Parting was painful when some of our favorite TV pals, including ``Friends,’’ ``Sex and the City’’ and ``Angel,’’ signed off this year. Amazingly, the networks came through this fall with some worthy replacements. They also aired some less-than-worthy ones. Here’s a quick look at what soared and what tanked in 2004.

THE BEST

1. The return of scripted television: A few writers and producers took their chances in the life raft on the sea of reality television, and it led to some of the best programming on the tube.

2. ``Lost’’ (ABC): Hands down the best new show of the 2004 season. ``Alias’’ mastermind J.J. Abrams and co-creator Damon Lindelof have crafted ``can’t-wait TV’’ by parceling out just enough information in each installment of this action-thriller/soap-opera fusion to keep millions of viewers intrigued each week.

3. ``Desperate Housewives’’ (ABC): The ladies of Wisteria Lane come in a close second to the castaways. Although we’re a little less concerned about how this mystery will be resolved, we’re hooked on the suburban intrigue.

4. Saturday night reruns (ABC, NBC, CBS): For TV junkies with overworked TiVos and VCRs, these date-night opportunities to catch up on hit shows are preferable to the dreck normally relegated to this graveyard.

5. ``Arrested Development’’ (Fox) and ``Scrubs’’ (NBC): The splendid Emmy winner and the vet share an affinity for absurdity.

6. The coming-of-age of intergenerational dramas: On ``Gilmore Girls’’ (WB), ``Everwood’’ (WB) and ``The O.C.’’ (Fox), parents and kids fuss, fight and bond, with poignant results.

7. ``Angel’’ (WB): Joss Whedon pounded the final nail in the coffin of his brilliant ``Buffyverse’’ by sending the soulful vampire and his crew off to draw final blood in a spectacular finish.

8. HBO: The pay cable station had a great year with the swan song of ``Sex and the City,’’ the penultimate season of ``The Sopranos’’ and the gritty goings on of ``The Wire.’’ Promising new shows include ``Entourage’’ and ``Deadwood.’’ HBO’s original films, including ``Something the Lord Made,’’ the epic ``Angels in America’’ and the recent ``Life and Death of Peter Sellers,’’ continued to attract top-drawer talent.

9. TV technology - DVRs and On Demand: While the TiVo love affair is a pre-2004 phenomenon for some, the advent of cable-based and competing digital video recorders is making for even more happy viewers. The growing library of On Demand offerings means that everyone from sports fans to cooking-show enthusiasts to movie buffs can get the scores, recipes and films they want, when they want them.

10. ``The Daily Show With Jon Stewart’’: It made us laugh, period. WORST

1. Evil/boring reality shows: We won’t give them another shred of publicity by naming them. They know who they are and we hope we never see their sliced and diced faces, rich heiress butts, obnoxious bossy behavior and money-grubbing cruelty again.

2. Lack of diversity: If you’re African-American, Hispanic, Asian or otherwise off-white, this was not a good year for seeing yourself represented on television . . . again.

3. FCC foofaraw: Your remote control gives you amazing powers. You can use it to change the channel or even turn the TV off. We’re pretty sure the clickers of the FCC commissioners include these magical buttons. When something unscripted happens, say full-frontal boobery, fine the boob but don’t penalize viewers by pre-emptively sanitizing television.

4. Cancellation of: ``Wonderfalls,’’ ``Jake 2.0,’’ ``Tru Calling.’’ None of these shows was perfect, but all were at least as good as ``According to Jim.’’ Given more time to grow, they might have been better.

5. When bad comedy happens to funny people: With the collected talent in front of and behind the cameras on ``Father of the Pride,’’ ``Center of Universe,’’ ``Listen Up’’ and ``Complete Savages,’’ somebody should’ve been able to do better - or at least know better.

FIVE HOPES FOR THE NEW YEAR

1. That the success of ``Desperate Housewives’’ and ``Lost’’ leads to more quality prime-time fare and not just pale copycats.

2. That obnoxious killjoy Jonathan Baker is ejected from ``The Amazing Race’’ in the most ignominious fashion and the show returns to its first-class form.

3. That Showtime’s ``Fat Actress,’’ starring Kirstie Alley, is as big a hoot as its promos tease.

4. That reality-show creators come up with concepts that are fun and entertaining but not cruel, gross or humiliating.

5. That viewers find ``Arrested Development’’ so it can live to see another season.