Network: ABC
Cast: Courteney Cox, Christa Miller, Busy Philipps, Brian Van Holt, Dan Byrd, Ian Gomez, Josh Hopkins
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Cougar Town
ABC
By all rights, Cougar Town shouldn’t work. The premise — Jules (Courtney Cox), a divorced woman in her early 40s, attempts to date younger men while raising a teenage son and wackiness ensues — sounds like an awful idea on the face of if. Well, the show is silly, but gleefully, hilariously so, and the cast is great. Cox is willing to do anything for a laugh, and Busy Phillips and Christa Miller play off of each other nicely as Jules’ two friends (whom she once referred to as “blonde friend” and “mean friend”). Dan Byrd is perfectly deadpan as son Travis, and Brian Van Holt is a hoot as Jules’ dim-bulb ex-husband. Series creator Bill Lawrence seems energized by not having to run Scrubs anymore, and the result is an over-the-top broad comedy that manages to have heart, too. Chris Conaton
Network: Oxygen
Cast: Various
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Snapped!
Oxygen
The best performances of the past decade haven’t belonged to any of Hollywood’s great actors, but to some of the cold-blooded killers of reality series Snapped (cue 911 call: “Oh God! Hurry! Someone (read: I) shot my husband!”). Each episode of Snapped features the story of a woman who has “snapped” and killed someone, usually a husband or lover. The stories are laid out in a manner that quickly makes clear the producer’s opinion of the alleged killer — cold-hearted bitch, sympathetic victim of abuse, gold-digging black widow, and so on. In addition, the series establishes that women are far more creative in planning, executing, and covering-up murders. My favorite story was the woman whose lover lived in her bedroom closet for three months without her husband’s knowledge before they killed hubby. You can’t get that kind of stuff on fictional TV. Michael Abernethy
Network: FOX
Cast: Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Kristin Chenoweth, Will Forte, Tom Kenny, Nick Kroll, Cheri Oteri, Kenan Thompson, Henry Winkler
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Sit Down, Shut Up
FOX
As an animated follow-up to Arrested Development, co-created by Mitch Hurwitz and voiced by several key cast members, Sit Down, Shut Up is indeed disappointing, and it’s easy to see why it was banished from Fox’s Sunday animation block onto late night Saturdays to burn off its 13 episodes. But seen simply as a goofy throwaway with rapid-fire jokes (including way too many meta winks) in the vein of so many other Adult Swim cartoons, Sit Down has its deranged charms. If you’re interested in amusingly bad puns, teachers portrayed as unsympathetic dolts, or the lovely tones of Will Forte’s voice, Sit Down has some not-particularly-artful amusements for you. Jesse Hassenger
Network: MTV
Cast: Whitney Port, Olivia Palmero, Roxy Olin, Eric Kaplan
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The City
MTV
Finally, New York has an awful MTV reality soap to call its own! As a resident of NYC, I’m happy that my frame of reference for the MTV version of my city consists primarily of asking if I’m about to run into cast members whenever I find myself in a particularly douchebaggy section of the meatpacking district. Of course, I’d be a better person if I didn’t know enough to make those jokes at all. More manufactured than even its more successful sister show The Hills, The City follows professional sycophant Whitney as she listens to idiotic advice from her new old friend Roxy, abrasive advice from her attention-hungry sorta-boss Kelly Cutrone, and content-free advice from everyone else. Oh, and there’s some horrible chick called Olivia who used to work with Whitney and now has an infinite number of chances to make it working in the editorial department of Elle magazine despite a demonstrable lack of interest in magazines, editorial departments, or work. Despite its glossy inanity, I watch this show just to make sure that I’m never the stupidest single person in New York. Jesse Hassenger
Network: CBS
Cast: Cast: Elaine Cassidy, Christopher Gorham, Katie Cassidy, Cameron Richardson, C.J. Thomason, Harry Hamlin, Cameron Richardson, Adam Campbell, Victor Webster
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Harper’s Island
CBS
If you’ve ever happened upon a soap opera, particularly of the prime-time variety (hello, Melrose Place!) and wished that a serial killer would just show up and murder all of these awful, awful people, then Harper’s Island is the show for you. A couple plans to have their wedding on a small island in the Pacific Northwest, but the celebration quickly turns tragic as someone starts killing the guests using a large variety of gruesome methods. The show had its share of problems, such as sloppy writing, unlikable characters, and the decision to wait until episode five before anyone on the island realized that people were dying. But it managed to deliver the goods throughout, offing people in creative ways each week. By the time the series reached its second half, it had found its footing enough so that we actually started to care about the characters. Even though the story is nicely self-contained, the show’s end left us wanting to see a second season with all-new characters in an all-new setting. Unfortunately, audiences understandably fled from Harper’s Island early on without giving it much of a chance. Chris Conaton
5 – 1
Network: FOX
Cast: Cast: David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan, Tamara Taylor, T.J. Thyne, John Francis Dailey
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Bones
FOX
Still the sharpest, the most likable, and the most (intentionally) comedic crime procedural on network TV, Bones rolled through its fourth season and into its fifth with its morbid campiness fully intact. Booth (David Boreanaz) wrestled with his mortality in the wake of a brain tumor, Cam (Tamara Taylor, who possesses the best wide-eyed reaction shots in the biz) tiptoed through surrogate motherhood, Sweets (John Francis Daley) spewed Freudian theories like they never went out of style, and the intern carousel kept on turning. But for all the lab-rat eccentricities and screwball plots, this show is grounded in well-penned character interactions and, of course, in the person of “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel), one of the most unique female characters on TV. Bluntly and hilariously rational, she’s at ease with human remains but consistently baffled by the intricacies of the living specimens. I, for one, wouldn’t have her any other way. Ross Langager
Network: Syndicated
Cast: Craig Horner, Bridget Regan, Bruce Spence, Tabrett Bethell
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Legend of the Seeker
Syndicated
After last season, during which Richard, a.k.a. the Seeker, was captured and tortured by the Mord Sith, it seemed unlikely that one of the evil Mord Sith would join Richard’s posse in their quest to protect the world from the undead. Still, unexpected twists are a key element to Legend of the Seeker‘s success. Like most “Medieval band of warriors ought to save the world” storylines, there are plenty of hearty battles and fierce sword fights, along with the requisite dashing hero and heroine and hard-bodied villains and vixens. However, it the growing relationships between the four travelers that draws fans in. Their closeness proves to be both an asset and hindrance in allowing Richard to fulfill his destiny (all medieval heroes have one). Although campy at times and filled with too much machismo (even from the women), Legend of the Seeker is a surprisingly fun ride through a time of yore. Michael Abernethy
Network: The CW
Cast: Cast: Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Ed Westwick, Kelly Rutherford
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Gossip Girl
The CW
The recession has done nothing to slow the excess of the spoiled Upper East Siders of Gossip Girl. Designer duds and high-end smart phones are still as much a focal point of the show as ever, making this as much a guilty pleasure for teens as adults. What’s not to love about the barely-legal equivalent of Dynasty in which a bunch of 18-year-olds display more polish and panache than their middle-aged contemporaries, waltzing through their drama-packed lives? Even better, they never get carded as they drink like long-time veterans of the three-martini lunch despite being under 21! Although this year’s storylines have become even more unbelievable than the last two seasons (a long-lost love child is reunited with the family he never knew, a Marilyn/JFK/Jackie love-triangle for teens, and a threesome with Hillary Duff), Gossip Girl still features some solid acting from a young cast who dish pop culture-heavy quips and play “wise-beyond-their-years” with aplomb. Lana Cooper
Network: ABC
Cast: John Anderson, John Henson, Jill Wagner
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Wipeout
ABC
There’s no getting around it: Wipeout is hardly sophisticated entertainment. A snarky, neutered version of Japanese TV’s legendarily surreal and humiliating game shows, its climactic “Wipeout Zone” humourlessly apes American Gladiators‘ similar “Eliminator”. Although the overdubbed jokes of the two Johns (Henson and Anderson) veer towards the repetitive, they remain preferable to the repulsive sexist and racist commentary of Spike’s precursor to Wipeout, MXC. The challenges were tweaked in season two, to varying success; one new obstacle was a treadmill strewn with inflatable pool toys, which the hapless contestants had to navigate while wearing clownishly large scuba flippers (and mask and snorkel, natch). But whatever else happens to it, Wipeout will remain a guilty pleasure of the highest quality as long as it features the capricious, joyful image of flailing human bodies bouncing off of the Big Red Balls. That segment alone will always put the “fun” in “schadenfreude” (use your imagination, it’s in there). Ross Langager
Network: MTV
Cast: Lauren Conrad, Audrina Partridge, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Brody Jenner
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The Hills
MTV
It’s more than a train wreck. It’s greater than the sum of its fake breast, talentless singer, creepy flesh colored beard parts. The endearing attraction of this lame Laguna Beach spin-off is not its characters, its clever plotting, or the endless marketing hype that MTV has managed out of such incredibly thin material. No, the real allure of this silly soap-erficial opera is that all of the interchangeable ‘actors’, all the infamous post-op faces found on the series actually believe they are worthy of such televised recognition. Think Heidi and Spencer are intolerable during their numerous, nonsensical media tours. Just watch them try and ‘act’ like a real, loving, and functional couple. It’s so sad it deserves our scorn, our pity, and our undying attention. Bill Gibron