I am – Hercules!!


Peer again into my TV world:

The Top 10 Scripted Hourlongs Of 2008:

10) THE SHIELD (FX) Even casual viewers could not deny the series’ final handful of episodes trafficked in superior suspense.

9) TRUE BLOOD (HBO) Alan Ball’s vampire drama got off to one shaky start, but when Bill turned the Weepy, God-Fearing Christian Teen into Super-Party Vampire this series sucked me in and good. Bonus points for all the Anna Paquin/Lizzy Caplan nudity.

8) FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (DirecTV) Street & Smash ditched Dillon. Tami became school principal. Julie got laid. QB1 got beat on off the field. Riggins got serious. Tyra sent Landry into the lips of fellow musician. Buddy bought a Jumbotron and lost Lyla’s college money. And the high school is about to get split in two. A series that gets better every year. The final two episodes hit The 101 next Wednesday and the Wednesday after, and its third season arrives on NBC Jan. 16.

7) BREAKING BAD (AMC) A comedy-drama, from writer-producer Vince Gilligan (“The X-Files”), about a dying high school chemistry teacher who gets into the crystal-meth trade so his pregnant wife and palsy-stricken son might be taken care of. Not nearly as good as “Mad Men,” but strong enough to get me excited for anything AMC decides to telecast. (If you too are a fan of this series, I beg you to Netflix or otherwise obtain Kurosawa’s samurai-free civil-servant epic “Ikiru.”) Season two arrives sometime in 2009.

6) PUSHING DAISIES (ABC). The best show to die at the hands of the writers' strike. It boasted Bryan Fuller’s wit and Kristen Chenoweth’s breasts and a song by the Bangles. Private detective Emerson Cod remains of the most inspired comic creations in TV history. Three more unaired episodes exist, and ABC is reportedly considering airing them all in a single night.

5) FRINGE (Fox). Melty airline passengers. Mystery cylinders. Hairless observers. Cyborg executives. Deadly butterflies. Teleporting criminals. A deranged scientist who hid world-changing scientific discoveries in safety deposit boxes. The last episode to air, in which an ex-Marine died walking through the wall of a bank vault, was sharp stuff. The best new show of the year. The next episode, titled “Bound” and scripted by J.J. Abrams, Jeff Pinkner, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, airs on Fox Jan. 20.

4) LOST (ABC). The first season produced subsequent to the famous decision to set a 2010 end-date. The season that ended the flashbacks. The first full season for funnybook writer Brian K. Vaughn (“Y: The Last Man”) and the second for Drew Goddard (“Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Cloverfield”). The season that gave us Daniel Faraday, Miles Straume and The Orchid. The season that put the freighter’s doctor in two places at the same time. The 2-hour fifth season premiere airs Jan. 21.

3) BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (SciFi). June 13’s final 2008 episode embedded many a handprint in many a sofa arm as the deadly showdown between Lee and D’Anna escalated. Then the final act kicked the episode, the season and the series into the stratosphere. Its next episode airs Jan. 16.

2) MAD MEN (AMC). Endlessly surprising, always mesmerizing, one of the most compelling dramas ever forged. In season two American Airlines killed Pete Campbell’s dad and Pete’s wife couldn’t make babies. Duck Phillips set free his pooch and found fresh courage. Sterling Cooper unknowingly hired yet another homosexual. Betty Draper flirted with a horseman and branded her son a liar. Bert Cooper bought a painting. Roger Sterling took an interest in Don Draper’s new secretary. Joan Holloway went from the TV department to the floor of Don’s office. Peggy Olsen got skinny, Freddy Runsen’s office and her own secretary. Don saved a deal by angrily sticking his hand up the dress of Jimmy Barrett’s manager, then almost lost himself for good in the sunshine of Southern California. AMC will air a third season in 2009.

1) THE WIRE (HBO) The best season of one of the greatest TV series in the history of history took a cue from sister HBO drama “The Sopranos” by trafficking in wholesale whacking, bringing to elegantly grisly ends some of the franchise’s most beloved creations. Many a character introduced in prior seasons – Marlo Stanfield, Omar Little, Jimmy McNulty, Tommy Carcetti, Beadie Russell, Lester Freamon, Bunk Moreland, Cedric Daniels, Rhonda Perlman, Kima Greggs, Ellis Carver, Herc Hauk, Leander Sydnor, Jay Landsman, Bill Rawls, Ervin Burrell, Proposition Joe Stewart, Norman Wilson, Dukie Weems, Michael Lee, Snoop Pearson, Chris Partlow, Bubbles Cousins – remained central to the fifth lap around pay cable, while others – Prez Pryzbylewski, Nick Sobotka, Avon Barksdale, Bunny Colvin, Stan Valchek, Cutty Wise and The Greek – just stopped by for curtain-call cameos. The series-ending montage is hugely satisfying as it leaps months ahead to reveal the fates of Carcetti, Haynes, Valchek, Daniels, Pearlman, Dukie, Michael, Chris, Bubbles and ethically challenged journalist Scott Templeton. Stellar storytelling and some Spider-Man shit there!

Top 10 Scripted Half-Hours of 2008:
10) Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Showtime)
9) 30 Rock (NBC)
8) King of the Hill (Fox)
7) The Life And Times Of Tim (HBO)
6) The Sarah Silverman Program (CC)
5) SNL Thursdays (NBC)
4) Weeds (Showtime)
3) The Office (NBC)
2) The Venture Bros. (CN)
1) South Park (CC)

Top 10 Reality Shows of 2008:
10) The Mole (ABC)
9) WifeSwap (ABC)
8) The Real World (MTV)
7) Celebrity Rehab (VH1)
6) The Amazing Race (CBS)
5) My Life On the D-List (Bravo)
4) The Bad Girls Club (Oxygen)
3) Survivor (CBS)
2) The Real World/Road Rules Challenge (MTV)
1) Big Brother (CBS)

Top 10 Chat Shows of 2008:
10) The Charlie Rose Show (PBS)
9) Iconoclasts (Sundance)
8) The Colbert Report (CC)
7) Shatner’s Raw Nerve (Biography)
6) The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (CBS)
5) Late Night With Conan O’Brien (NBC)
4) Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
3) The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (CC)
2) The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS)
1) The Howard Stern Show (On Demand)

Happy New Year!

"I love love love DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG as much or more than just about anything I’ve seen this year." -- Harry Knowles

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