Top TV Shows of 2008

Although the Great Writers' Strike of 2007-2008 loomed large over 2008's television output, this was still a magnificent year of television. We said goodbye to obvious great shows like The Wire while welcoming new faves like True Blood and new seasons of current faves like It's Always Sunny.... And there were miniseries, from the astounding-but-just-barely-not-making-this-list's-cut Generation Kill to the historically-accurate-to-a-fault John Adams. All in all, there were too many good things on TV this year to list here - if you read my Cable Television Rundown, you've doubtless read about many of these shows that didn't quite hit the top 10 - and I doubtless wasted time that could have been spent going outside or reading a book. But when the TV options are so rewarding, why turn away? These are The Blogulator's Top TV Shows of 2008.



10. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Episodes featuring gloryholes, boys' souls (sound it out), pooping the bed, taco beds (I WANT ONE btw), and a character named "Rickety Cricket" dressed in a powdered wig getting his head blown off by a musket made up the latest season of haute couture comedy known to superfans simply as "Sunny". Now I don't usually subscribe to purveyors of toilet humor, but really this show isn't so much about the jokes (about half the time it is) as much as it is about the "actors". I use the term loosely because they're not so much acting as they are screaming at each other incessantly and without pause. And they've all got their own perfect brand of scream: Dennis is the femmy vain screamer, Mac is the testosterone-fueled self-involved screamer, Charlie is the batshit wild card screamer, Dee is the well-intentioned but ultimately also narcissistic screamer, and Danny DeVito as Frank is the demented conceited screamer. When whatever hare-brained scheme they come up with in any given episode ultimately fails (and they always do of course), an orchestra of overlapping screaming commences, and it's like music to my ears: sweet blood-curdling music. Oh and any show that boasts guest stars Sinbad and Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 as a duo of ass-beating mental hospital patients will earn my undying respect. --Chris



9. True Blood
Though no one will confuse Alan Ball's newest HBO drama True Blood with high art, the vampires-in-our-society concept works pretty well, "despite everything", as DoktorPeace might say. Sure, the episodes in the first season written by Ball were among the most obnoxiously heavy-handed, unfunny and overly melodramatic. But as the show went on, the show gained a new layer of darkness that Ball probably couldn't produce himself. Bad accents aside, the cast also worked pretty well together, with Ryan Kwanton's Jason Stackhouse evolving into one of the better characters on the show by season's end. And the guest spots by Lizzy Caplan, Stephen Root, and Michelle Forbes brought some, shall I say, "fresh blood" to the later episodes. Luckily the season ended on a fairly strong note, so when season two premieres on HBO in the summer, I'll actually be excited to watch, despite everything. --Qualler



8. LOST
What is about this show that keeps me coming back? Is it the absurd mysteries and paced plot twists? Is it Sawyer's gratuitous use of nick-names for his island friends? Or is it merely Kate's cleavage? The answer is all of the above. With only two seasons left, LOST is right on track telling one of TV's craziest stories. 2008 saw the to development of new cast members and more off-island revelations. My big question: how does Locke die? And is it for realz? Nothing can stop this beast from running its course. No star DUIs, no writer's strikes, and no mopey, whiny fans, either. Here's to LOST! --Sean



7. The Office
Okay, sure, the faux-documentary premise is now preposterous after four seasons. (Is it four seasons?). Do The Employees not watch the actual show? Is this documentary team just filming an obscene amount of material, never to release it? The point is: who cares? The Office is still hilarious. Let's hope things work out for Andy and Angela. And let's also hope Jim and Pam totally break up cause they make me gag a little. And who thinks the support cast is often the funniest? Give them a Dundie award! --Sean



6. Dexter
You know how police detectives are always trying to get into the mind of a serial killer? Who knew all they needed to do was watch a little Showtime? Pretty much every season of Dexter introduces an new friend character for the lonely serial killer. In 2008, the third season was no different, except that Dexter's new friend was *gasp* a city prosecutor (played by Jimmy Smits). I have no idea why none of the people who discover Dexter's true identity are even remotely freaked out by his "hobby," but it makes for great drama! In 2008, not only does Dexter continue to serve up his own version of justice, he is forced to deal with conflicting trust issues. Should he believe his imaginary dead father or his new best friend? Not to mention, Dexter's personal life gets a little more complicated with a wedding and an impending child and he has to figure out when to squeeze in a stabbing every once in awhile. I guess that's what they call "work-life balance." --Amy



5. The Soup
No show has helped me numb the pain of the most garbage-filled pop culture more than The Soup on E! Yes, Joel McHale is there to zing his way through the week of crap reality television, Tyra Banks appearances, soap operas, The Today Show, and even his own negligible network's other programming choices. 2008, though, was probably the show's best year. Having The Hills and multiple Tyra Banks channels certainly helps. Having Miley Cyrus around makes things even better. Mr. McHale, if you're reading this right now, a) please come to Minneapolis to perform, and b) please give me a job. I have a DVR and am willing to record 12 hours worth of Bromance on MTV for you. --Qualler



4. Gossip Girl
Some people would have you believe that Gossip Girl, far from being an amazing show, is teenage trash, the same crap they've been serving up on One Tree Hill for years except for with more money and more headbands and less Chad Michael Moron (praise Jesus). To that I say: Nay. Gossip Girl, like every good melodrama (and that's not an oximoron; melodrama has been a staple of high art for centuries), is an allegory. It paints in broad strokes the basic problem (loneliness) and triumph (being known and accepted by others) of human existence, and though its characters are exaggerated, they're allowed to be, because they are archetypes, and though its plots are outlandish, they're allowed to be, because they are myths and fables and tall tales rather than real life scenarios. Gossip Girl is a fantasy, and furthermore it's not really about teenagers, or really about specific humans at any age; it's about all humans at every age, and its universal quality makes it possible for fans to overlook gaping holes in consistency, logic, geography, even the time/space continuum. If nothing else, Gossip Girl's legacy will be the epic pair of Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass; I don't know if it was planned or just happened, but Dan and Serena, ostensibly the Destined Couple of the series, have been completely eclipsed by these lovable, scarred lunatics, played most convincingly and heartbreakingly by Leighton Meester and (my boyfriend) Ed Westwick. Considering the recent discombobulation that plagues these two, it's hard to know how the series will play out in future seasons, but one thing's for sure: Gossip Girl is good TV watchin', and anyone who avoids it because they think it's just for teenage girls is seriously missing out. --OHD



3. Mad Men
Though the Don Drapers of the show get most of the press, season two of the critical-darling was so strongly reinforced by the ladies. The three central women of the show, Betty Draper (played by January Jones), Peggy Olson (played by Elizabeth Moss), and Joan Holloway (played by Christina Hendricks, all face dilemmas in progressing as people in a man's world. Betty's struggles becoming a force in her own oppressive marriage to her distant husband Don; Peggy struggles with being taken seriously as a woman while progressing in her career; Joan struggles with being taken as a career woman when the men at Sterling-Cooper see her as an object. The ramifications of the various dilemmas reach their peaks at season's end; some uplifting, others crushing. In that way, season two of Mad Men brought even more depth to the show than had previously existed. Has society really progressed since the 60s? Are the secrets that we keep from each other tearing us apart? It helps, too, that the cast is superb, the writing is breathtaking (and at times near the end of the season a little David Lynch-ian), the office politics are addictive television, etc. In whole, all the good things you've read about this show are true. --Qualler



2. 30 Rock
I always end my viewing of a new episode of 30 Rock with about fifteen different quotes running around my head. That is attributable to a number of factors -- the endlessly witty writing, the hilarious, well-rounded cast, the madcap pace of the dialogue (not unlike another past Blogulator fave Gilmore Girls!), etc. More importantly, though, 30 Rock provides a rare show to catch on a regular basis on network television. Now that cable and the interweb have taken so much of the "good" TV, leaving the networks to their own devices by airing mostly reality television, it's comforting to know that there's a show that doubtless all your friends watched last night, too. You might say it's watercooler television for the energy-drink generation; of course, Liz Lemon's on-again-off-again boyfriend Dennis Duffy might then drink some energy drinks and puke on your face. --Qualler



1. The Wire
The fifth and final season of the greatest drama in the history of television seemingly can't be blogged about or even written in professional publications about without comparing it to past seasons. Why everyone has seemingly forgotten that one of the reasons The Wire is the greatest show ever is that its seasons are so unique to one another, each covering a strikingly different (yet yes, all interrelated) aspects of the decay of urban America, so we should all know about apples and oranges, etc. The progression from season to season was astounding: begin with the drug war in the streets, show how it affects blue collar America, which causes an attempt at reform in government, and all three of these problems contribute to leaving our children uneducated, and finally it all gets regurgitated questionably back out to the public via the media. I've never felt so much sadness, anger, and stone cold disillusionment when a show ended like I did when I had to say goodbye to the eternally bruised and maniacal Detective McNulty, the kind and philosophizing street thug Omar, and even the characters we just began loving, like hardnosed newspaper editor Gus or the once despicable Bodie. But it was recovering addict Bubbles, who near the end of the series says profoundly, "Ain't no shame in holding onto grief...as long as you make room for other things too." So I will hold the cast of Bodymore, Murderland in my heart and slowly allow other television shows to enter...when I'm good and ready. --Chris

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