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Check out all our lists for BuddyTV's Top 7 of '07 to relive the best and the worst of the year in television.


Some people might think that TV is nothing but a frivolous waste of time, making it too easy for people to fritter life away, but I would disagree. Television is a great storytelling medium that allows artists and writers to tell long, complex, multi-arced stories in a novelistic way. Especially now, in the age of the DVD box set, you can sit down and enjoy an entire 22-episode season in a relatively short amount of time, much like how you might stay up all night to finish reading that last Harry Potter book.

This year, television has meant a whole lot to me. For one thing, it was the first year ever since I was four that I wasn't in school, which afforded me with free evenings to watch TV. Now, normally, my TV fare consists of sudsy teen dramas, Jack Bauer and extraordinarily-abled heroes. But this year, for the first time, I branched out into the world of reality dating shows, like A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, and enjoyed it despite the trashiness and the monotone way Tila read off of cue cards every time she talked.

I loved the fact that Thursday nights became comedy nights again, like in the days of yore, featuring the shining stars 30 Rock and The Office. 2007 also provided further proof that the traditional multi-camera sitcom is alive and kicking. In fact, How I Met Your Mother is at the very top of my list of best shows this year.

And although I thought this year was well above average in television quality, bringing such gems as Friday Night Lights, Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money, there were some duds in the mix. I've taken a lot of flak from BuddyTV readers about my hatred of the new vampire vehicle Moonlight, and I continue to stand firm on that. And despite my love for primetime teen soaps, The O.C. fell flat for me when the kids started with their college shenanigans.

The characters and places portrayed on our favorite television shows become a part of us, they become like our friends. At the very least, they become things to talk to our real-life friends about. In my previous life as a physicist, I don't know how many conversations I've slaughtered when people asked me about what I did. Somehow, most people don't have a whole lot to say about nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic dipole moments. But TV can bring together people who normally wouldn't associate. It's a beautiful thing, really.  But maybe not quite as beautiful as Justin Chambers in a black wifebeater.


DEBBIE'S BEST SHOWS
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Veronica Mars
4. The Office
5. The Colbert Report
6. Friday Night Lights
7. Gossip Girl

DEBBIE'S WORST SHOWS
1. Hidden Palms
2. Moonlight
3. Tell Me You Love Me
4. Back to You
5. Keeping Up with the Kardashians
6. I Love New York 2
7. The O.C.

DEBBIE'S BEST REALITY TV VILLAINS
1. Taylor, Kid Nation
2. Dick Donato, Big Brother 8
3. Ceci, Beauty and the Geek
4. Lacey Conner, Rock of Love
5. Neil Tejwani, The Biggest Loser
6. Brad Womack, The Bachelor
7. Bianca Golden, America's Next Top Model

DEBBIE'S SADDEST DEATHS
1. Santos, Ugly Betty
2. Sheriff Don Lamb, Veronica Mars
3. John Black, Days of our Lives
4. Johnston Green, Jericho
5. Charlie the Waitress, Heroes
6. George O'Malley's dad, Grey's Anatomy
7. Laverne, Scrubs

DEBBIE'S BEST FINALES
1. Gilmore Girls
2. Veronica Mars
3. Ugly Betty
4. Friday Night Lights
5. How I Met Your Mother
6. The Office
7. So You Think You Can Dance

DEBBIE'S BEST REALITY TV MOMENTS
1. Dave's back handspring, Beauty and the Geek
2. Hok and Jaimie's hummngbird dance, So You Think You Can Dance
3. Blake Lewis' version of "You Give Love a Bad Name," American Idol
4. Brandi and Vanessa's catfight, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila
5. Team "Silent But Deadly," Crowned
6. Brad Womack chooses no one, The Bachelor
7. Marie Osmond faints, Dancing with the Stars