The best and worst of 2005: Television

Ah, television. All you need is a remote control and you can bounce from channel to channel, getting a disjointed view of the world as you immerse yourself in laughs, tears, reality, fantasy, astonishing beauty and horrendous garbage.

And 2005 had plenty of every category.

Here follows a disjointed, non-comprehensive view of some of the best of the worst of the year in television:

Best cop show: "The Shield"

Best TV teen: Veronica Mars

Best sci fi show: "Battlestar Galactica"

Best late-night show: "Late Show with David Letterman." (Honorable mention: "The Daily Show")

Best sitcom nobody watches: "Arrested Development." Darn.

Most underrated sitcom: "Two and a Half Men"

Dumbest controversy: Allegations of vote-fixing on "Dancing With the Stars."

Best farewell (drama): "Six Feet Under" which not only wrapped up its storylines but let us see decades into the future.

Best farewell (comedy): "Everybody Loves Raymond" signed off with an episode that was just a good, half-hour episode.

Biggest TV news news: CBS anchorman Dan Rather rather suddenly, ahem, retired. And ABC's Peter Jennings passed away, succeeded by Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff.

Dumbest TV news news: The report on how Rather & Co. screwed up their "60 Minutes" report on George W. Bush's military service.

Best TV news images: When The Powers That Be told us that recovery efforts were going great in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, our own eyes told us differently.

Worst TV news moments: Excessive, exploitative coverage of Natalee Holloway's disappearance in Aruba. Leading the charge into the slime were the Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren, MSNBC's Rita Cosby and CNN's Nancy Grace.

Worst investigation: Fox's look into the "American Idol" judging scandal — determining that, even though Paula Abdul slept with a contestant, it didn't matter.

Least credible reality/competition show: "American Idol"

Most annoying reality show: MTV'S "Laguna Beach" — and it's quite an accomplishment to beat out Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.