12 Most Anticipated Television Events of 2012

Cross-posted on Film.com


We’ve discussed the big guns 2012 will be rolling out in cinemas, but the silver screen isn’t the only arena fans are itching to jump in to. Expect 2012 to also be a fantastic year for television, as we see the return of some of the greatest shows the small screen has to offer, as well as the launch of some major new programming. 

1) The Long Awaited Return of Mad Men (beware spoilers)

I CAN’T TAKE IT ANY LONGER. Season 4, in my opinion the best season of Mad Men yet, turned just about everything on its head, a move that’s become somewhat of a tradition atMad Men, pressing the reboot button with every season. Who knows where Season 5 could possibly take us, but when we last left Don Draper and friends, our charming main character had just proposed to his secretary, the free spirited Megan. Can this work out even close to well for anyone involved? Anyone’s gotta be better than Ice Queen Betty, right? It’s been way too long since one of the best shows on television has actually BEEN on television and its return is one of the absolute most anticipated television events of 2012.

2) Game of Thrones Season 2

Can this be a close second? Game of Thrones season one took the EVERYTHING by storm with its groundbreaking guts, commitment to big budget genre and faithfulness to its material. It broke every rule in the book and did so with a beautiful gusto. Season two sees the introduction of a myriad of new characters, including one played by Rose Leslie formerlyDownton Abbey‘s Gwen, and the second book is supposedly so good that even old school fans of the book have been advising me to watch, not read, because seeing these events unfold for the first time on screen will be an unbelievable treat. Will I be wearing my Daenerys end of season one Halloween costume to the premiere party I’m throwing? You bet. Don’t worry though, it’s primarily a nude colored bodysuit. I’m not crazy.

3) Chris Meloni joining True Blood

Bringing some true class to the table, Veteran Purveyor of Awesome, Christopher Meloni, is joining True Blood for season 5. Season 4 graced us with sure to be an Emmy nominated performance by Fiona Shaw, so a gap had to be filled as far as brilliant guest star was concerned. Meloni, who will be playing “an ancient, powerful vampire who holds the fate of Bill and Eric in his hands,” more than fits the bill.

4) Downton Abbey Season 2 Comes to America, Season 3 Airs In Britain In The Fall

I obviously downloaded Downton Abbey Season 2 from across the pond as it aired, but LISTEN, it’s okay, calm down SOPA, I’m gonna buy the Blu-ray anyway AND watch it on American television anyway, so I repeat, everyone calm down. The Emmy winner for Best Mini Series that has since become a full fledged television series, is long form Jane Austen meets old timey British soap and it’s my favorite. Season 2 goes to some very dark, dramatic, pulpy places, which has turned off some viewers, but I’ve loved every moment. This is truly the best ensemble on television, and I encourage you to pick up season one, watch season two (and the christmas special!) and buckle up for season three come the fall. Mary and Matthew forevers.

5) Alcatraz

There has been lots of behind the scenes turmoil as far as this new offering from JJ Abrams and Elizabeth Sarnow (who has since left the show) is concerned, which has made the genre community start to worry, but I’ll be damned if I don’t give this new science fiction program a shot. This story about presumed dead Alcatraz prisoners reappearing in present day, having not aged one bit, stars newcomer Sarah Jones and everyone’s favorite magical island castaway , Jorge Garcia. I’m still hoping for the best, but won’t be surprised if it ends up falling just short of the mark.

6) Smash

Let’s be honest. Glee isn’t quite working out the way we hoped. They cut back on the number of songs per episode, which was always my favorite element of the show, and frankly, have ceased to make much narrative sense since season one ended, if it even made it to then. But I still love musicals, I still love song and dance, and oh yeah, I LOVE JACK DAVENPORT. Smash, from executive producer Steven Spielberg, looks like a show I will be obsessed with, but never admit to obsessing over. Since it’s about putting on a fictional Broadway musical (about Marilyn Monroe yet!), expect lots of fun New York locations and impressive theater related cameos. Oh and actual quality singing by professionals, none of this auto-tune crap. If you’re still “pshhhing”, it’s created by Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright Theresa Rebeck, who also co-produced and wrote NYPD Blue and wrote forDream On.Yes, she also wrote the story (just the story, not the horrific screenplay!) of Halle Berry’s disastrous Catwoman, but hey, the exception that proves the talented rule, okay?

7) The River

The found footage horror-mystery that has been described as Lost meets Paranormal Activity (and created by Oren Pell, the man behind the Paranormal trilogy) that made a splash at Comic-Con by screening its pilot and handing out fun mini branded flashlights, makes its debut on ABC this February. Bruce Greenwood plays an explorer who vanishes under mysterious circumstances. Six months later his family sets out to find him, fully funded by the explorer’s former producer, in exchange for them filming the whole expedition. They are assisted by a collection of supporting characters including the lovely Eloise Mumford, from the short lived Fox series Lone Star, who I’m thrilled to have back on my television set. Fingers crossed the eight episodes ordered by the network stick the landing with audiences.

8) (Formerly the House of Lies slot...but the pilot aired before posting so...) COUGAR TOWN IS COUGAR TOWNY!

I totally forgot Cougar Town was coming back because it's been so long and my whole self is so saddened by the lack of Penny Can, Big Joe (RIP), Big Carl and The Larmy that my mind simply blocked it out so I wouldn't be upset every day. If you're not yet convinced that Cougar Town rules, need I remind you about last season's Community/Cougar Town crossover? Come on, if Abed loves it, you KNOW it's good. The show brazenly makes fun of its title every single week in the opening credits, and has really found its grove as a slightly absurdist show about a bunch of friends who drink a lot of wine. Sometimes while wearing snuggies. Season 3 will see a guest star in Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke as Bobby's recurring love interest and newcomer Briga Heelan as someone Grayson got pregnant years earlier. ABC may have cut the episode order down to 15 from 22, but this show has a rabid and loyal following who know that each of those 15 episodes will be hilarious. GET IT TOGETHER, ABC. 

9) Awake

Perhaps my most anticipated new show of the mid-season, the show (known as REM when the pilot scripts were making the rounds) has gotten rave reviews over its season premiere, drawing positive Inception parallels when it comes to the subject of dreams versus reality, and it stars Jason Isaacs as a man torn between two worlds, one where his wife survives a horrific accident, one in which it’s his son that survives. But which is real? Also starring Laura Allen, Brooke English’s son who took Leo away from Greenelee on All My Children, and Jack Shephard’s son, Dylan Minnette. (This is how my brain works and I like it just fine.)

10) 30 Rock is Back!

30 Rock is one of those magical shows that is so good, I always doubt how good it is. I promise this makes sense. I always think to myself, there’s no way the show can STILL be funny. But it always is. Sure, there are off episodes and off storylines, every show has those, but ultimately, 30 Rock always brings the funny and it’ll be so nice to have Liz Lemon back in my life, making me feel a-ok about how much I love eating sandwiches and making noises instead of saying words.

11) Community Finishes up Season 3 and returns in the fall with Season 4

IF I SAY IT, IT WILL COME TRUE

12) Chuck and Desperate Housewives Come to an End

I have never seen an episode of Desperate Housewives. The fact that it is ending means nothing to me, but it was once a mega sensation, so its series finale is definitely worth a mention. The series finale *I* will be glued to the television for is none other than that of Chuck. Chuck lost me a little bit last season with the constant stream of EVERYONE’S A SPY! combined with EVERYONE’S A FAMOUS GUEST STAR! But this season has be right back on board and I’m loving every moment. I’m actually getting nostalgic for my deep obsession with the show and specifically Zach Levi that I felt during seasons one and two. I’m sad that it’s ending, but thrilled beyond belief that they squeezed five seasons out of NBC and are getting to finish the story they began. Jan 27, “Chuck vs. the Goodbye.”, I’m so there.


Honorable Mention: Paul Rudd comes to Parks and Recreation. Hat Tip: @oscar

See full post

Leave Christina Hendrick's Breasts Alone: A Rant

Just happened to catch part of the local news just now doing a "wrap-up" on Emmy's fashion. I say wrap-up with quotes because no one appearing on the local news knows shit about shit, I've decided, based on this segment at least.

The woman who will henceforth known as Skinny Bitch Guest Correspondent had the audacity to place Christina Hendricks in the Worst Dressed category, not because the dress was ugly, not because the dress didn't fit her, not because she looked bad, but because she had too much cleavage. Seem like a reasonable criticism? Well, clearly you don't have large breasts or understand the mechanics of large breasts.

I get the criticism that some dresses may be in poor taste like the one Gwenyth Paltrow wore that one time. I don't need to tell you which dress I'm referring to, because we all remember it. It was a little trashy and had a lot of nip. I also get criticisms about, you know, a dress looking like a plastic cup with a bunch of holes in it like Juliana Margulies' was tonight, sure, yes, when your job is to critique fashion, I get shit like that.

But Christina Hendricks looked stunning. Yes, she had a lot of cleavage. But NEWSFLASH, SKINNY BITCH GUEST CORRESPONDENT, CHRISTINA HENDRICKS HAS CLEAVAGE BECAUSE CHRISTINA HENDRICKS HAS BOOBS. BREASTS. SHE HAS THEM. SHE HAS ACTUAL BREASTS OF AN ACTUAL LARGE SIZE. SHE POSSESSES LARGE BREASTS. DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS AGAIN? HER BREASTS ARE HUGE.

For those of you still asking "But why does she need to have cleavage?", allow me to explain a little something to you. When you are born with large breasts, like I was, like Christina Hendricks was, like countless women are, the only way to NOT have cleavage is to cover them up completely. Is to wear a boatneck or turtleneck. Are you trying to say that because I am a D cup, I am forbidden from wearing a dress or shirt with a v neck?

A couple years ago, I got some shit from a male employer for "showing too much cleavage" at work. Was I wearing low cut tops? No. Sure, some were lower cut than others I wore, I guess, I own a lot of shirts. But I wasn't trying to be provocative. I wasn't trying to look sexy. I was wearing clothes. Clothes just like anyone else in the office. But because my breasts happened to be large, it was "distracting" and from then on, I had to make a point of trying to own more uncomfortably high necked shirts. Needless to say, he wasn't my boss for long.

But even if I understand having to dress extra conservatively for the workplace, this isn't going to the office. This is going to the Emmys. This is dressing to the nines to celebrate your hard work and the hard work of everyone else in your field. When you work in television, this is your party of the year, your time to go all out and look amazing. And you, Skinny Bitch Guest Correspondent, is saying that Christina Hendricks should have thought about how distracting her NATURALLY LARGE BREASTS BECAUSE SHE HAS NATURALLY LARGE BREASTS CAN I BE ANY CLEARER ABOUT THAT are and dressed more conservatively? Really? Julie Bowen and Heather Morris waere practically not wearing a front to their dresses, but oh, they're really skinny, so it's okay.

It's hard enough for me to find dresses that work with D breasts, let alone whatever Hendricks is sporting. Add to that her gorgeous slightly fuller figure than most Hollywood designers are regrettably not used to designing for, and you get someone who probably has a hard time finding the perfect thing to wear for these kinds of events. The size 0/A cup women she is surrounded by can more or less get away with wearing any sort of design they want. Hendricks has a harder time mostly because she needs major support for her chest. Her options are limited.

When you look at Hendricks' dress, it is in fact gorgeous and incredibly tasteful. As far as necklines go at this sort of thing, the dress isn't even *that* low cut. The only way for Hendricks to not have cleavage is to dress as she does on the show, and on her special night out, I think she should have the freedom to, you know, not dress like she is a secretary in a repressed 1962 environment. If *any* other woman had worn that dress, there would be no complaints.

It really bothers me that if Hendricks looks up anything relating to "fashion police" she will see one article after another (E! and AOL are guilty as well. EW thankfully understands what women are) saying she "needs to try a new look instead of this same old silhouette." or "it was just too much." To me, it sounds like a bunch of women intimidated by the confidence of a truly feminine woman, unafraid of her body, even if it doesn't fit the stupid mold the media wants it to fit and they want to make Christina feel bad about it and stop showing off her god-given assets, which she happens to pull off by doing nothing but wearing a pretty dress. Fuck em, Christina. Your breasts are beautiful, your body is beautiful, and you should wear whatever makes you comfortable and happy.

Oh, and be sure to head here for @eruditechick's thoughts on the matter, as well as some awesome photographic evidence See full post

Bert Cooper Drinks Youth Serum & Performs In Broadway Play!

This youth serum chops your age in half. So give some to Don Draper so I can date him, okay? Okay! Good deal. Apparently this serum also makes you sing songs from my favorite musicals to your business associates. WEIRD.

Note: Yes, I only just found out Robert Morse played J. Pierrepont Finch in the movie and on Broadway. So I got excited. But check this out - the clip above is from 1967, but Morse actually originated the role on stage on 1962. Mad Men Season 2 took place in 1962. So did Bert Cooper go see How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying in 1962? A rich ad man based out of New York City? Probably. Wonder if that was weird for him. Seeing his young self performing on stage and all. See full post

On The Subject of Crushes

She hosted a Whiskey Party. LOVES. See full post

Mad Men Barbies: Somewhere Between WANT and WTF

Reasons why this is WANT:

- MAD MEN BARBIE DOLLS
- I like collecting shit
- MAD MEN BARBIE DOLLS
- This paragraph,

Gracefully molded of Silkstone®, a material that resembles the look and weight of porcelain, each doll is stylized in iconic costumes from the series, and comes with accessories true to their show counterparts. Don Draper wears his classic, polished red-lined suit and comes accessorized with a hat, overcoat and brief case; Betty Draper's classic look is captured with unparalleled detail, from her faux pearl necklace to her pumps; Joan Holloway looks chic in a purple skirt suit and perfectly styled coif with her staple accessory - a pen necklace; and Roger Sterling is looking dapper in his monogrammed shirt.

Reasons why this is WTF:

- I can only display my Joan doll if I take her out of the collector packaging to stuff her Barbie outfit with enough padding to make her look like the real woman Christina Hendricks is HELLO
- 75 bucks each? EACH? That's more than the custom made Daniel Faraday action figure I bought, and only like 7 of those exist, and it's Daniel cussing Faraday for fuck's sake! (Because cuss' sake is awkward to both type and say.)


Mad Men Barbies - AMC
Hat Tip: @Canakatydid

Side note of mega fun!!!!

Mawphoto.com created his OWN Mad Men Barbie Dolls with no 75 dollar price tag. 75 dollars?! That's a year of unlimited trips to Disneyland! 75 bucks?! That's more than a perfectly respectable, gets the job done, 500 piece set of poker chips!

See full post

All Things Fangirl Holiday Gift Guide

Well it's that time of year again! Where I buy people presents and they buy me presents and everyone is happy.

Over the past few weeks I've seen a bunch on shit on the Internets that I am dying to own, so I thought I'd share them with you guys in the hopes that (either you buy them for me, or) they turn out to be the perfect gift for someone you know this holiday season.

So, without further ado!



Super. Emo. Harley Quinn.

I am a huge Harley Quinn fan and do not have NEARLY enough HQ stuff on my Geek Shelf. She is one of my all time favorite characters. Created by the glorious Paul Dini for the Batman Animated Series, she isn't even from the comic books, but is so effing cool, that she's part of the official Batman canon anyway. That's not easy to do. I want this art print on my Geek Shelf so bad it HURTS MY SOUL. Oh. There was only one left. So I bought it. Oops. $20 well spent.

See other Super Emo limited edition art prints here and while you're at it, buy Eruditechick an Emo Rogue.

More gifts after the jump!




TALKING DUG

It's a Dug. Who talks. JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIE OMG. I have a talking Boo doll from Monster's Inc that I love ever so much, and it seems appropriate that the other talking inanimate object I possess and regularly play with should also be from a Pete Docter movie. And only $16.50?!?! WANT.

Buy it for me here



Where the Wild Things Are Notebooks

I love Where the Wild Things Are and I LOVE MAX and I love small notepads. These lovely items are only 4 bucks each so if you are looking for a cheap, but awesome & meaningful purchase for a wild thing, this is the way to go.

Buy them here.



The Office Manager shirt

Cause I love me some Joany! Ranging from $15-$22 and available in various materials, colors & sizes, this is a great gift for that Mad Men fan who thinks Joan is the cat's meow. Yeah, I just said cat's meow. And I MEANT IT. Thanks to @manostorgo for the tip.

Buy it here



Tina Fey Is God Tote Bag

While I don't think I have the balls to walk around sporting this clever tote, if you know anyone who does, 25 bucks is a fine price to pay to make someone's jaw drop to the floor with joy & utter disbelief. I mean, what a strange, strange item. A must-have for any 30 Rock lover familiar with iconic 60s graffiti.

Buy it here.



Favorite Director Coaster Series

I'm OBSESSED with these. I want a set. Please. I'll take Spike Jonze, Quentin Tarantino and some combination of Wes Anderson (You won me over with Fantastic Mr Fox, Wes), The Coen Brothers, Woody Allen & Martin Scorsese. I mean. HOW. COOL. ARE. THESE. A complete set is 48 bucks, so this gift isn't exactly on the cheap side, but DAMN is it cool.

Buy them for me here



Anything by Brandon Bird

This guy is a genius. Head to his site and try to tell me I'm wrong. Both last year and this year I've purchased xmas presents from this artist, because he is simply awesome. I mean, look at those. LOOK AT THEM. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. Most drawings are available in shirt or print form and most of the paintings are available for purchase as art prints. If you really wanna throw down, you might even be able to snag an original. (While we're at it, let's put together an art show featuring Bird, M.S. Corley, Tyler Scout and Brandon Schaefer, Tom Whalen, and Olly Moss, shall we?)

Buy Bird's work here

As we get closer to the holidays, another gift guide may appear, but for now, I hope this has been helpful!

See full post

Awesome/Sucks

It will happen for real soon! And when it does - SQUEEE!

So I just randomly decided to start a new feature called Awesome/Sucks. This will focus on what I'm generally thinking is awesome today and what I generally think sucks.

AWESOME
Sunday night double whammy of True Blood & Mad Men returns. With a vengence. (beware of spoilers)

I was nervous going into the Sunday night line up because my expectations are HIGH AS HELL for both True Blood & Mad Men. This season of TB has SO far surpassed season 1, that a part of me got terrified that suddenly everything would all fall apart. Because. Seriously. How is this season so brilliant? If I were someone watching TB for the first time on DVD, when I got to midway through season two I would have been like THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. YES. But now I have full confidence that the awesomeness will hold up for the final three eps of the season.

In regards to last night's ep in particular, ERIC AND SOOKIE SCENE WAS THE BEST OF ALL THE SCENES IN THE LAND. I'M SOLD. ALSO ALEXANDER SKARSGARD IS WELCOME INTO MY BED AT ANY TIME. JUST SO WE ARE CLEAR. HE IS A GENIUS AND ERIC IS SEXY AND SQUEEEE I AM 12!

....

You heard me.

And then came the Mad Men season premiere. Again, I feared the episode wouldn't meet my expectations. But it did. Hells yeah it did. Also by featuring a sex scene that WINS. I've never seen a network show go as far as Mad Men did last night, and Sal didn't even get his clothes off! Then Don & Sal's moment through the window and - yup, you did it, Mad Men. Perpetually Petulant Pete (say that three times fast, I dare you) stayed true to the title I've bestowed upon him and Joan continued to be the queen of the world. Cannot wait to see what this season brings!


Mad Men Is Awesome

SUCKS
Kick Ass gets picked up by Lionsgate and my heart gets picked up by SAD

Obviously we all wanted Kick Ass to get nationwide distribution by a studio that wouldn't fuck with the final cut, but Lionsgate?! Notorious for being run by an asshole and having no clue how to market its movies Lionsgate?! AUUUGHHHH. It's not like Universal is doing any better right now (seriously, Universal, think about what's changed in your marketing department from last year to this year and FIX IT. FAST.) and I wouldn't necessarily trust Paramount to keep their hands off the finished product, but still. Sony just made District 9 a bonafide hit and even though they initially wanted Hit Girl to be a teenager, Screen Gems is down with hard Rs and would have brought along some of Sony's PR moxy. I also wish Warner Brothers would have jumped in there - they have some of the best marketing minds around and opened hard R 300. And happen to be my favorite studio. Yes. I have a favorite studio.

You know what's odd about this whole thing? Paramount, Lionsgate & Universal were the three studios completely absent from Comic Con this year, anything Saw related not-withstanding. I hear you saying "What about Iron Man 2?!" but please, that doesn't count. Paramount isn't handling the marketing for Iron Man 2, MARVEL is. Paramount is just the big guy distributer here. And you know, I can't even think of the last R rated movie Paramount distributed, let alone the last R rated movie they distributed that was a hit...

All that aside, ultimately, I would rather Kick Ass have the Paramount or Universal logo flash before its opening credits, rather than that damn lion next to that damn gate. Kick Ass deserves A list treatment and Lionsgate by nature distributes B movies. Sigh.

So that's what's awesome and what sucks today! The next time I'm equally thrilled and disappointed all at once, another entry of this new feature will appear!

Update: Last Paramount R rated success - Tropic Thunder. Though the film is widely considered to have underperformed. I Love You Man comes close, but it more Dreamworks than Paramount (the same way Iron Man is more Marvel than Paramount) Thanks to @filmnerdjamie & @thomasspurlin for helping me figure that out! See full post

Buffy #23 Features Best. Page. Ever. [Geekgasm!]

So I was finally catching up on my comics...I'm about three months behind, so I have A LOT to catch up on. Since I was only two issues behind on Buffy Season 8, I read those first. Then, in Buffy #23, I came across this bit from Andrew. This comes right after Xander asks Buffy if she's sure she can handle "hours and hours of travel time" with master geek Andrew. Now, here's the page, click to enlarge



See, what'd I tell you? Haha, thank you Drew Greenberg for this glory! I'm pretty sure I've expressed Andrew's exact same sentiments at various points in my life. Although never would I take Dee's side when talking Battlestar.

And in case you were wondering, after this panel, Buffy and Andrew proceed to geek bond over their mutual admiration of Daniel Craig. They love how he's "gritty, real AND vulnerable." Heart. See full post

LQ's Best Television Shows of 2008 [All Things Fangirl List!]

And now presenting my very first personal top ten list of the year - my favorite TV shows from 2008. Two of them were canceled for no good reason, one of them is a British import you probably haven't heard of, and the rest you'd probably expect from a genre obsessed soap opera fan who needs Don Draper to call her. So it begins!

(Warning - this post is not entirely without spoilers)

10. Middleman


This delightful show from genuine fan and creator (and ex-writer of Lost!), Javier Grillo-Marxuach had it all. A random website I came across described the show like this:

It’s three parts Austin Powers [or Get Smart], two parts Men In Black [or Ghostbusters], one part X-Files all mixed together with just a touch of Gilmore Girls.

and I gotta say - that pretty much gets it right. It was witty, fun, wacky, smart and a geek's heaven, as every episode not only dealt in the Sci-Fi genre, but referenced other genre works in the process. It's rare that we see a science fiction universe familiar with science fiction and it was quite refreshing. The show focused on a sassy art student, master of all things dry wit who gets recruited to work for The Middleman Organization - a secret group that does their best to keep the world thinking that vampires, aliens, monsters et al don't actually exist. Still not convinced this show is geek heaven? In one episode, Wendy rattles off her favorite comics which include Mouse Guard, Powers, The Spirit, Astro City & The Flash. Okay, still not convinced? Watch the trailer below and the vid beneath it for an example of the pop culture references dropped in every episode and pick up some Middleman graphic novels to call your own. Head over to the Middleblog for the complete reference rundown for the final few episodes and be sure to check out the DVD when its released. Then you can mourn Middleman's fate along with me. Sigh.


Trailer


Back to the Future references in episode three

Crap, if I'm this enthusiastic about #10, we're gonna have a problem.

9. Swingtown

My other favorite show of the summer...and also the other show on my list not coming back for a second season, Swingtown was the sexiest show of the year, second only perhaps to Mad Men. It was about a group of married couples in 1976 seeing love & sex in a new light and their kids who are discovering those elements for the very first time. We had the regularly swinging couple, Tom & Trina, who know how to handle it, the newly swinging couple, Bruce & Susan, who are letting the doors its opened destroy their marriage, and the conservative, tightly wound couple, Roger & Janet, who realize they haven't lived enough. My favorite storyline of the season's first half was brilliant, free spirited high school student, Laurie and her young, political activist teacher falling for each other and of the second half, Roger & Susan realizing they're in love.

Besides the great writing, spot on production design and intriguing storylines, the show was perfectly cast in every way. Grant Show & Lana Parilla oozed sexuality, Molly Parker was absolutely luminous, making it easy for Roger & the audience to fall in love with her and all the kids on the show actually looked their age. It's a shame more people didn't check out this show when it aired, but I encourage everyone to pick up the DVD, which came out earlier this month.

Below, the clips of the adorable Josh Hopkins as Roger from episode 11, whererin he admits to a marriage counsler that he's falling for Susan and later encounters her...and things occur :)



Oh damnit, I'm so pissed this storyline will never be resolved. Muh.

Numbers 8 through 1 after the jump!



8. How I Met Your Mother



Oh yeah...spoiler alert! But you totally wanna watch the show more now, don't you? Wait, where was I? Ah yes. How I Met Your Mother is one of three comedies (the other two to appear later on this list) that consistently makes me laugh out loud. I'm actually surprised that more people I know aren't obsessed with this show considering it stars not only the glorious NPH, but also Willow & Nick Alyson Hannigan & Jason Segal! This show really just gets better and better with every season. The writing is crafty and fun and sometimes absurd, just the way I like it. 2008 was a good year for HIMYM - we finally saw a human side to Barney as he fell for Robin, got treated to a whole episode detailing why New Jersey sucks (sorry boyfriend...and all my friends...who are from New Jersey...but it was so funny! I still love New Jersey. LA is what sucks. The end.), got to see Robin Sparkles' follow up to Let's Go To The Mall, learned that whoever marries Ted will need to love Star Wars and were witness to a real time two minute date all done in one shot that was just as adorable as it sounds. Here's hoping more people check out the show in 2009.

7. True Blood

For some reason the first two words that just popped into my head whilst thinking about True Blood were lush & juicy. Hrm. Well hey, just add scary, fun, trippy & sexy to that description and you've got yourself a show. I'm not sure what I just wrote. Anywhoville, True Blood was definitely one of the highlights of 2008 television. It took me a while to decide how I felt about it as I watched the first couple episodes stoned out of my mind (shut up) and couldn't tell a. if it was too scary or b. what was going on, ever (I had a similar experience with Fringe) but then I figured it out and got to bask in the awesomeness. The look & tone of the show is enough to pull you in and the insanity that is the actual story combined with some stellar performances keep you glued to your television. I, like the characters on the show, never knew what to believe or who to trust. Discovering Sam's secret was like a wave of relief and discovering Rene's truly felt like a betrayal (even though it became fairly obvious towards the end who he really was).
Nelsan Ellis & Rutina Wesley as Lafayette & Tara, respectively, do Julliard proud with their pitch perfect intensity. Anna Paquin, I can take or leave, but I definitely like her more on this show that I ever have before. And Ryan Kwanten delivered week after week some of the most difficult shit I've seen an actor have to do all year. Lizzy Caplan shined in her all too brief role as the mysterious and potentially sociopathic Amy.

Most of all, I love vampire stories, especially ones I haven't seen before. Between this and Let the Right One In (and Twilight for some...), vampires are rocking pretty hard this year.

P.S. I need to own the score right now. As in this moment. So...get on that

6. Gossip Girl


Le sigh. Oh Chuck & Blair. And Dan & Serena. And Rufus & Lily. This show is just plain soap opera-y deliciousness. I always knew I loved the show as a guilty pleasure, but season 2 has cemented its quality with its well rounded characters, carefully built relationships, well kept secrets and the balls to get as creative & juicy as they want. Sure, Aaron was a low point, but he's gone forever now, off to Argentina never to return. Hooray! Also helping highlight GG's quality? The stinker that is 90210. Just watch one episode of each and you'll know what I mean. Gossip Girl has real looking beautiful people who can act as opposed to 90210's fake looking fake people who can't act. Sure the women are slim on Gossip Girl, but they still have their womanly curves and look like they are in the bodies meant for them. None of this can be said for anyone on 90210. Moving on.

In 2008, Gossip Girl showcased the evil Georgina Sparks (and the whole group coming together to destroy her), Jenny's downfall and ultimate crash, badgirl Serena, Chuck & Blair falling in love - for real, Wallace Shawn, Rufus & Lily's multiple attempts at reuniting & Dan and Serena's beautiful moment upon realizing the other was about to sleep with someone else for the first time. This show is entertaining every second it's on screen, which is more than I can say for a lot of television, but it also has wit & heart and it's not afraid to make fun of itself. It's been a great year and a great sophomore season for the upper east siders. And to all the haters - at least don't knock it til you've tried it.

5. The IT Crowd



Literally just thinking about this show makes me laugh. The British import about the strange folk working in a London IT department brings me to tears with laughter during every episode. I don't know how the Brits do it, I really don't. Are they just smarter than us? I'm planning on writing a more comprehensive post on why you need to be watching this show right now on IFC, so I'll be keeping this particular paragraph short. But if you like laughing and you don't like not laughing, then this is the show for you. More to come soon on the matter.

4. Lost



Everyone's favorite time jumping mystery really pulled it together in season four, raising the bar to a whole new level of awesome. At the end of season three we were introduced to our very first flash forward, an element that went on to dominate the 2008 episodes, and they did not disappoint. We discovered who the Oceanic 6 were, witnessed Locke's eventual fate and saw the island DISAPPEAR. Sun & Jin, characters who I never really cared about before, stood out with a heartbreaking flashback/flashforward episode & Sun's devestating scream to her lost husband in the finale. Don't even get me started on The Constant, one of Lost's best episodes to date, that had me in tears for the better part of 44 minutes. This season, as usual, many questions were answered, but many more were raised. In season five we'll discover how the characters end up where they are in the future we've seen and hopefully watch them make it back to the island. Oh Lost, you so crazy! Only a few weeks to go to the premiere!

3. 30 Rock


The final comedy that makes me laugh out loud with every episode, 30 Rock is the best American comedy on television and I'm THRILLED the Emmys actually agree with me. 2008 brought us instant classics in MILF Island where Liz takes after the manipulative MILFs and tries to hide the fact that she called Jack a "Class A Moron" and Subway Hero, in which Liz's smarmy ex Dennis saves someone in the Subway and uses his fifteen minutes of fame very unwisely, but didn't forget to also bring us important development in story as Tracy creates a porn video game to secure his legacy & Don Geiss names Jack the new CEO...right before slipping into a coma, leaving his slightly off daughter (who happens to be married to Devon Banks) in charge of the company. That was a long sentence. Then season three started off just as strong with one great episode after another - the highlights of which were Believe in the Stars where Liz "sits next to Oprah" on a plane and Reunion, where we learn what Liz was really like in high school. This show is filled with surreal and absurd moments and Tina Fey is the perfect straight (wo)man to the cast of wacky characters around her, as she's pretty damn hilarious herself. Be sure to always stay on the look out for Frank's different hats, the times Liz uses sounds instead of words to express herself (including but limited to "blurg") and if her favorite Mexican cheesy snack, Sabor de Soledad, ever makes a comeback. This show has great rewatchability and is the kind you'll wanna force all your friends to watch once you fall in love with it, so the DVD is a worthy investment.

And now a clip of some of season 2's best moments for your enjoyment.




2. Mad Men



Holy crap what a good show. Artful, delicate, beautiful, shocking, and totally unique. You could get away with mindlessly watching the show and probably still enjoy it, but the true magic of Mad Men comes in how deep it pulls you in to these characters in that era. Especially fascinating is the woman's struggle, represented in three very different forms, all of whom took a giant step this year, forwards (Peggy), backwards (Joan) and a little bit of both (Betty). I cried when Peggy told Pete the truth, gasped when Joan was raped by her own husband in Don's office and could barely breathe in every scene between Betty & Don after she found out about Don's affair. It's amazing to see these antiquated gender roles play out and wonder how much of them still remain. I'm pretty sure that I can speak for anyone who is attracted to anyone when I say that despite Don Draper's misogyny and tendency to lie & cheat, I'd let him take me any day of the week. Remember "The Benefactor"? How Don put Bobbi Barrett in her place? It was crude, terrible, demeaning, and yet we cheered him on and in my case, found it kind of sexy. How do you do that, Don Draper?! To write any more about Mad Men would be to enter into a critical analysis on the art of story telling and filmmaking, so I'm afraid the buck stops here. But holy eff this show is good.

P.S. In case you didn't already know, Don Draper Jon Hamm is GUEST STARRING ON 30 ROCK playing a love interest for Liz Lemon. When worlds collide I am happy!

1. Battlestar Galactica



What were you expecting?

Starbuck returned, a cylon civil war broke out, Gaeta parted with a leg and everyone finally made it to Earth...though it's not exactly what they were expecting. And because we, along with the fleet, have spent years waiting for them to find Earth, the final scene in 2008's finale was just as devestating to us as it was for them. All of that hope, all of that faith - and for what?

Battlestar continued to go above and beyond this year as the four known final cylons tried to figure out who they really were, Starbuck lost her shit and Roslin's cancer began to get the best of her. While the first half of season four didn't reach the level of greatness that the end of season three did, let's keep in mind that the first half of season three wasn't better than the second half either...though it was pretty damn good...Unfinished Business remains one of my top three episodes. Anyway.

The beginning of season four was a game changer in every sense. The fleet now has an entire army of rebel cylons on their side and oh yeah, these new allies - they can now be killed. Raising the stakes in a huge way, the show did away with the Resurrection Hub, leaving cylons just as vulnerable as humans. It's also been fascinating to watch Tory, Tigh, Tyrol & Anders deal with their new identities, struggling to find a balance and not go off the deep end. Didn't work so well for Tory, as we all know. Or Tigh, for that matter. Yikes.

One of my favorite moments in 2008 was Adama realizing just how much he loved and trusted Starbuck, even when everyone else was suspicious, in "Six of One". Here's a little something to remind you of how moving this episode was -

Kara Thrace: So you think I'm right?
William Adama: Maybe. Maybe not. But I know she is. The president. She's been right all along. I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of turning away from the things I want to believe in, and I believe you when you say, that you'll die before you stop trying. And I won't lose you again.

Also just as moving - Adama refusing to give up hope in the search for Roslin. We're coming to realize just how much Adama & Roslin love each other and it's beautiful. In fact, everything about this show is beautiful. I'm looking forward to rewatching the first ten episodes of season four in preparation for 4.5's premiere on January 16th.

Honorable Mentions: Chuck, Fringe, Project Runway, Entourage
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