It’d be tricky to count the number of missteps, blunders and outrages committed by The WB over the past decade, but the hardest to swallow is still its boneheaded cancellation of “Angel” at the peak of the show’s creative power.

It was always a great show, made my top-ten list every year it was on, made me tune in every single week for five years.

But its fifth and final season, collected on a DVD set that goes on sale today, was one of the best seasons of televised entertainment ever broadcast.

The only Mutant Enemy series in production last season, "Angel" benefited mightily from creator Joss Whedon’s less-divided attention - to say nothing of the additions of actors James Marsters and Mercedes McNab, and veteran Mutant Enemy writers Ben Edlund (“The Tick,” “Firefly”) and Drew Goddard (“Buffy”), to its fold. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, the spinoff’s fifth season rivaled in terms of quality even the best seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and I have no greater compliment to bestow.

Cordelia Chase departed for good, Harmony fretted, Connor redeemed, Gunn sacrificed, Knox was vanquished, Andrew and an army of slayers descended, Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan became this enormous badass and there were puppets, lots of puppets.

The first half of the season generated many many swell episodes: Spike’s resurrection in 5.1, the introduction of the peepee demon in 5.5, the Harmony-centric fun of 5.9 were all highlights.

But once the show was cancelled, Team Whedon came on like it had something to prove. The final eight installments boast no fewer than four astonishing five-star episodes: “A Hole in the World” (Fred bids Wes goodbye), Underneath (Hamilton, the new Wolfram & Hart liaison, arrives), “The Girl in Question” (Angel and Spike learn Buffy Summers has moved on) and “Not Fade Away” (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce shuffles off his mortal coil).

Like I said when I put “Angel” atop my 2004 top-ten list: The Whedon owns all our asses. Even yours.

Season-sets whose asses you could be owning in the next 30 days:

Last Tuesday:
Fresh Prince of Bel Air 1.x
Full House 1.x
The Grid 1.x
Highlander 6.x
Jamie Foxx Show 1.x
Miami Vice 1.x
Murder One 1.x
Murphy Brown 1.x
Night Court 1.x
Punky Brewster 2.x
7th Heaven 2.x
Wayans Bros. 1.x

Feb. 15
Angel 5.x
Good Times 4.x
Greatest American Hero 1.x
Little House on the Prairie 7.x

Feb. 22
The Commish 2.x
The Shield 3.x
Stripperella 1.x

March 1
Brady Bunch 1.x
Lost in Space 3.x Vol. 1
South Park 5.x
Wonder Woman 2.x

March 8
Columbo 2.x
Felicity 4.x
Friends 9.x
Kojak 1.x
Popular 2.x
Saved By the Bell II 2.x
Sweet Valley High 1.x

March 15
As Time Goes By 7.x
La Femme Nikita 2.x
Green Acres 2.x
Hogan’s Heroes 1.x
Pretender 1.x
Red Dwarf 5.x
Red Dwarf 6.x
Starsky & Hutch 3.x

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