The 10 best TV shows? Let the debate begin

March 28, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By Chuck Barney

Contra Costa Times

“The 10 Best TV Shows Right Now!”

The headline on the March 12 issue of Entertainment Weekly leapt out at me. I was struck by the live-in-the-moment immediacy of it. The 10 best shows now. Not last week. Not a few months down the road. Not the best shows over the course of a year, or a season even.

Right now.

But just one problem: Whenever someone publishes some kind of numerical list, they’re opening themselves up for debate. Yes, we enjoy “The Good Wife,” but not quite as much as EW, which has it ranked No. 1.

With that in mind, here’s my own Top 10 spring TV list, which might also spark a debate or two:

1. “Breaking Bad” (10 p.m. Sundays, AMC): “Breaking Bad” can bring the pain, but it does so in an artful, enthralling and even humorous style that makes it difficult to turn away.

2. “Lost” (9 p.m. Tuesdays, ABC): There are times when I wonder if this island mystery is almost as ridiculous as it is audacious. Still, the show holds a strange, mostly unexplainable power over me.

3. “Friday Night Lights” (Returns 8 p.m. April 30, NBC): I’ve seen the entire season on DirecTV and am pleased to report that fans are in for a major treat. As coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) assumes his post at East Dillon High, the new setting and characters take some getting used to, but this cult favorite quickly finds its groove with stirring stories that explore race relations and the bonds between friends and family.

4. “Modern Family” (9 p.m. Wednesdays, ABC): Prime time’s funniest new show has made it safe to watch family sitcoms once again. Every member of the stellar cast rocks, but lately we’ve fallen hard for little scene-stealer Rico Rodriguez, who plays Manny, the lovesick young boy with an old soul.

5. “Glee” (Returns 9 p.m. April 13, Fox): Yes, it’s weird and wacky and often eye-rollingly over-the-top, but that’s exactly what we love about this classic high school underdog story.

6. “Justified” (10 p.m. Tuesdays, FX): Prime time needs another crime show like a hole in the head. But there’s definitely room for this wry and offbeat series based on a character created by the great Elmore Leonard.

7. “Damages” (10 p.m. Mondays, FX): After jumping off the bandwagon in Season 2, I am again a Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) loyalist. This season’s investment-fraud case has a timely relevance, and the twisty plots and creepy cliffhangers often send chills down my spine.

8. “The Good Wife” (10 p.m. Tuesdays, CBS): I’ve been a fan of Julianna Margulies since her “ER” days, but my appreciation for her dramatic skills has risen to new heights while watching her nimble performance as the spouse of a disgraced politician (Chris Noth).

9. “Nurse Jackie” (10 p.m. Mondays, Showtime): Here we have the cure for the common medical show. Edie Falco is mesmerizing as the brutally flawed Jackie Peyton — a caustic caregiver with a drug habit and a workplace affair.

10. “Cougar Town” (9:30 p.m. Wednesdays, ABC): Behold a show that’s smarter than its name implies — a sitcom pegged to the endearing Courteney Cox as a divorced real-estate agent looking for love.