Wow, a whole decade of television to sum up in one column! But first, let’s get down to business. There’s a new year to ring in. For the traditional, there’s “Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” (9 p.m., ABC) from Times Square in New York. “New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” (9 p.m., NBC) features performances by Green Day and Rihanna. From Las Vegas, Carmen Electra hosts “New Year’s Eve Live” (10 p.m., Fox).

“The Graham Norton Show” (8 p.m., BBC America) rings in 2010 with guests Joan Rivers, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dominic West and Sharleen Spiteri.

Cable news fans can watch “New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin” (10 p.m., CNN) or “All American New Year” (10 p.m., Fox News).

• The past 10 years have been particularly difficult for scriptwriters, who have been trying to compete with real events. If the 2000 election and recount were written into “The West Wing,” you wouldn’t have believed it. The pilot for “24” was completed before Sept. 11, 2001, but the show would go on to mirror post-9/11 anxieties.

If some series were outpaced by events, others appeared to anticipate them. We should have been paying more attention to those incompetent real-estate jokers on “Arrested Development.”

The best show of the decade? “Lost” is great, long-form storytelling filled with more questions than “The Prisoner” and often as lush, beautiful and melodramatic as an epic motion picture. If you’re watching “Lost” on your phone while Tweeting, I feel sorry for you.

Should “American Idol” make the cut? While hugely popular, there’s nothing about “Idol” that wasn’t found on TV (and radio) talent shows dating back to the 1930s when Major Bowes discovered Frank Sinatra.

More than even reality TV, the decade has been dominated by a pop culture of casual morbidity. It was a time when countless series were set in morgues and when ghost hunters, mediums, “whisperers” and professional paranormals proliferated. Not to mention chic vampires.

The most iconic figures of the decade? Both Don Draper (“Mad Men”) and Michael Scott (“The Office”) wear ties and try to maintain their game face in a changing world. Don seems vaguely aware that the buttoned-down minds of the early 1960s are about to be blown. On the other hand, the very cluelessness of Michael Scott represents an uneasy sense among some viewers that our very ideas of work, of corporate life and of going to “The Office” are becoming a bit of a sad joke.

Happy New Year to all. May our next decade be less nerve-racking. And thank you dear readers, for following this column for the past 10 years. May we all meet in good health and discuss TV (or whatever) in 2019.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Symbols confuse Allison on “Medium” (7 p.m., CBS).

• On four episodes of “30 Rock” (NBC), Liz’s reunion (7 p.m.), Jack’s birthday (7:30 p.m.), a new cast member (8 p.m.), Liz’s new talk show (8:30 p.m.).

• Suburban guys hit the road in the 2007 comedy “Wild Hogs” (7 p.m., ABC).

• “Live From Lincoln Center” (7 p.m., PBS) celebrates Hampson, Gershwin, Copland & Broadway.

• William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) returns on “Fringe” (8 p.m., Fox).