Happy New Year everyone! My retrospective on TV in 2008 is a few days late, but I was out of town for New Year's Eve. I decided to only focus on the good in 2008 since I like to stay positive and I find it difficult to narrow down all the crap sometimes. And since I surprisingly don't watch enough TV to make a thoughtful "Best of" list, I focused on my favorites of the year in the series that I actually do watch. You'll notice that I tend to gravitate more toward comedies. You'll also notice that those comedies tend to be either "30 Rock" or "How I Met Your Mother." I wanted to include so much more than I did, like the Olympics and the Election. And reading over this list again, I am shocked that I found no place for "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" so please note that Joss Whedon's Internet musical sensation was the entertainment highlight of my summer. In the coming days I'll be writing about the mid-season replacements that I am most looking forward to. But for now, let's reflect on 2008.
Favorite Comedy:
“30 Rock”
“30 Rock” successfully filled the void that was left in my heart after “Arrested Development” was cancelled. It’s the best comedy on television, and thanks to Tina Fey’s stint as Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live,” it’s finally getting more viewers than just the friends I have forced to watch it and me. 2008 was a good year for “30 Rock” for obvious reasons. It garnered as many awards as it did critical acclaim. But beyond critical and industry recognition, “30 Rock” continued to excel creatively. Not even the 100-day writes’ strike could stop the series’ momentum. Season 3 got off to a solid start, but the series has become too trigger happy with stunt casting. As funny as Jennifer Aniston and Oprah Winfrey were, “30 Rock” has a talented supporting cast fully capable of carrying an episode.
Runner-Up:
“How I Met Your Mother”
If “30 Rock” is the best comedy on television, then “How I Met Your Mother” is one of the most underrated ones. However, 2008 brought critical acclaim and higher ratings. “HIMYM” even snagged two guest appearances from Comeback Kid of 2008 Britney Spears. And it’s okay that we haven’t met the mother even in Season 4 because the real reason we watch is for Ted, Marshall, Lily, Robin, Barney, and the slap bets. The real pleasure in watching “HIMYM” is seeing the ensemble cast interact. Their scenes at their regular booth in their regular bar are some of the funniest. We can tell that the actors are not only trying to make us laugh, but they’re trying to make each other laugh as well.
Favorite Drama:
“Mad Men”
While I appreciate the men of “Mad Men,” Season 2 belonged to the women. Don Draper and his glorious suits may have dominated each episode but Betty Draper, Peggy Olson, and Joan Holloway took control in 2008. Betty finally kicked Don out of the house, Peggy got her own office and switched from “Mr. Draper” to “Don,” and Joan…well our Joanie didn’t have a very good year after all. Not only did her former lover, Roger Sterling, leave his wife for someone besides her, but then her unworthy fiancé raped her in the offices of Sterling Cooper—the very place she has the most power. Kudos to Christina Hendricks for her fine acting during that scene and every other. Hendricks, January Jones and Elizabeth Moss all deserve recognition for a fine year.
Runner-Up:
“Bones”
I’m usually not a fan of crime procedurals, but “Bones” is the exception. It differs from other procedurals with its emphasis on character development. The crime-of-the-week often takes a back seat to the relationship and flirtation between FBI Agent Seeley Booth and forensic anthropologist Temperance “Bones” Brennan. I tune in for the humor of their partnership and their chemistry. Even by Season 4, the two have only shared one kiss, but that only means audiences keep watching.
Favorite Late-night Program:
“The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”
In 2008, I often found myself tuning into Craig Ferguson rather than Conan O’Brien. I still love Conan and I fear what changes his shows will undergo when he takes over for Jay Leno, but Ferguson won me over this year with the storytelling-style of his monologues and his kooky sketches. Ferguson also knows how to reach hearts when he needs to, such as when he encouraged people to vote or when his mother passed away late in the year.
Favorite Actor:
Zachary Levi, “Chuck”
“Chuck” is a show I always love, but am terrible about watching consistently. I only recently started watching Season 2, which could explain how Zachary Levi beat out Alec Baldwin for my favorite actor spot in the 11th hour. “Chuck” is one of the most entertaining shows on television, and it wouldn’t work without Levi. In 2008, he brought more confidence to Chuck the spy without sacrificing his vulnerability as Chuck the everyday, average guy. He’s a geek with sex appeal, and he’s currently a candidate for my Great TV Crush of 2009.
Favorite Actress:
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Perhaps the only person who had a better year than Tina Fey was Barack Obama. As Liz Lemon on “30 Rock,” Fey has turned herself into a modern-day Mary Tyler Moore. Fey injects so much of her real life into the series that you never know where Tina Fey ends and Liz Lemon begins. After a rocky start in the beginning of the series, Fey has more than managed to keep up with acting juggernaut Alec Baldwin. Together they are one of the funniest duos on television. When she won her SAG award in early 2008, she said: “If you’ve seen me on the show with Alec Baldwin, then you know it’s sort of like watching Fred Astaire dance with a hat rack. After a while, you’re like, ‘Oh, that hat rack is pretty good too.’ So you’ve given an award to the hat rack, and I thank you.” Hopefully by the end of 2008, Fey gave herself some more credit. It was truly her year.
Favorite Supporting Actor:
Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother”
It’s a crime against the Emmy gods that Neil Patrick Harris doesn’t yet have an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, but Jeremy Piven has turned out to be the Tony Shalhoub of that category. Harris portrays Barney Stinson, the male chauvinist with the heart of gold on “HIMYM.” Barney could have easily gone the way of Charlie Sheen’s character on “Two and a Half Men,” but it’s a credit to both Harris and the writers that we love Barney even with his sexist ways. This season, Harris has been able to brilliantly balance Barney’s secret love for Robin with his not-so-secret love for bimbos. He has made Barney the standout character of the show without upstaging anyone in the ensemble.
Favorite Supporting Actress:
Cobie Smulders, “How I Met Your Mother”
2008 was the year that I began to truly appreciate Cobie Smulders on “HIMYM.” I should have made her my favorite after her Season 2 Robin Sparkles reveal, but I think I was distracted by Jenna Fischer on “The Office” and her MySpace blog. As Robin Scherbatsky (best last name ever?), Smulders has made Robin a little goofier in recent seasons and it works well for the character. There’s no reason that Smulders shouldn’t already be a star. She’s a romantic comedy lead waiting to be plucked from prime time, but I would only support that if she remained on the show as our favorite Canadian ex-pop princess.
Favorite Couple:
Chuck and Blair, Gossip Girl
“Gossip Girl” has its critics and rightfully so. Although I am quite addicted to the soap, I agree that it offers a superficial and extremely false depiction of teen life. And if it weren’t for one steamy couple, I probably wouldn’t watch it. But Chuck and Blair have sucked me in. The series is supposed to center around the life of Serena, but her quest for goodness quickly took a back seat to Chuck facilitating Blair’s decent into badness. What Chuck and Blair now have goes beyond lust. But Blair is proud and Chuck doesn’t think he deserves love so these two continue to play games with each other’s feelings. But then again, those games are half the fun.
Least Favorite Couple:
Jim and Pam, The Office
I’ll admit that Jim and Pam have become more tolerable in Season 5, but could the writers have made these two any more boring once they finally got together? It breaks my heart that I have started disliking them so much. I was a JAM fanatic leading up to the Season 3 finale, but they became a little too syrupy sweet for my taste. I much prefer the dorkiness of Michael and Holly or the twistedness of Dwight and Angela.
Great TV Crush of 2008:
David Boreanaz, “Bones”
2008 was the year of my massive crush on David Boreanaz. I never watched “Buffy” or “Angel” when they originally aired so Boreanaz was never really on my radar. But this is the year I decided to catch up with the two seasons of “Bones” I had missed, and it is the year I decided to finally start watching “Buffy” and “Angel.” Let’s just say it was a crazy summer filled with me pining after him, cursing the fact that his beautiful wife seemed super cool, and wishing I loved the NHL so that we would have something to talk about when we finally met. By the end of 2008, I was doing much better, especially since Jon Hamm finally entered my life. But that doesn’t mean my heart didn’t break for him when he was forced to present an Emmy award with Lauren Conrad at that atrocious ceremony this year.
Favorite Strike Beard:
Conan O’Brien’s
There weren’t many good things to come out of the writers’ strike except for a well-deserved new deal for the writers (for the record, I was 100% for the strike). But one trend I became a fan of was the strike beard. Apparently, when writers and actors stop working, they stop shaving too. And no one’s facial hair was more glorious than Conan O’Brien’s flaming red beard. It worked well for him, and the day he shaved it was a sad day indeed.
Favorite Series to Get Killed by the Writers’ Strike:
“Pushing Daisies”
The consequences of the writers’ strike are still being felt, and one of its devastating casualties is the television fairytale “Pushing Daisies.” The networks mishandled the return of series after the strike and decided not to resume production on many of their freshmen series. “Pushing Daisies” didn’t necessarily garner huge audiences in its first season, but any progress it had made was lost when it disappeared from the airwaves for 10 months. When it returned this fall, the show and many other second-year series struggled for audiences. Add “Pushing Daisies” to the ever-growing list of quality television that we lost too soon.
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