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Moore and Eick grapple with big themes, offering little in the way of concrete answers. There are no morals, no lessons to learn, just the weight and the cost of survival. Lofty ideals, both on the right and the left, have little purpose in this universe; in fact, they only get in the way. Blacks and whites grow increasingly gray. In fact, it's within this gray that our heroes come to find their salvation. While many show runners lead their viewers toward a specific point of view, Moore and Eick present a world where the right and the wrong are both neither right nor wrong.

For that matter, they do away with the nonsense of the reset button trope of most episodic television. To return things to square one, week after week, eliminates the consequences. This is a world where the very future of humanity is on the line, and the stakes are as high as they come. Everything comes back to affect everything, down to the minor bumps and bruises characters sustain from week to week. These characters are playing for keeps and they'd better not forget it. Because, if they do, oblivion is the only result.

Which brings me to my favorite name of all. Joss Whedon, who really got started in the '90s, is, for my money, about as good a show runner as TV is ever likely to see. All the elements come together in Whedon's masterpieces (for those who don't know, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse), and must have influenced the above names. The developed characters of Lindelof and Cuse, the complicated, daring storytelling (not to mention strong female characters) of Abrams, the complex morality and uncompromising consequences of Eick and Moore, all of this and some of the wittiest dialogue this side of The West Wing.

I'm not here to say that Whedon doesn't have flaws, but to nitpick is to miss the genius. As his shows evolve, the characters and their relationships evolve with them. One never knows where an episode of a Whedon show will take you. While much network offering relies on giving the viewer exactly what they expect, Whedon seems to take great delight in upsetting the apple cart. Yet, few developments are unearned or untrue to the world and to the characters. His shows toy with the status quo, yet nothing is happenstance or without reason. Whedon explores the extreme possibilities, however, where most show runners pull back to the center, he commits to them and sees where they take our characters.

With the possible exception of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, his work really has never been a huge success in the ratings, but critics, other show runners, and a dedicated fan base have taken note. He shows how playing it a little less safe yields creative and artistic rewards, liberating the also daring likes of Abrams, Lindelof, Cuse, Moore, and Eick to also explore the limits of where a series can go. Luckily, he did this at just the right time, when things like DVR, on demand and DVD made loyal viewing, and catching up much easier for viewers.

Episodic, status quo programming is here to stay, and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that. Some of it is quality (House comes to mind) and comfort programming has its value as well. In the wake of Whedon and his kind, however, the potential is there for more complex televised narratives for those like me who are so inclined. Make no mistake, this stuff is art. It represents the possibilities of television to showcase literature. Folks like David Chase or Shawn Ryan explore similar types of storytelling in other genres, so it's by no means limited to sci-fi. Of course, a few hacks like Tim Kring and Heroes will come along and show us how such storytelling can go so very wrong. No good without the bad, right? In any case, we'll still see tons of procedurals in this upcoming decade. I'm just hopeful that we'll continue to enjoy the works of folks like Whedon as well.

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