Some readers, checking out the results of and replies to the TV WORTH WATCHING Readers' Poll, asked some follow-up questions. What other shows placed highly in the poll? What shows drew more or less support than expected. Good questions. Here are the answers...
To recap, here were the Top 10, as voted by you impressively tasteful and discerning readers. Pat yourselves on your collective back:
1) Mad Men, AMC; 2) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central; 3) 30 Rock, NBC; 4) Battlestar Galactica, Sci Fi Channel; 5) Pushing Daisies, ABC; 6) Damages, FX, and The Wire, HBO (tie); 8) True Blood, HBO; 9) Lost, ABC; 10) The Office, NBC.
And here, as previously reported also, were the winners of slots 11-15: The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Boston Legal (ABC), The Closer (TNT), Breaking Bad (AMC), and Dexter (Showtime), in that order.
But what about the lower half of the TV WORTH WATCHING Readers' Poll Top 30? Lots of great shows nestled there as well. So here, to answer that question, are the rest of the Top 30, reported for the first time:
16) The Shield, FX
17) The Colbert Report, Comedy Central
18) Burn Notice, USA
19) Life, NBC
20) Friday Night Lights, NBC and DirecTV 101 Network (tie)
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC (tie)
Dr. Who, Sci Fi and BBC America (tie)
23) Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
24) John Adams, HBO
25) Saturday Night Live, NBC (tie)
Life on Mars, ABC (tie)
27) House, Fox
28) In Treatment, HBO (tie)
Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO (tie)
Chuck, NBC (tie)
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That list astounds me. Surprises? The biggest one is that, except for ABC's Life on Mars, which lost me about episode five, every one of those shows -- every one -- is a show I like and watch, almost off of them religiously. It's great to know that even on mainstream fare such as NBC's Life, I'm not alone.
But the other surprise is the sheer depth of discerning choices. More than 120 in all, including Showtime's Californication, HBO's Entourage, Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and The Mentalist, ABC Family's The Middleman, even ABC's Hopkins.
Wow. Everything I watched and enjoyed in 2008, from How I Met Your Mother on CBS to Fringe on Fox, you seemed to be watching and enjoying too. (Except for ABC's Desperate Housewives, a show I still enjoy that didn't garner a single vote from readers.)
Good for you. Good for us. Good for TV. Good for 2008.
As for 2009, be patient. The good stuff starts arriving any day now. I hope.