1. TGS with Tracy Jordan (“30 Rock”)

For those who can remember back to the pilot of “30 Rock,” Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) was originally in charge of a not-terribly-great sketch comedy series called “The Girlie Show,” but when GE’s new Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming, Jack Donaghy made an executive decision to add the completely unpredictable Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) to the show, the comedian’s ego necessitated a change in the show’s title to feature his name more prominently. 136 episodes later, we’ve scarcely seen a single “TGS” sketch in its entirety, and what bits we have seen have rarely been funny (at least not intentionally), but the shenanigans surrounding the series have been consistently hysterical.

2. The Alan Brady Show (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”)

Dick Van Dyke has discussed on many occasions how many TV writers have come up to him over the years and told him that the biggest reasons they decided to break into the business in the first place was because Rob Petrie and his cronies on Alan Brady’s variety show made it look like one of the most entertaining occupations in the world. Strangely, he hasn’t spoken nearly as much about how many of those writers finished their comments by yelling, “Thanks for nothing, you big liar!” I’m betting it’s about 50/50.

By the way, although “The Alan Brady Show” wasn’t real, the folks at MeTV talked Carl Reiner into doing a promo for the addition of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” to their line-up where he reprised the character. Funny stuff.

3. Invitation to Love (“Twin Peaks”)

If you’re not a David Lynch obsessive, you may not remember this soap opera, but those with keen eyes will recall that it turned up at least once in each of the first seven episodes of “Twin Peaks.” It’s also worth noting that “Invitation to Love” pointedly features identical-twin characters played by the same actress, which – in no way coincidentally – was more or less what Sheryl Lee did as Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson.

4. The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy (“Spongebob Squarepants”)

The best bit about this cartoon-with-a-cartoon was the fact that the “Spongebob” show runners reunited former “McHale’s Navy” co-stars Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway to prove the characters’ respective voices. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.

5. The Terrence and Phillip Show (“South Park”)

Disproving a longstanding theory that Canadians can’t be funny while cementing the not-really-in-question suspicion that farts are always funny, it need only be said that Terrence and Phillip are a stone-cold gas. Sadly, this clip is from their movie, “Asses of Fire,” rather than their series, but it’s basically the same thing. Y’know, except filthier. Much, much filthier.

“Community” Holiday Exclusive Gift Set

Features a “Troy & Abed in the Morning” coffee cup (“With a generous capacity of 15 ounces, refills are not needed!”), a Warhol-inspired Troy & Abed poster, a t-shirt featuring the Greendale Seven in video game form. and a plush Human Being…which, if you’re not already a fan of the show, probably warrants a bit of explanation. Per the NBC online store, “The Greendale Community Human Being plush mascot reflects the diversity of Greendale and our species by being nothing at all. Now you can have your own creepy version!” If that doesn’t sound like the icing on a delicious “Community” cake, then…well, uh, you’re probably not the target demo. But maybe you know someone who is, so keep it in mind just in case. ($50.00)

“Dexter” LOOK/SEE Limited Edition Sunglasses

Described as “perhaps the greatest Dexter usable collectable out there,” what you get is a set of sunglasses with white frames spattered in blood, stored in a wooden case which, not coincidentally, looks quite a bit like Dexter’s “trophy case.” The case also includes blood slides and a syringe. Move fast, though: it’s a limited edition set – there are only 500 units being produced, and each wooden case is individually numbered. ($149.95)

“Buffy” Slayer’s Stake Prop Replica

I once bought my wife a replica of the cross necklace Buffy wears, but while she thought it looked incredibly cool, she’s never actually worn it because it just seems like more of a display piece than actual jewelry. Similarly, here’s hoping that, should you decide to pick up this item, you decide to leave it in the box rather than plunge it into someone’s heart. I mean, unless they’re undead. In that case, go nuts. ($479.99)

Sonic Screwdriver Programmable TV Remote

What can we possibly say that the people at ThinkGeek haven’t already said better? “The Sonic Screwdriver Programmable TV Remote lets you feel like a time lord while lounging on your couch eating fish fingers and custard. This Mark VII Sonic Screwdriver is specially created for Earth use. It’s been simplified so as not to cause danger to human operators, while still being an extremely powerful tool in the wrangling of entertainment electronics. And because The Doctor doesn’t let just anyone use his stuff, there’s a Lock Code that allows you to ensure that it’s yours… ALL YOURS.” ($89.99)

Rosie the Robot Cookie Jar

Gotta get at least one Hanna-Barbera item in the mix, y’know? One of my most prized possessions is a Brak cookie jar that our own David Medsker hooked me up with many moons ago, during my earliest days with Bullz-Eye. (Or, man, was it before? It was forever ago.) Of course, “The Jetsons” can’t compete with “Space Ghost,” but I’ve still got a lot of love in my heart for Rosie. As robot servants go, she’s one of the best. ($49.95)

The Office Dunder Mifflin Paper (Box) with “Poetic” Message Magnets

I just want to shake the hand of the NBC employee who pitched this idea. “Hey, how about if we put a bunch of cardboard boxes, put Dunder-Mifflin labels on the outside, fill ‘em with plain ol’ copy paper, and then sell ‘em for $70 a pop? Yeah, you’re right, that’s kind of a rip-off. We better throw one of those magnetic-poetry packs in there, too.” Brilliant. ($74.98)

Opie’s Skull and Crossbones Ring / Clay’s Born Wild Ring

Not that anyone’s been wondering why I don’t handle the “Sons of Anarchy” reviews for Bullz-Eye, but if you were, it’s because I’m an idiot and don’t watch the show. Still, I know enough about it to know that fans will probably think these rings are pretty awesome. ($99.99 each)

Golden Limited Edition Star Trek Pizza Cutter

Admittedly, probably even the most obsessive Trekkies probably haven’t been clamoring for a pizza cutter that looks like the USS Enterprise, let alone one that’s done up in gold rather than one of your lesser metals, but leave it to ThinkGeek to prey on their customers’ weaknesses and make this a limited edition item of which there are only 1,701 in existence…and if you don’t appreciate why they picked that number, Google it later. For now, though, just trust us: it’s hilarious.($99.99)

“Breaking Bad” ‘Blue Sky’ Candy in a Los Pollos Hermanos tub

First and foremost, don’t get your hopes up for finding this under the tree: the company that produces this stuff is already back-ordered through January. Secondly, let’s not kid ourselves: this price is absolutely ridiculous, given the ease with which just about anyone could make rock candy in their own freaking kitchen and the fact that you could print off a “Los Pollos Hermanos” label yourself and slap it on any old plastic bucket. With that said, however, you can’t deny that it’s one of the coolest things ever. ($1,658.08)

Game of Thrones Life Size Replica Iron Throne

I’m not sure I’d want to meet the person who has the kind of disposable income to spend on something like this, as I’m not sure I’d be able to resist the desire to punch them in the face. But I applaud the HBO store for apparently having it in stock, just in case someone happens to get a wild hair and has the bankbook to back up their pop culture whims. ($30,000…and, no, that’s not a joke)

America loves an underdog; cult TV fans only love underdogs. So it’s no wonder that suddenly almost everyone seems to love “Community.”

TV’s backhanded salute to two-year colleges comes by its underdog status honestly. Seemingly cursed with underwhelming ratings despite wide acclaim, it was put on indefinite hiatus late last year after an outstanding musical episode gleefully spoofing “Glee.” Hollywood naysayers to the contrary, there was clearly plenty of life left in the highly imaginative, frequently surreal show set at Colorado’s fictional Greendale Community College, a sort of academic “Green Acres” where normal logic is permanently suspended.

The show, which airs Thursday at 8:00/7:00 central and is also viewable via Hulu and NBC.com, returned in mid-March to a surprise — extremely healthy Nielsen numbers (2.2/7 in the advertiser beloved 18-49 demo). The credit, the show’s makers agree, goes largely to the intense activist fan base.

“Community” stars comic Joel McHale (“The Soup”) and an outstanding ensemble cast with an ethnic makeup that, shockingly, actually resembles a typical suburban community college. Aside from the three cast members we spoke to, the show also features gifted former “3o Rock” writer and actor Donald Glover, Daniel Pudi, Alison Brie (aka Trudy Campbell of “Mad Men“), and some guy named Chevy Chase. Speaking of Mr. Chase, just as the original version of this piece was posted, the Bullz-Eye staffed noticed a burgeoning net-storm over what sure sounds like a pretty ugly altercation between Chase and executive producer Dan Harmon with possibly inevitable repercussions that we can only guess at.

Nevertheless, spirits were high one sunny Sunday afternoon in Anaheim just a couple of weeks back at the 2012 edition of WonderCon as a bunch of mostly fannish writers met with just a few of the very talented people behind “Community.” Yvette Nicole Brown plays the outspoken, devoutly religious, and disarmingly maternal Shirley Bennett; Gillian Jacobs is high-strung former anarchist Britta Perry; and “The Hangover” heavy and former real-life practicing M.D. Ken Jeong inhabits the role of Spanish teacher turned security guard Señor Ben Chang. Also present was affable seemingly affable creator and showrunner Dan Harmon. As befits a production that blends real intelligence with anything-for-a-laugh energy, everyone had something interesting to say to a table full of committed fans and this enthusiastic “Community” newbie.

Yvette Nicole Brown on the good ratings news.

2.2 is massive…for us that’s like the stratosphere. You could say, “Oh, we’re so fabulous.” No. The fans are fabulous. This is 100 percent flash mobs, black goatees, Subway sandwich buys. They really blanketed NBC and Twitter with their love for the show. I think it made people who had never heard of us go, “Huh. Let’s see what this is.” I’m praying they come back next week.

Creator Dan Harmon on the surprisingly good ratings for the show’s return episode.

I never thought our ratings made sense when they were as low as they were, but now I don’t think that these make sense. It was like a 50 percent increase or something. It was insane. I don’t know who got a Nielsen box or whose cat stepped on the remote. I hope that we can keep it up.

Ken Jeong on the show’s perceived near-cancellation.

The events that have transpired since December have only brought the show and the fans even closer. We have even more love out of it. In hindsight, this has all been such a blessing. You really get to feel the love right now.

Gillian Jacobs on the the role of improvisation on “Community.”

I would say that there’s a lot of goofing around. There’s not a lot of actual improv with the lines. Maybe two percent of what you see in the show is improv. It’s scripted; we try very hard to get it word perfect. It’s just a lot of us making up stupid songs. Stupid raps… We quote the show to each other and we become obsessed with certain lines and repeat them. Lines that probably nobody else cares or remembers, we repeat daily. It’s like jokes on joke on jokes on jokes and we can’t even remember the origin of them anymore.

Yvette Nicole Brown on the persistent level of strangeness on “Community.”

We’re so used to it. We get one, like the episode that we came back to — “Oh, it’s just a wedding? We’re just in the study room having a wedding?” It’s almost like we’re let down now. There are no major explosions or car chases. We kind of are getting used to “anything goes.” It makes you a more capable actor because you have to be prepared. Maybe you’re doing a musical this week. Maybe you’re doing a “Law & Order” episode. You have to be prepared to slip into any of those shoes at any given time.

Ken Jeong on the initial reveal of Ben Chang’s torrid relationship with the lovely Veronica, a mannequin leg, in “Competitive Ecology” from Season 3.

I just couldn’t stop laughing before we started shooting. I told [director Anthony Russo], “I don’t know if you guys remember but, Season 1, I actually had a hot Spanish wife. Now, Chang’s actually happier with the mannequin leg.” It’s a good thing — and I, as an actor, am happier. You go from a beautiful wife to get even more love out of a mannequin leg.

Dan Harmon on whether he thinks “Community” ever gets just a little bit too absurd.

Yeah. You could see where I went over the line, in my opinion, with the zombie episode on Halloween ["Epidemiology" from Season 2]. I still did the episode, but you could see that, at the end, I gave everyone amnesia. That was me saying that I felt like I was going too far.

The litmus test I learned from that episode, that I still use, is that I picture the events in the episode being described in a newspaper article. If the newspaper article makes national news because it’s so insane, like, “Zombie Outbreak at a Community College”… then I think that that might transcend the boundaries that make us feel comfortable in a workaday sitcom. We want those people to be our family. We want to hear them argue about credit cards and remote controls. We don’t want them to be able to say, every subsequent episode, “Why are we arguing about this? We were zombies. We were zombies!”

Gillian Jacobs on her memorable not-quite-musical anti-star performance during the climax of the Glee-ful “Regional Holiday Music.”

I just knew I needed to make a fool of myself. It was great because they had an audience of extras sitting there, so I had people to humiliate myself in front of, in addition to my cast mates who are used to me humiliating myself. It’s about as vulnerable as it gets, frankly, to be dancing around in a brown unitard singing off-key with really spastic movements.

Yvette Nicole Brown on the show’s introduction of Shirley’s long absent no-longer-ex-husband, Andre, played by Gen-X sitcom legend Malcolm Jamal Warner.

Before Malcolm was cast as Andre, Shirley said all these horrible things about Andre. He was the worst person ever, right? Once Malcolm was cast, it immediately rehabilitated Andre. Andre started to be the coolest, the kindest, the most suave, right? Even before you [i.e., the fans] saw the episode, just hearing he was cast, it was like “Andre’s okay with us,” which was genius of the writers. But the thing that got me about it is, once you saw the way they interacted you started to understand. “Oh, this guy isn’t perfect. He does have some selfish issues. He is a little delusional.” He’s got a stereo business in 2012! “iPods are not going [away], what are you doing?!”

Dan Harmon on mining comedy from the edges of acceptable discourse.

You have to understand that, in a writer’s room, you can say anything you want. You have to. We were talking about, “Is there anything you can’t do?” And I said, “From the hip, you can’t do Columbine — that doesn’t work in a sitcom.” Then, we started talking about, “How would you do it?” The answer was with paintball. That turned into an action movie parody [Season One's "Modern Warfare"] that made everybody happy. There are a lot of thought experiments like that, and in future episodes you’ll see our treatment of those sort of forbidden topics.

Ken Jeong on his character trajectory as Ben Chang.

This season has been my favorite Chang arc of the series. It really is. When Dan told me I would be a security guard before we started filming, he didn’t have to say anything. I was just crying laughing. I said, “I know exactly where this is going and this is really, really good.” I could see it because [for Chang] it combines the authority of Season 1 with the patheticness of Season 2. You have pathetic authority in the third season. It’s been heaven.

Gillian Jacobs on possible romantic tension between Britta and Troy (Donald Glover).

This group gets so confused. I don’t really know if any of them should be together. They’re not very mature. I don’t think that any of them, besides Shirley, have ever really been in a successful relationship — and she was divorced when we first met her. I definitely love that it’s a show were there can be tension going every which way. I’ll grab Danny’s arm in one episode and it’s like, “Abed and Britta!” In “Paintball II,” at the end of the second season, it’s like, “Annie and Abed!” or “Jeff and Britta!” or “Annie and Britta!” [Journos laugh.] It can go in any direction on our show and you don’t want to mess with the magic. The magic is the tension.

Yvette Nicole Brown on Shirley’s current storyline, where she is attempting to start a campus sandwich shop — if she and sneaky millionaire Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) can somehow displace the Subway shop currently occupying the space.

I think it’s really good that Shirley is doing something for herself. For the longest time she’s been Andre’s wife, she’s been [her three sons'] mother, she’s been the mother hen of the study group. She hasn’t really had a chance to shine in that way. Everything that’s been discovered about her has been things that she’s embarrassed about. She lost her consciousness during the zombie apocalypse and apparently slept with the worst person ever [i.e., Ben Chang]. She’s pregnant, right? She goes to this bar and all of this history of her being an alcoholic is out there and everybody’s making fun of her. Every time something comes up about her, it’s embarrassing. I kind of like where the arc is going to go, where she’s going to get to be a little bit more heroic in her own life, in her own eyes, and not be a victim and not be a villain.

Dan Harmon on the roots of “Community.”

I went to a community college, that’s where I got the idea for the pitch, but it had nothing to do with the quality of the school. Actually, it was kind of the opposite. I felt like the community college environment was the healthiest that I had been in for most of my life because it was a little more human and honest compared to the culture that we’ve evolved into where you know the people next door to you the least. You’re the most suspicious that they’re racists or pedophiles and you’re the least suspicious of people that you don’t even know, like celebrities and 13-year-old girls on the Internet.

It was Glendale Community College in California. I go there about twice a year to do Q&As, but mostly to remind them that, I promise, Greendale is not based on Glendale. “Hogan’s Heroes” couldn’t be in a properly run prison camp. Greendale has to be an underdog.

Ken Jeong on his acting process in relationship to portraying Ben Chang.

I think the worst thing to do, for me as an actor, is to over-analyze anything. This is a show; this is fiction; this is fun; this is acting. This is all I ever want to do with my life. I was a doctor before I did this and now I’m playing someone completely insane. It’s heaven. It’s the ultimate compliment when people come up to me and say, “I can’t believe you were a doctor.” For them to be shocked that I have a wife and two daughters [is flattering]. People are truly, truly incredulous.

Gillian Jacobs on bearing the brunt of to the show’s recurring, “Britta, you’re the worst” running gag/meme.

I really liked it because I felt like it gave her a really defined role in the group. I love that Britta always fights against it. You see moments where she gets sad, but a lot of the time she’s really defiant and will just push back against it really hard. She’s not defeated by it… She’s very stubborn and I really love that about her, and I love that she’s so often a hypocrite.

Yvette Nicole Brown on how much of Shirley she sees in herself.

Do you guys think I’m like Shirley? What do you think? No? I’ll say this. When I got the first script, the pilot, I saw Shirley calling someone “pumpkin” and “sweetie.” I call everybody “pumpkin” and “sweetie.” I was like, “This is written for me!” I am a Christian like she’s a Christian. The difference is that Shirley is way more judgmental than I am. I believe that Christians are supposed to love, not judge. We come from different positions there.

I think Shirley, at her core, loves people and I do love people. At this point, it’s hard to say what is me and what is her. I’m not as violent. I am not as full of rage. And I do not use a Miss Piggy voice to seduce people. That revelation was scary because she talks to her kids like that, she’s talked to Annie and Britta like that… I’m [thinking] “she’s been flirting with everybody!”

Ken Jeong on eventually perhaps playing more normal, or even out and out dramatic, roles.

My first movie role was “Knocked Up” where I played a doctor. That was actually a dramatic role within a comedy. Judd Apatow, the director, hired me on the basis of my medical background, [he] didn’t know about my comedy background. There are definitely upcoming projects I’m attached to that I’ll be doing something more dramatic or different… Honestly, [however] I’m happy to work. I’m so grateful and to work on the best sitcom on television is just such a bonus. These are all my friends. We’re family.

Note: If you enjoyed this piece, you might also want to take a look back all the way to the long ago days of 2009 when “Community” was new and our own Will Harris got up close and personal with the cast. More wonderment and hilarity can be obtained right here.

So…where were we?

Oh, fine, let’s go ahead and deal with the elephant in the room: it’s been nine months since Bullz-Eye doled out its last TV Power Rankings. What can we say? There were a lot of good shows on the air between May 2011 and February 2012, and somewhere around late October, it just kind of reached a point where we said, “You know what? It’s way more fun to watch TV than it is to write about it.” Eventually, though, the powers that be pried us off the couch (there’s still an indentation where we were sitting), set us back in front of the computer, and said, “Look, the readers demand to know Bullz-Eye’s take on the best shows of the past year* and, frankly, they’re starting to get a little belligerent about it.”

(*Rounded up for statistical purposes.)

So here we are, ready to offer up our list of the 25 best shows on television** as well as several shows bubbling just under our list, plus a new section called “Still Too New to Call,” where we praise shows that seem pretty damned good after their first few episodes but simply haven’t been around long enough for us to feel comfortable including them in the other two lists.

(**Okay, technically, it’s the 24 best shows on television plus one show that hasn’t been on since 2010, but we’re so excited about that particular show coming back that we included it, anyway.)

All told, we hope you’ll walk away from this piece either nodding your head in agreement or wondering why you haven’t been watching some of these shows. If not, however, there’s a perfectly good Comments section that’s just waiting for your opinions about what’s good on TV.

Everybody ready? Then let’s get this thing started…

No, it’s not quite the same show it used to be, owing to the fact that the cast now consists of almost as many women as it does men, but with the series now in its fifth season, the trio of Kaley Cuouo, Melissa Rauch, and Mayim Bialik have probably infused “The Big Bang Theory” with more laughs than the it would’ve had at this point if it had stuck strictly to the original four geeks. The only question now is how much longer we’ll have to wait for Raj to come out of the closet…because, seriously, you don’t need to possess gay-dar to see that that’s what they’re leading up to.

When we first picked back up with Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) for the seventh season of “Weeds,” she’d spent three years cooling her heels in the clink while the rest of the Botwin clan had been chillin’ in Copenhagen, but with Nancy being shifted to a halfway house in New York City, a family reunion was only inevitable. Big shock: Nancy started selling pot again. Possibly bigger shock: even going into its eighth season, “Weeds” is still reliably entertaining.

When it comes to watching “New Girl,” one’s level of appreciation is directly proportionate to how one feels about the concept of “adorkability,” which Zooey Deschanel brings to the small screen in seemingly limitless quantities as Jess, a too-cute twentysomething who moves in with a trio of guys on the heels of an excruciatingly bad breakup. As with most ensemble comedies, it’s taken time for the chemistry of the cast to find its feet, but it’s coming along nicely.

Some shows are perfect fare for guys and gals to kick back and enjoy together, but, guys, unless you have one of the most awesome girlfriends ever, then “Archer” probably doesn’t quality as one of those shows. Sterling Archer has the libido of James Bond and Austin Powers put together but without any of the charm, and not only is he unfailingly uncouth, but he’s a mama’s boy to boot. Damned if he isn’t funny, though, and Season 3 has started off just as funny as its predecessors…but, then, what would you expect when you’ve got Burt Reynolds playing himself?

As long as the beautiful ménage à trois between stupid people, video cameras, and the internet continues to flourish, Daniel Tosh’s career will stay in full bloom. Now in its fourth season, “Tosh.0″ may not be the most highbrow series on the air, but it’s never at a loss for material and still offers a solid number of laughs per episode.