The pages for film top-10 lists conveniently have a histogram summarizing which films appeared on the most critics' lists. However, the TV pages have no such summary, so I thought I'd rectify that. However, a histogram really isn't the best way to show which programs were the most acclaimed, since a first-place finish gets weighted the same as a tenth-place. (Dexter appeared on the same number of lists as The Wire this year, but was lower on almost every list.) Being a big baseball fan, I took a cue from baseball's MVP balloting: a first-place vote receives 14 points, second place gets nine, third place gets eight, and so on. For alphabetized lists, I gave each show on the list 5.5 points. Here are the points leaders for 2006:

1. The Wire 132
   
2. 24 81
   
3. Friday Night Lights 78.5
   
4. The Office 61.5
   
5. Battlestar Galactica 58.5
   
6. Dexter 55
   
7. Heroes 52
   
8. Ugly Betty 52
   
9. The Sopranos 45.5
   
10. Rescue Me 37
    

In comparison, here are the 2005 leaders:

1. Lost 119
   
2. Arrested Development 71
   
3. Veronica Mars 52
   
4. Battlestar Galactica 48
   
5. My Name Is Earl 44
   
6. House M.D. 42
   
7. The Shield 40
   
8. Rescue Me 38
   
9. The Colbert Report 36
   
10. Entourage 36
    

I think the comparison kind of indicates how fickle critics can be--how quick they are to dump old shows in favor of new ones. (Only two series appear on both lists: Battlestar Galactica and Rescue Me.) I mean, the third season of Lost has been a little subpar so far, true, but--especially considering how excellent the second half of season two was--enough so to drop it from by far the most acclaimed show on TV into a tie for fourteenth?

I was thinking of doing this, but you already did it for me! Thanks, it provides interesting insight into critics' picks across-the-board.

Sopranos (Even though it's not on anymore it's still the best!)
Big Love
Weeds
Entourage
The Girls Next Door
Brotherhood
Meadowlands
House
The Office
Hereos