The year’s 10 best TV shows

Viewers could argue for hours about which shows on TV are the 10 best of the year. Every viewer's list is different, as are the reasons for choosing the shows.

Should "American Idol" be on there simply for being a massive reality-show phenomenon, or should reality shows be banned on principle?

Should "Desperate Housewives" make the list simply because it scores high in the Nielsens and is ripe for online discussion and debate, or should it be left off since the second season has disappointed?

America loves crime and doctor shows, still, the ratings show that. But how many are too many on a list that just has 10 slots?

We discussed and debated, and came close to duking it out, and here's the list that we ended up with.

Not all who wander are ‘Lost’
Some shows are enjoyable on first viewing, but not much for rewatching. "Lost" (Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET, ABC), by contrast, is the kind of show that begs for repeat viewings, for slo-mo'ing and freeze framing. Fans are so insane for clues to the mysterious island full of plane-crash survivors that they'll play audio of young Walt backwards just to determine that the mysterious kid said "the button is bad." Or did he say "no button is bad"? The creators of the show are smart enough to know the fans will do this, so they plant clues left and right. During a recent flashback, Kate visits her dad in an army office, and for a quick second, the character Sayid is shown on an office TV screen, in apparent war footage. "Lost" fans don't know yet if every little dropped breadcrumb will fit together in the end (rumor has it that there's really no main plan for Hurley's mysterious numbers), but they sure love collecting them.

Some expected "Lost" to drop off after a phenomenal first season, like ABC's other sophomore hit, "Desperate Housewives," which lost steam after the Zach-Dana plot was explained. And some were frustrated by a May season finale that did open the mysterious hatch, but didn't answer many other questions. But a brilliant plotstroke was waiting in the fall, when viewers were introduced to the "tailies," the surviving passengers from the tail-end of the plane, which was last seen breaking off and crashing somewhere over the ocean. Are these new characters meant to parallel the others, with Eko a man of faith comparable to Locke, and Ana-Lucia a take-charge leader, much like Jack? One wouldn't think it would be easy to expand a cast of characters trapped on an island, but "Lost" found a way, and viewers, like the castaways, aren't going anywhere.    —Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

‘Daily’ news

Frank Micelotta / Getty Images

Jon Stewart’s nightly fake newscast, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (weekdays, 11 p.m. ET, Comedy Central) hasn’t lost any of its punch despite all the media buzz about the show. The writing is superior to almost anything else on TV, far smarter and funnier than what the networks are passing off as sitcoms these days. With Stephen Colbert’s departure for “The Colbert Report” (also worth watching), correspondent Rob Corddry takes center stage. His hilarious piece on rising gas prices lampooned America’s devotion to short drives in great big cars (in the piece, Corddry drives a Hummer limo — and has to stop to refill every 2 miles). Corddry also has taken over Colbert’s devilishly witty “The Week in God.” (“Show me that God machine!”)

But Stewart is the real genius here. His intonations and facial expressions are priceless, and he makes no attempt to be objective (his hilariously feeble impersonation of President Bush is a prime example). And while the show’s “wake up, America!” take on politics is genius, it’s the merciless barbs at the media that really hit the target. It’s a stinging indictment of the state of mainstream media that a fake news program can strike to the heart of the real story better than “real” news, and call us on our buffoonery in the process.   —Denise Hazlick

MORE FROM YEAR IN REVIEW 2006

Year in review 2006 Section Front

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