CSI 9.4 - "Let it Bleed"

A solid but not spectacular episode of CSI. Frankly, Halloween in Vegas? I expected more. The cases were nothing special, except it did lead Catherine to find her underage daughter in a club. The club owner was so familiar to me, and I tried to place him all episode. I just now looked him up: he was the soap opera star that House loves, and I think he was on Sex and the City.

Anyway, the most interesting part of the episode is that one of the murder victims was the daughter of a Cartel kingpin. This resulted in anyone who had thing-1 to do with her death getting shot in the head, including the Cartel guy's own sister, who raised the girl! Unbelievable viciousness, but I guess that's how you keep people in line. (Something to remember when I take over Iceland.)

Also: Warrick has been gone, what, three weeks? New CSI Riley is already fitting in like a three year vet. What's up with that? Wouldn't they resent her being there? Shouldn't there be more friction? At least a catfight? That's all I ask.


LIFE ON MARS

ELEVENTH HOUR


I watched neither in prime time, and realized the only reason I was going to try desperately to "catch up" is to review the episodes. Frankly, I haven't gotten one single comment on either show, so I don't see the point. Unless there are silent readers out there into either of these shows, I'm down with them.


I did spend the 10:00 hour watching and old House with my mom. It was the one where the patient (Mira Sorvino) is trapped in Antarctica. That is a fantastic episode, by the way, in case you ever get the chance to see it. It also made me realize. In case I don't get to take over Iceland, Antarctic, I mean HypeironLand is just waiting for me.

I'm not feeling too well, so this TV Warrior update will be shorter than others.

CSI 9.3 - "Art Imitates Life"

I totally dug the Mannequin Serial Killer. Standing the bodies up was a new one. Also good: continuing cracks in the Gil Grissom facade. I think the double blow of losing Warrick and then re-losing Sara right on top has affected Grissom tremendously, and it paves the way for his leaving.


On the other hand, I hated the new girl Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith) from the first moment I saw her, but I think I was supposed to, so maybe I kind of love her. She has an abrasive personality that HAS to be designed to antagonize the audience, at least at first. She also smiles too much. Reminds me of Denise Richards in STARSHIP TROOPERS. There are situations where smiling just seems weird. Sara would hate her. Time will tell how the others take to her.

One other great line. Jeffrey Tambour has a great role as an arrogant artist. (I hope we see him again.) At one point he's shown pictures of the dead bodies, and turns them away, saying, "I can't stand looking at inferior art....it sears into my subconscious like bad Mexican Food."

Ouch.

Sometime (when I have more to give), we should discuss whether murder ever rises to Art.

Life on Mars 1.3 - "My Maharishi is Bigger than Your Maharishi"

After last week's disastrous episode, I was almost ready to write this show off. I gave it one more week, and this was a much stronger episode, although still weird. Why wouldn't this guy go visit wherever it is she supposed transfered in from (upstate NY?), and see if he indeed had a life, or if he just time-travelled. Seems like an easy thing to check.

Anyway, I continue to love Harvey Keitel, who gets to smack people around and care about gay people, but Michael Imperioli is still unused. Not sure how much longer I will stick with Mars, but the quality of last night's ep says at least one more week.

Eleventh Hour 1.3 - "Agro"

I've given up hope that the blonde chick will be scantily clad any time soon, so I'm left with the strange performance of Rufus Sewell, and further comparison between Eleventh Hour and Fringe. The show is interesting and all, but the way it's set up, I find it hard to believe two people would go all the investigating, and the science, and everything else. I mean, there are other people in the FBI. Why wouldn't they help out too?

World Series

With the long overdue retirement of Billy Packer, is there a more annoying sports announder than Tim McCarver? It's gotten so that I watch 80% of the game with the sound off. Sad.

I must have been in a terrible mood last night. I strongly believe in the theory that severe moods (happy or sad or otherwise) will often color how we view movies, and I think TV fits that bill as well. I don't know if it was my foot, which hurt enough to try to cut partially off, or that I spent much of yesterday wanting to kill something, but Thursday's powerful lineup left me flat.

Kath & Kim Episode 1.2 - "Respect"

Remember how I said last week's show was an abomination? It was MILES better than this week's. I have NO IDEA why I would watch suchdreck . I think I wanted to punish myself for some great sin. What's worse, I made my mom watch it with me. She too was horrified. (Although: she is predicting the girls' use of "Gorge" for "Gorgeous"will soon catch fire.)

Kath & Kim is abysmal, and I vow never to watch again, even if I have to poke out my eyes to make it work.

CSI 9.2 - "The Happy Place"

The first three minutes were really good, elegiac and mysterious. However, everything after the dent in the bus fell flat. (No pun intended.)

I just couldn't get into this episode. Again, I don't know if that's because it was me, or a "come-down" episode after last week's emotional goodbye toWarrick, or maybe just because every facet of the show seemed to point to Grissom/Sarah, and you all know how much I have despised Sarah. Sarah left him again at the end, and I think they are setting up Grissom going after her. Sad, but they have to have some reason for him to leave, and losing Warrick and then Sarah all over again might push him over the edge.

Grissom has always been the consummate professional, but it would be kind of interesting if we saw him crack. That I would enjoy, though painful. But tonight's episode? Waste of time.

Life on Mars 1.2 - "The Real Adventures of Unreal Sam Tyler"

My dad watched this episode with me, after I talked about how good it was last week. Ye gods. Do you know how embarrassing that was? I stake my reputation (entertainment-wise) on having well-formed solid opinions. If I recommend a show, it's quality, baby, and YOU WILL LOVE IT!

I mean, I know with these premieres, you can only go by what you've seen so far, and it's not unusual for a second episode to have a drop-off from a pilot, which gets more time, money and attention, not to mention that often the second episode (and those following) are shot months after the pilot, and the network orders some changes.

That said, last night's episode was terrible. I was mortified that my name was associated with it at all. Now I have a dilemma. I would like to give it one more chance (on the strength of the first episode and the premise), but if/when I catch up with Eleventh Hour, if that show is better, I might be tempted.

And either way, I can't see my dad watching Life on Mars ever again.

Sigh.



And to top it all, off, I watched the last three innings of the ALCS, hoping to see Tampa make the World Series, only to see Boston with another improbable comeback. Now that's all anyone in sports will talk about for two days. If Boston makes the World Series I am giving up baseball forever.



EDIT (ADDED 9:02 AM ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 18)

Eleventh Hour 1.2 - "Cardiac"

I saw the second episode of Eleventh Hour last night. While it did not suck, it was fairly boring and predictable, which in some ways is worse. The plot was a blatant rip-off -- of all things -- of a classic Family Guy episode! I gotta hand it to the producers: other than CSI, CBS cannot get anyone in the 18-49 demo to watch any of their shows, so they had to figure that no one even knew they had stolen from the toad-licking Lando Griffin episode.

I think my bigger problem is that is it obvious to me that Eleventh Hour is a Jerry Bruckheimer production on CBS. This isn't a rant about Bruckheimer, but you know I have gone on at length before about how I can almost always recognize what network a show is on after only a few seconds? Well, there are 11 procedural Dramas on CBS, and all of them look and feel very similar.

Perhaps this is why CBS gets the most overall viewers. Perhaps this is also why they can't get young viewers. CSI is the original, the best of them. NCIS seems to have some good chemistry/characters going for it, and The Unit has a somewhat unique storyline with the military.

That said, 6 of the shows are from Bruckheimer, 10 of the 11 are directly about crime investigation, and after awhile....they all sort of blend together.

Anyway, Rufus Sewell's strange affect is still the best part of Eleventh Hour, as is the possibility that it will dawn on Bruckheimer and CBS that the only real hope of long-term success lies with Marley Shelton in her Underwear on a weekly basis.

This is not a chauvinist pig issue. This is a quality of life issue. This is a quality of police drama issue. Women who look like Marley Shelton don't work for the FBI. The least they can do is make up reasons for her to be in various states of undress.

I got out of CSI just a tad last year--not by choice, just circumstances like the Strike and whatnot--arriving back for the amazing final run of three episodes they put on to end Season 8.

(For the record, the episode called "The Theory of Everything" is one of the deepest things CSI has ever done; "Two and a Half Deaths" is BY FAR the funniest episode ever, and "ForGedda" was a deeply moving finale.)

Of course, if you watched last May, you know that after getting exonerated, Warrick was shot in the final moments for a cliff-hanger. The Premiere of Season 9 resolved that. In many ways, it felt like this episode was probably meant to end Season 8, but maybe with the Writers' Strike....oh well. Let's get to it.

"For Warrick"

Fantastic and moving. When you consider the emotional impact, arguably this is the second best episode ever. Easily in the Top Five. The CSI team got to say goodbye (as did we) to Warrick, one of the coolest and best characters on TV this decade. (Three years ago I named Warrick the 10th coolest character on TV. If anything I'd rate him higher today.)

Everyone got their moment to shine, reacting to Warrick's death. MargHelgenberger ("Catherine") stood out, though Nick and Brass and really all of them were great. It was even nice to see Sarah Sidle come back. Felt right.

Long-time readers know I have long had HUGE problems with the character of Sarah Sidle. I don't know what it is, but she drives me bananas. However, maybe we can make peace. Jorja has put on a few pounds since leaving CSI. Her hair was shorter and curly. She definitely isn't as hot as she used to be, but she looked softer and more feminine to me. I tell you the truth: I liked this look for her much better. Let that be a lesson to those who say I'm all about the pulchritude.

The plot of catching the bad guy was great and all, but really secondary to the shout-out, a forty minute goodbye. They used typical "backward plotting" to let us see Warrick on video. He has a son! Mostly the video was for Warrick to say how much Grissom meant to him. Warrick had a great line about if he could choose his father, it would have been Grissom.


Speaking of Grissom, I left him out of the props above because (as usual) he was in a class by himself. In his best performance (since Grissom got obsessed with that victim who looked like Sarah, and possibly the best EVER), William Peterson knocked it out of the park. His devastation at finding Warrick never felt like Emmy-bait, even though it so was. It felt true. It felt like what Grissom would do. Afterward, those blood-soaked clothes reminded us that just because CSI is a TV show, and we don't take it seriously, murder is always serious, and those left behind suffer unimaginably.

Peterson was looking a bit older here, though maybe that was makeup (lack of sleep over Warrick?). Regardless, he was fantastic, both at the beginning, and at the end, when he gave Warrick's eulogy. I'm not ashamed to say that it got a bit dusty in my room as I watched. (Of course, my mom would counter it's ALWAYS dusty in my room, but you get the idea.)

Grissom has been the heart and soul of CSI for 8 seasons. Though the ensemble cast is phenomenal, and the writing usually top-notch, it is Grissom that put the show over the top and gave it such a great run. The second best character has been Warrick. (I know some of you disagree, but you're morons.)

First we lose Warrick, and in six weeks we lose Grissom. I'm not hating and saying CSI will go into the scrap heap. The writing is still great and it's not like Catherine, Nick, Greg and the lab geeks aren't awesome, but what show could lose its greatest two characters back-to-back like this and not take a huge hit? I guess we'll have to deal with it as it comes.

For me, CSI has moved back into the Absolutely Must See rotation.

I watched the last episode of Sara Sidle last night on C.S.I. I will admit upfront: I always hated Sara's character from moment one. I didn't start watching the show until it was in it's 3rd season, but I started at the beginning (when Spike got the syndication rights), and Sara was such a bitch to Warrick. She thought she was so much better than everyone else, and I just hated her.

I probably thawed a little when it was revealed that Sara's dad had molested her and Sara's mom had killed Sara's dad, but the character still rubs me the wrong way. If I made a list of TV characters over the last 20 years that annoy me, Sara would be in the top 3 easily. I just never liked her.

And her romance to Grissom....what could he see in that girl? Sofia would be have been a much better choice. Catherine and he had chemistry. Hell, Lady Heather and Grissom lit the box up!

Sara's departure had been previously announced, but if you haven't seen the episode yet skip to the end. I didn't watch the last few episodes of last year or the beginning of this year, so I didn't see the whole kidnapped thing. I have a hard time believing it could have been as good as the Tarantino episode where they buried Nick alive, but I'll have to see it and judge for myself. I'm not sure why they decided to focus more on Sara, but I'm just as glad she's going, although the manner was totally weird. Grissom asks her to marry him, and so she has to just run away? So Sara. No wonder she drinks.

I'm really hoping that Warrick's marriage breaks up and he and Catherine can get together, but probably Sara's departure means that the creators felt there was nowhere left to go, which means we won't see a "ship" again out in the open. Fair enough.

The straw that broke the camel's back was another case involving that genius girl from two seasons ago, who made it seem like she killed someone her brother did. I thought that was one of the best regular season episodes ever, and it was great to see Juliette Goglia back. Pay attention to her, kids: I think she will be a star one day.

All in all the episode was very good, and all in all Jorja Fox plays it well. I want it said I have nothing against her as an actress, but somehow the character never worked for me. Maybe she can work out those demons, and in the meantime, Grissom is desloated again. This is how it should be. As I wrote back in 2003 in Column #165:

The best monster movies wait as long as possible to show you their creature; knowing that whatever you come up with in your imagination is worse than anything they can film. The same works with TV, in a different way. Based on the earlier Conflict Theory, it is almost always better for characters not to get together romantically. Sometimes the whole show is based on love, but even then, it’s better if the love stories don’t work out, at least not for very long. I hear so many people (read: women) wish for certain characters to have relationships (in the business these people are called “shippers”). They want the happy ending. Everyone does. But in an ongoing TV show, this is death. Like I wrote, all drama is based on conflict, and once the conflict is resolved, there goes the tension of the drama. As much as you might hate this, you know it to be true. The best shows are where it doesn’t work out for the characters, and you’re so frustrated at his/her inability to get the girl or keep the guy that you could scream. That’s what makes serialized TV so great, and that’s what keeps us watching.

And that's it in a nutshell. You can't have happiness and successful drama. You especially can't have it with Grissom, who is so melancholic. Maybe now he'll develop a drinking problem. But whatever he does, you know it will be interesting.

I finally saw the LOST finale early this morning, and this evening I saw Season 2 Battlestar Galactica Finale. Except for My Name is Earl (which doesn't really count, as a comedy), this catches me up. I think I may do a top ten list of Season Finales, if not this year (haven't seen enough) then all-time.

Brief thoughts: (SOME POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)

Alias and West Wing - Once proud shows that got so far off track even I had to bail. I may catch the final seasons on DVD some day, but the whole thing makes me sad. My dad tells me West Wing ended well, at least. Sniff sniff.

The Unit - I enjoyed the show, and at times (read: David Mamet-written and directed episodes) The Unite went from good to great. But the finale was weak and I'm unsure what they are going to do with this show. They seem caught between procedural and serialization, the new Hybrid, and that's tough ground to straddle.

Grey's Anatomy - I got out of this show in February. I enjoyed it more and more each week, but I was trying to cut as much TV down as possible, and I cut all of Sunday night. I did see the finale. Izzy drives me nuts, and I hate George's hair cut. Never did like Meredith.

CSI - I've already written extensively about this one.

Prison Break - I lost a good deal of interest in the show once it came back from hiatus, but I have to say the finale was very well done. I was shocked that they (apparently) killed the doctor with the OD. I figured she'd be in the break. My dad thinks they didn't kill her and she'll still be a big player next season. Hard to know if they can keep the momentum, but I wish them well.

24 - I've written about this too, and how a jerk ruined it for me. I got quite a lot of mail on the decision about whether to tell his wife of his infidelity. Ajax in particular was strongly against my actions. Ajax pointed out to me that if I knew the girl personally, felt strongly about the sanctity of marriage or felt the family was in emotional harm that'd be one thing, but just as revenge...that's quite a wrecking ball to throw on a marriage.

He's right, of course. I don't know the wife, but wish her no ill will, and to do something like that just because I'm pissed over a TV show would be wrong; not because it's too stern of a reaction (for all I'm concerned the guy can drop dead, and if he's reading this: "If you ever mess with me again I will ruin your life"), but because I'm hurting that girl who did nothing to me. I was never really going to do it, I was just mad when I wrote that and that's what a blog is supposed to be: your honest reactions to your daily life. Don't know if I'll watch the finale now or not.

House - I wrote about this earlier in the week but didn't post my thoughts. Sometimes when I don't protect myself when I write, and lay myself out there, vulnerable. I mean, to make yourself vulnerable is the only way to become a better writer, but I need to be more careful. So I'll leave it at this: not a normal episode, but very impressive to me. If you haven't watched House I can't recommend buying or renting Season 1 highly enough.

Battlestar Galactica - I have been so impressed with the dark tone this series has taken from the beginning ,and the willingness to hurt their characters emotionally and physically. It really feels like they are experiencing war and the bad decisions that go with it, more than playing out their roles.

That said, I haven't liked every move they've made, although mostly that's because as a fan you get in your mind where you'd like the story to go. All you can really ask is that the writing and acting is good and the stories fresh and compelling. The finale threw a huge left curve toward the end, but when the end reveal came I could see what they're trying to set up. Season 2 was inferior to Season 1 (perhaps because of more episodes = thinner storylines?), but still better than most else out there. I must write a MovieHype about the DVDs soon.

LOST - Blood and Bloody ashes, there simply is nothing on TV like Lost, is there? When it's all said and done, I think watching Season 2 of Lost straight through on DVD will make it as good if not better than Season 1. The problem is that Lost is so dense, with so many layers and hidden meaning, that you really need to watch it consistently. ABC ran so many repeats, and without much logic, that it was hard to pick up a rhythm. They'd run three repeats and then a new one, and then two more repeats and then a new one. Can't do that with Lost. Hopefully Season 3 will take care of that, as they are running 7 straight in the fall, then going on hiatus for a new show until February or so, then running straight through again.

Anyway, the finale: I've talked to a few who felt, well, lost, but I didn't have that problem. Yes, many more questions than answers were raised, but if you examine where we are now to where we were at the beginning of the season, an extraordinary amount of plot has transpired in what I keep reminding myself is only about 2 months of actual island-time.

Giving Desmond's backstory was a brilliant masterstroke to explaining the hatch (at least, partly), and that "partner" of his...did you notice that was the guy who interrogated Sayid? And how did Desmond's girl know to look for him? Does someone else know he's there? Is that girl's father connected to the Hanso Foundation and Dharma?

Speaking of the Hanso, I was fast forwarding through the commercials, so almost missed it, but did you see the Hanso commercial? It was (http://hansocareers.com/) and I think there is also a Hanso Foundation (http://www.thehansofoundation.org/). The creators of Lost have gone to so much trouble to dribble out facts. I love it; just wish I had more time.

Anyway, even if it's maddening, Lost was hands-down the best final of the this season. Slow-building and yet explosive. Tense and exciting, advancing the plot an absurd degree (for them), and yet leaving so many questions I can hardly wait for fall.

I just hope I have a TV by then.

I just got to watch the CSI season finale. (PLOT SPOILER DISCUSSED SOON.) I have to say that overall it wasn’t that great an episode. After last week with Brass getting shot I expected much more. Not to mention the website I was touting that had all those clues! That was such a cool site, but most of it came to naught. What’s up with that?

Also, last week Warrick had his drama with his new wife, and then they just drop it? (And can I say that Warrick is ten times boring now that he’s married?)

This week they really didn’t even have any interesting cases. Both of the cases turned out to be accidents, and while it was interesting to see the people under stress (especially Warrick’s weird attack on the sister of that guy who died), this was done so much better in last season’s final episode directed by Quentin Tarrantino.

Of course, what everyone will be talking about is the ending, which revealed Grissom and Sara have a relationship! Because they are apparently in a hotel, and this is the first we’ve seen it, I think we can reasonably infer that their relationship is a secret. That could bode well for drama in the future, if it all comes out.

I wrote a column almost three years ago where I advocated not fulfilling romantic desires in a show like CSI. The column is surprisingly good (hint hint): Here is one part, dealing with what we’re talking about:

The Unrequited Love Theory
The best monster movies wait as long as possible to show you their creature; knowing that whatever you come up with in your imagination is worse than anything they can film. The same works with TV, in a different way. Based on the earlier Conflict Theory, it is almost always better for characters not to get together romantically. Sometimes the whole show is based on love, but even then, it’s better if the love stories don’t work out, at least not for very long. I hear so many people (read: women) wish for certain characters to have relationships (in the business these people are called “shippers”). They want the happy ending. Everyone does. But in an ongoing TV show, this is death. Like I wrote, all drama is based on conflict, and once the conflict is resolved, there goes the tension of the drama. As much as you might hate this, you know it to be true. The best shows are where it doesn’t work out for the characters, and you’re so frustrated at his/her inability to get the girl or keep the guy that you could scream. That’s what makes serialized TV so great, and that’s what keeps us watching.

I definitely hold to that, but like I wrote on Monkey Barn two weeks ago, the show is almost to the point where it will start receding in the public consciousness if it doesn’t do something, so while I love Grissom and loathe Sara, I’m on board.

One other note: Probably the best scene in CSI history (not Tarrantino-related) is when Grissom talks to this doctor (who’s getting away with murder) about being attracted to a younger colleague. Gris goes on about new life from a younger woman, and how he couldn’t take the risk to his career even though he wanted to. We pan back to see Sara watching through the two-way mirror. Just powerful stuff.

Okay, I guess I have two more notes: I also caught the end of the episode where Sara is pulled over for DUI. They’d been building this all that season. Sara’s meltdown was partly because she made her pitch to Grissom and he rejected her, and partly of her screwed up childhood (which we finally found out about in that great mental institution episode this year). Anyway, Grissom comes to take her home, and I think that’s the start of their relationship, or at least led to it. Just my opinion.

No one has responded to my award-worth commentary on Wednesday Night’s TV, but I thought I’d try it again.

I’ve been Thinking about CSI quite a bit lately. The show is still entertaining, but you can see the writing on the wall that they may have hit their apex. Last season’s finale with Nick trapped was the best episode ever, but how much of that was the genius of Quentin Tarrantino? They can’t have him every day.

(This is out of nowhere, but it’s also starting to bother me how moronic the detectives are, and how big of heroes the CSIs are. I mean, in real life, they collect fingerprints and such as they are told, and the cops do all the legwork and figure everything out. In many ways, this show is as Science Fictiony as Lost.)

I appreciate their attempts to change the pace, like the one-character focused episodes—especially concerning Brass, but with three CSIs and the procedural nature of the show, you can see them having to resort to more and more bizarre story lines, a la the furries, the chubbies, and the unfortunate man who wanted to be diapered.

Also at this point in a show the characters become a little forced. They married off Warrick, but instead of adding depth the move has robbed the guy of his cool. How is Greg 3X cooler than ‘Rick, tell me that? I want Warrick cool again! You pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?

Marg Helgengerg’s move to management hasn’t made her any more likable or complex; in truth she hasn’t been the same since her ex-husband died. And Nick’s hair issues (both facial and head) have made him almost a travesty. Much as I hate to admit it, I find myself looking forward to the brief Hodges, Coroner and Archie interludes…even Ecklie, if only for a boo-hiss bad guy. (Oh, and Sofia? Every scene she’s in she rocks.)

Last night’s previews promise that someone will be gunned down in the finale – which seems a bit of a desperation move, but could be warranted, if only to see the other characters deal with it. (Especially if it’s Sarah. How much do I hate that bitch?)

(Ugh! Not even if she had a lollipop)

We could have been lied to, like in season 3, when it was a cop that was killed, but hopefully not.

Anyway, the reason I bring this all up: assuming that it isn’t Sarah who’s gunned down, I think perhaps it’s finally time for Grissom and Sarah to attempt a clandestine romance. I’ve written extensively in the past about TV. (Go take a look at the 120s and the 130s of the Hyperion Chronicles for more info), and how romance usually kills the chemistry, with the exception of “shipper” shows, that thrive on the characters having relationships with each other. Of course, even in Shipper shows, the relationships don’t work out. TV only works wit conflict.

That said, it might just be the jolt CSI needs. In one of the best episodes ever, Grissom tells a doctor (who is getting away with murder) about how he understands the call of the young co-worker, and how he (Grissom) couldn’t make that move, risk everything. The last shot pulls back to reveal Sarah watching through the two-way glass.

She’s certainly made it clear how much she likes him, but Grissom has never bit. I thought maybe Grissom and Sofia were going to hook up for awhile. (That would have been my choice), but if that doesn’t happen, don’t you think it would be fun to see Grissom and Sarah starting something? Trying to keep it secret, the others finding out and the inevitable fallout? Her trying to get “in” to his life, and him trying to open up and let her?

Just a thought.

2004 saw this return to great Television that we hadn't seen in some time, and if anything, 2005 only strengthened it. Many of last year's new shows continued to flourish, even as some of the usual stalwart faded in glory. (Alias, West Wing; I'm looking in your direction. And what on earth happened to Desperate Housewives?) For the first time in several years, making a top ten list for the year actually required some tough cuts, rather than searching for enough shows to even include! (One other thing before we start; don't you love these "cast" photos that show everyone in costume? It cracks me up to think of people who take television as 100% real looking at these pics and getting all confused. "When did they do that?")

PROBABLY WOULD MAKE THE LIST IF I'D SEEN THEM: The Shield - Every year I've seen this show it makes my top three, but Canada is waging a war to keep quality programming from me. Grrr. Veronica Mars - Everyone I know who's seen this just raves, but I haven't got to it yet. Soon. Rome - I started watching Rome, and enjoyed it, but not enough to make the ten best. However, I heard that it gets so much better as it goes on that perhaps had I finished the season I would.

HONORABLE MENTION - Bones - I'm coming to love this show more and more, and the Christmas episode was one of the ten best single episodes on Television this year (now there'd be a good list). Bones is procedural, and Lord knows we don't' need more of them, but with emphasis on humor and characterization more, I've come to love it. Bones is moving from the brutal Tuesday time slot to the curiously empty Wednesday slot (8:00 eastern), so give it a gander.






#10 Prison Break - Though about as plausible as the idea that Nora Roberts writes ALL those books, Prison Break is still a lot of fun. When it comes back in March I can't wait to see what happens.



#9 Without a Trace - I've had to give up a lot of TV to get my work done, and sadly this show gets missed a bit, but whenever I catch it it's still as good as ever.



#8 C.S.I. - They can't keep up the quality forever, but right now there's no immediate end in sight. I like how they occasionally do "different" episodes that feature only one character or a different point of view to keep it fresh. And I'm still buzzing about the Tarantino finale last May; arguably the best single episode of TV this year.



#7 Grey's Anatomy - When it first premiered I wasn't all that keen, finding the plots too formulaic and the narrating kind of annoying. However, this show has really grown on me. The acting is superb and the humor and heartbreak mixed well. Grey's is as "shipper," so all those people who love to see their favorite characters get it on, this is for you.



Whoops! I mean

#6 Battlestar Galactica - It's dark as all get out, but so powerful and moving. I never saw the original (and I heard quite cheesy) BSG, but this one is great in my opinion. Watch the miniseries that started it all and see if you don't agree.



#5 Rescue Me - Tommy Gavin continues his climb into the pantheon of all-time tortured leading men. The look on his face at the hospital toward the end of the second season said everything to me. This seasons are only 13 episodes, so an absolute MUST rental of Season 1 and 2 before the new one comes in. Seriously: get on board!



#4 House - I love every actor on this show, but Hugh Laurie owns me. His brutal suffering and piercing intelligence and sarcasm get me every time. My dad doesn't seem to like him, preferring the vastly inferior Commander in Chief, but my dad can't be right about about everything. House is the man.



#3 24 - Was Season 4 the best yet or what? They've finally gotten their act together and plotted the Season fully rather than just write until they get board and go another way. Now the story is right there with the action and acting. I am so stoked to see Chloe again!




#2 Deadwood - I reviewed Deadwood over on MovieHype, so check that out for more info. Not much more to say other than what a treasure of a television show. I have no idea where Season 3 is going, but I can't wait to find out.



#1 LOST - My list includes an incredible six sophomore shows, but in my opinion, this is the best of them. LOST combines the adventure of being stranded in the plane crash, the mystery and intrigue that is the island and its other inhabitants with the strong characterization in the flashbacks. It's almost a perfect show. That at times Lost moves agonizingly slow, I don't care. I love each and every mystery I uncover. I can't wait to see what's coming next. I hurt along with my favorite characters, and shake my fist in rage as those who annoy me. For the second straight year, Lost is best of the best, which is saying quite a bit.

This list was borrowed from another of Hyperion's sites: RANK EVERYTHING