On TV

The 2007-2008 television season is finally over. Yeah, it wasn’t nearly as good as previous years, due to the strike, but there was still plenty to talk about. Here are some of my low- and highlights:

Best new show: Chuck. I love spy shows, and Chuck was light, frothy, zany fun. It’s great to see a genuine nice and dorky guy on television as the hero. My favorite new show of the year.

Runner-up: Gossip Girl. A glamorous soap opera with catty, mean girls that manages to be witty, smart, and yes, even deep. Plus, Blair and Chuck are two of the best characters on television. You love them, even when they do horrible things. They are just that appealing.

Best drama: CSI. I know lots of you will disagree with me, but Lost was uneven. So was Grey’s Anatomy. Overall, I thought CSI had one of its best years ever, especially during the fall episodes. Saving Sara, her departure, Warrick’s downward spiral. Lots of good stuff and interesting cases. I especially liked the episode penned by the Two and a Half Men writers. Who knew murder could be so much fun?

Runner-up: Lost. There were flashes of brilliances (the episodes with Sayid, Desmond, and Sun and Jin) that reminded me why I loved the show so much in the beginning. But there were also episodes that went nowhere (Locke).

Best comedy: How I Met Your Mother. As Barney would say, it was legendary. Seriously, this is a gem of a show that’s even smarter and funnier than Friends was. I’m interested to see how the Barney-Robin hookup plays out next year.

Runner-up: My Name Is Earl. You gotta love any show that’s ballsy enough to have it’s main character in prison, in a coma, married, and divorced — in a single year.

Shows I’m over: CSI: Miami and Without a Trace. Except for Elizabeth Berkley on Miami, they were both snoozefests this year. Not sure if I’ll keep watching next year.

Show that was overhyped: Desperate Housewives. Dana Delaney was good, but not that good. For me, Gaby and Bree continue to be the highlights of the show. Susan and Lynette both had pretty stereotypical arcs this year, although I thought Lynette’s cancer was handled with grace and humor.

Shows I’m looking forward to this summer: The Closer and Burn Notice. Sugar addict Brenda Lee Johnson and sexy spy Michael Weston. Need I say more?

Shows I’m looking forward to this fall: The spy show with Christian Slater (whose name escapes me at the moment). The Mentalist with Simon Baker looks interesting, even if it’s another crime show on CBS. Fringe and Dollhouse also look cool, although I hope they’re more fantasy than sci-fi (and make more sense than Lost has been making lately).

So that’s my television wrap-up for the summer. Maybe now I’ll actually get some book work done. 😎

What about you? Which shows did you love or loathe this year?

So I watched the season finale of Lost last night. Warning: There be spoilers ahead.

Overall, I thought it was a good, but not great finale. Mainly because I could see where so much of the story was going. Two weeks ago, I predicted Sawyer was going to jump off that helicopter to save the others. And he did — proving in my opinion that he is a much better hero and match for Kate than Jack ever will be. And that scene of Sawyer coming up on the beach without his shirt? Yum. 😎

There was a lot of back and forth action tonight. To the helicopter, to the boat, back to the helicopter, to a life raft, to another boat. But we finally got some answers to the question of how the Oceanic 6 got off the island (they were on the helicopter when the freighter exploded). Although did anyone else think it was exceptionally convenient that none of the other background crash survivors on the freighter tried to get on the helicopter as it took off?

I think Michael died in the freighter explosion, given the fact he saw Jack’s dad who told him “he could go now.” But I don’t think Jin is really dead. He’s probably washed up back on the island (wherever the heck it went) by now. Besides, if they kill Jin off, they’re down to only a few main characters on the island — Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Bernard, Rose, and the three science-types (of which Dan the math guy is the only one I like). But it looks like the island folks saw the freighter explode and will probably assume Jack, Kate, etc. are dead — until Jin washes back up on shore.

I loved the scene with Penny and Desmond. I think that was a perfect way to close out their story arc — and I hope the writers don’t ruin it by having Ben kill Penny. I was also happy they didn’t kill Frank the pilot off. And that fight scene with Sayid and Keamy was excellent.

So was Sun through the whole show — especially when she offers to team up with Widmore (I’m thinking she blames Ben for Jin’s supposed death, not Jack). Seems Sun’s father knows Widmore well enough to play golf with him. What will happen if Ben sends Sayid to kill Sun for working with Widmore?

As for Ben and Locke, it seems to me that all Terry O’Quinn does now is beam with some sort of childlike wonder. And why doesn’t somebody just kill Ben already? It was clever though how he used his daughter’s murder to justify killing Keamy — and thus blow up the freighter. Ben didn’t want anyone to get off the island, despite what he told Kate.

We also know that yes, Losties, you can time travel on and off the island. That video Locke was watching also stopped at another convenient point. And moving the whole moving the island bit? Meh. For me, the characters make the show, not the weird and illogical sci-fi stuff the island supposedly can do. Also, the island being sentient sounds like a load of hooey to me. But I’m not a big sci-fi fan.

As for Jack, I’m tired of him, his daddy issues, his guilt, and that nasty beard. And Claire — she had a whopping thirty seconds of screen time last night. Is she dead? Alive? A ghost? I don’t really care much about the Shepherd clan anymore.

Still, the finale hooked me enough to keep watching next year. I’ve got so much time invested in the show know I almost have to watch it until the end. Seems I can’t get off the island either. 😎

What about you? Did you dig Lost this year?

BTW, I plan to recap some more of this year’s shows next week.

Warning: there be spoilers ahead, if you haven’t watched last night’s episode of Lost yet.

I don’t think I’m going to like what happens to Sawyer in the season finale of Lost. Based on the previews at the end of last night’s episode, it looks like Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Sayid, and Hurley are on Lapidus’ helicopter and that it’s about to go down in the ocean.

Since we know Sawyer isn’t one of the Oceanic Six, I’m betting that he gets all noble, kisses Kate goodbye, tells her he loves her, and takes a header off the helicopter to lighten the load so it won’t crash. We already know everyone else survives (except for Lapidus).

Oh, Sawyer. I really hope they don’t kill you off. Josh Holloway is one of the few reasons I’m still watching the show. Sigh. :cry: 

What about you guys? Got any Lost theories to share?

I’ve been doing something rather interesting the past week — filling out a daily television diary for the Nielsen folks. Yep, the Nielsen folks, whose ratings determine the life and death of television shows.

I did this once before a couple of years ago. Got a random call asking me if I’d be interested and promising me $10. I said yes, although I doubted I’d ever get the diary — or the $10. But a week later, both showed up in my mailbox. So, I filled out the diary, sent it in, and pocketed the mula.

A couple of weeks ago, I got another call asking if I’d be interested — and this time promising me $30. So, I said yes again. And once again, I got the diary and the money in the mail. Cha-ching! :green: 

I watch a lot of television, so this was actually fun for me to do. I filled out the diary and mailed it back in today. I only wish some of my favorite shows like Chuck and Burn Notice had been on so I could have given them a plug by watching them. Ah, well.

Who knows? Maybe Nielsen will call me again in a few more years. :cool: 

(BTW, I have no idea how I got selected for this. I’m assuming it’s a random sample Nielsen does across the country.)