Drama takes a serial turn

Seeing "serial drama" as the TV buzz phrase of 2006 was like finding out that the Andrews Sisters had hit the top of the 2006 Billboard charts. And yet this was the year when that fusty old TV format became quite the item.

With the proven success of "Lost," "24," and "Desperate Housewives," as well as cable serials such as "Nip/Tuck," "The Sopranos," and "The L Word," the networks became gung-ho for one of the medium's earliest, most definitive abilities -- to stretch a piece of fiction across a period of time. Victorian writers pioneered the ongoing story line in their serially published novels; detergent companies sponsored it with radio and later daytime TV soap operas; and "Dallas" and "Dynasty" re-upped the serial in the 1980s.

And here we were in 2006, with serial newcomers "The Nine," "Six Degrees," "Ugly Betty," "Day Break," "Heroes," "Kidnapped," "Vanished," and "Brothers & Sisters" all trying to join the likes of "Lost" in the quest for loyal audiences willing to pay close attention. With TV fanaticism at a peak thanks to the Web, the networks were not shy about asking us to make a weekly commitment.

But of course there were too many serials all at once, and audiences couldn't keep up with them even if they'd wanted to. Sadly for the networks, TV lovers do have lives. The networks tried to make it easier for us to keep up with story lines by making episodes available at their own websites and through iTunes. But by the end of the year, many newcomers were canceled, even "The Nine," among the best of the lot. No matter how unusual and inventive the serial narratives were -- Taye Diggs's "Day Break" redid the same day over and over, "Six Degrees" dabbled in intersecting short stories -- over-committed viewers refused the invitation.

In what became a kind of digital trash heap, remaining episodes of canceled shows were burned off online for diehards.

Some ongoing TV stories, meanwhile, continued to thrive in 2006, particularly those with more manageable 12-episode seasons. The serialized dramas on cable outdid themselves, more fully realizing the promise of cinema-quality programming created by HBO and "The Sopranos" at the turn of the century. Denis Leary's "Rescue Me" on FX hit its stride, with a season that showed 9/11 post-traumatic stress as a way of family life. There were controversial scenes aplenty, notably when Leary's firefighter forced himself on his ex-wife, and when Leary's girlfriend drugged and raped him. But "Rescue Me" was more than incendiary; it was moving, too.

HBO's "The Wire" reached new heights during its fourth season, as it fleshed out the hopelessness of Baltimore's educational system, political machinations, and drug wars. Creator David Simon raised the series to the high standard of tragic urban realism that he set himself with his junkie masterpiece, "The Corner," in 2000. He used the serial format brilliantly to weave together a world view. HBO also delivered with the first half of the sixth and final season of "The Sopranos," which will finish in April 2007. Creator David Chase used the physical deterioration of Tony and his crew, as well as the outing of gay mobster Vito, to explore masculinity and power. The episodes divided fans, some of whom wanted more mob action and less introspection.

Showtime began to find its identity in earnest this year, with a trio of dramatically sound and morally sophisticated series: "Dexter," "Brotherhood," and "Sleeper Cell: American Terror." "Dexter," in particular, was a winner, a twisted look at a serial killer who kills serial killers. As Dexter, Michael C. Hall lifted the show from thriller to character study, in the same way that Kyra Sedgwick made TNT's "The Closer" into more than just another TV procedural.

NBC took the high road in the fall, after years of arrogance and crass programming decisions. Being the No. 4 network seems to have put the NBC suits in an underdog state of mind, and they delivered the best new shows of the fall season: "Heroes," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," "30 Rock," and "Friday Night Lights," the football drama that doubles as a portrait of small - town Texas.

Rather than leaning too heavily on its second-season game-show hit, "Deal or No Deal," and running it quickly into the ground as ABC had done with "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," the peacock network invested its energy in creating new fiction hits. TV's reality juggernaut faded even further in 2006, and "American Idol," whose ratings were stronger than ever, was the year's single major reality phenomenon.

Only "Heroes" found a significant audience for NBC, but the network has not given up on the rest of its promising series, hoping a few time-slot changes and continued quality will solve the ratings problems. With "The Office," "My Name Is Earl," and "Scrubs" already on their schedule, NBC found itself with the best roster of shows, if not the best Nielsen profile. I suspect that the improving ratings health of NBC will be one of next year's big stories.

Thursday nights became more of a traffic jam than before, as three of the four major networks deployed their big guns on the most expensive ad night. "Grey's Anatomy" quickly rose to the top of the heap of strong shows airing between 8 and 10, which included "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Ugly Betty," The Office," and "Survivor." ABC gambled by moving "Grey's" from Sunday to Thursday, and it won big time.

But "The Office" was the most original of the Thursday lot, as it so thoroughly established itself apart from the British original. In its third season, the show has reinvented one of TV's most exhausted genres, the workplace sitcom, by rejecting one-liners and embracing pathos and irony. It's like a contemporization of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," with Murray periodically looking at the camera and rolling his eyes. Sometimes the series behaves like a political satire, with Michael Scott (Steve Carell) managing the shop as if he were running for office (pun intended). And Rainn Wilson frequently steals the show as Michael's Machiavellian deputy, Dwight Schrute. But then the show always keeps itself mired in the petty and mundane, wisely playing its Pam-Jim non romance romance with restraint.

The year held an embarrassment of riches for TV viewers. It was one of the best years for series TV in memory, with at least 10 shows deserving Top 10 honors in addition to my official Top 10. And so here is my list of honorable mentions, in no particular order: "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report," "Lost," "Big Love," "Heroes," "Scrubs," "House," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," and "To the Ends of the Earth" on "Masterpiece Theatre."

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. For more on TV, visit boston.com/ae/tv/blog/.