Without too much thought put into it, here's my Top 10 list of TV shows from 2008.
AMERICAN IDOL - Love it. Not as good as in years past, but improvements are coming in 2009.
LOST - Now that the producers know when the series will end, the filler episodes are gone and this show is flying at warp speed.
BREAKING BAD - Love Bryan Cranston. Love him. He is a fearless actor - just look at the risks he took during the run of MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE. Aaron Paul's performance as Jesse is equal to Cranston's - which is saying something.
MAD MEN - Love the languid, yet taught pace, the attention to detail. This year it became clear that the nuclear family the advertising geniuses are pushing on the public is even more foreign to them than it is to us. You know you're a hot property when THE SIMPSONS send up your show intro.
PUSHING DAISIES - The abbreviated first season was far superior to the second. Brilliant art direction and a self-contained universe free of modern technology made this an instant favorite. As the show progressed, that self-contained universe began to fray a bit at the edges and the second season saw a darker, less whimsical texture but this one will be missed. Three episodes remain unaired, then it's done.
HOUSE - Same story week in and week out - but I don't care.
LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON - His monologues are a different creature from anything else on TV. Craig isn't afraid to talk about his demons or his pride in being a naturalized American citizen. His show that followed the passing of his mother was heart-breaking, personal and brave. He will no doubt benefit from the 2009 late night re-rack over at NBC.
SUPERNATURAL - You can tell a lot of X-FILES veterans are involved in this show (Kim Manners rocks!). It has the same gritty, creepy flavor that helped every episode of THE X-FILES look like a mini-movie. The Winchester brothers have never been better.
SMALLVILLE - What? Really? Smallville? Yep. This show is so much better than it was three years ago. As someone who someday hopes to create a TV series it pains me to say that this show has vastly improved with the departure of its original show runners. Maybe it's luck, but their departure, along with the loss of Lex Luthor and Lana Lang and Clark's relocation to metropolis have all combined to make this show more grown up, much more palatable and better written.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE - This is THE dance competition to watch. Great summer programming, filled with folks who have danced all their lives. It's amazing stuff.
What's on your list? (There are very few wrong answers.) Show you list, defend your choices!
Craig Ferguson is adjusting nicely to the new format of his program.
At first he experimented with a new feature titles "What Will We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig?" - a takeoff on his nightly wrap-up "What Did We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig?"
What Will We Learn looked very much like it was taped after the guests had left the show - and it ruined the surprise of some of the wild tangents Ferguson's stream-of-consciousness monologues are prone to follow.
He's since fixed the issue.
This week the show had what amounts to a cold open, in which Ferguson drops a couple of old standbys from his monologue - like celebrity birthdays and a nibble from the headlines. He cracks himself up a few times, then tells us who his guests are going to be - after the break.
I love David Letterman, but I can't wait for Craig to get a shot at Dave's timeslot. He is simply brilliant.
So they've tweaked TEH LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON. Again.
Monday, following a week long run of encores telecasts, the program opened with something new - a full screen graphic featuring an owl and a "What Will We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig?" jingle.
Ferguson then did two minutes whilst hiding his upper lip and the piddly excuse for a mustache he had grown over the weekend. Don't get me wrong - it was hilarious.
What I found not so funny was this - CBS has tweaked Ferguson's show format again.
After his two minute teaser, we were treated to a sponsor billboard and three minutes of commercials - followed by the official open of the program.
Just a bit screwy, if you ask me. I couldn't tell if the rest of the show had fewer breaks, longer segments or what - but it contained about 45 minutes of the wackiest comedy about mustaches I had ever personally witnessed.
The commercial break included some local spots, so it looks like it might be an attempt to move those spots into a more favorable, higher viewed part of the show - but it really gets in the way of the flow of the show.
Do not like.
As for Ferguson himself, things got even sillier Tuesday. His mustache (Rudy) pretty much took over the show, and yet Ferguson seemed to grow bored with the concept as the show continued on.
By Wednesday, Craig had shaved and the silliness was about other stuff - but just as silly.
If you've never stayed up late for Craig, program your electronic TV show recording devices and give it a shot. It doesn't matter what time of day or night you watch - it's laugh out loud silly stuff.
Did I mention it's silly?
Silly enough to make me look forward to the day when Letterman retires and Ferguson gets to step up to the 10:35 slot.
