My own self

Hello!


Being an immense fan of lists, and a much-too-dedicated watcher of televised scripted entertainment, I thought I would list the new shows I have checked out in and from 2011. Except for where it is otherwise noted, I have seen all of these in their entirety, and am up to date until at least December 31st 2011.

First, an overview of which new shows I have seen this year, in roughly chronological order of their premiere dates:
* Young Justice (Cartoon Network) - still airing
* The Cape (NBC) - cancelled
* Shameless [the US remake] (Showtime) - still airing
* Lights Out (FX) - cancelled
* Harry's Law (NBC) - still airing
* The Chicago Code (Fox) - cancelled
* Mr. Sunshine (ABC) - cancelled
* Camelot (Starz) - cancelled
* Breakout Kings (A&E) - still airing
* The Borgias (Showtime) - still airing
* Mortal Kombat: Legacy (online series) - completed
* Game of Thrones (HBO) - still airing
* Falling Skies (TNT) - still airing [I DID NOT FINISH THIS ONE]
* Suits (USA) - still airing
* Marvel Anime: Wolverine (G4) - completed
* Marvel Anime: Iron Man (G4) - completed
* Alphas (Syfy) - still airing
* Husbands (online series) - completed
* New Girl (Fox) - still airing
* Revenge (ABC) - still airing
* Ringer (CW) - still airing
* Terra Nova (Fox) - still airing
* Suburgatory (ABC) - still airing
* Homeland (Showtime) - still airing
* Boss (Starz) - still airing
* Once Upon A Time (ABC) - still airing
* Grimm (NBC) - still airing

And, yes, I am aware that some of these were technically not cancelled but rather "not renewed". For all intents and purposes, though, if they don't have a series finale clearly intended to be such, the difference is negligible from a creative standpoint, which is the one I care about, so, not bothering to do the research of finding out which is technically which.


Wow. 27 shows. This is going to be a long, long post. To keep it shorter, I won't explain what each show is about - if you've not heard of one, or my comments make no sense with what you have heard, please ask in the comments, and I shall do the plot-summary so you know what the show is about. Here, however, I will keep it limisted to my reactions and thoughts.

Also note that I've checked out every show I heard of and thought I could maybe be interested in this year save one - Person of Interest (CBS). It seems on the surface too procedural for my tastes, but the premise and Emerson's involvement both do tempt me, so if it gets better reviews as it goes, maybe one day. Also honourable mention before we start to Starz' Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which while not technically a new show, was leagues and miles and lightyears better than the season it is a prequel to, and highly recommended as a starting point for anyone who likes speculative amouns of intrigue, sex and violence and awesomely stilted dialogue all wrapped up in Ancient Roman garbs. Just be aware that after finishing the prequel, most of the actual first season is rather crappy (it gets good by the end, though).

So, ranking, least to best:

27 * Husbands (online series) - completed
A bit disappointed by this, to be honest. It has a good word on it, it is Jane Espenson's mindchild, all three actors are quite good at bringing both the funny and the sweet, and it even cameos in Nathan Fillion at one point. Is it watchable? Yes, the über-short episode format makes it easily digestible enough to ignore the flaws. But honestly, the jokes could (should) be way, way funnier.

26 * Marvel Anime: Iron Man (G4) - completed
Checked this out on a whim, but mostly on the strength of the names involved on the creative side. Can't say I'm too impressed. Pasdar does a fine job as Tony Stark - in fact, the voice acting is decent throughout - and the plot is at least original. But parts of it just never seemed convincing (the plotline with Yinsen, his mentor, seems intriguing at first, but quickly dissolves by being explained away with over-the-top non-credible insane-logic, for instance), and the anime dressing never really clicks with me. "Oh no I said something which might have been mildly inappropriate in 1812, let me stand here and stutter for a while in embarrassment" gets so old so fast.

25 * Falling Skies (TNT) - still airing [I DID NOT FINISH THIS ONE]
Albeit cursed with the dual distinction of bottom billing and being the only show on the list that I started but could not find it in even my obsessive soul to finish (yet...), there were some positive features on this show. The protagonist, while for plot purposes your typical bland hero dude, had some unusual features (schoolteacher!) and was rather well acted. In fact, the whole cast, while not stellar or anything, made a big, big impression considering how stereotyped their characters were. The annoying teenagers are not so annoying, the grouchy old pseudo-antagonistic army officer is likable in spite of himself, and the amoral wildcard turned unwilling sidekick was downright interesting. To top this off, there are some nice post-apocalyptic mysteries going on. Sadly, the show didn't manage to become anything more than stunt-of-the-week in the five episodes I gave it, and the plots just did not warrant my time. A shame. But on the strength of the premise and the cast, I can easily see this suddenly finding its footing and getting good reviews in season 2 or 3, so I am not completely giving up hope on it. For now though, this is as skippable as it gets unless you really, really, really love post-apocalypse alien invasion TV.

24 * Mortal Kombat: Legacy (online series) - completed
Having next to no history, experience or knowledge of or with the Mortal Kombat franchise, checking this out was a whim of proportions. It was... interesting, though. The anthology premise makes it tough to rank it - parts were good, parts less so - but I definitely would recommend this to anyone with a slight interest in small scale epic sci-fi/fantasy action.

23 * Marvel Anime: Wolverine (G4) - completed
Companion piece to Iron Man - they even cross over - and voiced by Pasdar's Heroes-brother Ventimiglia. Ventimiglia does not have anywhere near the same presence Pasdar does, but he does a decent job here, I'll give him that, even if he occasionally comes off as trying too hard to sound callous and grouchy. Then again, maybe that's just good acting, as that sounds like something Wolverine would try to do, too. A much, much, much simpler plotline than Iron Man's is explored here, and it (unfortunately) works better with the formula. The big action scene at the end of each episode feels more organic because it is not intruding as much on a main narrative, and the simple emotional underpinning of Wolverine looking for his girlfriend drives you forward. That said, it also makes the season feel overlong and at times rather dreary. Watchable, but not much more.

22 * The Borgias (Showtime) - still airing
Disappointment of the year. I cannot BELIEVE I am ranking Jeremy Irons as one of the most compelling figures in political history on Showtime beneath something with dinosaurs which airs on... Fox. The world, clearly, has gone insane.
But there we are. I'm still watching this - how can I not, it is Irons and manipulative cardinals and assassins - but the sheer fact that I am not ranking it in my top five is a failure for a show with a cast and premise like this one. The pacing is frequently awful, the plots hardly ever pack the punch they logically should, and when the small time assassin is the most compelling character in a show about warring kings and popes, something is wrong. All that said, the show did get increasingly better as it went, and was downright good in the final two-three episodes. I have tentative hopes for season 2, but seriously, Showtime, burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice...

21 * Breakout Kings (A&E) - still airing
It is a decent show, but very predictably procedural. While there is nothing wrong with the other cast members or characters, Jimmi Simpson is the reason this show is worth my time (if only barely). His brilliantly talented behavioural psychologist with a gambling addiction seeking redemption for the girl who overdosed on medication he proscribed her is not only consistently interesting, he's also consistently charming and consistently funny. I've never seen Simpson be anything less than compelling, but this part was certainly a stellar match for him. And the show as a whole is fair enough, if much too easily digested for my tastes. Only beats Borgias on account of Simpson, though.

20 * Mr. Sunshine (ABC) - cancelled
I was initially underwhelmed, but the show seemed to eventually find its footing and then got funnier as it went on. Unfortunately, it also got cancelled and it went off. Jeanty was especially hilarious here - her oblivious racism in particular was a hoot - but every character grew on me, and of course, Perry would be funny even if locked in a cage. Hey, that could be his new show!

19 * Terra Nova (Fox) - still airing
Steven Spielberg's second executive producing billing of the year - the first one being Falling Skies - this too is post-apocalyptic. Or to be specific, it is pre-postapocalyptic, as a group of people escape a grim future and goes back to the day of the dinosaur. The pilot was great, just great. Then the show did what I feared, and went procedural in the extreme. Episode 2-7 is garbage, and you can probably skip 8-9 too, though the show was getting better. 10-13 was quite, quite solid. Nothing special by any means, but solid, and living at least almost up to what the pilot promised. I'm actually rather optimistic for season 2 on this one now. They seem to have figured out what the show is, and while the cast (one or two characters aside) is much more bland than that of Falling Skies, the premise and mysteries are, in return, much more compelling. The second they stopped doing obvious plot-of-the-week stories we've seen on a thousand TV shows before, it got quite watchable, as the underpinnings they then lean on have a lot of potential.

18 * New Girl (Fox) - still airing
Oh, how I fought to decide on whether or not to keep going with this one. Deschanel's protagonist starts out as utterly unfunny. The pseudo-portmanteau "adorkable" is thrown around about this show a lot, and it is fitting to the extent that if you find that word remotely charming, you'll probably like the main character, too. I hate the word, and I'm really, really not a fan of the character. BUT. Such a fun secondary cast. Now obviously Greenfield's Schmidt utterly steals the show comedy wise - and I would have given up after episode 2 if not for him - but the other three regulars are also quite decent. And in Deschanel's defense, her performance is fine. It is just the character which is utterly unfunny. Luckily, she gets toned down a lot in episodes five and six, and so I've kept going, and it seems to have stuck, luckily. Mostly I kept going for Schmidt, who makes me laugh at least twice per episode, but really for the supporting cast in general, who make the stories seem human and grounded when the title character is running around being boring. Her male counterpart introduced in episode 6 oddly seems to help that, though. When they are two, they're not just being awkward and stupid, they're suddenly rather being cute and different. Hope he stays around for a while.

17 * Alphas (Syfy) - still airing
A show surprisingly torn between interestingly brave and predictably safe moves. It's a procedural about a misfit crew of super-powered special agents solving sci-fi crimes (predictably safe). The misfits are not all that cool (going for realistic personalities rather than having everyone be a witty machiavellian or a likable grunt), and the super-powers are borderline realistic and usually very underpowered (compared to on shows like, say, Heroes or The 4400) - interestingly brave. The over-arching plot is a sinister fanatic terror organisation pulling at strings (predictably safe), but several of the protagonists, including the moral compass-leader character, explicitly express sympathetic feelings towards the organisation's views (interestingly brave). The villains are one-offs who carry a single stand-alone episode plot only hinting at a greater conspiracy (predictably safe), but they are never one-note evil, always morally grey, and frequently sympathetic (interestingly brave). And a surprising amount of them are left alive, so hopefully, season 2 will see a lot of the recurring. While the secondary guest characters being a bigger draw then the main cast is an unfortunate thing, it is still a draw, and when you combine that with a clear tendency towards ever more decent episodes and a refreshingly low-key take on super powers, I'm actually rather intrigued by this. I just wish to the gods it was less procedural.
In a lot of ways, Alphas is very similar to Breakout Kings - you could set up the casts, for instance, and give mostly one-to-one relationships of their group and plot dynamics - but it has less humour (BK's main strength), and more story. and it has a solid season finale hinting at a potentially much more interesting second season. (Whereas Breakout Kings show little interest in ever messing with their formula).

16 * The Cape (NBC) - cancelled
Better cast than Terra Nova, but otherwise pretty much the same story - though this one ends in cancellation. Great movie-esque pilot, a half-limping run of standalones mixed in with the main arc, and just as it seems to figure itself out it ends. James Frain as the half Luthor-half Joker villain was a treat, though.

15 * Grimm (NBC) - still airing
Severe standaloneitus, and a protagonist so bland he makes the dude from Terra Nova seem like Winston Churchill, and yet... Silas Weir Mitchell is FANTASTIC as the not-so-big formerly-bad wolf sidekick, and sells the show from the get go. Also intriguing, but for now not yet given anything of import to do, is Sasha Roiz's Captain Renard. The creatures really should be re-used rather than inventing new ones every week (WHY could the mouse-creatures not just have been the rat creatures from an earlier episode? They were even described with pretty much the same characteristics!), and the police work angle is so prominent it should at least be taken more seriously ("preliminary DNA results are back and we know she is a woman" - what the what?), but all in all, I am both entertained and intrigued. The main plots seem like they could be heaps of fun, if only they are ever allowed front seat.

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This is a break-off point in quality. While I am certainly a much bigger fan of Grimm than Falling Skies, I would still drop Grimm if my schedule did not allow for it anymore, or if it takes a turn for the worse. After this, we're entering "good enough that I'll probably never drop it barring only extreme circumstances." Note that I am ridiculously anal and have an awfully hard time letting go of things, and as such my bar for this level is likely a lot lower than that of most.
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14 * Young Justice (Cartoon Network) - still airing
Wow, great animation! Looks good, has glimmers of actually witty humour, and manages to be about the DCU sidekicks without feeling childish or boring. Some things are of course a bit too on the nose - Miss Martian's "Hello Megan" was painfully old the first time she said it - but really, this is polished stuff which really takes advantage of the DCU it has at its disposal and seamlessly combine the standalone plots to longer and interesting plotlines. Surprisingly dark at times, and just all around enjoyable - if you like superheroes, you should give it a gander, but if you don't, you're probably not in the target demographic.

13 * The Chicago Code (Fox) - cancelled
Another one where my expectations were too high. Shawn Ryan? Tim Minear? How could this not be great? Well... it's not. Solid cast, though. The antagonist in particular was wonderful. But he was often not seen for episodes at a time, that's how little this show cared about its arc. If you watch episode 1-2 and then the series finale, you really won't have missed much of importance, and that is just sad. This could have been something quite special, and it ended up being just another cop show with some bittersweet moments of awesome here and there to highlight what it could have been.

12 * Camelot (Starz) - cancelled
And so we start the top 12! Camelot was a fun show, with a couple of fun actors, and some very interesting ideas on what they could do with the Arhturian legends. Some episodes were too standalone for their own good, but what really brought the show down was the pretty boy Arthur. Not the actor's fault, his actual acting was fine. But whoever cast him in that part... It's KING ARTHUR! Someone with some scene presence would be too much to ask? Ah, well. It is the Merlin and Morgan show anyway, and at least this way they never tried to hide it. Should have gotten a second season, but should also have been able to do more with the episodes they did have. Dragging their feet a tad too much, unfortunately, saving too many cool plotlines for a future which will now never come. Oh well. At least we got the fantastically gruesome visuals of Merlin's fetching Excalibur to remember it by.

11 * Harry's Law (NBC) - still airing
David E. Kelley might write the same episodes over and over on shows with different characters, but hey, at least they're good episodes and fun characters. With Harry's Law, he's added another lawyer show to his stable. Not as dark as The Practice, not as soapy as Ally McBeal, not as political as Boston Legal - but somewhere nicely between the three, carving out a new mix of familiar Kelley elements. And it works. Better lately than in the beginning. The show premiered in winter 2011, and found time to air half its second season the very same autumn. So far, the second half of season 1 beats season 2, but season 2 beats the first half of season 1 with a much bigger margin, so the quality is still fine. Nothing special to see here, but fine entertainment, and if you liked Kelley's earlier legal dramas, you will certainly like this one too.

10 * Ringer (CW) - still airing
Surprise, it's good! Started out as overwrought, inelegant and at worst just plain unengaging, but Ringer has improved weekly since the pilot, and my ranking of it reflects just how much so. Perhaps the most cable-esque network show I have seen since Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I would not have batted an eyelid if this was on FX or Showtime - though my expectations, of course, would have been much higher. The cast is good, the plotting manages to be surprising, but sadly the show's main problem is one baked into the premise: The main character is always reacting. She doesn't have a plan of her own, but is caught in the web of other people's plans (most of which we as the viewer can only guess at the details of). This makes the thriller-aspect work quite well, but it makes the equally important drama aspects a bit weak. There is no scheme to root for, no plan we wish will work out, because the main character is stuck in damage control. All that said, this is good TV, and deserves its spot on the top 10 new shows of the year.

9 * Suburgatory (ABC) - still airing
The main character's surprisingly Juno/Veronica Mars-esque charisma helps sell this, but really, the cast is very solid from end to end. Suburgatory is (at least currently) not an inspired piece of sitcom history like Arrested Development, Community or Parks & Recreation, but could easily grow into being another Modern Family - hilarious, reliable, likable. So very likable.

8 * Once Upon A Time (ABC) - still airing
The on-and-off wooden or cheesy acting (some actors seem more comfortable in their real-world-personas, others in their fairytale versions) that plagued the early episodes have mostly worn off by now, and the show has really come into fruition as a light-version of Lost. Lots of people trapped in a strange location? Check. Weekly character-centric flashbacks revealing a mysteriously combined back history? Check. Lots of little clues that something is wrong? Check. But much, much more accessible than Lost ever was. Clear protagonist/antagonist set-up from the get-go rather than an ensemble of moral greys, an equally clear audience awareness of the broad strokes of what the Big Mystery is all about. It also completely and whole-heartedly embraces its fantasy genre rather than tip-toeing for half a decade between realism, sci-fi and fantasy like Lost did. But these differences obviously have their downsides too. The cast is clearly inferior to Lost's, but that's not a slight to Once Upon A Time, merely a tip of the hat to Lost (I'm not a big fan, but I must admit credit where credit is due). More importantly, though, the clear knowledge of what the main plot is makes the mystery far less compelling. I still think it is intriguing enough, but it cannot at all compete with those of Lost's early episodes. So in short, again, it is a lightweight snack-sized version of Lost, with fairy tale characters. I personally tire of the main Snow White/Prince Charming plot and oddly prefer the more fringe-relevant episodes, but the flashbacks do always find some way of twisting the original tale so you feel engaged and interested, even when you're inclined not to be. Not a great show, but a very fun one, especially for a fantasy geek like me. And Robert Carlyle's Rumpelstiltskin is of course a pure joy.

7 * Boss (Starz) - still airing
If quality TV is about storytelling, Boss gets great marks on story and a barely pass on telling. It doesn't deliver the emotional punches of the story with nearly the force I feel it could and should (because they're GOOD punches!), and that is not in the acting, and mostly not in the writing, that is in the cutting, the filming, the scene-ordering, and so on and so forth. That said, I am quite into this show. I love a good Big Man-story (see my oft-mentioned love for Deadwood, Kings, Rome, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, or my above-referenced adoration of the antagonist on the Chicago Code), and that is of course exactly what this promises to be. While hardly a plot-element seems new (so much of the premise seems straight out of Kings, for instance), the combination of them all are often inspired and Grammar's performance is just so great. I am - and the steady quality creep as the show went on (after a very disappointing episode 2) seems to verify this - crediting this show's many executive flaws to Starz' inexperience with original programming, and banking that season 2 is going to be a force to be reckoned with. I know I'm still reeling from the main twist of the season 1 finale.

6 * Lights Out (FX) - cancelled
I have less than zero interest in boxing. In fact, the show being about boxing quite put me off it. But I still really enjoyed this. Good actors (Eamonn Walker in particular should be in everything ever), a clean, emotional plotline that never overreached, this is one cancellation that felt almost organic. The story could easily end where it did, and the writers should be credited for ending it so smoothly. If you want a solid comeback-story drama miniseries, you could do a lot worse than Lights Out.

5 * Suits (USA) - still airing
On paper, this should be an unimpressive, run-of-the-mill idea for a TV show, but somehow, the sleek, elegant execution sells it, and sells it hard. Six months after the season ended, I'm still humming the opening theme. Funny, exciting, and most of all plain cool, this is as good as a lightweight fluff-over-substance drama can reasonably be expected to be. So excited about season 2!

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Ok, the final heat. While some of the ones so far are really, really good in my personal opinion, they do tend to depend a bit on your tastes and genre affinities and so on to be more than merely okay. The final four on the list are so much fun for me, however, that I cannot honestly imagine someone not at least thinking they're good. More likely very good. So no matter who you are, unless moving pictures make you nauseous and you miss the days of radio (in which case, go check out www.thrillingadventurehour.com, by the way), the following 2011 TV premieres receive my most heartfelt recommendations:
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4 * Revenge (ABC) - still airing
Really hooked by this. The best new non-cable show among the bunch, and tailored for me. Loosely based on the fabulous The Count of Monte Cristo, it adds 10% Batman (it might take you a few episodes to get that one) and 40% classic soap opera a la Dallas (this you'll catch on to quickly) to the thriller drama mix. The acting came off as a bit stiff and underwhelming in the pilot, but I quickly stopped noticing, and that was really my only complaint. The main character's manipulations are wonderful, the theme of the steep price of vengeance is never forgotten but never preachy, and the entire cast of secondary characters are so slippery and nasty in their own rights (but all in different ways) I am just so completely on board. Imagine if Game of Thrones was set in the Hamptons and nigh on every major character was a Littlefinger, a Varys or a Tyrion. That's basically this show.
Interesting sidenote is that Revenge, especially in the early episodes, reminded me a lot of the sadly cancelled show Profit (a sort of corporate world precursor to Dexter). The main character is coldly eliminating people in his/her way to achieve the ultimate goal of bringing down the massively powerful Greyson family (yes, the families even have the same name in both shows!). The wrappings and themes are very different from Profit, to be sure, but the structures and plotlines reminded me of it a lot. As I really, really like Profit, that's not at all a bad thing.

3 * Homeland (Showtime) - still airing
Mandy Patinkin - also known as Inigo Montoya, the best thing about Dead Like Me, and (I'm told) some dude on some stupid big-time cop procedural - is in this. If that's not selling you, your head is clearly not correctly attached (I'm trying to find a time to watch said stupid big-time cop procedural as I type), but don't worry, I have pitches that can break its signal through even the most unattached of spinal cords:
The star from Stardust and the face of Band of Brothers are heading this thing. Still not sold? Ok, it's helmed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, writing partners since at least on Beauty and the Beast in the late eighties, and with CVs which combined involve working on shows like 24, Entourage, Angel, The X-files and The Inside.
Yeah, okay, I get it, I have tosay it: Homeland is awesome. It's just so good. It manages to be intense even when there is hardly anything going on - even though usually, there IS stuff going on - and it is mind-blowingly unafraid. By which I mean that this show burns bridges faster than other shows finish their opening credits. Nearly every episode permanently resolves some plotline or other that I expected to go on for a half-season at the very least. I've no idea how the writers are not terrified of running out of ideas by episode 3 in season 2 at this rate, but clearly, they know what they're doing, so I'm just going to lean back and be dazzled.
(Quick side-note, though - what on Earth was the deal with 2011 and secret-illness-plots? Protagonists on Homeland, Boss, Lights Out, a side-character on Revenge, and, if you count the drug addiction, the protagonist on Ringer, too!)

2 * Game of Thrones (HBO) - still airing
My favourite books in my favourite genre by my favourite author's adapted to a TV show by my favourite cable network and stars one of my favourite actors? Yeah, somehow, that did not end in abysmal disappointment at all! Game of Thrones is rock solid. Should it have had 13 episodes and felt less rushed? Yes. But when your only complaint basically amounts to "there should have been more", it is time to shut up.

1 * Shameless [the US remake] (Showtime) - still airing
So, when my favourite books in my favourite genre by my favourite author is adapted into a TV show by my favourite cable network, starring one of my favourite actors, and it is beaten to the top of this list by a comedy drama about a pack of money-troubled misfit siblings and an alcoholic useless git of a father, pitching or commenting beyond that very fact itself seems somehow redundant. But Shameless manages to be heart-warming, funny, sad, compelling, engaging, interesting without being about anything more than some less-than-well-off folks and their everyday lives, and it manages it all so effortlessly. I'm probably hyping this too much up now, but screw that, Shameless is fantastic, and watching it makes me happy. You go see it too.

Hello, world!

I really, really like making lists, assuming the lists are about something I consider fun things. Like, say, TV shows I'd like to watch.

Currently, I'm mid-to-early in several shows (notably Doctor Who, Torchwood, Oz, Gilmore Girls, Weeds, The Emperor's New School and Monk), and so it might very well be quite long before I have the time to take any of these on. Still, rather than chronicle my list on an all too fallible computer which could crash, I'm going to chronicle it here!

(Disclaimer: While organised loosely by genre, the order within each paragraph is utterly random, and does not indicate any preferences towards the shows higher up on the list or somesuch. In other words, the ones I'm really not all that intrigued with (The Mentalist, New Girl or Cupid) but still feel I might enjoy if I checked them out are intermingled with the ones I feel strongly about watching as soon as possible (such as The Shield, Sports Night or The Good Wife), and everything between the two)

Comedy:
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Always_Sunny_in_Philadelphia
Seinfeld http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld [have seen many random episodes, interested in watching it in proper order]
The Return of Jezebel James http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Jezebel_James
Curb Your Enthusiasm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_Your_Enthusiasm
The IT Crowd http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_IT_Crowd
The Office (US) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Office_(U.S._TV_series)
Undeclared http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undeclared
Extras http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extras
Big Bang Theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_Theory
Malcolm in the Middle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_in_the_Middle [have seen many random episodes, interested in watching it in proper order]
Red Dwarf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dwarf_(TV_series) [have seen two episodes, unsure if I am still interested]
Coupling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupling_(UK_TV_series)
Peep Show http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peep_Show_(TV_series)
Joking Apart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joking_Apart
Chalk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk_(TV_series)
Free Agents (UK) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Agents
Outsourced http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourced_(TV_series)
New Girl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Girl_(TV_series)
The League http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_League


Drama:
The Shield http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shield [have seen two episodes, and am highly interested in getting back to it]
Downton Abbey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey
The Good Wife http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Wife_(TV_series)
Six Feet Under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Feet_Under_(TV_series)
Boston Public http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Public
Thief http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thief_(TV_series)
Rubicon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubicon_(TV_series)
Lonesome Dove http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonesome_Dove_(TV_miniseries)
John from Cincinnati http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_from_Cincinnati
Friday Night Lights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_Night_Lights_(TV_series)
Shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_(TV_series) [have seen three episodes, but interested in getting back to it]
Treme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treme_(TV_series)
Rescue Me http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_Me
Nip/Tuck http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nip/Tuck
The Walking Dead http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(TV_series)
The Vampire Diaries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampire_Diaries
Journeyman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman_(TV_series) [have seen two episodes, unsure if I am still interested]
The Pretender http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pretender_(TV_series) [saw the pilot and am still on the fence]
Luther http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_(TV_series)
Leverage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_(TV_series)
Revenge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenge_(TV_series)
White Collar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Collar_(TV_series)
Life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_(NBC_TV_series)
The Mentalist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mentalist
Agatha Christie's Poirot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poirot_(TV_series) [have seen two episodes, interested in watching more]
Fringe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series) [have seen a season and a half, but interested in getting back to it]
Generation Kill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Kill_(TV_series) [have seen three episodes and was underwhelmed, but it is by the The Wire guy, so I feel I should maybe give it some more time...]


Action drama/Adventure drama:
Jericho http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_(TV_series)
Burn Notice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_Notice
Supernatural http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_(TV_series)
Alphas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphas
Farscape http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farscape
Alias http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alias_(TV_series)
Wolverine and the X-men http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine_and_the_X-men
Avatar: The Last Airbender http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sarah_Connor_Chronicles
X-men: Evolution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men:_Evolution
Robin Hood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_(2006_TV_series)
Teen Titans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Titans_(TV_series)
Iron Man: Armored Adventures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man:_Armored_Adventures
Sanctuary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_(TV_series)
Misfits http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfits_(TV_series)

Comedy-drama/Dramady/Action comedy:
Cupid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid_(1998_TV_series) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid_(2009_TV_series)
Entourage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entourage_(TV_series)
Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_(TV_series)
10 Things I Hate About You http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Things_I_Hate_About_You_(TV_series)
Warehouse 13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warehouse_13
Eureka http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_(TV_series)
The Wedding Bells http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wedding_Bells
Dirty Sexy Money http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Sexy_Money
Press Gang http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Gang
Sports Night http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Night
The Venture Bros http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_Bros


---

This list is mostly for my benefit, but if you feel like commenting, comments are always fun. What I wish comments on, in order:
1. Negative opinions on anything regarding the shows listed above, so I know what to prioritise down
2. Pitches for shows not listed here that you believe I might not have seen and that you strongly feel should be added to the list
3. Positive opinions on anything regarding the shows listed above, to compliment whatever spurred me to mention it on the list in the first place
...but anything at all which could spur fun conversation is of course welcome.

I left my cell phone here yesterday. Spent 400 years without one. Now I can't go a day.

- Josef Kostan

In autumn 2007 (wait, what, seriously? *double-checks* Sigh, I feel so old) CBS premiered a vampire detective procedural show called Moonlight, with a male vampire-human female romance at its core.

So, crime procedural + angsty vampire romance mush, this should be an automatic instant hit in recent years' climate, right? Well I guess they were 6 months too early to hit the wave or something, because the show was cancelled after a mere 16 episodes.

I've always meant to watch this show - there is a distinct lack of paranormal quality fun on TV out there, and the show sported an executive producer credit by Profit and Angel's David Greenwalt as well as Veronica Mars' amazing Jason Dohring among the regular cast. But initial reviews were [insert politically correct term for piss-poor], Greenwalt left the show for health reasons before it even got on the air, and the show got cancelled before the winds of reputation turned for it.

Having now finally seen it at what I up until 5 minutes ago assumed to be max two years later, I have mixed feelings about this cancellation. Because, frankly, the pilot, the pilot is shite. SHITE. The dialogue and monologue is utterly awful, the plot predictable and un-engaging, and on the whole it comes off as the one thing this show immediately seems like it would be: a really weak Angel-copy. The only scenes which stood out were Dohring's puny two, and while he was great, they hardly made the rest worth the bother.

So why the mixed feelings? Well, first of all, the oh-so-bland main character was given impressive amounts of presence by actor Alex O'Loughlin. Encumbered with dialogue so bad I'm sure Aaron Sorkin was quietly weeping somewhere on account of its mere existence, O'Loughlin actually managed to make the part be more than the pretty boy main character.

And then episode 2 took an enormous step up. Suddenly, the show was simply bland, not awful. The main thing which had improved was the dialogue. It was now DECENT. Not good or anything. But decent. Even had a good joke or two.

Episode 3, 4, 5, 6... more of the same. A predictable procedural, not really worthy of my attention, but with a slight, steady crawl upwards in quality. Also, Dohring kept having a scene or two, like all too rare diamonds glittering in the dust. And the ridiculously uninteresting love interest was somehow becoming slightly tolerable by Sophia Myles' acting. I'm not saying she's an amazing talent, but she clearly knows something about what she's doing. At least O'Loughlin had the main character with the complex backstory to work with, but Myles was taking a two-dimensional turd of a character and making me NOT CRINGE WHEN SHE WAS ON SCREEN. By the end of the season, I almost liked her. Emmy anyone?

But then the show really hit its stride. Mid-season, suddenly, the hints of arc were hints no more. Shannyn Sossamon did a very charismatic turn as O'Loughlin's vampyric maker, some twists actually contained slightly surprising aspects, and I found myself LIKING the show. Eventually, Dohring's character even got a (rather good) episode devoted to him, though it would be the first and last of the kind.

As the Sossamon-arc drew to a (clearly only planned to be temporary) close and a recurring character was killed off with quite frankly surprising emotion, the show turned once again standalone, but it couldn't shake the nigh-on-depth that it had acquired in the mid-season. The final batch of episodes were thus genuinely okay even without the benefits of a powerful on-going arc. The final episode before the cancellation even, probably completely coincidentally, had aspects that made it a halfway decent series finale.

So on the whole, if you like vampires and mysteries, Moonlight is actually not that bad a choice. Skip the awful pilot. It has a lot of important exposition, sure, but you can read that between the lines and in the "previously on..."-segments anyway. You might need to hold your nose a bit for the first four episodes or so which follows as well, but if you're anything like me, you will then gradually find yourself quite liking the show. Oh, sure, there are plot holes and mythological inconsistencies here and there, but please, even True Blood is littered with those and they're on HBO. For what it is, Moonlight is frankly both surprisingly consistent and true to the genre. In 16 episodes, the only supernatural element was and remained vampires. No witches, shape-shifters, warlocks, djinns, nymphs or werewolves were ever even hinted at. This alone was impressive to me. Even Angel never remained that grounded in its own mythology.

We return then, to my mixed feelings. This show should never have made it past the pilot. But once it did, it managed to warrant its own existence and steadily grow and improve. Considering that, the early cancellation really is unfortunate. Moonlight, given a full first season and maybe at least half a second season, could actually have gotten quite great. It was certainly for its entire run headed in the right direction, without ever taking serious turns backwards. So, is it a travesty and a loss on the lines of amazing first-season goners like Firefly and Kings? Not at all. But having seen it, I must admit that I might on occasion find myself missing it a little, nonetheless.

"Green Lantern": Not so much bad as just plain bland and filled with sadly missed opportunities.

Still, I chuckled at some of the jokes, and when it tried to be visually pretty it managed it well (but the 3D is once again completely pointless for the enjoyment of a movie which flaunts the attribute), and for a novice at the comics (I mostly know GL from animated movies and ditto series) they seemed to have the universe of it all pretty faithfully down.

In sum, I don't regret buying the ticket, if barely, and I will watch a sequel - albeit with very low expectations.

Officially up to date on all Slayerverse canon and pseudo-canon material. Brian Lynch's Spike-run was the definite highlight among the recentmost stuff, but anything with "Bill Williams" or "Scott Tipton and Mariah Huehner" on the writing credits deserves a look for those who like the universe. Of somewhat older stuff, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 is of course well worth a look, as are most of the Tales, and Angel: After the Fall is - oft-times ridiculously bad art issues aside - fantastic.

None of it compares even moderately to Fray, of course (well, maaaaybe After the Fall, on the writing side), but for TV characters continuing in a different medium, it's all really surprisingly high standard. If you look away from Kelley Armstrong's run of embarrasingly out-of-character-voices and ditto plots in Angel: Aftermath, anyway.

Now... BRING ON SEASON 9!

X-men: First Class is in my opinion the best movie of the franchise second only to X2 - but X2 is the best superhero movie with actual super powers I have ever seen, so that's still saying a heck of a lot. Great cast, great pacing, great (and simple) plot.


A number of continuity issues are still nagging at my brain, but hey, when the result is this good, even I can (mostly) ignore them. And only a minority of the issues cannot be explained away with far-fetched theories, which helps.


Movie is highly, highly recommended. Between this and Thor (also highly recommended, by the way), this is being a phenomenal summer to be a moviegoer and Marvel fan.

The Borgias is what I expected it would be. About as alright-but-not-that-special as The Tudors were as far as plotting goes, but with one big extra redeeming factor. This that the main draw on The Tudors was always someone just outside of focus (Sam Neill, James Frain, Jeremy Northam, to name a few), whereas on The Borgias, the focal point is played by Jeremy Irons, and so you actually care about him.

In other words, I am really rather enjoying it. Oh, sure, it's still not an HBO-style period piece, no Deadwood or Rome or even Boardwalk Empire, but it retains what Showtime did right with The Tudors and improves markedly on a lot of what it did wrong.

Also should mention that the remaining two characters of The Borgias' centre, François Arnaud and Sean Harris, are also impressing me, which does not hurt. And Colm Feore made a big impression without ever really having much to do as First Gentleman on 24, so now seeing him in something where he actually get to spread his wings a little is quite gratifying.

One thing I should like to do immensely, and that is to tell her, in the way authors have, that the children are coming back, that indeed they will be here on Thursday week. This would spoil so completely the surprise to which Wendy and John and Michael are looking forward. They have been planning it out on the ship: mother's rapture, father's shout of joy, Nana's leap through the air to embrace them first, when what they ought to be prepared for is a good hiding. How delicious to spoil it all by breaking the news in advance; so that when they enter grandly Mrs. Darling may not even offer Wendy her mouth, and Mr. Darling may exclaim pettishly, "Dash it all, here are those boys again." However, we should get no thanks even for this. We are beginning to know Mrs. Darling by this time, and may be sure that she would upbraid us for depriving the children of their little pleasure.

"But, my dear madam, it is ten days till Thursday week; so that by telling you what's what, we can save you ten days of unhappiness."

"Yes, but at what a cost! By depriving the children of ten minutes of delight."

"Oh, if you look at it in that way!"

"What other way is there in which to look at it?"

- Peter and Wendy,
by J. M. Barrie

But on this occasion he [Pan] had fallen at once into a dreamless sleep. One arm dropped over the edge of the bed, one leg was arched, and the unfinished part of his laugh was stranded on his mouth, which was open, showing the little pearls.

Thus defenceless Hook found him. He stood silent at the foot of the tree looking across the chamber at his enemy. Did no feeling of compassion disturb his sombre breast? The man was not wholly evil; he loved flowers (I have been told) and sweet music (he was himself no mean performer on the harpsichord); and, let it be frankly admitted, the idyllic nature of the scene stirred him profoundly. Mastered by his better self he would have returned reluctantly up the tree, but for one thing.

What stayed him was Peter's impertinent appearance as he slept. The open mouth, the drooping arm, the arched knee: they were such a personification of cockiness as, taken together, will never again, one may hope, be presented to eyes so sensitive to their offensiveness. They steeled Hook's heart. If his rage had broken him into a hundred pieces every one of them would have disregarded the incident, and leapt at the sleeper.

From "Chapter 13 DO YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES?"
in Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie

Miniseries and animated shows don't qualify for the list, for simplifications sake. Also, still on-going shows obviously cannot qualify either.

1. Firefly
2. Studio 60 at the Sunset Strip
3. Kings
4. Caprica
5. Wonderfalls
6. Terriers
7. The Inside
8. Jekyll
9. Profit
10. Easy Money
11. The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
12. Crusade
13. Now and Again
14. Snoops
15. John Doe
16. Accidentally on Purpose
17. You Wish

Note again that I absolutely love everything between 1 and 10, and the differentiating them into ranks is largely just a way of figuring out to what degree their untimely ends tear me up inside. Thus, whenever I next rewatch, say. "Easy Money", there is a chance it bumps up a few spots, as the wounds will feel fresher.

"Firefly" having the top position is pretty secure , though, which is doubly impressive when you consider the competition below it. Studio 60, Kings and Caprica are all shows more or less about the Machiavellian machinations, manipulations and maneuvering (my four favourite M's) of vast ensemble casts, which is a type of story that appeals a lot more to me than the adventure-style stories of the Serenity crew. So extra props to Firefly for being so awesome as to break up above even court and boardroom intrigues.

I also rather quite enjoyed 11 through 14. "Crusade", by the way, is probably the only show I have ever seen which can claim to have been even more outrageously mistreated during the airing than "Firefly" was. 15 was pretty good considering the amount of standalone episodes and the lack of closure it had. 16 and 17 were okay sitcoms, but hardly anything special.

Also note that I actually never saw the finale of "Accidentally on Purpose" - I decided to drop it a mere two episodes before it turned out to be done for good.

Nynorsk wikipedia sitt ord for etymologi:
ORDSOGE!

Språket vårt er berre herleg!
At bokmål ikkje berre gir opp på flekken er meir enn eg kan fatte.

- Obdormio, 23:56, January 28th 2011

I went through my list of shows I saw this year. On every show, I stopped and thought if any scene stood out in my memory to the extent that I truly remember it as awesome.

This is the resulting list. (Note that this list originated as an answer to Jon Kleiven's formspring question.

Justified
* The shooting in the beginning of the pilot

Breaking Bad
* Hank's fight to the death against the twins.
* Walter on the phone towards the end of the season finale.

Dollhouse
* Boyd's reveal as the villain.
(I had "Victor as Topher" and "Saunders' departure" on this list too, but then I recalled, those episodes aired in 2009)

Boardwalk Empire
* "I was not going to but now you have kind of talked me into it."

Caprica
* "Today I'm a terrorist. Tomorrow, I'm going to be _me_ again."
* The gleefully insane amount of security measures in the Greystone mansion.

Community
* Chang blowing himself up in Modern Warfare
* Abed on the parking lot as the Meta Saviour

Sherlock
* The red laser aims popping up everywhere in the end of The Great Game.

24
* That time Bauer got so frustrated over not getting through on the phone he almost swore. That was sweet.
* Bauer in the extreme armor attack of Logan's limo.

Lost
* The moment shared between Ben and Hurley in the finale.

True Blood
* "Tiffany, the weather."

Smallville
* Lionel opening the umbrella at the end of "Luthor"



So. Which are the best three? I would need to rewatch all of the above, of course, but here is my best guess:

- Hank's fight to the death on the parking lot (Breaking Bad).
- Chung blowing himself up, paintball-style (Community)
- Russell's TV spot. (True Blood)

Close runner-ups: Lionel's return (Smallville), the final phonecall (Breaking Bad) and the guy who talked himself into getting shot in the head (Boardwalk Empire)


Disclaimer: I will of course modify this list, and even the winners, if someone reminds me of a truly awesome scene which slipped my mind in making this list. My memory is commonly and generally acknowledged as shite.



So, which were your three?

It is a bit weird posting a list like this when some of the movies I was the most interested in seeing this year I have not gotten around to yet (Machete, The Social Network, The A-Team, The King's Speech, The Warrior's Way, Narnia 3, True Grit), but... It is New Year's Eve, now or never.

This list was spurred on by, and copied from my answer to, Jon Kleiven's recent formspring question.

New movies I saw this year, cross-checked with Wikipedia and sorted by months of release:

JANUARY
Daybreakers
The Book of Eli
Legion

MARCH
Alice in Wonderland
How To Train Your Dragon

MAY
Iron Man 2
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

JUNE
Toy Story 3

JULY
Inception

AUGUST
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Tales from Earthsea (though this one should be disqualified as only the English dub version premiered now as far as I can tell, movie's been out there for years)

OCTOBER
Red

NOVEMBER
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1
Tangled

DECEMBER
Tron: Legacy


So, that is a total of 14 movies that I have seen out of the ones released this year.


To make this process more fun, I am going to narrow it down to one movie per month, then one per season.


JANUARY: The Book of Eli
MARCH: How To Train Your Dragon
MAY: Iron Man 2
JUNE: Toy Story 3
JULY: Inception
AUGUST: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
OCTOBER: Red
NOVEMBER: Tangled
DECEMBER: Tron: Legacy

Hey, that was pretty decent. I quite enjoyed all the movies left on this list now.

Ok, to narrow it further down, I am going to pretend I did that awful thing that people do and scale them on the 1-6 dice scale, and remove every one below 6.



The Book of Eli - 5
How To Train Your Dragon - 5
Iron Man 2 - 5
Toy Story 3 - 6
Inception - 5
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - 5
Red - 6
Tangled - 5
Tron: Legacy - 4


Eli, Inception and Tangled all had really strong 5s that could potentially be weak 6s if I ever saw them again, but I am pretty sure Dragon, Scott, Tron and Tony belong on the numbers they got. That said, I quite strongly enjoyed all those movies, too.

That leaves me with Red Vs. Toy Story 3, the only two movies this year that after having seen them only once, I already think deserve a 6..

And while Red was absolutely lovely, I had to think a lot before I gave it a 6. Toy Story, that was not a call at all.


So Toy Story 3 is the best movie I have seen this year. Small surprise there.

Should we take the brush with the redskins at Slightly Gulch? It was a sanguinary affair, and especially interesting as showing one of Peter's peculiarities, which was that in the middle of a fight he would suddenly change sides. At the Gulch, when victory was still in the balance, sometimes leaning this way and sometimes that, he called out, "I'm redskin to-day; what are you, Tootles?" And Tootles answered, "Redskin; what are you, Nibs?" and Nibs said, "Redskin; what are you Twin?" and so on; and they were all redskins; and of course this would have ended the fight had not the real redskins fascinated by Peter's methods, agreed to be lost boys for that once, and so at it they all went again, more fiercely than ever.

- from Chapter 7: THE HOME UNDER THE GROUND
of Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie

If he thought at all, but I don't believe he ever thought, it was that he and his shadow, when brought near each other, would join like drops of water, and when they did not he was appalled. He tried to stick it on with soap from the bathroom, but that also failed. A shudder passed through Peter, and he sat on the floor and cried.

His sobs woke Wendy, and she sat up in bed. She was not alarmed to see a stranger crying on the nursery floor; she was only pleasantly interested.

"Boy," she said courteously, "why are you crying?"

Peter could be exceeding polite also, having learned the grand manner at fairy ceremonies, and he rose and bowed to her beautifully. She was much pleased, and bowed beautifully to him from the bed.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Wendy Moira Angela Darling," she replied with some satisfaction. "What is your name?"

"Peter Pan."

She was already sure that he must be Peter, but it did seem a comparatively short name.

"Is that all?"

"Yes," he said rather sharply. He felt for the first time that it was a shortish name.

"I'm so sorry," said Wendy Moira Angela.

"It doesn't matter," Peter gulped.

She asked where he lived.

"Second to the right," said Peter, "and then straight on till morning."

"What a funny address!"

Peter had a sinking. For the first time he felt that perhaps it was a funny address.

"No, it isn't," he said.

"I mean," Wendy said nicely, remembering that she was hostess, "is that what they put on the letters?"

He wished she had not mentioned letters.

"Don't get any letters," he said contemptuously.

"But your mother gets letters?"

"Don't have a mother," he said. Not only had he no mother, but he had not the slightest desire to have one. He thought them very over-rated persons. Wendy, however, felt at once that she was in the presence of a tragedy.

"O Peter, no wonder you were crying," she said, and got out of bed and ran to him.

"I wasn't crying about mothers," he said rather indignantly. "I was crying because I can't get my shadow to stick on. Besides, I wasn't crying."

- From Chapter 3 COME AWAY, COME AWAY!, of Peter Pan,
by J. M. Barrie

Part of the problem was RAND’s hyper-rational house style, most spectacularly embodied in Herman Kahn, author of a book that aspired to replace Clausewitz’s classic On War which he boldly entitled On Thermonuclear War. “I don’t understand people who aren’t detached,” Kahn said, and cultivated a style of cold-blooded analysis that dealt in millions of deaths as others might deal in dozens of eggs. On one occasion, when his coolness was criticized, he replied: “Would you prefer a nice warm mistake?”

- From chapter 8 of WAR by Gwynne Dyer.