2007: Top 10 TV shows

1. Planet Earth - No documentary in recent memory has captured the pristine delicacies of Mother Nature's wonderments like this 10-part experience from the BBC and Discovery Channel.
Each focusing on a different region of the Earth - from the rugged mountains to the cold, stark depths of the world's oceans - this visually stunning travelogue took us there and introduced us to the amazing creatures that dwell there. No television program this year better captured our imaginations thanks to more than 40 filmmakers who spent five years shooting the documentary. Sometimes that meant sitting in the same spot for months, waiting to get the right shot of, say, a great white snatching up a seal in its jaws or of mountain sheep ramming each other to claim their territory.
It's a monument to patience and a keen eye and certainly the greatest television discovery this year. And because it was built from the ground up for high-definition television, it's the best excuse to get an HDTV this year.
2. Mad Men - American Movie Classics wanted to created an original series for TV and hit the ground running with this engrossing, funny and critical look at the gender gap, sexual harassment and excess in the 1960s among Madison Avenue advertising executives.
3. Big Love - HBO's profile of a polygamous Utah family only got better in the second season with searing and heartfelt episodes about sexual values in the church and about a rival polygamous family competing with the Henricksons.
4. Entourage - This half-hour look at Hollywood's celebrity trappings through the eyes of a movie superstar has been on one of the most incredible runs in television. This last season was another gem, this time about the making of a pet film project that turns to disaster.
5. The Office - This irreverant yet wholly identifiable sitcom gets the award for one of the most consistently laugh-out-loud comedies for the past four years. Some of this year's episodes, like the one about the "Race for the Cure" for both rabies and Meredith's bad leg, were priceless.
6. Heroes - This pick really refers to the brilliant second half of the first season (which aired the first half of this year), which came to an explosive, edge-of-your-seat conclusion involving our heroes' fight with the evil Sylar. The series has somewhat faltered the beginning of the second season (but not by much), yet there's hope it will continue next year with a more exciting story arc.
7. Curb Your Enthusiasm - After a two-year break, Larry David returned with new episodes that were his funniest and most wicked in three seasons. In a bizarre twist, the story arc involved separating from his wife amid a divorce from real-life wife Laurie David.
8. Friday Night Lights - This wonderfully told drama about high-school football in a small Texas town is here for the same reason as "Heroes": an emotionally riveting first-season second half that nailed the struggles and dreams of rural America like no other series. The second season has included some missteps, including an unnecessary murder subplot, but still told its story with sincerity and style.
9. The Sopranos - I liked the ending to one of the most praised dramas on television. I liked its ambiguity, its mystery and certainly the controversy that surrounded it after it aired. But the whole season leading up to it - particularly the second half - was pure "Sopranos" mastery.
10. Flight of the Conchords - Think of a mellower, more wry version of Tenacious D, and you get a sense of how this offbeat comedy is as it follows the trials of two New Zealanders and their musical exploits in New York City. Hilarious, dry, with spot-on laughs