Top 10 TV Shows of 2010

Disclaimer: I am not caught up on  Mad Men, so it will not be on the list.

10. Modern Family- I won't argue that it didn't deserve its Emmy (though I will argue there were several shows that deserved it more), but I do find this show  to be a tad overrated. Not Glee overrated, but overrated nontheless. It is a very funny show with a very good and likeable cast, but it has many weaknesses it needs to overcome. Modern Family has shown what it can do when it's firing on all cylinders ("Manny Get Your Gun", "Starry Night") but oftentimes it falls into the traps of exploiting a character's most annoying character trait only when it is required for a plot. This makes the characters inconsistent. One week, Phil might be your favorite character. The next week, you despise him. But it has shown the family comedy does not have to be what it was in the 90s and is still good for at least a couple laughs each week.

9. 30 Rock- 30 Rock is in the middle of one of the biggest comebacks I've ever seen. It struggled through most of its fourth season, failing to produce interesting plots and doing anything to get a joke in- even if it wasn't funny. But the quality suddenly ramped upwards towards the end of the fourth season, and the current season is just below where the show was at its peak. It's still smart, it's still funny, and it's still irrelevant.

8. Chuck- Chuck is a fun show. It's not a serious drama and it's not an all- out comedy. It falls in the middle. The show has suffered this year from obvious budget cuts (although this has become less of a problem in the fourth season) and the first half of the third season was rushed and messy (seriously, did anybody at all buy Sarah and Shaw together?). But one Shaw became a villain, the show quickly returned to its loveable self, once again  showing why so many people fight to save it each May and why people do stupid stuff like this.

7. Futurama- Seven years after being canceled by FOX, Futurama returned to the television show format on Comedy Central this year. After a bumpy start, it showed that it hasn't missed a beat. Still the best animated show on television.

6. Parks and Recreation- After a mediocre first season, Parks and Recreation returned to a season that slowly built up quality each week to the point where it became one of the funniest shows on air and infinitely more entertaining than its Office counterpart. The ensemble is fantastic and have great chemistry, the writers understand the characters and use them to their full potential, and the setting just works. And who could forget Ron Effing Swanson? (Or DJ Roomba?)

5. Fringe- Up until the second half of its second season, Fringe was the most inconsistent show of television (well, besides Dollhouse). One thing was noticeable, however: the mythology episodes were always the strongest. So when the show finally did what so many other shows like Burn Notice need to do and embraced the mythology, the show became one of the most consistently awesome shows on television.  And how can you go wrong with alternate universes?

4. Lost- Possibly the most controversial season of television in history. It depended what you ended up caring more about: the mythology or the characters. If it was the latter, you could all the closure you could possibly want. And I was definitely the latter. There comes a point where you realize that the mystery is part of Lost and it should stay that way. No answers could possibly not be lame with all the buildup surrounding everything. In the end, Lost delivered an emotionally moving, exciting, and all- around great final season.

3. Terriers- Terriers is pretty much Veronica Mars if the main character in Veronica Mars was actually two people who were both middle- aged former drug addicts. Terriers was great. The leads had insane amounts of chemistry, the plot lines were never dull, and the acting and writing were top notch. Funny, interesting, and gripping, it was by far the best new show of 2010. So, of course, it's been canceled.

2. Breaking Bad- What a season. A perfect example of getting payoff, the first six episodes of the season slowly built up the cousins, the cancer Walt has become to everyone in his life, and the broken partnership between Walt and Jesse. For anyone who complained about these episodes being boring will say thatthe sixth episode was worth it. And the season stayed at a high quality for the remainder of its run.

And the number one television show of 2010.....

1. Community- The most original, charming, funny, entertaining, and schizophrenic show on television. There's not much to say besides it's fantastic. It's got the best ensemble on tv, the best writing, the most unique and fantastic style of humor, characters, and the most insanity. It goes from zombie apocalypse to character study in  one week and the crazy thing is, it all works.