The Futon Critic’s Brian Ford Sullivan whipped up a list of what he considers to be the Top 50 TV Episodes of 2005.

Honestly? The man deserves mad props for watching so much damn television…and then being insane enough to whittle down ALL of those episodes to come up with the 50 best. I did find it odd that he gave Lost’s season 2 premiere episode “Man of Science, Man of Faith” the number 3 spot, stating that “There’s just nothing like this show on TV, period.” — but then not giving props to any other Lost episodes in his list. Just…weird.

So, I need to apologize first for not posting this week. It’s been a crazy one. But there was plenty to talk about, so I’m going to do a kind of retrospect of this week to get you all caught up.

• “Book of Daniel” gets dropped: Sometimes controversy is good in television land. Sometimes it is bad. In the case of the NBC show Book of Daniel, it was the latter. NBC dropped the show from its schedule this week. Was I shocked? Not in the least. And I happen to be a big fan of Aidan Quinn — I just thought this premise was a poor one. Face it — Hollywood typically leans towards the liberal, while there is a huge chunk of conservatives out there in the viewership. The Ad Tag for this show? “Sex. Drugs. Stolen Money And Martinis. Family Can Really Test Your Faith.” Are you kidding me? Sounds like a tag line for The Sopranos, not your local parish. It also seems to be apparent that the show (and the ads) were evidence of some Suits that don’t know their audience.
• The CW Network: What happens when you marry The WB and UPN networks? Well, it seems that they create The CW network. I like this critic’s breakdown of what she would consider to be the “perfect programming lineup” for the new combined network. (And yes, the fact that her first order of business is to find Joss Whedon and get him to put a new show together to team up with Veronica Mars on Monday nights was a contributing factor in me posting the link — now THAT is something I’d like to see.) I like the merger. I like that the two mediocre networks are going to throw all their best stuff into the ring and try to resemble something closer to “competition.” It can only be a GOOD thing for those who are so so so very tired of the lack of imagination, lack of guts and lack of scripts (read: ME) that is prevalent on the Big Three (Plus One). Give the Suits something to make them sit up and take notice.

That’s the two biggies for now. After I catch up on my reading, I’ll post some more. Also, for those who watch Lost and/or Battlestar Galactica, I now post regular reviews and news on those two shows specifically in two other blogs: The Lost Weblog and Battlestar Galactica Blog. Give ‘em a look, if you get the chance.

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The Los Angeles Museum of Television and Radio’s 23rd Annual William S. Paley TV Festival will be honoring the following shows this year:

• Battlestar Galactica
• Entourage
• Everybody Hates Chris
• Family Guy
• Grey’s Anatomy
• House
• How I Met Your Mother
• Medium
• My Name is Earl
• Supernatural
• Weeds

Okay, no offense, but how many palms had to be greased to get How I Met Your Mother on that list? I mean, the show is tolerably funny and its ratings seem to be fairly consistent, but all of the other honorees have gotten awards and/or critical acclaim and/or major buzz — none of which would apply to HIMYM.

On a side note, I would KILL to be at the BSG panel. The event will take place February 28th through March 15th, 2006.

Source: UPI

Am I the only one that wishes that the subscription cable shows like “Weeds” and “Deadwood” could have their own awards show and not be eligible for Emmys or Golden Globes? Can we PLEASE bring back the Cable Ace Awards? I don’t get HBO or Showtime, so every year that “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos” would walk away with 90% of the television awards, it would just piss me off. It’s not that I think those actors/writers/directors/shows should not get recognized, I just wish they had their own categories or their own damn show again. I do admit that I thought it was fantastic that Mary Louise Parker knocked off the four Desperate Housewives in the TV Actress in a Comedy award.

Okay, glad I got that off my chest. Anyway, I was absolutely THRILLED that Lost won for TV Drama — there just isn’t another show out there that can compare IMHO (though Battlestar Galactica gets close). And it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of folks. I thought Steve Carell’s win was a nice surprise, though I hope that Jason Lee gets his due for My Name is Earl soon. Cannot fathom how Geena Davis won for Commander in Chief — her acting seems so off in that show to me. Like she is trying too hard to be taken seriously — it just comes off really forced. Glenn Close kicked all kinds of ass in The Shield and should have won in that category.

I would have loved for Matthew Fox to have won, but I have been a big fan of Hugh Laurie for awhile now (though I don’t watch House — long story related to doctors and hospitals). The supporting actor in a TV drama category just didn’t feel right without Terry O’Quinn in it. Sandra Oh’s award was completely deserved.

Okay, that’s it for my Golden Globes comments. ION, I was pretty excited when I saw Fox’s schedule rearrangement for the Spring. The parts I’m happy with? According to Cynthia’s Cynopsis, Prison Break will be returning March 20th, airing Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. (EST) as a lead in for 24. I’m happy with that, because I was worried they were going to switch it to a night that would compete with other shows I watch. Also, they are moving Bones to Wednesday nights at 8:00 p.m. (starting March 8th), meaning that I won’t have to choose between Gilmore Girls and Bones anymore. Woo hoo!! I finally got to catch a few episode of Bones while Gilmore Girls was in reruns, and I definitely found it worth watching.

That’s it for now.

It seems that I predicted this one:

From today’s edition of Cynthia’s Cynopsis:

The show aired only once, and now Variety reports production has been shut down on ABC’s Emily’s Reasons Why Not. Apparently nobody could find enough reasons why to keep the show moving. In its opening night just a week ago last Monday, the show average a very soft 2.8/7, ranking 4th at 9p. This week it was preempted for the Golden Globes. Depending on how the repeat of The Bachelor did last night, that could seal Emily’s fate.

I’m shocked! I’m stunned!!

Oh, who am I foolin’? NEENER NEENER NEENER…I was right!

Will post later about the GGs (and how much squeeing I did when Lost won).

Just wanted to remind everyone that the Golden Globes are on TONIGHT, 8/7 Central, on NBC. I’ll be posting my thoughts on the winners and losers either later tonight or some time tomorrow.

So I finally set aside some time to check out a couple of the mid-season “replacement” shows, and here are my evaluations of the shows I have seen so far:

First off, Four Kings (which airs on NBC). This show was just down-right painful to watch. The comedic abilities of any of the actors outside of Seth Green is pretty much untraceable, and even Seth seems to be trying too hard to make up for the lameness. Trust me — I ADORE Seth Green, but I think he is better utilized when playing the subtle comedic roles (a la Oz on Buffy), rather than being thrust to the forefront as the only recognizable actor on the show. The supposed friendship between the four guys is forced and is not believable. At. All. This show just doesn’t work and I predict it will be an early casualty.

On the other hand, I see a lot of potential for Crumbs (which airs on ABC). Fred Savage is perfectly cast as the only “normal” member of the Crumb family, who is actually as dysfunctional emotionally as his family is dysfunctional psychologically. Though billed as a comedy, there are some underlying serious issues — a brother who died in a boating accident; Fred’s character being gay but he hasn’t come out to his family; the mother’s psychosis; the father who left the mom for a much younger women (who is now pregnant); etc. — all of which makes this not-your-typical-sitcom. There is a realism beneath the funny quips that draws you in and makes you want to tune in next week. On top of that, the casting of Jane Curtin and William Devane as the parents was a stroke of genius. I totally buy into the main characters being part of a family, and am curious to see where they will go with this show.

So tonight we FINALLY get a new episode of Lost for the first time in SIX WEEKS. As I mentioned in my Lost blog, I am not your typical fan when it comes to this show. YES, I miss the show when it doesn’t air new episodes, but I also know that those breaks give the creative team a chance to catch up. If having to go without my Lost fix for six weeks means that Burky gets to go home before 3:00 a.m. a few nights, then I think that is worth it.

And honestly, I appreciate the break from new episodes as well. I’m probably in the minority with that one, but I remember last Spring when Alias came back after an 8-month hiatus and played every single week until the finale (I think it was preempted once or twice, but still). At first, I loved it. But then it just became too much — I never had time to digest the episodes before we got a new one. When I was watching my S4 boxed set, I discovered that I couldn’t remember half of what happened last season. It’s like trying to stuff an over-full beanbag with more styrofoam beans — some of that stuff is going to spill over and get lost or forgotten.

So for me, this six-week hiatus has been like getting to take a little vacation from one of my obsessions. I got to spend time rewatching some of the S2 episodes and pick up on some stuff I’ve missed. I got to go online and giggle at theories (that’s harsh, I know — but it’s true). And I didn’t have to worry about making sure I was home on Wednesday nights. But with all that said, I AM totally jazzed about tonight’s episode. Out of all of the “tailies” — Mr. Eko is the one I have been the most interested in. One thing I am not looking forward to though is the recap show. When I first read the ABC press release announcing it, the first thing I thought was, “Oh no…not AGAIN!” Seriously, do we need another one? It’s not like it’s that hard to catch up, if you really want to: the episodes are ALL on iTunes, S1 is out in a DVD boxed set already, the ABC site has a synopsis of every episode, and if you look hard enough you can find fan-written transcripts. The show is wildly and widely popular — do we really need to keep doing the hand-holding?

So, what do y’all think? Hiatuses — Good or Bad? Recap Shows — Needed or Unnecessary? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

It’s confessional time here at TV Bloggin’ — I’m going to reveal two of my “guilty pleasure” shows from this TV season, and I assure you that I am writing this with a paper bag over my head. Well, with peep holes so I can see the screen, silly! Here they are…mock away.

Freddie

I honestly don’t remember how or when I started watching Freddie. At first, I just saw the last five minutes or so, when I tuned into ABC to watch Lost. Then I tuned in a little earlier…then a little earlier…and suddenly I’m watching it every week from start to finish. What tha’???

So what is it about Freddie that makes me want to watch it? Well, it ain’t Freddie…Prinze, Jr., that is. I mean, Freddie is a likable guy and all, and he does have some genuinely funny moments that have surprised me. But I watch the show for Brian Austin Green. He plays Chris, Freddie’s best friend on the show, and he makes me laugh out loud. I can’t tell you the last time I have enjoyed watching a sitcom. The rest of the show and the characters are tolerable and have their moments, but Brian just steals the show every time.

Now, for my other guilty pleasure, which I should be mocked for, and often:

The Girls Next Door

Okay, pick yourselves up off of the floor. What is it about watching the lifestyles of the rich and surgically implanted that draws me to this show? If I am flipping through the channels and I see the show on, I just HAVE to stop and watch. Maybe it is just my inability to comprehend how three women can live together under the same roof, with the same boyfriend (who is old enough to be their grandfather), and there not be any catfights or bloodshed? Being a big fan of monogamy, the concept is utterly foreign to me. I get upset if one of my husband’s ex-girlfriends is even in the same STATE as we live in, much less living under the same roof with a couple of them and calling ourselves “Girlfriend #1″ or “Girlfriend #2,” etc. I assumed that Hef’s girlfriends all had to have had bad childhoods and must suffer from extremely low self-esteem. But when you watch the show, they all seem so NORMAL (for the most part). Every episode, I expect to see some evidence of jealousy among the three girlfriends, but nada. I am just utterly fascinated. It’s like traveling to a foreign country whose residents have their own set of morals and indigenous lifestyle and I am compelled to observe them. It’s like the Playboy version of National Geographic (though techinically, I guess it would be “National Pornographic”).

So, what TV shows are your “guilty pleasure” shows? The shows that you never admit to anyone else that you watch every week for fear of the mocking that you will receive? C’mon…I won’t mock you (too much) *g*

This article from TV Guide just makes me want to curl up in a heap and cry like a baby…well, after I laughed my ass off. The article is written by Joss Whedon, who is probably the reason why I am here, writing this blog about the television industry. You see, I lost my fandom virginity to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I had been a part of the original Star Wars fandom a couple of decades ago, but I was a kid and that was before the World Wide Web came into existence. Back then, it was mainly about the comics, the action figures and the baseball cards. But Buffy was my first adult fandom and due to the fandamntastic invention of the online world, my Buffy habit was fed by bulletin boards, new “online friends” and fanfiction. An addiction was born.

Not only was my first television addiction being fed by all the pretties on the internet, but that beautiful entertainment-laced crack known as “DVD boxed sets” turned me into a hard-core Buffy junkie. All of a sudden, it wasn’t enough to watch just one episode of Buffy on the night it aired, or even two episodes on the afternoon FX reruns. Nope, now I had to watch ALL 22 episodes back-to-back-to-back, until they were all done, then I had to watch all of the extras. And then I had to rewatch all of the episodes that had commentaries. And then, if it was Season 5 that I had just finished watching non-stop for two or three days, well then I had to go back and start from the beginning and watch them all in order! An unknown propensity for becoming addicted to serialized television shows was realized, and I have not been your “average television viewer” ever since.

One invaluable discovery that I made during this time, both from visiting an online forum that was frequented by Joss and other creative types from Buffy, as well as from listening to the DVD commentaries, is that those fancy-schmancy television writers and producers are REAL people. And not only are they “real” — they also are relatively normal. Okay, Joss is much more humorous and clever than probably ALL of your friends combined, but he is also adorably self-depreciating and seems to revel in making fun of himself. It is a side of Hollywood that I never even fathomed to exist. You mean, there are actually some likable and friendly people out there in the entertainment biz with little-to-no ego? Whodathunkit?

After reading that article by Joss, I had the urge (or maybe that was the addict in me craving a fix) to pull out my Season 4 BtVS DVD set and watch/listen to my favorite TV episode commentary of all time — “Wild at Heart” (episode 4.6) with Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon and Seth Green. I am not going to sit down and give a list of debate-worthy points as to why this is my favorite TV commentary “of all time” — it just is. It makes me laugh and it makes me fall in love with the show and with Joss a little bit more every time I have played it. All three of them just riff off of each other so well, it makes you want to be the fourth at a dinner table with all of them.

This was the obsession that started it all for me, and I will always feel that the television universe is not complete without a show from the Whedonverse included in the Prime Time TV listings. *sniff* So my plea to Joss is this: go make your pretty movies (*coughWonderWomancough*), but then come back to the strung-out TV addicts that you were forced to leave behind. We miss ya.