This article was written, by me, and posted to the rec.arts.tv newsgroup on June 26, 1999. That original article has been slightly edited by me before being placed on the web on July 5, 1999.
OK, it's the end of the season, and here's my Season-End Review (for the purposes of this review, I'm mostly sticking to Primetime).
Yes, I know this Review is terribly late, but it ended up taking me much more time that I would have expected. As a result, I am thinking of trimming this review next summer. This year, the "Comedy" Section is still in here, but I'm likely to drop it next year (though I'll still probably keep them in the "Lists" Section). I may also drop the "Networks" Section next year... we'll see. No matter what, I will be back next year with the "Drama" Section, because that is the Section that I most enjoy doing.
For the "Lists" section, I'm just going to list my favorite networks (in order), my "Top 5 Shows" in each category, followed "Special Mentions", "Honorable Mentions" and "Guilty Pleasures", and then finally the "Biggest Disappointment" and/or "Biggest Decline", and "Most Overrated" show in each category. For truth in advertising, I'm including a list at the end of the Drama and Comedy categories of all the shows from this season I saw at least 2-3 times, but which did not warrant special mention (yes, I do watch a *lot* of TV, when I can). As you can see, I have sampled a *lot* of the dramas this year, but many fewer sitcoms! So, if a show is not listed in any of my lists, I probably didn't see it (or, at the most, I only saw it once).
The next section is my "Networks" Review, where I explain why I've ranked the networks the way I have.
In the following two "Drama" and "Comedy" Sections (posted separately), I will go on with the discussion of why I chose the shows I chose in the Dramas and the Comedies lists, respectively. (WARNING: I am a windbag, so sections 3 and 4 are lllooonnnggg.)
TV & THE NETWORKS (in order):
1. The Decline of the Broadcast Networks
2. WBN
3. CBS
4. Cable/Satellite (e.g. HBO, USA, etc.)
5. NBC
6. ABC
7. FOX
8. Syndication
9. UPN
DRAMAS:
1. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
2. La Femme Nikita
3. Hyperion Bay
4. Brimstone
5. Vengeance Unlimited
"Special" Mention : Charmed
Honorable Mentions : Cupid, Melrose Place, NYPD Blue
(in no order)
Guilty Pleasure(s) : Pacific Blue, Sins of the City,
Wind on Water
My 'Love/Hate' TV Show : Dawson's Creek
Biggest Decline : ER, Party of Five
Most Overrated : Felicity (also, Ally McBeal)
Seen, at least 2-3 times : The X-Files, 7th Heaven, L.A. Doctors,
(but no special mention) Strange World, Beverly Hills 90210,
Star Trek: Voyager, Law & Order,
Chicago Hope, Legacy, Trinity,
Providence, Millennium, The Magnificent
Seven, Nash Bridges, Homicide: Life on
the Street, Early Edition, Marshal Law,
Fantasy Island, Profiler, Silk Stalkings,
The Net, Farscape, First Wave, Sliders,
Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Earth: Final
Conflict, V.I.P., Nightman, Mortal
Kombat: Annihilation, Pensacola: Wings
of Gold, Baywatch
COMEDIES:
1. Just Shoot Me
2. Friends
3. That 70's Show
4. Frasier
5. 3rd Rock
Honorable Mentions : Everybody Loves Raymond,
(in no order) The King of Queens, Dilbert
Guilty Pleasure(s) : Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane
Most Overrated : Sports Night
Seen, at least 2-3 times : Futurama, Unhappily Ever After,
(but no special mention) Suddenly Susan, Will & Grace,
Family Rules, Working, The Nanny,
It's Like, You Know..., The Norm Show,
Jesse, Veronica's Closet, Two of a Kind,
Boy Meets World, Sabrina The Teenage
Witch, Brother's Keeper
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