1. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.
Long the funniest show on TV, ?Buffy? grows more fearless in its storytellingwith each succeeding season. It gets the edge over ?West Wing? this year for two reasons: 1) The show has recently manifested a wonderful and bizarre obsession with continuity, demonstrating that its creators are taking pains to mess with us; and 2) It has vampires!
BEST OF 2000:
* ?New Moon Rising? (May 2). Oz returns, and everyone learns that Willow and Tara are more than friends (including Willow and Tara).
* ?Restless? (May 23). The Scoobs battle the first slayer and their own fears in a hilarious and foreshadow-packed dream episode.
* ?Buffy vs. Dracula? (Sept. 26). Many are seduced by the world?s most famous vampire, and Xander announces an end to his butt-monkey career.
* ?The Replacement? (Oct. 10). Xander meets his not-so-evil twin, and shares his passion for squished coinage.
* ?No Place Like Home.? (Oct. 24) The mystery of Dawn is solved, and we meet Glory, my favorite Buffy villain who isn?t Spike or Dru.
* ?Family.? (Nov. 7) The mystery of Tara is revealed, and, touchingly, she learns that her support in Sunnydale is by no means limited to Willow.
* ?Fool For Love? (Nov. 24). Buffy finds a stake in her own abdomen, and asks Spike to detail the circumstances of two prior slayer deaths.
(heh.heh.)