I Love and Hate My TV v.2008, Part II

As promised, here is a list of the things that made me love my TV in 2008. This is the part that's so much more fun.

1.  Michael Johns heats up the stage on American Idol's Dolly Parton night. I wonder what ever became of him?

2.  Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. A pop culture phenomenon who was worthy of that mantle. While she was consistently funny in her subsequent appearances as Palin on SNL, nothing quite lived up to that first cold opening:



"I can see Russia from my house" was the shot heard round the world in the 2008 election.

3.  Speaking of the election, number 3 on this list would have to be election night, and in particular watching Barack Obama's acceptance speech. What an amazing moment in our national history, with television allowing us all to participate in the shared experience. Here's the full speech from Grant Park in Chicago, November 4, 2008:



4. The Writers' Strike, without which we would never have been blessed with Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog, Joss Whedon's brilliant internet-only musical/comic book mash-up. 



5. Pushing Daisies. I love Ned, Chuck, Olive, Emerson, the Aunts, the pies, the clowns, the bees, the corpses, the colors, the music...I love it all and I will miss it very much.



6.  HBO's vampire series True Blood, and most especially the sexy Civil War-era vampire Bill Compton. In this clip from Episode 2, Bill and Sookie get to know each other:



Sigh. The way he says her name, he makes me wish I was called Sookie.

7.  The next two items on the list are both from Battlestar Galactica, of course! In this clip from Season 4's "The Hub", Laura Roslin and Bill Adama, my two favorite characters on the show, FINALLY get together:



It's about time, indeed.

8. The other BSG moment on this list, and one that surpasses all other 2008 notable TV moments for me (except for #9), is the very last scene of "Revelations", the finale of the first half of season 4. It is technically brilliant and it packs an emotional wallop that has been 5 years in the making. Unfortunately, there are no intact clips of that scene online, so I'll post this "edited" version, which is essentially the same:



9.  And finally, "The Constant" was possibly the finest hour on TV last year. It is the jewel in the crown of LOST's comeback 4th season, and it delivered the best payoff of 2008. In a series known for its memorable moments, this is the one most universally praised:



And it's so romantic!

Whew, I think that just about covers it! How about you? What were your TV favorites?

I Love and Hate My TV v. 2008

My word, the holidays do seem to overwhelm everything more and more each year. Sorry I've been gone so long!

It's time for my second annual "I Love and Hate My TV" posts, wherein I list all of the things that are on or related to the television that either pissed me off or made me very happy.  

This year, I am happy to report that the "Hate" list is far shorter than than the "Love" one.

Things that made me hate my TV:

1.  The death of Warrick on CSI.   Was Gary Dourdan the best actor on the show?  Absolutely not.  Was he smokin' hot and lovely to look at and incredibly cool? AbsoLUTEly.  I guess if I'm going to hate anyone for this, it's Gary Dourdan.  Dude, get your act together and come back to my TV.

2.  CNN's lame election night "hologram".

First off, it's not a hologram.  Second, she's not reporting from the field but from inside a tent, surrounded by cameras.  And she doesn't appear to Wolf - he's talking to thin air.  My only question:  WHY?

3.  This makes me angry and very, very sad:  The cancellation of Pushing Daisies.  I've gone on and on here about what an amazingly creative, heartwarming and hilarious show it is, and how much everyone who doesn't watch it is missing out on something fantastic, so I won't do that now (oops, just did!);  I will, however, ask that if you haven't watched it, please do yourself a favor and watch it when it comes out on DVD.  You won't be disappointed.

4. The Writers' Strike. My hatred of the strike was not based on its merits but on the effect it had on my favorite shows: abbreviated seasons or in some cases - 24 - no season at all. The strike is also partially responsible for #3 on this list. ABC decided not to bring PD back once the strike was over, and it was gone for so long that it completely fell off of people's TV radar.

5. If there was one word to sum up the dismal third season of Heroes, it would have to be STUPID. Almost every plot advancement was the result of a character acting stupidly, and the most glaringly stupid example? In the very first episode, Hiro removed the formula from the safe, right after being told not to by his father, for no other reason than he is bored, setting into motion the entire story arc for the season. Characters like Sylar and Nathan and Elle switched allegiances not only from episode to episode, but multiple times within a single episode, with no obvious motivation. And if there was a reason for the shift, it was - yep, you got it - it was stupid. And I have never watched a television show with more superfluous characters. You could kill off Matt, Mohinder, Meredith, Maya, and the girl who runs really fast and whose name escapes me right now without impacting the storyline AT ALL.

I could go on and on about all of the ways that Heroes disappointed me this season, but I would just be repeating myself. I'm still not sure if I'm going to give it another shot when the new chapter starts up, but if I hear that the story arc will involve a future New York City in peril, I'm done with it for good.

So, those are the ways in which my TV pissed me off or disappointed me in 2008. Was there anything that made you hate your TV?

Later, Part II, the "Love" list!