US release date: 2005-03-28
Network: G4 Television
Cast: Kevin Pereira, Olivia Munn
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/a/attack_of_the_show.jpg
Website: http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/index.html
MPAA rating: N/A
Airtime: Weeknights, 7pm
Display as: List
List number: 20
Attack of the Show
G4 Television
In the several-hundred-channel, all-niche digital-cable universe, it’s comforting to see shows playing it loose and goofy in the margins: witness Attack of the Show, G4’s mostly-daily cornucopia of geek news, chat, and hastily formulated sketches. The gadget reviews can be suspect and the web clips recycled; what makes Attack perfect channel-surfing fodder is the easy chemistry of co-hosts Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn. He’s an affable goofball, she’s game for anything, and they both know their way around an awkward pause. Together, they’re your newest cult crushes, and an adorable reminder that not all TV is for DVR and endlessly watching; there are still shows you can just plain catch and enjoy. Jesse Hassenger
Subtitle: Series Premiere
US release date: 2007-09-26
Network: NBC
Cast: Damian Lewis, Sarah Shahi, Adam Arkin, Robin Weigert, Brooke Langton
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/l/life.jpg
Website: http://www.nbc.com/Life/
MPAA rating: N/A
Trailer: http://tv.yahoo.com/life/show/40562/videos;_ylt=ApgnA7gJ_WMm41VRWgcdbe2apoh4
Airtime: Wednesdays, 10pm ET
Display as: List
List number: 19
Life
NBC
In the overcrowded television of landscape of copycat police procedurals, overflowing with CSIs and Law and Orders and their various offspring, it doesn’t seem there’d be much wiggle room anymore for anything that isn’t by the book. However, much like it’s deliberately quirky main character, Detective Charlie Crews, played with off-center eccentricity by Damian Lewis, NBC’s Life isn’t interested in doing things strictly according to plan. And by turning the focus away from procedure and grotesquerie, and back on to character, Life is able to separate itself ably from the pack, with themes and narratives that the other shows of its ilk are too tired or unimaginative to explore. Jake Meaney
Subtitle: Series Premiere
US release date: 2008-07-13
Network: HBO
Cast: Jon Huertas, Alexander Skarsgård, James Ransone, Stark Sands, Billy Lush, Lee Tergesen, Rudy Reyes, Chance Kelly
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/g/generation-kill1.jpg
Website: http://www.hbo.com/generationkill/?ntrack_para1=feat_main_image
MPAA rating: N/A
Trailer: http://tv.yahoo.com/generation-kill/show/37347/videos;_ylt=AsZ3hazbK6L3Tb1Yy0pOljhZkph4
Airtime: Sundays, 9pm ET
Display as: List
List number: 18
Generation Kill
HBO
A recreation of the two months Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright spent with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the Marine Corps during the birth pangs of the Iraq quagmire, this HBO miniseries by producers David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire) is a tragic and consistently fair-handed bildungsroman about a group of lost boys trapped between early adulthood and late adolescence, struggling to find their roles in a war which seems eternally out-of-reach and impenetrable to them. The complete alienation of the troops from the institutional decision-making structure leaves them entangled in a reigning bureaucracy, one that dominates at the expanse of the men, the mission, and particularly the Iraqi citizenry. As it is in all modern American wars, the military emerges as the great unifier of races, creeds, and classes, but the strain on the fractured relationships in Generation Kill (between the soldiers and their superiors, between the media and their subjects, and between the Iraqi people and their “liberators”) emerges as a wound far too fragile to mend with the brutality of war. Timothy Gabriele
Network: HBO
Cast: Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Debbi Mazar
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/e/entourage.png
Website: http://www.hbo.com/entourage/
MPAA rating: N/A
Airtime: Sundays, 10pm
Display as: List
List number: 17
Entourage
HBO
It’s hard to believe that Entourage could recover from the peak it hit last season, but there is something we love about watching the struggle of a man and the recovery of his life. Although, let’s be honest, Vince didn’t struggle THAT much — did you see the first episode? Not only was Vince’s character developed, they took time out this season to develop all aspects of the show, including Turtle, the show’s obvious neglect and outcast until now. In case you didn’t see the season yet, I won’t spoil the end for you, but let’s just say I’ll be sipping Manhattans next season. John Bohannon
Network: FX
Cast: Michael Chiklis, Glenn Close, CCH Pounder, Benito Martinez, Jay Karnes, Michael Jace, Catherine Dent, Walton Goggins, Kenneth Johnson, David Rees Snell
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/s/shield-2005.jpg
Airtime: Tuesdays, 10pm ET
Display as: List
List number: 16
The Shield
FX
Now this is how you end a series. During its seventh and final season, The Shield hurls Vic Mackey and his fellow Strike Team members Shane and Ronnie into unending hell. No one avoids their fate, particularly Mackey, who’s left alone to face his inner demons. This remarkable series has much greater depth than its early years and raises the emotions to nearly unbearable levels. The finale reveals the devastating effects of past crimes that can rip apart even the closest bonds. Shane’s final scenes are especially haunting without ever being exploitative, delivering a remarkable and completely understandable end. Dan Heaton
Subtitle: Series Premiere
US release date: 2008-09-07
Network: HBO
Cast: Anna Paquin, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Michael Raymond-James
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/t/truebloodcard.jpg
Website: http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/
MPAA rating: N/A
Trailer: http://mefeedia.com/entry/true-blood-trailer-hbo/10997703
Airtime: Sundays, 9pm ET
Display as: List
List number: 15
True Blood
HBO
With “God Hates Fangs” signs and debate over the rights of vampires to marry, it’s easy to identify True Blood as an allegory for the battle for gay and lesbian rights. Still, HBO’s hot new series is much more than that. While Twilight thrilled the tween crowd with its adolescent-angst, puppy love storyline, True Blood delivered the grown-up goods: a potent blend of sensuality, intrigue, romance, and the occult. Break-out performances by Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and Ryan Kwanten not only propelled the plot, but kept viewers hot and salivating for more. Michael Abernethy
Network: Bravo
Cast: Tom Colicchio, Katie Lee Joel, Gail Simmons
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/t/top-chef-060315.jpg
Airtime: Wednesdays, 9pm ET
Display as: List
List number: 14
Top Chef
Bravo
Food and drama. Competition and collaboration. Tears and triumph. Top Chef has yet to loose its appeal. This reality TV series understands the successful format: bring together a diverse group of chefs, give them seemingly impossible tasks, deprive them of real-life distractions, offer a reward worth playing for. The visual and vicarious appeal of the food and the ensuing drama of personalities and pressures draws us in. On season four, Top Chef: Chicago, Stephanie dominates many of the challenges and ultimately wins the title of ‘Top Chef’, the first woman to do so, beating out Richard, the creative genius, and Lisa, the super villain. Sarah Hentges
Subtitle: Series Premiere
US release date: 2007-09-24
Network: NBC
Cast: Zachary Levi, Adam Baldwin, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/c/chuck-nbc.jpg
Website: http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/
MPAA rating: N/A
Trailer: http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/video/#mea=151608
Airtime: Mondays, 8pm ET
Display as: List
List number: 13
Chuck
NBC
Flying under the critical radar, Chuck continues to provide great entertainment as it grows during its second year. Zachary Levi shines in the title role of the CIA asset/computer support guy at the local Buy More superstore. His relationship with his fake girlfriend and protector Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) takes some emotionally rough turns, avoiding the easy route. The cast is excellent across the board, particularly Adam Baldwin, who makes straight man Agent Casey one of TV’s best comic foils. And you can’t forget Joshua Gomez as Chuck’s best pal Morgan, who’s the best kind of lovable dork. The plots are mostly goofy spy missions, but the writers’ love for oddball pop culture and the cast’s enthusiastic roles make Chuck a must see. Dan Heaton
Subtitle: Season One First Three
US release date: 2006-10-01
Network: Showtime
Cast: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Erik King, David Zayas, Julie Benz, Lauren Velez, James Remar, C.S. Lee
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/d/dexter-showtime.jpg
Website: http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/home.do
MPAA rating: N/A
Trailer: http://a1959.g.akamai.net/shocomstor.download.akamai.com/8606/partner/m80/323_101c_700.wmv
Airtime: Sundays, 10pm ET
Display as: List
List number: 12
Dexter
Showtime
Perhaps the most frightening aspect of Dexter Morgan’s life is how his moral compass is constantly called into question, yet the world around him continues to restore his faith in Harry’s code (a religious ethic of sorts). Nevertheless, Season Three of the best crime drama on television finds Dexter in the midst of a transformation from reclusive sociopath to average Joe (with a secret), complete with drinking buddies, loving family, and a baby on the way. The appearance of Assistant D.A. Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) in Dexter’s life (as his own personal Frankenstein) cements the circularity of the narrative, but the most subversive element of this momentum is the faux transitive relationship established between the serial murderer and his colleagues. By year’s end, every one in the Miami Metro Homicide Department, like their buddy Dexter, has gone around the law in the salutary pursuit of justice. Timothy Gabriele
Network: CBS
Cast: Josh Radnor, Jason Segal, Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/tv_art/h/how-i-met-your-mother-051003.jpg
Airtime: Mondays, 8:30pm ET
Display as: List
List number: 11
How I Met Your Mother
CBS
LEGEN- what, too easy? Because that’s really the only word that accurately describes the excellent maturation of How I Met Your Mother. The show began a string of brilliant episodes in September and really hasn’t stopped since. Neil Patrick Harris remains the biggest reason to watch, but this year has found Cobie Smulders digging into some real comedic meat and, depending on the episode, matching Harris’ scene stealery. Ted’s love life still drives the show (now via the lovely Sarah Chalke), leaving the aforementioned others, plus Marshall and Lily: TV’s Kookiest Couple, to elevate the comedy to atmospheric heights. Aaron Marsh