A List of Lists of the Decade

The decade isn’t over.  If you are a numbers purist, you know it won’t be over for another year.*  How-ev-ah, I don’t math, and most of you don’t math, either.  Or grammar.  So let’s do some “Best of Decade” lists!  This is inspired by my fraternity brother Bill S. Liston, Esq. 

Most Underrated TV Shows of the Decade

5. West Wing. How can a commercial and critical success be underrated?  Not only was the show a great poly sci lesson (and not nearly as liberal as it is remembered), but it was incredibly prescient.  The Josh Lyman / Rahm Emanuel similarities alone are amazing – former White House understudy takes unknown minority congressman and turns him into presidential material and then President.  I actually thought about doing advocacy for a career, and it started with West Wing.

4. Glee. You say sarcastically – great list, Reynolds – everyone knows of #5 and #4 is not only a smash hit, it has already led to its own Idol-esque reality competition.  The reason Glee is underrated is not enough guys get past their macho predilections to give this show a fighting chance.  And it is worth it.  The music has already revitalized the concept of Glee Club across America. Jane Lynch plays the role of Sue Sylvester so masterfully that she deserves to be damed (sp?) like Judy Dench.  I don’t LOL much at TV, but “Sue C’s it” is the best Alpha Female antihero we’ve seen in a long time, and her understated dialogue is truly laugh out loud. 

3. Rome. Out of this world acting, scripting, choreography, etc… If you netflix (yes, I just used it as a verb), netflix Rome and watch it after you put the kids to bed.  Talk about an emotional investment in characters.

2. Deadwood. Poor HBO shows.  Deadwood is hard to watch, unless you love the grimy moral turpitude that defines the wild west.  I want to say that Deadwood is authentic as it gets, although not being 250 years old I have no frame of reference.  Best dialogue ever – beautiful prose, sometimes in old english, interspersed with enough f-bombs to make a frat boy blush.  Which I am, and did, on many occasion.  Al Swearengen is my favorite character of any medium ever. Note – the show is the single most NSFW or most other places of anything on this list.

1. The Wire. Maybe the finest show ever made. Problem was, the creators went out of their way to give it as little mass appeal as possible.  The story revolved around the city, not archetypal characters.  The actors were unknown brits, aussies, and african-americans, none of which sell well to the flyover states.  The dialogue was so authentic, it was hard to follow.  And they killed off everyone’s favorite characters, seemingly on principle.  But believe me when I say – it is the best show ever, and if you can make it until the end of the first season, you’ll be an acolyte, too.