As my TiVo can certainly attest, I am a man who loves television. The genesis for this latest list came when my girlfriend and I were sitting on the couch, watching (guess what?) television when she suggested that I make a Top 10 list of my favorite television shows. Together, we racked our brains to assemble the list and rank them in their proper order. Shows like The OC and One Tree Hill were staples of her list but regrettably, as you will find, were left off mine. The first half of the list will run today with the finale happening tomorrow. I may even solicit some list from a few more friends.
10. Sleeper Cell
Thank goodness for TV shows on DVD. Had it not been for the release of seasons one and two on DVD, I would have never gotten to see this show and my life certainly would have been the lesser for it. Frankly, Sleeper Cell is a smarter, better acted 24. It’s equal parts action and smart political drama. The show’s lead Michael Ealy from Barbershop finally got a Golden Globe nod for his work in the show and the nomination is well deserved as Ealy turns in one of the best performances I’ve seen on any television show in a long time. It helps that the show is on Showtime and has a little more leeway by way of violence, language, etc. I can’t imagine a diluted version of this show being on network television. It might look a little bit more like… well, like 24.
9. Six Feet Under
After the first three seasons of this show, I would have thought that this show would have certainly landed somewhere in the top five. The story lines were interesting, compelling and moving and the performances were wonderful. And then the end of the show happened and I’m not just talking about the final episode, which I believe to have had one of the best final sequences of any show ever, I’m talking about the end of the show as a whole. The writers, in an attempt to make the characters more interesting after four seasons just made them more flawed and unrelatable. By the end of the show, I had gotten so tired of all the characters and their abhorrent behavior that I was ready for it to end. None the less, the show is one that I loved intensely for years and thus makes an appearance.
8. Rescue Me
I have never been a Dennis Leary fan but he is unbelievably, spectacularly amazing as New York City firefighter Tommy Gavin in Rescue Me. On top of Leary’s performance, the show is help by a great supporting cast and great writing. I’ve only watched the show on DVD and I’ve heard some critical things about the fourth season but it would take an awful lot to throw me off the horse at this point.
7. Lost
Yes, the show is overly complex and has more story arcs than it probably needs but few shows have the following and the cult interest that Lost has. Season three returned and saved the show after what some (not myself, mind you) dubbed a disappointing season two. But my interest in this show is waning and will likely continue to do so this year as ABC will air the first eight episodes of season four in late January followed by, what could be, a year break before the viewers get to see how the season ends. A favorite since I started watching the show on DVD a couple years ago, this could be the year that Lost cements in position on my list or gets the old heave-ho.
6. Top Chef
It was Bravo’s reality cooking series that really put competitions of this sort on the map and I think brought a whole new level of awareness to cooking and haute cuisine. The new season of Top Chef in Chicago starts soon and I’m ecstatic to see Top Chef finally come to the Midwest. And besides, any show that makes Eric Ripert a household name is ok by me.
