by Ken Tucker

Creator Joss Whedon's stated objective for this season — to reunite the series' core characters (Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles) as a superteam of buddies — was nearly waylaid by a number of things: the addition of Buffy's new boyfriend, Riley (a dullard, and, miraculously, acknowledged as such by the writers via Buffy's cooling attraction to him midway through the season); a new element of prickly Spike's personality (he's gaga for the Slayer); and the still-unfolding mystery of the sister Buffy never had (a delightful, time-honored comic-book device — what DC Comics used to label on its covers "an imaginary story" — made flesh). Still, I'd say: Objective achieved, and then some. You can't go wrong by turning Anthony Stewart Head's Giles from a fussy librarian into a fusty shopkeeper — the guy gets more laughs out of prissiness these days than Frasier and Niles combined — and Michelle Trachtenberg, as sister Dawn, is the best kid actress in prime time this side of Once and Again's luminous Evan Rachel Wood.
 

And in case you're curious, here's the complete list of the the top ten shows:

1. The West Wing
2. The Sopranos
3. Short-Form Series TV (includes Survivor, The Corner, and a few documentaries)
4. Late Show with David Letterman
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
6. The X-Files
7. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
8. Ed
9. Once and Again
10. Felicity