2010 Edition of Matt’s Top 10 TV List

My husband writes an annual Top 10 TV list of the shows we watch throughout the year. I posted his 2009 list last year and thought I'd share with you all again.

2010 Edition of Matt’s Top 10 TV List

By: Matt Reid

For anyone new to this list, I’ve been doing this for a few years now and it seems to be appreciated by friends and family who like to enjoy, discuss and debate the year in television. To recap, these are the shows that I personally watched in 2010 (even though some have been on DVD, as I may be a season behind). As for shows that didn’t make the list, I really don’t have the time to watch much more than these listed below, but I always welcome suggestions for new programs to check out. Also, despite my resolutions from last year, I can’t seem to stick to the “Read More/Less TV plan”, so for now, it’s still a Top 10 list….. something tells me that my TV watching will decrease once I have children.

Honourable Mentions:

TOP CHEF (as a picky eater, I wouldn’t eat half of the stuff they cook, but I really appreciate a reality show that involves that much talent)

CASTLE (I’m not much of a watcher of procedurals, but this is the one I do watch – the charm of the two leads and light tone make it a guilty pleasure)

SURVIVOR (the ‘All Star’ season in early 2010 was one of the best in awhile)

RUBICON (a slow burn, this intriguing AMC show will unfortunately not be returning next year)

DRAGON'S DEN (I can’t believe some of these people think their ideas are worth a million dollars)

The List

10. How I Met Your Mother

This show came back strong in Fall 2010, seeming more focused as the plot moves the characters forward in their lives. I don’t really care who the mother is at this point, but it was nice to see some of the other characters start to deal with their own changes. It’s not all story though: the laughs are still there (led by Neil Patrick Harris’s Barney) and the callbacks to earlier jokes and storylines ensure you don’t want to miss a single episode.

9. Friday Night Lights

For a show with this small an audience, it seems like a miracle that it is about to launch Season 5 in just a couple months (it will be the show’s final season). This drama about life in a small Texas town (I have to constantly tell people that the show ISN’T ABOUT FOOTBALL) finally got some deserved Emmy love this year with nominations for Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, the most realistic married couple on TV (neither of them won though). The changing cast of high school kids and lo-fi camera work add to the realism of the show.

8. Fringe

Another show that has really hit its’ stride with the Season 3 premiere last fall. The ’two worlds’ scenario revved up the drama, kept the story arc constantly moving forward and allowed Anna Torv a wide range of scenarios to act in. John Noble’s Walter is still the highlight of the show for me, with his odd humour and haunted past. Here’s hoping the move to Fridays in a couple weeks does not signal its death knell.

7. Dexter

Please no spoilers as I’m behind on this show (I haven’t seen any of the season that just ended), but I have to admit that watching this on DVD works just fine for me: I don’t have to wait a whole week to watch the next episode. Michael C. Hall continues to make me root for a serial killer, there are enough laughs to keep the show not too dark and the new supporting players they bring in every season just keep getting stronger and stronger.

6. Walking Dead

All of AMC’s 4 series made this list (if you include Honourable Mention section), showing why I have faith in almost anything that channel brings to television right now. I was never a huge ‘zombie’ fan but had heard great buzz on this one, so I decided to take the plunge (also convincing my wife, who doesn’t like scary stuff at all, to watch). Well, we’ve both really been loving this show - the way it mixes thrills, gore, human drama and even some dark humour. The ratings for the show were through the roof (for a cable series), so we look forward to many more seasons.

5. 30 Rock

This show continues to bring the laughs – so many that I often need to rewind and watch scenes twice to ensure I didn’t miss all the jokes that were unleashed. Alec Baldwin has found the role of a lifetime, as his growing stack of Emmys proves (although she didn’t get the Emmy this year, Tina Fey did deservedly win the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour). It’s become the most enjoyable workplace comedy on television….unlike another office based show I could call out. As I prepare for my own ‘Kabletown’ merger, this is my Thursday night highlight….

4. Modern Family

Last year’s best new show continued to remain exceptionally strong, ending 2010 as the funniest show on television. From the humour-heart mix to the way the show uses the child actors as more than just props to the ability to use the ‘mockumentary’ set-up (and not seem stale), this show is firing on all cylinders creatively. With a ton of Emmy love and solid ratings, this has the popular appeal to stick around for awhile (unlike other shows this funny….ahem…..Arrested Development).

3. Lost

One of the most ambitious shows of all time finally called it quits in May. It had a very divisive finale, which I personally thought was a solid (if not great) wrap up – probably proving I cared more about the characters than the mythology. Regardless of your thoughts on that one episode, we can all agree that strong writing, great performances, and beautiful imagery solidified this as a series that won’t be matched in its ambition for a while. No other show inspired the amount of discussion/research, both online and in conversations with friends, that this one did for me.

2. Mad Men

As the seasons rolls along in this show and time marches forward in the 1960’s, we continue to excitedly anticipate what our anti-hero, Don Draper, will do next. And that’s the best part: you never really can guess where this show will take you. There was lots of change this past season, with many new opportunities, changing relationships, deaths and other surprises all rolled out last summer. A uniformly strong cast, an immaculately designed world and a distinct creative voice guiding the series always ensures I am counting the days until the show returns.

1. Breaking Bad

There was no show I looked forward to this year more than this one. What had already been an amazing show somehow kicked into a higher gear. The performances were top notch (although only the two leads won Emmys, the entire cast in uniformly strong), the pace thrilling (the parking lot scene may have been my favourite single scene of the entire year, having me holding my breath for what felt like forever) and the look of the show stunning (the cinematography reminds me of watching a film). And, just to show how strong the show is, it can have a slow paced episode take place entirely in one room (one that revolves around two people trying to catch a fly) and it will still stick with you.

So, what did you love this year in TV? What did you feel let down by? Which show did you not watch but still feel they should execute the whole cast, gangland-style : The Bachelor or Jersey Shore ?

P.S. A quick aside, a couple people asked for my top five CDs for the year as well, so here they are:

Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”

Band of Horses “Infinite Arms”

Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs “God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise”

The National “High Violet”

Cee-Lo Green “The Lady Killer”