The Best Year for [X]

[Lumenskir]

So, I just realized that 2006 was objectively the best year for television ever.

Between 1/1/2006 and 12/31/2006 a person could have watched first run episodes of

• The Wire (Season 4 specifically, aka the greatest season of any television series ever)
• The Sopranos
• Deadwood
• Friday Night Lights
• Arrested Development
• How I Met Your Mother (Season 2)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (All of Season 2)
• The Office
• 30 Rock
• Lost
• Top Chef
• Extras
• Dexter (the good season)

This list doesn't even include a bunch of other decent shows that weren't necessarily the top of the top in terms of quality but were still highly enjoyable, like The Loop, those episodes of Heroes people liked before everyone realized that it sucked ass, the pilot episode of Studio 60, Danny Devito's first It's Always Sunny season, etc. etc.

Now, since then we probably have a far greater breadth of good-to-great series (since AMC, FX, and HBO are all in some sort of quality arms race for dramas and networks actually care bout sitcoms again), but I don't know when the next time so many "Best Shows Ever" will air in the same year again.

And that got me thinking that there are probably loads of other years that were the best for particular media, like how people will claim that 1939 or 1973 or something had the largest number of truly great films. I'm kind of researched out on TV at this point, but I'm guessing somebody out there has had something like the same thought for another medium.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

1985- Rocky 4, Commando, Rambo 2, Invasion USA, Birth of SMB- year of kicking ass!