I just stumbled across this the other day and thought that it’d be perfect for my friend Peter who’s only seen a couple of episodes from the 1st season of Lost. This gives him all the basic info needed so he can jump right in for the final season. I don’t suggest he does this though.
Peter, if you’re reading this, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER AND WATCH LOST FROM THE BEGINNING.
Title: “Epitaph Two: Return”
Written by: Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon, Jed Whedon & Andrew Chambliss
Air Date: 29th January 2009
Here it is, the final episode of Dollhouse ever. It’s not as monumental an event as it will be when Lost airs it’s final episode sometime in April, but for fans of Eliza Dushku’s and Joss Whedon’s action sci-fi drama it’s something of note. I’m not what you’d call a true diehard fan of Whedon or Dushku. I don’t think Firefly is as good as it’s become in the eyes of many, and I’m still not convinced of Dushku’s acting chops, but I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt simply because of my undying love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy is the only reason I sat through the first half of Dollhouse’s first season, having faith that Whedon had a plan and would soon begin executing it. That plan began to form around episode six “Man on the Street” and from that point on Dollhouse improved exponentially.
This season has been great from start to finish with each episode seemingly building on the mythology developed during the tail end of the first season and the futuristic unaired first season episode “Epitaph One”. It’s only fitting that after the previous two episodes where the gang took on Rossum in an attempt to destroy the technology that we get another Epitaph episode which picks up soon after the original story. The three survivors from “Epitaph One” are making their way to Safehaven under the guidance of Caroline in the little girls body. They’re soon apprehended and taken as bodies for Rossum execs Harding (Adelle’s one-time successor originally played by Keith Carradine) and Ambrose (previously seen in “Echoes”, “Meet Jane Doe” and “Getting Closer”). Echo and Ballard have already infiltrated the complex in order to rescue Topher who’s being used to develop advanced tech for Rossum. In his disturbed state Topher says that he can return the world to how it was and restore all the people affected by wipes to their original selves. All he needs is access to the Dollhouse back in LA. The whole gang go back to LA and find Alpha protecting dolls in the Dollhouse. Topher’s tech is to be shot into the stratosphere and this will allow it to dissipate across the globe. However, because Echo, Priya and Victor don’t want to go back to their original selves they must stay underground in the Dollhouse for the next year whilst the radiation (?) from the bomb fades.
Whew, as you can see a lot of stuff is crammed into this final episode in order to give a proper sense of closure to the Dollhouse story. It does feel a little rushed at times, but because “Epitaph Two” is set ten years in the future it allows the writers to present circumstances that fit storywise without the need for exposition detailing how the circumstances have changed so dramatically for the characters. For example, Priya’s and Victor’s breakup is presented as stemming from a choice Victor had to make between her and the tech without any flashback to illustrate this, and Alpha is now a somewhat balanced person I assume because of him taking on Ballard’s personality in a previous episode, but this is not alluded to in any fashion.
Just like “Epitaph One” it takes a little while to adjust to the future setting with ten years of history gone by, new characters, old characters in new bodies, and new goals, but once this is done it becomes as engaging as ever. And although this episode ends on a slightly more uplifting and hopeful note, it’s just as bleak as “Epitaph One”. But you know what, I really like the tone of the show in these last few episodes and especially both of the Epitaph ones. Not everything has to be peaches and cream. The characters are going against the odds, they are dealing with dangerous technology, and that technology does raise both moral and philosophical questions about what it means to be human. If this type of story was told any other way I’d be sorely disappointed. Thankfully Whedon and company understood this and we all got a great finale for a show which grew stronger and stronger as it went along. In fact, as finales to Joss Whedon shows go I may rank this higher than both Buffy and Angel. I’m not saying that Dollhouse is a better show than either Buffy or Angel, but I do think that it had the most fitting sendoff of the three. Dollhouse didn’t start out very well with the constant imprint-of-the-week episodes, but once it got rolling and the scope of the story was revealed it was an absolute pleasure to watch. I’m hopeful that Joss Whedon will return with something new soon and that he’ll be given longer than 26 episodes to tell the story he wants.
FINAL RATING: 8/10
A weekly post with the purpose of highlighting the shows I watched during the week and how I ranked them. It’s not intended as a list of all shows on the air, only those that I actually watched during the week. Watching something on Monday that aired on Friday won’t make the cut.
Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.
Just under two weeks until Lost premieres. Oh my God I can’t wait. I tried to get as much TV watching in as I could this week but I haven’t felt too crash hot. Plus I watched a lot of late night talk shows and finally saw Sherlock Holmes and The Fantastic Mr Fox so all that ate into the time I could spend on prime time TV. I’m also trying to catch up on The Mentalist, The Office and I’ve started to watch Chuck so I’m going right back to the beginning on that one.
1. Archer “Diversity Hire” (1×03) – The show’s only three episodes old and it’s already getting hard to come up with ways to say it’s damn funny and the best show on TV. So aside from that I’d also like to mention the fabulous voice work by all of the actors. Every single one of them does a superb job. Roll on the next episode. 8/10
2. 30 Rock “Winter Madness” (4×11) – The gang head to Boston as a reason for Jack to meet up with Nancy. I loved when Tracy said nothing bad could happen and behind him Pete says “smash cut to”. It’s writing like this which makes the show so damn good. 7.5/10
3. Better Off Ted “Lust in Translation” (2×10) – I really enjoyed this episode. All three stories were fun. Especially Ted and Greta using the translator with Phil’s voice while having sex. The episode also had more great stuff with Linda and Veronica. Whenever those two are together it makes for some awesome scenes. 7/10
4. Fringe “What Lies Below” (2×13) – A good standalone episode. That’s been a hard thing to come by this season. I especially liked the idea of a virus decimating the Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago and then being defeated by a volcanic eruption. It seems very X-Files to me but not in a derivative way. I wasn’t too fond of Peter going crazy from the virus but I guess there had to be personal stake for everyone involved. And there was once again more hints as to Peter’s death and Walter getting an alternative. The next episode is titled “The Bishop Revival” so I’m really hoping that the show finally deals with what Walter did after the original Peter died. 7/10
5. Community “Interpretive Dance” (1×14) – This episode was actually an improvement over the last few but it still wasn’t anything too great. Danny Pudi continues to be the best thing about the show but he doesn’t seem to be getting much to do. I’m not to fond of the idea that Britta is gonna be jealous of Jeff and the accounting teacher. I don’t want another will they or won’t they show. 6.5/10
6. How I Met Your Mother “Jenkins” (5×13) – Yeesh. Talk about fucking average. HIMYM is fast becoming a hit or miss show. One week it’s brilliant and the next it’s barely acceptable. It was nice to see Amanda Peet on the show but she was completely wasted with such a shitty story. The same happened with Rachel Bilson last week. They better not fuck up Carrie Underwood’s appearance. 5/10
7. The Mentalist “Bleeding Heart” (2×12) – Eh. Eco-terrorism and local council politics don’t make for a good episode. Average as always but Jane wasn’t really that compelling this week. And as much of a fan as I am of Robin Tunney in Empire Records and Encino Man I’m fast approaching a can’t stand her attitude to her on The Mentalist. Her performance/character just rubs me the wrong way. Amanda Righetti too. I really wish there were more Red John stories on the show ‘cos a couple per season isn’t anywhere near enough. 4.5/10
A weekly post with the purpose of highlighting the shows I watched during the week and how I ranked them. It’s not intended as a list of all shows on the air, only those that I actually watched during the week. Watching something on Monday that aired on Friday won’t make the cut.
Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.
TV finally came back in a substantial way this week so that means I can do my Best of the Week post again. It was an especially great week because we got double episodes of Fringe, 30 Rock, Better Off Ted, Chuck, and Archer, and there was comedy gold on just about all the late night talk shows concerning the Leno vs Conan vs NBC drama that’s been unfolding.
1. Archer “Training Day” (1×01) – Ever since I saw the pilot back in September (which I guess is no longer the pilot considering the order that FX chose to show the first two episodes) I’ve been dying to see some more. I’m thrilled beyond belief that I wasn’t let down. I loved the Archer and Cyril story about training him and thinking Cyril killed a hooker. I always know a show or movie is good when the time flies while watching it, I don’t even once look at my watch, and it leaves me wanting more as soon as it ends. All the best shows do that. 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, South Park. Archer is already up to that level. Two episodes down and it’s already the clear frontrunner to be my favourite new show this year (and second only to Lost as my favourite of everything on TV). 9/10
2. Archer “Mole Hunt” (1×02) – It’s still hilarious after all the times I’ve watched it. If anyone’s interested I did a little review of this episode back in September. Check it out here. 9/10
3. Parks and Recreation “The Set Up” (2×13) – Aziz Ansari said that this may be his favourite episode of Parks and Recreation yet and I think I have to agree. Not only did we get a guest appearance by Amy Poehler’s husband Will Arnett as the uncomfortable date that Ann sets Leslie up with, but we also got the first episode in Justin Theroux’s arc and the supremely great Aubrey Plaza once again shined with some increased screen time. Nick Offerman also continues to be balls out hilarious. 9/10
4. 30 Rock “Klaus and Greta” (4×09) – James Franco as himself and in love with human sized pillow with an anime girl on it. Priceless. Kenneth and Jack on a mission was also fantastic. 9/10
5. 30 Rock “Black Light Attack!” (4×10) – It was nice to see Danny again, and for Liz to get some action (in back to back episodes no less), but overall it just wasn’t as good as the previous episode. The Jenna and Tracy stories really brought it down a notch or two. 8.5/10
6. The Tonight Show – Late night talk shows don’t really belong in this list but the circumstances have been rather unique this week. Conan moving to The Tonight Show resulted in him curtailing some of his more outlandish behaviour and that was a real shame. However, with all the drama surrounding his probable ousting from the show this week it’s freed him up to do the type of comedy that he’s great at. Not to mention the almost continuous attacks on both NBC and Leno have been a thing of beauty. It’ll be a shame when Conan goes off the air and Leno returns to suck NBC’s cock and fondle their balls like the bitch he is. 8.5/10
7. Better Off Ted “The Impertence of Communicationizing” (2×08) – The outtakes for this episode which were posted online during the week were far better than what was actually used, but it was a nice episode about following company mandates despite how illogical they may seem. Better Off Ted does a good job of highlighting the bureaucracy of company life and this was another solid example of that. 7/10
8. The Mentalist “Rose-Colored Glasses” (2×11) – I watched about half of the 1st season of The Mentalist and then gave up on it for no real reason. I figured I’d give it another watch seen as how it’s doing really well in the ratings on Thursday against some good competition. I can tell you it hasn’t changed at all since about the same point last season. Simon Baker is still effortlessly charming as Thomas Jane and the rest of the gang are still D grade wanna be FBI Agents. The show lives and dies by Baker’s performance and as long as Thomas Jane doesn’t become a one trick pony the show is at least mildly entertaining. Other than that it’s just the current procedural du jour. 6.5/10
8. Better Off Ted “The Long and Winding High Road” (2×09) - Another good episode of Veronica using Rose as a tool to get what she wants. I love it when they do that in the show. Aside from that though it was a pretty average episode. 6.5/10
9. Fringe “Johari Window” (2×12) – A pretty decent standalone episode which has been a rare thing so far this season. I wish they’d get back to the mythology of the show though. That’s where the real gold is. And you gotta believe that Peter is gonna find out about being a double at some point this season. There’s been too much of it so far for it not to be revealed. 6/10
10. How I Met Your Mother “Girls vs Suits” (5×12) – A real letdown for the 100th episode. There was nothing for Jason Segel or Alyson Hannigan to do and Cobie Smulders was left to be a jealous hot chick. Plus there was more of that damn annoying mother teasing. Either the mother is important to the premise of the show or she isn’t, but 100 episodes in should be far enough for her to be revealed by now. If she’s important she should be in the mix by now, and if she’s not then introducing her doesn’t need to be some huge revelation. I wish the writers/producers would just bite the bullet and cast someone already. 5.5/10
11. Jimmy Kimmel Live! – Once again, another late night talk show appears on the list. This time thanks to Kimmel impersonating Leno for an entire show. Props to Chevy Chase for also making a minimal effort to appear as Conan. 6/10
12. Fringe “Unearthed” (2×11) – Fox airing a previously unaired season one episode was just stupid. Charlie Francis died early this season yet there he is in all his glory being a bad ass FBI Agent. It made zero sense in the context of the season and I’m sure I’m not the only one who was confused when I first saw him on the screen. Couple that with the fact that it was a very average episode and I get the feeling that Fox is burning off episodes so that the show can be dumped at the end of the season. 4.5/10
The title says it all. If you’re not in support of Conan O’Brien then I hate you. It’s as simple as that.
By the way, Jimmy Kimmel fucking annihilated Leno as a guest on Leno’s shitty 10@10 segment.
In a perfect world Leno would retire (or die) and Conan would be left free to do The Tonight Show like he was promised back in 2004. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world.
Both the New York Post and Nikki Finke are reporting that NBC has signed Leno to a new contract (because they are in breach after moving him out of the 10pm timeslot) that would put him back in control of The Tonight Show at 11:35pm and result in Conan walking away with a hefty sum of money.
The only thing I can figure from all this is that Leno obviously had a higher penalty figure if he’s removed from 10pm than Conan has if he’s dropped from hosting The Tonight Show, and that Leno must have said that he’d go to another network if he wasn’t given the hosting gig on The Tonight Show. The difference in penalty money, the chance to improve the ratings of The Tonight Show, and keeping Leno from another network can be the only factors which brought about this decision. NBC could of kept Conan hosting The Tonight Show at 11:35pm and put Leno on at 12:35am for a half hour but that doesn’t seem to be the course they’ve chosen. All Conan wants to do is host The Tonight Show at 11:35pm. That’s it. I honestly think that all he wants is to keep The Tonight Show exactly where it’s been since 1954 and not mess with Fallon on Late Night too much. Why’s that so hard for NBC to understand. If you wanna keep Leno and he’s such a team player, put him on at 1:30am. They haven’t done any of this and it all points to Leno once again screwing over a more deserving person that himself because of his own selfish attitude. Fuck I fucking hate him and his lame, boring, vanilla, neutered, unfunny brand of “comedy”.
What a lovely dramatic weekend NBC had with the whole Leno vs. Conan bullshit. Time for me to vent.
NBC promised The Tonight Show to Conan back in 2004 because they were afraid to lose him to Fox. The problem was that Leno wasn’t ready to step down from The Tonight Show then, or in the middle of 2009, and this caused a similar problem for NBC in not wanting Leno to go to another network and kill them in the ratings. Their screwed up solution was to give Conan The Tonight Show but to create The Jay Leno Show and put it on at 10pm. Effectively undermining the position of The Tonight Show as the preeminent late night talk show and screwing over Conan. This led to a whole bunch of complaining by NBC’s affiliates because Leno’s ratings suck and that’s having a torpedo effect on their own news shows. All this led to the reshuffle that was announced on Sunday with the plan being to put Leno on at 11:30pm for a half hour, Conan at 12:05am and Fallon at 1:05am.
Congratulations Jay, you’ve got what you wanted since 2004, to keep The Tonight Show. That’s what this basically amounts to. The actual name of the product doesn’t matter. It’s the timeslot and the host, and Leno at 11:30pm doing the same old tired and boring comedy is The Tonight Show. Creating a show for Leno and putting him on ahead of Conan was a slap in the face, but bumping Conan to accommodate Leno is even worse. If Conan can get out of his contract and head over to Fox he should do it in a heartbeat. Not only would they throw money at him to entice him to leave NBC but he’d probably be able to shift back to the zanier presentation he had on Late Night. Everyone is well aware that he’s toned down his personality to fit with the 11:30pm timeslot and the supposed hallowed history of The Tonight Show (which is a bullshit approach to take in 2009), but a move over to Fox would allow Conan to go back to his real self.
All this conjecture is pointless though because it seems pretty obvious that Conan isn’t gonna leave NBC. He seems like too loyal a guy to bail on the network which gave him his start in late night. So he’ll probably sit there whilst NBC reshuffles again, and accommodates Leno again, and doubts him again, all because he’s a good guy and because he reveres The Tonight Show so much.
Here’s the trailer for the insanely awesome looking Red Riding.
Red Riding is a trilogy of feature length films adapted from four book written by David Peace (each one dealing with a specific year) concerning the events surrounding the Yorkshire Ripper murders in England during the 1970s. The three films originally aired on Channel 4 in England back in March and are set to open theatrically in the US in February. I assume each one will be shown separately instead of having all three back to back as this would be a very long viewing experience.
The whole trilogy can already be purchased on DVD from Amazon UK right here.
Here’s the super cool Last Supper inspired promo for the upcoming final season of Lost.
There was a photo of this from some magazine that emerged at the end December but ABC has now been gracious enough to release it for the whole world to see in hi-res. There’s probably a mountain of hints tucked away in there somewhere, but I’m too dumb to have a clue. I like it for the cool factor alone.
Only a shade over 4 weeks until the season premiere. I can’t wait.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
There have been some great TV shows aired over the last 10 years and just like my film list I thought I’d try and highlight my favourite 15 shows of the decade.
The only prerequisite to consideration is that the show must have aired an episode in its first season some time in the year 2000. That essentially means that any show which premiered from the 99-00 season onwards is eligible. It also means that The Sopranos is ineligible because the first season aired entirely in 1999.
Also worth noting is that I’m only now just starting to work my way through the first season of The Wire, and I’ve never seen an episode of The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Battlestar Galactica, Big Love, Breaking Bad or Mad Men so none of them appear on the list.
Honourable Mention. The O.C. (Aug ‘03-Feb ‘07)
I know The O.C. isn’t the best show show ever but it was probably my #1 guilty pleasure show for the decade. A late 20s/early 30s guy shouldn’t really be watching something geared towards teenage girls, but the combination of hot girls, soapy drama and endless love triangles was irresistible. I was hooked on this show from the minute I saw the pilot right to the very end. The show had its ups and downs (1st season good, 2nd season average, 3rd season very poor, 4th season good), but it was pretty much always a fun show to indulge in. And even if you hate this show any guy has to appreciate it just a little because it’s responsible for giving us the blazing hot Rachel Bilson and Autumn Reeser.
15. Firefly (Sept-Dec ‘02)
To be honest, I haven’t watched Firefly since it first aired, but I know that I really enjoyed it and that my love of Joss Whedon is unlimited. Hell, I suffered through the first half of a very mediocre Dollhouse because of my faith in him. It’s a shame he never learnt his lesson about partnering with Fox. Maybe Dollhouse would of lasted longer if he’d wised up after Firefly was cancelled.
14. Andy Barker P.I. (Mar-Apr ‘07)
A second cancelled show, this time from the great comedic duo of Andy Richter and Conan O’Brien. Richter plays the title character, an accountant who’s just opened his business in a strip mall and is mistaken for a private investigator, and Tony Hale from Arrested Development play a video store clerk who works in the same mall and helps him. It doesn’t sound like much but with these two and some great cases, it was a very short-lived (only six episodes aired) but thoroughly entertaining show.
13. John from Cincinnati (Jun-Aug ‘07)
David Milch effectively shut down Deadwood to make this show and for that I hate him just a little bit. The show deals with the appearance of a strange young man of mysterious origin (who may or may not be a Jesus like figure) and the effect he has on a dysfunctional family of professional surfers and their community. Even though for the most part I have no idea what was going on in the show, something about it just mesmerized me and I was hooked from the beginning. I don’t have to know everything that’s intended to be conveyed in a show to like it. I like ambiguity. Maybe that’s why I’m also a fan of Lost and Twin Peaks.
12. Weeds (Aug ‘05-Current)
I’ve only seen the first three seasons of the show but Mary Louise Parker’s supremely sexy Nancy Botwin and her pot smoking friends sure do make for great TV. It was fun to watch her try and grow her empire whilst dealing with rival dealers, ATF agents, a bitch of a best friend, a caring but immature brother in law, and whining self-centered kids.
11. Eastbound & Down (Feb ‘09-Current)
Danny McBride on an HBO show exec produced by Will Ferrell is just about the best thing you could ask for in a comedy and Eastbound & Down doesn’t disappoint. McBride plays Kenny “Fucking” Powers, a washed up pro baseball pitcher who returns to his hometown to take a job as a gym teacher, whilst all the time trying to get back to the majors and win the affection of his old high school flame. A milder comedy of awkwardness as made popular by The Office, it succeeds mostly because of the delusional bravado of McBride’s Kenny Powers.
10. Pushing Daisies (Oct ‘07-Jun ‘09)
Yet another show cancelled too soon. The show centered on the pie-maker Ned (Lee Pace) who could bring dead things back to life with a touch, but if he touched them a second time they went back to being dead for good. Ned helps P.I. Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) solve crimes in quick fashion by bringing the victim back to life, asking them what happened, and then touching them again. Along for the ride is his childhood sweetheart Charlotte Charles (Anna Friel) who he brought back to life but refused to touch again. Their romance is made all the sweeter because they can never touch each other. The show has a fantasy visual unlike anything else on TV with hyper-real colours saturating every episode.
9. How I Met Your Mother (Sept ‘05-Current)
It’s currently the best “standard” sitcom on TV (meaning of the 3 camera + laugh track sitcoms it’s #1) thanks to the appeal of all five cast members and some truly fantastic storylines. The standout is clearly Neil Patrick Harris as the womanizing Barney, but everyone is given a pretty equal opportunity to shine. The only real negative to the show is that the gimmick of Ted describing to his kids how he met their mother somewhat hinders the enjoyment of the show because “the mother” is almost constantly hinted at or teased but hasn’t ever appeared. Couple this with the fact that we know every time Ted gets into a relationship and it’s not revealed that the girl is “the mother” then we know that the relationship is not going to last.
8. Undeclared (Sept ‘01-Mar ‘02)
The second of Judd Apatow’s “failed” attempts at TV, this time focusing on a group of five freshmen at college, is just as good as Freaks and Geeks and serves as a great introduction to Jay Baruchel and Carla Gallo, plus also featuring the likes of Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Kyle Gass, and David Krumholtz. Add to these some great guests/cameos from Adam Sandler, Allen Covert, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, Fred Willard, Ben Stiller, Martin Starr, Jenna Fischer and Ted Nugent. That’s one hell of a list. Just like Freaks and Geeks it’s disappointing to be left with barely one seasons worth of episodes (17 in this case), but the episodes are so good it almost makes up for the tiny sample size. Almost. I’d love Judd Apatow to return to TV but I think he’s moved well beyond it now and so have just about all the the actors and actresses he cast in both Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks.
7. The Office (US) (Mar ‘05-Current)
I’ve never seen the original UK version so I can’t comment on which is better, but it started off pretty slow in the 1st season with people saying it stuck too closely to the UK blueprint. There was definitely a shift during the second season to much better stories and dynamics within the office. The Pam and Jim romance has always been great with standout episodes being “The Dundies”, “Casino Night”, “The Job, Part 2″ and “Fun Run”. Michael Scott can at times be a total and complete prick, like in early season 6 when he screws with Jim, but this is often tempered by other things. I like the awkward humour but when the writers have Michael go out of his way to seem vindictive I can get turned off the show pretty quickly.
6. Freaks and Geeks (Sept ‘99-Jul ‘00)
Great because of the examination of the social divide in high school, the early 80’s setting and the fantastic young cast featuring James Franco, Linda Cardellini, Busy Philips, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, John Francis Daley, Martin Starr and Samm Levine. Plus it featured Tom Wilson (Biff from the Back to the Future trilogy) in a recurring role as the gym teacher.
5. 30 Rock (Oct ‘06-Current)
To think that before this show aired I was only mildly interested in Tina Fey and thought that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip would butcher 30 Rock. What the hell did I know huh. The show catapulted Fey into stardom and made her an object of nerd lust everywhere, and despite somewhat average ratings the show has garnered a shit-ton of awards every season it’s been on the air. All the success of the show is well and truly deserved.
4. Deadwood (Mar ‘04-Aug ‘06)
A show more about how times change, people progress and communities build than a traditional white hat vs. black hat western. It features extremely rich dialogue which is sometimes poetic, often profane and nearly always confusing, and has a look and feel that you’d expect more from a Hollywood production than a TV show. Absolutely everyone in the cast is fantastic but the standout it clearly Ian McShane as Al Swearengen. I’m kinda bummed that creator David Milch hasn’t followed up on his promise of a couple of TV movies to finish the story now that John from Cincinnati is over but three seasons of a show as great as Deadwood shouldn’t be sneezed at.
3. Veronica Mars (Sept ‘04-May ‘07)
Season 1 was damn near perfect as a season long murder mystery about the death of Veronica Mars’ (Kristen Bell) best friend Lily, her sheriff father’s pursuit of one of the most powerful men in the country, his firing from the sheriff’s department and her subsequent ostracism in high school. As a girl who’s able to straddle both sides of the social divide she helps her classmates solve problems whilst all the time trying to find the real killer of her friend. Season 2 upped the ante by having two consecutively running season long mysteries, both of which were very dark, with the season culminating with one of the best season finales ever which rewarded viewers of the first season in a way that pretty much no-one expected. Season 3 was still great but Fox decided that they didn’t want season long mysteries as this may deter new viewers from jumping in and decided that a couple of mysteries broken up in the season would be better. It wasn’t. Add to that the introduction of some pretty shitty characters and the change from the high school setting to the college setting and the third season was a letdown. There were still flashes of greatness and Kristen Bell continued to shine as the cute but clever Veronica Mars, but it simply wasn’t up to the same quality as the first two seasons. There have been continued rumours of a movie which would extend the story but I think too much time has passed since the show went off the air for that to happen now.
2. Arrested Development (Nov ‘03-Feb ‘06)
The absolute best comedy of the decade and along with Seinfeld it could arguably be the best comedy ever. The cast is top to bottom excellent and the guest stars and cameos that the show brought in over three short seasons is equally impressive. There’s layer upon layer upon layer of jokes that demands repeat viewing and doesn’t aim for the laugh track crowd like lowest common denominator shows such as The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Frasier or any other high rating but shit sitcom. Add to this the fact that the show rewards fans by including constant in-jokes and references and it becomes clear why it’s regarded so highly by anyone who takes the time to watch it. A damn dirty shame that it was cancelled by those fucking asshole executives at Fox. One small consolation is that because of the diehard love for the show a movie is set to start filming during the first half of 2010. Hopefully this means a release sometime in late 2010 will be possible.
1. Lost (Sept ‘04-Current)
Felicity was good, Alias was better, but Lost made J.J. Abrams into a fucking God. And with good reason. The dense mythology and piecemeal way in which the details are sometimes fed may turn off viewers but there’s simply no denying how compelling the show has been on an episode to episode and season to season basis. Starting off with an already huge cast, the show has added more and more as the seasons have progressed with all but two of them (Nikki and Paulo) being near perfect. The addition of Ben Linus would have been enough by itself but there’s also been Richard Alpert, Horace Goodspeed, Mikhael, Radzinsky, Desmond, Penny, Mr Eko, Miles, Charlotte, Daniel, Frank Lapidus and probably a ton more I’m forgetting. Aside from just a few stumbles (like the overly long time spent with Kate and Sawyer locked in cages at the beginning of season 3) the show has been an example of near perfect television. Add to that the fact that it was able to reinvent its entire story structure thanks to the brilliance of the season 3 finale and you’re looking at not just the #1 show of the decade but arguably the #1 show of all time. It still makes me laugh when I think that people were saying Heroes was a better show.
