A Decade In Front Of The Tube

With the 2008/2009 TV season drawing to a close there is only one reasonable thing to do - make a list of the decade's best TV shows. Am I jumping the gun? Maybe but my feeling is that the exemplary serieses have already proven themselves, the shitty ones won't all of a sudden get good and new shows debuting in the summer or fall are too new.

In order to make the list a show must have lasted at least 2 seasons. Also, rather than declaring a single show the greatest I've picked 2 dramas and 2 comedies. In my opinion these 4 shows both reflected and defined the past 10 years. So without any further ado...

BEST DRAMA

Great art can take the specific and make it universal. By intensely exploring 5 years in the ghettos of Baltimore Maryland The Wire was able to make profound statements about crime, politics, media, addiction, etc. This show was able to take material that is usually relegated to the editorial page and make it riveting entertainment. Couple that with an amazingly talented ensemble of actors and you get a classic that will be remembered for years to come.

I have to admit that I was pretty late to the game on this one. I was being an elitist in assuming that nothing with that title could possibly be anything more than fodder for the Comic-Con crowd. When I finally started playing catch-up mid-way through season 3 I found that I was only half right. In addition to babes, bots & blasters there were also intensely relevant ideas in play. Torture, religion & terrorism. Not your usual sci-fi trifecta but it worked like fraking gang busters. So say we all.

BEST COMEDY

Combine two of the shittiest elements of post-millennial life (reality TV & Enron) and what do you get? One of the funniest and most quotable shows ever! So what if not a single character was sympathetic? People love to laugh at buffoons. The more self-aggrandizing the buffoon the better. Though the show died an unceremonious death after 3 underrated seasons the waves it started can still be felt in film & TV to this day. You're welcome Michael Cera!

Laugh for laugh this is the best thing going on TV currently. Industry insider shows never work. This is because very few people are actually inside, yet somehow this show has succeeded in bringing people inside its' weird fucked up little world. We want to go to there. Only this show could get away with having an Amadeus or Harry and The Hendersons themed sub-plot. God bless Tina Fey!

So there you have it. Discuss!