The Decade’s Best Television

By Lisa Fary

I’m kind of wigged out that it’s even time to do a “best of the decade” list. 2010? Really? Arthur C. Clarke said we’d have spaceships by now.

That said, this list was way too easy to draw up. Is that because there have been so many poorly written/ performed/ produced shows in the last ten years? Is it because reality television became a force this decade, driving out scripted programs?

Maybe it’s because I didn’t have cable until 2005.

Seriously. My TV had an honest to god antenna until John and I moved in together. I could only get a clear picture for the first season of Lost by sitting on the floor exactly four feet away and a little to the left. I got my cable viewing in, though. Starting with DVD rentals, then by hijacking John’s TV.

And so, here is my personal take on the best of the Naughts. Or Oughts. Or whatever the hell we’re calling the first 10 years of the 21st century, in no particular order.

(Note: I limited my list to shows that I’ve actually seen – and seen more than one or two eps of – that began in this decade.)

Boston Legal

Not usually a fan of legal dramas, Boston Legal first got me to watch with the lure of The Shat. You could put William Shatner on just about anything and I’d watch at least once (even The Dinah Shore Portal to Hell). The Shat got me in, but the writing and acting kept me around, and Alan Shore’s rousing closing arguments echoed my liberal ideas, making me feel a little less alone in the world.

Arrested Development

The Bluths – making your family look normal since 2003. The show started as a simple riches to rags tale and then became so. . . weird. . . and brilliant. From Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog to Mr. F (whenever I walk out of the bedroom with cable-knit over-the-knee socks on over my tights, John sings, “Mr. F!”) to Tobias the Analrapist, this is among the best sitcoms ever made. If I were trapped on Craphole Island with a TV and DVD player and could only have one box set, it would be Arrested Development.

Pushing Daisies

I want to live in Coeur d’Coeur where my neighbors are a knitting detective, a pie maker, a singing waitress, and a dead girl. There is a sweetness to Pushing Daisies that was as sincere as an elementary school crush (Huh? Did I just write that? Who am I?). It never failed to make me smile and I was never disappointed in Bryan Fuller’s ladies; they may not be kung fu fighting, but they’re strong in the ways so many of us are.

Gilmore Girls

If I can’t live in Coeur d’Coeur, I’ll take Stars Hollow and all of its inhabitants. Gilmore Girls was the first to give me what I called a “hot chocolate hug” on a weekly basis – that one scene with so much heart it made me gulp.

The Wire

It makes me crazy that The Wire was nominated for so many awards and won so few. And that it got such lousy ratings. What did I really expect, though? The Wire had long, twisting plotlines, some of which only paid off after five seasons. It was violent, it was ugly, it had few happy endings. But, it was powerful and revealing, showing viewers the realities of our cities, our institutions, our war on drugs and how they effect every single one of us.

Firefly

In a sci-fi landscape that copies itself so often in an attempt to recreate the greats, Firefly blazed its own trail, giving me something I’d never seen before. It remains my all-time favorite sci-fi show.

Battlestar Galactica

As aggravating and disappointing as BSG wound up being at the end, as much as I’ve complained about it, the show deserves a place on the list. BSG was so well done for so long, really pushing science fiction back into the realm of social commentary, making us ask ourselves questions that would otherwise be too uncomfortable to consider. It also made sci-fi socially acceptable among the mundanes surrounding me in my real-world life. It’s like they suddenly realized there was more to it than Star Trek (or Star Track, as they’re apt to say. Morons).

Torchwood

Despite its shaky first series, Torchwood more than made up for it with series two and three. After Children of Earth, I’m dreaming of a new Torchwood staffed by Agent Johnson, Martha Jones, Lois Habiba, and Mr. Dekker.

30 Rock

At first, 30 Rock seemed like a sincere effort to do intelligent comedy in the same vein as Arrested Development. But, sometime during season two, it’s like Tina Fey said, “Screw it. No one’s watching. Let’s go nuts.” And from there, it got bizarre and fast paced, tossing out a steady stream of jokes, not bothering to let one settle before tossing out the next.

Mad Men

We all know about the 1960s. The war. The marches. The riots. The assassinations. Woodstock. All of that. What I don’t often see is individuals, specific stories, everything that went on and how it effected day to day people. Mad Men brings us those stories through a window I’d never considered: advertising. Really, advertising captures the history of our modern culture. Excellent writing, gorgeous costuming and compelling characters (even Betty Draper, who I hate, is compelling as she tries to understand why she’s unhappy even though she’s done everything on her list, everything that she was expected to do) make Mad Men stand out this decade.

Carnivale

Since 1991, I’ve been looking for another Twin Peaks; I finally got it in Carnivale. Unusual characters – check. A story about the struggle between good and evil – check. Carnivale even had the Little Man from Another Place! It also ended unsatisfactorily after its second season (yes, I’m still pissy at HBO for that). Like many HBO shows, Carnivale took it’s time getting where it was going, but made every minute of screen time count, and more importantly for a show like this, made it magical and haunting.

That’s where I stand on the best television of the decade. What’s on your list?

More “Best of” lists to come because once I started thinking about it, I just couldn’t stop!

Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She’s angry that it’s almost 2010 and she still doesn’t have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram.

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