TV's Top 10 of 2008

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!

President's Day Movie-thon 2008

Over the past few years, I have developed a personal tradition of attending as many Oscar nominated films as opssible on President's Day.

It all started under a previous employer who insisted we all take the day off - even though it was in the middle of sweeps.

By far the most interesting edition was the year I saw SIDEWAYS, MILLION DOLLAR BABY and THE AVIATOR in succession and learned that broken noses appeared prominently in all three films.

But I digress.

This year's marathon consisted of THERE WILL BE BLOOD, ENCHANTED and CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD was underwhelming for me. Didn't care for it - and I usually like Important Films. More on Daniel Day Lewis' performance at the end...

ENCHANTED was sweet. It was surprising to see Disney poking fun at itself. Nicely done, but I don't see the nomination for Amy Adams. It wasn't a very complicated role. Loved her, but wouldn't have nominated her for it.

CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR was fun. Anyone who was born after 1980 should probably see this film - just to get a taste of the Cold War. I liked it a lot - even though it was written by Aaron Sorkin. the 'true events' nature of the story prevented Sorkin from preaching too hard, allowing his crisp dialog to shine.

Tom Hanks was great as usual, but the actor of the day for me was Phillip Seymour Hoffman. His CIA operative was a dead pan marvel. Loved it.

Meanwhile, was it just me, or was Daniel Day Lewis channeling SMALLVILLE's Lionel Luthor in THERE WILL BE BLOOD? I'd bet a meteor rock enhanced milkshake on it.

Random Thoughts: 041207

Some random TV thoughts....

It took 17 hours for Jack Bauer to shake off whatever it was the Chinese did to him. I was feeling a bit disappointed with this season of 24 - until Jack killed this season's bad guy with his bare hands. 24 has 'unjumped' the shark and The Jack Bauer Power Hour is back

Starting to get pumped up about DRIVE. Captain Tightpants (Nathan Fillion from FIREFLY) and ANGEL's Fred (Amy Acker) headline a pretty good looking cast in another Tim Minear project - that FOX will probably toss on the ash heap before its time. I hope not.

'TIL DEATH has had its season finale. It's still not a great show, but it's getting better. My guess is that it will be back next year.

Last Friday the History Channel aired PLANET OF THE APES. Huh? It worked. I watched the whole thing - plus the special about Giganticus/Sasquatch that followed.

There a marathon of Eddie Izzard's THE RICHES on FX this weekend. Check it out.

I'm going to wait one more episode to comment on THE SOPRANOS.

Next week - Sanjaya WILL be in the bottom three. But he won't go home until we're down to the Top 5.

I've started pulling for Blake.

It's been a long haul over the past month - no new episodes of GILMORE GIRLS, SMALLVILLE or HEROES. If it weren't for the new subscription to HBO - and all the movies I don't have time to watch - my TiVo would be very bored.

What's going on on your set? What are you watching? What are you NOT watching?