LIST: Best Television Shows (currently on the air)

i always enjoy a good list, and with the tv season coming to an end i thought it would be an opportune time for a list of the best shows on television. i know a top 10 list is standard, but for this topic i went with a top 15.

with such a grand topic i did set a few rules for myself:

- the show has to currently be on the air, or have just finished it's season or be already renewed for another season (if The knights Of Prosperity really does come back then it has a great chance of making next seasons list).

- i had to have seen at least one full season of the show (this made the Tudors and The Riches ineligible, although they are already on my mind for next seasons list)

- i also had to have seen more then just the first season if the show is already in it's third or fourth season (that eliminated Nip/Tuck. i enjoyed season one but haven't got to the next ones yet. that also took Deadwood off the list)

- finally, i obviously had to have watched the show, and as i am only human with only so much time in the day, even with a dvr i can't watch everything. so here is a quick listing of shows that i just haven't watched yet, but from what i have heard they could have been contenders for the list: The Wire, Dirt, Entourage, Heroes, Big Love, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

i have written fuller reviews of some of these shows and i will link to those reviews for those series. now, let's let the listing begin...

1-Boston Legal
2-Rescue Me
3-Sopranos
4-The Shield
5-Scrubs
6-Battlestar Galactica
7-24
8-Lost
9-The Office
10-Friday Night Lights
11-My Name Is Earl
12-30 Rock
13-Rome
14-ER
15-Dexter

just missed the cut: The Simpsons, Weeds, Survivor,

Battlestar Galactica Is Fracking Great

Battlestar Galactica - Season One
Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10)
Battlestar Galactica (2004): Seasons 2.0 & 2.5

i have to admit i came to this show pretty late. as of about six months ago i hadn't seen one episode of Battlestar Galactica. then a listener of my podcast, 'Watch It' wrote to me complaining about how i never mentioned the show when i talked about the best shows on television and how it was such a great show that had won many awards, etc... so i decided to check it out. i started at the beginning with the pilot/tv movie and a few days ago i finished the last episode of season three and am now totally caught up. having seen the whole series to date i have just one thing to say... Battlestar Galactica is one of the best shows on television.

the show may be science fiction but the writers ground the story very much into todays political and social climate. the parallels to the government, the war in iraq and the general war on terror are obvious and well explored. issues cover multiple side of an issue without being preachy. the situations are written so that picking a side isn't always easy to do and sometimes the side you find yourself on may not be the same as the character you think of as 'the good guy'.

the issues are complex and so is the show, and i was happy to read that they have renewed it and asked for a complete fourth season worth of episodes (talked about it briefly on the Watch It podcast episode #34)

i am not a huge science fiction fan and maybe that is what is keeping some people from tuning into the show. however, you shouldn't let any preconceived notions you have about science fiction shows keep you from checking it out. if you haven't seen the show then you should really start from the beginning and enjoy it as it was meant to be seen.

grade: A