The dirty, sexy and ugly of 2007

Favorite show: Hoping to find it in 2008. With both "Gilmore Girls'' gone and "24'' a big bummer in 2007 (see below), I'm without that one show that always got priority viewing on the TiVo list -- the one you just can't wait to see. If the return of "Lost'' is anywhere close to as good as last year's final episodes, my money's on that one to fill the spot. I've grown quite fond of the Walkers on "Brothers & Sisters,'' too.

Favorite new show: "Dirty Sexy Money.'' Drama, comedy, mystery, sex, politics, greed, transexuals ... You could spend all week getting that from your TV viewing, but with "DSM,'' it's all right there, deliciously packaged, in one hour. Plus, put Donald Sutherland in anything, much less at the head of the table of a highly dysfunctional family, and it's worth tuning in.

Favorite character: Abby Lockhart on "ER.'' Yes, 300 episodes in, and I'm still watching. Whenever I wonder why, I remember that it's becasue Maura Tierney's Abby is still the strong, stubborn, flawed and very real heart and soul of that show. Her scenes with Luka (Goran Visnjic) in the last episode of 2007 were painfully uncomfortable and heartbreaking at once. Does she have an Emmy yet? Honorable mention: Freddy Rodriguez's Gio, the sandwich guy with big dreams, on "Ugly Betty.'' Crushin' on him.

Favorite obsession: "House Hunters'' on HGTV. Can't explain it. Can't resist it.

Best "No, F'n way!" moment: Marie Osmond faints on "Dancing with the Stars'' and Tom Bergeron & Co. just look on at the crumpled pile of satin and sparkles at their feet. Gotta love live TV. Little did we know that a few episodes later, when the dance-challenged Marie overstayed her welcome and Osmond overexposure reached unbearable levels, we'd have given anything for Tonya Harding to take her down with a whack to the knees.

Most disappointing show: A diehard "24'' fan, it pains me, like it must've pained Jack to put a bullet in Curtis, to say it, but for a series that routinely blows viewers away, Season 6 just plain blew. There were flashes of its former self, but for the most part, it never got a good head of steam going. It wasn't for the lack of action, it was for the lack of character development. Wayne Palmer was no Charles Logan in the White House. Audrey Raines -- Worst. Love. Interest. Ever. -- continued to be a whiny drain on every scene she was in. Farmer Hoggett from "Babe'' (James Cromwell) as Jack's evil papa never worked. And would someone please explain what Regina King was doing in that season -- period? Should Season 7, stalled by the writers' strike, ever see the light of day, here's hoping the writers keep Jack's family out of it (has Kimbo taught them nothing?), give us a real villain and pause the clock long enough to put some depth into their characters.

Most tired storyline: Pick one, any one, involving Meredith on "Grey's Anatomy.'' Meredith and McDreamy aren't really together ... but they are ... well, kind of. Meredith doesn't know what she wants ... or wait, does she? Meredith won't accept Lexie ... and, six episodes later, still won't accept Lexie. Thank goodness for the addition of the characters of Lexie Grey and Erica Hah, because our girl Meredith has become a drag. And would someone please give Sandra Oh's Cristina a post-Burke storyline, stat!

Hopes of 2008: That David Letterman shaves off that horrible -- worse than Matthew Fox's in the "Lost'' flashforward -- beard. It made his return to TV Wednesday night after an eight-week hiatus look like he went missing for 80 years.

That medical dramas quit with the corny animal storylines. Izzie saves a deer hit by a car on "Grey's Anatomy.'' A nativity scene camel shows up on "ER.'' Leave the animal rescues to Animal Planet, please.

That Bret Michaels picks up a non-life-threatening but horribly uncomfortable STD for agreeing to do "Rock of Love 2.''

-- Kendra Meinert, kmeinert@greenbaypressgazette.com