Shows surprise by sticking to the script

The face of TV got a makeover this year. But the makeover was a reversal, in that it brought out the beauty and strength of TV's original features.

As if operating in concert, programmers and viewers decided to turn away from the fake and cheesy reality genre to embrace scripted material that didn't revolve around group hot-tub dates.

With superior new series such as "Lost," "Deadwood," and "Rescue Me," as well as the continuing excellence of "The Sopranos," "Scrubs," and "Nip/Tuck," we were able to fill our 2004 viewing dockets with shows that had budgets for writers and actors and that didn't culminate in cash and romantic prizes.

It was the year of "The Apprentice," of course. But the show that made both a self-promoting hero of Donald Trump and a can't-miss punch line of his hair was sinking in both ratings and critical esteem by the fall. Reality TV was still all over the schedule in 2004, but no one was talking much about it.

The ratings of even the durable "Survivor" were down, and its audience buzz sounded more like "zzzzz." Newcomers such as "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss," "Last Comic Standing," and "Next Great Champ" failed to become the sensations their networks had predicted, and the copycat war among the networks only spread audience numbers thin. Turns out there isn't an appetite for two contrived family switcheroo shows, "Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy" and "Wife Swap."

Meanwhile, "Desperate Housewives" not only managed to challenge Nielsen topper "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" but began an ABC revival that's bound to continue into 2005. Many feared that, with a number of scripted favorites leaving the air in 2004, including "Frasier," "Sex and the City," and "Friends," TV would succumb entirely to the fakeness of reality programming. But the value of crafted storytelling and acting reasserted itself with a vengeance this fall, not only with "Housewives," producer-writer Marc Cherry's twisted homage to his mother, but with "Lost" and the ratings ascension of "Without a Trace," "Cold Case," and the "CSI" spinoffs in New York and Miami.

The "Housewives" even managed to take over the magazine covers that formerly belonged to reality's shooting stars.

"Lost" has certainly rewarded its viewership with an unfolding plot about its crash survivors that grows ever more mysterious and compelling with each new piece of back story revealed in each new episode. Creator J.J. Abrams, whose "Alias" revolves around a similarly enthralling TV mythology, is the network auteur of the moment, as he miraculously reinvents the tired desert island genre. And Ryan Murphy solidi- fied his cable cred with a knockout second season of "Nip/Tuck," as he took a deep, dark look at the human hunger for youth and perfection.

The season's kicker, in which Famke Janssen's crooked life coach turns out to be a transsexual, was masterful and typically bizarre.

Denis Leary also made a claim for auteurism with the first season of "Rescue Me," in which he starred as an alcoholic New York firefighter trying to hold his life together. It was provocative and funny -- ha-ha funny and weird funny, particularly when Lenny Clarke showed up midseason as his skivvies-loving uncle.

An older auteur also returned to form this year, while Abrams and Murphy continued to cement their reputations. David Milch, from "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue," came up with "Deadwood," a beautifully written (and curse-ridden) western series for HBO that was drenched in mud and muddy morality. The drama gave viewers a sense of the anarchy and lawlessness that lies right beneath the surface of civilization, as it showed an outlaw settlement peopled with gold diggers and hookers. As divisive ringleader Al Swearengen, Ian McShane was colder than cold. He was even colder than Tony Soprano, who was back for one of the best seasons of "The Sopranos," as he and Carmela fell apart and back together again while Adriana met her maker.

The word on TV comedy is that it's dead, and in light of the year's high-profile finales and its high number of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "According to Jim" clones, that's easy to believe. But there are still a few exceptional comedies on the air, two of which -- "Scrubs" and "Arrested Development" -- are sadly lacking in Nielsen oomph.

"Scrubs" continues to be rich in surrealistic fantasy, characterbased humor, witty writing, and heartfelt dramatic flourishes. It's a true original, and so is "Arrested Development," which won an Emmy for best comedy despite its small viewership. The story of the nutty Bluth family is irreverent, clever, and occasionally brilliant.

It's a pop-up comedy, with outrageous sidebars and quickie flirtations with taboo. "Curb Your Enthusiasm," too, tangles with taboo, even putting a Holocaust survivor up against a TV "Survivor" in one of the many great episodes during a great season.

"The Producers" met its match when it met Larry David.

And fans of the nighttime soap were in hog heaven this year, with "The L Word," "The O.C.," "Desperate Housewives," and "Queer as Folk." Each of these shows was melodramatic, humorous, stylish, silly, and addictive. They were weekly diversions from the world that Jon Stewart covered so passionately and smartly on "The Daily Show" as the country entered further into states of upheaval and conflict. PBS's touching and historically provocative "The Lost Prince," about the familial and political shifts in European royalty during the early 20th century, was remarkably well timed.

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com.