Monday, December 31, 2007

My favorite TV of the year

Trying to decide which hours of TV to love is like picking your favorite child. Still, decisions have to be made. Here are the episodes (and their WRITERS, which I promise to add later once I can look them all up) that really hit it out of the park for me this year. (In no particular order -- I can pick the children, I don't have to rank them)

LOST "Through the Looking Glass" This one is still on the DVR, but now that I've got the 3rd season on DVD I can watch this one over and over again in anticipation of what is to come in one month's time. Truly awesome TV fun.

HOUSE "Airborne" House may have seemed stale by the end of Season 3 (and it has had some juice pumped back in Season 4) but this episode stands out to me for a) taking House out of his element and b) giving every major cast member some meaty stuff to do. Putting House and Cuddy on an airplane to do a differential was just icing on the cake.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA "Crossroads, pt 2" Since "Exodus" technically aired in 2006, I'll pick the 3rd season finale for my fave of 2007. While I found "Razor" fascinating it was the completely unexpected revelations about Tigh, Anders, Tyrol and Tory and the end of Baltar's trial that really packed the punch for the series. We await the Season 4 open with baited breath...

CHUCK "Chuck vs. the Truth" Not just for really moving the story forward be revealing what had been up to that point character 'secrets' but also for the fast paced and breezy interplay of the characters, the show really hit its stride, showing what awesome TV it could be. Best line goes to Zac Levi: "Casey, your jaw was chiseled by Michelangelo himself." I know, not as great taken out of context, but man it floored me. Especially Adam Baldwin's reaction. Classic. Oh, and did I mention that our dear Marshall J. Flinkman (aka Kevin Weisman) is in it?

THE SOPRANOS "Kennedy and Heidi" Okay, I hate that the Sopranos wins like every award there is for this season, but dang, this was a pretty bitchin' episode. I mean, Christifuh dies at the hands of Tony! And Pauly is out of control funny.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (tie) "Pilot" and "State" - the bookends to an example of a perfect season of TV. Even if it hadn't had a second season granted, this would go down in my book as one of the most overall satisfying shows of the year.

VERONICA MARS "The Unaired Season 4 Preview" This look at what a 4th season of VM would have been like is something that pains me. It was sooo good, so fresh and so what I wanted. I curse the CW for their poor decision making.

LIFE "Dig a Hole" and "Fill it Up" Sure, continue to ignore this show, but you do so at your peril. This two-parter was great TV, the revelation of who committed the murder that Charlie Cruse had been wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for. Even better, there's still the mystery as to who orchestrated the whole thing (and why). I hope I get to find out...

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS "Bowie" For making me laugh for almost 30 minutes straight. Actually, I could say that about almost all of the 'Conchords' episodes...

STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP "K&R" pts 1-3 and "What Kind of Day Has it Been" I know, crazy to have this on the list, but when I watched the last four episodes in one sitting, I was floored at how good they were. It was as if knowing that their doom was imminent Sorkin, Schlamme and company pulled out all the stops and put on a good show. Really reminded me of the first couple of years of 'The West Wing' that just pushed me closer to becoming a writer. I was humbled.

Okay, I will place one hour of TV above all the others (and yes, I know I've left off a lot of awesomely wonderful TV from the list...sue me).

DOCTOR WHO "Blink" A singular achievement. Steven Moffat has my undying love and devotion after I watched this. Terrifying and creepy (rare to honestly ascribe those terms to much TV today) I could not help but sit back on my couch and say "wow" once it was over. Also the ONLY TV episode this year I was compelled to watch again immediately upon viewing it the first time. If you haven't seen this, you haven't really watched TV as it should be.

Next post I'll detail some of the WORST Hours of TV of 2007 and some of my honorable mentions (I.E. stuff I forgot while I was writing this post)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You gain a ton of my respect for having LOST in that list and not HEROES.
Haha

Kidsis said...

Cool, I have some shows to look up! Excellent!

Are you not a fan of 30 Rock, or it just wasn't mustard for this list?

Cunningham said...

Here's to a SPARROW AND NIGHTINGALE spinoff to replace the abomination that is TORCHWOOD.

Anonymous said...

This the same Steven Moffatt that wrote the most brilliant teen show ever - "Press Gang"?

That show had my attention every time it was on when I was young. I bought the entire series on DVD and it still holds up so well. The smartest show aimed at kids ever.

I've never seen Doctor Who but if he's writing I'll check it out.