Let us not drain the dirty bathwater of 2007 without a glance back at the year’s worst and best television.

This being television, the worst outnumber the best by a 3-1 margin. But even this unholy trinity of programming stinkers has some interesting qualities. Each reflects the biggest mystery of network television: What do men want? What do guys talk about? And how do they think? And they are: “Big Shots,” “Cavemen” and “Viva Laughlin.”

The first two are wretched ABC rookies saved from quick cancellation only by this strike-addled season’s paucity of new programming. For those who forgot, “Viva” was a musical misfire so jaw-droppingly dull and ghastly it was put out of its misery after only two unwatched airings.

The best new show of the year, AMC’s “Mad Men,” also investigates the mysteries of male society and insecurities. On one level, its setting in the advertising wars of 1960 depicts an era when men were men and women wore girdles. But the stirrings of feminism are never far from the surface. From our 21st-century vantage point, we can see how the show’s Brooks Brothers-wearing executives are as doomed and damned as the dodo, or, for that matter, the Marlboro Man.

Nominated for a Golden Globe for best drama series and for best actor (star Jon Hamm), “Mad Men” has not reached an enormous audience. You have to admire a show that risks alienating younger viewers with its mid-century setting and challenging all viewers with its unsparing depiction of human alienation, workplace desperation and marital isolation. Hats off to AMC for renewing a series this smart and unpredictable.

¢ The scramble to be the next king of auld lang syne continues. Dick Clark, who picked up the baton from Guy Lombardo in the 1970s, still hosts “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” (9 p.m., ABC) along with Ryan Seacrest. Scheduled performers include Carrie Underwood, Fergie, Akon and Natasha Bedingfield.

But becoming the face of New Year’s Eve is not all champagne. The job comes with a built-in sense of self-deprecation. You must assume that viewers aren’t really watching you or even your program but using it as background atmosphere at a holiday gathering – something watched, if at all, out of the corner of an eye gradually adjusting to double vision.

In addition to “Rockin’,” viewers can sample “New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” (10:30 p.m., NBC), featuring Lenny Kravitz and Alicia Keys.

Cat Deeley returns for a second year hosting “New Year’s Eve Live” (10 p.m., Fox, tape delayed in Central, Mountain and Pacific), featuring patter from Spike Feresten and performances by Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis and Lifehouse.

Over on “Tila Tequila’s New Year’s Eve Masquerade” (10 p.m., MTV), look for performances by Mary J. Blige, Kid Rock, Fabolous and Paramore.

Cable news gets in the act as Anderson Cooper hosts New Year’s festivities (9 p.m., CNN), featuring music from Earth, Wind and Fire, Miranda Lambert and Widespread Panic.

Not to be outdone, “U Party with Fox News 2008” (10 p.m., Fox News) rings in the new year from New York City.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ “Saturday Night Live” (7 p.m., NBC) recalls the 1990s.

¢ Dog gone on “Everybody Hates Chris” (7 p.m., CW).

¢ The voices of Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz animate the 2004 comedy “Shrek 2” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Frank the Pug star in “Men in Black 2” (7 p.m., Fox).

Cult choice

Feeling disoriented by the passage of time? That’s the perfect mood for the 1968 fantasy “Planet of the Apes” (7 p.m., AMC), starring Charlton Heston.