Best & Worst 2008: Mary McNamara's TV picks

By Mary McNamara

It was a strange and shape-shifting year for television -- the screen went flat, in more ways the one. The writers strike ended, but not before disemboweling the Golden Globes, throwing late night into an uproar and scattering way too many "Law & Order" reruns around the grid. And although the settlement was good news for those out of work, for viewers the nightmare was just beginning.

Many of the weaker new shows were given the cost-containment ax, while others, including "Chuck" and "Pushing Daisies," retreated in the hopes of a fall relaunch. Because its format demands an entire season, "24" decided to just start over again next month, while "Big Love" vanished entirely, which is a crime against man and nature (it's back in January also). The spring was a weird mishmash of new and old, with networks touting "a brand-new episode" of old favorites as if they had landed the Super Bowl.