I got into Monk separately from being a Best Show fan. Only later did I realize that Tom was involved with both things. Monk got me to the point where I watch a lot of the USA shows and enjoy the quirky crime investigator format perhaps above all others in TV Land.
I also got into Jay Farrar and Mountain Goats and etc. without realizing that Jon Wurster was involved with those projects. I find that most of my entertainment likes wrap around and are connected to each other somehow.
By the same token, I came to dislike Garrison Keillor (that voice, that hoary voice!) entirely on my own and was delighted when it became a Best Show thing to dislike. My fury at Poster Children was purely a Best Show thing tho.