Top 10 TV Series of 2010, plus More From The Passing Parade - Simon Applebaum - MediaBizBloggers

That time of year again, best of/worst of/top 10 of year season. Anticipating the barrage of lists ahead, and wondering what my fellow MediaBizBlogger Ed Martin will make of this, here's my choices of top 10 new series of 2010:

1) Boardwalk Empire/HBO...Stunning recreation of 1920s Atlantic City in the prohibition era, down to details you may have overlooked before. Great performances, writing and directing that the Emmy Award judges will find tough not to reward next fall.

2) Treme/HBO...The Wire creator David Simon and crew did it again with a multi-flavored portrait of New Orleans getting its spirit back post-Katrina. Khandi Alexander's shattering performance was one of the best on any TV network anywhere, and failed to get an Emmy nomination. The music sequences alone kept you moving to the beat.

3) The Walking Dead/AMC...Zombies dominate the landscape and humans must cope with them in this weekly exercise of bravura horror and metaphor. Bullseye adaptation of the Robert Kirkman graphic novels.

4) Rubicon/AMC...If you stayed with this series past the first few episodes, this clandestine conspiracy drama rewarded you. Total audience-wise, Rubicon did as well as the first season of Mad Menin 2007, but it couldn't get enough 18-34 audience for a second season.

5) Sym-bionic Titan/Cartoon Network...Genndy Tartakovsky, the Orson Welles of animated TV (Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack), is back with this cutting-edge mix of adventure, high school angst and pop culture satire. The best new show not getting attention from the critics.

6) Mad/Cartoon Network...What, someone doing Mad magazine on TV the way Madwas meant to be done on TV all along? Yes, and in great-to-take 15-minute chunks too.

7) Undercover Boss/CBS...Eye-opening view of the workplace from the standpoint of company kingpins working alongside their front-line employees. Here's a reality show that showcases reality as is, and celebrates people who go above/beyond in their daily duties.

8) Justified/FX...More than a sheriff/cop out of water tale, this drama has a nice, rich tapestry of characters and scenery, led by a breakout performance from star Timothy Oliphant.

9)Terriers/FX...A buddy detective tale that goes way beyond the buddy formalities. Top-notch writing and acting abounds in this series, which has the critics buzzing but not the public. If you want to be in the series-saving business, act now and watch wherever FX is playing it.

10) My Generation/ABC...Unique dramedy on how major events over the last decade impacted a group of college students, as captured by a documentary crew. Canned after two episodes thanks to low ratings, but give the producers credit for marching to a different drummer with a diverse cast, some of whom you'll come to love in the years ahead.

***Silicon Valley venture capital kingpin Kleiner Perkins recently teamed up with other players to create a $250 million fund for new social media ventures. Nice project...now how about creating a $250 million interactive TV application fund?

***From our hard-to-figure department: The Consumer Electronics Association can draw more than 2,500 companies to exhibit at its annual January CES fest in Las Vegas, and more than 80 exhibitors for its growing Line Shows midyear presentation in New York. With such clout, don't you find it surprising that only 21 exhibitors came out for CEA's annual CES preview for the New York press/analyst crowd last week? Not one TV venture in the bunch either.

***How great a holiday season this would be if more TV series developed their own charitable ventures. For inspiration, look to Sanctuary on Syfy, where creator/executive producer Damian Kindler, star Amanda Tapping and director Martin Wood have launched "Sanctuary For Kids," assisting children who have no place who need basic necessities and possibility-giving role models in their lives. Find out more at www.sanctuaryforkids.org. And if you know of a TV series-created charity project, e-mail me and we'll showcase it on a future edition of Tomorrow Will Be Televised.

Until the next time, stay well and stay tuned! Simon Applebaum is host/producer of Tomorrow Will Be Televised, the Internet radio/podcast-distributed program covering the TV scene. The program runs live Mondays/Fridays at 3 p.m. Eastern time, noon Pacific time, over www.blogtalkradio.com, with replays available 24/7 at www.blogtalkradio.com/simonapple04 and podcast. School distribution via Cable in the Classroom is available at www.ciconline.org/podcasts. Have a question or reaction? Make contact through simonapple04@yahoo.com.

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