Channel Surfing: And the winner is ... | greenbaypressgazette.com

Saturday, January 16, 2010

And the winner is ...

In a face-off between two of TV’s most caustic, cantankerous critics, it’s Dr. Gregory House over Simon Cowell by a slim margin.

Channel Surfing’s month-long journey to uncover the Best TV Show of the Decade from Green Bay Press-Gazette readers led to more than 1,000 votes in print and online.

Your top vote getter: “House.”

Created by David Shore in 2004, the Fox show straddles the line between medical drama and dark comedy thanks to Huge Laurie’s portrayal of acerbic, pill-popping Dr. Gregory House. Now in its sixth season, “House” has received several awards, including Emmys for writing and directing and two Golden Globes for Laurie as Best Dramatic Actor (2006-2007). It also consistently ranks among the Top 20 TV shows in the Nielsen ratings.

Here's the Top 20 in all its glory:

1. “House”
2. “American Idol”
3. “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
4. “24”
5. “The Office" (US and UK)
6. “Lost”
7. “Survivor”
8. “The Amazing Race”
9. “The Sopranos”
10. “Desperate Housewives”
11. "How I Met Your Mother"
12. "The West Wing"
13. "Sex and the City"
14. "Scrubs"
15. "SpongeBob SquarePants"
16. "30 Rock"
17. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"
18. "Friday Night Lights"
19. "Dexter"
20. "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

Eligible shows that received the most write-in votes were “Two and a Half Men,” “NCIS,” “Family Guy,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Big Bang Theory, “Criminal Minds” and “Battlestar Galactica.” Also, a lot of people out there apparently still watch "America's Funniest Home Videos." I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Congratulations to “House” and all winners in our contest, including Ann Henrigillis of De Pere who won the grand prize La-Z-Boy. Also, thanks to everyone who voted and left comments.

Many of you provided great reasons as to why you love your favorite shows -- or scathing e-mails saying we were morons for leaving "Rescue Me" off the master ballot -- all but affirming that we knew what we were doing when pitching this contest in December.

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com

Labels: Best TV Show of the Decade, contest, House

5 Comments:

Interesting that "The Wire" was number one three times for the bloggers, but didn't crack the top twenty.

Then again... the top eight shows in the reader poll are all on major networks. Maybe that has something to do with this.

By Anonymous, At January 16, 2010 at 3:31 PM

That jumped out at me too, anonymous. And I originally pointed that out -- just to make an observation, not an indictment -- of possible Green Bay viewing habits. But I don't know what assumption can be made from that, really.

I only had HBO for about two years, and that was to watch "Flight of the Conchords." I had to go back and watch "Sopranos," "Wire" and "Six Feet Under" on DVD -- and obviously, I'm glad I did. I'm doing the same thing with "Dexter" now since I don't have Showtime.

Regarding "The Wire," I think it's a show most people don't find on their own. Usually, someone else who loves it (and most who watch it do) will have to let someone borrow a copy, because as we all know, buying DVD's or even getting them on Netflix can be a substantial investment. Plus "The Wire," moreso than any other TV show, is a heavy time investment. It requires a lot of patience and attention. You really can't whip through it in a week or so, at least not without missing some major details along the way.

I thought "Idol" or "24" would take the top spot in the reader's poll when this contest initially started. I'm surprised to learn that "House" is so beloved having never watched an episode. I thought it might be a Top 10 show, but not No. 1.

-- Tom

By Press-Gazette blogger, At January 16, 2010 at 3:44 PM

TV on DVD is a blessed thing. It's what got me watching "The Wire," "Mad Men" and even "The Office" (UK).

--Malavika

By Press-Gazette blogger, At January 16, 2010 at 4:20 PM

i'm also really shocked that house won. it's a really good tv show but i hadn't figured on it getting that much support. i would have thought lost or 24.

By Anonymous, At January 16, 2010 at 5:10 PM

I think people also have different views as to what constitutes "best." Highest ratings? Biggest hype? Most original writing? Best acting? Most creative? Highest production value? It's not likely we all judged on the same spectrum.

Also, I think it's fair to draw conclusions from the fact that 75% of the top 20 are major network shows. Not bad, not good, just is what it is.

By Ms. Quarter, At January 18, 2010 at 3:13 PM