2. Mad Men (Season 2): After an excellent first season, Mad Men improved in its second season to assume the mantle of Best Show On Television. And like most Best Shows, it's not a show for everyone, demanding patience and attentiveness from the viewers, progressing more on character and atmosphere than it does by plot. But those ready to commit that kind of attention to a show are rewarded with one of the richest, most dense shows I've ever seen; an hour of television that you can spend the next six days mentally unpacking. What's great about the second season is that it had less work to do in terms of unlocking the mysteries of Don Draper, and thus had more time to turn over to supporting characters. The result was a season that was as much about the women that fill the cast than the eponymous men of Sterling Cooper. For a show that features the rampant misogyny and casual sexism of the time period, it has three of the strongest female characters on TV.
1. The Wire (Season 5): 2008 saw the final season of the great American novel brought to you by David Simon and Ed Burns. Season five was the first season of The Wire that I got to watch as it aired, and the experience did not disappoint. This was the season that some critics started to turn on the show they had championed for years, largely because they didn't like it that Simon turned his critique to their area (the media), rather than his previous targets of City Hall, the War on Drugs, or the failing public school system. Since I don't work in the media, I had no problem with him attacking the ink-stained wretches of The Baltimore Sun, especially since the season was followed by a couple more fabulist scandals and a whole lot of layoffs in the newspapers around the country. Plus, the newspaper angle was only a small part of a season that featured a fantastically dark farce, the surprising fate of one of the best characters in TV history, and a painful elegy for characters we saw grow over the years. If you haven't gotten into this series yet, consider this my final plea.
Looking ahead to 2009: Both The Office and 30 Rock have been up to their usual high standards in their current seasons, so I look forward to seeing what they can do with full seasons at their disposal. Big Love, Flight of the Conchords, and Damages all return in January after being completely absent in 2008 due to the writers' strike. Those of you who haven't been following along on DirectTV (or, ahem, other means) are in for a treat when Friday Night Lights returns to NBC in January. It's been a comeback season for the beloved show, one that would've contended for this list if it didn't have two more episodes left to air. Lost begins its penultimate season near the end of January, Burn Notice continues its second season on January 22, and Breaking Bad returns in March. On DVD, I'll catch up on The Shield in time for the Andy TV Awards, so I don't stiff them again. As for new shows, I'll be checking out Showcase's The United States of Tara, HBO's Eastbound and Down, ABC's Cupid, and fully plan on falling in love with Joss Whedon's Dollhouse until FOX prematurely cancels it.
Article comments
1 - Billy
It's interesting looking back at your past lists at the ones that make it like Prison Break season 1. Which I even remembered really liking during its first season, and even its second season did pretty well.
Heroes is another one of those how the mighty have fallen. Same with Dexter. From #1 to an honourable mention. And you caught Grey's Anatomy at its height.
Reminds me of Barbara Walters commenting on her own list of the "Most Fascinating People of 19/20XX" When even she can't remember so of the people on her lists going back five-ten years.
2 - Tan The Man
Yah for your love of The Wire and Generation Kill...
3 - Andy
@Billy:
Yes, I wonder which of these ten shows will either drop down significantly (a la Dexter), or will get dropped completely (a la Heroes or Prison Break, and Grey's should be). Or maybe these ten are just better than past years (or at least eight out of ten, as two won't be making future lists because they are complete).