The Bounty Hunter—Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston in a wacky, gender-switched re-creation of Midnight Run? No thank you. Oh, and Gerard? Stop making romantic comedies!

According to Peter Hyams’ not particularly well-regarded sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010 was supposed to be The Year We Make Contact. No such luck. Aside from sending a bouquet of party balloons floating across New York City in October, space aliens kept their usual distance. Which just goes to show you: You can’t always believe what movies—or their trailers (or, for that matter, their critics)—are telling you. With that in mind, here are my picks for the best of the best of 2010.

“Better Off Ted” (ABC)—Sorry, Ted. You were TV's boldest laugh-getter, but the network screwed you. Just like your bosses at Veridian Dynamics.

“Breaking Bad” (AMC)—Not only is this show constantly awesome, but we get to call it one of our own.

“Community” (NBC)—There were plenty of highlights amid this season’s increasingly self-referential satire (the stop-motion holiday special!). But the epic paintball episode was the single best episode of anything in 2010. Turning a 22-minute sitcom into a rapid-fire (pun intended) parody of every action movie ever made was inspired.

“Happy New Year, Charlie Brown” (KOAT-7 7 p.m.) Why no love for Arbor Day, Peanuts gang?

“Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2011” (KOAT-7 9 p.m.) Willow Smith performs. Isn’t it past her bedtime?

“NBC New Year’s Eve With Carson Daly” (KOB-4 9 p.m.) Bono and The Edge show off tunes from Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. Odds are one of them will be injured.

New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffith (CNN 10 p.m.) Um. OK.