Here's the final installment of my 2011-2012 TV season wrap up as I go through all the television shows on my TIVO Season Pass...
THE JOHN LESTER QUICKLY-FALLING-FROM-GRACE DIVISION
8) How I Met Your Mother
If you read this blog at all then you already know my feelings on this once great show. It's a shell of what it once was and the fact that it's this high on my season pass is a testament to how good it once was, not a reflection on the program that has air the last two seasons. It fell from #4 to #8 and probably should have fallen a lot more. I have very little hope that the show will be corrected, especially since he had its highest ratings this season.
THE WILL MIDDLEBROOKS EXCITING-NEW-COMERS DIVISION
7) Tosh.0
Not technically a new comer, but not the type of show I would usually include in this type of listing, so it's new to my list. This show is just to funny to not include. Some people call it a The Soup rip-off, which it kind of is. Some people call it a Web Soup rip-off, which I'm not sure is true because it seems to me they were being developed at the same time. But even if it is one thing can't be argued, Daniel Tosh is 100 times funnier then Chris Hardwick. I've loved Tosh for years and am excited that he found the huge audience that he deserved. If you don't laugh out loud watching this show then you don't have a sense of humor.
6) Suburgatory
This was the big surprise of the season. I had no expectations what-so-ever and ended up falling in love with this cute little comedy about life in a ridiculously over the top suburban community. A ton of the show's charm comes from Jane Levy and Cheryl Hines, who both carry the show sentimentality without sacrificing the humor. Many of the characters go a little over the top, which IS the tone of the show, but these two ladies keep the whole thing grounded. This isn't an attempt at depicting a true to life suburb, it's an over the top satire of the suburban lifestyle that is way more funny then it is caustic. I may have had no expectations for this year, but my hopes are now high on what the show will do in the future.
5) New Girl
I started watching this show because I have a gigantic crush on Zooey Deschanel (I know, not very original, but this seriously goes back to the first time she pops up in Elf, singing in the shower) but I finished the season watching because its one of the best sitcom ensembles on TV. I got a little worried after the first few episodes that this show wasn't going to be able to grow past Zooey's quirky cute personality, but the writers proved me wrong and elevated all the boys to share the spot light. Schmidt quickly became one of the best characters on TV, almost worthy of watching the show just for him. The writers quickly learned there were stories to tell away from Jess and that was when the show was at its best. The biggest problem going forward is obviously going to be how they handle the Jess/Nick relationship. The list of shows ruined by putting the do-they-don't-they couple together is to long to bother mentioning. My fingers are crossed that these writers get it right.
THE DAVID ORTIZ BETTER-BE-IN-THE-HALL-OF-FAME DIVISION
4) Sons Of Anarchy
OK, Hall Of Fame might be a little strong for this show, it did drop from #2 to #4, but boy is it fun. In all honesty I'm not sure it is ever going to regain the heights of season two. It took a big dip in quality in season three and this last season was much better, yet no where near as compelling. This will never be the smartest show on TV, never the best written, but it does turn out some quality acting and some solid dramatic moments. Who couldn't use a little biker gang drama to entertain them once a week?
3) Walking Dead
Another show I write about episode to episode on this blog, so you should already know where I stand. This show takes a lot of knocks from most reviewers, but I love it. Things started a little slow this season, but the writers still delivered on the things I tune in every week to watch: zombie gore, apocalyptic drama, moral struggles and more zombie gore. This show pushes the limit of what can be shown on cable television and does it without any campyness what-so-ever. At times I do worry about how dark the show seems willing to go, there needs to be some hope if the show is going to stay watchable at all, but for the moment this show is as close to appointment television as you're going to get in the TIVO era.
2) Mad Men
What is there to say about this show that isn't said on almost any other media outlet you can find? Every episode is like a mini-movie. It has the highest quality of acting, writing, directing and production that you are going to find on TV. There is very little doubt that this will be number one next year for reasons I will talk about next. I'm not going to waste my time or yours saying things that everyone else has said, but I will end by mentioning, if you're not watching this program I'm not sure why you bother watching TV at all.
1) Community
I hope you all enjoyed this season of Community (and looking at the ratings, most of you didn't) because even though it got renewed, it isn't coming back as the same show. In an attempt to make the show "more broad," NBC fired the show's creator and creative force, Dan Harmon, and replaced him with two gentlemen who have had nothing to do with the show's past. There is some solace in the fact they come from Happy Endings, but not enough to give me hope this show will even be a shell of what it has been the last three seasons. This is (or was) hands down the most clever, quirky, humorous show on TV. This was the one show I couldn't wait to watch every week. As good as the ensembles are in Happy Endings and New Girl, nothing compares to this collection of comedy misfits. I am hoping with all my might it is able to keep even a shell of what it has been, but I'm not holding my breath.
THE TIM WAKEFIELD YOU-DON'T-WORK-HERE-ANYMORE DIVISION
Here is a list of shows that got cut from my season pass over the course of the year. I will stop and explain why when I feel it's important...
Canceled shows that I cut before they got canceled: Pan Am, Terra Nova, Man Up
Canceled shows I'm pissed got canceled: Alcatraz, The River, Awake (this show is the biggest travesty of the season. Why you people didn't turn into what was probably the smartest show on TV but continued to watch crap like 2 and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory is a huge commentary on the state of the country)
Shows I couldn't keep watching: Up All Night, 2 Broke Girls, Whitney
Shows that I use to love but got sick of:
Glee- this show fell off the face of the planet. It use to be really good but is now totally unwatchable. I mean painfully unwatchable. I thought it was going to be an original daring clever show but it ended up being the same hour every week. So disappointing!
The Office- man was Steve Carell important to this show or what? This was once my favorite show on TV, this season I couldn't even get through 10 episodes before I deleted it from my TIVO.
Fringe- I just found myself not paying attention when this was on. It became background noise and it's way to complected a show to be background noise, so I gave it the old heave hoe.
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