You may already know what television is popular in the States, from checking the ratings. We do not know what’s big there. We just like what we like, and may try something new if it gets a good review in the New York Times, for example.

But we do watch a chunk of it. A day or three later. Maybe an hour a pop late at night because local TV is pretty much unwatchable, unless you like the CSI franchise.

Are you curious about what expats in the UAE are watching? If so, continue. I’m going to rank 10, starting with “favorite” and working on down to “don’t always watch.”

1. “30 Rock.” We discovered this show in Hong Kong on New Year’s Eve 2008. Why we had not been watching previously … I don’t clearly remember, other than this vague memory of being confused at two “SNL-like sitcoms” debuting at once. (Wasn’t Matthew Perry in the other?) Anyway, Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy and the ensemble are brilliant. Perhaps the wittiest social satire in TV history. We parcel out episodes of this. “Do we want to ‘spend’ the 30 Rock we have? No … let’s see if we can save it a bit longer.” Not sure any show has been this good this long since “Seinfeld.”

2. “Modern Family.” Not as good as it was in that first memorable season, when it rivaled 30 Rock, but still very solid. Very. We even recommend it to Brits, who sometimes don’t get American humor (as we sometimes don’t get theirs.) Who would have guessed that the Phil Dunphy character would turn out to be the pivot of the show?

3. “Saturday Night Live.” Still chasing around this show even though this has been one of their worst seasons. Just wretched show after wretched show, with perhaps Weekend Update making it more palatable. And then along comes Saturday’s show (the one with Channing Tatum as guest host, and he did a very nice McConnaughey impression, didn’t he?), which restored our faith in the show’s possibilities. More good bits in this one than any other four shows this season combined. And just before we cued it up, I actually did say, “We keep watching just in case they finally have a good show.”

4. “Survivor.” Still. I haven’t missed five episodes in the history of the show. I actually look forward to this. After all these years. The only reality TV I’ve ever watched.

5. “Person of Interest.” Came for Michael Emerson (of “Lost” fame), stayed for Jim Caviezel (of “Passion of the Christ” fame). A high-tech whodunit, based on the notion (closer every day) that Someone Somewhere knows our every move and hears our every utterance. But once you get past the technology, it’s basically a vigilante show in which the low-talking (think Clint Eastwood, when angry) Caviezel character is a vigilante on the streets of New York. I don’t know if this will have legs, but we like it a lot, at the moment.
6. “The Big Bang Theory.” Not as good as it was in the first couple of years, when it was brilliant but people weren’t watching; we’ve now pretty much mined Sheldon’s weirdnesses. But still amusing, and now I just like the characters.

7. “Rules of Engagement.” I have a weakness for David Spade and Patrick “Puddy” Warburton.  They kill me just by showing up.

8. “New Girl.” Yes, goofy and odd and smiley-face, and it definitely is possible to tire of Zooey Deschanel’s relentlessly quirky/humanist Jess, but it feels like some new approach to comedy is going on here. Just enough askew to feel fresh and perhaps revelatory.

9. “Castle.” Yes. Does that brand me as old? Or is this just age-appropriate? (I think the average age of a Castle viewer is about 70.) I’m a Nathan Fillian fan. (He was formerly Leah’s “TV boyfriend.” She has since taken up with Timothy Olyphant, of “Deadwood” et al.)

10. “The Mentalist.” I am fascinated that a badly written and generally implausible show with zero stars, beyond Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, can be in its fourth year. Or fifth. The series is testing how many ways it can make the same five places look like somewhere else. And how long people will watch a short but charming Aussie sorta solve crimes? It has a real Aaron Spelling feel to it — Spelling being the master of cheap/schlocky TV for a couple of decades. Maybe it’s an homage. Looks like it costs about $100 to make.

11. “The Middle.” OK, one more than I promised. The sitcom that doesn’t belong with the rest on this list. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but wry in a sort of salt-of-the-earth-America way, and it actually deals with real issues, and I love the kid who plays Brick. (Whisper it: Brick!)

There’s the list. Some come and go. This last one is hanging on by its fingernails, because it has more of a “watch it, it’s good for you” thing going on, and TV shouldn’t be like broccoli.

We also watch various cable series, currently “Deadwood” (finally), “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Mad Men,” if it ever returns, etc.