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The Best of the Rest on Cable - By Paul Semel

Whenever people talk about the best shows on cable, they invariably bring up "The Sopranos," "Nip/Tuck," "The Shield" and "Rescue Me." But with 500 channels to choose from, there are obviously more than just four great shows on cable. Below are some of our favorites that don't involve gangsters, surgeons, cops or firefighters.

Battlestar Galactica/Sci-Fi

'Battlestar Galactica' (Sci-Fi)
Whereas the original "Galactica" had a bunch of toasters chasing people across the galaxy, the new version has toasters that look like GQ models chasing people across the galaxy. But beautiful bad guys aren't the only reason we love this show; we also enjoy all the politics, in-fighting and asking of tough questions those hot human-haters bring with them.

On DVD: "The Battlestar Galactica" 2003 Miniseries Seasons 1 and 2.0 are available now; Season 2.5 comes out in September, a month before Season 3 begins in October.

Robot Chicken/Cartoon Network

'Robot Chicken' (Cartoon Network)
No, it's not a show about a chicken that uses bionic arms, legs
and eyeballs to find Bigfoot. Rather, it's a sketch-comedy show
like "Saturday Night Live" -- if SNL was done stop-motion style
with toys and other actions figures. Oh, and if it was funny.
Not only did they do "The Real World: Metropolis" with Superman,
Batman and the Hulk but they also got Rachael Leigh Cook to take her "This is your brain on drugs" public-service announcement to ridiculous extremes.

On DVD: "Robot Chicken Season 1" (available now) includes commentaries, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage and the original Internet shorts.

The Daily Show/Comedy Central

'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' (Comedy Central)
Jon Stewart always shudders when someone mentions that, despite what ABC says, more young people get their news from "The Daily Show" than anywhere else. But if he really wants to change that, he needs to dumb down this show. And stop catching politicians, public figures and news reporters contradicting themselves, spinning and outright lying. And he needs to stop his staff from writing the smartest, funniest and silliest political satire since Bloom County.

On DVD: "The Daily Show: Indecision 2004" (available now) includes shows and segments from its coverage of the 2004 presidential election.

Entourage/HBO

'Entourage' (HBO)
Most of us will never be part of a posse, and we're OK with that, because we can just watch "Entourage," HBO's chuckle-heavy sitcom about an up-and-coming actor and the pals he's bringing along for the ride. Not only does it stick a pin in the pomposity of young Hollywood but it also manages to be the funny friendship tale that so many "Sex in the City" rip-offs have failed to be.

On DVD: "Entourage: The Complete First Season" is out now; "The Complete Second Season," which includes behind-the-scenes interviews, is due June 6.

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