Tis The Season: "Dish Of Salt" 2006 TV Countdown

10. Nip/Tuck - Admittedly, I lost interest in the show by the last four or five episodes and found the finale to be a bit boring. However, after last seasons lame Carver storyline the show came back strong out of the gate with its first seven or eight episodes, which is why it made the list. Rosie O’Donnell’s horizontal mambo with Christian Troy may have been the funniest moment on TV this year. Suggestion to creator Ryan Murphy for next season - Lose Matt and Kimber they serve no purpose anymore.

9. Ugly Betty - It’s cute, mindless TV and I’m not ashamed to put it on my list.

8. 24 - I want to stop liking this show I really do but five seasons later it’s still sucking me in. Forget Jack Bauer, his moves are getting tired. This year it was all about Gregory Itzkin and Jean Smart as the President and First Lady. The Commander in Chief turned out to be the best villain the show has ever had.

7. Prison Break - While I’ll admit the show was not as compelling as the first season inside the Prison walls, watching William Fichtner as compromised FBI agent Mahone hunt down the inmates has been almost as much of a nail biter. You knew from the get go that Mahone was not your typical FBI guy but when he shot Tweener execution style those true colors came out. The best episode of any show this year was by far the fall finale when Agent Kellerman turns on the government, shoots Mahone and takes off with Michael and Lincoln. Brilliant!

6. The Office - Forget Brad, Angelina and Jennifer Aniston… the best love triangle to muse about these days is Jim, Pam and Karen at the Scranton Branch of Dunder Mifflin. This show gets funnier the more you watch it and get to know the intricacies of each character. Dwight Shrute may have been stripped of his King of the Geeks crown by Hiro, but he’s still the court jester of nerdy hilarity.

5. Heroes - This show was by far the best pilot episode we watched over the summer. We knew it was a diamond in the rough but the concern was whether or not the viewers would agree. Fortunately, they did and a mega hit was born on NBC. "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" became the slogan of the fall and a brand new king of the geeks was crowned, Masi Oka. The sweet charm he brings to his Hiro Nakamura character helped earn him a Golden Globe nomination. This super show keeps us guessing and I’m loving every minute of it.

4. Grey's Anatomy - If you read my column regularly you know that it took me awhile to become a "Grey's" fan. There is a reason this show is number one. From the big bang of the Super Bowl episode to Meredith’s love triangle with McDreamy and McVet and the permanent arrival of Dr. McSteamy things at Seattle Grace have never been well… McBetter!

3. Dancing With the Stars - I am not embarrassed to put this show at number three. There is just something so great about watching C list celebrities try and bust a move on the dance floor. Plus, the bodies on the professional dancers are a constant motivation for me to get my butt to the gym. This past season’s drama was pure soap opera. The producers could not have had a better situation fall in their lap when they noticed that Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff were getting hot and steamy not just on the dance floor. To watch Jerry Springer, the talk show king of trash, show his softer side and introduce the world to his daughter Katie was pure joy. Then to top it all off Sara Evans drops the bomb that she is divorcing her husband and dropping out of the show. You can’t write this stuff!

2. Lost - Now that ABC has moved the show's time slot to 10pm, when it returns in February, I fear the show's ratings will continue to decline. I think Tony Potts put it best when he told the cast of "Heroes" he feels like he is in quicksand when he watches the storylines on "Lost." They never resolve anything on their show. It's true that Season Three has been somewhat of a disappointment (and the decision to only run six episodes since September was bad programming). However I put "Lost" as my number two show because of last season's big shocking storyline. Who was not stunned when Michael shot Ana-Lucia and Libby and made it look like The Other's Henry had done it? This is still one of my most favorite can't miss shows. We just need them to take a page from "Heroes" and start resolving a few more questions and hopefully fans will flock back.

1. Weeds - You'll notice that "Desperate Housewives" has been left off this list. Executive Producer, Marc Cherry, promised us that season three would be better, smarter, and funnier and to me so far he hasn't delivered. Props to them for the Hostage episode but other than that I'm bored with it. It just feels like the same old storylines rehashed over and over in a different form. However, if you are looking for a suburban comedy that is better, smarter and funnier then check out Showtime's comedy, "Weeds." Ok, sure it's a show about a widowed mother who deals marijuana to make ends meet but at its core it’s a show about a dysfunctional family. Mary Louise Parker's Nancy Botwin is not going to win mother of the year anytime but why would you want her too? Forget snarky Edie Brit, Elizabeth Perkin's, Celia Hodes, is by far the most evil, yet hilarious woman on television. Her affair with the ousted congressman, Doug, was pure brilliance not to mention those commercials her overweight daughter shot (whom she refers to as Isabelly) for clothing company, Huskaroos. If the cancer didn't kill her, that almost did. I'm counting the days 'til it returns for season three.

Happy Holidays everyone. The Dish will be back in the New Year with lots of new stuff!