The Commercials

THE BEST

-- VOLKSWAGEN'S ''TREE'' The VW GTI unexpectedly plummeting from the branches was a love letter to anyone who's ever lost a Frisbee.

-- LIPTON SIZZLE & STIR Your worst next-door nightmare would be the Chuck Woolery, Sally Jessy Raphael, Little Richard, and Pat Morita brood, but they're the year's funniest family.

-- ''THE NEW YORK MIRACLE'' Woody Allen, Henry Kissinger, and Barbara Walters are pitch perfect in these whimsical Big Apple boosters.

-- THE GAP'S ''GIFTED MIX'' (''GIVE A LITTLE BIT'') Sure, these ads are the gravestone over the ''Real musicians don't sell out'' dictum, but they're damn catchy with their minimalism and star wattage.

-- NIKE'S ''TAG'' The city as the world's biggest playground managed to be both vaguely ominous and every grown-up's recess fantasy.

THE WORST

-- CARROT TOP FOR 1-800-CALL-ATT Just when you thought collect-call ads had exhausted the supply of annoying pitchmen, they've somehow managed to find one even worse.

-- THE CHICKEN MAN FOR MCDONALD'S This manic, unfunny Tom Green-without-the-poo-fetish mascot could turn more people off poultry than salmonella.

-- BRITNEY SPEARS FOR PEPSI Not just an assault on the senses, but a kick in the crotch to Bob ''Viagra + jailbait = true love!'' Dole's respectability.

-- MITSUBISHI's ''ONE WEEK'' sing-a-long Drivers mess up the lyrics to a three-year-old Barenaked Ladies song: Who are they targeting, karaoke-aficionado deliverymen?

-- LEVI'S SINGING BELLY BUTTONS Some body parts just weren't meant to sing.