And with a drum roll, and then sudden silence from the audience here comes the next batch of 'my top shows'

35: The Mighty Boosh (2004 - )

"One time, I saw a man looking at me, yes, with his eyes. And then, he, he picked up a tube. And he looked, in the tube, and he made the moon big, inside the tube. The moon big inside a tube!"

The Mighty Boosh is one of the most surreal shows on television anywhere outside of the truely bizzare (i.e. crap) stuff that gets aired at stupid-o-clock. The Mighty Boosh is about the odd adventures of two friends called Howard Moon and Vince Noir plus their Shaman friend Naboo and his monkey Bolo. Each season is set in a different enviroment, the first season is based in a zoo called the Zooniverse, the second in a small upstairs flat from which Howard and Vince attempt to make it big as a band and the third in a magic shop owned by Naboo.

Vince and Howard are, as explained by the show. Idiots. While Vince is popular, attractive and lucky, he's still as bright as a piece of celery in the bottom of a well. Howard is more intelligent, but not by much. As such they tend to get themselves into bad situations with great aplom and often have to be bailed out by other characters in the show.

The show has plenty of reccuring and memorable one off characters, these vary in quality from the truely brilliant like Old Greg "I've got a man-jina!", Saboo "What do you know of the Crunch" the shaman, Tony Harrison the tentacled head, the moon (described by Tony as an 'alabaster retard') and Bob Fossill to the rather uninsipring and overused Cockney Hitcher. (Yes Boosh fans, I don't want to see that character ever again).

The Mighty Boosh doesn't rate higher than 35 because at times it's brilliant, but at other times it's just... not very good. Season Three in particular struggled somewhat with some rather duff stories. Also, I'm not very keen on the way character death is treated in this show, multiple characters have returned from the grave. Mind you, Saboo died and I'm glad he's back...

imdb: 9.2
tv.com: 8.7

34: The League of Gentlemen (1999 - 2002)

"Are you local?"

If The Mighty Boosh is the most surreal comedy on tv, The League of Gentlemen is the most disturbing by miles. Proving that comedy can be dark and that freak shows are funny TLoG burst onto British screens in early '99 and had an immediate impact on the viewing public. Essentially a sketch show set in Royston Vasey TLoG wasn't afraid to have some true abominations for characters. Edward & Tubs, Hillary the butcher of "special meat" and probably the most iconic character of all... Papa Lazarou!

While the movie "League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse" is not a particually good ending to the show (or even a good movie) the stuff that occurs in the three seasons and the christmas special is nothing short of magical. If you like your comedy dark, or just enjoy the sick and twisted. Royston Vasey is a place you should visit.

imdb: 8.7
tv.com: 8.4

33: Nip/Tuck (2003 - )

"Tell me what you don't like about yourself? "

Nip/Tuck is one hell of a polished drama that borders on the strange at times. It's about Macnamara/Troy, a successfull plastic surgery clinic run by two metrosexual men (Christian and Shawn). The show varies from season to season in it's brilliance. The first two seasons are staggering, the third season is great but let down in the end, the fourth season was ok with a few amazing episodes and the fifth has been good so far. In truth, the quality of the show varies a lot from one story to the next. But the show consistently delivers surgery scenes that I can't stand to watch (they're that good) along with witty dialog, gorgeous women and handsome men. There's something for everyone in this show, as long as you don't try and take it seriously. Because if you do, it's going to leave you behind at the door.

imdb: 8.7
tv.com: 9.1

32: My Name is Earl (2005 - )

At 32 is everyones favourite redneck (and starring character from one of The Ferrett's favourite shows) Earl. I got in on MNIS with the pilot episode just on a combination of the strength of Jason Lee's movie performances and the premise (bad guy learns about karma, decides to make amends). I was not disappointed, the show has been consistently great for two strong seasons and has even taken the brave step of shaking things up a little for it's third season by changing the main plot drive and setting (slightly).

Jason Lee's performance is fantastic, but the supporting cast is what really makes this show shine. All of the main supporting characters are superb, each one bringing a great deal to the situations in the show. The scripts are tight and packed with jokes, plus there is some very nice eye candy for the male viewer. :P

This show also got Rednecks to start using the word 'karma'. Anything that teaches rednecks new words can't be bad.

imdb: 8.8
tv.com: 9.1

31: Black Books (2000 - 2004)

- "Look, there's no other way to say this, but I didn't come in here to be insulted. "

- "Well, I didn't ask for the job of insulting you. In another life, we could have been brothers. Running a small, quirky taveria in Sicily. Maybe we would have married the local twins instead of wasting each other's time here in this dump. But it was not to be. So hop it."

Black Books is one of those truely British C4 sitcoms, so much of it has the same feel as Spaced, Peep Show, Bottom and Green Wing (amongst others). Possibly because there's are plenty of cast members shared between some of these shows and possibly because there's something quintisentially British about them.

Black Books is about as British as you can get, it's filled with miserable people who can barely stand each other and like themselves even less. They're unpleasant, unkind and intolerant. Which makes for superb television in this critics eyes as there's nothing more uplifting than seeing other people being miserable.

Black Books is one of the finest Brit comedy shows ever produced. I can only think of five Brit-sit-coms that are better.

imdb: 9.2
tv.com: 9.1