TV Times: Top 10 Shows of the latest US Network TV 'Season'...

It was the year when NBC royally screwed up their ten o'clock spot (and Bro-Sis rip off Parenthood hasn't done much to fix it). It was the year when lots of shows finished after four seasons (Ugly Betty; Heroes - both joining the ranks of four season wonders such as Felicity, Lois & Clark, Early Edition, Everwood, The 4400, et al). It was the year new favourites fizzled into nothing (damn you ABC for cancelling Flash Forward and the promising Eastwick). And of course it was the year when Glee began and Lost ended. But more on that later. For now, here are my top ten favourite shows on network (and a couple of sneaky basic cable) tv between September 2009 and May 2010...

Bubbling under - the stalwarts: Oh there are just some shows I sort of half watch almost out of habit hoping that indeed, at some point they will retain their former glories. Desperate Housewives is a shadow of it's former self, chugging along with the same old tired one season mystery again (though the revelation of the actual strangler was quite a surprise) and even the season finale failed to reignite my passion for the show (tho to be honest it was quite nice to see John Barrowman gag that annoying whiney teenage kid from Nu Joy-see)... Smallville should have just ended years ago, it's now shitting on Superman mythology left right and centre (Clark is working at the daily planet, still not superman and NO GLASSES!!) yet i stick with it because i've invested so much blooming time. Private Practice is usually worth watching for a decent season premiere and finale, but not much inbetween. Gossip Girl is insane as ever, almost a modern day Dynasty, but it's not as thrilling as it used to be to hear Melismatic/Veronica Mars' voice on television in any format. And of course the animation block on fox continued to be a bit hit and miss, though at least one of the shows each week would be funny...

10 = Supernatural: With a mythology so dense and elaborate by season five, it was almost impossible for new viewers to tune in and have any clue what was going on (see also Lost). The epic good vs evil battle ramped it's way up all season with a fine mixture of horror, humour and drama. Yet in the end it all came down to the characters and their interaction with each other (see also Lost). A fitting series finale, if you stop watching about 5 seconds before the actual ending...
10 = Community: I wasn't expecting to like this at all, but Joel McHale turned out to be a fine comic actor who worked well in a likeable ensemble cast. Some genuinely hilarious moments were interspersed into each episode and even the supporting characters became essential to the show (the creepy PC dean, the hateful spanish teacher). Love love loved the cliffhanger love-square that put Felicity-Noel_ben triangle to shame...
10 = The Office: It just continues to veer perfectly between beautifully observed comedy (Pam & Jim continue to reign as one of tv's most perfect couples - their wedding and baby birth were two of the highlights of this year's run) and riotous office nonsense, mostly highly entertaining to watch. Just imagine if Holly DOES return next year... Sigh :)
09 - Grey's Anatomy: Though I was a bit miffed with the return then non-return of ungrateful Katherine Heigl, and the whole integration of Mercy West wasn't exactly brilliant, the old regulars continued to shine and i've adapted well to a new happy Meredith Grey. The finale showed what GA can achieve when it puts it's mind to it - it was brutal and genuinely shocking, plus occasionally devastating. Bring on season 7...
08 ~ Flash Forward: Sob. Surely this could have come back to partner V for a an uninterrupted run of spring time episodes a la Lost?! But no - it seems there will be no Flash Forward for Flash Forward next year. True, the main appeal was seeing Joseph Fiennes look all dishevelled in a suit, but it was strangely intruiging at times and I'm hoping they explain that bloody kangaroo...
07 ~ 10 Things I Hate About You: Just 20 episodes and cancelled? Bah I say bah! It quickly evolved from annoying teen comedy into charming little show with some genuinely witty banter, sly view on high school life and a male character that actually said "amazeballs". Thank you Chris Zwyck. Ended on a ridiculously unfulfilling cliffhanger, deserved at least 10 more episodes a la Greek. But that's the way the tv exec cookie crumbles :(

06 ~ Modern Family: Could have been an utter disaster, but actually was very funny and lovely indeed. Each of the couples within the family tree were engaging and delightful in their own screwed up ways and it never failed to get me laughing out loud (I refuse to "lol"). More canoodling from la gays though please. Also, hope season 2 evolves into a more continuous storyline rather than separate vignettes of episodes, but otherwise heaven.
05 ~ Glee: That I forgot about this when I was composing the list in my head on the way to work says a lot. It was my number one show of the year in 2009, and the first thirteen episodes were corking. I don't know if it's overkill or the fact that everyone and his mom loves it now or the fact that it's just trying to hard too hard now, but the shine has gone off it. I mean it's still quite good overall, but when they do drama it's far too mawkish and cloying rather than subtley played. Much like Popular. Which this makes me want to watch again. Particularly the original Vogue and the amazing Dirty Ho.
04 ~ Life Unexpected: Thank god this got a second season otherwise I may have broken down in a puddle of my own goo. This is essentially vintage old school WB type family drama - think Everwood meets Gilmore Girls; not quite as good as either of those (particularly the genius of the latter) but with oodles of potential and totally charming in it's very own way. And how amusing to see the teen stars of Roswell and Dawson's Creek now be the parents of a teen star drama. That makes me feel very old indeed...
03 ~ Brothers and Sisters: The search for Lake Narrow turned out to be vaguely intruiging as the season went on, and this year benefitted from no more of William's bastard offspring popping up with a grudge to settle. Again just some lovely family drama and some recession based storylines that weren't too ott, but quite affecting in their own sweetly-sad way. The final 15 minutes of the show was blooming brilliant and showed how things can change extremely quickly on tv without feeling like a plot shoe horned in for finale night or a deus et machina... Season 5 promises to be just dandy.
02 ~ Greek: Though those blooming Cyprus Rhodes kids may never actually bloody graduate college, it's easy to ignore the slightly dodgy timeline because this show just gets more enchanting the more I watch it. Funnier than a lot of comedies on television and with some great relationship drama that is more refined and polished than the OTT nature of, say, Glee, it sparkles in it's third year and a further ten episodes are promised next year which may well round it off. I'm happy for them to stay enrolled for a long time yet though :)

01 ~ Lost: As it's much anticipated final season drew to a close, it dawned on me that not only is Lost by far the most superior tv show of the season, but one of the greatest tv shows of all time. Sure it was a head scratching, mind looping, time tripping head fuck, but in the end all that mattered were the fate of the characters. The story of the island was over. It didn't matter to me that some of the stuff wasn't answered - we don't always get answers in life anyway. What mattered were those gorgeous little awakenings of memory where characters flashed back to their happiest most romantic times together, and that heavenly (perhaps literally) final few moments. Quite simply, effortlessly charming. I shall miss it terrible.

Best of cable tv: Dexter (that cliffhanger ending! OH MY!); The Tudors (another fourth season finisher this year); Big Love (gay mormons! Who knew?! :P); True Blood (more please of this essentially soft porn drama)
What I'm looking forward to next tv season: Hellcats, Nikita (The CW); My Generation, No Ordinary Family, Mr Sunshine (ABC); Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family); The Cape, The Event (hmmm, both tentatively, both NBC)