Critics see the light with "Lost"

Need your TV viewing affirmed or disavowed by pasty wordsmiths who get paid to watch "The Two Coreys?"

TV Week's semi-annual critics poll -- which covers shows between Jan. 6-June 20 and tabulates votes from the nation's top TV critics -- is out. And that Jeremy Bentham guy is gonna be pretty happy with the results.

Despite a dip in ratings the past two seasons, a 2010 end date seems to have given "Lost" renewed purpose in Season Four -- all leading to a pretty solid finale that revealed Locke (a.k.a. Bentham) to be in the flash-forward coffin.

“The most creatively recharged show of the season, ‘Lost’ thrillingly reclaimed its position this year as TV’s most adventurous and emotionally compelling action drama,” TV Guide’s Matt Roush wrote. “Playing with time and with our expectations, the show raised the bar in its fourth season by teasing us with glimpses of the Oceanic Six in their tortured post-island life while continuing to play out gripping intrigues on the island and with flashbacks.”

While "Lost" takes the top spot -- it was second last year to "The Sopranos" -- the rest of the Top 10 is below. I'm pretty certain that "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Flight of the Conchords" ended before the cut-off date, so that might explain their absence. The entire list can be viewed here.

1. "Lost," ABC

2. "The Wire," HBO

3. "30 Rock," NBC

4. "The Office," NBC

5. "Friday Night Lights," NBC

6. "House," Fox

7. "Battlestar Galactica," Sci-Fi

8. "Breaking Bad," AMC

9. "John Adams," HBO

10. "In Treatment," HBO

As for the worst: Fox's "Moment of Truth" has no equal on that front, with "The Return of Jezebel James," "Quarterlife," "Living Lohan" and "Big Brother" rounding out the Top Five. It must have been against the rules to list "MTV" as your number one choice.

In the end, what does it all mean?

Nothing much when you consider more people watch "Moment of Truth" than a now-cancelled Fox show called "Arrested Development." But hey, at least we Bluth fans will have our moment of redemption soon enough, right?

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com