TREK BBS - Best of TV 2008.

[Jax]

After seeing TV Guide's pathetic attempt I thought it would be nice to see people list there TOP TV show list of 2008. You can have NO MORE than 20 in the list and the show must of aired in 2008 (TV Miniseries/Specials can be accepted).

MY TOP 20 SHOWS OF 2008

1. Boston Legal
2. House
3. Dexter
4. Jericho
5. Doctor Who (UK)
6. The Big Bang Theory
7. Scrubs
8. Bones
9. Stargate Atlantis
10. Spooks (UK)
11. Lost
12. Have I Got News For You (UK)
13. Kyle XY
14. Heroes
15. South Park
16. The I.T Crowd (UK)
17. Californication
18. BSG
19. Las Vegas
20. Behind Closed Doors World War 2 (UK BBC Miniseries)

 

[Spot's Meow]

Hm, I doubt I will have 20 on my list, I can be very selective. Here we go...

1. Lost
2. The Office
3. Big Bang Theory
4. Brothers and Sisters
5. Fringe
6. The Amazing Race
7. Survivor

And I am frustrated that I can't list Journeyman, which ended in mid-December of 2007.

These are actually the only shows I thought were any good this year. But I thought that they were really good. I know people around here don't like to think of reality shows as being worthy of any praise, but I would strongly disagree. I found these shows very entertaining this season, and that to me is good television. I almost included Big Brother, but it wasn't that great of a season, plus the whole winter edition kind of soured things.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Did I even watch 20 different shows in 2008? Let's see...

1-2. Lost and Dexter, tie
3. John Adams
4. Pushing Daisies
5. Breaking Bad
6. Heroes
7. Mad Men
8. Chuck
9. Entourage
10. Battlestar Galactica
11. Big Love
12. 30 Rock
13. Jericho
14. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
15. Prison Break
16. The Tudors
17. Stargate: Atlantis
18. Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles
19. My Own Worst Enemy

...damn. So close.

 

[Mr Light]

DRAMAS:
1. LOST!!!
2. DOCTOR WHO!!!
3. CLONE WARS (just cause I'm a SW junkie)
4. Heroes
5. Prison Break
6. Battlestar Galactica
7. Chuck
8. Terminator
9. Pushing Daisies
10. The Shield

COMEDIES:
How I Met Your Mother, My Name Is Earl, The Office, 30 Rock, Family Guy, South Park, Simpsons, American Dad, Daily Show, Colbert Report

 

[PK95]

Here are the shows that I have watched this year...some are caught up on DVD due to not having cable or satellite during the first couple of months of the year.

1. Doctor Who
2. Scrubs
3. Lost
4. Battlestar Galactica
5. The Office
6. The Big Bang Theory
7. 30 Rock
8. How I Met Your Mother
9. My Name Is Earl
10. Torchwood
11. The Simpsons
12. Everybody Hates Chris
13. Heroes
14. StarGate: Atlantis
15. Family Guy
16. Smallville

Next year there may be additions as I have gotten to like Supernatural and The New Adventures of Old Christine on DVD and will be watching first run next season. Also, 24 will be back!

 

[cardinal biggles]

Shit, I don't even watch twenty shows.

I thought the final half-season of Boston Legal was fantastic, and Doctor Who was really great. Catherine Tate was a phenomenal companion, and I'll be sad to see Tennant leave next year. The Rachel Maddow Show was a breath of fresh air, and just as I was starting to get fed up with Countdown; Olbermann veered into self-parody this election cycle, and the blood feud with Bill-O the Clown isn't amusing anymore.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Heroes? In 2008? Not on any best list of mine. 2006 is, sadly, gone. I didn't even watch 20 shows this year. However, here's what I considered the best in my order of preference.


1.Mad Men
2.Dexter
3.The Shield
4.The Wire
5.Supernatural
6.Battlestar Galactica

I'd have included Big Love if it had aired in 2008, but the writers' strike pushed it until early 2009. That's pretty much my list. I've just discovered House but haven't watched enough of it to make a real decision. Love the House/Wilson bromance, but everything else is really iffy. The new team is a snooze.

 

[auntiehill]

1.LOST
2.Dexter
3.Pushing Daisies
4.Boston Legal
5.Dr. Who
6.Heroes
7.How I Met Your Mother
8.Torchwood
9.Battlestar Galactica
10. Chuck
11. Reaper
12. Terminator

 

[tomalak301]

I don't think I watch 20 shows but what I do watch:

1. 30 Rock

I got into this show mainly becuase of the Tina Fay as Sarah Palin hype and I'm glad I did. It's the funniest sitcom on TV right now and it was so much fun going through the previous seasons to see what I missed. Tina Fay and Alec Baldwin have so much chemistry together but the guy who I have grown to like over the last year is Jack McBryer. Why he hasn't won anything for supporting role I will never know because he was one of the funniest actors on TV today. The only complaint I have on this show is the guest stars. Don't get me wrong, some of the guest stars have been really good like David Schwimmer, Seinfeld, and I'd even toss in Jennifer Anisten, but this is a great cast. Krakowski and Morgan are funny, and I really do miss the focus on the writing room from previous seasons. We don't even get to see Pete or Frank or Lutz anymore. Hopefully the back half of this season can bring back some fun on the cast they already have.

2. Battlestar Galactica (2003) - Only problem I have with this show is Scifi wanting to kill all momentum making it really hard to watch. I mean season 3 ended in 2007 right? Starbuck was killed in 2007. Starbuck came back in 2007. We've been having this whole Cylon final 5 thing since 2007. Well, when the show starts back up again, it will be 2009. So for two freaking years, we've pretty much been left in the dark on everything from the ending of season 3. Let's get on with it already.

3. Doctor Who - So sad Tennant is leaving, but I was able to adjust to Tennant from Eccleston so hopefully I can adjust to the new guy the same way.

4. Torchwood - God how long has it been since this last finale. I miss Jack, Gwen, and Ianto, and now with new faces, when the heck does this show come back?

5. South Park - It has a bit of a down year, but it's still as enjoyable as always.

6. Survivor - two great seasons this year. Looking forward to Brazil

7. The Amazing Race - I enjoyed the Nick and Starr season. Can't wait till the new one starts

I wouldn't put it on my list (So that only makes 7) but I really do want to say something about Heroes. This show was horrible this year. So much potential, so much to think positively about and then we had this Villains story thing and wow. I don't think it will ever recover.

 

[Harvey]

I don't watch much television. However.

1. The Wire (final season)
2. Battlestar Galactica (fourth season)
3. Dexter (first season)
4. Boston Legal (third season)
5. Californication (first season)

Many of these I watch on DVD, so I'm behind what is currently airing, but I had to pick something. Stargate: Atlantis (fourth season), perhaps needless to say, does not make any "top" list of mine, but I continue to watch it, a completist to the core. I look forward to seeing David Simon's miniseries of Generation Kill, as well as most of the John Adams miniseries which I missed. And I'm so far behind on Spooks that I can't in good conscience put it on the list. But I'm told series five is waiting for me on DVD at home. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

1. Battlestar Galactica
2. Jericho
3. Supernatural
4. The Spectacular Spider-Man
5. The Colbert Report
6. Lost
7. Countdown with Keith Olbermann
8. Fringe
9. True Blood
10. Eureka
11. The Daily Show
12. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
13. Smallville
14. South Park
15. Stargate Atlantis
16. Wolverine and the X-Men
17. Batman: The Brave and the Bold
19. Sanctuary

 

[Locutus of Bored]

01 - Lost
02 - Boston Legal
03 - The Shield
04 - The Office
05 - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
06 - Pushing Daisies
07 - Battlestar Galactica
08 - The Unit
09 - Prison Break
10 - 30 Rock
11 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars
12 - Chuck
13 - Burn Notice
14 - The Daily Show
15 - Jericho
16 - Psych
17 - Smallville
18 - Eureka
19 - Californication
20 - Stargate: Atlantis

That's more a list of the 20 favorite shows that I watch. If it was judging on quality of all TV shows some of those wouldn't make it. I didn't include '24' because '24: Redemption' wasn't a full season, even though it was pretty good. 'Heroes' would have made the list if this was season one, but alas...

[edited because I accidentally forgot Battlestar Galactica while shuffling choices around. I took off Fringe)

 

[Hermiod]

Hmmmm.

1. Battlestar Galactica
2. Lost
3. Mythbusters
4. Stargate: Atlantis
5. Top Gear
6. Smallville
7. Heroes

That's about all I watch in terms of non-sports programming. Obviously The Simpsons should go in that list but I just watch whatever episodes are on Sky and I have no idea which originally aired in 2008 and which didn't.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

^^^ Thanks for reminding me. I left off Galactica while I was shuffling my choices around. Though I thought S4 1.0 was fairly weak for the most part when held up to normal BSG standards, it's still better than most stuff on TV.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I'm not going to bother with a list, because most of my selections are already listed here.

But I do want to say that the final episodes of The Shield - particularly the finale - were among the most compelling, gripping hours of television drama I've ever seen.

 

[Captain Dago]

1) Doctor Who
2) Boston Legal
3) House
4) Torchwood
5) Saving Grace
6) Burn Notice
7) Numb3rs
8) The Sarah Jane Adventures
9) Top Chef
10) Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

And that's about all I can muster. We don't watch much TV...

 

[stj]

There's a significant limitation to these amateur lists---what about the ones we just didn't see? I've never seen Big Love, The Wire or Dexter Season Three, for instance. Wasn't John Adams a 2007 series, which is why it did so well at the 2008 Emmies?

In no particular order, as I couldn't assign numerical values without a checklist I didn't feel like writing---

Pushing Daisies (ABC) Either you get past the pastels or you don't. Unique.

Breaking Bad (AMC) "Dark and gritty" and "moral ambiguity" is usually just posturing. Already close to lapsing into glorification of evil but the first season is astounding. The pilot was the worst episode!

Lost (ABC) Really, the series storyline is hopeless. But this show is so inventive! Almost all nonsense on TV is tiresomely drab. This breaks the mold.

CSI (CBS) The real one, not the wretched spinoffs. Notable for its wide variety in episodes. Anybody who babbles about cookie cutter is style deaf.

Numb3rs (CBS) Solid character work---the Eppes brothers are completely different, except they're alike. That's real people. Plus math!

The Closer (TNT) Kyra Sedgwick sells a lying, terminally tight assed bitch as someone whose commitment to the law saves her from being one of the bad guys.

Brothers & Sisters (ABC) Nothing will top the first year but by far the best nighttime soap. Hysterically funny without being a farce, something most comedies can't manage.

ER (NBC) The soap part is a little tired, but they still do medical drama with some real medicine and real drama.

30 Rock (NBC) Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Tina Fey. My sides hurt.

Scrubs (NBC) The serialization of comedy has reached diminishing returns but the bottom of this series is higher than most comedies ever reach.

Burn Notice (USA) The light touch at its deftest. Michael's relationships have sentiment without sentimentality.

Big Bang Theory (CBS) Chuck Lorre farce without depravity and minors involved. Hilarious! Currently the best theme song, too.

Uh oh, I've run out.

So, honorable mentions---

The Mentalist (CBS) A House clone, except the House character is likable enough to believe people haven't fired or arrested him.

Sanctuary (Scifi) In the dictionary under "guilty pleasure." Dumb but imaginative and good hearted, unlike dull and mean, the preferred flavor.

Eleventh Hour (CBS) Interesting science, good lead actor.

 

[stj]

^^^"Pastels?" Isn't that actually "Primary Colors?" The guy is either blind or can't type right.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Wasn't John Adams a 2007 series, which is why it did so well at the 2008 Emmies?

Netflix lists it as '08. I think it aired last spring.

 

[Sakrysta]

Chuck
Medium
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Bones
Life
Monk
Eureka
Valentine (I thought this was cute and had potential.)
Burn Notice
Sanctuary (Has managed to hold my interest so far.)

Honorable Mention - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

It is RARE for me to find a modern comedy that I don't find low, crass, and just plain offensive. I realize there are a lot of people who find that brand of humor acceptable, but I do not. Even the genuinely clever stuff is so peppered with overt sexual, scatalogical, and downright nasty material that I find it impossible to tolerate. Funny does not have to equal insulting your audience.