Things have quietened down a fair bit on the games front this past month (unless you own a Wii, I guess). With that in mind, I figured I'd fire up a few more 2007 lists! 'Cos everyone loves those. It's TV's turn next. My fave scripted small screen outings of the year were...
20. Flight of the Conchords
Snagged the box set of this for Christmas, and in just one month it's proven insta-love material that I'll defy anyone to criticize. The story of two monosyllabic New Zealanders living in New York to much hysterical amusement, their tale is a bizarre melding of Peep Show style down-to-earth humor, with a hilarious musical twist. But I can barely even describe it, so just watch the damn thing yourself if you know what's good for you.
19. 24
I think it's fair to say, Jack Bauer's sixth year was by far his most groan-some yet - particularly baffling after the utter brilliance of season five - but even in its most preposterous and flat-out lame of years, 24 remains oddly gripping and hard to turn off. Does the return of The Almeida for season seven - touching down as soon as this godforsaken writer's strike ends, I guess - bode well for a return to form? Or more pitiful straw clutching.
18. Heroes
Mixed thoughts run rampant throughout Heroes' run so far. When it's firing on all cylinders - namely most of season one - there are few that can touch it, with memorable characters, superb plot-twists and incredible direction dwarfing just about anything else on the box. As an epic superhero show, it's often pleasingly minimal and touching at the same time, getting inside the characters head's to particularly pleasing effect. Just as often though, you'll come across as deathly dull an episode as that god awful season one finale, or the subsequent banality of pretty much the entirety of season two. Seldom has a show done such a depressing U-turn into shits-ville, made even more perplexing in light of its ramping back up into brilliance towards the very end. It often falls victim to its own premise, I guess, with superpowers forever bringing the dead back to life, while imbuing plot-lines with deus ex machina twists that forever roll the eyes. It lacks danger and feels void of gravitas as a result. A shame.
17. South Park
I'm in the minority in thinking South Park is way past its prime at this point, with last year pretty much proving my point right across the board. Lame episodes like "Fantastic Easter Special" and "More Crap" left barely a smirk, while its less smug cartoon peers continued to dominate with comparative ease. That said, the "Imaginationland" trilogy towards the end of this latest run - which saw the boys transported to a fantasy land, battling stormtroopers, Terminators and Predator with the help of Care Bears and Jesus - was pure, undiluted genius, and a brief flicker of the wondrous South Park we once knew and loved. That alone is why I'll continue to tune in this year, for definite, and goes down as some of the flat-out best South Park material us fans have seen yet.
16. Weeds
Weeds continued to maintain the high standard we've come to expect of it these last 12 months, with to this day not a single dud episode among its back catalogue if you ask me. As single mother turned drug dealer Nancy continued her darkly humorous pot selling antics in order to make ends meet, gang rivalries and ensuing money problems proved just as riveting as ever. No doubt a huge shake-up's in store for next year, given recent events, but I'll be there with bells on regardless. It's Doug who housed the bulk of the laughs in 2007 though. Kevin Nealon is a comic god, no?
15. The Shield
Man, it's been so long since The Shield last aired, I'm hard pressed to remember just where the heck we're up to. More than anything, I'm just glad this gritty tale of crooked cops and gang land warfare continues to air though; this time last year, word was it was on its way out. With Kavanaugh gone, a certain blond friend watching from the heavens, and the noose forever tightening around old Vic's neck, the Mackster plods on regardless, with his new found friendship with Aceveda hinting at quite the intriguing wrap-up when the show returns in...fuck knows when.
14. Californication
One of the better new shows to hit the box in '07, Californication tells the tale of washed-up alcoholic writer Hank Moody and his subsequent, mildly pathetic life. Dumped by the love of his life, and thus fucking his way across town to numb the pain, his antics prove forever hysterical and oddly touching though. Much like a more contemporary take on the HBO semi-classic Dream On, David Duchovny provides much in the way of laughs, even if just as wooden as ever. Quite literally, in this case.
13. LOST
Much like Heroes, LOST's turned hit and miss central lately. The less said about Nikki and Paulo the better, but moments like the introduction of creepy Jacob, and the perplexingly puzzling finale kept the love piling on never the less. With the crashees seemingly showcased back in the land of the living in the most recent episode, the producers seem oddly more generous at doling out answers than we've perhaps become accustomed to though, hence I can't help but sense all is not what it seems for Jack and co's return to civilization. It returns in just over a week, incidentally.
12. 30 Rock
With all-time dig fave sitcom Arrested Development long gone, 30 Rock's my new found comic champ. Set behind the scenes of a US sketch show - not hugely unlike a laugh-etized take on Studio 60 - it's about as close to hitting that Arrested nail as anyone's come yet. A similar hand-held style, edgy humor and lack of laugh track to be more specific, not to mention of course, the semi-regular appearance of Gob himself. Particular credit has to go to Alec Baldwin however, and his hilarious take on a stanch right wing, sexist, asshole studio boss.
11. Veronica Mars
2007 marked Veronica's exit from TV land, but it sure went out with a bang. Hotty's opening year of college proved ripe with frills, everyone from campus rapists to professor murderers getting a look in before 'Ronny solved the case. I'll miss Miss Bell's perfectly crafted teenage crime solving antics - particularly in light of how god awful all her roles since have been - but I guess in a way we're lucky we got as much Veronica as we did. The show was almost DOA on the ratings front from day one. Rest in peace, Mars.
10. Entourage
A super slick look at the lives of young Hollywood talent, Entourage has been at the top of its game lately, with last season holding many a vintage moment and plenty of surprising twists. More than anything, it's just been nice seeing the boys fuck up for once; the show's has been in serious danger of sterility in its showcasing of the perfect LA lifestyle for far too long. Whether Vince's movie career can recover from Cannes remains to be seen - those were an awful lot o' boos closing the series out - but I guess if nothing else he'll have super successful older brother Johnny to fall back on. "Victory!!!"
9. Curb Your Enthusiasm
It's great to see Curb back on the box, particularly as its future looked a little uncertain this time last year. Along with Flights and Entourage, the big three have solidified HBO as the new place to go for the half hour giggle, rather than the hour long drama that we'd previously become accustomed to. Thankfully, despite a short run of middling eps towards the start of the year, Curb just about hit its all-time peak recently. Larry David continues to rock the cringe-inducing humor like no one else, finally free of the shackles of marriage to especially potent effect. Watching the bald mastermind hit the LA dating scene was a highlight of the year in fact, with the final outcome straight outta leftfield, and all the more better for it. Particular love has to be thrown at new pal Leon though - the coolest character in all of TV land - a mountain of timeless catchphrases like the immortal "stabbin' her in the stomach" and "FUCK LARRY UP" who sure as shit better return next season. The good news, is we have at
least two more years of Curb to go too...
8. Jericho
I hated Jericho at first. As a post-apocalyptic LOST rip-off - following a small US town surviving amidst nuclear holocaust - it started out focusing on deathly dull soap operatic bullshit rather than the gritty fighting for survival one would expect from such subject matter. As its opening season progressed through, it most definitely shifted in tone, turning into quite the jaw-dropper by season's end. Whether it was enough of a change for the masses, remains to be seen; the show's momentarily avoided cancellation and secured seven new episodes to win over new viewers (three of which are now "out there"), but beyond that, Jericho's future remains far from certain. A shame too. Rocky start aside, this turned into a fab study of what humanity does when pushed to its absolute limits, with some pleasingly dark and emotional moments to boot.
7. Damages
A new hour-long courtesy of FX, starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson, Damages is a lawyer show on the face of it, that shortly gives way to being more of a psychological thriller-slash-murder mystery. It's about as impeccably planned a TV program as you'll ever see too, toying and playing with the viewer from the first minute of the pilot to the final second of the finale. Where so many shows feel made up as they go along, and often stitched together with non-sensical plot twists, Damages is meticulously plotted to perfection (there are even flashback shots from that final episode in the pilot for example). Ratings weren't so hot - as is always the case with the best stuff - yet we're told a second season beckons never the less. Ted Danson may not be along for the ride though, which ain't so cool.
6. Prison Break
With Michael and co. finally free of prison, and at last set loose upon the real world, Prison Break took a major diversion to crap-town in its second season. So much so, I'd almost given up on it in fact. It's with some surprise then, that season three has thus far turned out god damn amazing. In fact, as far as the cheese-o-rama Hollywood drama genre goes, it's undoubtedly the best on the box right now. With Michael back in prison - a far grimmer place than last time at that - with some uneasy alliances forming and many an enemy - his second break has been nail-bitingly tense thus far and just as gritty as ever. Prison Break's way better than it deserved to be after last season, and I'm glad to see it's found its balls again.
5. Family Guy
Family Guy has its detractors, but I'll never understand why. For me, it's bang on the money, just my type of humor, and as perfect a cartoon as you'll find. Picking out individual episodes and storylines is pointless - Family Guy is about the split second punch-line, not the bigger picture - but I will say Peter's insane antics prove just as funny now as ever, and comparatively shit upon recent South Parks, The Simpsons and that god-awful Futurama movie. There was even a reasonably awesome feature length Family Guy
movie released last year too, ripping on Star Wars to particularly hilarious effect.
4. Mad Men
Another newcomer to the list, Mad Men's amazing, intelligent television that would have felt arguably more at home on HBO than AMC, yet disregard it not. This is a darkly humorous, slower paced offering that just so happens to be utterly amazing on top. With writer and producer of The Sopranos Matthew Weiner on board, it reminds heavily of the aforementioned, minus the violence and language, yet with just as intriguing a story to tell. Following rich advertising executives in the 1960s - complete with greed, pride and male chauvinism - it's almost Anchorman done serious, mixed with a little American Psycho for good measure. The best new show of the year then, that'll perhaps take an ep or two really get your head around, I love it.
3. Battlestar Galactica
The best genre show of them all continues to be one of the greatest full stop. Arguably the show's lesser season yet - with the odd random filler episode not really needed - even at its worst Battlestar proved fucking brilliant last year. In fact, I'd say Ron Moore's done more to breath credibility into sci-fi and fantasy than anyone in recent times - Peter Jackson included - with an incredibly intelligent, deep and multi-layered universe that touches on just about every hot topic of our times, in a fresh and forever contemplative manner. That said, the upcoming final season looks to be severe plot-driven fan service more centered around the revealing of the final five, than the more depressing 9/11 allegories of late. The recent Razor spin-off movie was an enjoyable stop-gap along those lines, and well worth seeking out.
2. Rescue Me
Tommy Gavin's fire-fighting antics proved more enjoyable than ever in 2007, thanks primarily to the bulking up of humor over previous seasons. Still as gritty, haunting and edgy as ever, Rescue Me had me consistently cracking up, week in, week out you see, so much so that it's surprisingly downbeat, somber ending kinda caught me off guard to be honest. The show continues to do no wrong for me, with Denis Leary in particular continuing to rock like no other. If you're still not into this most fab of shows, sort it out.
1. The Sopranos
 | | Best show ever? |
|
Tony features here almost exclusively due to its final episode. Not that the entire season wasn't brilliant, of course, but man...that ending. Jesus. Far from the definitive, slam-bang round-up many would have wanted, its more controversial and ambiguous twist will no doubt be the talk of TV land for many a year to come. It didn't hurt that the entire season (and indeed, 5 years) leading up to it were some of the most finely chiseled and beautifully acted TV to hit the box too. So much so, I think it's fare to say this show never jumped the shark. The Sopranos will be sorely missed.
Huge apologies to both Dexter and Chuck incidentally, I simply couldn't squeeze you guys in there. Much love, though.
Here's last year's list for a trip back in time.
