The entertainment industry came to a grinding halt when the Writer’s Guild went on strike. Things started to escalate when stars, in support of their writers, decided not to attend the annual Golden Globes. Viewers were left with re-runs and constantly checking their TV guides in search of some good entertainment. However, despite everything television goes on and there are still some decent shows out there. Here are 10 television shows, not in any particular order, which will definitely satisfy a few different taste buds.
1. The Sopranos (HBO & A&E): Starring James Gondolfini as, Tony Soprano, the head honcho of one of the most powerful criminal organizations, who tries to balance his career as a mobster with a “suburban” family life. So we do not know if Tony “slept with the fishes,” in the last episode, but the Sopranos will remain a legendary show for a long time.
2. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, Thursdays 9/8c): Dr. McDreamy, pregnant men, sex in the on-call room, incredible writing and the most realistic surgery scenes – need I say more? It is ER meets Sex in the City in Seattle Grace Hospital.
3. American Idol (Fox, Tuesdays & Wednesdays 8/7 c): It made Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson into superstars. Even if you do not want to stick around to see the top 10, you can have as much fun watching the contestants like William Hung singing Ricky Martin’s “She Bands.”
4. The Office (NBC, Thursdays 9/8c): Steve Carell (The 40-Year Old Virgin) is the wacko boss of a group of “unique” employees of a paper company. This show is a remake of the 2001 hit BBC TV series. Viewers have never seen so much inappropriate behavior at the workplace.
5. Heroes (NBC, Mondays 9/8c): A show that allows viewers experience the world through the eyes of ordinary people, including a cheerleader and a comic book geek, who discover that they have superpowers that make their lives anything but ordinary.
6. Lost (ABC, Thursdays 9/8c). Although watching Lost makes you feel like you are…well…lost, the intriguing storylines keep viewers wanting more. Lost is the story about the survivors of Oceanic Air Flight 815, who are stuck on a Pacific Island, where the polar bears and monsters are the least of their worries.
7. Entourage (HBO): Good looking, young Hollywood actor and his entourage (childhood friends), living the chaotic Hollywood dream. It is fun to watch this group of friends party their way through the Hollywood fast lane.
8. Gossip Girl (CW, Mondays 8/7c): Rich, good looking preppies in an elite private school in New York, who have their personal bankers on speed-dial. Based on the popular novel series by Cecily von Ziegesar, the show deals with friendship, sex, scandal and drugs in the lives of a circle of friends whose scandalous life styles are broadcast on a blog created by the shows mysterious narrator, “Gossip Girl.”
9. Ugly Betty (ABC, Thursdays 8/7c): Starring America Ferrera as the geeky but smart Betty Suarez, who oddly enough works for the glamorous N.Y. magazine, Mode. It is fun to watch Betty struggle through the chic publishing business with her “ordinary” looks and disastrous outfits.
10. 30 Rock (NBC, Thursdays 9:30/8:30c): Saturday Night Live comedian, Tina Fey stars as the head writer of a fictional TV show who borders on insanity while trying to deal with her shady boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) and mentally unstable star, Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan).
