Saturday, December 12, 2009

Year End Round Up

It's almost 31 December, which means it's time for LISTS. Lots of lists. I'll be doing a few as we lead up to 2010, starting with this one:

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2009*

10. V - ABC's remake of the '80s alien miniseries has got a great cast, cool effects, and tight, exciting scripts. It only aired a handful of episodes in the fall '09 season, but I'm excited for its return next spring.

9. Dexter - After flagging a bit for the past few seasons, Dexter has really picked up the pace with what has been arguably its strongest season. John Lithgow has been surprisingly, insanely good. The finale promises to be some finely crafted television.

8. Sons of Anarchy - FX has consistently hit it out of the park with this gritty drama. They've become quite the cable powerhouse, and Sons may be their new flagship drama.

7. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Rarely does a comedy manage so many hit episodes, with only one or two duds per season. Sunny consistently delivers madcap humor, taken to its most uncomfortable extremes. Bonus points for the totally insane straight-to-DVD holiday special.

6. LOST - The fifth season of the hit mystery/drama flagged a bit in the middle, spending too much time in a past that didn't seem relevant to the show's overall direction. It opened strong, though, and ended even stronger. With the finale introducing what appears to be a major reboot for the show (and doing so in awesome, highly dramatic fashion), the sixth and final season looks extremely promising.

5. Curb Your Enthusiasm - Larry David's HBO show was in huge danger of getting redundant and unenjoyable. Thankfully, the Seinfeld reunion this season injected new energy into the comedy, providing possibly the most entertaining Curb yet, made even better by a very satisfying resolution for the Seinfeld gang.

4. Modern Family - ABC's sitcom is genuinely funny, has had some phenomenal A-List guest stars, and totally breaks free from most of the shlock that passes for sitcoms today. Very funny, and well worth watching every week.

3. Glee - FOX's runaway musical hit is often inconsistent, and suffers many of Murphy's trademarks storytelling issues (most of which previously reared their heads on Nip/Tuck). But it's also a hell of a lot of fun, and that goes a long way. Plus, Jane Lynch has served up Emmy-caliber work with Sue Sylvester, and the songs each week are must-download hits.

2. Weeds - Weeds nearly got off track at the beginning of this season, but quickly grew into its own again, building to a finale that has finally forced Nancy to take a step back and consider where her life was gone. Showrunner Jenji Kohan has finally shed some light on who Nancy is and why she acts so crazy all the time. Hopefully the sixth season will continue the trend, but as for the fifth, it became a surprisingly engaging, dramatic season.

1. Friday Night Lights - I constantly harp about this show and how no one watches it, but everyone should. This fourth season has been absolutely astounding in quality. The show has survived a major shake-up of the core cast, not only maintaining its identity but also introducing genuinely interesting new core characters. This season features the best episode of the entire series ("The Son," from 4 December), and continues to showcase the many talents of Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler, as well as all their younger costars. There is no better drama on television, nor has there ever been. It remains exclusive to DirecTV, but returns to NBC for their spring schedule. I highly encourage anyone with a passing interest in television drama to watch.