Top 10 TV Shows 2012

SpongeBob SquarePants (often referred to simply as SpongeBob) is an American animated television series, created by animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The series' popularity has prompted the release of a media franchise, contributing to its position as Nickelodeon's highest rated show, the most distributed property of MTV Networks, and among Nicktoons' most watched shows.[1] It is listed 15th in IGN's top 100 animated series list[2].

When Rocko's Modern Life ended in 1996,[3] Hillenburg began working on SpongeBob SquarePants.[4][5] He teamed up with several Nickelodeon veterans and Rocko crew members, including creative director Derek Drymon (Action League Now!, Hey Arnold!, and Rocko's Modern Life) writers and directors Sherm Cohen, and Dan Povenmire,[6] writer Tim Hill, actor and writer Martin Olson, animation director Alan Smart (all from Rocko's Modern Life), and story editor Merriwether Williams (The Angry Beavers), who worked on the series for its first few seasons and switched to SpongeBob SquarePants in July 1999. To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life.[7] Originally, SpongeBob was to be named SpongeBoy, but this name was already in use.[8] This was discovered after voice-acting for the original seven-minute pilot was recorded in 1997. The Nickelodeon legal department discovered that the name was already in use for a mop product.[9] Upon finding this out, Hillenburg decided that the character's given name still had to contain "Sponge" so viewers would not mistake the character for a "Cheese Man". Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a "nice ring to it".[10]

The pilot episode of SpongeBob SquarePants first aired in the United States on Nickelodeon on May 1, 1999, following the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. The first episodes were called "Help Wanted", "Reef Blower", and "Tea at the Treedome". The "official" series premiere followed on July 17, 1999, with the second episode, "Bubblestand/Ripped Pants." The show reached enormous popularity by 2000 during the second season, and has remained popular since. A feature film of the series was released in theaters on November 19, 2004. The series celebrated its tenth anniversary on July 17, 2009. So far the series has aired 334 individual episodes. It is currently Nickelodeon's longest-running cartoon, and currently in its eighth season. SpongeBob surpassed Rugrats (in terms of number of episodes) when SpongeBob aired its 173rd episode on April 11, 2012 (while Rugrats had 172 episodes). Last April 12, 2012, SpongeBob aired its 174th episode and currently has 174 episodes aired, and a total of 241, marking it as the first Nicktoon to have 200 or more episodes. On July 21, 2012, SpongeBob was renewed and aired its ninth season. [11]. This is the first season to have regular episodes produced in widescreen.

Victorious (stylized as VICTORiOUS) is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around aspiring singer Tori Vega (portrayed by Victoria Justice), a teenager who attends a performing arts high school called Hollywood Arts High School, after taking her older sister Trina's (Daniella Monet) place in a showcase while getting into screwball situations on a daily basis. On her first day at Hollywood Arts, she meets Andre Harris (Leon Thomas III), Robbie Shapiro (Matt Bennett), Rex Powers (Robbie's puppet), Jade West (Elizabeth Gillies), Cat Valentine (Ariana Grande), and Beck Oliver (Avan Jogia). The series premiered on March 27, 2010 after the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards. The first soundtrack for the series, Victorious, was released on August 2, 2011. The series won the Favorite TV Show award at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards. Its second soundtrack, Victorious 2.0, was released on June 5, 2012. On August 10, 2012, Victoria Justice stated that the current third season of the show will be the final season.[3] Dan Schneider added in a blog post that Nickelodeon made the decision to end Victorious because of Nickelodeon's 60 episode plan. The 60 episode plan was decided before the show started, according to Dan Schneider. Even though he and the cast would have been willing to shoot more episodes, the network had decided to end the series. He also denied rumors that Victorious is ending because of its new spin-off show, Sam & Cat.[

The Lying Game is an American teen drama television series produced by Pratt Enterprises, Alloy Entertainment and Warner Horizon Television for ABC Family.[1] The show is based on a series of novels of the same name by Sara Shepard. The network green-lighted the series in February 2011 with a 10 episode order,[1] with the series premiering on August 15, 2011.[2] On September 15, 2011, ABC Family gave the series a 10 episode back order bringing the first season to 20 episodes.[3] The second half of the season began airing on January 2, 2012. On April 24, 2012, ABC Family announced it has been renewed for a second season, slated for a winter premiere.[

Good Luck Charlie is an original Disney Channel television sitcom, which premiered April 4, 2010. The series was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who wanted to create a program that would appeal to entire families, as opposed to children only. It revolves around a Denver family, the Duncans, as they try to adjust to the birth of their fourth child, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico). In each episode, Teddy Duncan (Bridgit Mendler) creates a video diary containing advice for Charlie about their family and life as a teenager. Teddy tries to show Charlie what she might go through when she is older in the video diaries for future reference. Each video diary ends with Teddy (or someone else from the family, even Charlie) saying the eponymous phrase, "Good luck, Charlie."

Among other decisions, executives included adult-centric scenes and changed the series title from Oops to Love, Teddy and finally to Good Luck Charlie in order to ensure the series would appeal to all family members. Good Luck Charlie premiered on Disney Channel in the United States on April 4, 2010.[1] It premiered in Canada on April 5, 2010, the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 14, 2010, and in Australia and New Zealand on July 23, 2010. Good Luck Charlie was renewed for a second season, with production beginning in August 2010 with a season premiere on February 20, 2011.[2] A feature-length Christmas Disney Channel Original Movie based on the series entitled Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! began production in March 2011 for a December 2011 premiere.[3] On August 29, 2011, Disney Channel announced that they had renewed the series for a third season.[3] The third season premiered on May 6, 2012. On July 12, 2012, Disney Channel announced that they renewed the series for a fourth season.[

Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.[2]

The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. While trying to live as normal a life as possible—she is married and owns an antique store—Melinda helps earthbound spirits resolve their problems and cross over into the light, or the spirit world. Her tasks are difficult and at times she struggles with people who push her away and disbelieve her ability. In addition, the ghosts are mysterious and sometimes menacing in the beginning and Melinda must use the clues available to her to understand the spirits' needs and help them.[3] The show was created by John Gray and was produced by Sander/Moses Productions, executive producer, and Jennifer Love Hewitt in association with ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios.[4] On May 18, 2010, CBS canceled the show after five seasons.

The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode (156 in the original series) is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to serious science fiction and abstract ideas through television and also through a wide variety of Twilight Zone literature.

The program followed in the tradition of earlier shows like Tales of Tomorrow (1951–1953)—which also dramatized the short story "What You Need"—and Science Fiction Theatre (1955–1957), as well as radio programs such as The Weird Circle, X Minus One, and the radio work of Serling's hero, dramatist Norman Corwin.

The success of the series led to a feature film, a radio series, a comic book, a magazine, and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades, including two "revival" television series. The first ran on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, the second ran on UPN from 2002 to 2003.

Zoey 101 is an American television series that ran from January 9, 2005 to May 2, 2008. It was created by Dan Schneider, produced for Nickelodeon and syndicated worldwide. The show stars Jamie Lynn Spears as teenager Zoey Brooks. It was initially filmed at Pepperdine University in Malibu, then at stages in Valencia beginning in season 3. It was nominated for an "Outstanding Children's Program" Emmy in 2005.[1] Zoey 101 was the most expensive production ever for Nickelodeon series, as it was shot completely on location in Malibu.[2] It was also Nickelodeon's best performance for a series premiere (live action or animation) in almost eight years.

Cake Boss is an American reality television series, airing on the cable television network TLC. Set at Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey, the show mainly follows Buddy Valastro and his family as they operate their business, with a focus on how they make their cakes, along with family gatherings and celebrations.

The show premiered on April 19, 2009, and four additional seasons followed, premiering October 26, 2009, May 31, 2010 (returning in October), January 31, 2011 (returning in September), and May 28, 2012, respectively.

The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.

This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions (1998–2006), CBS Paramount Television (2006–2007), in association with Columbia Pictures Television (1998–1999) Columbia TriStar Television (1999–2002), and Sony Pictures Television (2002–2007). It was filmed at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, USA.

After the series finale broadcast on May 14, 2007, The King of Queens became the last American live action sitcom that premiered in the 1990s to end its run.[

Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake. Charlie's free-wheeling life is complicated when his brother gets divorced and moves, along with his son, into Charlie's beach-front Malibu house. The series' premise was revamped in the ninth season, focusing on Alan moving on with his life after the death of Charlie with help from his new best friend and housemate, Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), who is also dealing with his own troubles following a bad divorce. Alan, Walden, and Jake eventually bond, becoming close friends, forming a surrogate family unit.

In 2010, CBS and Warner Bros. Television reached a multi-year broadcast agreement for the series, renewing it through at least the 2011/12 season.[1][2] However, on February 24, 2011, CBS and Warner Bros. decided to end production for the rest of the eighth season due to Sheen entering drug rehabilitation and making "disparaging comments" about the show's creator and executive producer, Chuck Lorre.[3] Sheen was officially fired from the show on March 7.[4] The ninth season premiere, "Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt", killed off Sheen's character and introduced Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt, his replacement.[5]

In 2011, a news article in The New York Times called Two and a Half Men "biggest hit comedy of the last decade".