Best of 2005 - TV

Television tends to get kind of a bad rap. A lot of times, people who are a bit snobbish, even people who are real movie fans, denigrate television. TV is a different medium than film, and one that has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. There are some things TV can do better than film, and some things it doesn't do as well. One of the problems with TV is that there is a lot of it, and I certainly believe it follows Sturgeon's Law (90% of anything is crap). So I want to present my choices for the best of TV 2005. Since TV programs tend to start in the fall of the year, and often end in the spring (though many end at other times as well), picking the best of a particular year involves looking at the "new fall programs" of 2005, as well as what was on "last year" in the winter, spring, and summer. Here are my picks:

Best TV show: Lost. Without a doubt, consistently from week to week. One of the things that most impressed me this fall was the introduction of another group of characters. About the third or fourth episode, these new characters were featured without any sign or reference to the characters we'd been watching over the past year. And it was still fascinating.

Best new TV show: Threshold. The success of Lost (and it amazes me that a show this good can be this popular) of course spawned numerous clones, take-offs, and shows "inspired" by it. Some were good, some not so much. Threshold was by far my favorite of those, but as I suspected from its beginning, a far too intelligently written and designed show to capture a mass audience. And, yeah, it's already been taken off. Too bad.

Honorable mentions: My Name Is Earl and Everybody Hates Chris. Two distinctly different but hilarious comedies. Proof that there's still life in the sitcom format. I'd be hard-pressed to pick between the two, but if I had to, I'd give Chris a slight edge.

Tomorrow: the best books of 2005.