The Top Ten Best Shows of the 2006/2007 Season

I recently saw an article that TV Guide did where they came up with their own "dream ballot" for the 2007 Emmy Awards. Some of their picks were all right, but some others were outright disgusting. So I thought I'd write about what I thought were the ten best shows of the 2006/2007 season.

I. THE LIST

10. THE OFFICE -- The mockumentary format of this show affords it comedic opportunities beyond any other, grounding the humor in a more tangible reality. It has a tendency to gravitate towards easy idiot humor a lot of the time, which gives it a significantly lower batting average than, say, the British original. But it can be good.
9. AMERICAN DAD! -- Amazingly different from Family Guy in lots of small ways, this is a total success entirely of itself.
8. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER -- Normally, the traditional four-camera/laugh track format is a sign of shittiness these days, but this sitcom is hilarious and perfectly cast.
7. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES -- This is probably the best-plotted show on television. It's like they make a list of eight hundred good story ideas to choose from, and then they just use them all.
6. 24 -- Some people claim this was the worst season ever, but I think that's like, "You know those six 24-hour orgasms I just had? Yah, that last one was the worst one."
5. LOST -- The problem with Lost this year is that they didn't write 22 episodes. They wrote 1 season. And every week, episodes would just end halfway through plotlines, sometimes after a whole bunch of time filler. It was the opposite of Desperate Housewives. The finale, when they finally got to it, was mind blowing and incredible. But their execution before that point needed a little work.
4. BOSTON LEGAL -- I haven't watched this season yet, but if it's as good as when I left off, then its rightful spot on my list is right about here.
3. STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP -- I completely give up on trying to explain why this show got such a poor reception. I keep a small list of shows I love the shit out of, that inexplicably never made it past the first season, and it just got one entry longer.
2. FAMILY GUY -- A show so good it uncancelled itself. I hope it's on forever. But not in that unfunny Simpsons way.
1. HOUSE, MD -- Just, the best show.

II. DOES THIS COUNT?

- EXTRAS -- This was a British import, so I don't know if it technically counts as a 2006/2007 show or whatever, but it was sensational.

III. HONORABLE MENTIONS

- DICE: UNDISPUTED -- This was a reality show about Andrew Dice Clay trying to revive his career, but all the people who work for him are idiots. This resulted in some of the finest incidental comedy I've ever seen. You couldn't write stuff this good.
- LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT -- I don't think there's any dispute that this is the best police procedural right now.
- MONK -- Great.
- PSYCH -- Also good.
- SMALLVILLE -- Terrible, but in a hilarious way. It's also fun to watch for the occasional comic book reference they throw at us. But the only genuinely good thing left in this show is Michael Rosenbaum.

Cheers,
Diego