Should've Done This Last December

It may be a little late for this but I read this interesting article:
http://nymag.com/arts/all/aughts/62513/
It properly lauded some great Television shows of the decade, so I thought I’d compile my list of the best TV of the decade, to go along with my movie list.

Now let me caution you over some omissions that you will get fired up about. As I previously have stated, although a big fan of HBO, I never fell for The Sopranos and Sex in the City, both mentioned prominently in the article. I’m not a big fan of reality shows, thus no Survivor, although AI can’t be ignored. But, here’s what I loved in the last decade:

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Nothing I’ve ever seen has captured the angst of high school and college like this. The vampires were just a plus.
2. Real Time with Bill Maher – Nothing made me laugh more.
3. House – Nothing was as much fun to watch unravel.
4. Weeds – Nothing was crazier
5. Curb Your Enthusiasm – Nothing made me cringe more (well maybe Friends)
6. Six Feet Under – Nothing started and ended better
7. Firefly – Nothing left me wanting more so much
8. How I Met Your Mother – Nothing sucked me in to it’s arc more
9. Lie to Me – Nothing had a more interesting premise
10. American Idol – Nothing more entertaining and unentertaining
11. The Chris Isaak Show – Nothing I’d like to have on DVD more
12. Penn & Teller’s Bullshit – Nothing more appropriate
13. Californication – Nothing more daring
14. Brotherhood – Nothing more engrossing – my Sopranos
15. Glee – Nothing more talented
16. Sarah Connor Chronicles - Nothing said "to be continued" more
17. This Week with George Stephanopolous – Nothing more informative
18. The Sports Reporters – Nothing more infuriating, sometimes
19. Sportscenter – Nothing more omnipresent
20. George Carlin’s HBO Specials – Nothing a better legacy
21. Cold Case – Nothing more inventive
22. The Practice – Nothing more intense
23. Kitchen Nighmares – Nothing was more true to life – for me.
24. 24 – Nothing more pulse-pounding

Final Score – Showtime 5, HBO 4 how interesting.

And a special mention to the best single episodes I saw:
Six Feet Under: Finale
House: Three Stories
Buffy: The Body, and Once More with Feeling
And the Best Sequence of Episodes: Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Producers arc.

Shows I still haven’t watched that may merit consideration. I made a conscious decision to just wait for the DVD’s. I’ll let you know my verdict some day, I hope: The Wire, Battlestar Gallectica, Mad Men, Lost, among others.

Here’s the strangest thing about my list - #’s 1 and 7 – the Joss Whedon masterpieces – I never saw a single episode the day it originally aired. I caught the entire Buffy on the FX channel reruns, and Firefly solely on DVD.
And one final note on Buffy, for those of you who might want to start trolling through the DVD’s. The third season, the Senior Year, is IMO the finest single season of a TV show ever. The writing is jaw-dropping.

What did we miss? What did you like?