2010 Favorite TV shows

1: "LOST"

The final season of "Lost" ended this spring, bringing the six-year saga of the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 to a close. The show's ending, which brought the castaways together one final time and united two conflicting timelines, certainly rankled some fans, but not me.

The show ended as it began, with Matthew Fox's Jack Shephard lying in the jungle, finally at peace. "Lost" didn't answer every question - it didn't even come close, really - but the last episodes showed it was clear that no character had any idea what made the Island tick; instead, each dealt with its powers and responsibilities to the best of their ability.

So without the need to focus on answers, the final episode focused on the characters and their relationships, which is always what I found most interesting about the show anyway.

2: THURSDAY NIGHT ON NBC

"30 Rock," especially its live episode in October, continues to be razor sharp, "Community" delivers some of the most self-aware comedy on TV, and "Parks and Recreation," which returns from an unusually long hiatus on Jan. 20, has one of TV's best ensemble casts.

I feel bad, but I've got to leave "The Office" off my list this year. Some episodes have been fun, but the show no longer feels like the must-see show it once was. I'm hoping that the departure of Steve Carell, who plays boss Michael Scott, at the end of this season gives the show some new energy in 2011.

3: "MAD MEN"

The first line of this AMC drama's stellar fourth season said it all: "Who is Don Draper?" This year, Jon Hamm's Draper, an ad executive at the newly firmed Sterling Cooper Draper Price, had to find his way through struggles with his relationships with his family, his co-workers and alcohol.

By far the best episode of the season was "The Suitcase," in which Draper and Elizabeth Moss' Peggy Olson spend much of the episode alone, working through the night on a campaign for Samsonite suitcases. The more the two work on the campaign, the further they focus on their own complicated relationship.

The show also showcased the suberb abilities of Christine Hendricks, who plays office manager Joan Harris. In mostly quiet moments, she ends her long dalliance with a co-worker and finds real love with the husband she had given up on. And a final twist - that she will be a mother, deciding against having an abortion - will likely bring even more great moments in the next season.

4: "MODERN FAMILY"

My favorite part of this ABC show is the relationship between Phil and Claire Dunphy (Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen). Phil is a Realtor who thinks he is cool and hilarious, Claire is an uptight, overprotective mother, yet somehow their partnership works perfectly.

The family is sort of the opposite of the Bluths, from the iconic "Arrested Development." Though the family has its quirks and eccentricities, it is essentially a normal American family. And it succeeds in turning the regular moments that every family experiences into genuinely funny moments.

5: "THE GOOD WIFE"

Julianna Margulies, who made her name opposite George Clooney on "ER," shines in this smart, engaging CBS drama, which has become one of the best political shows on TV since "The West Wing." She plays Alicia Florrick, who is a junior associate at a law firm who must juggle her responsibilities to work, family and herself.

The supporting cast is superb, especially Archie Panjabi, who won an Emmy last year for playing investigator Kalinda Sharma; and Christine Baranski and Josh Charles, who play the partners of the show's central law firm.

6: "THE WALKING DEAD"

This AMC show, about a zombie apocalypse and the few people who survived it, is not for the faint of heart. The show is gory, gross - and bloody good.

By focusing on people in a dire situation, it brings a focus on what people absolutely need to get by. By shining a light on some of the worst things people do to each other - and they are often more brutal than the zombies - it showcases the best they do, too.

The show would be equally good if it were about victims of a plane crash or castaways marooned on a desert island. By putting people in life-or-death situations, the show was able to deal with real, heartfelt plots and issues.

And the zombies were pretty cool, too.

7: "SHERLOCK"

This BBC series, broadcast as part of PBS' Masterpiece Mystery, stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, who traipse through London to solve the mysteries that the British police have been unable to solve.

The show is visually interesting and just complicated enough that viewers can try their best to keep up with Holmes, who operates on a mental level far above his peers and rivals. The BBC is producing more installments of the series, which I cannot wait to see.

8: THE LAST OF CONAN'S "TONIGHT SHOW"

I must admit, I didn't watch much of Conan on "The Tonight Show." But when the whole Leno vs. Conan fiasco broke, I became enthralled, just like much of the nation.

Sure, his jokes were funny, especially the bits in which he attempted to spend as much of NBC's money as possible before his show went off the air. But it was his last episode, in which he pleaded with his (mostly young) audience to not let the incident turn them into cynics, that really locked in O'Brien's place as a central cultural figure.

Those final shows also brought out what was best about Conan's show - his zany humor, his weird jokes, all the kinds of things that just don't play well on network TV. He's found a new home over at TBS, where he seems to really have found his groove.

9: "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE"

I'm pretty sure that the people who are always saying that NBC's staple program is stale and boring don't ever watch the show. Sure, it can have its down sketches, but then it also has great performances by guest stars like Betty White, Anne Hathaway, Jon Hamm, Emma Stone and Jane Lynch.

And its sketches have been on fire: Just the past few weeks have brought a new recurring impersonation of Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange, portrayed by the wickedly funny Bill Hader, and a zany sendup of Miley Cyrus, who appears in a fictional talk show alongside her father, Billy Ray Cyrus.

Finally, there is "Weekend Update," helmed by head writer Seth Meyers, who mocks the week's news and hosts characters like Snooki and New York Gov. David Patterson.

10: "THE DAILY SHOW"

This was a banner year for host Jon Stewart and the rest of the team at Comedy Central's nightly skewering of news and politics. This year more than ever, the show moved past simply mocking the goings-on in Washington and the nation and became a figure that moved events.

Two moments that come to mind were the late October "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear," in which Stewart and fellow comic Stephen Colbert held a massive rally on the National Mall, and the final episode of the year, which was dedicated entirely to the stalled Zadroga bill, which would provide healthcare to 9/11 responders.

Both those events caught the attention of the nation, showing that Stewart has become far more than just a (very, very funny) comedian.

Matt Collette's TV picks appear regularly in his Primetime column in the Daybreak section and at www.theday.com/primetime