TOP 10 TELEVISION SHOWS RETURNING THIS SEASON...

I knew that eventually I'd have to get around to doing some "Top 10 Lists," but this really arises out of my concern for my fellow man. Yes, I am concerned, especially when friends of mine innocently announce that they wasted hours of their lives watching complete excrement like "Dancing With The Stars," or "Rock Star Supernova," or even "Flavor Of Love." I give them the pattented "The James Look" of complete disgust, but then realized that without announcing what the best shows on television are, how are they supposed to know? Therefore, I make this list with the intention of serving the good of my fellow man, and not to enflame those with a criminal lack of good taste. Remember that these are the returning shows, so Deadwood can't top the list, and I've left out narrow-appealing shows like Professional Wrestling, since that's an acquired taste, and PPV'S, since they are not consistent. So...here they are, and it was hard narrowing it down to ten:

1. THE WIRE, HBO, Sunday's at 10 p.m. This show is, hands down, the best written, cleverly conceived, consistently creative show that also boasts the most incredible ensemble of talented actors working on television today. The fact that it is not as well known as other "water-cooler" shows like The Sopranos, or Pathetic Bitches...whoops, I mean Desperate Housewives, makes it a complete discovery for most people, but also redeems HBO to me for keeping it around based on its incredible critical acclaim. See my last post for more in-depth analysis. If you're looking for one show this season, choose The Wire. It's the 4th season, but begins with a great jumping-on point for new viewers, plus you know HBO is great about airing the episode several times a week for you to catch it. Trust me, it's worth your time.

2. LOST, ABC, Wednesday's at 9 p.m. I freely admit that I'm a "Lostie," or "Lost-Addict," or "Dharma-Bum," or whatever you call those of us who jones for the next episode of this incredible suspense drama. While last season was certainly entertaining, what with the arrival of the other section of the plane's survivors and the true discovery of The Others, I felt it didn't click as well as the first one. Hopefully, this season will mark a return of the original Locke, savage man of faith, while also giving us plenty of Desmond and Mr. Eko. This show walks a thin line with revealing too much of the island's mystery as to give away the plot, and too little and annoying the viewers. It's time to give some answers to some of the questions that have been raised since the first episode. I just want to know what the damn smoke-monster is, too.

3. 24, FOX, Monday's at 9 p.m. This show is like crack. In fact, it's so bad for me that I usually wait for it to come out on dvd, and spend a weekend holed up watching it. It's a cliffhanger-intense style of plotting that makes it hard to do the weekly watching format. However, no matter how you watch, it's more than compelling, and Keifer Sutherland was never this good on film, so I hope Jack Bauer has plenty more of those kinds of days when nothing goes right. Now if they would only kill off his daughter to save us, the innocent viewers, from ever witnessing her being kidnapped multiple times during a season, and forcing us to try to give a damn about her when her presence is so obviously window-dressing to attract pre-pubescent boys.

4. THE SOPRANOS, HBO, Sunday's at 9 p.m. Granted, this won't be back until '07, but then again neither will 24. Seasons don't all begin at the same time anymore, and I for one think it's a great thing. I remember as a kid knowing that nothing good would be on all summer, except for Saturday nights at 9 on Fox's Black Belt Theater, where I could catch a double feature of some kind of Shaw Brothers Classic, but I digress. This show is the flagship of HBO's awesome Sunday night programming, and made them the success they are now. With only a few episodes left, unless some renegotiating is done (HBO will do almost anything to keep it going), I'm hoping it goes out with the awesome energy and spectacle that has dazzled us since it began just a few short years ago. In fact, it's so immersed within our's country's consciousness now, that it's hard to imagine what the world will be like without watching Tony battle his inner and outer demons as a metaphor for our own battles with life. Oh, and if Tony ends up dead or in the slam, I want Silvio to take over.

5. SURVIVOR, CBS, Thursday's at 8 p.m. I know, I know, I know, it's a Reality Show. I agree, reality shows are the lowest common denominator of entertainment, right above talk shows and below current sit-coms. I also know that they are the current trendy glut on the television channels today, and that if I support one, I am sort of supporting them all as a genre. I know...I hate myself for this. I also wish I could say that this was the only reality show that I watch, but it's not and I'm being honest, so The Amazing Race, and Ultimate Fighter would have to be named as well, just to show that I have a context for judging this show versus others in its crappy classification. IT'S JUST THAT I LOVE THE LYING, SCHEMING, BACK-STABBING, AND HYPOCRISY THAT THIS SHOW ILLUMINATES FOR ALL TO SEE...it's humanity all wrapped up into an hour adventure each week. Also, my criteria for watching this show, and the other two, is that it's a competition, not just putting a group of assholes into a house and seeing if they can get along, that's pathetic. I like that thematically, this show proves that you will do whatever is necessary to get what you want, and the hell with other people in your way. While my pal Stu would like to further complicate the show by adding "The Unknown Survivor" who basically stalks and sabotages each campsite at will, adding to their misery and frustration, I'd like to see some further evidence of humanity and make divorced couples or relatives compete on the show, with a proviso that no money can ever be split between them...then we'd really see some agony! Check out this show, especially this "racial tension" season, if you only check out one reality show.

6. THE 4400, USA, Sunday's at 9 p.m. Bad news first: You're waiting until next summer for the 4th season, but you can still buy, rent, or borrow seasons 1, 2, and 3 of this incredible show. What began as something that I personally wrote off as another of the paranormal glut shows like Threshold (Don't remind me that I gave that one a chance), Surface, and others that followed Lost's success, turned out to be something unique and different from the others. It's not what you think, and when you find out what the 4400 is, you can only compare it to the early Claremont/Byrne issues of X-men, before all the ruination with the interconvoluted chronologies and stories, and so on. The show's conceit is that 4400 people have been "abducted" throughout history, and all of a sudden, they are returned from a big ball of white light. However, when they return, they discover that many of them have special abilities. What follows is realistic, problematic, and reveals sides of the human condition that are both comforting and disturbing. The show is exceedingly well-written, and boasts an impressive cast of journeymen actors that portray their characters with heart and integrity. Plus, how can you not get onboard with a show that has Jeffrey Tooms (Re-Animator) and Summer Glau (Serenity) as regulars?

7. ROME, HBO, Sunday's at 9 p.m. This one will start after the current season of The Wire ends, but if the first season is any indication, it will be worth the wait. Sopranos-like intrigue blended with historicism and plenty of action and sex makes for a must-have on HBO. I must add though, to enjoy it while you can, as the word is that it will be the second and last season to air. Reasons are myriad, but the overwhelming cost of the show (in the hundreds of millions of dollars) is the main factor that keeps being repeated over and over. I try and make a firm rule to not buy shows that don't have at least 3 seasons, since there just isn't that much to hold on to, or get done as far as complete story arcs, etc...but after I saw the scene where Lucius Vorenus, duty-bound philosopher, former soldier and would-be business and family man, jumped into the middle of gladiator combat to help out his continual screw-up friend Titus Pullo, I was yelling at the screen "HELL YEAH, BROTHERS!" Sorry folks, The James doesn't usually get so worked up, especially in today's cynical world of deciet and self-interest, but it reminded me of....well, me...and my freaky, street brother Stu. That scene alone, guarranteed my purchase, and I hope the second season rewards me as well as the first.

8. BOSTON LEGAL, ABC, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. What can I say that the Emmy's haven't already said for me...Spader and Shatner are the best comedy duo on televison in forever. James Spader has been one of my favorite indie film actors for years, taking nothing but the strangest, most disturbing characters and still managing to bring elements of pathos and empathy to them in the darkest of moments. Who the hell doesn't love the man-god that is William Shatner? From Captain Kirk, to ridiculing himself on Saturday Night Live, to finally getting some critical acknowledgement for playing Denny Crane, a larger-than-life, narcissistic parody of himself that people adore, but also managing to steal some great moments of emotion as well, as evidenced in how genuine he portrays a man who knows that he's slowly slipping into the early stages of alzheimers. I watched Spader take over the dying ship of The Practice, and SHINE...luckily, David Chase and the network rewarded him by cutting the dead weight of yet another ridiculous moralizing b/s show about how noble lawyers are, and instead decided to go with a comedic tone, revealing the sharks that masquerade as human beings as lawyers obsessed with themselves, and absorbed in chidish pursuits in the middle of a corrupt system dominated by skillful manipulation. If you want a fantastic laugh from an intelligent comedy, with some fine storytelling, and two of the most awesome actors on television today, check this one out.

9. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, SCI-FI, Tuesdays at 9 p.m. Stu and I checked this show out when it was just a mini-series, just on a whim, as we were both avid despisers of the original craptacular Star Wars ripoff, and laughed whenever we saw BSG alumni at the many conventions we attended together. To say that we were actually dumbfounded and shocked by the new direction of this show, a remake in names and basic plot only, is a HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT! I will say this now: This show is one of the only ones on the air to actually SURPRISE me consistently. I have read enough now, and seen enough to be able to guess at outcomes in the first quarter of the show, and ordinarily most shows don't let me down, but fulfill my lowest expectations with their predictability. Not the case here, folks...not at all. When the Cylons, machines formerly created and controlled by men and now AI, attack and destroy most of the human's homeworlds, the show begins with Galactica, the last surviving Battleship, leading a raggedy fleet of surviving ships toward a distant goal of another planet capable of sustaining human life, and away from the ever-pursuing Cylons, bent on destruction of the human race. That's the basic conceit and the beginning of the show...or so we thought. The plot evolves and takes a course that shocks, surprises, and compels you to watch in a manner that I wish other shows would follow...by doing the unexpected and challenging the viewer with bold choices and decisions, and not following some sort of esoteric marketing-directive that commands you to have so many cast members of this age or this demographic. Even if you don't watch or enjoy sci-fi material, check this show out. It's about to begin it's 3rd season and is extremely long-term developed, so don't watch until you buy, rent, or borrow the first two.

10. THE SHIELD, F/X, Sunday's at 10 p.m. You're going to be waiting awhile for this one also, but it's more than worth the wait. I've been an addict for the first 3 seasons, and can't wait to get Season 4 on dvd, which is how I've watched all its predecessors. Unfortunately, Season 5 will probably be the last one made, since its star, Michale Chiklis is breaking into films, and I'm sure wants more freedom. Breaking the traditional conception of the cop as the "good guy," Chiklis' Vic Mackie begins the first show of the first season by literally drilling the point home to the viewer with a bullet that he is far from the good guy. Instead, you have a complex character who is at times a hero, and at others worse than the people he pursues. The rest of the ensemble match Chiklis' intenstiy well, and each season usually has a large array of guest stars that have included Glenn Close and Forrest Whittaker. I will watch the end of this show with a mixture of unbridled enthusiasm and heartfelt sorrow, knowing that it, like another favorite of mine: The Sopranos, will only be enjoyed in the future on dvd.

Well, that's it folks. It was a tough call, and for your information MONK, USA, Fridays at 9 p.m. was Number 11. While a little formulaic in plot, and definitely reminiscent of the classic Columbo, Tony Shaloub's multiple Emmy-winning portrayal of Adrian Monk could have taken any position on my countdown, especially since it reminds me of a former student of mine named Lazenby, but I made a tough decision, and decided to include it in a postscript to the actual 10. I hope this helps, as that was my intent, and that it is not taken as a criticism of the shows that you watch that weren't worthy of my countdown, or any rational person's approval. Instead, I hope it directs you all to perhaps enjoy some shows that you haven't given a try before, and maybe we can talk about them sometime. Coming soon: List of shows I'll be trying that are new this season.