Top 10 TV Shows of '10: Number 1
We have reached the end of this list, though I may do some sort of addendum in the next few days just so I can discuss and/or rant about all the TV shows not found in my top 10. After all, someone needs to put that horrible Irish babynapping Sons of Anarchy plot in its place! Did that thing just go on FOREVER or what?
Just for comparison's sake, here is my top 10 TV list from LAST YEAR, when Mad Men was not included because I was woefully behind on it:
10. Parks and Recreation
9. 24
8. Battlestar Galactica
7. Nurse Jackie / United States of Tara
6. Supernatural
5. Lost
4. Glee
3. True Blood
2. Breaking Bad
1. Friday Night Lights
Pretty different, eh? Sort of? At least one show fell off the list because it stopped existing in 2009 (BSG), and others because I just don't have enough room to praise them (United States of Tara, Nurse Jackie). The rest fell off because they had somewhat uneven seasons this year, and thus they have to go sit in a corner and try harder in 2011. Don't worry, shows, it doesn't mean I stopped loving you.
And now, back to this year's top 10 list!
The List So Far:
10. Spartacus: Blood & Sand
9. Lost
8. The Vampire Diaries
7. Fringe
6. Party Down / Parks and Recreation / Community
5. Sherlock
4. Friday Night Lights
3. Glee
2. Mad Men
1. Breaking Bad
Here's how I know Breaking Bad is the best show on television: after every episode, when my nerves are done jangling, my heart is done pounding, and my head is finally clear, I'm left sitting on the couch in awe. All I want to do is talk to someone, ANYONE, about what I just watched, and to read every critical write up on the episode I can find. Most of the shows on this top 10 list make me feel that way from time to time, but Breaking Bad pulls it off every single week.
A lot of people say that TV is a writer's medium, and that if you want stunning, memorable visuals you should turn to films. That may be true for about 95% of the shows airing these days (I doubt that, say, 90210 is going to give me the equivalent of Inception's zero-gravity fight scene any time soon), but on Breaking Bad the visuals are just as important as the writing. When I think back on the show's phenomenal third season, it's the exciting directorial choices that immediately spring to mind. I think of Jesse pointing a gun directly at the camera in the season finale, or a montage of Wendy the hooker doing a day's work as the jaunty '60s tune "Windy" plays on the soundtrack. I think of two impeccably dressed bald men with axes sitting on Walter White's bed, or a pizza left to rot on a household roof. And, of course, I think of a very obnoxious fly.
It's these little things that help lift the show above anything else on television. These aren't big plot twists or stunning cliffhangers, both of which the series has in spades, but striking visual moments that most shows would leave on the cutting room floor. There's an attention to detail in Breaking Bad that would make chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-manufacturer Walter White proud.
I don't know what magical elixir the Breaking Bad crew is drinking to make the show seem so effortlessly amazing, and I frankly don't want to question it. It turns out all you need to create the best show on television is an amazing writing staff, directors with visual flair, some of the most talented actors in the world, and a network with the guts to air it all. All it takes is some damn good chemistry, and this series has perfected the formula.
Just for comparison's sake, here is my top 10 TV list from LAST YEAR, when Mad Men was not included because I was woefully behind on it:
10. Parks and Recreation
9. 24
8. Battlestar Galactica
7. Nurse Jackie / United States of Tara
6. Supernatural
5. Lost
4. Glee
3. True Blood
2. Breaking Bad
1. Friday Night Lights
Pretty different, eh? Sort of? At least one show fell off the list because it stopped existing in 2009 (BSG), and others because I just don't have enough room to praise them (United States of Tara, Nurse Jackie). The rest fell off because they had somewhat uneven seasons this year, and thus they have to go sit in a corner and try harder in 2011. Don't worry, shows, it doesn't mean I stopped loving you.
And now, back to this year's top 10 list!
The List So Far:
10. Spartacus: Blood & Sand
9. Lost
8. The Vampire Diaries
7. Fringe
6. Party Down / Parks and Recreation / Community
5. Sherlock
4. Friday Night Lights
3. Glee
2. Mad Men
1. Breaking Bad
Here's how I know Breaking Bad is the best show on television: after every episode, when my nerves are done jangling, my heart is done pounding, and my head is finally clear, I'm left sitting on the couch in awe. All I want to do is talk to someone, ANYONE, about what I just watched, and to read every critical write up on the episode I can find. Most of the shows on this top 10 list make me feel that way from time to time, but Breaking Bad pulls it off every single week.
A lot of people say that TV is a writer's medium, and that if you want stunning, memorable visuals you should turn to films. That may be true for about 95% of the shows airing these days (I doubt that, say, 90210 is going to give me the equivalent of Inception's zero-gravity fight scene any time soon), but on Breaking Bad the visuals are just as important as the writing. When I think back on the show's phenomenal third season, it's the exciting directorial choices that immediately spring to mind. I think of Jesse pointing a gun directly at the camera in the season finale, or a montage of Wendy the hooker doing a day's work as the jaunty '60s tune "Windy" plays on the soundtrack. I think of two impeccably dressed bald men with axes sitting on Walter White's bed, or a pizza left to rot on a household roof. And, of course, I think of a very obnoxious fly.
It's these little things that help lift the show above anything else on television. These aren't big plot twists or stunning cliffhangers, both of which the series has in spades, but striking visual moments that most shows would leave on the cutting room floor. There's an attention to detail in Breaking Bad that would make chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-manufacturer Walter White proud.
I don't know what magical elixir the Breaking Bad crew is drinking to make the show seem so effortlessly amazing, and I frankly don't want to question it. It turns out all you need to create the best show on television is an amazing writing staff, directors with visual flair, some of the most talented actors in the world, and a network with the guts to air it all. All it takes is some damn good chemistry, and this series has perfected the formula.