No shocker here: cable is where it's at nowadays. And for me, Showtime is the new HBO. HBO may come back strong in '09 when Season 3 of "Big Love" starts in January, but '08 was fairly quiet on the HBO front.
My favorite shows of 2008:
"Dexter" Season 3 (Showtime)
This delicious show about a Miami police forensics expert who also happens to be a serial killer continued its strong performance in its third season. Michael C. Hall is still brilliant as the conflicted title character. While the premise of the show is certainly dark, and the show does have many dark moments, one of its saving graces is the twisted humor that permeates every episode. I usually hate voiceovers, but Hall's voiceovers are key to the show. They are less voiceover and more a window into Dexter's thoughts to himself as he goes about his day. I was initially skeptical about how good the show could be with the departure of Dexter's nemesis Det. Doakes (Erik King) (who turned swearing into an artform), but this season's addition of D.A. Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) provided Dexter with another complex relationship. (Warning: watch this on Showtime or DVD, do not watch the watered down network version. It is pointless.)
ABOVE: Has Dexter finally met his match in Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits)?
"Californication" Season 2 (Showtime)
Season 1 of this well written guilty pleasure was near perfect in its story arc (so much so that I wondered what they could even do with a second season), but David Duchovny's loveable, melancholy lothario writer-who-never-gets-around-to-writing-his-second-great-novel Hank Moody was able to get himself into enough trouble in the second season to keep it interesting. A fellow fan and friend of mine disagrees, but I really enjoyed the addition of record producer Lew Ashby (Callum Keith Rennie) as Hank's new buddy and partner in crime. Supporting actor Evan Handler as Hank's hilariously down on his luck agent Charlie Runkle continues to steal every scene he's in. (The scene where Charlie unwittingly follows his potential client Daisy to a "film shoot" to talk business and ends up walking into a gonzo porn set is one of the funniest scenes of the year).
Alright, I can also give props to the networks...
"Chuck" Season 2 (NBC)
A silly premise is the foundation of this warm, funny show. (Loveable underachiever Chuck Bartowsky inadvertently becomes a crucial government asset due to a computer chip that is implanted in his brain. He is assigned CIA and NSA protection, and gets involved in various espionage plots). The strength lies in the writing and the great characters. While the main three characters of Chuck Bartowsky and Agents Walker and Casey (deadpan comedy must run in the Baldwin family, because Adam Baldwin is hilarious as the desperately humorless NSA agent assigned to protect Chuck), the colorful supporting cast working at the Buy More is classic, including former Missile Command champion Jeff Barnes, Call of Duty expert and Chuck's best friend Morgan Grimes, Lester, Big Mike, Harry Tiberius Tang and Anna Wu. I look forward to the subplots at the Buy More as much as I do the main espionage plots involving Chuck, Walker and Casey. One of the few shows in recent memory that makes me consistently laugh out loud.
“Friday Night Lights” Season 2 (NBC)
Technically this season started at the end of 2007, but it continued into 2008. Season 3 will be shown on NBC starting January of 2009. Network TV’s best drama got off to a shaky start in its second season after the pitch perfect first season, but it soon found it footing again and by the end of the season it was richer and as engrossing as ever. Can’t wait for Season 3.
Kudos to actor C.S. Lee, who does great work in two of Dez's favorite shows of 2008. He is Harry Tang in "Chuck" and Masuka in "Dexter."
Worst of 2008: "Heroes" Season 3 (NBC). This once engaging sci-fi drama continued its ugly fall with its convoluted Season 3. The only bright spot was Robert Forrester. Too bad he was wasted on this crap.
How about you? Favorite and least favorite shows in 2008?
11 comments:
Adam Baldwin is not related to the Baldwin brothers.
Really? I assumed any male actor with the last name of "Baldwin" had to be one of them. Thanks for the correction!
I also loved Callum Keith Rennie as Lew Ashby, and I'm glad you're giving Californication some much-deserved love, since it is often dismissed as some pseudo-porn show with no story. I love it!
I agree with you that Showtime is the most interesting network at this time, but I do have to give one accolade to HBO for True Blood, which was incredibly witty, unlike the morose teeny Twilight.
Also, while no list can be comprehensive, you missed the best show on television: Sci-Fi's Battlestar Galactica. It is flawless, pure perfection, and it is the best on the tube right now. Highly recommend it.
-Dee
What about Lou Dobbs Tonight? By far the most intelligent, insightful journalist on television.
I don't have Showtime.
I can't wait for the third season of Friday Night Lights. Best show on TV (now that The Wire's done), even when it's flawed.
Can't say that I have any desire to watch "Chuck." The lead guy annoys me on the ads. He seems like a poor man's Ryan Reynolds, and that's saying something.
The more I think about it, I don't watch much TV. "Heroes" looks awful to me, I don't understand the appeal of "Lost," etc. And I like catching up with the series I should be watching afterwards, on DVD, in great gulps.
The sole exception is 30 Rock. I watch that every week. Hilarious.
Dammit. How could I forget Season 5 of "The Wire"? Any season of "The Wire" automatically makes any best of list. That is one of the best shows in the HISTORY OF TELEVISION. It can only be criticized in comparison to other "Wire" seasons, because even lesser "Wire" beats the best of almost anything else. Seasons 1 and 4 were the best "Wire" seasons.
Artemis/Dee. I did not overlook "Battlestar Gallactica". I watch it religiously. It would be one of the best shows if we were talking about the first season. Unfortunately since then, BSG has kind of lost its way. I still watch it, though.
Lou Dobbs is a jackass.
You are right that average Wire is better (much) than most anything else. And you're right that seasons 1 and 4 are the best. (The last few episodes of season 3 are epic, too.) Season 5 was a disappointment, though. There. I said it.
Fia, it really depends on how far back you go. If you look back enough generations, we are all related to the Baldwin brothers.
Since the subject of the Baldwins has come up, I have to ask. Dez, have you seen the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"? If not, you need to go rent it. One of the main characters, "Sarah Marshall", is an actress on a CSI-type TV show...and, a few times in the movie, they will show clips of her show. Her partner is played by Billy Baldwin, whose sole job in this film is to make fun of David Caruso. I have no idea how you would feel about the rest of this movie, but I know for a fact that those small parts would have you (and Nicki) laughing.
Lou Dobbs is a genius!
You take that back RIGHT NOW!
Every Lou Dobbs show and in fact the entirety of the man's existence can be summed up as follows:
1. I am smarter than anyone currently alive on Earth.
2. Fuck immigrants.
3. I understand the working man. I am one of him! I of the people. Except that I am way way way way way smarter than than are. I mean: WAY.
Lou is one of us man! His rational, coherent diatribes on NAFTA and the need for more isolationism, tariffs, the economy and those damn immigrants makes him a hero!
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