Top Ten TV (and then some)

Without further adieu, my Top Ten Television list (in no particular order)...

• The Simpsons--there's a reason it's been on tv since I was in middle school. True, it's glory days are behind us, but it's still good (though not great) tv. But when it was the best, it was simply the best: the best writing, voice acting, comedy, satire, fun, quotability, everything.
• Futurama--it may come in the same humor vein as The Simpsons, but believe it or not, Futurama has more depth and a lot more heart. The best Futurama episodes may not be as good as the best Simpsons episodes, but the average quality-per-episode of Futurama is much higher.
• Samurai Jack--Simply put, there has never been anything like it on tv before, or since. A show that embraced simplicity, beauty, and quiet, and mixed it with adventure, excitement, humor, a villain that truly is a villain and above all a hero that is really a hero.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer--witty, relevant, and so much more than it really should be. It set the standard for season-by-season story arc creation and the irreverent as an analogy to the relevant. It's best moments have no equals in all of television.
• The WB Bruce Timm DC Superheroes Universe (primarily Superman, Batman, Justice League, and Batman Beyond)--simply put, the best representation of superheros outside of the comic book. And maybe better than most all the comic books themselves...
• The Wire--smart writers, realistic characters who make realistic decisions, and deal with realistic consequences for their actions, whether good or bad. And it's not afraid to ask difficult questions and give you thoughts about them, but it's not going to answer them for you.
• Eureka--this show shouldn't have been as good as it was for as long as it was on. It had it's formula, and it followed the formula very faithfully through the run of the show. Even when the story arcs changed the minute details of the stories, the formula was always the same, which is usually a bad thing (see, Burn Notice). But very early on, they realized that the show wasn't about the formula, but about the characters, and it developed a group of characters that you well and truly loved and enjoyed. It also bowed out at the right time, and accomplished what few shows ever have: an appropriate and fitting ending.
• Warehouse 13--I was so worried that this was just going to be an X-Files clone show, maybe with a lighter approach, but they quickly understood that the show would never survive trying to be that. Instead, they made the show about the relationships (none romantic) between the characters. Even as they add new characters into the show, they fit them into the group dynamic with incredible skill and delicacy.
• Supernatural--the story arc through the first four/five seasons is as beautiful as you will find anywhere. You had to figure that they wouldn't be able to survive after wrapping the story up like they did, but somehow they keep going. and going. and going. This show shouldn't be as enjoyable as it is, but the writers are clever enough (without being too clever) that it's consistently enjoyable to watch. The writers are willing to be serious, but they never take themselves too seriously, and so the show never collapses under it's own weight.
• The Dukes of Hazzard--this is a nod to my childhood. Maybe it won't hold up to rewatching nowadays, but for it's time and place in my memory it's wonderful. I'm willing to let it be that.

These would have probably made the list if they had more than 1-2 seasons to develop:

• Firefly--killed long before it's time
• The Terminator, Sarah Connor Chronicles--this show was stronger than it should have been, and the writers understood that they could not survive on their formula. They pushed the boundaries, but they never had a chance to fully explore their concepts.
• Dollhouse--there was a clear vision for the endgame, and we got a little taste of that when the show was already canned. While it was on, it looked like a formula show, and a mediocre one at that, but those endgame glimpses showed us what they were working towards, and the show never had the chance to develop outside of the formula.
• Jericho--forget the second season that wasn't ever given a chance, the first season of this show was spectacular, and the cliffhanger at the end? Yeah.

Runners Up:

• Angel--it would be a crime to think of this as Buffy, Light. Angel was never about the same things as Buffy, featuring a theme of working together towards personal redemption. The show got stronger as it went along, but overused some of it's elements, enough to hold it out of the top ten list
• Battlestar Galactica--I often wonder what i will think of this show when I go back and watch it a second time. There were great moments, but there were a gawd-awful amount of characters that i just plain disliked. I see what the writers wanted to do with the show, and where they were trying to go, but they didn't quite pull it off as well as they wanted to.
• The Big Bang Theory--a sitcom about characters with depth that happens to include funny, geek-related jokes? The lack of development for Leonard's character and the absolute uselessness of the Raj character keep thsi show from greatness
• New Girl--too young to know, but the first season was great. the second season was fun and enjoyable, but lacked spirit.  If this show can find it's feet without relying on being relentlessly witty (which it is) and cycling through a Friends-like merry-go-round of relationships, it could develop well.
• Burn Notice--good premise, fun characters and stories, but after awhile the formula becomes stale.
• Castle--good premise, fun characters and witty dialogue, but after awhile the formula becomes stale. they've tried to adjust the formula a little bit, without much success. Suffers the X-File's problem of poor use of story arc to supplement great individual episodes.
• X-Files--when it was great, it was one of the best. but it suffered from story arc challenges and a longer life than it should have had. But the early seasons relationship and dichotomy between Mulder and Sculley is among the best ever on tv.
• Xena Warrior Princess--fun, and at it's best when it didn't take itself seriously at all. But it just couldn't transcend it's B-movie roots.
• Cougar Town--I bet you never expected to find this on the list, eh? I'm still catching up on the backlog, I have much of this series to watch before i can formulate a final opinion. but it's surprisingly good; the characters are quirky and idiosyncratic, but beneath all their "flaws," each of the characters has strengths and heart that show up and reveal them to be more than punchline delivery vehicles. The writing? very very good. The acting? these roles may have been written for the actors that deliver them, but they play them all to the fullest.