2009 TV to remember

Just like with my 2009 movie recap - the 2009 TV list isn't a "best of" the programming on the tube this year. Instead these shows struck a chord for their storytelling, humor, and daring. And, of course, Glee made the list

The Big Bang Theory (CBS) For a while there, the phrase "traditional comedy" was starting to sound like an insult. And over the past decade or so, too many multi-camera comedies have trafficked in predictable writing and lazy characterization. Then along came Big Bang Theory, which proved that excellent acting and a smart approach can make even the most traditional network comedies deeply satisfying. Consistency can indeed be overrated, but it's hard to come by in the comedy realm, and The Big Bang Theory gets major points for managing to induce smiles on a weekly basis.

Modern Family (ABC) Modern Family took one of the most tired TV genres -- the family sitcom -- and updated it with the hip "mock-umentary" format that shows like The Office made popular. But what makes Modern Family work is solid execution of the comedy basics. The characters feel real and lived-in, the performances by the top-notch cast are razor-sharp and the stories the show tells are inventive without being overly broad. Most important of all, this show has a heart as big as Fizbo the clown's shoes. This is a modern gem with old-fashioned appeal.

True Blood (HBO) If this show were a fashion ensemble, Tim Gunn would call it a hot mess. Still, despite its flaws and its occasional forays into true ridiculousness, True Blood proved impossible to resist. It offered charismatic performances from Michelle Forbes, Nelsan Ellis, Ryan Kwanten, Allan Hyde and Alexander Skarsgård, among others, and it took all the old-fashioned pleasures of a melodramatic serial and sexed them up, Bon Temps-style.

Glee (FOX) Glee is a silly, smart and delicious parody of all high school movies, including "High School Musical," with charming musical numbers and two standouts: Jane Lynch as the totalitarian cheerleading coach and Lea Michele as the talented and monstrously ambitious self-promoting star singer of the glee club.

Big Love (HBO) The hook that gets you in the door of this series is polygamy: the Henricksons' efforts to live as man and wife and wife and wife in Salt Lake City, and the fascinating subculture of the dangerous religious compound that Bill (Bill Paxton) escaped. But really, the show is about community: Can this strange - but strangely functional - family exist as its own unit, not fully contained by either secular society, mainstream Mormonism or Bill's fundamentalist roots?

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo) Wait, is K-Griff technically still D-list now that she has two Emmys? Actually, who cares when this ballsy redhead's self-promoting ways are so freaking funny to watch? The cameras capture bits of her stand-up gigs and the inner workings of her support group (known as Team Griffin). But most of her time is spent shamelessly attempting to become an even bigger celeb.

Cake Boss (TLC) While Cake Boss isn't a replacement for all time favorite Ace of Cakes, the show clearly displays a happy family business. Even with the complaints and screaming, they all come together as one big happy Italian family. Also, I love the way that Buddy pronounces "Fondant."

Royal Pains (USA) The summer series starring Mark Feuerstein as Hank Lawson, M.D., a doctor who is on-call to some of the most demanding patients around, the richie-riches who live in the fashionable Hamptons of Long Island was a blast of fun and sunshine.

Honorable mentions -- Top Chef (Bravo), Brothers & Sisters (ABC), Castle (ABC), So You Think You Can Dance (FOX), Entourage (HBO)

Posted by the Mindless Man