Lost in TV

Lost returns to TV tonight in the UK. The premiere double episode of the concluding sixth season started on Tuesday in the US and for fans over here it's been a tough 3 days avoiding spoilers in blogs, newspapers and websites.

MLYW and I have been watching Lost since the first episode and I think we've had the same experience as most fans. The first one and a half seasons were essential viewing. Then it got a bit bogged-down until halfway through season three - lots of people stopped watching, and I confess we nearly gave up ourselves - but then, in a brave move, the programme makers convinced the network to let them set a finite end-date for the series which let them focus on telling a coherent story rather than, as with most US series's, just rambling on and never really getting anywhere.

And it's been a great success. Season 4 was great and season 5 was fantastic. Confusing for some people, I think, with its time-travel and doppelgangers, but as a completely immersive mystery story it was a huge success.

So tonight is the beginning of then end and in about 3 months we'll have a whole bunch of questions answered - hopefully!

In celebration of this, here are my Top Ten TV shows ( in no particular order).

Lost: As I've already discussed.

The Wire: Genius from David Simon. Totally believable, uncompromising and gripping television.

Deadwood: Brilliantly sweary, muddy frontier drama. Like Twin Peaks it finished prematurely.

Seinfeld: No hugging, no learning. Be master of your own domain. Yada yada yada...

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Seinfeld, with swearing.

Father Ted: You know you love it. Admit it. Go on. Go on go on go on go on go on, you do!

Mad Men: It's not been around long yet, but this slow-moving glossy '60s Madison Avenue drama is a classic already because it says more with a look, or with what is not said.

Spaced: How many times can I watch Pegg & Stevenson's masterpiece sitcom. Thousands. That's how many.

Angel: Buffy spin-off that, for my book, was darker and more coherent than its illustrious parent. I realise I'm in a minority here!

The Singing Detective: Dennis Potter's singing, dancing dark comedy about a bed-bound detective story writer.

Bubbling Under

Twin Peaks: At its best, David Lynch's influential TV show was by turns hilarious and genuinely creepy and unsettling.

NYPD Blue: Excellent police procedural that was shamefully hidden away by Channel 4 in its last 2 or 3 seasons.