Nine TV shows and one movie from 2004

1. Laguna Beach (MTV). Reality verité; the perfect docudrama, required viewing for budding sociologists.
2. 24 (Fox). Pulp of the highest order.
3. The Amazing Race (CBS). Eminently watchable.
4. Lost (ABC). For the sheer pleasure of Evangeline Lilly parading about in her knickers.
5. Six Feet Under (HBO). The best drama on television, perhaps the best of all time: a brilliant cast and brilliantly written. A melodrama about the family that works, and one that rings true. (Little-noticed: a virtually kid-free family, making it friendly for the childless urbanite.)
6. Pimp My Ride (MTV). A radical new idea for reality TV: make the contestant unbelievably happy without embarrassing them!
7. Network design at MTV and VH1. The only corporate branding on the airwaves that's both good and comprehensive.
8. Hardball with Chris Matthews (MSNBC). I love John Stewart as much as everyone else does, but Matthews was the go-to guy for the 2004 election. Crazy--from going after Zell Miller to hammering Jerry Falwell to slapping down the Swifties--and passionate (marathon convention coverage on everything under the sun).
9. The Apprentice (NBC). Why did it take so long to put the workplace under the lights? Reality and surreality (Trump's mane, natch).
10. Napoleon Dynamite (Fox Searchlight). Sweet; ligers and mad skills.