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'Lost' has found its way to the top spot this TV season
1. Lost Last season, "Lost" took some underserved hits from critics for it's fall "mini-season" that concentrated on The Others' camp. Turns out it was a necessary setup for this year's stellar storytelling. Each hour was as rapid-paced as it was revealing. The episodes also were at times cumbersome and confusing, yes, but if you tuned in each week, the plot never quite unraveled; there was, and is, always a thread that leads to an answer to some bigger question. We now know the identity of the Oceanic Six and how they figure into the future of this unclear universe. What is the past and the present remains a mystery, one that will be fully explained, we're promised, over three seasons. If they move as quickly as this year's plotlines, it will be over all too soon.
2. Desperate Housewives While I'm sure how "Housewives" will fare when it adopts the "Lost" gimmick of using flash forwards and flashbacks this fall, its fourth season was a flashback of sorts as well - a reconnection with entertaining, interwoven storylines that made its first year so memorable. Dana Delany added texture to the cast and creator Mark Cherry guided viewers through complex and compelling tales involving the four original leads. Unlike "Lost," you don't have to tune in each week to follow the plot; yet you might not fully appreciate the growth of two of the main characters, Lynette and Bree, if you're just a sporadic viewer.
3.John Adams History can be, and usually is, the stuff of boring television. Too often, over-attention to historical accuracy bogs down the plot, especially for a generation that can barely process a four-minute video. This HBO series got it right, though, especially when it dissected the deliberations for writing the Declaration of Independence. Adams may not have been the best President, and he certainly wasn't the most personable, but followers of this mini-series would no doubt have delivered to him a landslide re-election.
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5. Friday Night Lights Give the people what they say they want and they'll inevitably tune out. This series is more lifelike than any reality show, which evidently is the reason very few watch - perhaps they are fearful of recognizing some very disagreeable moments from their own lives. A stellar, mostly young cast re-creates small-town America's obsession with youth - both lost and found.
6. American Idol It still gets points for its family friendly presentation and entertainment value, but its manipulation of the audience vote became too obvious this year, first with the reveal that the judges sometimes write their comments before the live program, and then with the producers' questionable song selections for certain contestants that pretty much ensured the David-David finale. Still, the voters got it right; I'd like to think they would have done so without being buffaloed by the show's creators. We're not Howdy Doody.
7. Boston Legal We've come to expect an over-the-top presentation from creator David E. Kelly, but shock value doesn't have to be offensive to get attention, one reason why this show lost its perch as last season's No. 1 show. Still, the ongoing saga of Denny Crane's advancing Alzheimer's (referred to as "Mad Cow disease") and the friendship between the William Shatner and James Spader characters are at once enlightening and sentimental. And no program scores more touchdowns tackling the current political climate.
8. Eli Stone Perhaps it's because we didn't expect much from a series in which the lead character has visions of George Michael singing "Faith" in a lobby, but "Eli Stone" shifted effortlessly from silliness to social commentary to serious issues this spring. Johnny Lee Miller is as engaging a lead character as you'll find in any series, and veteran actor Victor Garber is delightful as well. We still aren't certain if it's a brain tumor or a message from God to credit for Eli's bizarre actions, but we're more than willing to tune in this fall to find out.
9. A Raisin in the Sun It may have been a dreaded high school assignment, but "Raisin" was a first-rate television adaption, even with rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs as an unlikely lead. Phylicia Rashad also was a standout in this presentation, which, although fast-paced, captured all the nuances of the major players.
10. Big Bang Theory In a galaxy far, far forgotten, there was a time when sitcoms dominated any year-end television review. "Big Bang Theory" is a throwback to that era, although it contains all of the 21st-century sensibilities. It's a natural progression from the odd couple companions in "Dobie Gillis" to "Big Bang," although neither Dobie nor Maynard could even hope to compete with these boys in a classroom. The Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons characters are brilliant but socially inept. The writers poke gentle fun at that dilemma, without resorting to tasteless humor. The out-of-this-world Parsons is easily this year's acting find.
