Trophy-worthy TV

By Robert Bianco -- You can't laugh at the networks this season.

Long derided as dinosaurs lurching their way to inevitable extinction, the big broadcasters came roaring back this year. Profits are up, total viewership has grown, and ad revenue has skyrocketed, propelled by the twin engines of dot-com commercials and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

There's good news on TV's dramatic front as well. Combine commercial TV's NYPD Blue, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once and Again, The West Wing, Law & Order, Angel, The Practice and ER with HBO's The Sopranos, and it seems clear we're in the midst of a drama golden age.

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Best new drama

We'll start with a tie. Against all odds and predictions, NBC's The West Wing took a subject that is usually awash in media cynicism and turned it into a broadly appealing, often stirring drama that catered to our desire to see dignity in public service. Over at ABC, the delicately drawn Once and Again dealt with what might be considered smaller issues, but plunged even more deeply into them. Why choose when we're lucky to have them both?

Best new comedy

Another tie - though, to be honest, that's sort of a cheat, since there were only two new comedies worth keeping - Fox's Malcolm in the Middle and the network's other dysfunctional family hit, Titus.

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Best guest spot

A host of wonderful performances come to mind: Debra Monk on NYPD Blue, Beah Richards and Marlee Matlin on The Practice, Roger Rees on The West Wing, Harriet Sansom Harris on Frasier, Patrick Dempsey on Once and Again, William H. Macy on Sports Night and Bruce Willis on Friends. But the actor who came to mind first was Jean Smart, as a hilariously inappropriate dream date on Frasier. Best casting coups

Give an award to whoever cast Tyne Daly in CBS' Judging Amy, Vanessa Redgrave in HBO's If These Walls Could Talk 2, and Khandi Alexander, T.K. Carter and Sean Nelson in The Corner. And a special award to the people who found the kids for Once and Again, Malcolm and NBC's Freaks and Geeks. (rest of the article "snipped")__USA Today (May 26, 2000)