2007 Reader Awards: Best TV Show

Source: Box office Prophets

Best TV Show is always my personal favorite category both because I watch more television than movies and because the same shows are eligible each year, making year over year trends interesting to examine. After two years as the readers' number one show, Lost was
edged out this year by The Office by a slim 2 percent margin. Less than 2 percent behind Lost in third position is the highest ranking new show, Heroes. After a small drop to 24, the voting falls off precipitously to the rest of the field. Arrested Development was off the air by mid-February 2006, but still received enough love to place it atop the heap of also-rans in fifth place. Battlestar Galactica repeats as the readers' favorite cable network show improving to sixth place overall to boot (from 9th), and in 13th place American Idol wins top reality genre accolades, also up over last year where it placed out of the top 15.

Besides the big jump for The Office (13th last year) and those others mentioned above, shows trending up in reader esteem compared to last year include House, Entourage, Ugly Betty, and South Park. Showing signs of slipping are shows like 24, down to fourth from second last year, and Scrubs, down to eighth from sixth last year, as well as Grey's Anatomy, Veronica Mars, and Family Guy. At least those shows can claim inclusion in the top 15 as their consolation prize, unlike popular 2006 entries that received much less attention this year such as Desperate Housewives (fifth last year), My Name Is Earl (tenth), The Simpsons (11th), The Daily Show (12th), Gilmore Girls (14th), and Nip/Tuck (15th).

Reviewing the Calvin Awards for Best Television Show, the staff matched up with the readers on Battlestar Galactica (our numero uno), The Office (second), Entourage (fifth), Veronica Mars (sixth), and Scrubs (seventh). We responded better than the readers to Friday Night Lights and My Name Is Earl, while reader favorites like Heroes and 24 left us flat.

Finally, this year we're declaring the network competition a draw between NBC and FOX. FOX placed more shows (five) inside the top 15 readers' selections than NBC (three), but the Peacock makes a good argument for quality over quantity with two of the top three choices
overall. One thing is for sure, though – CBS sucks.

Best TV Show
Position Show Network
1 The Office NBC
2 Lost ABC
3 Heroes NBC
4 24 FOX
5 Arrested Development FOX
6 Battlestar Galactica SCI
7 House FOX
8 Scrubs NBC
9 Grey's Anatomy ABC
10 Veronica Mars CW
11 Entourage HBO
12 Family Guy FOX
13 American Idol FOX
14 Ugly Betty ABC
15 South Park COM