aktick

http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/1784

Yeah, it's Yahoo. But I found the list pretty revealing - basically showing that smart, innovative shows don't do really good in the ratings, IMO because Americans are either too stupid to follow or they just don't want to think when relaxing at night.

Friday Night Lights.
30 Rock
The Office
Battlestar Galactica
How I Met Your Mother
Veronica Mars
Rome

Of course, Grey's, Ugly Betty, and Dancing with the Stars are also listed.

das Monkey

That's actually a pretty solid list. I'd remove Heroes (silly, and if you're honest with yourself you can admit it ), BSG (plagued by filler this season), and Grey's Anatomy (laughably melodramatic and downright terrible this year). Replace them with The Wire (any "best of" list without it has absolutely zero credibility) and depending on the date restrictions, Big Love or The Shield. And if I'm being selfish, Studio 60.

das

johnnysd

Heroes was the best show on television this year. If you think it is silly I guess you just cannot accept the superhero concept, but it terms of an overall arc for the season it was far better and exciting than any show out there this year.

das Monkey

Heh. I don't want to turn this thread into a Heroes argument, since I know many people around here are obsessed with it, so I'll just say that I disagree. And my opinion has nothing to do with liking or disliking superheroes.

das

P.S. I am, however, reminded of something a friend of mine said after last night's episode (he adores Heroes): "Yeah, I know it's terrible. I know this. But I love it anyway, and you have to give me this: it's much better than Smallville." He had a point.

Red Dog

Yeah - not bad. I agree with das on Heroes - I don't understand the fascination myself. The biggest problem I have with it is Grey's Anatomy, which has fallen so far since its opening season.

aktick

I'm a big Heroes fan, and not a big comic fan, but I can see where people wouldn't think much of it. Some of the acting and lines were pretty awful for much of the season, but I just like shows where everything is connected like this but aren't realistic.

das Monkey

I find it difficult to think of a show that has fallen farther and faster than Grey's Anatomy. It was fantastic when it began, and now it's a complete disaster. I'm curious whether Shonda Rhimes is a writer/producer in name only and the producer-by-committee approach killed it, or if she's in complete control and has destroyed it herself. Score another win for Marti Noxon, though.

das

RichC2

Decent list, though I only watch a few shows on there... and (imo) the second half of Lost has been really strong so I'd probably add that, personally (despite some travesties mixed in.)

I agree about Heroes though. The show is generally interesting and usually entertaining, and it has a solid concept... but it does have some hamfisted and occasionally downright poor execution. (Acting, scripting, dialogue, directing, etc; ) Hopefully they'll be able to fix it up a bit for next season.

das Monkey

Lost is on it. Here's the complete list:

Friday Night Lights
Planet Earth
Lost
Dexter
30 Rock
Heroes
Dancing with the Stars
The Office
Battlestar Galactica
House
How I Met Your Mother
Grey's Anatomy
Ugly Betty
Brothers & Sisters
Veronica Mars
Rome

das

RichC2

Ah cool. I agree with maybe 7 or 8 of those. More than most lists

MechanicalMan

A lot of those shows are very overrated, IMO, and The Wire is the best show on TV, so that's a pretty bad omission.

aktick

I actually watch all of those except the ABC crap (excluding Lost) and House.

clckworang

Dancing With the Stars as one of the best shows of 06-07? Really? No joke?

I'm not current on BSG, but I'm watching it now on DVD. Otherwise, I watch all of them except House and Dancing. But just the inclusion of Dancing With the Stars on this list makes it a little more difficult to take seriously.

I feel an Arrested Development moment coming: "Her?"

MFRONE

Dexter? Very nice

tasha99

Yeah, I was going to be outraged that it wasn't chosen, but then das posted the whole list. It was my favorite show this year.

das Monkey

Dancing with the Stars is incredibly entertaining. It's tempting to lump all the reality/game/contest shows into one carton of suck (something people frequently and foolishly do with sci-fi ), but I'd submit that this is one of the exceptions. Of course, if I need to defend smokin' hot women parading around in little clothing in high definition, not even Hiro can save us.

das

boredsilly

I deleted the shows I don't watch (can't speak on those), so which of these requires all this thought you mention? Veronica Mars can be somewhat intricate at times, but I doubt it's so highbrow that it turns viewers away. The humor of 30 Rock and The Office can be esoteric at times, but that doesn't make people "stupid" for not getting every single reference or not wanting to watch.

I could maybe (maybe) understand the "too stupid" business if you were talking about The Wire or Babylon 5, but none of the shows you listed requires great thought.

Lots of people watch House, CSI, and Desperate Housewives. Those shows are comparable in quality to what you have listed (at least Housewives was when I watched the first season). So I don't buy the argument of people not being smart enough to watch certain shows. I think there is a lot more to why these shows don't succeed to the levels fans of said shows think they should.

Did anyone tune into FNL and go "Oh my god, my head hurts from the complication and innovation!!!!!" this season?

(The whole American tv viewer is an idiot because they don't watch show X is a major pet peeve of mine.)

das Monkey

For reference, since that first season, IMO Desperate Housewives has been about as good as latter seasons of Falcon Crest. It might not be the best example.

Anyway, I think good shows don't succeed more because of prejudice and laziness than stupidity. Instead of watching a show and giving it a chance, people make foolish generalizations about the content, and then instead of admitting that they never even tried to watch the show, they proclaim it as terrible and talk shit about it. (Then, years later, they start threads in TV Talk about how foolish they were. )

Outside of this forum and my home, I don't know anyone who even tried a single episode of Friday Night Lights. Consequently, they'll never know it's arguably the best new show of the year.

das

boredsilly

No better example for that than Buffy on these boards.

But I like your idea about prejudice a lot better than the simpler "people are too dumb to understand it" reasoning. I can easily see prejudice applying to most of the shows listed. Hell, I did it myself this season with FNL until I kept seeing it get such high praise.

Geofferson

I agree with:

Friday Night Lights
30 Rock
The Office
Dexter

I don't watch several of the shows included, but disagree with the inclusion of Rome. Season 2 wasn't as strong as the first, imo. I'd replace it with either The Shield, Rescue Me or Big Love (date limitations?).

Red Dog

I wonder how many guys would change their tune about Dancing if they actually saw it, and more importantly, what the women look like and wear, or more accurately, don't wear.

Red Dog

I think Big Love misses the Emmy cutoff this year. My top-5 dramas (under the Emmy schedule) are FNL, The Shield, Deadwood, Rome, and.....tough choice for the 5th one: either Rescue Me or Lost. Comedies would be The Office, It's Always Sunny in Philly, Entourage, Ugly Betty, and Earl.

Charlie Goose

Friday Night Lights - Never watched
Planet Earth - Never heard of it
Lost - Yes!
Dexter - Never watched
30 Rock - Started off well, and got even better
Heroes - Never watched
Dancing with the Stars - Ugh
The Office - I hate this show
Battlestar Galactica - Never watched
House - Yes!
How I Met Your Mother - Legen....wait for it....dary
Grey's Anatomy - Tried to watch when it first aired, didn't like it
Ugly Betty - Never watched
Brothers & Sisters - Never watched
Veronica Mars - YES!!
Rome - Yes! Too bad it's over.

Michael Corvin

Interesting. I gave up on this season as soon as Scrubs came back on opposite of it(Grey's was about 5-6 episodes in). It was building up to that point from the last few episodes of last year. Scrubs was just the final straw to help me decide to dump it.

I was considering Tivo-ing Grey's this summer to catch up, but sounds like I haven't missed anything. I loved the first season and early in the second, but at some magical point it became a dating show instead of a medical show. If I had to nail it, it would be when McSteamy showed up.

Red Dog

I nailed it at the at the post-Super Bowl episode.