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Dice’s Favorite 10 TV Shows of 2007
(These are, in order, the 10 shows I enjoyed, respected, desired, and loved the most that aired new episodes in 2007.)

A couple things to get out of the way before we get into the list:

– I don’t have HBO or Showtime so if you like the edgier stuff they show (ie Sopranos, The Wire, etc.) I just haven’t seen it.

– These rankings are based on episodes that aired in 2007, so the last half of last season and the first half of this season in most cases.

Honorable Mentions:

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10-6

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5. Journeyman – This years entry into the annual “show I loved that nobody else watched so it got canceled”. I guess with 3 great new shows debuting this season it’s not surprising that one of them got left in the cold. If you missed this and it ever comes out on DVD I would highly recommend it. It’s a well acted, thought provoking, sci-fi drama and it will be missed.

4. Pushing Daisies – Best new show of the season and consistently the most well written. The cadence in these scripts is a work of art, as are the visuals that accompany these quirky yet touching plots. It’s high concept but not high brow and the most joy full show on TV. Add to this the genius voice work of Jim Dale (who you may know if you ever listened to any of the Harry Potter books on tape) and it’s genuinely in a class of it’s own.

3. The Office – Still the funniest show on TV and Steve Carell continues to dominate with his impeccable performance. It was the first show to go down when the writers strike happened and has since become my first writer’s strike withdrawal case. Is anybody else as impressed as I am at how they pulled off Jim and Pam actually being a couple? The degree of difficulty on that one is off the charts, yet somehow it worked.

2. House – Gregory House is hands down the most interesting character study on television. Though the conceit of having a Survivor type showdown for his new team was a love it/hate it thing (I personally loved it), it is exactly the kind of thing we expect House to do. This is exactly the kind of person you wished existed in real life, only to quickly be relieved that they don’t. The stories sometimes feel contrived, yet somehow there isn’t a second that goes by in this show that you aren’t deeply interested in what’s going on in this captivating show.

1. Lost – I’m really running out of things to say about this show that I haven’t mentioned before. Knowing when the end will come has given the creators of Lost the freedom to start resolving things quickly and satisfactorily. It shows in the confidence of the crescendo of amazing episodes ending Season 3, culminating with what was arguable the best single TV episode of the year, the mind blowing finale. I feel utterly sorry for those who didn’t hang on through the muddle of the beginning of Season 2 because the show quickly returned to form and is now as good if not better than it was when it debuted. 48 episodes remain, and I have a feeling they will encompass 48 of my favorite hours of the next 3 years.