The 10 best things on television this year, that I can recall.

10. Liam. - Sigh. Modern day Dylan McKay, complete with boat building skills and poor-little-rich-boy problems? I'll take it. When is 90210 coming back on again?!!

It's cool everybody, he's 26!

9. The knowledge that if you're dancing to House Music, it isn't cheating. -Now it might seem crazy for me to find something that could be labeled "best" in the "so awful you can only watch silently with your mouth agape" Jersey Shore, but it was pretty damn amazing watching Snooki explain to J-Woww's (Yes those are their names. Feel free to call her Snickers though, everybody does.) boyfriend that since J-Woww was dancing to House Music and not R&B, the fact that she was rubbing herself all over Pauly D. was actually some kind of dance "battling" and not cheating. Or even flirting! The best part? He totally accepted it as true and correct. Thank you Snooki, you have added so much to my life.


8. Dexter's Season 4 Finale "The Getaway"
-In a season that seemed determined to at least rearrange the show's premise a bit, making Dexter less of a monster a more of a family man, the season finale not only gave us hope that Dexter might become something better, it also showed us the price he pays for giving into his "dark passenger". After a beautiful scene with his sister (Jennifer Carpenter) that helps him realize that he actually CAN connect with other people, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) goes home to find that his wife Rita, murdered by the man he just killed. "The Getaway" gave us everything we could ask for in a season finale: great work by the cast, excitement, suspense, tender moments and a shocking twist.

7. Torchwood: Children of Earth America, this is how you do great sci-fi. This 10 hour miniseries left me speechless, a little depressed and hungry for more. After a couple of fun but uneven seasons, creator Russell T. Davies fearlessly made sure that Torchwood would not be remembered as a some goofy Doctor Who spin-off, but as a gut-wrenching, unforgettable series of it's own.


6. JAMES FRANCO ON GENERAL HOSPITAL. - Confession time: I watch soap operas. When I got Soapnet on my cable system, I physically jumped for joy. Sometimes they get so terrible, I can't even watch them for months at a time. But sometimes, amazing things happen on them, and this was one of those times.I don't know how this happened, if it was performance art, a practical joke or a lost bet, but whatever it was, it was awesome.



5. Lost, Season 5 -Time travel? Love triangles? Nuclear bomb detonation? Sign me up. This season Lost got back to what it does best, showing us the humanity (and inhumanity) of these characters while putting them through twisty, turny suspenseful hell. (The actual best thing I saw on TV this year? Kate's hair in this episode.)

4. Jim and Pam's Wedding, The Office -If The Office's "Niagara Falls" didn't bring a tear to your eye, you are not human, man. You must be nothing more than an incredibly realistic looking human style robot or something. I mean Kevin was wearing tissue boxes as shoes! It was great.

3.Chuck, Season 2
-If a smart, adorable show about a nerd whose brain accidentally becomes the CIA's most important super computer doesn't sound like your cup of tea, get a new cup. Chuck has the most like-able cast on television, great music, an only deepening mythology, more laughs per hour than most comedies and more real, raw moments per hour than most dramas. Season 3 is coming in January, and if you're smart, which I think you are, you'll be watching.




2. Modern Family
-Ask anyone who knows me, I cannot say enough good things about this show. It is hilarious, has an amazing cast, including some incredibly gifted child actors, and kinda warms your heart sometimes too! Also, a giant clown named Fizbo threatening to kick a jerk's ass if he doesn't apologize to his boyfriend. Welcome to awesometown people.


1. Mad Men, Season 3 Finale, "Shut the Door, Have a Seat" -Part fun and jaunty caper flick, part heart wrenching family drama, there was nothing better this year than the season ender of this great show. As usual, creator Matthew Weiner made sure that everything, from the cast to the clothes, was perfect. This was Don Draper's hour, and Jon Hamm did beautiful work as always. The look of pride and triumph that he has as he surveys that tiny Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce office just made the episode for me. He is ready to value the people he works with, and he is ready to build something that is his. You can tell from the look in his eyes that he can't wait to see how it all turns out, and I can't either.