2004 in review: Television

Frankly, I'm tired of hearing people say, "There's nothing good on TV." Because it just isn't true.

There are lots of good shows on TV. Lots and lots.

But there's also simply lots and lots and lots of TV out there, so you've got to wade through the bad stuff to find the good stuff.

And, amid all the regular doom-and-gloom pronouncements and singular focus on the antics of a pop star at the Super Bowl, 2004 was also the year when a couple of really good shows signaled a turn in the TV tide — a turn for the better.

The year's best new show, "Desperate Housewives", wasn't really anything new or groundbreaking. It was an updating of the old prime-time soap-opera format, with lots of mystery and even more comedy thrown in to create the most addictive show on TV.

Along with the year's second-best new show, "Lost," "Housewives" did what TV does best — create well-scripted programs with characters you love and stories that keep you coming back for more.

Janet Jackson's so-called "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl set off a storm that drowned out any reasonable discussion of what's appropriate on TV. FCC chairman Michael Powell used it to hit CBS with an unreasonable fine, then fined Fox for a tasteless reality show bit, and then was surprised that some ABC affiliates were scared out of airing "Saving Private Ryan" on Veteran's Day.

The fact that "Housewives" became a huge hit, trailing only "CSI" in the ratings, belied the supposed conservative swing of American viewers. Now, "Housewives" was nowhere near as off-color as its clueless critics claimed, but the FCC has struck fear into the hearts of broadcasters by investigating a number of shows for indecency, including — get this — the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics.

All this because Powell insisted there has been a "dramatic rise" in the number of complaints about indecency — a rise almost entirely attributable to the concerted efforts of a group (the Parents Television Council) whose political agenda and well-organized letter-writing campaign has hijacked the process.

The return of scripted shows may have begun to turn the tide against the increasingly awful reality shows. The year's worst shows included plenty of those, topped by the heinous plastic-surgery beauty pageant "The Swan" and including "Growing Up Gotti," "Big Man on Campus," "High School Reunion," "$25 Million Dollar Hoax," "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fianc" and "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss."