jaye tyler cover band (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} stepliana) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} ohnotheydidnt,@ 2008-06-25 09:14:00 |
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EW's New TV Classics: 75 - 51
I have MAJOR issues with Friday Night Lights being so low in this list.
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| 75. PROJECT RUNWAY Bravo (2004-present) Boasting impeccable production values and ace casting, this clothing-design reality competition has given even the most sartorially-challenged viewer a basic education in fashion. And it certainly made Bravo work: Runway's success inspired the majority of the network's programming (Top Chef, Shear Genius, Top Design, etc.). |
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| 74. WISEGUY CBS (1987-90) Wiseguy wasn't before its time — it was between its times. Miami Vice was already king of the extended gangster arc, and Tony Soprano hadn't yet ushered in the era of the antihero. So where did that leave moody undercover agent Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl) and the shady characters who filled out his (under)world? With a special place in our hearts. |
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| 73. OZ HBO (1997-2003) You could take a shower after each episode of this bleak prison drama, but you could never wash off its spectacularly unsettling mood. Featuring a sprawling, expert cast (Christopher Meloni, Harold Perrineau, and Edie Falco, to name three), and serpentine story lines that lashed out at will, Oz stands as the ultimate don't-drop-the-soap opera. |
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| 72. NEWSRADIO NBC (1995-99) With Dave Foley, Phil Hartman, Andy Dick, and Maura Tierney, it bragged one of TV's deftest ensembles. And though it constantly hovered on the cancellation bubble, the acidic sitcom never compromised its loopy, slightly misanthropic vision. (You want spectacle, NBC? How about a non sequitur of an episode where the sitcom is now set in an outer-space version of the same office? That'll teach you to ask!) |
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| 71. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS NBC (2006-present) Thankfully, in the age of splash and irony, there's room for an earnest, issue-tackling, feel-good drama teeming with realistic relationships that yank our ol' heartstrings but good. Small-town high school football never seemed so big time. |
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| 70. EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND CBS (1996-2005) Every couple of years somebody pronounces the sitcom dead, especially the subgenre known as the family sitcom. Thanks to its Emmy-winning cast, funny-because-it's-painful writing, and unerring comic timing, Raymond all but buried that kind of talk. For a while, anyway. |
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| 69. THE COLBERT REPORT Comedy Central (2005-present) With his straight-faced sendup of bellowing-head shows like The O'Reilly Factor, Colbert's nightly mock-tribute to ignorance is a gem of satiric perfection. We still miss those hopeful few weeks when his presidential run seemed possible. |
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| 68. JACKASS MTV (2000-02) A chilling example of group behavior in young males? Perhaps. But we prefer to look at Jackass in the spirit in which it was made: Just a bunch of dudes hanging out, skateboarding blindfolded, and piercing their butt cheeks together. Humans acting like cartoons is a comedy formula that bears repeating until it hurts. And then some more. |
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| 67. PLANET EARTH Discovery (2008) The picky among us like our HD porn to be educational. So while this docu-series was awful pretty, it was also informational and novel — exploring the planet from micro (tiny cave-dwelling insects) to macro (Earth: that tiny blue ball in space). |
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| 66. GREY'S ANATOMY ABC (2005-present) Oh, the angst of post-feminist life, where girls can revel in their sexuality and ambition, and boys are relegated to McEye Candy. We had no idea surgery was such an aphrodisiac — or that Patrick Dempsey had a shot at superstardom — until we checked into Seattle Grace. |
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| 65. FAMILY GUY Fox (1999-2002, 2005-present) Narrative train of thought? That's so linear! Why not take a 20-second detour from the plot and make a gag about chicken fights, Jesus, or Alyssa Milano? Or heck, just sing a catchy little ditty about the FCC? In fact, Guy breaks into song so often we bet that inside every potty-mouthed frat boy beats the heart of a sensitive musical theater queen. |
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| 64. THE OSBOURNES MTV (2002-05) We love it for showing us Ozzy mumbling at the TV remote, Sharon throwing a ham over the fence at the neighbors, and, with an endearing sensitivity, the family pulling together during Sharon's cancer treatment. Though we hate it for sending us down a celebreality path that led to Flavor of Love and Living Lohan. |
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| 63. MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 Comedy Central (1989-96), Sci-Fi (1997-99) They may have spent most of their time in silhouette, but the MST3K crew's legacy can now be fully revealed: By drowning out B- (or C-, or D-) movies with their chatter, Joel, Mike, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot directly inspired not only DVD commentary tracks but a large portion of today's blog culture. After all, where's the fun in keeping snark to yourself? |
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| 62. HOUSE Fox (2004-present) Twisty medical mysteries, risk-taking plots, and constantly surprising character development? That settles it — this drug addict with a personality disorder is our primary care physician. |
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| 61. THE OFFICE (AMERICAN) NBC (2005-present) Memo To: Dwight Schrute, Assistant (to the) Regional Manager From: Future Dwight Re: Urgent Dear Dwight, It has recently come to my attention that foreigners stole the idea for Dunder-Mifflin Scranton's docu-series, and aired it several years ago. Worse: Apparently TV viewers — or ''sheeple'' — thought it was a comedy. I order you to stop participating in the series, just in case anything about the Scranton branch seems unintentionally humorous — though nothing comes to mind. Sincerely, Dwight Schrute P.S. Buy oil futures. |
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| 60. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS Syndicated (1995-2001) This Hercules spin-off took Girl Power to shlockily grandiose levels, as Xena, her BFF Gabrielle, and her trusty ''round killing thing'' fought for the powers of good. Side note: Lillith Fair ran from 1997-99. Coincidence? Probably not. |
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| 59. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Sci Fi (2003-09) A tremendous allegory for post-9/11 society, its second season won a Peabody, rendering the cheesy old Lorne Greene version little more than space dust. |
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| 58. THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO NBC (1992-2009) Leno seemed to lose his ''cool'' factor the moment he went from Letterman guest to Letterman dream-dasher by taking over Tonight. But cred be damned, his populist humor has given him a decade-plus of ratings dominance over his archrival. |
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| 57. THE AMAZING RACE CBS (2001-present) Epic in scope while frequently petty in conflict (Kimberly: ''LISTEN TO ME!!'' Rob: ''Stop crying, dude!''), the globe-trotting reality competition can confirm our worst fears about traveling abroad with loved ones. But it can also show two underdogs succeeding with little more than mutual support and respect, elevating our mood higher than host Phil Keoghan's eyebrow. |
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| 56. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES ABC (2004-present) They didn't need sex to sell these four leading ladies — just murder, intrigue, romance, humor, suburban angst, and several (often very peculiar) versions of the new American family. Most of all, the Housewives (not unlike their immediate forerunner, Sex and the City) remind us just how much the old song rings true: you gotta have friends. |
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| 55. PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE CBS (1986-91) With the supporting cast of Chairy the Chair, Cowboy Curtis, and Mr. Window, Paul Reubens' exuberantly surreal Saturday-morning romp was meant for kids. But if you told that to the many college students who were addicted to its ingenious silliness, they'd never believe you. |
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| 54. MOONLIGHTING ABC (1985-89) David and Maddie were locked in a state of eternal foreplay — fast-talking, pratfalling, begrudgingly affectionate foreplay. The show's procedual mysteries were never more than fuel for their relationship fire, an alien concept in these emotionless CSI times. |
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| 53. WILL & GRACE NBC (1998-2006) The first major network show to focus on gay characters didn't take long to render its potential controversy moot. Let the record reflect it's a lot easier for Americans to accept different lifestyles when they're laughing. |
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| 52. FELICITY The WB (1998-2002) The introspective college-bound older sibling to Dawson's Creek was never afraid to take risks, from chopping off the iconic hair of star Keri Russell, to tossing a time-travel plot into the mix. Co-creator J.J. Abrams used his TV debut as inspiration for Alias (what if Felicity was a secret agent?), and after that one episode where all the characters were living in a box kept on a shelf by a witch, we really should have seen Lost coming. |
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| 51. MELROSE PLACE Fox (1992-99) All hail Heather Locklear, savior of the primetime soap. When she slinked onto the show in the middle of its first season as ad exec Amanda Woodward, she turned a drab melodrama into a bitchy, addictive pop culture phenomenon. |
I have MAJOR issues with Friday Night Lights being so low in this list.
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