Channel-changers and attention-grabbers: the year in TV

    The television season may now be in full swing, but 2006 is just about over. Because of that, I'm going to take a look back on what has happened in a year that has been pretty eventful on the small screen. Whether it was Michael and Walt escaping the island on LOST or Grey's Anatomy completely taking over the airwaves, big things were afoot in 2006.

 Without further ado, here are my picks for the best and worst of this year in television.

[HTML_REMOVED]Best of 2006[HTML_REMOVED]

Best Dynamic Duo: This category goes to Barney and Marshall on How I Met Your Mother. Ted's two best buddies really light up the screen on the first show that may actually be worthy of the "Next Friends" tag. Alone, each make up one of the best and funniest characters on TV, but when they come together and let their natural chemistry and perfect comedic timing work, they're almost impossible not to laugh at.

Best New Show: This one's not even a contest. As far as I'm concerned, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is the best new show to come along in years. With a great mixture of strong characters, great writing and an interesting premise, it's just a winner. Unfortunately, it looks like the Best New Show of 2006 will most likely cross paths with the Worst Decision of 2007 when NBC decides to cancel the ratings-challeng ed show drama sometime before next season begins.

Best Post-Super Bowl Phenomenon: There's no way you can tell me you weren't intrigued. As we watched in horror as the Seahawks came just short of a Super Bowl victory, we were bombarded with two simple words: "Code Black." That's how Grey's Anatomy, the pop culture phenomenon, was born. After the game was over, 38.1 million viewers stuck around to see what exactly "Code Black" meant, and it would be hard to say it was any kind of disappointment. How the episode didn't win an Emmy for best writing in a drama series, I'll never understand.

Best New King of Fake News: He was always hilarious on The Daily Show, but when Stephen Colbert left it for the greener pastures of his own show, I was a little skeptical. Even the first few episodes didn't quite get me hooked. But The Colbert Report just kept getting better and better, and Colbert did what never seemed possible: As a satirical ultra-Republican conservative, he found himself as the best fake news anchor on the airwaves [HTML_REMOVED] even better than Jon Stewart.

[HTML_REMOVED]Worst of 2006[HTML_REMOVED]

Worst Jump the Shark Moment: If you watch Gilmore Girls, you know exactly what I'm going to say next. A show that was consistently funny, sweet and overly entertaining met its ultimate downfall when Luke's daughter April came on the scene. While April made her first appearance on the show in 2005, most of her work killing it was done this year. Not only did she destroy Luke and Lorelai's relationship, she's just all sorts of annoying. It just goes to show that the age-old TV adage is true: Never introduce a new kid to bump ratings.

Worst Programming Decision: For the second straight year, Scrubs did not begin its season with the rest of fall's regular programming. Instead, this original and funny show that has seen about a zillion timeslots in its six seasons was forced to start up just a week ago. While most shows were enjoying their "fall finales," Scrubs was pushing forward with its season premiere. I can't even begin to imagine what's going through the minds of TV executives when a show like Scrubs is forced to fear for its life every season, but The War at Home finds itself with a second season and a solid timeslot on Sundays.

Worst Cancellation: There's plenty of crap on TV. There are shows that get renewed, especially on the FOX network, that make you wonder just what the heck is going on. However, even though it's not known for high-end TV, FOX found itself quite a show when it decided to put Arrested Development on the air. Following the trials and tribulations of the Bluth family recovering from corporate fraud, Arrested Development was clever, smart and [HTML_REMOVED] something that's hard to come by on TV these days [HTML_REMOVED] freaking hilarious. And yet, last year they decided to cancel the show after just three seasons. You would have thought the Bluth family had been through enough.

Worst Emmy Win: I know I already talked about Stephen Colbert, but this oversight was just plain outrageous. After The Colbert Report lost out on two Emmys to The Daily Show [HTML_REMOVED] the traditional favorite [HTML_REMOVED] you had to believe it was a shoe-in for the "Best Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program" statue. Instead, Colbert lost to Barry Manilow. Yeah, that Barry Manilow.

Reach Intermission columnist Ben Miller at benmiller@thedaily.washington.edu.