It's time once again for our annual list of the 50 best episodes of the past year.

As usual we'll be counting down 10 episodes a day until we get to the best episode of 2009 on Friday. The episodes on this list are based on nominations by myself, the staff and you the readers as to what we think the standout moments of the year were.

This year actually marks our 10th anniversary of the doing this so be sure to revisit some of our previous picks using the links to the right.

Obviously our final list will differ from the ones you sent in - but that's half the fun! So sit back, relax and enjoy the countdown!

50. "cougar town: into the great wide open" (abc)
(originally aired: september 30, 2009)

The show's priceless "Hangover"-esque recap of Jules's attempts to make up for her twenties during a night out with Laurie was nothing short of hysterical.

49. "family guy: road to the multiverse" (fox)
(originally aired: september 27, 2009)

The parallel universes gag - in which Stewie and Brian visit a Disney version of their world (complete with songs and anti-Semitism) - is a sight to behold.

48. "entourage: give a little bit" (hbo)
(originally aired: october 4, 2009)

Two words: Matt Damon.

47. "how i met your mother: the leap" (cbs)
(originally aired: may 18, 2009)

The capper to the year that Ted got left at the altar, the year Ted got knocked out by a crazed bartender, the year that Ted got fired, the year that Ted got beat up by a goat - a girl goat at that - was another notch in "Mother's" belt of... wait for it... awesomeness. Here Ted finally decides to move on from his Mosbius aspirations while Robin tries to preemptively turn down Barney's affections.

46. "it's always sunny in philadelphia: the gang wrestles for the troops" (fx)
(originally aired: october 29, 2009)

The Paddy's Pub crew decide to throw a charity wrestling match, an event which gets us among other things - the guys dressed as eagle men (complete with sprayed on abs), the "Birds of War" theme song and Rowdy Roddy Piper as their crazy instructor.

45. "greek: our fathers" (abc family)
(originally aired: september 7, 2009)

Television's most underrated soap offered up this gem in which Casey, Rebecca and Ashleigh's fathers (Jerry Lambert, Thomas Calabro and Kadeem Hardison, respectively) visit and inadvertently get drawn into the girls' current squabble.

44. "numb3rs: dreamland" (cbs)
(originally aired: october 30, 2009)

Television's most underrated procedural offered up this gem in which the FBI looked into a woman's death on a decommissioned air base. Said case had them work alongside a quirky government official (a very awesome guest star in John Michael Higgins) who, for a few seconds at least, helped make the unbelievable seem possible.

43. "terminator: the sarah connor chronicles - born to run" (fox)
(originally aired: april 10, 2009)

Worth a spot on this list if only for its promise of what might have been - Weaver and John disappear into a future where Derek is still alive, Cameron is human and no one has heard of some guy named John Connor.

42. "grey's anatomy: here's to the future/now or never" (abc)
(originally aired: may 14, 2009)

I can't recall the last time a TV series's public foibles so perfectly collided with the show itself, in this case the (then) long rumored/expected/you-name-it departures of cast members Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight. The show's fifth season finale wrapped with both their lives in danger - the former due to her character's season-long struggles with a brain tumor and the latter because - holy crap! - his character selflessly pushed a woman out of the path of a bus only to be struck himself.

41. "er: and in the end..." (nbc)
(originally aired: april 2, 2009)

The show that changed what we could expect from a medical drama wrapped its 15-year run in a quietly graceful way - namely by revisiting elements from its pilot episode. Whether it be Carter giving the exact same lesson Benton gave him all those years ago, a sleeping Dr. Morris being woken up by Lydia (a la Dr. Greene) or just the fact it also took place over a 24-hour period. And lest we forget - that closing shot of the until-now-unseen County General.