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shadowkat[As my radiator hisses to life in the background demonstrating that yes it has dropped to the forties today and isn't quite as warm as it was over the weekend, I find myself at loose ends.
Did accomplish a few things today - biggest - I've managed to actually knit three rows - granted they aren't exactly neat rows, but I have low expectations.]
Anyhow, been meaning to do this list for quite some time but have not gotten around to it. Yes, it is the dreaded or anticipated, depending on your point of view, My Favorite TV Shows of 2006 List/Meme.
These are by the way in no particular order, because ranking them requires more time and decision making than I'm willing to expend on this. In short they are ranked depending on the order I remember them in. Hmmm perhaps should call this The Memorable TV Shows of 2006?
1. Battle Star Galatica
Yes, it was uneven this past year - there were a few episodes that aired between January and May that I could have done without. But overall, with the inclusion of the websiodes, it remains my favorite tv series. Granted, some of the supporting characters could use a bit more rounding - but each character remains multi-faceated and the story continues to sprout from them as opposed to being thrust down upon them. This is one of the few tv shows on that is willing to take risks, to look at what is going on in the world around us and throw it up on the screen but not expend too much time commenting on the morality - letting the audience judge for themselves. That and it has some really cool female characters - Sharon, D'Anna,
Roslyn, Dee, Starbuck, and Callie.
2. Friday Night Lights
Next to Galatica, this may be the best written serial I've seen in a long time. Certainly the most complex. With multiple sub-plots and interlocking themes. Like Galatica it too focuses on issues but through the emotional arc of its characters - never overtly stating what we should think, just showing us what happens. With an ensemble cast headed by Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton and some excellent younger players - this series revolves around a high school football team but is about so much more. If you haven't given it a chance, trust me on this, you don't know what you are missing.
3. Grey's Anatomy
Melodramtic in places? Sure. But it loves its characters - all of them. And it does not make excuses for them. "We aren't the morality police, we don't tell you what to think,"states Chandra Wilson in a recent interview in EW. And they don't. One of the few shows on TV that has a multi-racial cast and women in the lead roles. A show that focuses on a female surgical intern and her struggles. Shondra Rhimes, a Buffy fan, a followed Whedon's rules: 1) don't be afraid to let your characters make mistakes, 2)Don't be afraid to punish your characters and make them suffer. 3) Make the characters your story. And finally, 4, ignore the audience - respect them but do not cater to them.
4. Weeds
More enjoyable than I expected. Only saw the first season though and this summer no less.
Wacky black comedy about a surburban housewife who sells weed to make ends meet. Makes Desperate Housewives look a bit tame by comparison. But maybe that's because it's on cable?
5. Ugly Betty
My guilty pleasure. Warm, comforting little tale about a Queens twenty-something Latino trying to make it in a flashy fashion house. One of the few network tv shows whose female lead does not look like she walked off the cover of Vogue or Marie Claire.
6. Veronica Mars - yes, yes, I know it was a bit uneven in places this last season. Yet it still does things differently than everyone else. The Zimbardo Prison Study Episode - was a notable highlight - which is later linked to the rape case. (Granted I had a personal interest in this since I'd studied the experiment the year before and written a short paper on it.) Another highlight was the Weevil/Logan team-up to solve Logan's mystery. And the story has stuck to its noir roots, granted its more neo-noir than pure noir, but this is network tv afterall.
7. House - also uneven in places, but the characters are getting deeper and more interesting. And the Omar Epps two-parter last Spring was a tour de force - deconstructing and reconstructing the character. Plus we had the episode in which we are completely inside House's head. Another show that played with its format. Only drawback - it is directly opposite Veronica Mars forcing me to choose.
8. Lost - many people have given up on this series, but I kinda like the social psychology experiment gone insane aspect not to mention the existentialist philosophy bits. And while they have managed to kill off several of my favorite characters - I still enjoy many of the ones remaining. It is a show that continues to engage and intrigue me. And remains different in structure and voice form other shows.
9. Heroes...uneven in places, the dialogue is not always stellar, but it is still one of the most beautifully filmed shows I've seen in quite a while. And the characters are built on in each episode. Shot a bit like a graphic novel, with chapter titles, and comic panels, it pays homage to the format yet does not remain inside the boundaries of the format or the rules - creating its own. In some respects it reminds me a great deal of The 4400 without the X-Files component. Cheesy, sure, but also a great deal of fun. Plus it introduced Masia Oska (Hiro) to TV and that can only be a good thing.
10. Project Runway. I know, I know, it is a reality series. But it's unlike most of the one's I've seen to date - has more in common with Changing Rooms/Trading Places - which I was addicted to several years ago, before people went nuts with format. Unlike most reality shows - the series focuses more on what the people are creating, the tasks at hand, the designs, and less on the personalities. Sure it has it's talking heads, and whinging, but most of the show is on watching these people create beauty out of absurd materials. I learned quite a bit about fashion and dressmaking from watching this show and more importantly reading![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
spikewriter's recaps - which made the show even more addictive. Can't decide sometimes which I enjoyed more.
Other notables:
1. Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip - I adored the first few episodes, and there are a couple moments that made me laugh - the copyright bit for one thing (which ahem you may have to be a bit of an intellectual property expert to truly appreciate) and the Gilbert and Sullivan Number (again, it might help if you are a G&S expert), but then Sorkin got up on his soap box and gave each character a megaphone and well, lost me. Shame since this was my fantasy show come to life - setting, actors, dialogue. I can't help but wonder if the series would have worked better if the setting had been more like Broadcast News and less like 30 Rock? I can see people working on a news broadcast discussing Katrina, worrying about Iraq, and feeling the need to comment on the world's problems and cultural divisiness. But a sketch comedy? They broke my suspension of disbelief during the bizarre Xmas episode. And it takes a lot to break my suspension of disbelief. I may try a few more, but if they are anything like the Xmas episode that everyone seemed to adore - which means they most likely will be, I'm gone.
2. Nip/Tuck - this show was weird this season. It had a couple of entertaining and somewhat decent episodes tucked behind ones that not only jumped the shark, but hit the shark with a bus. The writers seemed to want to throw everything but the kitchen sink at the tv screen.
That said, I liked Rosie O'Donnell's cameo and Roma Maffia rocked. Alainis held her own.
And Peter Dinklater was adorable. And while I preferred S1's wrap-up of the Escobar storyline, S3's conclusion wasn't too overtop.
3. Boston Legal - my new discovery. Makes me laugh more than most situation comedies, partly because it makes fun of itself and the whole format. Now, if Sorkin could just borrow a page from Kelly and start doing the same thing?
4. The L Word - disappointing this year. Found the death of one of the major characters depressing and unnecessary - did not help of course that she was my favorite, while two other characters I could not stand continued towreck interact with the others lives. Also I'm not sure the season flowed - it seemed jagged. I did however like two arcs: Alice and Kit's. And to a certain extent Shane and Bette. I could have done without Jenny and Tina.
5. The Closer - only detective procedural that does not bore me. Savy characters and that's why it works. In some respects it reminds me a great deal of the British series Prime Suspect.
Mini-series
1. The Lost Room - best sci-fi miniseries I've seen in quite some time. Sort of reminiscient of the Twilight Zone and an old 1990's series called "Friday The 13th" - where a bunch of people hunt for mystically cursed objects in order to destroy them. (Does anyone remember that series? It had a really creepy episode where a man forces his wife's spirit to switch bodies with his ailing dog - so she dies in the dog's body, while his dog lives on in her's - via a mystical dog collar. Still can't forget it.) Anyhow in this one a little girl gets lost in a mystical hotel room and her father who holds the key to the room, must find the correct group of objects to bring her back. That's the simplified version - its far more complicated than that.
2. Nightmares and Dreamscapes - uneven but entertaining. Particularly the episode about the Private Eye, the one entitled The Nightmare Goes North, and the one about the couple who find themselves in another dimension. Also quite similar to Rod Serling's Twighlight Zone and NightGallery.
3. Prime Suspect 7 - Final Curtain, Tennyson's Last Case - remarkably well written.
Helen Mirren shines in the title role. And once again it's not the mystery that makes this series shine so much as the relationships between the title character and those around her.
Did accomplish a few things today - biggest - I've managed to actually knit three rows - granted they aren't exactly neat rows, but I have low expectations.]
Anyhow, been meaning to do this list for quite some time but have not gotten around to it. Yes, it is the dreaded or anticipated, depending on your point of view, My Favorite TV Shows of 2006 List/Meme.
These are by the way in no particular order, because ranking them requires more time and decision making than I'm willing to expend on this. In short they are ranked depending on the order I remember them in. Hmmm perhaps should call this The Memorable TV Shows of 2006?
1. Battle Star Galatica
Yes, it was uneven this past year - there were a few episodes that aired between January and May that I could have done without. But overall, with the inclusion of the websiodes, it remains my favorite tv series. Granted, some of the supporting characters could use a bit more rounding - but each character remains multi-faceated and the story continues to sprout from them as opposed to being thrust down upon them. This is one of the few tv shows on that is willing to take risks, to look at what is going on in the world around us and throw it up on the screen but not expend too much time commenting on the morality - letting the audience judge for themselves. That and it has some really cool female characters - Sharon, D'Anna,
Roslyn, Dee, Starbuck, and Callie.
2. Friday Night Lights
Next to Galatica, this may be the best written serial I've seen in a long time. Certainly the most complex. With multiple sub-plots and interlocking themes. Like Galatica it too focuses on issues but through the emotional arc of its characters - never overtly stating what we should think, just showing us what happens. With an ensemble cast headed by Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton and some excellent younger players - this series revolves around a high school football team but is about so much more. If you haven't given it a chance, trust me on this, you don't know what you are missing.
3. Grey's Anatomy
Melodramtic in places? Sure. But it loves its characters - all of them. And it does not make excuses for them. "We aren't the morality police, we don't tell you what to think,"states Chandra Wilson in a recent interview in EW. And they don't. One of the few shows on TV that has a multi-racial cast and women in the lead roles. A show that focuses on a female surgical intern and her struggles. Shondra Rhimes, a Buffy fan, a followed Whedon's rules: 1) don't be afraid to let your characters make mistakes, 2)Don't be afraid to punish your characters and make them suffer. 3) Make the characters your story. And finally, 4, ignore the audience - respect them but do not cater to them.
4. Weeds
More enjoyable than I expected. Only saw the first season though and this summer no less.
Wacky black comedy about a surburban housewife who sells weed to make ends meet. Makes Desperate Housewives look a bit tame by comparison. But maybe that's because it's on cable?
5. Ugly Betty
My guilty pleasure. Warm, comforting little tale about a Queens twenty-something Latino trying to make it in a flashy fashion house. One of the few network tv shows whose female lead does not look like she walked off the cover of Vogue or Marie Claire.
6. Veronica Mars - yes, yes, I know it was a bit uneven in places this last season. Yet it still does things differently than everyone else. The Zimbardo Prison Study Episode - was a notable highlight - which is later linked to the rape case. (Granted I had a personal interest in this since I'd studied the experiment the year before and written a short paper on it.) Another highlight was the Weevil/Logan team-up to solve Logan's mystery. And the story has stuck to its noir roots, granted its more neo-noir than pure noir, but this is network tv afterall.
7. House - also uneven in places, but the characters are getting deeper and more interesting. And the Omar Epps two-parter last Spring was a tour de force - deconstructing and reconstructing the character. Plus we had the episode in which we are completely inside House's head. Another show that played with its format. Only drawback - it is directly opposite Veronica Mars forcing me to choose.
8. Lost - many people have given up on this series, but I kinda like the social psychology experiment gone insane aspect not to mention the existentialist philosophy bits. And while they have managed to kill off several of my favorite characters - I still enjoy many of the ones remaining. It is a show that continues to engage and intrigue me. And remains different in structure and voice form other shows.
9. Heroes...uneven in places, the dialogue is not always stellar, but it is still one of the most beautifully filmed shows I've seen in quite a while. And the characters are built on in each episode. Shot a bit like a graphic novel, with chapter titles, and comic panels, it pays homage to the format yet does not remain inside the boundaries of the format or the rules - creating its own. In some respects it reminds me a great deal of The 4400 without the X-Files component. Cheesy, sure, but also a great deal of fun. Plus it introduced Masia Oska (Hiro) to TV and that can only be a good thing.
10. Project Runway. I know, I know, it is a reality series. But it's unlike most of the one's I've seen to date - has more in common with Changing Rooms/Trading Places - which I was addicted to several years ago, before people went nuts with format. Unlike most reality shows - the series focuses more on what the people are creating, the tasks at hand, the designs, and less on the personalities. Sure it has it's talking heads, and whinging, but most of the show is on watching these people create beauty out of absurd materials. I learned quite a bit about fashion and dressmaking from watching this show and more importantly reading
spikewriter's recaps - which made the show even more addictive. Can't decide sometimes which I enjoyed more. Other notables:
1. Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip - I adored the first few episodes, and there are a couple moments that made me laugh - the copyright bit for one thing (which ahem you may have to be a bit of an intellectual property expert to truly appreciate) and the Gilbert and Sullivan Number (again, it might help if you are a G&S expert), but then Sorkin got up on his soap box and gave each character a megaphone and well, lost me. Shame since this was my fantasy show come to life - setting, actors, dialogue. I can't help but wonder if the series would have worked better if the setting had been more like Broadcast News and less like 30 Rock? I can see people working on a news broadcast discussing Katrina, worrying about Iraq, and feeling the need to comment on the world's problems and cultural divisiness. But a sketch comedy? They broke my suspension of disbelief during the bizarre Xmas episode. And it takes a lot to break my suspension of disbelief. I may try a few more, but if they are anything like the Xmas episode that everyone seemed to adore - which means they most likely will be, I'm gone.
2. Nip/Tuck - this show was weird this season. It had a couple of entertaining and somewhat decent episodes tucked behind ones that not only jumped the shark, but hit the shark with a bus. The writers seemed to want to throw everything but the kitchen sink at the tv screen.
That said, I liked Rosie O'Donnell's cameo and Roma Maffia rocked. Alainis held her own.
And Peter Dinklater was adorable. And while I preferred S1's wrap-up of the Escobar storyline, S3's conclusion wasn't too overtop.
3. Boston Legal - my new discovery. Makes me laugh more than most situation comedies, partly because it makes fun of itself and the whole format. Now, if Sorkin could just borrow a page from Kelly and start doing the same thing?
4. The L Word - disappointing this year. Found the death of one of the major characters depressing and unnecessary - did not help of course that she was my favorite, while two other characters I could not stand continued to
5. The Closer - only detective procedural that does not bore me. Savy characters and that's why it works. In some respects it reminds me a great deal of the British series Prime Suspect.
Mini-series
1. The Lost Room - best sci-fi miniseries I've seen in quite some time. Sort of reminiscient of the Twilight Zone and an old 1990's series called "Friday The 13th" - where a bunch of people hunt for mystically cursed objects in order to destroy them. (Does anyone remember that series? It had a really creepy episode where a man forces his wife's spirit to switch bodies with his ailing dog - so she dies in the dog's body, while his dog lives on in her's - via a mystical dog collar. Still can't forget it.) Anyhow in this one a little girl gets lost in a mystical hotel room and her father who holds the key to the room, must find the correct group of objects to bring her back. That's the simplified version - its far more complicated than that.
2. Nightmares and Dreamscapes - uneven but entertaining. Particularly the episode about the Private Eye, the one entitled The Nightmare Goes North, and the one about the couple who find themselves in another dimension. Also quite similar to Rod Serling's Twighlight Zone and NightGallery.
3. Prime Suspect 7 - Final Curtain, Tennyson's Last Case - remarkably well written.
Helen Mirren shines in the title role. And once again it's not the mystery that makes this series shine so much as the relationships between the title character and those around her.
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-09 12:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-09 05:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-09 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-09 05:12 am (UTC)That said it's still better than most of the other things I've seen.
Certainly better than Gilmore Girls (which I still watch because the relationship between Lorili and Rory reminds me of the one I have with my Mom - we do the same thing more or less.) But GG lost me last year with the Luck/Lorli breakup scenario. And Rory grates on my nerves. And just don't have much love for the procedurals - watched CSI Miami tonight while knitting (up to six or seven rows now...yay!! And they look great.) and boy is it poorly written. Found Two and Half Men more entertaining (which is saying a lot - it has this annoying habit of ending each joke with a baritone voice over 'two and half me' which is worse than a laugh track.)
Ugh.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-09 05:28 am (UTC)I've stopped watching Lost completely, it just finally got so that I didn't care what was happening with any of them any more (which was sad because I had liked a lot of the characters that first season).
BTW I hear Joss is going to direct an episode of The Office, so I'll be tuning in for that (that is a show I hadn't watched but I guess I should be).
no subject
Date: 2007-01-09 07:08 am (UTC)So Whedon's going back to directing tv? Except direction isn't that big a deal in shows like the office - most of the show is improvizational - from what I understand and have seen of it, it doesn't have the tight direction of a show like say Angel, or Lost, or BSG. Lots of handheld camera, and lots of talking heads.
Lost appeals to me for reasons that I'm not sure you'd get unless you have a weird fascination for social psychology and philosophy. When I watched it last year - it was like seeing all the social psyche experiments I read about come to life on screen. It's a social psychology students dream come true. That and I have an incredible weakness for survival dramas. ;-)
Watching GG for the same reasons you are right now - Lane and Paris.
And possibly Sookie, Emily and Richard. Everyone else just annoys me.