Best Of 2008: Top 20 Shows (11-15)

11. House

Despite a slight drop in ratings, Hugh Laurie’s portrayal of Dr. Gregory House remains one of prime time’s most detestable, delectable, and downright watchable roles. Love him or hate him, you marvel at the entertainment value of this insufferable egomaniac with a heart. Then there’s the added value of getting Omar Epps and Olivia Wilde, who have added another layer of sizzle to an already hot show.

12. Sanctuary

Sci Fi is on a roll, and this series that has us paging through the dictionary for the words xenobiology and cryptozoology (you’ll have to look it up for yourself) is a big reason for that success. The producers brought in the wondrous Amanda Tapping from ‘Stargate,’ and she brought her following, and the show been a bright light on a network that already has enough bright lights for its own galaxy.

13. Ace of Cakes

In some households, Duff Goldman is a superstar. The affable proprietor of Baltimore’s Charm City Cakes is to cake making what Frank Gehry is to buildings – a genius with a talent to match a remarkable vision. That’s why this show about simply making cakes comes off as a Betty Crocker bake-off re-imagined by Baz Luhrmann. One might say finally a show with taste, but that’s the downside of ‘Ace.’ We never get to try a piece.

14. Burn Notice

The USA says characters are welcome – and they found one in this thriller about a secret agent who was cut off, or burned, by his agency, and reinvents himself as a Miami-based PI. Toss in sexy Gabrielle Anwar in a wife beater, and you have the definition of a good time in the summer sun, which is exactly why this hot show worked so well.

15. Jon & Kate Plus 8

Why is it relaxing to watch a couple try to cope with and manager their eight children? Probably because we don’t have to do it. Or maybe because Jon and Kate Gosselin, despite their detractors (some have criticized her for exploiting her children – sextuplets and a set of twins), serve as real life reminders on their TLC hit that nothing is as important as family, that the little things really are little, and love triumphs over mountains of laundry, dirty diapers, and everything else.