frustrating show I have ever watched, and unlike say, The X-Files or Buffy, which got kind of ridiculously convoluted in their mythology stories in later seasons, this show didn't exactly have enough goodwill built up for me to forgive them for never revealing any satisfactory answers to the questions endlessly brought up.  The early part of the "second half" of this season was particularly frustrating, and the focus on Jack and Kate and Sawyer's love triangle in the "first half" was rather pointless in retrospect.  There were several times when I was ready to give up on the program for good.  But the amazingly strong finish, especially the classic The Man Behind the Curtain episode that actually finally answered a bunch of questions showed how great this series can be when the writers really try.  The finale remains mostly confusing to me, but was at least enjoyable.  Also, every other show below on this list pretty much sucked at one point or another this season, so it wasn't that hard to be #2.  The placing is more by default than anything.

#3.  The Sopranos  (HBO, last season #6)

• Another frustrating show that is finishing strong.  Obviously, this is being written before the final two episodes of the entire series air, and that could make or break this ranking in retrospect, but let's just say the Christopher death episode and last week's AJ/Tony going crazy episode were pretty damn classic and I'm expecting absolute brilliance from David Chase to end the series (he had long enough to plot it out).  I will miss it, which is not something I was prepared to say a year ago, or even a few weeks ago while watching the Junior episode, for instance.

#4.  Entourage (HBO, last season N/L)

• Because this has been traditionally a summer series, I haven't included it on the regular TV series listings (also, non-Prime Time shows aren't eligible, or else TDS and Colbert would both be in the top 3) but they have been having an abbreviated season to coincide with The Sopranos and most weeks they've been just as good, if not better.  Ultimately, it is a bit of a forgettable program, and it's more "quietly enjoyable" than laugh-out-loud funny, but in the current state of television comedy, that'll have to do. 
   

#5.  The Amazing Race  (CBS, last season #3)

• This show has dropped from #1 in 2005 to #3 to #5 and would have dropped further if its competition hadn't been so weak this year.  The "All-Star" season was supposed to pump new life into the 11th race of the show, but was actually one of the weakest ever, without good All-stars, without good challenges, and with a rather disappointing result (the boorish Eric and boring Danielle winning, with the impossible Mirna and Charla coming in third).  I don't even remember who won the first half of the season, which is not a good sign.  All in all, I'm not terribly upset that CBS is holding off the program until mid-season (thanks partly to a ratings drop this year).  I'm not sure how much longer I will continue to watch.  (At Left:  Not lesbians.  Sorry Lenny)

#6.   South Park (Comedy Central, last season #2)

• A really bad season - both halves - for a program that is nothing if not long in the tooth.  Have Matt and Trey finally lost their fastball?  The Simpsons lost it earlier than this in their still-whimpering run.  So it doesn't look particularly good right now.  Maybe they need to do another movie.

#7.  The O.C. (Fox, last season #7). 

• One of four in the top 7 that will not be back next fall (TAR and Lost should be back in mid-season), this rapidly aging program got canceled in only its 4th season, one that was actually a pretty vast improvement over the disaster of Season 3.  They should probably rank higher, but I've already completely forgotten anything and everything that happened in this year's episodes, except that I remember the series finale pretty much sucking.  So this is where they are.  Farewell.  You will not really be missed.

#8.  The Real World / Road Rules Challenge (MTV, last season N/L)

• I don't even watch this regularly anymore and I don't even know half of the competitors (all from recent seasons of The Real World, which I no longer watch at all).  But it is pretty amusing to watch the constant 'roid rage of the over-sized male contestants and the incessant bitch fests of the female players.  And any show where completely psychotic Tonya is being cast as a wise elder statesmen is pretty damn enjoyable.

#9.  30 Rock (NBC, last season N/L)

• I've watched it a couple times after The Office and it wasn't completely horrible.  I don't really remember laughing though.

#10.  The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS, last season N/L)

• Ditto.  Except for the "not completely horrible" part.

That's it.  See you next season!

Would a show about a surety company be as funny as the office?

Comments

[Ben]

Our team is the best and we are so much better than Rudnick

[Steve]

I agree that the big networks don't have much that's compelling these days, but there are 3 shows not on your list that I think are as good as any show out there -- HBO's The Wire, FX's Rescue Me and FX's It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Personally, The Wire might be just about my favorite show of all time.