Anna Nicole Smith. The Bachelor. American Idol. What can I say about TV in 2002, except, "My eyes! My eyes!" But there were also a few shows and moments that made me glad I remembered to pay the cable bill. Here are 10 of them.

1. Alias (ABC). Hour for hour, J.J. Abrams’s spy fantasy was the best drama of the year. Any doubts that a college student/CIA agent could infiltrate a nefarious spy organization were quickly erased by Jennifer Garner’s starmaking performance as spy Sydney Bristow. Both dimpled and steely, Garner was as believable in the big moments of emotional intrigue (she discovered that the aloof dad who had raised her was a double agent too) as she was in the butt-kicking action scenes. Underneath it all, the first season of Alias was the story of a motherless girl slipping in and out of different versions of herself, trying to find the one that fit. In the current season, Sydney is the object of an emotional tug-of-war between her resurgent, stone-cold KGB killer mom (Lena Olin, who may or may not have reformed) and her bitter, fragile dad (Victor Garber). Like any child of a broken home, she has to play referee. But how many children of broken homes have to play referee while treading through a minefield in Kashmir in pursuit of stolen nukes?

2. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO). In the latest season of the nastiest, greatest sit-com since Seinfeld, Larry David didn’t just push the envelope of what is "appropriate," he ripped it up into little pieces and stomped on it. He pondered white liberal guilt over the black use of the N-word and coined a sardonic new expression of buddy affection: "You’re my Caucasian!" He fell victim to the hidden dangers of cunnilingus. He defiled a Nativity scene. And he took a decisive stand against bald men who wear toupees.

But the season finale - now that was really something. In that episode, Larry and his investment partners finally opened their restaurant, even though the chef had a neurological disorder that caused him to swear uncontrollably in the establishment’s open kitchen. It was all going swimmingly, with almost everyone who had guested on the show over the season on hand, when the chef unleashed a loud, foul-mouthed torrent. Desperate, Larry declared solidarity with the chef by blurting out a foul cascade of his own. His partners - including actor Michael York - followed suit. As the shock turned to laughter, the guests took turns shouting out obscenities, and the season ended on a rare note of warmth and unity. This scene, a giddy celebration of all that is stifled and censored in everyday discourse, showed us the kind of deepened connections we risk losing when we fear offending. Larry David, you’re my Caucasian!

3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (UPN). To quote one of the show’s key phrases of late: everything’s connected. The second half of the 2001-02 season and the first 10 episodes of the 2002-03 season make up a dark, somber tale about the imperfection of the soul. Almost everybody is engaged in an ongoing struggle to escape addictions, destructive patterns, and the relentlessness of karma; almost everybody is reaching out for salvation, but the bad choices of the past keep reverberating. No character’s journey from the dark to the light has been more poignant or frustrating than that of Spike, the vampire in love with Buffy; he went out and regained his soul, but at a hefty price. As Spike, the ferociously versatile James Marsters emerged as the show’s undisputed romantic hero and leading man. And if there’s any justice, he’ll earn Buffy’s first acting Emmy nomination for his efforts.

4. The Sopranos (HBO). In a burst of storytelling speed approaching the finish line, Tony risked his kingdom for a horse, Ralphie lost his head, and Carmela woke up and smelled the ziti. Previous seasons have ended in murder followed by a family gathering. This one ended with a big metaphoric whacking - the death of Carmela’s illusions about her marriage - followed by a family implosion. Carmela’s rage at Tony’s continued infidelity was as unexpected as it was cathartic; she just stormed and stormed, churning up secrets (Furio!) and hurts from the bottom of her heart. Edie Falco’s emotional devastation rang painfully true. So did James Gandolfini’s brutish inability to answer her cries with anything but petty counter-charges and kneejerk violence. The season’s most haunting image: Carmela’s hope crumbling as she peered through the windows of Furio’s empty house, a scene echoed in the finale by Tony’s rattling through the cavernous rooms of "Whitecaps, " the Jersey-shore family retreat that he bought when he still had a family.

5. Warren Zevon on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, October 30). Terminally ill with lung cancer, the brilliant exemplar of singer-songwriter noir made a wry farewell appearance that was filled with the sort of gallows humor you’d expect from the man who gave us "I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead." But this was also a moving display of friendship. Long-time pal and champion Letterman gave the entire hour over to Zevon, with an interview ("It’s not something that bed rest and a lot of water is going to fix up," quipped the obviously weakened singer) and a three-song recital of "Genius," "Mutineer," and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner," in which his singing made up in wit and heart for what it lacked in power.

6. Boomtown (NBC). Easily the best new series of the year. The splintered storytelling - each episode is told from almost a dozen different perspectives - gives this elegantly plotted cop show momentum and tension. The fragmented point of view also reflects the show’s Los Angeles setting, where a myriad of cultures and voices vie to write the official history.

7. The King of Queens (CBS). It stands in the shadow of Everybody Loves Raymond, but this snappy, creatively raunchy scenes-from-a-marriage sit-com is actually sharper and less sentimental than what Raymond has become. Kevin James is like a happier Ralph Kramden, Leah Remini’s tart tongue and blazing ambition recall the glorious screwball-comedy dames of old, and Jerry Stiller, as the child substitute (he plays Remini’s live-in dad), is as strange and twisted as ever.

8. Bruce Springsteen: The TV Tour (everywhere). There aren’t many radio stations left that’ll play his music, so the usually publicity-shy Boss took to TV (and print) to promote The Rising, the E Street Band’s first studio album in 18 years. Aging, couch-bound fans thought they’d died and gone to Boss heaven. The TV Tour included a live mini-set from Asbury Park (The Today Show), a terrific two-part Springsteen interview with Ted Koppel, a two-night stand on Letterman, and an early Christmas present of "Kitty’s Back" (eight minutes long and smokin’) and "Merry Christmas Baby" delivered gift-wrapped on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. There are a few days left in 2002 - Bruce can still hit Sesame Street, The O’Reilly Factor, and Emeril Live if he hurries.

9. In Memoriam: New York City 9/11/01 (HBO). A terrible day captured beautifully in words and pictures by professional journalists and civilians alike, and all of it underscored by the elegiac playing of the New York Philharmonic. This recollection of horror, courage, and grace was as stark as the towers burning against that blue sky.

10. The Larry Sanders Show (Bravo). Garry Shandling’s groundbreaking, corrosive satire of the Hollywood food chain went into nightly reruns on Bravo, and that was good news for viewers who were too frugal to splurge on HBO 10 years ago, when the show debuted (it ran until 1998). Larry Sanders was the Curb Your Enthusiasm of its time. Neurotic, self-absorbed late-night-talk-show host Larry mingles with real celebrities while his long-suffering staff snicker behind his back and grovel at his feet. One major quibble: Bravo drops the sound whenever Rip Torn as Artie, Larry’s avuncular producer, lets fly with his frequent and exquisitely original uses of the F-word. Artie’s vocabulary is a crucial part of his character, a cagy old pro who has seen it all and then some. And if you think the obscenities don’t matter, see #2 above.