Favourite TV Shows 2009 - Honourable Mentions

Here we go with my third annual list of the best television shows of the year. 2009 was a brilliant year for television and whilst once again the list will be made up entirely American shows, I would like to give special mention to Gavin and Stacey for just being an immensely enjoyable show and along with Outnumbered being one of the better British sitcoms to come about in years. Think of this as being an Honourable Mention for the Honourable Mentions. That being said, I now bring you the honourable mentions.

Honourable Mentions

Dollhouse
Joss Whedon's new show isn't as fully formed as Firefly was when it came about, and Eliza Dushku isn't the best lead actress in the world, and yes, when the show is bad it's damn near awful. But when it's brilliant it can stand up with the best of them. Not every episode of Dollhouse is a winner but the ones that are such as 'Belonging', 'Briar Rose' and 'Epitaph One' are some of the best hours of television you'll come across from 2009. Sadly we had to sit through some real clunkers to get to the gems and now with the show hurtling along for it's final three episodes, I really want to find out where Joss Whedon would have gone with this great but seriously flawed show.

Modern Family
One of the shows I seriously considered putting on the list. Whilst Modern Family came out of the new season as the clear winner of the best shows, I picked another show to be representative. But Modern Family is superb. It's not quite as cartoony and brilliant as Arrested Development but it's kind of a safe funny family comedy, in the same way that Gavin and Stacey is. It doesn't have the same kind of story, but the ideas behind it being about family and a large expanse of very different people from different cultures whilst still being hilarious make Modern Family a clear winner and a show which will probably go from strength to strength in the coming months/years.

Party Down
It's the new show from Veronica Mars creator, Rob Thomas and it's absolutely hilarious. It's very sarcastic, dark but it's just so damn good. Following a group of unemployed actors working for a careering firm, we get not only an inside look at Hollywood but also some truly insane characters. Along with Chuck, probably my favourite show for guest casting and not only for the stars from Veronica Mars but actors such as JK Simmons, Breckin Meyer and Ken Jeong. Also Kristen Bell has guest starred and will guest star again in the coming season, so honestly if that isn't reason enough to watch I don't know what is.

Pushing Daisies
Only three new episodes of Pushing Daisies aired in 2009 but it's one of my favourite shows ever and whilst it could never quite make it onto my favourite shows of the year, I'm giving it it's final dues right now. Pushing Daisies was one of the most original shows ever put to the small screen and it was an honour to have been there from the beginning. Pushing Daisies I salute you. Now let's Bryan Fuller (a God amongst men) can get the comic book series out.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Apart from Pushing Daisies, this was probably the most painful cancellation of the season. Whilst the show kicked off 2009 with a very boring trilogy of episodes focusing on Sarah Connor which weren't very interesting and took a lot of the life out of the show. However they followed this up with a final string of 5 episodes which made the show awesome again. Whilst those three episodes hold the show back so much, I couldn't not put this one my list. Not only for a brilliant finale, some incredible ballsy moves but for the prospect of what might have happened if it had gotten a third season with which to answer the questions so tantalisingly raised in the final episode.

Of Pushing Daisies Season 2

Before we launch into the review here's what I hope to be doing over the next two weeks in terms of blogness. For starters today reviews of Dollhouse (renewed for a second season today) and Fringe. Also today the start of my comedy round-up which is because comedy shows don't really need a full massive critique of what's going on (still contemplating numerical scores though, comment away). Sunday will be Lost Season 5 review which will be posted straight after tomorrows finale (which yes I have seen). That pretty much wraps it up for this television season apart from Breaking Bad which still has three weeks left. So over summer expect me to post reviews of shows I was too stupid to watch on first run, summer blockbusters and hopefully some very basic E3 coverage (since I won't actually be going...)

Now review.

Pushing Daisies ended about two weeks ago and now that I'm officially all mourned out I've come to bury what was one of the finest shows on television. Whilst we will get a 13 issue maxi-series comic book of Pushing Daisies soon, the show is dead. We may some day get a movie version but honestly this is almost certainly the last time we will Ned, Chuck, Emerson, Olive, The Aunts and Digby on screen together ever again.

So was Pushing Daisies' second season as strong as it first, which easily ranked it as one of the best new shows of 2007 (along with Mad Men)? Quite definitely. If anything Season Two is stronger than Season One. Whilst both seasons are unfairly cut annoyingly short (nine episodes season one, thirteen episodes in season two) meaning that the show only has one full season but normal standards. But hell every episode is just packed full of sorts of amazing and ingenious things that I don't overly mind, I just wish I had everything wrapped up in a bow with so many little story threads left hanging (as well as that scene at the end of the last episode which was supposed to set up the second half of the season). However I'm thankful for what we got, especially considering the ratings (although Dollhouse did get picked up despite only averaging 3 million viewers...)

Pushing Daisies is a gorgeous. As soon as there is a double season boxset on Blu-Ray I know exactly what I'm buying. The sets and costume are just superb and colourful. There isn't a show on the air that looks like Pushing Daises and I'm fairly sure there never will be another one. Whilst Bryan Fuller may make other shows I don't think he'll be able to match what he did on Pushing Daisies. But still the fact that show is able to jump around so many different colourful locations and make them feel so fresh in each episode is a real triumph.

Then there's the dialogue. No other show has dialogue as great as Pushing Daises. Just the speed and the level of wit which is supplied in each episode. And no one can say "Oh Hell No!" as well as Chi McBride does on this show. But that's not just it. The show convey such great skill and superb acting with just how fast the dialogue is rattled off. If anything it's very similar to a Joss Whedon programme where the quips just keep on coming and with such a high hit level it really is great fun to watch the verbal sparring matches, particularly almost any scene set around a table in the pie hole.

Season Two manages to trump Season One is that it uses far more over arching stories. Whilst Season One is almost entirely self contained with one or two episodes with crossovers (Paul Reubens was clearly supposed to have a bigger part as was Molly Shannon, so hopefully both of those will be cleared up in the comics). This season used a lot more of them with Emerson's search for his daughter, Chuck's dad, Ned's dad and Dwight Dixon. Whilst only one of the stories got any closure at all, whilst the story arcs were going on they were great fun and showed that Pushing Daisies could be more than just a murder of the week show. Whilst I do wish we had closure on the stories, I can't really fault the show for not finishing when it's not their fault and they continually offered great television.

Season Two expanded on everything that made the show great. The writers are clearly comfortable with the characters, the actors clearly know exactly what they're doing and the show came on leaps and bounds this season. Whilst we may never get closure on everything, I sure as hell will be reading the comic books and continue the story that was started in this superb show. Do yourself a definite favour and buy the DVDs and just wallow in the brilliance that was Pushing Daisies. Whilst the last episode did have a little bit tacked on at the end, it definitely gave some degree of closure, not a lot but some. I'd love to see where they were going to go with Chuck telling the Aunts that she was still alive, we did get 13 pretty much perfectly crafted episodes which is something most shows can only dream of. Pushing Daisies RIP, 9.5/10

Favourite TV Shows 2008 - #04 Pushing Daisies

I've been dreading doing this post for a while. Season 2 of Pushing Daisies kicked off with a really great episode however then we got to see the ratings. What was the highest rated new show of 2007 was suddenly down 50% of its viewers from last year. So every week I watched knowing that unless the ratings drastically improved, the show would join shows like Firefly and Veronica Mars in the cancellation pile.

Then it happened.

On Thursday 20th November, it was announced that Pushing Daisies had been canceled and my heart broke. Here we have one of the most original shows of the past decade being canceled whilst a show like Knight Rider is allowed to live (however the good news of this is that Knight Rider probably won't make it to a second season, it is also an early pick for IaSG14's challenge). Pushing Daisies only managed to air 10 episodes this year however this episodes were of such an amazing consistency that this really was the only place for it.

However this post isn't about mourning but about celebration. We still have three episodes of Pushing Daisies left to air this year (if ABC does actually air them), and all ten episodes aired in 2008 were more than enough to get Pushing Daisies a place on this list. So without further ado let's get into the main plot.

Pushing Daisies is a procedural. Each work someone dies and it is up to Ned (superbly played by Lee Pace) and Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) to track down the killer. However Ned has the power to bring back the dead. However if he keeps them alive for more than a minute then someone else has to die. This also means that he cannot touch anyone whom he has brought back or they'll die. This proves to be a problem because he has brought back his true love Chuck (Anna Friel). So the series is essentially a romance crime show with a load of fantastical elements. However the show moved more into a serial nature this season with some key stories such as one of Chuck's aunts turning out to be her mother, Emerson looking for his daughter, Ned trying to escape his father and Chuck bringing her father back from the dead. All of these played out wonderfully. However it's just a shame that I'm never going to get a proper conclusion to any of them (apart from Emerson's daughter if ABC actually release the last three episodes).

Alright so first of all Pushing Daisies is exceedingly quirky. It has it's own style that really benefits the series because it just perfectly suits it. Everything is just so quirky and colourful. Season 1 is available on blu-ray so if have a blu-ray player go out and buy (although the cheapest I've seen it is about £20 which is still about £2 for an episode). The show really does have an amazing sense of style with everything looking gorgeous and quirky. It's the sort of thing Tim Burton might do if he wasn't so into the colour black. The set design is also exquisite and you can just tell that it would have cost a lot to make and also an awful lot of love. Which not ironically is what the show is about.

The wordmanship of Pushing Daisies is also great, which has to go to Bryan Fuller. Each episode is backed full of sly little jokes (quite often innuendo such as in the latest episode the truck named Mother having MILF printed on the back) as well cute little things such as almost everything being doubled named. Such as Coeur d'Coeur, and The Darling Mermaid Darlings. Plus there's singing!!! Kristin Chenowith who plays Olive is luckily a Broadway singer so her voice is actually really good (just like Neil Patrick Harris') and every so often we get a song which just adds to the quirky nature of the shower. Luckily Bryan Fuller also knows how to develop the shows story and I would say that there was only one episode which didn't maintain the high quality of the rest of the season and that was only because it wasn't actually involved in the main story.

Side note: Bryan Fuller is one of the best writers in the industry and whilst Pushing Daisies had to die for it to happen, he's going back to Heroes and will hopefully salvage the end of Season 3 (although it's not going to be easy)

Pushing Daisies is one of the best shows on TV at the moment and deserved more love than it got. However it was just too quirky for television. A show about a pie maker who can bring the dead back to life simply wasn't going to last long. Luckily it made it two season (although the number of episodes is that of a full single season) which is a damn side more than other shows get (Firefly got 15). So go out and try and find this show on DVD. Season 2 improved on Season 1 in nearly every way imaginable and was just amazing television. It's bound to go down as a cult classic. I just hope that we actually get the movie and comic series. I mean goddammit there are so many lose ends. Who is Ned's dad? What is up with Dwight Dixon? What happened to Oscar Vibenius at the end of Season 1? What about Dilly Balsam? Will Ned and Chuck ever get together?

So now I just want to have a moment of silence for the show that was one of the most refreshing shows ever and really didn't deserve what happened to it.










Tomorrow we move onto the Top Three. I hope there are some surprises (although not it probably won't happen).

Of the Cancellation of Pushing Daisies

Fuck. This is a post I've been dreading. Pushing Daisies has been on its last legs since it came back with the amazingly strong Bzzzzzzzzzz!. It was inevitable that the show would be cancelled, it was just a matter of when.

So last night ABC announced that Pushing Daisies would not have any episodes ordered beyond the current 13 (all of which have been shot and 6 of which have aired). Now Pushing Daisies could still come back for a third season, ABC still has an opportunity to big up Pushing Daisies for a 3rd Season (incredibly unlikely though). There's also the chance of another network picking up the show, hopefully if this does happen it happens on cable. In the UK, we will watch any show as long as it is on the main channels. Some shows do die but Buffy and Heroes are still going strong in the UK and these air on a mainstream channel (Buffy in the US aired on one of the shitty channels). We actually ignore many of the shows that we have available over satellite. In the US this astoundingly different, whilst ratings definately aren't as high, so many of the cable channels support amazing shows. The Sopranos, Dexter, The Wire and Mad Men all air on cable and are critically lauded as some of the best shows ever.

Cable works differently to the main networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox). For starters they don't order hundreds of pilots only to be left with one or two shows to last the season. Cable instead order 13 episodes of shows in far fewer numbers. So the shows runs are shorters but it helps quality to cultivate better. So if a cable network were to pick up Daisies it would probably get a 13 episode order out of the gates and since the standards for cable are lower (it reaches far fewer households) it means that it doesn't need to get 10 million viewers to stand a chance. Problem is not many shows are picked up by other networks. Some of the few include Friday Night Lights and Futurama, but they are few and far between (Veronica Mars, Firefly and Arrested Development were never picked up another network).

Bryan Fuller the creator of Pushing Daisies has said however that they are talking to DC about a potential comic book series to wrap up the storylines from Season 2 and then a potential movie which is just a standalone story. Now this is probably the most likely outcome for the show (if anything does happen). Firefly had Serenity made, Arrested Development has a movie offically in the works and Rob Thomas has said that the Veronica Mars movie is the first thing he's going to do after Cupid has finished its first season (I'm so watching it because it's essentially the writing staff of Veronica Mars). So hopefully Mr. Fuller can get a movie or comic off the ground, as soon as he's done with Heroes of course.

So R.I.P Pushing Daisies 2007-2008

ZOMG NEW LOST PROMO WITH THE FRAY'S NEW SONG!!!!

Of Shows in Trouble

Alright I feel completely lousy, so I aim just to make this a bit short.

Umm television is fucked. Completely. Today I've seen that three of my favourite shows are in trouble (one of which hasn't even aired yet!!!).

Alright those three shows are Pushing Daisies, Dollhouse and Terminator. As you may know I love Pushing Daisies, Terminator is a great TV version of the movies (it's better than Terminator 3) and Dollhouse is the latest show from the genius that is Joss Whedon. If you don't know him, where have you bin for the past decade? Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dr. Horrible, Serenity and Toy Story. Joss Whedon is a living legend.

Right now about them being in trouble. I've already posted that Pushing Daisies needs help, and by help I mean like a miracle, a real deus ex machina. Pushing Daisises is on its last legs. We might get 22 episodes (that's a full season) but that's only if you include the first season. It's going to be almost impossible to get another 9 to finish Season 2 let alone a third season. So whilst the show looks to be getting increasingly awesome over the next few weeks (Emerson's daughter, Randy Mann, Gina Torres, Ned's brothers, Chuck's dad and some Norwegians are all involved) it will probably end with the 13th episode of Season 2. Whilst this was supposed to be a two parter culminating in episode 14, due to no more episodes not being picked up by ABC (they make Lost) 13 might have to act as a de facto finale for the show (unless Mr. Fuller wouldn't mind making a movie to finish the show? (God how sad is it that I'm already asking for a movie when the show isn't even dead yet?))

However this might actually mean good news. Yup if Pushing Daisies dies, Heroes gets good again. Odd as it may sound it's true. Bryan Fuller creator of Pushing Daisies was a writer on Season 1 of Heroes and wrote the awesome Company Man and was also the writer who dealt with Claire back in Season 1 (remember when she was an interesting character?) If Daisies dies Fuller has said that he is going to go back to Heroes, he might not work full time on the show but at least it will mean that show will get a competent writer. No offense to Tim Kring, Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander but you really need to step up game, especially because two of you worked on Lost!! (although they didn't exactly write any episodes or prove themselves like Lindelof, Cuse, Vaughan or Goddard have). So with Bryan Fuller back on board who knows Heroes might finally get awesome again (woah deja vu)

Next up is Terminator. This show actually is in the least amount of trouble of the three. Its been picked up for a full season (22 episodes) and is being moved to a day where it's not expected to maintain a high level of ratings, and since the viewership of this sort of show is going to be quite loyal you can expect that it might actually hold onto some its viewers. However the bad news is that the night is Friday night (remember this in America) and it's not a night known to cultivate massive success. Unless of course you count the X-Files. So we may be saying goodbye to Terminator in May (which is a shame because Summer Glau (Firefly/Serenity) is now officially the longest serving Terminator with more screen time that Arnie got as the character).

Finally, and this is the one that hurts the most, Dollhouse. Joss Whedon makes great stuff. Anything he makes is guaranteed to have a rabid fan base. The problem is, is that his shows don't "appeal" to the masses. And yet the masses could easily love them if they watched it. Buffy is massively popular, not just with geeks but with so many people. It's like Lost, that show should only appeal to a group of geeks who love sci-fi and yet because of cool and interesting characters the show is a mainstream success. It's why Britain is a place where sci-fi is generally accepted. Doctor Who is a national phenomenon, Life on Mars is a critical success, theres a slot on BBC called the "Buffy" slot and Heroes has been picked up for lifetime rights by the biggest broadcaster in the UK. All these shows have a sci-fi theme. Yet they enjoy success in Britain, success that isn't normally seen across the pond. For some reason America can't get beyond stereotypes when it comes to genre television. Battlestar Gallactica is not the same as the original 70s version, it's in fact a massively political show with interesting and developed characters. So many great genre shows have died, such as Firefly (another Whedon show) due to America just not watching. And yet they would enjoy it. Lost is going to make six years and X-Files made it nine. Both of these shows are inherently genre and lasted for a good few years. Yet Dollhouse (which I'm almost positive will be awesome) will only make it 13 episodes. It's being aired in a the Friday night death slot just like Firefly did and look what happened to that? 14 episodes and dead. At least we're guaranteed to make it to 13 and it'll make an awesome DVD. Damn I'm really depressed now.

Sources:

Bryan Fuller to go back to Heroes
Terminator and Dollhouse on Friday Nights

Favourite TV Shows 2007

Well here is my list of favourite television shows and episodes of 2007. It was quite a year, looking forward to what 2008 brings.

1. Lost
Lost is the best show on television, Period. I have yet to come across a show which can beat it in terms of story or characters. The story is continually engaging and characters like Ben, Locke, Desmond and Eko keep me coming back for more and more. Whilst Season 3 started slowly it got into its stride and then kept going only to slow up during that ruddy tattoo episode.

OMG LOST SEASON 4 = FREAKING AWESOME

2. Dexter
Dexter is the best show on television (wait didn’t I already say that?). Okay best show that doesn’t involve an island. Dexter had a superb first season and the second is even better. Dexter has had me drawn in with suspense and amazing acting since the first episode. Michael C. Hall deserves every acting award under the sun for what he’s done with the character of Dexter.

3. Firefly
A show I ashamedly only watched this year, Firefly was an awesome show which I binge watched in a day along with the movie Serenity. Firefly is a show that shouldn’t have been cancelled and gets this high on my list not only because it’s amazing but because I want to show it my (belated) support and pray that it comes back in any shape or form.

4. Pushing Daisies
Pushing Daisies is the best new show of 2007. The style and concepts are perfect and help give the show a real Tim Burton-esque feel. The show boasts lightning wit and has already become the critics darling. My only wish is for its continued sucess around the world. Which is I am pledging to get as many people as I can to watch it when comes to the UK. Even if it does mean that I will have to watch ITV1 *groan*

5. The Wire
The Wire is a novel. There is no other way to describe it, if you miss a single episode you’re f*****. However the show includes a massive array of characters and each episode focuses on multiple plot points, and it makes it work (unlike the stodgy mess that Heroes has become). The Wire is another show that I did not get into until this year but unlike another show that I started watching this year (24) I’m gonna keep this up till it finishes

6. South Park
South Parkis hilarious. It’s crude yet socially applicable at the same time. South Park is the only show I can think off that can take the piss of events going on in the real world whilst having an array of characters that are completely off the wall (talking poo and a towel, come on!!). However South Park makes it work and provides continuous laughs week in, week out.

7. Doctor Who
Oh Doctor Who you’re still an awesome show but can you please get rid of the Deus Ex Machina endings you seem to incorporate into you’re finales? You have an awesome build up towards the last episode of the series but they always end up disappointing. Episodes like Blink, Family of Blood and Utopia show that you are still one of the best shows on TV. So I want you to make me a promise next year Stephen Moffat is going to write the finale. Okay?

8. Heroes
Heroes started of really well. The story and characters were awesome and there was definite sense of motivation, then the season 1 finale happened. It was terrible. Heroes could have still made my top 5 shows of the year if it came back in the autumn with all the bravado it seemingly left behind the season’s penultimate episode, but sadly it didn’t and suffered for it. We didn’t want more build up; we wanted super powers and action. Then there’s the fact that they became too bogged down with the cast. Too many stories per episode meant that the pacing faltered and urgency was lost. Episodes like Company Man where there are only one or two storylines and the shows strength and they should make more like it. This making me sound negative isn't it, Heroes was good but then they just couldn't carry the story and the writers have admitted they screwed up so I can't wait for the next batch of episodes (a re-powered Sylar already has me salivating)

9. Chuck
Chuck is another new show. Chuck is a show that encompasses a lot of the changing perspective of the world. Not like religion or stuff like that but on the view of geeks. Geeks used to be the stereotypical bloke who wears white shirts, plays dungeons and dragons and lives in his mother’s basement. However shows like Chuck, show that it is the time of the geek. Zachary Levi is a natural fit as the awkward Chuck and really with the amount of references to geek topics (video games, gadgets), it’s a show I wouldn’t miss for the world.

10. Top Gear
Oh Top Gear why do have be so difficult? You’re not a comedy yet you’re funnier than most shows on television. Really Top Gear is a show I shouldn’t like. But I love it. I want to put it higher but…I can’t. Because of what it is, a magazine show. I have a loathing for all things without a storyline. Only Top Gear has been able to slip past my net and I intend to keep it that way.

Honourable Mentions:

Jekyll

My Name is Earl

Scrubs

I loved all these shows but they just didn’t do enough to make my list. Jekyll was a great show. But since it won’t be back next year I didn’t want to put it on my list. Scrubs had a lacklustre season (even if My Musical was great) and My Name is Earl failed to deliver as much as it did in its first season.

Maybe Next Year:

Veronica Mars

Started watching this a few days ago and already I can tell it’s gonna be good. Shame it got cancelled, but as we can see with Firefly I don’t really care if a show got the boot or not

EDIT - Having watched most of season one of Veronica Mars (binge watched it over the holidays not in time for this blog update) I can safely say that it would have made my list of favourite shows. The show is amazing. Funny, dramatic and damn good yarn. I HEART VERONICA MARS is all I can say (why didn't I start sooner?!?!?)

Favourite Episodes:

1. Flashes Before Your Eyes Lost

Just wow. Sheer awesome. Best hour of television I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching.

2. Blink Doctor Who

Stephen Moffat is a genius. Blink showed his incredible skill and talent and was only let down by the bit at the end when he tried to scare the little kiddies and even that was only a few secs long.

3. Pie-Lette Pushing Daisies

Not many shows can get me hooked just by watching the first episode, but Pushing Daisies did and with style (and a large slice of pie)

4. Through the Looking Glass Lost

The series finale of Lost showed how amazing the writers were with a twist at the end that I sadly spoiled for myself and wish I hadn’t. Still and awe-inspiring episode though.

5. Top Gear the American One Top Gear

The funniest hour of television ever, I nearly wet my self on multiple occasions. Top Gear doing what it did best, have three guys piss around in a couple of cars for a few days and film it.

6. Fantastic Easter Special South Park

By far the best episode of South Park the year. A pitch perfect spoof of the Da Vinci Code and at the same commented on how stupid the idea of an Easter Bunny was.

7. Ariel Firefly

A highlight of my year was buying Firefly on DVD. Ariel was the highlight of that experience. Ariel was Firefly at its best and hate awesome plot points and character moments (that scene with Jayne and Mal at the end was awesome)

8. Out of Gas Firefly

When I saw a bit of this on television I thought it was just a flashback episode but it was so much more. The story played out in a non-linear fashion and really showed how creative some writers are.

9. My Musical Scrubs

My Musical was wickedly funny episode featuring so many jokes from Scrubs’ past. The songs were great (Guy Love being the best) and even had its poignant moments that make Scrubs one of the funniest but also dramatic shows on television.

10. Company Man Heroes

Company Man is Heroes at its finest. One story line with lots of the main characters interacting with each other, and the flashbacks helped fill in Mr. Bennet’s past. Also it was the final episode featuring the amazing Christopher Eccleston and the last episode written by Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller.