by Katriena Knights

Created on: February 03, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

There are a good number of high-quality shows on TV today. In fact, some folks have gone so far as to say we're in another Golden Age of Television, particularly as regards TV dramas (comedies, unfortunately, are in the doldrums right now).

It's of course impossible to say what the absolute best shows are without watching every single one of them, and even professional TV critics can't do that, but here are my picks.

Supernatural. This highly underrated and underwatched show on the CW is a gem of great characterization and solid storytelling. The basic premise follows the adventures of brothers Sam and Dean Winchester as they travel across the US hunting ghosts, demons, and other things that go bump in the night. Taking a cue from The X-Files (several staffers from the now-defunct Fox series are now employed here), Supernatural tells a tight, compact horror story every week. The storylines are drawn from urban legends, and are mostly standalone, but also follow a story arc involving the death of the brothers' mother at the hands of a demon, and what this means to Sam, who has proven to have psychic powers. Sometimes peek-through-your-fingers scary, other times fall-off-the-couch funny, Supernatural delivers a great hour of TV every week. Thursday nights at 9, 8 central, on the CW.

Dexter. Currently on hiatus between its first and second seasons, Dexter airs on Showtime. I never dreamed a show about a sociopathic serial killer would interest me at all, but the characterizations on this show are so well-done that you're drawn into Dexter's story. I mean, he's a good serial killer-he only kills other serial killers, and never without good reason, and by the end of the first episode, you find yourself rooting for him. Though not for the squeamish-the violence on this show is explicit and pulls few punches-Dexter offers some of the best writing I've ever seen in a TV show.

Rome. Rome airs currently on HBO on Sunday nights, unfortunately in its second and final season. Telling the story of the fall of Julius Caesar and the rise of Mark Antony, Rome draws us into the everyday life of an ancient culture foreign to modern day folks, but in such a way that we understand it. Meticulously researched, exquisitely filmed and brilliantly written, Rome is in its way more educational than any history class could ever be.

Bones. A sentimental favorite, Bones is just plain fun. Ostensibly a procedural along the lines of CSI, it transcends the genre by offering a cast of characters we enjoy spending an hour with every week. The interplay between the two leads is always entertaining, but the show really hits its stride when the "minor" characters are brought in. Imbued with a sense of humor and fun absent from most crime dramas, Bones never fails to entertain. Wednesday nights at 8, 7 central on Fox.

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