Best TV Shows Of 2005 and 2006!

[BirdyP]

Nothing was better in Season 2 than Ziggy getting beat up by Method Man. Classic.

[GonzoStyle]

I was just glad when they ended that storyline

[GonzoStyle]

I just started catching up on Smallville. I gotta admit I didnt watch the show because I couldn't see how they could keep any interest in the show with the fact that he's just a kid growing up and you know the entire time what his future holds for him.

After renewed interest in superman due to the movie, I just had to see for myself. I downloaded the first few episodes and I gotta admit its an amazing show. Maybe its my bias being such a major fan of superman, but I love the show.

The comic book geek in me was kinda upset at first at a lot of the revisionist history, namely of course the friendship between clark and lex luthor. After seeing the character development and just the awesome story of watching the man who will eventually become the earths greatest hero and protector, be just a boy coming to terms with his abilities as a confused teenager.

I know i'm like 5 years too late but I am adding this to my list of favorite shows now.

[HedCold]

after watching all 3 seasons of arrested development, it belongs on this list

[faceman802]

I just started catching up on Smallville. I gotta admit I didnt watch the show because I couldn't see how they could keep any interest in the show with the fact that he's just a kid growing up and you know the entire time what his future holds for him.

After renewed interest in superman due to the movie, I just had to see for myself. I downloaded the first few episodes and I gotta admit its an amazing show. Maybe its my bias being such a major fan of superman, but I love the show.

The comic book geek in me was kinda upset at first at a lot of the revisionist history, namely of course the friendship between clark and lex luthor. After seeing the character development and just the awesome story of watching the man who will eventually become the earths greatest hero and protector, be just a boy coming to terms with his abilities as a confused teenager.

I know i'm like 5 years too late but I am adding this to my list of favorite shows now.

Way to jump on the bandwagon gonz. It just gets better the longer it goes on. The storylines are killer and even when it's a bad episode, it's not that bad and the episodes that feature cameos from other future dc comic heroes(flash, aquaman, angel of vengenace and cyborg) were killer episodes. season 6 looks to be good too with a return of flash and the introduction of oliver queen, otherwise known as green arrow. I've loved this show from the beginning and it never disappoints

[GonzoStyle]

when does season 6 start? cause I am only halfway through season 2 but all I watch are smallville episodes lately. I just got season 3 today. I'd like to start watching season 6 on the regular once it starts up.

My favorite episode so far was the one with the little kid who can read peoples minds, there was just something about that episode. I guess maybe cause it was the first time clark could open up to someone outside his parents about his secret.

The episode with the old lady who can see the future was good too, just for the ending when she takes Luthors hand and sees his future and she ends up dying before she could tell him the horrors he will cause.

[faceman802]

Season 6 starts sept. 28. season 5 comes out on dvd sept 12 so you have 2 weeks to go through that before the new season starts. and i've read that oliver queen is going to be more than a cameo appearance on the show and has an offer for clark about a certain league...

[GonzoStyle]

I have 3 weeks to get through the rest of season 2, 3, & 4.

good thing I took that vacation time for next week!

[GonzoStyle]

I'm ahead of schedule, I just finished season 3 and I must say the season 3 finale was one of the best finales ever. The last 4 minutes was fuckin amazing, the show gets better with every season so far.

[GonzoStyle]

Season 6 starts sept. 28. season 5 comes out on dvd sept 12 so you have 2 weeks to go through that before the new season starts. and i've read that oliver queen is going to be more than a cameo appearance on the show and has an offer for clark about a certain league...

I got season 5 last week, lucky for me the nig stores here dont believe in "release dates". So I am officially caught up on all 5 seasons, what I hate is the wait now cause the season 5 finale was fuckin awesome and I can't wait to see where they take this whole Zod angle and clark being trapped in the phantom zone.

They already referenced the justice league twice, first time was when The Flash made his apperance and said "maybe we should form a club or a league or something".

[Goatweed]

I havent seen any of this show but based on what youve written can I assume theyre taking lots of liberties with respect to Superman 'canon' ?

BTW since were talking about cominc on TV, the Blade series has really been pretty good - I give it close to 4 out of 5 stars, the stories have been engaging & The focus NOT being on Blade all the time is refreshing. Good stuff if you're a fan of the movies.

[GonzoStyle]

they do take a lot of liberties, but they have managed to take an icon that the world has worshiped for almost 70 years and completely take a fresh, new and fascinating journey that hasn't ever been explored before. It's kinda like finding the missing parts of jesus life as a teenager and watching him come to grips, before becoming the worlds savior, and both have had liberties taken with their journies.

Sure without watching it, any fan of superman will say that the show is blasphemy, having lex and clark be friends as teens, having lois lane and clark know eachother, the whole relationship Clark has with Jor-El, Jor-Els part on the show, etc. (Though you will appreciate that Terrance "Zod" Stamp, voices Jor-El, its a nice touch).

At the same time, I also applaud the "no tights, no flights" rule they adhere by, so you completely disassociate that this is not superman, this is the still developing teen who will one day become the earths savior but he does not yet know his place in the world and is still discovering his abilities, day by day, like x-ray vision, heat vision, his "allergy" to kryptonite, the different types of kryptonite, as well as the fact he has no clue he can fly yet and even has a fear of heights.

I will say the first season was a little weak, cause they were still getting their feet wet with where to take the show. Once they got off the whole freak of the week stuff, and concentrated more on the relationships between the characters and their issues, especially Lex & Clark, the show took off. It honestly gets better and better with every season.

I will also say that while the whole clark kent aspect is wonderful to watch, michael rosenbaum does tend to steal the show, its just as interesting to watch Lex Luthor progress as well, he gives new life to Lex.

[Keyser Soze]

17. "The Wire"
Readers kept telling me to watch this show. They implored me. They kept e-mailing me. They badgered me. I didn't listen. As I've described multiple times in this space, I hate being told that I should watch a show; I like discovering them at my own speed. And if it made me three or four years late for the party with classics like "The Sopranos" and "24," so be it. It's just that I can't willingly jump onto a show; it needs to happen organically.

For instance, here's what happened with "The Wire:" On a Tuesday night in mid-August, the Sports Gal and I were home with nothing to watch and ending up stumbling onto "The Wire Re-Up" button on HBO On Demand. I'd been avoiding this show for four years because the Baltimore drug scene didn't appeal to me unless Raffie Palmeiro and Miggy Tejada were involved. But the Sports Gal was the one who said, "Let's watch the first show of 'The Wire' and see if we like it."

Within 10 minutes, we were hooked. We ended up banging out three episodes the first night and another three the second night. Then our cable system switched to a new provider ... and all the Season 1 episodes disappeared into thin air. Now we were scrambling. None of the video stores around us had Season 1 in stock. I ended up ordering Season 1 online (two-day delivery courtesy of Amazon Prime), but we were so hooked on the show that when someone returned Season 1 to our video store, we rented the last three discs that same night. We banged out the last seven episodes in two nights before the DVD was even delivered. That's how hooked we were.

I'll go this far: I'd put Season 1 of "The Wire" against anything. The first three seasons of "The Sopranos." Seasons 1 or 2 of "24." The first seasons of "NYPD Blue," "ER" or "Miami Vice." You name it. I have never seen a show like it. Season 2 wasn't as good (if Season 1 was an A-plus-plus-plus, then Season 2 was a B-plus), and we're just about to dive into Season 3, so I don't have an opinion on that yet. Everyone seems to agree that they outdid themselves with Season 4 and that it's a legitimate masterpiece. Just know that you can absolutely start watching Season 4 without having seen the other three seasons. It's not an ideal way to break into the show, but you can do it.

Without giving too much away, four more things you need to know:

A. Before I started watching "The Wire," my four favorite TV/movie detectives of all-time were Sonny Crockett ("Miami Vice"); Jack Cates ("48 Hrs."); Johnny Kelly ("NYPD Blue"); and Nick Curran (Michael Douglas' character in "Basic Instinct"), who couldn't break away from Sharon Stone even though he knew that every time she climbed on top during sex, there was a 50 percent chance she might ram an ice pick into his chest. But Jimmy McNulty in "The Wire" (played by Dominic West) ... he might end up beating them all before everything's said and done. He might have even moved to No. 1 during the scene in Season 2 when they raid a brothel and he ends up in a threesome before the rest of the cops arrive. Not even Sonny Crockett would have done that.

B. I love any show with a slew of mostly no-name actors that bang their roles out of the park, although it was weird to see one of the leads from "Remember the Titans" playing drug lord Avon Barksdale. With that said, Alonzo Mourning gives an inspired performance as Stringer Bell (Avon's manipulative consigliere). Maybe the best athlete/Hollywood crossover since Kareem in "Airplane."

(Wait, that's not Alonzo Mourning? Are we positive?)

C. In an attempt to be gritty, they didn't cast any of those Angie Harmon/Jill Hennessey types who always seem unrealistically cute for a drug/crime show set in a place like Baltimore. And since the actresses on the show are average-looking down the line, guess what happens? It's like the Lambeau parking lot, any press box or any NESCAC keg party ... the females who do appear on this show end up seeming disproportionately hot by about the fifth episode. Absolutely bizarre. I love when this happens.

D. Omar might be my favorite HBO villain since Adebici. And that's saying something.

Anyway, I can't believe I didn't watch this show sooner. It enrages me. I'm not doing the "YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS SHOW OR YOUR WHOLE LIFE WILL BE INCOMPLETE!" routine, because that might scare you away. Just know that it's one of the five greatest shows I've ever seen. And I hope you stumble across it some day.

Organically, of course.

[GonzoStyle]

I thought that was your writing it but then I noticed that it was far too interesting.

I agree, season 1 of the wire ranks up there. I don't know about the best ever but it is definitly up there. Season 1 of the shield was better in my opinion and the first 2 seasons of the sopranos is also in the elite. The wire as well as the sopranos have the advantage of being on HBO, which besides 9 times out of 10 puts out among the best TV series, also doesnt have to worry as much about network sponsors, but the shield consistently pushes the envelope.

Though I do agree, Omar is up there only with Al Swearengen of Deadwood as neck and neck my favorite baddies, of course as the writer mentioned, adebisi was a god.

I also profusely agree that I would much rather discover a show on my own, than be told I must watch it. Most of the shows I have become addicted to are shows I started watching waaaay past their premieres. It may be two fold, I am very anal when it comes to TV series, I have to see every single episode, if I miss the season premiere, I will not watch the show and thats happened even with shows I wanted to watch. For example I was very looking forward to when six feet under was starting and I missed the 1st episode and then never got to see it again and I didnt watch it until I got season one on dvd, by that time they were in season 4.

Then there are shows like nip/tuck which I never thought I would like, then on a whim I bought season 1 cause I wasnt feeling well and needed something to watch, plus it was only 15 bucks priced down on sale from 50. I immediatly became addicted to the show, same for smallville. Also I love the fact I can watch them show after show, like catching up on 5 years worth of smallville in 3 months.

Probably the next show I am thinking of catching up on is 24, though I havent felt the urge yet.

[The Sleeper]

I caught up on all 3 seasons of the wire in the past 2 months and it's without a doubt the best show of all time. It's pretty much all i think about.

[Galt]

what is it about? I haven't watched a second of this show.

I honestly thnk it's because in the promos, they make it seem like a black woman is the lead character.

[The Sleeper]

It's about Baltimore drug dealers and the cops trying to bring down their operation.

[GonzoStyle]

in a nutshell, yeah.

the black chick isnt the lead, shes a supporting lesbian.

[The Sleeper]

plus in real life she's a half gook

[GonzoStyle]

plus its all about Stringer & Omar.