the real list, part 2

19. "30 Rock"

Tina Fey's network variety show send up produced by variety show mogul Lorne Michaels, and starring former variety show stars is more than a little meta. It's also great. It's sometimes hard to keep up, as the laughs are seriously nonstop. Its first two seasons were pure beautiful comedy. The third was a show clearly caught up in its new popularity, relying too much on wacky guest stars, but it was still funny. Currently, the beginning of the fourth season has been strangely unfunny, but I'm sure it will bounce back.

18. "Dead Like Me"

The first of Bryan Fuller's three shows to grace my senses this decade, it was a show obsessed with death, and finding ways to grow as a person even after the realization of our morality has been made all too real. Some characters unfortunately never became more than the sum of their deaths, but others were fully realized undead human beings. Great ponderings on life came from an unlikely place, the dead.

17. "Rescue Me"

Dennis Leary's slimy, alcoholic fireman is only one of the great things about this entertaining drama. From the beginning, it's been funny as hell, explosive, and gutwrenching watching these New York firemen try to stabilize their complicated lives. It went through a dull stretch somewhere last season, but it came back with a vengeance. It's one of the most consistent shows on television, being great for over half the decade.

16. "Flight of the Conchords"

Jemaine and Bret write parody songs of all genres, and somebody had the amazing idea to make it a television show. The first season had the duo turning old classics into hilarious plot points in this surreal musical. The second had songs written specifically for the show. The songs staggered slightly in quality, but the rest of the writing never did.

15. "Extras"

Ricky Gervais really hit the jackpot with this show. A socially inappropriate aspiring actor works as an extra on any set he can, just waiting for his big break. Awkward situations and hilarious guest spots abound (highlights: Kate Winslet and Patrick Stewart). This show brought all the laughs and hit all the emotional chords that make a great show.

14. "The Office" U.S.

The U.S. version of The Office started out just recreating scenes from the British version. It very quickly shed its predecessor and morphed into a great comedy with some of the greatest characters on television. Watching Pam and Jim's relationship grow from pained office flirtations to married couple has truly been a delight, and Steve Carrel's ludicrous Michael Scott always comes out with our sympathy. Somehow.

13. "Pushing Daisies"

Bryan Fuller's most recent show was also heavy on the death thing. A shy piemaker has the ability to make dead things live again, and then dead again. Leaving dead people alive takes its toll in the form of another human life. Emotional conflict and great chemistry really sold me on "Pushing Daisies", but the real strengths of the show were its beautiful production design and great supporting role by Kristen Chenowith.

12. "Gungrave"

This anime is truly great, if not very original. For most, I imagine this plays out like a standard anime series, but this story of growth, betrayal, and, finally, vengeance played out like one huge crime epic for me. Its twists were always great, the action was fun, and the characters were more fully realized than your traditional anime fare.

11. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"

Another show needing no description. This group has been making crazy satire for almost five seasons. It's delirious, crazy, vulgar, politically incorrect, and awesome. Danny DeVito continues to look more like a crazy hobo with each new episode.

10. "The Tick"

Patrick Fucking Warburton. The mysterious blue tick, a clueless retard of immense strangth, was the lead in this short-lived superhero comedy series. Everything he said was gold. We never saw anybody fight bad guys, but we did see funny people dressed up in stupid costumes make magic.

9. "Undeclared"

Judd Apatow's second attempt at coming of age comedy was set in college fresman dorms. Apatow regulars like Seth Rogen and Jason Segel starred in a show that really got the college experience (parties, dorms, roommates, insecurities) like no other show I've seen. It was great, honest television for the short while it lasted.

8. "Firefly"

Joss Whedon's space cowboy opera was too tonally difficult to FOX to let it stay on the air more than 10 episodes, but its since become a cult favorite for good reason. Nathan Fillion led a crew of freighters in the comedy/drama/sci-fi/western/thriller series. At once deeply complex in its storytelling but insanely accessible in its humor and action, the show was almost perfect for its brief run. The companion movie Serenity is also great.

7. "Mad Men"

This will probably end up at number 1 or 2 on most people's lists. It's compelling, dramatic, and haunting with its use of real landmark historic events to propel story. It's not perfect. It can be boring for stretches, but by the end of a season, it's usually very apparent that everything you watched for 13 episodes was important.

6. "Wonderfalls"

The greatest of Bryan Fuller's series this decade. This toned down the death, but upped the crazy people seeing figurine animals talk to them. Bryan Fuller has to be the greatest man doing television this decade. All of his shows were cancelled too early, but they were all special. This one had a college graduate fumbling to find a place in the worls, and stuck in a town at the Niagara Falls. Figurines spole to her, forcing her to help or save people, and never shutting up until she did. It was hilarious, and honest in its depiction of a girl dealing with a shitty job, shitty family, hard romantic life, and talking animals.

5. "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

Larry David's abrasive asshole is a true wonder to behold. Conflicts come back full circle to haunt him. It's always surprising, funny, and cringe-worthy. He's gotten divorced, broken Shaq's leg, and been kicked out of heaven by angel Dustin Hoffman, but Larry always comes back to nitpick and social conventions and ruin somebody's day.

4. "Veronica Mars"

Rob Thomas's saga of a highschool daughter of a private detective was dark and witty. It was a highschool straight out of hell. Cheating, killing, social heirarchies. Kristen Bell was hot and fierce as the titular sleuth. The show fumbled when she got to college, but it stayed enjoyable. Some poeple make fun of me for digging this show, but they know nothing. "Veronica Mars" hits all the right notes. Thrilling, funny, and human. Veronica is a human with flaws and contradictions, she often does not come out on top and is forced to learn lessons about life she would rather never have to deal with.

3. "Home Movies"

Originally beginning in 1999, it was immediately cancelled and then picked up by Adult Swim for new episodes in 2002. Drawn in squiggle vision, this cartoon gem had an overly mature eight year old film nerd struggling to create films in his basement, get the attention of his single mother, and deal with his hard drinking insane soccer coach, John McGirk. McGirk is magical gold from awesome town. This show at once proved to be far greater than anything on Adult Swim, making people think that they might have taste. We quickly abandoned all hope soon after, but this show remains an absolute classic.

2. "How I Met Your Mother"

I've never been able to peg why I love this show so completely, but I do. Great cast and writing? Probably helps. This laugh track sitcom is far greater than any other that has ever existed (excepting "seinfeld"). It's perfect balance of laughs and pathos as Ted searches for "the one" is truly special. It deconstructs sit com conventions to create a truly original show about 5 friends trying to figure things out.

1. "Arrested Development"

Really, what else could it have been? The funniest, greatest show possibly ever on television. It's impossible how perfect this whole series was. I won't degrade it by describing it. If you haven't seen it, you're sad. There's talk of a movie, but I hope it never happens. What more could they possibly do with an hour and a half? Which is not to say that I couldn't have handled more. I always wanted more. Lets leave this artifact undisturbed and pure.