Top 5 Favorite (New) Books Read in 2008

It's looking increasingly unlikely that I will meet the 50-Book Challenge. I am mired on 37. So I think it's high time to pull the trigger on a list I've been intending to write all year.

Ryan's Top 5:

1. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut - This book blew me away. While reading this book, I constantly thought to myself, "This is the great American novel." I think, when you've read 10+ Vonnegut books and feel you have a pretty good grasp on the author, you don't expect to find an undiscovered gem. But this book has every opportunity to stand beside Mother Night and Slaughterhouse-Five as my three favorite Vonnegut books.

2. Then We Came To The End - Joshua Ferris - What can I say, I love office culture and the books, movies, TV shows, etc., regarding it. Anyway, this book is written in the first-person plural--a fact which would strike one as seeming gimmicky, but it never comes off as such while reading it. Ferris cleverly inserts the singular author/narrator into the story at key moments. This book is also pretty funny. Good stuff. Incidentally, the first book I read this year.

3. Flight - Sherman Alexie - This book should be taught in schools. And it would be, too, if I had the ability to acquire any texts I want. But alas, I do not have said ability. Anyway, every high school kid--and especially every transient-population high school kid, and especially especially every foster child high school kid--should definitely read this mug. A quick, entertaining read with a powerful and refreshingly simple message: violence blows.

4. When You Are Engulfed By Flames - David Sedaris - I don't think I will ever like this more than Corduroy or Me Talk Pretty One Day, but so what? Those books are damn good, and so is this one. Nuts to anyone who said this book was a weaker effort from Sedaris, that he was writing about lighter, less interesting material. Bullshit. Sedaris' masterful ability to coax the Funny and the Interesting from any incident--no matter how mundance--is veritably unparalleled.

5. The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs - A fun and interesting read on modern, and ancient, Judeo-Christian beliefs. I learned more from this book than I did from 15 years (read: 15 Easters) of church.

Honorables: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Tom Stoppard; Armageddon in Retrospect, by Kurt Vonnegut; Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem; others.


Dan's Top 5:

1. Watchmen - Alan Moore - Fuck it, I'm just going to reprint my review that I gave it:

In the entire set of books I've read, I've only reread two. Watchmen is one of them. First, being a graphic novel, it's fairly easy to reread. However, even if it were a printed novel of more than four hundred words, I imagine I'd still be rereading it, because it's a great piece of literature.

But then, one of its key successes is what Moore tried to use it to prove - that comics can achieve things that neither film nor printed novels can. (I use "comics" out of respect for Moore, who as I understand it, didn't like the term "graphic novel.") It's easy to dismiss the whole medium of comics after associating them with superhero-based periodical magazines seemingly fueled by sugar and adrenaline, a few steps away from being printed versions of adventurous Saturday morning cartoons. Watchmen changed that and showed that comics could be used to create something great and truly artistic.

This is literature.

It is ironic then, that Moore does this by using superheroes and masked vigilantes. However, every single one of them has their own flaws and depths. Most have a chapter dedicated mainly to them, so that you can gain an appreciation for their character. By far the most popular character to try to dissect is Rorschach, the trenchcoat-clad vigilante whose journal helps narrate the book. As the plot progresses, we can see both a perception of the world that is devoid of any existence of morality and a deep-rooted desire to uphold certain values and principles at any cost.

I imagine that many people will be reading this book in the coming months as the upcoming movie adaptation is hyped amongst the circles of the book's adoring fans. With the degree of achievement that this comic represents, it is not a question of how well the movie will succeed in recreating Watchmen, but how little it will fail. It is hard to imagine a comic approaching this level of perfection again.

There will likely be some who cannot get past the concept of reading a comic and taking it seriously, thus putting it down soon after they start reading. If you've never read comics before, then this book will change your views on what they are able to accomplish, as long as you are able to check any preconceptions at the door. If you have read comics before, but you've never read Watchmen, then be prepared to drink from the Holy Grail.

2. High Fidelity - Nick Hornby - I'm amazed it took me so long to read this book, but then again, I'm a slow reader. There's enough difference from the movie that I can say it was really worth the read, and it provided a fresh new lease on the story. I'm sort of sad and frightened at how well some guy from England knows my life story. You know, except for all the sex that was added to make it interesting.

3. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris - One of the stories in this collection - Town and Country - made me realize just how genius that Sedaris' work is. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the whole story and then reread the very first sentence. The circular irony - if I can call it that - takes the story beyond funny and into a realm of the-joke's-on-you that I had previously believed only Andy Kaufman was in.

4. Batman: The Long Halloween - Jeph Loeb - Another graphic novel makes the list, and this may be the best Batman story out there. It's another story that transcends - or expands - its medium. It's really a classic film-noir detective story. It should earn respect as being one of the primary inspirations for The Dark Knight, which many - including myself - are hailing as the best movie adaptation ever of the world of comics.

5. Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson - Corey Seymour - Quite a nice account of the entire life of The Doctor. I have a suspicion that there are better biographies to come, especially if they don't paint such a dreary picture of Thompson's later years, but this serves as a fantastic introduction to understanding the man for those, like myself, who missed his glory years.

Tim's Top 5:

Wow. Apparently this blog still exists. I'm at 59 books for the year, so it's odd that coming up with 5 I loved is so difficult, but so it goes. For a year I intended to plow through most of Shakespeare and Vonnegut...I've read nary a page of either. The number afterward is, of course, the number in the sequence of 59 books where the books were read. Why? Because Ryan mentioned that one book was first and I'm borderline OCD about tracking things that mean nothing. As a modest response to the other lists, I've read The Year of Living Biblically (in January) and High Fidelity (several times years ago), and will never understand people's love for David Sedaris -- nor why I keep trying to give him additional opportunities to make me understand.

1. Werewolves in Their Youth by Michael Chabon - This book is, I think, my favorite thing Chabon has ever written. Though I've yet to complete Kavalier and Clay (and that's the only thing I haven't read), from the half-book I've read, I'm going to find it an unlikely suitor to replace this collection of short stories. The title story is profoundly touching and one of the best instances in creating an offbeat narrator with whom a reader can nonetheless connect, and the remainder of the book is about on par with it. It's a fantastic work that thumps even Raymond Carver's best work when it comes to short story-writing. (#18)

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - This is a book that I was consciously reminding myself to be skeptical toward. It's fish-in-a-barrel, right? It's not compelling to basically turn an Asperger's kid into a narrator, it's just Rain Man in book form. Right? Well, if so, it's compelling anyway. The book is emotionally compelling and manages to have a narrator who is by definition static but creates a story that simply changes the reader instead of the narrative voice. (#29)

3. The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer - The entirety of Mailer's novel seems so exceptionally odd in every way that it's hard to remind yourself that it really happened. Gary Gilmore, a perfectly ordinary petty criminal with sociopathic tendencies, became a man of huge fame solely because he wanted to die rather than linger in prison for ages. The story of him fighting for his execution while others fight to stop it and others (including Mailer himself, it turns out) fight to make money off selling the story to Hollywood is surreal and bizarre, but gripping, particularly after the first 200 pages or so. It's a good thing, since there's another 800 after that, but it's generally intriguing and a sad tale for everyone involved. It also doesn't hurt that I read much of this book in Spain and some in Morocco. I loved Spain...and enjoyed certain elements of Morocco (#20)

4. Rome 1960: the Olympics that Changed the World by David Maraniss - Both of Maraniss's books really struck me as impressive works of biography, but this one offered a reasonable biography of around a dozen people in the context of a few weeks in the Olympics. Although I'd grown up adoring the olympics, you didn't hear of 1960 -- 1968 had Bob Beamon, 1972 had Mark Spitz and terrorists, 1984 was Carl Lewis, and 1936 was Jesse Owens. 1960...1960 was nothing. Rafer Johnson wasn't a name, Cassius Clay wasn't an Olympian. Maraniss' book brings the intrigue of the Cold War and the clash of a East/West Olympics to vivid life and doesn't limit it solely to the American perspective -- though that is obviously the primary emphasis. Less emotional than Clemente, which is one of the saddest books I've read, it nonetheless carries a punch. (#40)

5. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer - Murder and religion make a compelling pair. I'm a sucker for Krakauer's book, and this one was more educational than I would have anticipated. Far from being the anti-Mormon screed that the LDS church has made it out to be, it details a lot of their history in what strikes me as a profoundly even-handed manner and constantly emphasizes the differences between fundamentalist LDS and ordinary LDS -- so much that I think it takes it really easy on LDS and its numerous withdrawals from these once-preeminent tenets of their church. (#22)

Honorable mention: The 33-Year-Old Rookie by Chris Coste (#30), Bloody Confused! by Chuck Culpepper (have I mentioned that I am enamored with Premier League soccer? Maybe I need to try Fever Pitch again) (#55), Havana Nocturne: How The Mob Owned Cuba…and then Lost It To the Revolution by T.J. English (#41), Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile (#1), Clemente: the Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero by David Maraniss (the end of this book is as upsetting as anything I have ever read) (#46), The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (#58)

Top 5 80's Sitcoms

This is my way of taking a break from music-based lists in a creative way. Either that or this is my way of punishing the rest of you by not keeping up the recent streak we've had. (80's non-musical entertainment = punishment)

Dan's Top 5:

1. Perfect Strangers - When you're growing up, there are certain television programs that are introduced to you during your formative years that you will always remember. I was a big fan of Sesame Street, Zoobilee Zoo, and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, for example. Then there's your first experiences with programming that's not necessarily intended for children. For me, this was that show. Now able to revisit the series on DVD, I realize that while this is your basic sitcom, the humor is perfectly executed. The same recycled sitcom humor is perfectly supplemented with a degree of slapstick comedy that you don't normally see in sitcoms (Just take one look at the "Dance of Joy" and you should see what I mean). Also has one of the best theme songs ever.

2. Cheers - If we're going with sheer quality and lasting impact, this might make my #1, but it doesn't have the personal connection, since I only watched it during reruns. With great characters, funny writing, and the affirmation that it's not only not necessarily sad, but also perfectly acceptable to spend a hearty chunk of your life in the same drinking establishment to the point that Everybody Knows Your Name, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this show. Hey wait, have we done Top 5 TV Show Theme Songs yet?

3. The Cosby Show - There's really nothing to say about The Cosby Show, is there? If I have to explain anything, then it means that you haven't watched 100+ episodes by now, thus meaning that you've probably been cut off from the rest of humanity since 1984. Man, you could learn so much about good taste from this site.

4. ALF - You can tell that I was a kid during the 80's. All that I can really remember was that this show was amazing because its main character, an alien life form from Melmac, was a puppet. I was at an age when I couldn't even commit his obsession with eating the cat to memory. But really, isn't the puppet sufficient? Just look at any other sitcom from the era, and I think you'll agree.

5. Family Ties - I've always had appreciation for the talent of Michael J. Fox, and about 105% of that comes from my love of the Back to the Future films. The rest comes from this show. I've put it so low because the entire premise of the show is that Alex Keaton is a Republican. Even in the 80's, that loses you significant points.

Ryan's Top 5:

1. Cheers - The quintessential sitcom. The best of the 1980's and one of the best of all-time. Bonus points for its spin-off series also being one of the best of all-time. I refer of course to "Made in America" with John Ratzenberger.

2. The Cosby Show - I watched this as a kid in the 1980's, but I re-watched the entire series as a teenager in the late 1990's--late night, two episodes per night. It got kind of kooky toward the end, but not nearly as kooky as other shows that more thoroughly jump the shark.

3. The Wonder Years - I didn't immediately think of this as a sitcom, but I think that's mainly because this show isn't filmed in front of a live studio audience. It also went from 1987-1992, but I'm counting it as an 80's show, bolstered by the fact that I left it off the previous 1990's list for the same reasoning. Anyway, this show was pivotal, introducing Winnie Cooper as the paradigm for childhood girlfriends.

4. Night Court - Speaking of greatest TV theme songs...

5. Newhart - I watched this when I was a kid on Nick-at-Nite. Highlights include the following quote, which is still fun to say: "Hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl, this is my other brother Darryl"; and the fact that they wrote off the entire series in the finale. Brilliant.

Tim's Top 5:

I can't bring myself to call The Wonder Years a sitcom, so my list is limited. All my shows also fall in the latter half of the '80s for the simple reason that I was too busy being barely sentient until about 1986, when I discovered baseball cards.

1. The Cosby Show - This was the show my life was centered on during the key pre-Simpsons formative years. Sure, it hit rough patches (the seasons with the funky opening credits, the introduction of Rudy), but it was a consistently funny TV comedy that also somehow managed to avoid the pathetic racial stereotyping and demographic comedy that has become the norm (thanks, George Lopez, D.L. Hughley, Damon Wayons, and every other ABC sitcom star). This was an African-American family that achieved actual success, had educated kids and parents, and they occasionally got in car accidents with Stevie Wonder. If only we could all live like the Huxtibles.

2. Cheers - This is the only show I feel any need to watch now, having bought the first two seasons on DVD, but I'd be lying if I said it was the one that got me through the 1980s. The show dealt with character change better than perhaps any other, replacing Shelley Long with Kirstie Alley, replacing Coach with Woody Harrelson, and had a good run. It's consistently funny, it's aged better than any of the other 1980s shows, and its only downside is the continued career of Ted Danson. For shame, Ted Danson.

3. Mr. Belvedere - Ah, Bob Uecker, have you ever made a mistake that didn't involve being in the Major League movies after the first one? (Note that I decline to call them Major League II and III, because the third one isn't called Major League III...hence my moral superiority at declining to call it by that name) The premise of the show is simple enough, but it involved things I enjoy -- sports and British people. Brice Beckham was one of the better child stars of the 1980s and Christopher Hewett oozed contempt for modern America.

4. Married...with Children - It began in the 1980s, I started watching it in 1989 and it took me a while to appreciate how truly different this show was. There simply wasn't (and really, still isn't) a show that's this casually offensive on network television. Growing Pains had a character named Boner, but it was never mentioned, this show had a daughter who was a slut, a father who spent the majority of his time on camera with his hand in his pants, and had more sex references than pretty much anything before or since. It definitely got bad in its latter years, but on the horizon of sitcoms...it's a welcome difference.

5. Head of the Class - We're talking about Howard Hesseman Head of the Class, not Billy Connolly Head of the Class, but Hesseman didn't last very long, so I'm including this just because I remember a few humorous moments, and it was also a source of some enlightenment. Every generation needs a good school comedy, and frankly, since this one, the genre's been relegated to kids' shows like Saved by the Bell or Fox's awful attempts.

Honorable mention: I got to five without mentioning Night Court, which was unintentional, but not worth correcting, given my inclusion of several new shows here. Dear John was also a pretty good show, though I don't know how much of it I actually saw.

Top 5 Years in Music

I felt like doing something huge for our 75th list. A quick note - This list employs album release dates as the main metric of quality. Some musical events are also noted. This is by far the most I've written for a Top 5 in quite some time. The only uncertainty I have is considering switching #4 and #5.

Dan’s Top 5:

1. 1994 - A tough call to go with this or '67, but I feel that '94 was more of a unversal happening, while the events of '67 were based too much in California. In 1994, Kurt Cobain commits suicide, which is kind of a downer, but eventually ensures that Nirvana will never die. More importantly, it marks the end of Grunge, and the music industry scrambles for anything to fill the void. Weezer's eponymous debut, universally known as The Blue Album, is released and is probably one of the best achievements of the 90's. Oasis debuts with Definitely Maybe. Beck debuts with Mellow Gold. Hootie and the Blowfish debut with Cracked Rear View. Also released are Green Day's Dookie and Soundgarden's Superunknown. The year proves to the world that good music has survived the end of the 80's and the beginning of the 90's. It's just now known as "alternative."

2. 1967 - The Summer of Love. The organization of the Monterey Pop Festival in California was probably the best thing to happen to rock music. Oh, and albums released included Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles), Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Pink Floyd's Debut), Are You Experienced? (The Jimi Hendix Experience's debut), and Disraeli Gears (Cream). Pretty decisive, but just not near and dear to my heart enough to call it #1.


3. 1982 - The 80's begins to take off, along with all its excess. Michael Jackson's Thriller is released, only to become the best selling album of all time. Iron Maiden's Number of The Beast, in my opinion the greatest metal album of all time, is also released. Singles included "Ebony and Ivory" (Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder), "Come On Eileen" (Dexys Midnight Runners), "I Love Rock and Roll" (Joan Jett), "Jack and Diane" (John Cougar Mellencamp), "I Ran" (A Flock of Seagulls), and "Africa" (Toto). It was the year that set the precedent for mega-hits that would define the 80's.

4. 1977 - Punk explodes in probably the briefest, yet most powerful musical movement ever. Meanwhile, progressive rock enjoys its final mainstream success. Low and "Heroes" are released by David Bowie, Peter Gabriel begins his solo career, and a number of notable albums are released, including Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols (The Sex Pistols), Talking Heads: 77 (Talking Heads), The Clash (The Clash), Point of Know Return (Kansas), and The Grand Illusion (Styx).

5. 1973 - A landmark year for a transition period in rock, with many beginning to claim that Rock and Roll is dead. Bowie releases Aladdin Sane and retires his Ziggy Stardust stage persona in July at the Hammersmith Odeon. The Dark Side of the Moon (my favorite album of all time) is released by Pink Floyd and would spend a total of 741 weeks (or 14 years) on the Billboard 200 charts. Band on the Run, arguably his best solo work, is released by Paul McCartney. CBGB's (Country, Bluegrass and Blues) opens in Manhattan. Also, Quadrophenia is released by The Who.

Honorable Mentions (chronological order):
1971 - Led Zeppelin IV, Madman Across the Water, and Who's Next are released. That's almost enough to warrant inclusion alone.
1985 - "We Are The World" is released and Live Aid proves to be the world's greatest concert and features Queen's greatest performance.
2005 - Good music refuses to die as bands such as The Killers and Franz Ferdinand enjoy amazing worldwide success. Pink Floyd are reunited for Bob Geldof's Live 8.

Ryan's Top Five

1. 1967 - Dan said it pretty well. I consistently change my favorite Beatles album, but Sgt. Pepper has probably spent the most time in the spot. I'll throw in some other random stuff that happened in '67: Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar for the first time onstage; The Beatles famously played "All You Need Is Love" live internationally (the first time this was ever done); The Doors performed "Light My Fire" on Ed Sullivan and refused to censor the (already pretty tame) lyrics; the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine was published; The Velvet Underground and Nico and John Wesley Harding were released; etc.

2. 1977 - Never mind the bollocks, this year fucking ruled.

3. 1964 - The beginning of the British invasion with The Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which would ultimately lead to an Anglophilia in America and, decades later, Ryan Fox; The Rolling Stones debut album; "A Hard Day's Night," both album and movie; The Kinks' "The Kinks"; The Beatles at one time owning all top 5 singles on the Billboard Chart; all in all, a good time to listen to tunes.

4. 1994 - I won't try to improve on Dan's interpretation of this year. Personally, I'll add that this was the year I finally got a CD player, and Weezer's "Blue Album," and Real Music began for Ryan.

5. 1969 - I wanted to include a year from the '80s because I do love New Wave, but honestly I can't pinpoint a single year from the decade; I like to pick and choose what good occurred in said decade (for example, "True" by Spandau Ballet). Anyway, Woodstock and the other best Beatles' album, Abbey Road, marked the end of an era.

Tim's Top 5:
1. 1966 – Yeah, sure, everyone loves 1967, but the foundation of 1967 was all in 1966, which had great contributions from all the essential artists of the 1960s -- The Beatles, Dylan, The Stones, as well as the greatest rock 'n' roll song of all time -- Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'". The Beatles – Revolver; The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds; The Who – A Quick One; Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde; The Rolling Stones - Aftermath; Simon & Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence; Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield; “Gimme Some Lovin’” by The Spencer Davis Group; “Hold on! I’m comin!” by Sam and Dave; “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations; “Red Rubber Ball” by The Cyrkle; “A Well-Respected Man” by The Kinks

2. 1972 – The birth of Big Star forces me to mention it, but the arrival of Springsteen, Ziggy Stardust, and Exile on Main Street make it easy to rationalize anyway. Big Star - #1 Record – Big Star; Bruce Springsteen - Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J; David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars; The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St.; Stevie Wonder – Talking Book; The Allman Brothers Band – Eat a Peach; The Eagles – The Eagles; Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come; Hot August Night – Neil Diamond; Al Green – Let’s Stay Together; Paul Simon – Paul Simon; Nick Drake – Pink Moon; “American Pie” by Don McLean; “Amie” by Pure Prairie League; “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper

3. 1965 – Not only did I not put 1967 first, it falls behind a year that's blessed with two Beatles albums. The Who and The Zombies release their first albums, the Stones release "Satisfaction"...and The Beatles abandon other people's work forever on Rubber Soul. Rock was reinvented like never before...and Highway 61 and "Like a Rolling Stone" enter the canon. The Beatles – Help!; The Beatles – Rubber Soul; Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home; Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited; The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man; The Who – The Who Sings My Generation; The Zombies – The Zombies; “Hang On Sloopy” by the McCoys; The Righteous Brothers – “Unchained Melody”; The Rolling Stones – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”; “California Dreamin’” – The Mamas and the Papas; “In the Midnight Hour” – Wilson Pickett; The Beatles - “We Can Work It Out”

4. 1997 – My favorite Guided by Voices album, The Old 97's first foray into a more rock-oriented sound, and some solid contributions from some artists that I'd figured were dead and gone make 1997 a solid choice here, though it's close with 1998. Elliott Smith – Either/Or; The Old 97’s – Too Far To Care; Cornershop – When I Was Born For the 7th Time; Bob Dylan – Time Out Of Mind; Ben Folds Five – Whatever and Ever Amen; Guided by Voices – Mag Earwhig!; Oasis – Be Here Now; Matthew Sweet – Blue Sky on Mars; Paul McCartney – Flaming Pie; Dandy Warhols - …Dandy Warhols Come Down; Jay-Z – Vol. 1 – In My Lifetime

5. 1975 – Born to Run and Blood on the Tracks are all that matter here, everything else is just gravy. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run; Big Star – Third; Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks, Queen – A Night at the Opera; Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years; Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here; David Bowie – Young Americans; Bob Marley and the Wailers “No Woman No Cry (live)”

Honorable mentions: The other stuff they mentioned. For the record, I'm only judging these years by the good music they contained. The fact that Hanson, Matchbox 20, and similar song terrorists existed was simply ignored.

Top 5 TV Shows, 1990-1999

Defined however you wish--you can include dramas if you want, but, meh on this end. I'm going with shows that had their prominent run in the 90s--so, though The Simpsons debuted in the 80s, it was 90s show. By that same token, I don't consider Cheers a 90s show, but you may disagree.

Ryan's Top 5:

1. The Simpsons - The greatest TV show ever made, bar none.

2. Seinfeld - The early seasons were a bit sketchy, but you accept it because after season 2 the series was perfection.

3. The Critic - I wish the series were longer than it is, but it's still excellent. Really the only non-kid-centric animated show that has truly achieved what every show aspires to: a funny show that is similar to, but not a complete ripoff of, The Simpsons.

4. Frasier - Excellent writing and a cast that gelled. David Hyde Pierce is hilarious. (If you don't believe me, rent Wet Hot American Summer. Or, you know, Frasier.)

5. Friends - I'm not sure how comfortable I feel putting this here, because I like 1-4 a lot more, but it really was better than most TV shows. Unless I'm forgetting something obvious.

5. Saturday Night Live, 1990-1996 - OK, maybe I'm breaking my rules here a bit. SNL has become so bad that it's easy to forget a time when it had some of the best comedy on TV. There were occasional funny moments after 1996, but I figure that's the season where it ceased being better than most other shows on TV. From 91-95, SNL was the TV event I most looked forward to week to week, aside from Seinfeld and Simpsons.

Honorable mentions: The Wonder Years (I count it an 80s show), Northern Exposure, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Doug, Pete & Pete. If I'm going solely for personal favorites I'd put Doug at about #2-3, but, you know. Occasionally I try to be objective.

Dan's Top 5:

I should note that my list, if I were truly being accurate, would be a carbon copy of Ryan's. Well, with possible exception of #5, as I didn't really like "Friends" too much, though it probably belongs there just out of sheer cultural relevance. With that in mind, I am going to refrain from using any of his shows in my list for the sake of diversity. Now that that's out of the way...

1. The X-Files - I should say that I never watched this show regularly, but it always interested me. Obviously it interested a lot of people, as they released a movie before the series was even over. Another fairly unique concept, though - a paranormal mystery show. If you really think about it, the success of this show really coincided with the anti-government sentiment and conspiracy theory mentality of the time. A real zeitgeist show. My first encounter with the show was season 2, episode 2 - "The Host," which is apparently a classic.

2. The Wonder Years - I love the concept: a middle-to-high-school comedy/drama set twenty years prior and not in front of a studio audience. The show was accessible to all while still addressing the events and issues of the time depicted. Also features Daniel stern in his only respectable role as the protagonist narrator.

3. Dinosaurs - The show that everyone forgets about. Another sitcom, this one was remarkable in that it was made with a cast of nothing but Jim Henson creatures. When you look back at it, it really was a fairly good parody of modern human society, with a number of topical issues arising, as in every good sitcom. Nonetheless, it was pretty fun to watch.

4. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? - I would watch this religiously every afternoon, and really, this show, when coupled with the Carmen Sandiego board game I had, is responsible for 90% of my knowledge of geography. Also features probably the best damn theme song ever, and is the second-longest-running kid's game show on record (Double Dare being the longest).

5. Family Matters - Probably one of the better sitcoms of the decade. For better or worse, this was the show responsible for the Steve Urkel sensation, which got annoying after a while, especially as the series became more and more dependent on the character. By the end, it was a comedy not about an African-American family's daily life, but about a mad scientist teenager's latest invention. Nonetheless, it comes in second only to The Jeffersons as one of the longest-running sitcoms with a predominantly black cast.

Tory's Top 5:

1. Frasier - This is my personal favorite. Everything about this show is perfect.

2. The Simpsons - Number 1 and 2 are so hard to differentiate between. They're almost neck and neck, but I just love Frasier.

3. Seinfeld - Though I am not the biggest fan of this how, I understand its brilliance.

4. Everybody Loves Raymond - Every single show was a hit. There were no misses.

5. Boy Meets World - I think this show gets overlooked because of its beginning seasons that weren't quite as good as its latter years. People seem to see it as a younger more family oriented show in the vein of Full House, where it is actually surprisingly smart.

Honorable mentions: The Critic, it's bad when you haven't seen all of the episodes of a show with 20-something episodes; Friends; 3rd Rock from the sun, which seems commonly forgotten about.

Tim's Top 5:
1) The Simpsons - No argument with Ryan here, as much as I may love the others on the list, this was great for an entire decade, and I'm learning as they release more DVD seasons that it's hard to not be wistful even for mediocre things like Season 11, just because it's been so long since I've seen them.

2) Mystery Science Theater 3000 - This was really revolutionarily awesome and got me into movies, comedy, and lack of a social life -- three passions I continue to this day.

3) Seinfeld - It took me a couple years to get into it, but every season is essential owning.

4) Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist - Yeah, it turns out that my habit of watching only two channels is not so new after all.

5) NewsRadio - Ok, forget the post-Phil Hartman stuff, yes, Andy Dick is annoying, but NewsRadio was a really high-quality show.

Honorable mention: Picket Fences, The Critic (its greatness has been partly ruined by the fact that I saw every episode 40 times during its reruns on Comedy Central), SportsCenter, The Awful Truth (half the show was in 2000, but half the show wasn't very much).

Top 5 Comedies Since 2000

I almost went with "Top 5 Movies Since 2000," but after checking my list and seeing that they were all comedies, I figured I'd give myself a chance of being in line with normal movie-going folk.

I only ever watch comedies--given, some darker than others--now, it seems.

Ryan's Top 5:

1. Hot Fuzz - OK, this one may be a bit premature...but it just feels more complete than Shaun of the Dead, what can I say. This is a tie, really.

2. Shaun of the Dead - See above. These guys are immensely talented comedians. The scripts are so intricately woven...I really don't know how 1 or 2 could be better.

3. High Fidelity - Great book, great movie. Nick Hornby writes books that just beg to be made into movies that don't involve baseball.

4. Snatch - I forgot to include what used to be my favorite movie. Really funny, and the soundtrack kicks ass.

5. Wonder Boys - Great book, great movie. Katie Holmes doesn't ruin it, and Robert Downey, Jr., actually creates a better character in the movie than the novel's counterpart, in my mind. I know this isn't a book-movie comparison, but the movie is certainly more light-hearted--and more directly concerned with comedy, albeit the dark variety.

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*6. Sideways - My impulse is not to include this, but then I think about Thomas Haden Church...every line he says is funny.

Honorable mentions/I wasn't sure how much "comedy" they actually were, in no order:

About Schmidt
Love Actually
The Royal Tenenbaums (comedy?)
About a Boy
Life Aquatic (comedy? I still stand by my assertion that I've had since it came out: this movie is like Wes Anderson made a feature-length Max Fischer play)
Wallace and Gromit

Tim's Top 5

My list is relatively unpredictable precisely because three of the five on the list aren’t really comedic in the ha ha sense.

1) Catch Me If You Can – There’s not a joke in the film, but it’s lighthearted enough that it’s really hard to call it anything but a comedy. I think it’s undoubtedly Spielberg’s best effort at filmmaking. He’s made more significant films, but he actually made this one what it was.

2) About a Boy – It’d have to be #1, if it weren’t for the weak ending. That said, the book upon which it was based suffered from the same deficiency…and the ending of the book, like all of Hornby’s novels, is just flat out mediocre.

3) Wonder Boys – A movie I really didn’t care much for the first time I saw it, but it’s grown on me and become one of my favorite movies, and one of the few that I watch with any regularity.

4) Team America: World Police – I took ages to see it, but it was well worth the wait. It has its shortcomings – it’s overly crude and targets too many people, but Kim Jong Il’s panthers, “Matt Damon!”, The End of An Act and freedom costing a buck o’five work magic for me.

5) Stranger Than Fiction – Again, it’s not a pure comedy, but it’s one of the most literary films in ages and just seems pitch perfect from start to finish. Will Ferrell’s performance really warranted a film that more than a dozen people would see, but it was rightly 2006’s Best Picture. And yet it's only fifth on this list...which tells you a lot about 2006.

Here’s four more that could have made the list, only the first three are really comedies in their pure form.
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Meet the Parents
Thank You For Smoking
Big Fish
Love Actually

For the record, I've seen neither Hot Fuzz nor Shaun of the Dead.

Dan's Top 5:

1. Snatch - Probably the best use of plot ever, full of hilarious situations.

2. High Fidelity - The film that supplements my music addiction.

3. Hot Fuzz - I loved this film even better than Shaun of the Dead, and that's saying something.

4. Sideways - A good film that reminds me I'm never as depressed as I could be.

5. For Your Consideration - Christopher Guest and crew are hilarious in this unscripted parody of modern moviemaking.

Tory's Top 5:

1. Sideways - The best movie ever made.

2. Amelie - Beautiful in every way. It is hilarious and brilliantly made. Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a genius.

3. High Fidelity - I don't need to explain as it's on every other list here.

4. Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny - Let's face it. Despite it not being number one on my list (that is because it didn't have Alexander Payne, Jean-Pierre or Stephen Frears at the helm in favor of Liam Lynch) it is still the funniest movie ever made (for Ryan's sake I'll say tied with Office Space.)

5. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - You all put it in honorable mentions, but I think that it is hilarious, and of course extremely well done since Wes Anderson directed it.