lYep, it’s that time of year again, when I finally post another thing on this blog! And wouldn’t you know it, it’s year-end countdown time!

The top 10 tv shows this year are a huge change, I believe, from previous years. The final year of LOST barely made it into the top 10, and a surprise show got the top spot! Let’s get to it.

10. LOST
The final year wasn’t the greatest, it faked us out with a side-ways storyline that I didn’t get, but the explanation at the end was greatly satisfying. And for me, it was a good way to finish off the series. There were still lots of questions with no answers, but what’s the point of a show if it doesn’t leave things to your own imagination.

9. Modern Family
Modern Family was it show, and has lost its steam as of late, but it’s still going strong. This shows is really one of the best comedies to come out in recent years, but lately it’s been hit and miss, with episodes that feel like filler and others that are laugh-out-loud hilarious. It’s still one of the best, but there have been more consistently good shows this year.

8. Nurse Jackie
This is just a great show. Half comedy, half full-on drama. On its second season it really grew its cast of characters, delivered huge shockers, and has given us great breakthrough performances by Eve Best (Dr. O’Hara) and Merritt Wever (Zoey).

7. Damages
What a great way to bounce back from a so-so 2nd season. This show really kicked things off with a huge bang, killing one of the main characters in the first episode, and then telling the story of how that happened throughout the whole season was nerve wracking and insanely good. Can’t wait for the improved DirectTV version coming up in season 4.

6. Dexter
Last season was praised for its greatness, which I didn’t get. This season I believe has been better, as in edge-of-your-seat better. They’re so close to catching Dexter again, that it’s crazy how this can go forward more and more. I still can’t wait for Sundays to watch it, making it still one of the best of the year.

5. Cougar Town/Parks & Recreation
These totally underrated shows deserve more attention than they get. Both shows have developed as very enjoyable, funny, quirky comedies with lovable characters and situations that you can believe in those worlds. Cougar Town has all the greatness that Scrubs once had, and it works. Parks & Recreation has all the greatness of Amy Poehler. Cougar Town making fun of it’s name on the opening credits of the second season is awesome, and Parks & Rec has given us Ron Swanson, enough said.

4. Mad Men
This year, I truly believe that the characters grew tenfold. The depth of the acting, writing and directing have been top-notch. Just seeing Don Draper’s life struggles has been a great joy to watch. And as always, the authenticity adds even more value to the production of this awesome season.

3. Community
There hasn’t been a show this year that has surprised me more than Community. It is really good! It’s one of those shows that you can enjoy from start to finish. It has great character development. The episode with Abed’s background storyline, and the pop-culture self-references have made it the best comedy this year.

2. Breaking Bad
The best drama with some of the best acting by far was Breaking Bad this year. Talk about cringe worthy drama, Walter being hunted by Mexican drug lords, Hank’s “one minute to live”, the fly in the lab. Best drama ever???

1. Fringe
Walternate? Fauxlivia? The mix of “this” Universe and the “other” Universe was one of the best twists ever. And having “our” Olivia stuck in the “other” Universe, and Fauxlivia infiltrating our Fringe team was the best season finale of any series this past year. One of the best sci-fi series got even better, and it makes it my #1 show of 2010!

So there you have it. Special mention goes to “The Walking Dead“, though I haven’t watched it that much, it looks like great a production, and it’s getting some of the best reviews out there.

Now we wait to see what 2011 brings us.

It’s June. The Emmy nominations are coming up soon, and the official television season is over and done, so it’s time to rank the best of the best of this past television season.

Freshman shows and shows that were new to me were in their prime this past year, old favorites mostly floundered, but great performances fuel what was one of the strangest tv seasons to date.

My complete breakdown after the jump…

the best.

New comedy delivered, critically praised Modern Family (B+) leads the bunch of the resurgent genre. Also of note are Parks and Recreation (B+), Cougar Town (B) and Community (B). Pure drama was astounding, leading the pack for me was Breaking Bad (A) (which ends its most suspenseful season this Sunday), but hot on its heals were Damages (B) and Mad Men (B+). Fringe (B) had probably one of the best season finales ever, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (B+) gave us a couple of their funniest episodes. On the reality front, Survivor (A-) really delivered some of the best in both its editions this past year.

the ok.

From the new shows Glee (B-) is way too overrated for what it is, sure it’s new, fresh, original for tv, but the best it’s not. V (B-) turned out to be great popcorn tv, and Parenthood (B-) is good old-fashioned family fun, but I still haven’t managed to like the characters that much. Old favorites like 30 Rock (B-), Dexter (B), Big Bang Theory (B), The Office (B-), still did good but were overshadowed by better work out there. In a year of vampire madness, True Blood (C+) fell flat after their groundbreaking first season. And ending their runs this year, Ugly Betty (B-) got noticeably better this year going out with style, and LOST (B) actually lost me this season, but surprisingly I’m in what appears to be the minority of people that liked the ending.

the bad.

Comedy last summer tanked big time, with Weeds (C-) and Entourage (D) having their worst seasons ever. New sci-fi was hit or miss, and FlashForward (C) totally missed the mark, starting off ok but then it drifted into dumb territory and it actually turned me off. Based on reviews only, 24 had one its worst seasons as its last one, that I didn’t even bother watching it. And American Idol (C) had its own worst season to date, with practically no one to root for.

still in the process of watching: Nurse Jackie, Friday Night Lights, Sons of Anarchy and Caprica.

so here’s my top 10 of the 2009-10 tv season:

1. Breaking Bad (one minute and fly, that’s it)

2. Survivor (Russell Hantz)

3. Parks and Recreation (I truly believe it was the most heartfelt comedy)

4. Mad Men (Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Price)

5. Modern Family (Sofia Vergara & Ty Burrell)

6. Damages (Tom Shayes!)

7. Fringe (alternate reality done right)

8. Dexter (that killer of an ending saved the season)

9. LOST (the final season gave good closure to 6 years of island drama)

10. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (su casa, no más!)

Until next time, now it’s time we start off this next season with new shows this Summer!

As the 3rd season of one of the best legal dramas ever comes to a close, the certainty of it coming back is still up in the air. The third season of Damages was by far superior than last year’s. Though the intrigue and suspense of the first season can probably never be surpassed, the new case involving the Tobin family drew great strength from the familiar characters. The connection between Patty Hewes and Ellen grew stronger, showcasing how Patty truly believes in Ellen, but on the other side she doesn’t want her to succeed like her without the tragedies and emptiness she had to go through to get there herself.

This past season was really well grounded, establishing an overall mystery arc that played out fluidly and believably. It all came to a close tying up all the main loose ends and could truly go into history as the show’s series finale and I’d be okay with it. Though who certainly wouldn’t want more Damages! SPOILER ALERT! So the mystery of who killed Tom was laid to rest, Joe Tobin finds out about his deal with his lawyer and ends up drowning him in his own toilet, the one who jumped off the bridge into the Hudson river was actually Mrs. Tobin. Frobisher is blackmailed by Wes into turning himself in for Ellen’s fiance’s murder. Michael being the one who hit Patty’s car after he found out she paid his girlfriend to leave him. Joe Tobin turns himself in for the fraud and the murder of Tom Shayes. And Patty was always imagining that “architect” that came to visit her, because he was part or her past when she sacrificed her unborn daughter before starting her career (the one she goes to see at the cemetery in season 1).

So it all closed up pretty good as a series, which is why I believe it could work as the finale of the whole thing, but there is so much story still there. The fallout of Tom’s murder and the affects it will have on Patty’s and Ellen’s lives alone is worth at least one more season.

My Grade: A-

And the list goes on… this week went to TV, and yesterday we had the first half of my picks for the best TV shows of the decade.

But the best is yet to come… some are older, going back to 2001, some are newer, who are still currently running, but all define the best TV experience these past 10 years!

So here it is, follow the jump to see the TOP 10!

CORRECTION: I totally forgot one series… so to not change up EVERYTHING, I’ve decided to make this list American-created only, so the previous #10 will be a special mention and the new #10 is now on the list.

SPECIAL MENTION. THE OFFICE (UK) (Seasons 1-2 – 2001-2002)
The original and still the best of the two offices. Ricky Gervais created here what has come to be the documentary style that lots of shows used later on, like Arrested Development and Modern Family. But this British import was genius, funny, awkward, cringe worthy in all senses, but overall, original.

10. IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA (Seasons 1-5 – 2005-2009)
This underrated show needs it’s praise, it truly is one of the best comedies. The series follows Mac, Charlie, and siblings Dennis & Dee, friends who are co-owners of Paddy’s Bar in Philadelphia, and also, starting in season 2, Frank (Danny DeVito) who is introduced as Dennis & Dee’s dad but ends up actually being Charlie’s dad. The episodes are completely self-contained, totally random (“The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby” anyone?), and packs some of the best comedy of the last decade. From when they decide to sell Gas door-to-door to Charlie’s undying love for the Waitress, the funniest road trip ever and the craziest Christmas special you’ll ever see, ‘Sunny’ always delivers.

9. 24 (Seasons 1-3 – 2001-2004)
Oh the days of Senator/President Palmer! 24 was a groundbreaking show that made its debut amidst the 9/11 attacks and focusing on counter-terrorism. What timing, huh? But in it we saw great originality with it’s real-time structure, a certain amount of credibility, and sympathy to the main characters, something it all lacks in its current seasons, but back then, great TV!

8. ALIAS (Season 1 – 2001/02)
J.J. Abrams truly ruled TV this decade, launching Jennifer Garner into the world with an awesome mythology of prophecy, betrayal & family angst. Season 1 set all that in motion and was ultimately what made the show struggle to get viewers’ attention.

7. 30 ROCK (Season 2 – 2007/08)
The heir to the Arrested Development throne. This show is full of inside jokes, rapid-fire humor, and has made big comedy stars out of Tina Fey and, surprisingly, Alec Baldwin! Season 2 has been by far their best. If you’re in with the TV industry, you’re definitely in with 30 Rock.

6. MAD MED (Seasons 1-3 – 2007-2009)
There hasn’t been production values in television greater than this, ever. The drama, the intrigue, the secrets, the 60′s. Great show that really takes advantage of the setting it’s put in.

5. BREAKING BAD (Seasons 1-2 – 2008-2009)
This story about a cancer-striken chemistry teacher who finds cooking meth as a way to pay off his medical bills and leave some money to his family (which includes a mentally ill teenage son and a pregnant wife) truly takes you into the reality of decisions that can mess up your life and set off a chain of events that you can’t control. It’s agonizing, dramatic, nerve-wrecking, disturbing and totally awesome. Bryan Cranston truly deserves all the praise he’s received.

4. DEXTER (Seasons 1-2 – 2006-2007)
The first two seasons of this series are probably the best of any show. The murder mystery theme, the anti-hero, the police work. Season 2, in which they’re trying to catch the biggest serial killer Miami’s ever seen (Dexter himself), was edge-of-your-seat entertainment.

3. LOST (Season 1 – 2004/05 & Season 4 – 2008)
This show defined what TV would look like in the second half of the decade. Mystery, total strangers uniting, flashbacks/flashforwards, and in the heart of it all, a love story that blossoms into the best “lovers unite” episode ever.

2. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (Seasons 1-3 – 2003-2006)
Early for its time. The best comedy series to come to television since I Love Lucy. True family disfunction is portrayed perfectly by this cast of characters that embodied the now iconic Bluth family. I’ve watched the entire series 4 times already and still laugh out loud.

1. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (Seasons 1-4 – 2003-2009)
Easily the best TV series of the decade. Packed so much drama, action, effects, and character development that carried the show throughout its 4 seasons (which included some extra movies and, taking advantage of new media, a series of webisodes in between sesons).

And that’s that. Music is coming up next week, with the top 250 songs of the decade (again, according to ME ).

It’s the end of 2009, and with it, the end of the 2000′s. There was great TV this past decade, amazing TV. And I’ve been there all the way with it.

It’s tough to make a list of the best series, because even the best had down times or even awful times. so I’m pin-pointing the best season(s) of the shows that really defined the last 10 years, for me at least.

Follow the jump for the first half of the TOP 20 shows of the 2000′s: (NOTE: The list includes shows that had their debut or had their best season on or after 2000, and only shows that I have personally watched, so sorry for not including shows like The Sopranos, The Shield, The Wire, The West Wing, etc., because sadly I never got around to watch them).

20. THE OFFICE (US) (Seasons 1-3 – 2005-2007)
This remake of the superior British original really held its place. The first 3 seasons were by far the best, some were adapted from the original version but when the show finally kicked in was when it grew into its own entity and gave us true character development and strength in the comedy it presented.

19. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (Seasons 1-5 – 2005-2009) [correction: season 1 added thanks to ED]
When will we meet the mother? The whole story about how Ted meets the future mother of his children has been a riot, though I still don’t know why he’s telling his kids about all those relationships he had before. But the supporting cast is probably what drives the show, especially the hillariousness of Neil Patrick Harris’ Barney.

18. THE COLBERT REPORT (2005-2009)
The true child of the “Daily Show” is this, and Stephen Colbert really knew how to take his “character” from the Daily Show and run with it. It constantly eclipses its predecessor in comedy and watchability, and it’s impact on pop culture can be seen everywhere. And that’s the truthiness.

17. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (Season 1 – 2006)
The best out of all the high-school dramas that have come out in the past decade. Completely overlooked (I only got around to watching this show this past year) but totally immersive. It is made with such realism, with the acting, the setting, the storylines, that it truly inspires and hooks you to watch more and more.

16. DEADWOOD (Season 1 – 2004)
The production for this period piece was later eclipsed by Mad Men, but this show really got you back to the late 1800′s to where the law and government were still trying to find it’s way in society. Great characters made for a great show.

15. WEEDS (Seasons 1-3 – 2005-2007)
The beginning of this show was the best, the subtle comedy it found in the satire of suburban life was greatness. A mom who starts selling cannabis to the local community so she can survive and raise her two teenagers after her husband dies, all while making fun of all the cliches of modern life in the California suburbs. The writing for the first 3 seasons were comedic gold.

14. SURVIVOR (Seasons 1, 7, 8 & 19 – 2000-2009)
The king of reality competition shows is still going strong, it started in 2000 with probably the best season and in 2009 is delivering one of the best editions the show has ever done with Samoa. The All-Stars was a great way to get the familiar cast back, but it’s been the constant changes in players and the new gameplay moves like the hidden immunity idol that’s made it succeed all this time.

13. THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART (2000-2009)
Jon Stewart really set the bar for fake news with this show. I started watching around 2005, and while it is “fake” it really does show the news in a very different, yet reachable, light. It took the “Weekend Update” format from SNL and transformed it into an actual show worth catching every now and then.

12. BIG BANG THEORY (Seasons 1-3 – 2007-2009)
This is probably the official successor of great comedy in the “traditional” sense for the last half of the decade. It is by far one of the funniest shows ever, and having it geared towards the geek inside all of us is priceless. I hadn’t laughed out loud so much per episode of a sitcom in a long time.

11. DAMAGES (Season 1 – 2007)
A who-done-it mixed in with lawyer antics and a narrative that showed us from the beginning what was to happen and then tell us how we got to that point throughout the whole season (not just one episode) was amazing. Glenn Close is truly a conniving bitch, and I liked it! Not knowing if your main character is good or bad was never done as good as this.

Look for my Top 10 in the coming days!

Ok, so it’s a little early to close up shop on 2009′s tv, so this isn’t my annual top10 list of the best of the year, that will come mid-December. I just noticed that I haven’t written in a while  and this television season has started out pretty interesting, good shows gone bad, new shows finally breaking through from the start, and an overall ok new season.

OUT WITH THE OLD.

Lots of the older shows are starting to show their age. Dexter (my grade: B-) has taken most of the season to pick up the pace this year, it’s on episode 9 and it finally gave us something to get excited about. The Office (C+) got better last year, but this year it fell back to the sameness of seasons 3 & 4 that kinda bored me. Gossip Girl (C) is suffering a “junior slump” really bad, which always happens with teenage shows when they go off to college (and the whole gang always stays together). Mad Men (B) and Big Bang Theory (B) have been alright, but not as intriguing or funny as seasons 1 & 2. House (C+) is getting a bit too boring for my taste, and Brothers & Sisters (C+) I watch only out of habit, not because it’s any good, really.

IN WITH THE NEW.

ABC is on a roll this new season, they have several of the most talked about good new shows this year, though that’s soon to come to an end. First off Modern Family (A-), it is easily the best new show this year. It is laugh-out-loud funny, witty, and downright enjoyable. Then their sci-fi offerings FlashForward (C) and V (C+) got off to great starts, but that’s where they end. FlashForward has only gone downhill from that very catchy pilot episode, the characters have become too mundane, the story non-believable, and the situations completely cheesy and incoherent. V is just escapism tv, the story is way too far-fetched, and to cap it all off, it’s going on a several-month hiatus after only 4 episodes!

Then there is Glee (B). Fox took a big risk launching this show back in May for just one episode, but it really paid off. This show is completely a feel-good series, it’s obviously not award-worthy but I just find it fun to watch, escape from the world for 42 minutes with singing and dancing, which actually supports the story they’re telling, it’s not “just for show”.

GOOD IS GOOD.

Some shows have actually continued their goodness of even improved this season. Notable improvements are It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (B+), Fringe (B+), Ugly Betty (B), 30 Rock (B), Survivor (B+).

Notice how there is only one A in the whole bunch, how I miss Battlestar Galactica .

So this weekend I sat down and watched my first taste of new programming this season. The premiere of ABC’s new gimmicky FlashForward.

It is one normal day in Los Angeles. Two police officers are chasing a black SUV with a prime suspect for a case. Medics are starting a surgery at a big reknowned hospital. Planes are in the air. Boom! Everybody in the whole world blacks out and has flashes of their own lives. When everybody comes back to themselves, 2 minutes and 17 seconds later, everything is a chaotic mess. Cars fell off bridges, planes dropped, patients died, crashes all over the streets and freeways.

Recounting their experiences, they all find out that every single person had a vision of their own lives in the near future, April 29, 2010, to be exact. And the conspiracy starts! Our main character saw himself in his office trying to solve the case of what exactly happened that day, drinking alcohol again. His wife’s flash is of being with someone else, a woman sees herself pregnant, and the other cop (John Cho) doesn’t see anything at all, making him believe he will be dead by then.

Though the premise is interesting, and there were some obvious deal breakers (like the woman pregnant, who flashes on herself at the doctor getting an ultrasound, at 10pm???), this pilot sure looked to have been very well produced. There was a lot of money put into this and you can tell, and it actually made for a better viewing experience. It was entertaining all around, but the one thing that made me want more was the final scene, in which they show a surveilance video from a baseball game in which you can see everybody in the stadium drop at the same time, and while everybody is out, a man walks among them and walks out. Interesting…

My Grade: B

Warning: SPOILERS ABOUND NEXT. It was a weird reimagining of the original show, the opening scene reminiscent of the first scene in the original pilot, the show “intro” in the middle of the episode with older, wiser, fatherly Dexter. And a whole new show that is thrown in our faces.

There are very big noticeable changes in this season of Dexter. First of all, we know who the bad guy is from the beginning and see glimpses of him in weird little snippets. Dexter is now a family man, with a brand new baby in the house that limits his sleep (way too much focus on this, btw), and living in suburbia. Debra is living with Anton then Lundy comes back in the picture. But the biggest WTF moment was… Angel and Maria??? Batista and LaGuerta??? really? That came totally out of left field, and I don’t think it’s good!

Finally, I read somewhere that the producers and writers thought up of interesting mini cliffhangers for each episode, and this one was a doozy. With Dexter’s sleepless nights, on his way back from a kill and from the pharmacy with some of his baby’s medicine (his name is Harrison, btw), he starts falling asleep at the wheel and hallucinates Harry in the middle of the road and curves really fast to evade him. This sends his minivan off the road, rolling 2 times and crashing on the side of the road. This left the question in the viewer’s head about the body parts from his kill being in the van or not, since he was in a hurry to get back home.

All in all I’m glad Dexter is back, but I am not feeling this beginning as a something to root for. We’ll see in the upcoming weeks.

My Grade: B-

The route for this upcoming season of The Amazing Race has been revealed. For what I believe the first time ever in the history of the show, we know where the racers are going before the season even starts, and where all the pit-stops are going to be. Here is a rundown of the list:

1. Tokyo – Japan
2. Cai Be – Vietnam
3. Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam
4. Phnom Penh – Cambodia
5. Dubai – UAE
6. Dubai – UAE
7. Groningen – The Netherlands
8. Stockholm – Sweden
9. Tallinn – Estonia
10. Prague – Czech Republic
11. Prague – Czech Republic
12. Las Vegas – Nevada

The runners start off in Los Angeles and are heading West again this year. And the one stop I’m curious about is Dubai, so I’m glad they’re staying there for 2 pit stops. For a spoilery rundown of what the teams will be doing in each place, head over to EW.com.

This season of The Amazing Race starts on Sunday September 27, at 8pm EDT on CBS.

So it’s not just NBC anymore, and there are still some good shows to come back on the night like 30 Rock, Grey’s Anatomy and the new FlashForward, but Thursdays have started and they are good! (reviews include SPOILERS)

The Office. The show starts off its 6th season without even acknowledging the big reveal from last season’s finale. It’s just a typical day at the office, but it’s not the office without Michael Scott doing some inappropriate thing, mainly, he find out via the new interns that Stanley is having an affair. Surely he has to tell EVERYBODY, but then trying to take it back he makes up rumors for everybody else so they all think that all of them were fake, including Stanley’s affair. Turns out he makes one up that is actually true, Pam is pregnant! and in order to save Michael and Stanley the embarrassment they admit it as the only true rumor. Michael obviously has to ruin things by calling Stanley’s wife in the process to tell her about the affair, and ruins their marriage in the process. Hilarious way to start off the season. B+

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The gang takes advantage of the mortgage crisis. Yes, that’s the episode’s title. And as everything you can expect from this gang, they do their darnest to be crazy. So Frank decides to buy a house that was in foreclosure then resell it, thing is, the owners haven’t been evicted yet, so the gang decides to sell the house while the people are still in it. On some other part of town Dee is selling herself as a surrogate for a couple that can’t carry a baby. At the end they decide to have a bidding war for Dee’s womb and scare a couple into buying the house. The funniest part, Dee doing a horrible belly-flop into the conceiving couple’s house pool. B

Survivor: Samoa. Another season, another huge villain to root against. Samoa brings to us Russell Hantz, this little big muscle guy with a bald head and a bad look. From the start he says he’s going to make it a living hell for all of his tribe-mates, and that included emptying all the water canteens, burning one person’s sock, and making and alliance with every single woman in the group. He called a couple of those alliances the “dumb blonde alliances”, so you get my drift on how much of a jack ass this guy is, and I truly want to see when everybody calls him out on it and leaves, I couldn’t stand the guy, and you know very well that Survivor will focus on him the most until he’s gone. But even in its 19th season, Survivor is still going strong, it’s something to look forward to and something reliable that you know what to expect. B

I will try to continue on the mini-reviews throught the initial 2009-2010 season run, so stay tuned.