BEST OF TV 2006: 15-11

NUMBER 15: SOUTH PARK (Comedy Central): It's hard to believe that the best cartoon comedy is over 10 years old now (Sorry, SIMPSONS...and FAMILY GUY, and KING OF THE HILL..and the other FOX cartoons). It's SOUTH PARK that keeps me in stitches..it also helps that SOUTH PARK is the most timely: the creators can take a current controversial topic and get an episode about it on the air in weeks (witness the hilarious OFFING of Chef this year). I also enjoyed the recent episode of Mr Garrison getting fucked in all his glory on cable. Bravo! NUMBER 14: 30 ROCK (NBC): I started this fall season with my highest hopes set on STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP because I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE SNL fan. But after two episodes, I tuned STUDIO 60 out. Instead, 30 ROCK was the pleasant surprise of the season. Tina Fey's comedy gets better and better every week...and Alec Baldwin is my comedy idol. He blows most other SNL guest hosts out of the park, and is the perfect fit to this SNL-friendly cast (Rachel Dratch, Tracy Morgan). Now that 30 ROCK is part of the revamped MUST-SEE TV (joining THE OFFICE, MY NAME IS EARL and SCRUBS), let's hope the rest of America soon discovers 30 ROCK, too. NUMBER 13: THE CLASS (CBS): yeah, this show was a disappointment, but it still makes me laugh consistently. It was picked up for a full season, albeit a shortened one (19 episodes instead of the standard 22), which worries me that CBS won't bring it back for season 2. But hey, that's life, and THE CLASS celebrates it with hardy-har-heart. NUMBER 12: MADTV (Fox): It's official: the latest cast ensemble has grown on me enough to watch it regularly again. I was MORE than a little sad after Stephanie Weir and Mo Collins left the show in recent years. It's always been the women that have made MADTV so much fun (and the brilliant Michael McDonald), but HELL if Bobby Lee is the funniest damn comic out there. He is fearless in his attempts to make you laugh (which regularly mean having the guy drop his pants and show his family jewels whenever possible. In fact, a recent skit mocked fun at how addicted Bobby Lee is with his nudism). NUMBER 11: ENTOURAGE (HBO): Let's hear it for the boys! Week in and week out, Adrien Grenier and his posse make LA look horrible and fun at the same time. And Emmy winner Jeremy Piven can blow his load up my ass anytime he wishes (which to him is probably never, but I don't care). The rest of Season 3 concludes in early 2007, and then it's season 4 later on down the road.