I was a TV critic back in the late 1970s -- pre-cable, pre-Hill Street Blues -- when compiling an end-of-year Top 10 required massive amounts of generosity to fill out the bottom half, at least. But let it be said that, in 2011, not even two different Top 10s can contain all the worthy television that's out there to enjoy...

In fact, when you put all the lists together, it's more like -- and more than -- a Top 40...

For the record, here is my Top 10 for 2011, as I listed them earlier this month on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, in an interview you can hear, or read more about, HERE.

TOP 10 TV SERIES OF 2011:

1. Breaking Bad (AMC).
2. Homeland (Showtime).
3. The Good Wife (CBS).
4. Modern Family (ABC).
5. Justified (FX).
6. Dexter (Showtime).
7. American Horror Story (FX).
8. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO).
9. Louie (FX).
10. True Blood (HBO).

Did you think of some TV shows that are conspicuous by their absence, and which you felt should have been included? Of course you did -- that's the nature of TV during a good year, and also a matter of personal preference.

But you're not alone. I'm angered by a lot of TV programming that didn't make the list -- and I WROTE the list.

For Fresh Air, I threw out some caveats -- just to give me some more room, while acknowledging other best-of-breed TV shows.

First, I pushed aside, into a different category, all news shows, whether real or fake. This gave me the chance to note the overall, invaluable excellence of three series, in particular, without making them take up 30 percent of my Top 10:

TOP 3 REAL/FAKE NEWS SERIES OF 2011:

1. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (COM).
2. 60 Minutes (CBS)
3. The Colbert Report (COM).

I also made a separate category for unscripted shows -- documentaries and nonfiction -- so that I could salute shows that, again, would otherwise push hard, like players in a rugby scrum, to work their way into my Top 10.

TOP 5 DOCUMENTARIES AND NONFICTION SHOWS OF 2011:

1. George Harrison: Living in the Material World (HBO).
2. Prohibition (PBS).
3. America in Primetime (PBS).
4. American Masters: Woody Allen (PBS).
5. An Idiot Abroad (SCI).

I had one more subdivision ready to offer to Terry, but I felt so guilty, by that point, that I skipped right over them. Otherwise, I would have honored movies and miniseries as well, with this brief but impressive list:

TOP 5 MOVIES AND MINISERIES of 2011:

1. Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey (PBS).
2. Mildred Pierce (HBO).
3. Torchwood: Miracle Day (Starz).
4. Sunset Limited (HBO).
5. Cinema Verite (HBO).

Now, after all those side bets, came my second-tier votes for the best series of 2011 -- the shows ranked, on my official Top 10 list for the year, Nos. 11-20.

NEXT BEST TOP 10 SERIES of 2011:

11. Rescue Me (FX).
12. Walking Dead (AMC).
13. Episodes (SHO).
14. Boardwalk Empire (HBO).
15. Friday Night Lights (NBC/DirecTV).
16. 30 Rock (NBC).
17. Men of a Certain Age (TNT).
18. Treme (HBO).
19. Damages (DirecTV).
20. The Killing (AMC).

Now think about that. Counting the two tiers of Top 10s, and the exceptions on other lists, that's a total of 33 shows that are absolutely, "top-of-the-world-ma!" outstanding.

And that doesn't cover it, by any means.

In my end-of-year round-up for Multichannel News, covering only the Top 10 NEW offerings, and only the ones on cable, I managed to slip in a few more deserving titles. You can read my full story HERE, but here's the Top 10 for that publication, which adds two more to the list. Or the lists.

TOP 10 NEW CABLE SHOWS OF 2011:

1. Homeland (SHO).
2. American Horror Story (FX).
3. Episodes (SHO).
4. George Harrison: Living in the Material World (HBO).
5. An Idiot Abroad (SCI).
6. Game of Thrones (HBO).
7. Lights Out (FX).
8. The Killing (AMC).
9. Torchwood: Mirace Day (Starz).
10. Mildred Pierce (HBO).

So now, that's 35 shows that I found worthy of honoring. And yet, I missed some -- even by my standards.

What about these (listed alphabetically), for starters?

Boss (Starz).
Community (NBC).
Enlightened (HBO).
Fringe (Fox).
Parks & Recreation (NBC).
South Park (COM).
The Simpsons (Fox).

And there are even more -- but that brings the individual show count to 42, and the ones I haven't listed, which you can think of (and remind me in your comments) could easily bring the 2011 Excellent TV list to 50 or more.

At the end of the year, when you want to look back and give thanks, fans of quality TV have a lot for which to be thankful. And if you count the ways, you'll be counting for a while.

Thanks, 2011.

Welcome, 2012.