List off

Looks like you better stick to watching movies, American Film Institute. The AFI, not to be confused with girly man-fronted pop-punk band AFI, released their top 10 TV shows of the year, effectively sticking their snooty, elitists noses in our heretofore-unpretentious tube watching. Let's take a look at the pics, in alphabetical order (notice how they're too cowardly to do proper rankings):

Battlestar Galactica
Dexter
Elizabeth I
Friday Night Lights
Heroes
The Office
South Park
24
The West Wing
The Wire

Alright, movie boys, let's see where you went wrong. "Elizabeth I," huh? Oh man, I just couldn't wait each week to see the next crazy, wacky, unpredictable turn or how that wily Elizabeth I would get out of her next jam, and who doesn't remember that action-packed season finale - oh wait, that's a lie. Because "Elizabeth I" wasn't a series, it was a two-part mini-series! And not only that, it's not even American! You might as well have put one of PBS's airings of 15-year-old Britcom "Keeping Up Appearances." Plus, look at the picture - any production that makes up Helen Mirren into something from Boner Stopper Magazine is hardly the "best" anything.

Including "Dexter" when clearly the Showtime series catching buzz this year is "Weeds" is also weird. It's no "Dexter's Laboratory," that's for sure. "South Park" has indeed been on point this season, but where's "The Colbert Report," the most culturally-influential show on TV this year by a good mile?

"24," "BSG," "The Wire" and "The Office" are fine and sort of required picks if you want to sound smart like a smart guy. Putting "The West Wing" on there seems like wanting to suck up to Aaron Sorkin but not quite being to muster the courage required in saying that "Studio 60" is any good. "Friday Night Lights" and "Heroes" are two shows that seem to be good just because everyone has universally agreed on saying that they're good - even though I do enjoy the latter (although it kind of is "Lost" for dumb people at this point).

To help you get the taste of this so-called "list" out of your mouth, I'll be presenting the Channel Surfing "Surfies" for the past year or so in the near future - be glued to your desktop, laptop, PDA, phone or PSP folks. Or for my homeless fans, check it out at your local library.