List #10: Shows That I Dearly Miss (Because I Think I'm the Only Person Who Watched)

1.  Early Edition
This was a show starring Kyle Chandler (of "Homefront" and "Friday Night Lights").  He got tomorrow's newspaper today, and would run around (when he wasn't tending to the bar he owned) trying to prevent Bad Things from happening.  As he succeeded (or half-succeeded), the headlines and story in the newspaper would change.  As a result of his escapades, he often had run-ins with the police.  As happens in television, even though the show took place in Chicago, he often ran into the same detective and had to come up with explanations for how he just happened to know where the missing child was (before she turned up dead the next day, for instance).

2.  Joan of Arcadia
This starred a young Amber Tamblyn (of "General Hospital," "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants," and now "House").  She saw and talked to God who often gave her tasks.  Joan would carry out the tasks knowing (not at first, but after the first few) that they would result in SOMETHING.  For instance, when God told her to join AP Chemistry, she met Adam.  Adam came to her house to study, and mentioned to her mom that he knew where they could get a hand-controlled car (for her brother who is paralysed).  The mom looked into and was able to get the car.  The cool thing about this show is that it wasn't actually about religion (though God was a central character), wasn't about kids (though most of it took place in a high school, but was just well-written, well-acted, thought-provoking entertainment.

3.  Snoops
Yeah, okay.  This was just basically fun, entertainment.  Two sexy woman (Paula Marshall and Gina Gershon) and a sexy dude (Danny Nucci) have fun with their private investigation business.  Glen (Gina Gershon) was a "rules be damned" kind of woman and had all kinds of flashy, high-tech devices at her disposal (bra cams, anyone?).  Mostly, I was in it for Gina Gershon being tough, sexy, and breaking rules.  Hell, yeah.

4.  Sports Night
Once voted "The Best Show You're Not Watching" which was enough to save all the previous winners of this award (for at least one season)... until SN.  Yay.  "Sports Night" was a show-within-a-show.  "Sports Night" was a sport wrap-up show a la "Sports Center" on EPSN.  But this show also took you behind the scenes so you could see the production meetings, the on-air talent trying to write, etc.  Written by Aaron Sorkin (of "West Wing" and "The Social Network"), it was sharp, fast, and witty.  And it lasted only two seasons with a hell of cliff-hanger.  Oy.  I still have yet to forgive either Sorkin or "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (which is the show who took over our timeslot - damn you, Regis!).

5.  Three Rivers
Set in Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Hospital, centred around the Transplant Division.  It had the eye-candy cast including Alex O'Loughlin (the "Hawaii Five-0" reboot) and Katherine Moennig ("The L Word").  It would start showing how one person's life was in danger and would most likely die.  Then we'd see the person in the Transplant Division who was awaiting the organ.  Part of the fun of this show was how high-tech their hospital was.  Having worked in an essentially non-profit hospital, I was in awe of what they had their (yes, I'm aware it was actually a Hollywood hospital).

6.  Hack
Set in and largely filmed in Philadelphia, David Morse starred as disgraced police officer turned cab driver.  Michael Olshansky (Morse) was wrongly charged with corruption, and he drove around Philly trying to help people as a vigilante cab driver.  He was assisted by his former partner (Andre Braugher), who was one of few on the force who still believed in him.  Braugher's character would tell Olshansky about a case that the police could use help with, and Morse would do what he could, which was more than the police could, since the police were bound by all those pesky laws.  I'm not doing the show justice, but if you're familiar with either Morse or Braugher, you know neither of them do crap work.  (Also, one scene of this was shot in my friend's house!)