And that’s where the Spraylist comes in – the critical retrospective of the year’s culture from a bunch of people who’ve spent much of it telling you how stupid it all was. Because, deep down, we’re nice people. And also it disguises the fact that we’re doing any work today because we ate too many sausages wrapped in bacon last week and they’ve turned our guts bad.

Today: the hecklerspray writers’ best TV shows of 2008. Don’t forget to add your own favourites underneath. That way it makes it seem as if you count, too…

Stuart Heritage

Outnumbered shouldn’t work – it’s set in smug upper-middle class sitcom suburbia, features child actors who are all called things like Tigrethintia Pyjamabell and occasionally veers off into moments of toe-curling sincerity – but when it hits its stride, there’s not a lot that can touch it. That’s partly down to the writing and partly down to the naturalistic, improvised performances by the kids themselves. Unable to top Outnumbered, they’ll all become bankrupt crack addicts by the time they’re 18, but that’s something we’ll worry about when they’ve stopped making Outnumbered so bloody great.

Also, Tonightly was pretty good. Tonightly. It was on Channel 4 in the summer. Anyone? Hello? Oh, fuck you all, then.

Shawn Lindseth

30 Rock. The poor thing has Arrested Development-itis though. You know – where it’s the best thing ever but nobody wants to watch it because they’re too busy rewinding Charlie Sheen to watch his same basic sex joke again and again. We get it, Chuck, you’re horny all the time. We get it.

You don’t find comedic scraps like that on 30 Rock though – no. Here you find things like Steve Martin under house arrest, Oprah Winfrey looking heavy-set on an airplane and everyone from Night Court coming back to get married. Now that’s good television.

Honorable mention goes to Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia for their dynamite Mac & Charlie die episodes. You can watch it all for free on Hulu.com, you know.

C J Davies

You know what? I’m glad that I began watching The Wire years back, because – after countless broadsheet articles and yawnworthy dinner party conversations yakking on about how it’s, like, lit-er-ally the best thing ever – I wouldn’t have watched the fucking thing on principle. Which would be a shame, as I’d have missed out on something genuinely brilliant. This year’s fifth and final installment might have been the weakest season of the bunch, but it was still better than anything else being aired this year. Apart from Channel 4 shows partially written by hecklerspray writers, of course.

Chris Laverty

Everything On Dave – I couldn’t live without Dave. I’ve seen Jeremy Clarkson drive that Bugatti Veyron across France more times than I’ve seen my own reflection and I’m still not bored. I have become fixated on finding the names of the musical cues throughout the challenges; that and trying to work out the episode dates and put them in some kind of mental order. Richard Hammond’s stupid hair is the most help with this (used to be normal, now Rod Stewart), along with James May’s ever more dandy dress sense and Clarkson’s expanding waistline. You are so jealous of my life right now, admit it.

Matthew Laidlow

This may end any credibility I have, but this year I took a shine to Midsomer Murders. When I was hung-over and unable to remove from my bed I thought I’d see what was on the TV. Catching the beginning of this strange show, it had me totally engrossed. Not because of the plotline, but because of the ultra poshness of this strange village. Typically, everyone is addressed by their surname and all the villagers live in £1,000,000+ houses. All before there butchered to death by Lynn the psychopath who works in the library.

Other things floating my boat include Come Dine With Me, to see egotistical middle aged people tell me how orgasmic their battered cod is and American cop show The Shield. Probably won’t come to the UK till next summer, but it was worth watching on the internet despite infecting my computer with some sort of man flu style virus. It actually had an ending that tied up the show without revealing it all to be a daydream in a supermarket.

Ian Dransfield

The Inbetweeners – It was a new comedy show on E4, starring young people, arriving in the wake of Skins. It was going to be a massive steaming pile of horse dung. It just was. What actually happened was the anti-Skins – a show of funny little bastards, actually being funny, not giving a shit about image, not living lives that so many morons wish they could have, just living lives that most people remember from their school days. Obviously I’m well nails me, so I never had a bin put on my head in the 6th form, but The Inbetweeners is one of the most relatable, friendly and downright funny programmes to come about in recent years – it’s even better that it pretty much came out of nowhere. It was a shining light in the reams of dirge that were thrust upon us throughout the Queen’s year of 2008 and – for a very brief moment – it gave me hope that British comedy could still be brilliant.

David Scarborough

Lost - The show the demands the patience of a saint, this year continued to reward its devoted fanbase with some of the best and most thought-provoking episodes yet. Introducing new characters, plot twists, going deeper into the characters psyches and expanding the mythology, it also managed to deliver the emotional punches (Who didn’t get all gooey at the Desmond/Penny phone call in ‘The Constant’?). The show isn’t afraid to pull punches killing off cast members left right and centre, it could teach shows like Heroes a lesson or two in television making. The new series is about to start soon and as usual I am as confused as I am excited and quite frankly that’s why I love it!

Tomorrow: Our best stuff of the year. You can’t wait, can you?