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shadowkatI'm not doing the typical "best" list and some of these shows may have been watched by people earlier than 2008 - because I don't get HBO or Showtime, and if I managed to watch it, it was via Netflix. My list is limited to those shows that aired on standard American cable or received on netflix. I'm also not including any news shows, reality shows, or sketch comedy shows - I already mentioned the election as noteworthy on another post and Tina Fey as Sarah Palin has gotten enough press. Nor am I including anything that started in December - such as Leverage.
Watched far too much tv in 2008, hence the tv slut title. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to watch less of it in 2009, we'll see if that works. Of the many many shows that I watched, here are the episodes/shows that stood out, in no particular order. [Order is by memory, not ranking, because I don't have the patience or time to do a "ranking".]
Noteworthy Shows and/or Episodes
1. Doctor Who - the episodes featuring the character of Dr. River Song and the Library. Both written by Stephen Moffat. They featured perhaps the most innovative villian that I've seen in a science fiction series - piranaha's of the air. You never saw the monster, just what it did. And the fact that it came from or was hatched from trees and books - a nifty twist. This was coupled with a heroine that was in fact a little girl inside a computer. The computer saved people by keeping them inside a virtual yet false reality created by the books in the library. I saw the episodes sometime in April, and they still resonate more than six months later.
2. Battle Star Galatica - the episodes towards the end of the season, the one featuring Baltar and Laura Roslyn in their death dance, where Laura debates killing Baltar for his crimes yet cannot bring herself to do it and when she almost does let him die, desperately revives him. The other - with Adama discovering in an emotionally wrenching scene that his friend and comrade, Sol Tigh, who he has known forever, is in reality a cylon.
3. Dexter - the Second Season, via Netflix. Dexter discovers his adopted father was not the man he thought he was. And fights a man who is a vigilante but shows remorse, and a woman who has none.
4. Lost - it came back after the Writer's Strike with five or six episodes which redefined the series. Playing with the concept of time and identity in the process.
5. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - about four people struggling to prevent a nightmare future, yet, one feels at times, fatefully doomed to bring about at least a version of it no matter what. Demonstrating that one can never quite escape one's own fate, even though we have no choice but to try. It is also the flip side of Battle Star Galatica, examining what it is like to be a machine, a cyborg. And in contrast, to what degree humans differ from that.
6. Pushing Daisies - yes, it's at times a bit too stylish for its own good. Almost gratingly so. But, it is also oddly cheery about grim topics. Examining death and the loss of loved ones, with a clownish grin. A nice contrast to Terminator's bleakness. Love it or hate it, you've never seen anything remotely like it on TV. And may never again. It played with narrative structure and how a story can be told. Inserting bursts of song and bits of magic, as well as a comic voice-over narrator, who acted as if he were reading us a story from a pop-up detective book. Perhaps he was, the pop-up book just happened to be on our tv sets, and the narrator the charming voice of Jim Dale.
7. Mad Men - another show that at times feels almost too stylish for its own good. But, like Daisies, it uses the style to further its story. Mad Men is filled to the brim with anti-heroes, yet at it's center is the heroine, Peggy, who struggles to push past convention and remain true to who she is. Peggy is the opposite of Don Draper, honest almost to a fault. She tells Pete at the end of Season 2, that she chose not to raise his child and not to tell him, even though she knew he would have chosen her and the child if she did. Instead she chose to pursue her own dreams. Draper, meanwhile, continues to lie to his wife, keeping who he is and wants an eternal secret.
8. In Plain Sight - Mary McCormack plays Mary Shannon - a tough witness protection marshal, with a drunk mother and an ex-con/drug dealer sister. She's an emotional train-wreck, but steely and tough as Phillip Marlow. Flipping gender stereotypes - Mary is the tough guy in the relationships with her partner and her lover, both physically and emotionally.
9. House - the season ender last year - where we go inside House's head to figure out what happened on a bus ride. Which patient he had to save. Last year's House flipped the medical procedural on its ear. He audaciously auditioned new interns in a reality show style manner, picking his new interns by process of elimination. Then at the end of the year, he competes with one of the interns he unceremoniously kicked off - for his best friend Wilson's attention. Only to find himself racing against time and battling his own hazy memories to save her life.
10.Gossip Girl - at first a guilty pleasure has become a satisfying morsel. The twisty cat and cat romance, with vague allusions to Les Liasons Dangereuse, between Chuck Bass and Blair Woolworth - may be the hottest thing on the screen. And we barely see any skin or even much of a kiss. It's soapy sure, but also fun.
Honorable Mentions:
* Torchwood - the tragic romance of Owen and the Asian Scientist who I can't remember the name of. With two audacious guest-starring turns by James Marsters. Although the best episode may be the one that focused on Gwen and the young optimistic boy who got sucked into time, only to come back a monsterous wreck, half insane, and screaming from the nightmares he'd lived.
*Reaper - the poor man's Chuck, which in my opinion was actually better written and far more realistic than Chuck. It's about a Home Depot slacker, who finds out his parents sold his soul to the Devil. A tv show, where the female love interest is not hot and blond and perfect. Whoa. Must be written and created by women? Wait, it is.
*Supernatural - the best cult fantasy show on tv at the moment. Tightly written, with a clear and consistent mythology. It is at its heart a story of two brothers or siblings, with a lot of HP Lovecraft, Urbane Horror Legend, and Christian Mythology thrown in. The best episode may well be the season opener - where Dean is pulled out of hell by Castiel, an Angel, who burns out the eyes of any who dare look upon him and burns the eardrums of those who hear his voice, a mirror breaking squeal. Followed by the two episodes of the fallen angel, who falls for Dean, then takes back her angel mojo for him - making it clear she'd prefer to die human, with feeling and choice, than go back to being a Angel with neither. Dean meanwhile, tormented by what he'd done in hell, wishes he could stop being human and stop feeling, because all he does is feel and it is ripping him apart.
*Smallville - surprisingly came back with some interesting kick-ass stories.
Lana and Chloe are no longer the nice girls next door. Lois has become the kick-ass, sassy heroine with heart. Clark plays god with shocking consequences. And the villian is tragically endearing.
*Desperate Housewives - the fly to five years in the future, was inspired. The glamour-puss Gabby is frumpy, the ordinarily perfect Bree - frazzled, the on top/in control Katherine - a second banana to Bree, the calm and practical Lynette - shrewish and jealous, and the fun-loving romantic Susan - world-weary. It remains an interesting satire on what we believe to be suburban bliss.
* Ugly Betty - slow and a bit loopy to start, but after the ill-conceived Lindsey Lohan arc, it got back to its roots - Betty and Mode. The silly and at times pointless romances and Betty's overly sentimental home life were pushed, finally, to the background, and her sassy relationships with Mark, Amanda, Daniel, and Wilhemmina, front and center. The heart of the show is Betty, Mark and Amanda - it's about time the writers figured it out.
*Cranford - the BBC mini-series on Masterpiece Theater, about a bunch of old spinsters in a small English town around the turn of the century. Funny and sentimental, yet not overly so. It's a quiet little story that I found comforting, about the bonds of both friendship and community.
Not so great series of 2008:
* Grey's Anatomy...sigh. It jumped the shark so many times in the last year, I've lost count. The firing of Brook Smith as Erica Hahn, was just one of many ill-concieved choices. The worst episode may have been the one where Izzy has hot sex with the ghost of Denny.
Topped by Sadie offering to let the interns practice their surgical skills by taking out her appendix. It's biggest loss was Brook Smith - who provided a snarky attitude to the show.
It's biggest gain - Kevin McKidd - who provided a new love interest for Cristina, as well as a nice counter to the boys club of McDreamy and McSteamy. Can it be fixed? We'll see.
*Heroes...yes, it did get better towards the end. The last three or four episodes were actually enjoyable and worth watching. But everything before the eclispe of the sun - made little or no sense. Jumping back and forth in time - with one too many characters. Characters flipping from villian to hero and back again with little build up. Made watching the show akin to riding in bumper cars or one of those rides that jar you. 2009 - looks like it might be better - Brian Fuller's back to lend a hand and they are moving back towards the more personal and contained stories of the first season. For those who dumped the series for fear that Sylar had become a hero or good guy, you should have stuck around for the last three episodes, because he has stayed a villian and is reported to get even worse. Looks like it will be fixed - and soon.
*My Own Worst Enemy - while I enjoyed it, it was a convoluted mess. Difficult to follow. The best thing was the acting - and you felt sorry for the actors. The writing just didn't live up to it. Sort of La Femme Nikita with a personality disorder. Or Alias, except with multiple personalities. Ambitious, but far too ambitious for TV. Deservedly cancelled.
"Nip-Tuck" - which out jumped both Greys and Heroes. It got so ridiculous, it was hard not to giggle at it. Yet, I still watch. I'm not sure why. Curiousity perhaps?
Shows to look forward to in 2009:
Leverage
Dollhouse - Whedon's latest drama about identity - a common theme in his work
Heroes: Fugitives
Lost
BattleStar Galatica
Trust Me - new drama about advertising on TNT
Damages - finally Season 2 - Jan
The Closer - Jan
Burn Notice - Jan
Doctor Who specials
Last/final episodes of recentally cancelled series: Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, and Lipstick Jungle
And many many more...
Watched far too much tv in 2008, hence the tv slut title. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to watch less of it in 2009, we'll see if that works. Of the many many shows that I watched, here are the episodes/shows that stood out, in no particular order. [Order is by memory, not ranking, because I don't have the patience or time to do a "ranking".]
Noteworthy Shows and/or Episodes
1. Doctor Who - the episodes featuring the character of Dr. River Song and the Library. Both written by Stephen Moffat. They featured perhaps the most innovative villian that I've seen in a science fiction series - piranaha's of the air. You never saw the monster, just what it did. And the fact that it came from or was hatched from trees and books - a nifty twist. This was coupled with a heroine that was in fact a little girl inside a computer. The computer saved people by keeping them inside a virtual yet false reality created by the books in the library. I saw the episodes sometime in April, and they still resonate more than six months later.
2. Battle Star Galatica - the episodes towards the end of the season, the one featuring Baltar and Laura Roslyn in their death dance, where Laura debates killing Baltar for his crimes yet cannot bring herself to do it and when she almost does let him die, desperately revives him. The other - with Adama discovering in an emotionally wrenching scene that his friend and comrade, Sol Tigh, who he has known forever, is in reality a cylon.
3. Dexter - the Second Season, via Netflix. Dexter discovers his adopted father was not the man he thought he was. And fights a man who is a vigilante but shows remorse, and a woman who has none.
4. Lost - it came back after the Writer's Strike with five or six episodes which redefined the series. Playing with the concept of time and identity in the process.
5. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - about four people struggling to prevent a nightmare future, yet, one feels at times, fatefully doomed to bring about at least a version of it no matter what. Demonstrating that one can never quite escape one's own fate, even though we have no choice but to try. It is also the flip side of Battle Star Galatica, examining what it is like to be a machine, a cyborg. And in contrast, to what degree humans differ from that.
6. Pushing Daisies - yes, it's at times a bit too stylish for its own good. Almost gratingly so. But, it is also oddly cheery about grim topics. Examining death and the loss of loved ones, with a clownish grin. A nice contrast to Terminator's bleakness. Love it or hate it, you've never seen anything remotely like it on TV. And may never again. It played with narrative structure and how a story can be told. Inserting bursts of song and bits of magic, as well as a comic voice-over narrator, who acted as if he were reading us a story from a pop-up detective book. Perhaps he was, the pop-up book just happened to be on our tv sets, and the narrator the charming voice of Jim Dale.
7. Mad Men - another show that at times feels almost too stylish for its own good. But, like Daisies, it uses the style to further its story. Mad Men is filled to the brim with anti-heroes, yet at it's center is the heroine, Peggy, who struggles to push past convention and remain true to who she is. Peggy is the opposite of Don Draper, honest almost to a fault. She tells Pete at the end of Season 2, that she chose not to raise his child and not to tell him, even though she knew he would have chosen her and the child if she did. Instead she chose to pursue her own dreams. Draper, meanwhile, continues to lie to his wife, keeping who he is and wants an eternal secret.
8. In Plain Sight - Mary McCormack plays Mary Shannon - a tough witness protection marshal, with a drunk mother and an ex-con/drug dealer sister. She's an emotional train-wreck, but steely and tough as Phillip Marlow. Flipping gender stereotypes - Mary is the tough guy in the relationships with her partner and her lover, both physically and emotionally.
9. House - the season ender last year - where we go inside House's head to figure out what happened on a bus ride. Which patient he had to save. Last year's House flipped the medical procedural on its ear. He audaciously auditioned new interns in a reality show style manner, picking his new interns by process of elimination. Then at the end of the year, he competes with one of the interns he unceremoniously kicked off - for his best friend Wilson's attention. Only to find himself racing against time and battling his own hazy memories to save her life.
10.Gossip Girl - at first a guilty pleasure has become a satisfying morsel. The twisty cat and cat romance, with vague allusions to Les Liasons Dangereuse, between Chuck Bass and Blair Woolworth - may be the hottest thing on the screen. And we barely see any skin or even much of a kiss. It's soapy sure, but also fun.
Honorable Mentions:
* Torchwood - the tragic romance of Owen and the Asian Scientist who I can't remember the name of. With two audacious guest-starring turns by James Marsters. Although the best episode may be the one that focused on Gwen and the young optimistic boy who got sucked into time, only to come back a monsterous wreck, half insane, and screaming from the nightmares he'd lived.
*Reaper - the poor man's Chuck, which in my opinion was actually better written and far more realistic than Chuck. It's about a Home Depot slacker, who finds out his parents sold his soul to the Devil. A tv show, where the female love interest is not hot and blond and perfect. Whoa. Must be written and created by women? Wait, it is.
*Supernatural - the best cult fantasy show on tv at the moment. Tightly written, with a clear and consistent mythology. It is at its heart a story of two brothers or siblings, with a lot of HP Lovecraft, Urbane Horror Legend, and Christian Mythology thrown in. The best episode may well be the season opener - where Dean is pulled out of hell by Castiel, an Angel, who burns out the eyes of any who dare look upon him and burns the eardrums of those who hear his voice, a mirror breaking squeal. Followed by the two episodes of the fallen angel, who falls for Dean, then takes back her angel mojo for him - making it clear she'd prefer to die human, with feeling and choice, than go back to being a Angel with neither. Dean meanwhile, tormented by what he'd done in hell, wishes he could stop being human and stop feeling, because all he does is feel and it is ripping him apart.
*Smallville - surprisingly came back with some interesting kick-ass stories.
Lana and Chloe are no longer the nice girls next door. Lois has become the kick-ass, sassy heroine with heart. Clark plays god with shocking consequences. And the villian is tragically endearing.
*Desperate Housewives - the fly to five years in the future, was inspired. The glamour-puss Gabby is frumpy, the ordinarily perfect Bree - frazzled, the on top/in control Katherine - a second banana to Bree, the calm and practical Lynette - shrewish and jealous, and the fun-loving romantic Susan - world-weary. It remains an interesting satire on what we believe to be suburban bliss.
* Ugly Betty - slow and a bit loopy to start, but after the ill-conceived Lindsey Lohan arc, it got back to its roots - Betty and Mode. The silly and at times pointless romances and Betty's overly sentimental home life were pushed, finally, to the background, and her sassy relationships with Mark, Amanda, Daniel, and Wilhemmina, front and center. The heart of the show is Betty, Mark and Amanda - it's about time the writers figured it out.
*Cranford - the BBC mini-series on Masterpiece Theater, about a bunch of old spinsters in a small English town around the turn of the century. Funny and sentimental, yet not overly so. It's a quiet little story that I found comforting, about the bonds of both friendship and community.
Not so great series of 2008:
* Grey's Anatomy...sigh. It jumped the shark so many times in the last year, I've lost count. The firing of Brook Smith as Erica Hahn, was just one of many ill-concieved choices. The worst episode may have been the one where Izzy has hot sex with the ghost of Denny.
Topped by Sadie offering to let the interns practice their surgical skills by taking out her appendix. It's biggest loss was Brook Smith - who provided a snarky attitude to the show.
It's biggest gain - Kevin McKidd - who provided a new love interest for Cristina, as well as a nice counter to the boys club of McDreamy and McSteamy. Can it be fixed? We'll see.
*Heroes...yes, it did get better towards the end. The last three or four episodes were actually enjoyable and worth watching. But everything before the eclispe of the sun - made little or no sense. Jumping back and forth in time - with one too many characters. Characters flipping from villian to hero and back again with little build up. Made watching the show akin to riding in bumper cars or one of those rides that jar you. 2009 - looks like it might be better - Brian Fuller's back to lend a hand and they are moving back towards the more personal and contained stories of the first season. For those who dumped the series for fear that Sylar had become a hero or good guy, you should have stuck around for the last three episodes, because he has stayed a villian and is reported to get even worse. Looks like it will be fixed - and soon.
*My Own Worst Enemy - while I enjoyed it, it was a convoluted mess. Difficult to follow. The best thing was the acting - and you felt sorry for the actors. The writing just didn't live up to it. Sort of La Femme Nikita with a personality disorder. Or Alias, except with multiple personalities. Ambitious, but far too ambitious for TV. Deservedly cancelled.
"Nip-Tuck" - which out jumped both Greys and Heroes. It got so ridiculous, it was hard not to giggle at it. Yet, I still watch. I'm not sure why. Curiousity perhaps?
Shows to look forward to in 2009:
Leverage
Dollhouse - Whedon's latest drama about identity - a common theme in his work
Heroes: Fugitives
Lost
BattleStar Galatica
Trust Me - new drama about advertising on TNT
Damages - finally Season 2 - Jan
The Closer - Jan
Burn Notice - Jan
Doctor Who specials
Last/final episodes of recentally cancelled series: Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, and Lipstick Jungle
And many many more...
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-01 05:52 pm (UTC)and 'Life', 'Eli Stone', and a lot more.... It is hard to cut back on TV when there are actually so many good shows to watch....
but I have been avoiding just having the boob tube on for no reason, not letting something inane waste my time (also avoid sensationalist news stories), but that has been easy to do since I always have DVDs and recorded shows I've missed to catch up on...
I've actually found it easier to cut back drastically on going to movies than to cut out time in front of the TV (if you include DVD & recorded shows).
Right now I'm watching the Dr. Horrible 'Commentary! The Musical! again....
no subject
Date: 2009-01-01 09:06 pm (UTC)Wall-E, Persepolis, Paprika, etc would not have made it to my mind. And I'd have missed them, since they did enrich it.
Yes, Dr. Horrible DVD has made all the critics best of lists. LOL! Apparently they sang the commentary.
With my DVR, I find I'm spending less time watching tv, but am watching more tv shows. What's happening is I'm wasting less time on commericials and background noise. When I watch it - it's something I want to watch or planned, and not just something to pass the time. Got the DVR to thank for that. Also I'm finding I can watch shows that I missed before because they were opposite another show I had to watch.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-01 10:47 pm (UTC)Joss singing about the strike
Nathan singing about being better than Neil
Felicia singing about 'Art' (Sondheim rip off of the art of making art)
Neil singing about how he could do everyone else's jobs...(another Sondheim style number)
there are like 14 songs in all, each unique original and really funny...
I seriously love it. My favorite numbers are the ones that feature Groupies #1, #2, and #3....
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 02:30 am (UTC)Maybe I can rent it on netflix?
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 05:46 am (UTC)right now Amazon has some exclusive sale thing, but that doesn't mean they can't sell it to netflix (I don't suppose).
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 02:35 am (UTC)Very contrived plot arcs. I'm not sure a non-comic book/graphic novel fan can watch it. I like the visuals.
The dialogue is forgettable. The plots? Logically insane.
But the visuals stunning. Am curious to see if they can save it. The last three episodes weren't bad - it was in the last one that Claire figured out how to stop Sylar.