My Favorite TV Shows of 2011

Read numerous critics top ten or Best of 2011 lists, and guess what? I disagree with 50-60% of the lists. And feel this odd annoyance at the moninkar - best list. I find myself agreeing with Woody Allen who stated that it is ludicrous to have a best movie or best tv show - it's more likely favorite. The only time you can arrive at the term "best" - is if you run a race.So true. The implied arrogance of folks like Ken Tucker, Matt Roush, Stephen King, Lisa Schwarztman, Glenn Kenny, Robert Corliss and Alan Sepinwalll in stating that they are the arbitrators of taste is astonding. Honestly. What qualifies them? A few college courses? A few well-written reviews? The fact that they do little else but sit on their buts and watch tv, read books, and write? Taste is largely dependent on daily experience I think. It is completely subjective. The objective criteria is narrow at best and most if not all nominees neatly fit it - but even that...is largely based on how we each perceive the world. It just seems incredibly arrogant and somewhat the height of hubris to state "BEST" when in reality the term should be "Favorite".

With no further ado...My FAVORITE TV SHOWS of 2011 (now that they've all aired. Keep in mind I do not get SHowtime or Starz, so tv shows that premiered on these channels can't be included. TV shows that actually aired in 2011 are only included (so no, I didn't count the Wire) Also this will probably be the ONLY TV show list that you read that does not contain Breaking Bad on it. Make of that, what you will.)

( My Favorite TV Shows of 2011 - which aired in that year. )

Okay no time. Off to finish setting the table and dinner.

(no subject)

Finished Scoundrel's Honor by Rosemary Rodgers - whose writing was comparatively speaking on a purely technical level far and away the best of the bunch. (I tried to read the Connie Brockaway novel afterwards and couldn't deal with all the syntax errors and choppy writing structure. Or simplicity of the word choice. And that was just the first page. May try again later...after I read another Rodgers...this one is about a woman posing as a highwayman to rob from the rich/give to the poor and the gentleman agent attempting to bring her to justice to save his kidnapped brother's life. Rodgers' was influenced by the works of Alexandre Dumas- apparently. There's definitely a Dumas flair in her books and her dialogue is good.) Rodgers clearly has worked hard at the technical aspects of her craft. The typos I found were few and far between and clearly the fault of e-book digitization.

Another bit? This is not your momma's Rodgers. There's no rape in this book. Mention and referred to, yes. The threat of rape? Present - realistic back then, also true of all romance novels I've read, unfortunately. But no actual rape. Neither the heroine nor any of the main characters are raped. It's not a rapemance. Also it's a bit subversive in that the heroine saves the hero a few times, she's independent, and he's a bit of an outlaw, and not a "manly" man so much as sleek - like Spike. Rodgers clearly was a Buffy/Spike fan.
Her heroine? An aging spinster. Her hero - an aging pirate.

At $4.99? Worth the buy.