a deliberate pace

Best TV Of 2010

In order to make up for my mistaken inclusion of Lost on the lists from the last two years, this year’s list has 12 shows! Also, I had a hard time choosing. More after the jump.

#12 Cougar Town

When I saw the first three episodes of this show I dismissed it as terrible, but gave it a second chance after being told over and over that the show changed and was infinitely better. What do you know, it was. No longer about a single woman in her 40s on the prowl for younger men, the show is instead centered on a bunch of goofy day-drinking Floridian neighbors. Oh, and Busy Phillips deserves an Emmy.

#11 Parenthood

Nobody writes real people like Jason Katims, and this sweet look at what it means to be a parent, kid, husband or wife is equally hilarious and heartbreaking — and it doesn’t hurt that Katims farms over a bunch of his Friday Night Lights cast to guest star.

#10 Justified

This Elmore Leonard short story turned FX series was a thrilling slow burn of a show, each episode bringing you one step closer to the finale’s giant shoot-out but keeping you in rapt attention with Timothy Olyphant’s even keeled US Marshal, a great supporting cast and awesome side-stories. I’m looking forward to the second season, due to premiere in February.

#9 Raising Hope

This sweet and sour family comedy about an underachiever who finds himself saddled with a baby after his serial-killer one night stand is executed is delightful for many reasons: Cloris Leachman as a rarely lucid grandmother, the adorable cutaways to what is most certainly the most precious baby on television, and Martha Plimpton telling her son “Maybe your baby is a bitch.”

#8 Terriers

When I first saw a billboard for the show I thought FX was doing some sort of reality series about dogs (Donal Logue so small I couldn’t recognize him), but when I finally tuned in I was pleasantly surprised. This sadly short-lived series about a recovering-alcoholic former cop turned private eye in a sleepy California beach town had some of the most intense nail-biting drama on TV in the last year while at the same time never taking itself too seriously. Definitely worth the money once it’s out on DVD.

#7 Community

This brilliant, incredibly “meta” show is perfect for pop-culture/television/movie lovers with its snarky take on filmic tropes and cliches. Towards the end of the first season, Greendale Community College was turned into a post-apocalyptic war-zone and the second season’s Halloween episode had the entire cast LITERALLY catching a virus and turning into zombies — and nobody woke up at the end of the episode exclaiming “it was all a dream!” Though, to be fair, they’re probably saving that for the series finale.

#6 Fringe

With each episode, Fringe becomes more and more engrossing with the second season jaunt into “The Other Side” and this year, taking up residence there, further proving what a great TV show this is. Also, anyone who doubted Anna Torv’s abilities early on in the series can eat their words watching her play two different and distinct characters.

#5 Breaking Bad

Even badder than last year, if you can imagine. Bryan Cranston has won the best actor Emmy for every season thus far aired and has deserved every one of them for his portrayal of cancer-riddled high school science teacher turned meth cooker, Walter White. Aaron Paul, his partner in crime, is equally gifted.

#4 The Big C

Laura Linney is a genius of an actress and in the first season of The Big C she had me laughing and crying, usually moments later. The last few episodes had me sobbing and I can’t wait for the second of four planned seasons to air next fall.

#3 Vampire Diaries

No longer a guilty pleasure, Vampire Diaries is must-see-TV, with it’s anything can happen/anyone can die credo. It constantly subverts my expectations — which, given the amount of TV I watch, is no easy feat.

#2 The Good Wife

Shockingly good for a CBS drama, The Good Wife is easily the best drama on network television. The acting is incredible, the characters are incredible, and the cases are timely (this show is probably the most technologically astute thing on the air right now). The accolades that keep rolling in are well-deserved.