The 10 Best Shows of 2010

When it comes to TV, 2010 was really a mixed bag, wasn't it? Yes, it was the year that gave us "The Glades," "Bridalplasty" and scads of fairly worthless freshmen series on the broadcast networks. It was a year when one of the few promising network series, "LoneStar," died a quick death, and when one of the more promising cable series, "Terriers," died a slightly longer death.
It was year when some dear old friends left us, including "Lost" and "24," creating a bit of a gap in the TV landscape.
Yet this was also the year that gave us the best season yet of AMC's "Breaking Bad." It was the year that gave us perhaps the best "Mad Men" episode to date, "The Suitcase." It was a year in which we were introduced to some fine new cable shows, including the nifty "Justified" and the elegant "Boardwalk Empire."
It was, as I said, a mixed bag. But there was plenty to be happy about. Below is my list of the 10 best shows of 2010. Some are what you would expect. Some aren't (I'm as surprised by my number 10 choice as you are). But all represent some of my best TV watching experiences of the year.

"30 for 30" preview: "The Best There Never Was"

"Are you who they say you are?"
That's the question asked of an unassuming truck driver at the start of "The Best That Never Was," ESPN's latest offering in its excellent "30 for 30" series of sport documentaries.
The answer to the question is yes: the burly but quiet guy behind the wheel of that truck is Marcus Dupree, who, in 1981, was football's next big thing. How the one-time high school phenom went from being bound for football greatness to driving a truck is the focus of this fascinating documentary that debuts Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Caution flags: "30 for 30" focuses on Tim Richmond's wild ride

Though I have great admiration for ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary series, which highlights a wide range of extraordinary, sports-related stories, I don't write about it much, for a few reasons. For one thing, though I have some rudimentary sports knowledge, I can't speak with great authority on most of the topics covered in the films. Thus, I'm worried I'll look like a moron if I write about them.
Also, I simply don't always have time to write about them before they air. But I have made an exception in the case of this week's offering "Tim Richmond: To the Limit," which airs 8 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN.

"30 For 30" makes a brief return

Ever since I began sharing living quarters with Mr. IScreen, there's been a distinct change in the kind of material viewed on our main TV.
When I lived alone, I rarely watched sports, let alone shows about sports. But, since I started living with a man, certain shows began creeping onto our DVR. Shows like HBO's "Real Sports," and "Hard Knocks," and Showtime's recent "Full Color Football." To my surprise, I kind of liked these shows. Because really, they aren't about sports. They're about people. They're about people with hopes, dreams, flaws and failings. They're about people who have achieved extraordinary things and/or encounter devastating, tragic setbacks.
Like any good TV program, these shows get beneath the surface of their subject matter to the universal humanity underneath. That's also true of ESPN's ongoing series "30 for 30," which began showing earlier this year.
The occasional series consists of documentaries about important sports stories of the past 30 years, each helmed by a different director. Barry Levinson directed Oct. 13's rousing "The Band That Wouldn't Die," about the Baltimore Colts Marching Band, and Peter Berg directed the series' first entry "Kings Ransom," about the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the L.A. Kings. Other documentaries that have aired so far include the tragic "Muhammad and Larry" and the entertaining, if poignant "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?"
Even if you're familiar with most of the stories (I, for one, was not), the "30 for 30" shows take a closer look at them, and tell them from a fresh perspective. The series has been on hiatus for a while, but returns on Saturday with "The U," a two-hour documentary about the University of Miami Hurricanes and their reinvention in the 1980s, after coach Howard Schnellenberger scoured Miami's ghettos to recruit predominantly black players to what was previous a mostly white school.
Directed by Billy Corben (whose 2006 doc "Cocaine Cowboys" is another favorite of Mr. IScreen), the documentary takes a probing, funny and fascinating look at race, class, politics and, of course, football. At two hours, "The U" is a bit overlong (all of the other shows have been only an hour in length), but the story it tells is worth the time.
Plus, it's probably for the best that this entry is meatier than the others, as it will be the last "30 for 30" to air until March. If you've seen the other "30 for 30" episodes, you'll want to catch this one, and if you haven't seen the others, you should start checking them out.
After all, they're not really about sports. They're about the people behind them.
"The U" airs Saturday at 9 p.m.
You can view a trailer for "The U" here.