Top Ten TV Shows of 2005-06

It's become increasingly difficult to properly define a "season" of TV. Not only because the networks continue to test the boundaries of the traditional season and cable has never restricted itself to a "proper" September-May schedule, but also because the rise of TiVos, On Demand and TV on DVD have made it easier than ever for viewers to create their own schedules and watch entire seasons of shows on their own terms.

But I'm gonna stick with tradition and pay tribute to the best of the conventional TV season that ended about a month ago. That means stuff that aired between June 2005 and May 2006. After all, it's still the way the Emmys define their eligibility period (this year's nominations are due out July 6, while I'm on a break from this blog).

I could list out everything that I watched over the past year, and everything I still plan on catching, but instead I'll reserve this space for what I liked most of all. However, there are a few shows that would have made my list of the season's best, if I had more room:

-Big Love, yet another strong effort from HBO which invited viewers into a unique world (and lifestyle) in a credible way
-Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX), two cranky comedies that regularly made me laugh out loud

and first place runner-up...
-Wonder Showzen (MTV2), still wonderfully warped, if a little less fresh, in season two

But on to the real deal...

10. Rome (HBO; available on DVD)

HBO and the BBC teamed up to turn truly ancient history into an addictive soap, equal parts class and trash. The first season of this opulent epic was overflowing with raunchy sex and graphic violence, but it never felt forced thanks to its strong characterizations and extraordinary ensemble cast (with Ray Stevenson and Polly Walker especially relishing their scene-stealing roles). Forget Hollywood's ponderous period pictures, for costume drama that sizzles all roads lead...right here.

Standout episodes: The Stolen Eagle; The Ram Has Touched the Wall; The Spoils; The Kalends of February

9. Sons and Daughters (ABC)

This could have been the next great family comedy, if only people had bothered to watch. It probably should've aired on cable where the show's sharp, partially improvised dialogue, semi-serialized storylines and extensive ensemble would've been properly viewed as strengths rather than flaws. At least ABC took a chance and let ten episodes air, making network television a more interesting place in the process.

Standout episodes: Anniversary Party; BBQ Therapy; Surprise Party; The Homecoming

8. Six Feet Under (HBO; available on DVD)

The last season of HBO's signature sex-'n'-death drama started off a little weak, but by the time it hit the home stretch Six Feet Under delivered some of its finest episodes ever, culminating in a remarkable series finale that gave the show the arty/invigorating/absurd/glorious/pretentious/abundantly satisfying ending it deserved. And on a series that always honored its supremely talented cast, Frances Conroy and Rachel Griffiths finished the run as first among equals.

Standout episodes: Rainbow of Her Reasons; All Alone; Static; Everyone's Waiting

7. Extras (HBO; available on DVD)

Following up one of the greatest TV shows ever made is a pretty tough challenge. But Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant proved themselves up to the task with this unique portrait of two insecure and self-sabotaging background players in the U.K. film world. Gervais again starred, paired this time with the equally brilliant Ashley Jensen, and the result was a short season of piercing hilarity.

Standout episodes: Kate Winslet; Ben Stiller; Patrick Stewart

6. 24 (Fox; available on DVD)

It's surprise enough that such a gimmicky concept even made it to a fifth season. But watching this high-wire-act of an action drama deliver its most consistently compelling season yet was downright shocking. Bolstered by the show's strongest ensemble ever, "Day Five" raced breathlessly from one tension-filled situation to the next. Cast members dropped like flies, bold twists divided (and delighted) the audience and the clock kept ticking... making those seven days between new episodes seem like an eternity.

Standout episodes: Difficult choices for a show that's more about moments than episodes but: 7:00 A.M.-8:00 A.M. (season premiere); 4:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. (motorcade attack); 10:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M. (the big reveal); 11:00 P.M.-12:00 A.M. (season finale)

5. Bleak House (PBS; available on DVD)

Who knew a novel from the 1800s, by Charles Dickens no less, could be turned into something so gripping in 2006? This Masterpiece Theater presentation of a BBC sensation preserves Dickens' serialized storytelling format but shatters PBS' stodgy reputation thanks to an audacious filmmaking style and passionate emotional resonance. Anna Maxwell Martin turned in arguably the best performance of the entire TV season as the radiant and intelligent Jane Austen-esque heroine.

Standout episodes: Parts 1, 4, 6

4. The Sopranos (HBO; available on DVD)

Continually setting the bar for the level of quality possible on television, the landmark drama had a fascinating sixth season. Complaints about the pace seemingly disregard the peerless filmmaking and performances. Tension mounted as the people we've come to know so well took baby steps forward, and backward, in this introspective season that explored big questions of mortality, heredity, enlightenment and the irresistible lure of a lifestyle that has great rewards but even greater penalties. Only eight more to go.

Standout episodes: The Fleshy Part of the Thigh; Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request; Johnny Cakes; Cold Stones

3. Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi; first half and second half available on DVD)

In case you haven't heard, this is the show that single-handedly made sci-fi (both the channel and the genre) a respectable destination for lovers of quality drama. And over the course of an exhilarating and provocative 20-episode second season, split into two equally riveting halves, this re-imagining of a cheesy 70s space opera blossomed into one of TV's unquestionable best. Despite its cosmic setting, no show has more to say about the way we live now. Episodes make time for kick ass action and challenging portrayals of religious fundamentalism, terrorism, war, civil liberties and other vital topics without pandering or preaching. And damn is it fun.

Standout episodes: Home; Resurrection Ship; Downloaded; Lay Down Your Burdens

2. The Shield (FX; available on DVD)

It's a real mystery why The Shield isn't on the tip of everyone's tongue as one of TV's best dramas. This richly complex police drama gets deeper, and better, with each new season and long ago deserved the right to be mentioned in the same breath with The Sopranos, as a true contemporary classic. The problem is you've got to start at the beginning, but by the time you hit season five and see the Strike Team face off with a fiercely committed IA agent, who is determined to expose and end their corruption once and for all, you'll wonder why you ever resisted watching in the first place.

Standout episodes: Trophy; Kavanaugh; Of Mice and Lem; Post Partum

1. Arrested Development (Fox; available on DVD)

No, putting it on top isn't some statement about a great show that ended too soon. In fact part of me is glad that Arrested Development is done, finished, kaput. Yeah I said it. It's actually heartening to know that this brilliant comedy never lost its mojo. How it survived for three genius seasons without fading, becoming desperate or selling out is for wiser people than me to know. I'm just glad we have 53 episodes of these miserable bastards, and enough in-jokes to last a lifetime. Bob Loblaw. Mr. F. Oh come on. Has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken? I've made a terrible mistake.

Standout episodes: The Ocean Walker; S.O.B.s; Fakin' It; Development Arrested

Criticizing the critics

While we're on the topic of NBC, let's pause to celebrate their strong showing in yesterday's Television Critics Association nominations.

And by "celebrate" I mean get so blasted we can't even remember these things were announced. Because they're best forgotten.

Usually you can count on the TCAs for a pretty solid list with a couple of fun "the-Emmys-would-never!" picks. Yeah, they always lean a little too heavily on the guys in their two performance categories but they'll also do things like nominate Sarah Michelle Gellar or Lauren Graham or The [real] Office or The Shield or other genuinely deserving but often overlooked shows/performers. This year there are no such fun picks (although they did go for Graham again, but considering her show's less than spectacular season even that choice feels rote).

Perennial awards watching irritant Tom O'Neil, in typically hysterical form, posted a Tom-explains-it-all rant about why TCA "snubbed" Desperate Housewives. And his "it's a boy's club" rationale probably isn't that far off base, but it does ignore a couple points: it may or may not make the Emmy list but DH wasn't getting a TCA nom this year no matter what, it simply wasn't good enough (and the real question isn't why it was ignored, but why Lost didn't get the same treatment after a similarly disappointing second season), and, more importantly, Grey's Anatomy got two big TCA nominations. Try to find a bigger chick show than that on all of primetime television at the moment.

The nominations are clearly more about "buzz" than anything else (which makes sense because in TV, critics either create the buzz or become slaves to it to avoid looking irrelevant). But I'll stop dancing around it and get to the point: where the hell are Battlestar Galactica and Arrested Development?

Seriously. This is what I count on the TCA for, recognizing the deserving underdogs. I can forgive them for moving on from The Shield (it's their loss) but must they hold up the absurdly overrated My Name is Earl and the why-isn't-it-dead-yet!?! Scrubs as examples of television's best comedy? And does House really need a drama series nomination? (Correct answers: no and no.)

Seeing the season's best shows overlooked at the Emmys will be unfortunate enough. Seeing them passed over by television critics is just pathetic.

Beginning of the End

Arrested Development returns, briefly, to Fox's schedule beginning tonight.

I'd tell you to watch, but if you're a fan I know you will. And if you've never seen the show it's better to start from the beginning with seasons 1 and 2 on DVD.

It's not like anything can keep the show going at this point anyway.

[Kitchen Confidential returns to the schedule as well, with an episode reuniting former Alias co-stars Bradley Cooper and Michael Vartan. I never really mentioned the Kitchen cancellation, partly because it's not nearly as big a loss as Arrested Development, but it's too bad the promising-but-not-quite-great-yet show didn't get a longer run. Meanwhile, Stacked remains on Fox's schedule for the foreseeable future.]

Further Developments

I'll move on soon, I promise, but for now check out Tim Goodman's San Francisco Chronicle column on Fox treating Arrested Development like an ugly stepchild even though they still have Stacked, Reunion and War at Home on their schedule.

He explains the (modest) reasons to be optimistic that it's not over yet (even though it is, it just is).

It was inevitable but...

still frustrating and disappointing and annoying and, yes, downright tragic.

But I'm dealing.

Thursday was an awful day in TV land: the morning after that hideous episode of Lost, the day Freddie was picked up for a full season and the day that Fox slammed the final nail into the coffin of Arrested Development. The show has been pulled from Fox's schedule for the rest of November, will return briefly in December and will be pulled again in January. At which point it will likely never return. And the number of episodes ordered for this season has been reduced from 22 to 13.

After three, oops, two and a half seasons, the funniest show on television is destined to become a part of TV history. Yes, some high quality shows have faded faster (even some on Fox: Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Profit, Undeclared, etc.), but no, none of them were better.

From a network perspective it had to be done: since moving to Mondays this season the show has delivered miserable ratings and its hour long airing last week was especially poor — more people watched Seventh Heaven (which, oddly, was cancelled on Thursday, but the announcement was only made to hype this season as its final one), a 9 p.m. airing of Girlfriends on UPN rated higher for the evening in viewers age 18-49, and, probably worst of all, lead-out Prison Break (one of Fox's only current "hits") saw its ratings drop.

But it hurts that this show is off of Fox's schedule while Stacked, Reunion, Killer Instinct and The War at Home remain. (At least for the moment... the only one of those shows likely to survive until January is The War at Home, already picked up for a full season, just like Freddie.)

It also hurts that this comes during a supposed renaissance in TV comedy. With the loss of Arrested the network comedy landscape is pretty barren. Since combining incessant voiceover with a parade of white trash cliches is NOT actually funny, the best half hour on network TV is now about Chris Rock's childhood. Which is cute but overly familiar. But I guess this is why the TV gods created cable and shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Extras, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Weeds.

And as for Arrested Development, we'll always have DVD.

Get Arrested

Ok, this better be true, and not just someone messing with me. But this isn't the only place I've heard it, so that has to be a good sign.

And if it does come true, it would make Peter Ligouri a god among men.

As for her unrelated Desperate Housewives item. Gee, if someone is going to die, I wonder who it might be?