Let’s cut right to it. Here are 7 TV shows I’m a little ashamed to admit I watch regularly…

1) Gilmore Girls – No question about it, this is a Chick Show. I watch it every week. I own the DVD sets and have watched them all more than once. It’s not because I like the bubblegum drama and coming-of-age storylines, and it’s not because I have a soft spot for soap operas or romantic comedies. Although it’s been pretty weak this year, Gilmore Girls is easily one of the best written and acted hour-long comedies of the last 25 years. Amy Sherman-Palladino’s dialog and characterization actually surpass Aaron Sorkin’s. If you’re not a fan of writers or don’t know who Aaron Sorkin is, he’s the guy that wrote the films A Few Good Men and The American President, and the TV shows Sports Night and The West Wing. He’s easily one of today’s best writers in Hollywood, but his one weakness is that all of his characters speak in the same way, in rapid-fire, idealistic monologues filled with the same acerbic wit and obscure references.

Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator and head writer of Gilmore Girls, doesn’t do that. Her characters are all unique, and the similarities that do exist make sense. I couldn’t give two shits about the relationships and soap opera tendencies of the show. I’m in it for the writing, though I will say that whoever’s responsible for the Emmy Awards should have the shit kicked out of them for never recognizing Lauren Graham’s performance on this show. She should have at least two of those silly statues by now.

2) The West Wing – I find it odd that I watch this show because it almost universally disagrees with my personal politics. In its heyday, The West Wing was unquestionably the best-written drama on television. Aaron Sorkin’s characters and dialog were impeccable, and while the show definitely had a heavy liberal slant, Sorkin went to great lengths to show the weaknesses of the Democratic party, as well as feature more than a few key Republican characters in respectful ways, Emily Procter’s Ainsley Hayes chief among them. Since Sorkin left the show three years ago, The West Wing has been a colossal shit sandwich. Never before has a great show started sucking this hard overnight, and God help me, I can’t stop watching. It’s kinda like the Clinton administration. Pretty typical stuff for years, then all of a sudden it degenerated into this embarrassing, ridiculous soap opera that I couldn’t help watching just because I needed to see how it turned out. NBC helped me out a couple months ago by announcing The West Wing’s cancellation.

3) Inside the Actors Studio – Ever since the Martin Lawrence episode a few weeks ago, I haven’t missed one since. James Lipton is either scraping the bottom of the guest barrel or is making a laughable effort to reach a broader, younger audience, because he followed Martin with Queen Latifah and Dave Chappelle. When a show that claims to be about impressive, superior acting spends 15 minutes discussing such films as Barbershop 2 and Half Baked, something has gone horribly wrong. I think Dave Chappelle is funny as hell, but you wouldn’t think a guy with his credits would warrant a 2-hour feature episode of an acting show. Tune in next week when Lipton’s guest will be Jean Claude Van Damme’s stunt double in Universal Soldier VI.

4) Las Vegas – Here’s a little message to The Powers That Be in Hollywood: James Caan is not actually Sonny Corleone, okay? Here we have a show that takes great pains to depict James Caan as a tough guy that can really kick some ass, when in reality James Caan is a 65-year-old man that obviously has serious trouble moving around. Trust me, the only reason to watch this show every week is to see the performances of Vanessa Marcil and Nikki Cox’s revealing wardrobes. The rest is nonsensical stories, bogus technology, and watching Jimmy Caan try to maneuver his way through an action sequence without breaking a hip.

5) Scrubs – I’ll be the first to tell you that American sitcoms have universally sucked since Cheers went off the air, with very few exceptions (Friends, Family Guy, Sports Night). But Scrubs is one of those rare shows that turns the concept on its ear. It’s smart and weird, worth watching for Zach Braff, Neil Flynn, and John C. McGinley’s hilarious performances alone. I’m not embarrassed to say I watch it, but it is kinda painful to admit that because I’m kinda short on TV-watching time, I TiVo it, copy it to my computer, and reduce its size and framerate so that I can watch it on my MP3 player in my spare time. The lengths I’ll go to to watch the nerdy adventures of a doctor on a moped…

6) American Chopper – My guiltiest pleasure. If you’ve never seen it, American Chopper is about a father and son motorcycle-building team. Sounds kinda boring, so let me put it another way. American Chopper is about a gargantuan father with a walrus moustache, his equally large and argumentative son, and the knock-down, drag-out fights they have while building custom choppers that look like this…

Never missed an episode, own all the DVDs, and would gladly give my left nut to own that bike.

7) NUMB3RS – A sniper is on the loose. The entire population of Los Angeles cowers in fear, terrified to leave their homes. But fear not, fair citizens! Math Geek is on the case! I hate CSI because it’s so full of shit. “We don’t need a witness! The evidence will tell us everything we need to know!” Horseshit. You’d kill for a witness, because finding 12 Americans smart enough to understand DNA evidence and spin markings on a bullet is harder than finding a politician with morals and a conscience. NUMB3RS gives you the same geek-saves-the-day stories without the bogus drama. Rob Morrow as a tough FBI agent is pretty damn funny, but David Krumholtz and Peter MacNicol steal the show as the FBI’s Nerds For Hire. Worth watching just to see if the head geek ever gets the stones to make a move on the resident hottie.

Jagre’s TV Recommendation: Boston Legal – If you haven’t checked this show out yet, give it a shot. James Spader and William Shatner are hilarious, and David E. Kelley’s never been better. It’d take an hour to give a description here that’d do it justice, so suffice it to say that there was a scene earlier this year where Shatner’s Denny Crane was forced to represent a child rapist. This guy tells Crane that he’s guilty, that he has AIDS, and that he’s not sorry he did it. He delivers his confession with this sinister smile, and just as you start to think what an evil prick the guy is, Shatner reaches into his briefcase, pulls out a gun, and shoots the guy in the kneecaps. Cops rush into the room, and Shatner gives them a casual look and a shrug while adding, “Self defense. He tried to kill me.”

Funny stuff. Check it out.

Tags: gilmore girls, west wing, inside the actors studio, scrubs, american chopper, boston legal, top 10