Metacritic - Best of 2009: Television Critic Top Ten Lists

 This is an exact copy/paste of Metacritic's old aggregate year end list. Since being under new management, they have taken down these lists and discontinued the process. This is here purely for archival reasons 

A roundup of television critic Top 10 lists for 2009

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A winner of virtually every television award for Best Drama over the past year, AMC's "Mad Men" was also a winner with critics, who added the third-year show to their year-end Best of 2009 lists more often than any other program. In fact, "Mad Men" didn't just appear on those lists; it tended to appear in the #1 position.

ABC's single-camera sitcom "Modern Family" led a crop of four freshman programs that landed in the top 10 of top-10-list mentions, with Fox's hit musical "Glee," NBC's struggling Amy Poehler comedy "Parks and Recreation" and Showtime's Edie Falco dramedy "Nurse Jackie" filling out that group. "Modern Family" also earned honors as the most-saluted comedy of the year. For "Parks and Recreation," the turnaround in critical reception is noticeable; the show received a mediocre Metascore of 59 when it debuted in April, but critics (and any remaining viewers) have noticed a marked jump in quality in Season 2.

The remaining shows that appeared with some frequency on the critic lists are tallied in the table below. Remember that our summary list is not weighted or scored in any way; shows are simply ranked by the frequency with which they appear in critic Top 10 lists, in any position on those lists. (The number of times they appear in the #1 position is indicated as a convenience.) A full list of publications used -- with links to many of the individual lists -- appears beneath the table. And keep in mind that this isn't an exact science; some critics had definite rankings, while the order of shows in other lists was a bit fuzzier.

TV Shows with Most Mentions in Year-End Critic Top 10 Lists, 2009
 Show (Network)Genre# 1'sTop Ten Lists
1Mad Men (AMC)Drama1020
2Lost (ABC)Drama214
3Modern Family (ABC)Comedy213
4Glee (Fox)Musical212
5Breaking Bad (AMC)Drama011
5Friday Night Lights (DirectTV 101/NBC)Drama011
5Nurse Jackie (Showtime)Comedy/Drama111
8Big Love (HBO)Drama010
8Parks and Recreation (NBC)Comedy110
8True Blood (HBO)Fantasy110
11Sons of Anarchy (FX)Drama08
1230 Rock (NBC)Comedy07
12Dexter (Showtime)Drama17
14The Good Wife (CBS)Drama06
14The Office (NBC)Comedy06
16Chuck (NBC)Action/Comedy05
16Party Down (Starz)Comedy05
18Battlestar Galactica (Syfy)Sci-Fi04
18Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)Comedy14
18The Big Bang Theory (CBS)Comedy04
18The Middle (ABC)Comedy04
18Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC America)Sci-Fi04

The 25 individual Best of 2009 lists used to compile the above data were from (with their #1 overall pick indicated):

The following lists are not included in the results above because they either are divided into multiple categories or offer an alternative take on the year (e.g., worst shows, best episodes, etc.).

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