"Dexter," "American Idol" and More: The Top 10 Programs of 2007 -- Part One

At the start of this New Year, as television faces an unprecedented confluence of compromising challenges, it is worth remembering that, creatively speaking, broadcast, basic cable and pay cable television were in thrilling top form throughout 2007. There is no better way to make this point than to look back at the very best that television had to offer during the last twelve months. I have already written about the dozens of strong shows that did not make my annual Top 10 list and the runners-up that must be included in any discussion of television's finest shows. What follows is the best of the best. As always, I have included programs that truly strengthened the medium, even if they aren't shows that routinely turn up in most critics' end of year accolades.

Pushing Daisies. Colorful, engaging, humorous and at times profound, ABC's wholly unique addition to the burgeoning procedural crime genre would have been a standout show even in the strongest of fall seasons. But its arrival three months ago single-handedly salvaged an otherwise desultory autumn characterized by slow-starters and instant flops. The pilot for this fantasy-comedy-drama-mystery was so dazzling that it had even its most ardent admirers wondering if series creator Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me) had set the bar too high. It seemed Daisies had nowhere to go but down, but it grew more enjoyable with each passing week. This is a spectacularly beautiful show enhanced by the best art direction and production design on television, and it must be savored on a big ol' television screen -- preferably in high-definition. Like Lost, which can be a similarly splendid visual experience, Daisies should not be confined to a laptop or iPod!

Dexter. The second season of Showtime's thriller about a serial killer was a masterwork of mounting suspense, as everyone and everything in the life of Miami P.D. blood-splatter specialist and extreme vigilante Dexter Morgan seemed to close in on him, threatening to expose him as the psychopathic murderer that he is. Viewers knew that wouldn't happen, because Showtime isn't about to let its hottest series come to a premature end. But we were caught up nevertheless, and there was great fun to be had not in wondering if Dex would be caught, but how he would avoid capture. And just when we had completely lost sight of the fact that we were rooting for a scary madman, the story took an unexpected turn (when Dexter caged Doakes) and reminded us how sick and twisted our boy really is. I can’t wait for season three.

The Shield. Somewhat forgotten after cable's extraordinary selection of summer treasures (which included Rescue Me and Damages on the same network), FX' longest running drama remained its strongest, as well. With the possible exception of The Sopranos, no series on television created a narrative of such breath-stopping intensity as the dark story of Detectives Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell, long-time partners and best friends who became arch-enemies following freakazoid Shane's murder of their other buddy, kind-hearted Lem. Michael Chiklis and Walton Goggins (as Mackey and Shane, respectively) gave two of the most powerful, nerve-frying performances of the year. Perhaps they were too good for television: How else to explain the fact that voting members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences did not see fit to nominate them for Emmys? Like his former co-star Forest Whitaker the year before, Goggins did not simply deserve a nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He deserved the damn award!

Planet Earth. Discovery Channel's eleven hour documentary captured the wonders and horrors of nature in every environment on Earth as they had never before been seen, in glorious high-definition. Even if you have watched hundreds of hours of nature documentaries during your lifetime, this one made you feel as though you were seeing it all for the first time. And that was true in many cases -- there were all kinds of fascinating creatures captured by Discovery's cameras that had never been seen on television, especially the unforgettable things that live in absolute darkness on the ocean floor, some of them with their own lights! Words cannot describe Vampyroteuthis Infernalis, the vampire squid from hell. I'd like to see Discovery mount a follow-up production focused entirely on our nightmarish underwater world.

American Idol. Long-time readers will recall that every year since it premiered in 2002 Fox' American Idol landed at the top of my annual ten-best lists and was honored as my Program of the Year on more than one occasion. I did this because Idol from the start has been the biggest and best interactive series in any medium, and because no other program attracts so many young people and exposes them to the power of broadcast television. For those reasons alone, it continues to deserve special recognition by anyone who cares about the future of TV. And let's not forget about the power of the Idol experience: Season One winner Kelly Clarkson is a huge star, Season Two runner-up Clay Aiken is a household name with millions of fans, Season Three finalist Jennifer Hudson won an Academy Award last year for her role in Dreamgirls, Season Three winner Fantasia Barino just ended her run as star of the Broadway musical The Color Purple, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood is a top-selling artist and has won every music award one can think of, Season Five finalist Chris Daughtry had the No. 2 selling record of 2007. So why have I dropped Idol from No. 1 to No. 6 this year? Two words: Sanjaya Malakar. Don't get me wrong. I liked the kid. Like millions of other viewers I waited to see what he would look like every week and came prepared to cringe at his latest attempt to sing. Once he sported that faux-hawk there was no stopping the pop-culture pile-on. He couldn't carry a tune, but Sanjaya energized the show like few contestants before him, and once he left Idol seemed to lose much of its dazzle and most of its buzz. I don't remember that happening before. For the first time since its debut I began to wonder if Idol had peaked. Perhaps I would feel differently if the finale had been a showdown between full-voiced divas Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones, rather than a sugary sweet sing-off between teen dreams Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis.