Top 10 Of The Season: The Honorable Mentions

And thus begins my countdown of the top 10 shows that aired during the 2007-2008 TV season. Over the next, oh, lets say two weeks, I’m gonna roll out my list of the 10 best shows that aired during the 2007-2008 TV season. My family always makes fun of me because I love to make lists. So a) Suck it family, this is a proper forum for lists, and b) expect many more to come. As a precursor/note: I am very behind on Battlestar Galactica, am starting to catch up on the first few seasons of The Wire, and am not as great a TV fan as I should be, because there’s a large number of shows I just wasn’t interested in/couldn’t muster the strength to follow. So that being said, here are the five shows that just barely missed the countdown. In no particular order:


Dirty Sexy Money- If this show had had a full season, and had continued the steady progress it was making quality-wise, it very well may have made the list. But, with the writer’s strike, we only got around 10 episodes of this. I know ABC is planning a big relaunch in the fall, so at least that’s good. The show’s got a solid cast, good writing, and a few interesting enough plotlines to make it a favored viewing.


Psych- I love this show. It never fails to make me laugh. Shawn and Gus together are amazing. That being said, it’s not the highest quality show, which is why it did not make the top ten. I still love it though.


The Amazing Race- I’d probably rank Amazing Race among my 5 favorite shows on television. However, as much as I wish it wasn’t the case, this season just wasn’t up to snuff with some of the others. But I am very eagerly looking forward to the next one.


Reaper- Darn season finales and such. This show, while always having been funny and entertaining, has really been thriving creatively in recent weeks. The writing is, for the most part, sharp, and the actors all have great chemistry with one another. If the creative uptick had started a little earlier in the season, I have no questions that this would have made the top ten. But, I’m just happy it did, and that it’s coming back next season.


Brothers and Sisters- The Walker family is my favorite dysfunctional family on TV (and god knows there are lots of ‘em). Something about their dynamic, even though no family could ever exist like that and not end in one sibling killing everyone, seems real. Too bad this show hit a major sophomore slump this year. I love Rebecca, but this whole end-of-season storyline involving her paternity was useless. And really, really aggravating.

So those were the ones that just missed the list. If you, my (I’m guessing) one loyal reader, want to make predictions as to what actually made the list, feel free. I will tell you that there are two representatives from cable, NBC has the most spots with 3, and there’s only one network in the big 5 that didn’t make the list.

PS: I'd like to make a special mention of Doctor Who, which is a British sci-fi show about a time-traveling alien. If I was allowing foreign TV onto the list, this would have cruised to the top half of the list easy. But my list is solely American TV, so Doctor Who, even though you air on Sci-Fi in the US, I'm sorry.

Sunday Premieres

While it’s no longer premiere week, tonight boasts 5 returning shows worth mentioning, so I thought I’d let you know who’s making their first weekly reappearance in your homes…

Dexter: America’s favorite serial killer is back tonight. When I originally watched the first episode I didn’t dig it that much, but upon rewatching it this summer, I actually discovered what an awesome show it is. That actually is the case with a bunch of other shows that I now love too (for example, House and How I Met Your Mother both didn’t wow me the first time around). I’ve seen the first two episodes of this season, and boy, they do still rock. Especially the end of episode one, which will be the event to propel the season forward. So watch this.

Desperate Housewives: Welcome back to Wisteria Lane. This show had a really good first season, a dismal second one, and a meh third one. There’s a decent chance I’ll abandon this one if it looks to be going downhill. Tonight brings the introduction of the first gay couple on Wisteria lane who play foils to the town skeleton, Teri Hatcher, as well as a few veteran TV actors playing a new family. Yay for Nathan Fillion getting work…

Brothers and Sisters: I gotta say, it’s really a tossup for my favorite new show from last season. Sometimes I think it’s Heroes, other times I think it’s this one. The Walker family returns tonight and sees Justin coming back from war injured, Kitty doing things that will most likely aggravate me, and some other dramatic stuff. I actually do like this show; don’t let the blurb mislead you.

American Dad: I’m kind of ashamed to say that I watch this show occasionally. It’s really not very good, yet I still watch it. I don’t know why. So, yeah, may or may not watch this one.

Brotherhood: I tried to get into Brotherhood. I really did. I recognize that it’s a really good show, which is why I’m mentioning it here. I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe some other time.

If none of these float your boat, you’ve got the continuing seasons of The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Robot Chicken tonight. But the show that I KNOW I will be watching is the season finale of Rock of Love. Will it be Heather, the 32 year old stripper with a healthy appetite and not enough foresight to get Bret Michael’s name tattooed on the back of her neck, or Jes, the younger, prettier, pink haired girl who wasn’t going to be eliminated but got a reprieve when another girl dropped out (cough cough Heather). The suspense is killing me. That and the alcohol poisoning one gets simply from watching the show. But how I love it…