Top Ten Favorite TV Shows of 2003

Here at Not Crazy…Just Enthusiastic we received complaints (shocking, Huh?) that our Top Ten films are too obscure and hard to see, despite the fact that half of them probably played at a mall multiplex near you. And so as a service to you, our shut-in readers, we offer our Top Ten TV shows. Now anyone with a TV set and basic cable can play along at home, no need to leave the country, or the county, or the house.

1. Degrassi: The Next Generation (Nogin)

The show I am currently obsessed with, but maybe you need to know where I am coming from to decide if you would have any interest. I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer and My So Called Life are two of my favorite shows ever. Teen angst makes great drama. And at Degrassi you can cut the angst with a protractor. There is also a leavening of humor, but more Square Pegs than Saved by the Bell. Plus it’s Canadian, and filmed in Toronto. So an angsty Canadian teenage soap-opera set at a Toronto High School is tailor made to push all my buttons. I’m like a rat in a maze, and I found the lever that keeps the food pellets coming.

Somebody asked me, “Aren’t you a little old for that show?” Well by that reckoning I’m also too old for Thirtysomething. Am I supposed to eventually watch nothing but Matlock, Banaby Jones, and The Golden Girls?

2. Gilmore Girls (WB)

The story line on the Girls this season has moved at a glacial pace. Refurbishing the Inn is into its sixth month and I don’t even think they have picked out paint colors or wallpaper yet. On the BBC they accomplish this shit in one day on someone else’s house. And for someone going to Yale Rory spends a lot of time hanging around the house. But this show isn’t about plot. It’s about banter. And the banter flows as fast and funny and as chock full of obscure pop culture references as ever, so as long as the girls keep talking I’ll keep watching.

3. Line of Fire (ABC)

Sopranos lite with equal time for the law enforcement characters. So far the characters have seemed a little slow to develop except for David Paymer’s sociopathic mob boss and Leslie Hope’s chain smoking FBI field office head. But they seem to be willing to let the stories unfold naturally, and not rush to wrap things up neatly every hour and I respect that. Plus I guess now you can say “shit” on network broadcast television so the dialogue has a little more verisimilitude. And that’s that with that.

4. Alias (ABC) /24 (FOX)

Um, apparently Sydney is some sort of savior foretold of in the 16th century and she kicks high. Jack is a junkie and Nina is back. But does anyone really know what the hell is going on here? Does it matter as long as people fight and grimace and stuff blows up good? These are action shows and they have action. It ain’t Harold Pinter.

5. The Daily Show/w John Stewart (Comedy Central)

Still my primary source for humor, news and humorous news.

6. Tru Calling (FOX) /Dead Like Me (Showtime)

Tru Calling answers the question, “What if you worked in a morgue and every day was Groundhog Day and you had to keep someone from dying again?” Whereas Dead Like Me addresses the question, “What if you were dead already and your job was to be a Grim Reaper and make sure someone else died today?”

7. The Joe Schmo Show (SpikeTV) /Surf Girls (MTV) (

I have never seen a single episode of Survivor. I would rather plunge a narwhal horn into my eardrum than hear another warbler from American Idol. And I haven’t watched the Real World since everybody started getting naked and jumping in the hot tub on Day One. So what the hell do I know about what makes a good reality show? If you are a reality TV fan you probably won’t like these two shows. Don’t feel bad. I don’t think anyone else in America did. But if seeing a really nice guy mercilessly jerked around by a house full of actors pretending to be real people sounds like fun, or if you wouldn’t mind watching a dozen or so beautiful, athletic, emotionally unstable surfer girls travel around to some of the most beautiful spots on the Pacific Rim and surf then you might like these shows. I did. My wife did. I’ve never met one other person who did though, so you probably won’t.

8. The Shield (FX)

It has been nearly a year since Vic pummeled his last perp, so I can only say I am anxiously awaiting season three. Good rule breaking law enforcemnt fun.

9. Pet Keeping with Marc Morrone (Syndicated)

This pet advice show is in its second incarnation. It used to be called The Pet Shop, and it used to be better before it had a Martha Stewart makeover. When Marc Morrone is standing in his pseudo studio Pet shop with rabbits, chinchillas, guinea pigs, puppies, kittens, cats, hamsters, macaws, cockatiels, ferrets, prairie dogs, and more are scurrying around him, on him, over him, under him, and all over each other it is the most fun you can have with your TV set. More remotes, more guests, more actual advice have only taken away from what used to be a half hour of total all-out fluffy cuteness. Still even on the new show they do eventually get to the good stuff. There should just be a channel that shows his critters running around 24/7. You don’t even need him. Although I would miss not seeing the macaw occasionally try to eat his glasses.

10. Arrested Development (FOX)

I think this is the only network sitcom I watch. It is funny, but I’m afraid the writing is too smart for it to last. Of course, Frasier was on for like 17 years and had really good writng so maybe there is hope.


If my viewing habits are any barometer you can look for all these shows to be cancelled shortly. Among the new shows that I started watching this year were Skin, Tarzan, and Karen Sisco. They all were swiftly cancelled, except Karen Sisco which might be back in March. I'm just sayin'. Don't get too attatched. I know some of you are still recovering Buffy watchers. One day at a time friend and take reruns as needed.