It's the best of times, it's the worst of times....of television

Has television ever been worse?

The Bachelor?  The Bachelorette?  CSI (and every spinoff thereof)? That Charlie Sheen show, the Doogie Howser show?  I could go on...but do I have to?  Yikes.

But wait, has television ever been better?   Without any explanation or analysis, let's examine the undisputed top ten shows of the past decade and arguably all-time.

10. Carnivale/Justified (tie)

9. Game of Thrones

8. Breaking Bad

7. Boardwalk Empire

6. Six Feet Under

5. Archer

4. The Sopranos

3. Mad Men

2. Arrested Development

1. The Wire

You'll note Arrested Development is the only top ten show that ran on network television--and it struggled to survive three years.  As the major networks devolved into an orgy of formulaic crime dramas and an unending wave of abhorrent reality shows, cable television decided to go in the complete opposite direction.  Smart, character driven programming is the order of the day on HBO, AMC and FX. 

Somehow we're simultaneously experiencing the Dark Ages and the Golden Age of Television*.

*The term "Golden Age of Television" was coined by Raoul Bastardo   

Onward!

No doubt you have already read Howard Schultz's (the founder of Starbucks?! Duh!) co-written autobiography, Onward. Not surprisingly it's currently the New York #1 Bestseller. I'm really hoping that Howard will sign my copy -- but welcome to the club, right?! I guess it's probably not worth a blog, but it's just so inspiring to read about Howard's bold vision. To clone the pleasant cafe and paste it all over the world, ala McDonald's. To ensure that everyone in the world can drink reasonable coffee, while sitting in a reasonably comfortable chair, listening to reasonably good music, and eating a reasonably good snack. What will he think of next? I, for one, can't wait to find out. Confession time!! I read it at Starbucks while drinking my misto!