Worst 10 TV Shows of 2006

What's a best list without a worst list? With every 1 great show, there are at least 100 bad ones. I'm only going to focus on 10 shows that I've hated to watch, or hated that they were even on the air in the first place.

10. Deal Or No Deal Howie Mandel hosts a show that requires no skill, no strategy, and no thought whatsoever. All it has is really annoying contestants screaming, ripoff "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" lights, and a catchphrase "Deal Or No Deal!!!" shouted at the top of his lungs. I really don't understand how anyone can watch a show totally based on chance. I should create a show based on the lottery and have people pick random numbers and a huge ball drops out the numbers to see if they win. I'll just make sure a hot chick drops the numbers.

9. Six Degrees Everyone on this show is related to each other in some way, whether it be a chauffeur drives around a lawyer who is defending a woman who knows the chauffeur's brother and is a nanny to the lawyer's friend...it sounds interesting, but since it feels like "Felicity" but with adults, it sort of doesn't work. I don't believe adults have this much time to whine about relationships. Which brings me to...

8. Brothers and Sisters It's like thirtysomething with actors you've seen before! And some actors from thirtysomething! Sally Field is in it, which means we're in for constant crying and emotional scenes. I've never seen so many overwrought rich white people complain about so much on television...without it being campy.

7. Men In Trees Ally McBeal in Alaska, basically. The character tries to be cutesy-quirky but ends up patronizing and over-the-top irritating. It's like she's living in a snow globe where everything is just so "quaint, but rustic." I know women are supposed to like this, but the women I know would be sorry to know that to land a man you should move to Alaska and be afraid of raccoons and birds and act helpless.

6. Charmed I have always HATED this show, I watch it sometimes because I hate it so much. The range of acting is sarcastic, bordering on bitchy. And I can't take Alyssa Milano seriously, ever. And whose acting gets worse after Melrose Place? Though I bet Rose McGowan could power a small village if they could harness her eye-rolls into a power source.

5. 20 Good Years "I AM JOHN LITHGOW AND I AM ACT-ING!" This show is so embarrassing it's sad. Two old guys trying to relive their glory years. It makes me so sad.

4. Grey's Anatomy McDreamy, McSteamy, McMeany...This show makes me McSick to my McStomach and I could McHeave. I'm glad I moved from Seattle because I would be scared to hurt myself in fear of being treated by these self-centered doctors. Though I bet if I had to use the bathroom at Seattle Grace I would run into doctors having sex in the stall next to me. The show itself is definitely emotionally draining, plus the adding of the indie music for interludes must go. Meredith must go.

3. The View Rosie O'Donnell is a braying idiot, but she is entertaining. I just wish they had someone with some news experience on that show. Barbara isn't there very much, so the remaining women ride on their uneducated opinions. I've turned on this show to get my fill of muddled yammering over each other. Who would have thought Joy Behar would be the sane one on the show?

2. teachers. I believe I'm the only one who saw this show, and for good reason. I honestly don't know how anyone thought this show was funny, amusing, or had good characters. The lead guy was the retarded brother in "Gigli" which should have been a reason NOT to cast him. But this show seemed to be one of those "Sum of it's parts" shows, meaning the individual characters should be funny + school makes funny + cute star + cute girl love interest= funny sitcom! But the problem is they forgot the chemistry between the characters!

1. The Rachael Ray Show Anyone who uses the phrase "yum-o" must die. And what's with EVOO? Is it such a pain to say "Extra Virgin Olive Oil?" You're saving what, one second? Yeah, that'll make me cook faster. Rachael Ray is so perky and obnoxious I feel like she's a little too familiar with the audience. I thought about joining the "I Hate Rachael Ray" fan club, but that would require me keeping tabs on her whereabouts, and I would rather just avoid her altogether.

My Top 10 TV Shows of 2006

Everybody is doing top 10 lists for 2K6, so why should I be any different? Sure I'm not famous nor do I have a mass blog following. But I love TV as much as the next guy, so why shouldn't I have an opinion, hot dammit!

10. Heroes: A cross between "The X-Men" and "X-Files" with a little "Lost" mixed in. I love that the people with powers come from all walks of life: The telepathic cop, the single mom with the deadly split personality, and the nerdy Japanese guy who can manipulate time--they all are people you could meet on the street! And Adrian Pasdar as the shady politician who can fly is actually more interesting without his powers. The downside is they are introducing so many super people it's becoming somewhat crowded in the "Heroes" world. But I do want to know what significance the indestructible cheerleader has to do with everything.

9. Ugly Betty: The best part of this show is that Betty is very charming and sympatheic without being over-the-top. She is definitely intelligent and lets people know she is. The show itself is supposed to be campy and not to be taken seriously, but there are so many interesting side stories it definitely keeps your attention. And I'm enjoying Vanessa Williams as a power grabbing imperious executive.

8. The OC: All right, sue me! I love the OC this year. It's like season 1 OC all over again. Once Marissa was killed at the end of season 3, I thought maybe they should have just cancelled the darn thing. But I was ready to reserve judgment and see if the show could recover. It recovered all right--and then some! I never realized Marissa was such a drain to all the characters. They've paired Ryan with Taylor Townsend, the gang's frenemy from last season and--who knew?--she's a great match for him! I never thought Ryan had a sense of fun or humor, but he has both. We get to see Taylor's human side as well...I do admire the OC writing, since they did the same thing with Summer by making her into a three-dimensional character. The writing is much stronger and the characters are more true to themselves. They added Mariss' sis Kaitlin, who does much better when paired with people her own age (though I don't like Luke's annoying twin brothers). However, I think they still don't know what to do with Kirsten, who hangs out at NewMatch and says, "Where's Ryan" before looking concerned. I guess I'd rather her have no storyline at all instead of the horrible one from last season with Jeri Ryan, the con-artist from rehab. It's a shame the ratings are in the toilet for this show, and it will be it's last season I bet. But hopefully we will get some closure.


7. Doctor Who: After about 15-odd years off the air, the BBC brought back my favorite cheesefest science fiction show from the grave. And it's definitely an improvement! Succinct storylines, decent special effects, and great acting all around make this show a keeper. Best story of the year was the reintroduction of the Daleks. As a kid, I never thought they were very scary. Once the doctor defeated one by putting a hat over the Dalek's eye so he couldn't shoot him! This time, one new Dalek killed a platoon of men and escaped a bunker. And there was no doubt that the Dalek was boss. Since the new series started over, the Doctor has regenerated once already and he lost his recent companion (trapped on a parallel earth) but the stories have been so good I don't mind a little change now and then.

6. 30 Rock: My friend Kelly says he can gauge if he wants to be friends with somebody based on if they think "30 Rock" is funny. I totally agree with him. Tina Fey created this show, and if she can write "Mean Girls" she can write anything funny. Tracy Morgan is hilarious as a Bobby Brown/Martin Lawrence-type movie star, Alec Baldwin as a stiff, annoying network exec, and Tina Fey is Liz Lemon, the head writer. So much funny stuff happens in each episode it's hard to describe. Sure, some of the episodes are uneven, but when they're on their game, it's awesome. My only gripe is with Jane Krakowski who is Liz' best friend. She and Liz don't have much friend chemistry, and it looks like she's trying too hard. I wish they kept Rachel Dratch, who was my favorite SNL'er next to Amy Poehler.

5. The Wire: I've never watched it, but critics everywhere say it's a phenomenal show.

4. The New Adventures of Old Christine: I started watching this because Julia Louis-Dreyfus is in it, I'm not normally into shows about mom/divorcees jumping back into the singles scene But I actually enjoy the show much more this season. They've played up Christine's neuroses, they've made her kid more lunkheaded and less cutesy, and they've added Wanda Sykes to the cast. They are hitting the right notes. Just more of the mean mommies would be nice.

3. Commander-In-Chief: Sure, this was cancelled, but prematurely! Geena Davis as the first woman president was working so well...until ABC changed EP's and the focus of the show. It was said that internal tampering finally killed it. What sold the show for me was Geena Davis came across incredibly believable, plus her staff members (esp. her Chief Of Staff) were well cast. The problems I had were: 1) the husband "I'm an adviser to my wife because I'm upset with not being involved!" then "No! I'm not anymore and that is totally ok!" instead of seeing him struggle with being the First Husband, and 2) Adding Zach from "Saved By The Bell" as a campaign manager felt so calculated it was like "Let's add a character to stir up trouble." Besides, she was barely in the White House, why would we want to watch her campaign for a second term so soon?

2. ER: Total guilty pleasure. I've been watching since season 2, and it's turned into comfort food TV. How many times can the ER be blown up, shot up, car crashes into it, Santa Claus visits, sex in the on-call room can you have in 12 years? A lot! Plus they've added John Stamos from "Full House" to add an older doctor to the mix and to sex up Neela. They've coupled up Doctor Kovac with Abby again and now they have a kid together. I openly hate Luka, but Abby is my favorite character. And any show where I can watch it every week after 12 seasons must have something going for it.

1. 24: Best. show. on. TV. Bar none. Hands down. After being presumed dead last season, Jack is brought back to the fray to help find out who killed President Palmer. Lots of casualties along the way this year, including Tony, Michelle, and Edgar. But Audrey, who was Jack's wishy-washy spineless girlfriend last season totally grew a spine and gave as well as she got. Plus, the President and his shady agenda? His insane wife? So much packed into a day's work. And Jack's intensity never goes away. He's the only character on TV who screams "I will kill you" and you totally believe him. As my friend's talking dictionary used to say, "Jack Bauer is a pimp, and we are his bitches."