Tangled Up In Wires

Yesterday we treated you to a list of our favorite individual TV episodes of the last year, but not all the shows there made the cut for best overall show. Are we brilliant? Total idiots? Don’t know because you don’t watch TV? Let us know in the comments!

10. 30 Rock
A lot of people have been ragging on 30 Rock for declining in quality, and yes, its third season was not its best, but it remained one of the funniest shows on TV. The third season had some gems, such as a fake trip to space for Tracy, Alec Baldwin playing a Spanish telenovela star, and Steve Martin’s hilarious turn as a disgraced corporate executive. Perhaps the backlash has come because the bar was set so high, but still, put 30 Rock next to most comedies on TV and you’ll see just how good it is. (M)

9. Friday Night Lights
By virtue of an unorthodox distribution agreement, Friday Night Lights is no longer in immediate danger of being cancelled, so we can just focus on how great this show is and how gracefully it recovered from its season two stumbling blocks. Whether you caught up with season three on NBC in the spring, or are already keeping up with season four through Direct TV now, you’ve seen a show that rediscovered its groove as a rich, naturalistic look at life in small town America, without condescension or bombast. Boasting some of the finest performances and writing on television, it’s a load off our minds to know that Friday Night Lights isn’t going anywhere.

8. Better Off Ted
What could have been a really conventional show about a wacky company quickly worked it’s charm and quietly became one of the best shows on TV. Better Off Ted is one part corporate satire and one part modern screwball, a combination that works well even in the show’s weaker episodes. The show wears its absurdity on its sleeve, making the most ridiculous parts (motion sensors that can’t see black people, a medieval fight club, the entire character of Veronica) completely normal within the boundaries of the world it lives in. A lovably wacky show, hopefully Ted can pick up a bigger audience here in its second season. (M)

7. Modern Family
Modern Family instantly got comparisons to Arrested Development upon its arrival, due mostly to it’s hand-held camera and quirky family plot, but the show quickly differentiated itself with a sweetness that isn’t found much on TV these days. The show never fails to deliver big laughs, and in just half a season, the characters have endeared themselves greatly to fans. How it will hold up as it goes on remains to be seen, but Modern Family has stood out thus far as delightfully funny show that isn’t afraid to show it has a little heart. (M)

6. Lost
When Lost got an end date, it suddenly became a focused show with a goal in mind, and it’s action-packed fifth season delivered big time. The world of Lost was already a dense one, but with time travel added to the mix, the show about people being stranded in a weird place became a show about destiny and the decisions we make in life. By this point, Lost is a show for dedicated fans only, but for those fans, it was an absolute treat to watch. (M)

5. Parks and Recreation
It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Parks and Recreation would find its groove this season since its parent show, The Office, experienced similar growing pains. However, I don’t think anyone anticipated just how good it would get. In its second season, the show found a way to make Amy Poehler’s lead character funny without seeming pathetic or delusional, while strengthening the support around her (particularly Nic Offerman’s Ron F-ing Swanson and Aziz Ansari’s Tom Haverford). Over the course of this year, Parks and Recreation has shaped itself into a potent comic force with the potential to lead NBC’s comic block as The Office ages more and more. (J)

4. Big Love

It didn’t take Big Love too long to transcend its hacky-stand-up-comedian (you think having one wife is hard, try three!), but the jump in quality in the show’s third season was still pretty incredible. Big Love navigated the rocky emotional territory of Bill’s three marriages (and attempt at a fourth) with the shocking trial of Roman, child abduction, family secrets, and it still found time to take a road trip out east. The ensemble was typically strong, but the year’s standout may have been Ginnifer Goodwin, who finally got some juicy storylines to go with her top-notch comic instincts. (J)

3. Curb Your Enthusiasm
From the very start of Curb Your Enthusiasm, it seemed we were inevitably headed for a Seinfeld reunion, the centerpiece of this past season of TV’s most cringe-worthy show. Larry David and Company played it all perfectly, tying in the reunion to Larry’s divorce for Cheryl and the idiosyncrasies that have made the character Larry David so fun (and painful) to watch. Everything built so perfectly to the moment we’d all been waiting for: the character Larry David acting as George, who was based on real life Larry David. Curb seemed destined for a sweet ending this season, but instead it ended with a question we’ll be pondering until the show returns: Do you respect wood? (M)

2. Breaking Bad
In its second season, Breaking Bad took the box it seemed to be fitting into to (desperate man turns to life of crime, has series of misadventures) and blew it up. Breaking Bad has become many things – a gritty, ground-level look at meth dealing in the southwest, a fascinating character study, a Greek tragedy, a dark comedy – but it remains grounded in the stunning performances by its ensemble, especially Bryan Cranston’s mesmerizing performance of the deeply flawed Walter White. It started as a small underdog, but Breaking Bad has become every bit the equal of its AMC neighbor and combined with Mad Men to make a stunning 1-2 punch unlike any other on TV. (J)

1. Mad Men
Even by Matt Weiner’s leisurely standards, the third season of Mad Men felt excruciatingly deliberate, especially in the slow early part of the season. But, as always, those who trusted the show were rewarded with a season as rich and compelling as the first two. Big changes hit the Sterling-Cooper crew, appropriate for a season set against the backdrop of the impending Kennedy Assassination, but, as always, the changes felt grounded in the show’s human element. While some episodes were extremely painful to watch (“The Gypsy and the Hobo,” “Seven Twenty Three,” and “Wee Small Hours” come to mind), they were necessary steps to the exciting future promised in the brilliant season finale. (J)