Our new entry is Parks and Recreation, which finishes in fifth place as it continues to build the legacy of breakout character Ron Swanson. Long time readers of the site are probably aware that the most popular Parks and Recreation fan site on the web, KnopeKnows.com, is run by BOP staff member/overachiever extraordinaire/rock star at life Eric Hughes. I can assure you that the popularity of the show extends far beyond the reach of one of BOP’s favorite sons, though. It was selected on roughly 40% of the ballots and was listed in the top three on over half of those. People who watch Parks and Recreation tend to love it to the point of hero worship.

Another pair of new selections garner sixth and seventh place. Sixth place goes to Breaking Bad, which actually had the largest total of first place votes of any television show this year. It suffered the fate of not being noticed by enough people, though. Anyone who did not select Breaking Bad as one of the best two shows on television did not vote for it at all, truly a feast or famine voting behavior. With an average of only 1.5 million viewers a week, I suppose this is not a surprising phenomenon, but some folks at BOP feel strongly about the fact that you should have Breaking Bad in your Netflix queue.

Meanwhile, our seventh place selection, Cougar Town, combines with Modern Family to form by far the funniest hour of television. Cougar Town is the rare show that rebooted in midstream, deviating from the planned MILF Cougar on the Prowl theme into one that celebrates family, community and wine. Lots and lots of wine. Cougar Town is like a television party thrown every week at 9:30 and while it is currently off the schedule, you have the perfect opportunity to catch up on episodes from season one. I particularly recommend Don't Come Around Here No More, Here Comes My Girl and Finding Out. By the time you understand the terms “Full Shawshank” and “Devil Face”, I expect you to be just as hooked as BOP is. In fact, a weekly staff argument ensues about which new episode is better between Modern Family and Cougar Town.

Rounding out the top ten are one phenomenal debut and a pair of old favorites near the end of the line. The new show is Justified, which is a show that many people are discovering with its second season premiere. BOP has been hooked since the pilot and in fact has planned an entire web site around an idea the season finale gave us. Justified is equal parts western, procedural, and 1970s cop show. The amalgam may sound strange but with legitimate movie lead actor Timothy Olyphant anchoring the proceedings, this is dynamic television. Ninth and tenth place go to Friday Night Lights, which recently finished its five season run, and 30 Rock, which is starting to wear out its welcome. Both of these programs are former winners in the category with Friday Night Lights going five for five in terms of being one of our ten annual selections while 30 Rock has managed the feat four times. They are both beloved by our staff to a degree that only Lost and Battlestar Galactica have also reached during our six years of voting.

Best Television Show is always a hotly contested category with passionate support for several programs. As such, I’m going to break with tradition here and list all of the shows that finished in the top 30 in our voting. We had 65 shows receive at least one vote this year if you were wondering. The rest of the top 30 is (in order of highest voting tally) The Walking Dead, How I Met Your Mother, Psych, Dexter, Top Chef, South Park, Boardwalk Empire, The Daily Show, Survivor, Futurama, Burn Notice, The Simpsons, The Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Louie, Archer, Chuck, Treme, Human Target, Glee and The Amazing Race. Each of these shows has ardent support from the staff at BOP and is highly recommended. (David Mumpower/BOP)

The Calvins Introduction
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Album
Best Cast
Best Character
Best Director
Best Overlooked Film
Best Picture
Best Scene
Best Screenplay
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best TV Show
Best Use of Music
Best Videogame
Breakthrough Performance
Worst Performance
Worst Picture

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