Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 12:00 am
Robo-Post: The Top 10 Shows That Were Not the Top 10 Shows of 2007
I've said this before, but any top-10 list is really a top 9 list, plus about a 20-way tie for 10th. When I put together my lists of the top 10 new and returning shows, there were numerous shows that might have made the lists, had they been a touch better, had I been in a different mood that day or, frankly, for no good reason at all. (I'll just say it: I regret not including Slings and Arrows.)
Anyway, here are 10 shows that might have made my list--and might next year, if they're still around--in the order that I thought of them when I typed this.
How I Met Your Mother
Dexter
Battlestar Galactica
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Knights of Prosperity
Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil
Veronica Mars
Slings and Arrows
Chuck
Damages
Most of you probably haven't done a top-10 list of TV shows to begin with. So I'll put the question to you this way: What were your solid second-tier shows of 2007? That is, the shows that, for whatever reason, you felt fell just this side of best-ness? Let's hear it for the also-rans!
15 Comments to “Robo-Post: The Top 10 Shows That Were Not the Top 10 Shows of 2007”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
About Tuned In
James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or -- once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers -- in your dreams themselves. Read more
RSS Feed
 |
Daily Email
Recent Posts
Tuned In - TIME.com Archives
Blogroll
- Aaron Barnhart’s TV Barn
- About Last Night
- Alan Sepinwall
- Arts & Letters Daily
- Blogher Career
- Brazen Careerist
- BuzzMachine
- Defamer
- Heather Havrilesky
- James Wolcott
- Matt Zoller Seitz
- Maureen Ryan
- Melanie McFarland
- Metafilter
- Peter Ames Carlin
- Popwatch
- Romenesko
- Television Without Pity
- Tim Goodman
- TV Guide blogs
- TV Newser
- TV Tattle
- Undercover Black Man
- Virginia Heffernan
- Zap2It’s TV Blog
More TIME Blogs
http://rss.time.com/web/time/rss/top/index.xml
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
Top Photoessays and Slideshows
- Venice Floods
- 20th Century Britain in Pictures
- Pictures of the Week
- Mumbai Sifts Through the Rubble
- Two Days of Terror in Mumbai
- Over 100 Dead as Terrorist Attacks Overwhelm Mumbai
- Photos: The Kitsch of Thanksgiving
- Animated Movies: Not Just for Kids
- Photos: Anbar Sheiks Come Together
- Photos: Two Decades of Guns N' Roses
Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 1:33 am
I'm usually a 'destination TV' guy, and the only non-obsession-worthy thing I keep up with is 'Ugly Betty'. I know it's cheesy, twee, self-conscious, annoyingly self-satisfied, and a million other things that make it firmly B-grade, but it's my Sunday morning DVR company more often than not.
Besides, as much as I love 'Mad Men'-style continuity, sometimes it's nice to watch a show after missing few episodes and not feeling like you're missing anything.
Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 8:26 am
I didn't know you like Chuck! Dexter is sooooo amazing, I'm really interested in what they'll do next year and hope the show doesn't run on beyond it's time.
Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 8:57 am
You never followed up on Lucy Daughter of the Devil. Or maybe you did, and I missed it.
Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 9:52 am
Note: My list has Dexter maxing the actual returning top-10 list, so it's not included.
How I Met Your Mother
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil
Frisky Dingo (Mainly because half way through the season, I mentioned to a friend that the storyline made no sense, since Killface, who is British, could not be a valid presidential candidate - only to see the writers end the storyline by pointing out the same thing. For all the talk of being the stoner network, when was the last time a plot point turned on Constitutional minutiae on a network show...)
Chuck
Damages
Studio 60 (Not sorry to see it go, but there were some decent episodes that aired in calendar year 2007.)
Journeyman (Was decent once the storyline got going)
Reaper
Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law
Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 9:53 am
The holiday hiatus/strike is showing me which shows I really love (and am now eagerly awaiting the return of) and which I've just happened to get in the habit of watching because I moderately enjoy them. Pushing Daisies, The Office, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights and (surprisingly, kind of) Project Runway are all firmly in the first category, and therefore make up my A-List. Dirty Sexy Money, Scrubs, Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy seem to be falling into the second category, or my B-List. (Of course, this is by no means saying that my habitual B-List viewing won't resume.) Mad Men would be an A-List, also, and I haven't decided where the Amazing Race should go, since I haven't really had time to miss it...
Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 2:10 pm
There is no question that The Office, would be number one on my list....
Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Ok so I actually did a top ten list
http://procrastinationchronicles.com/2007/12/27/my-top-tv-of-2007/
And found that what I enjoy but didn't include are:
- America's Next Top Model
- Bones
- Brothers and Sisters
- Gossip Girl
- Grey's Anatomy
- House
- How I Met Your Mother
- Law & Order SVU
- My Name is Earl
- Office
- Project Runway
- Scrubs
Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 10:22 pm
How in the world can any top list not include the most powerful hour of television ever...which is The Wire? Every episode of The Wire leaves me feeling like the fist twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan. More then a few times my wife and I have walked away from the television with wet eyes.
Shame on anyone who did not include this show on their list.
Other considerations include The Sheild and Little Bush.
Friday, December 28, 2007 at 10:30 am
@ Imir:
No new Wire shows in 2007. Can't win if you don't play.
Friday, December 28, 2007 at 6:35 pm
I'd have to say:
Numb3rs
Cane
Big Shots
Dirty Sexy Money
Cavemen
The Shield
The Game
America's Next Top Model
The Unit
Aliens in America
Friday, December 28, 2007 at 10:07 pm
My votes for those left out go:
Life
Cane
Numb3rs
Moonlight
Bionic Woman
Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 8:22 am
I enjoyed watching Veronica Mars for sometime. I don't know if it is still on because I got bored by watching TV shows with the same plot lines and overdose of silly special effects.
I also enjoyed seeing Battlestar Galactica. Nice.
I think I saw "How I Met Your Mother" once, but it turned me off because of the title. The title sounds a little obscene and corny. How you met my mom? What for?. You better beat it buddy before I do something that we both will regret!!! Some of the writers and producers of these silly TV shows must be certified lunatics and ought to be lobotomized, locked up in Alcatraz and the keys thrown away in the pacific ocean. http://www.myspace.com/worldtopsexiestwomen
Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I watch TV for Heroes and NFL football, and that's it. However, I randomly turned on the TV and caught half of Moonlight last night and it was really great! I figured I'd get up to speed so I'd be ready when the strike ends and this show comes back.
So I go to CBS.com to try to watch the episodes of it to get caught up, just like you can do with Heroes on NBC.com. CBS had one single, solitary episode up there for me to watch! Wut?! In that moment, I totally understood the writers' strike.
These hidebound old geezers say they have no idea how much money they will get from internet viewing of shows, well, that's because they largely have NFI how to use the medium! CBS is apparently so afraid that someone is going to see their content that they won't even put it on their website.
NBC and I have a relationship. If I miss Heroes or want to see an episode again, I go to their site, sit through a not-terribly-intrusive ad campaign, then watch my stuff. We both win. CBS had the opportunity to make me the same captive audience for the duration of 10 episodes, but chose not to. Do they really think I won't get the content some other way?
Hrmph. Stupid networks.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 9:48 am
1. Star Trek/Babylon 5/The Twilight Zone.
Nothing on TV seems any good anymore. It's all violence.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 12:36 pm
One of the major problem with many new TV shows these days are that they are not original. The plot lines are almost identical and they are very shallow with little or no lessons about life to give.
http://www.myspace.com/ikbe