Is GLEE the Best New Show of 2009?

It is a sad thing when favorite TV shows get senselessly hacked up by heartless executives, but it is the way of the world. It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, right?

As painful as it is to lose shows there is the chance to fall in love all over again every TV season. The following are my five new favorite shows of 2009.

5. White Collar (USA)

The USA Network scored another hit with its slick new character Neil Caffrey, a con-artist turn FBI helper, in White Collar. It is like the Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg movie Catch Me If You Can, except smoother and and sexier.

4. Royal Pains (USA)
This show, about a doctor who lands himself a sweet gig as the personal doctor to the rich in the Hamptons shortly after getting fired from a steady job at a New York hospital, is bright, charming and funny. There is no doubt that the show is a little fluffy, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Watching the show is sort of like being on a vacation from meaty shows like Lost, Fringe and House – and I am more than happy to take this vacation in the Hamptons.

3. Community (NBC)

Laughs abound in this witty new addition to the NBC comedy line-up that already includes The Office, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock. Community, with Joel McHale (The Soup) in the lead, is just as good as any of those aforementioned gut-busters. The ensemble cast of Community has been brilliant -- especially Donald Glover as Troy and Danny Pudi as Abed. (see what I mean here)

2. Dark Blue (TNT)
I wasn't sure what to make of this new series starring Dylan McDermott. I didn't really believe that McDermott could pull off the gritty bad ass cop thing. Yet, he does, and he does it well. Even though McDermott is great, the supporting cast (if you can call them that, because they get the more screen time than McDermott) are even better. Somebody deserves a pat on the back for the amazing casting job.

1. Glee (FOX)

I didn't want to like this show at first. I thought it was all camp, melodramatic, after-school special-like, general waste of TV time. Then I realized that it was all camp, melodramatic, after-school special-like, generally great TV time. The camp is the point. The show is nothing less than fun and even a little sinister underneath. If for no other reason, this show is a must-watch because of the comedy stylings of Jane Lynch (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Role Models) as the evil Sue Sylvester.