Top 5: 2010 TV Shows

     I'm back.  Had to take the holidays off since I was leaving my house at 5 am and not getting back until midnight.  Didn't really leave much time for blog writing.  Anyway, my schedule has opened back up so I should be able to get back to updating this thing on a regular basis.
     Normally this time of year I would start a series of Top 5 Of The Year lists, but I have become super out of touch with music and movies are best done when the Oscars come around in another month, so the Top 5 TV Shows of 2010 is all I really feel qualified to do.  I might do a Top 5 Books I Read In 2010, but that won't be a best of 2010 since there are a good chunk of this year's books I haven't gotten around to yet.  So, here's my best of 2010 list, Top 5 TV Shows...  (Note:  I don't get HBO so shows like Boardwalk Empire and Treme couldn't be considered for the list)

5) Community
          NBC is said to be the worst network on TV and maybe that's what the ratings say, but for my money it's the best network tv has to offer.  Community is one of two NBC shows on my list.  No other network is represented.  I still enjoy How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family, but Community has rocketed into my favorite sitcom position.  Everyone is the cast is spot on, the comedy is fresh, its the most consistent comedy on tv.  Each character feels like they could have their own show.  Even the side characters like Ken Jong's Senor Chang and John Oliver's Professor Duncan are never wasted.  If you're not watching, you're missing out.

4) Walking Dead
          I don't think I've ever been rewarded by a TV show I so highly anticipated then with The Walking Dead.  Robert Kirkman's awesome zombie comic was beautifully transformed into TV magic even if it was for 6 short episodes.  The show creators did a good job of mixing the comic's theme of human survival with good old zombie horror.  At it's heart the comic was more about what humans are capable of doing to each other then a zombie invasion.  The tv show got that and started to convey it before the season was abruptly ended.  I can't wait for next season (which should be a full 12 episodes).

3) Terriers
          Why didn't anybody tune in to this show?  By far the best new show of 2010.  I'm going to miss Hank and Britt even though I just got to know them.  I won't go on too much about it since I spent a lot of time on this blog going over each episode.  I'm thinking I'm going to do a Top 5 Shows Cancelled Early list soon in it's honor.

2) Friday Night Lights
          Another show that doesn't get the audience it deserves.  I haven't seen the Direct TV episodes airing right now, but last season was as strong as ever.  It makes me sad to know that this will be the last episode.  Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton are the best couple on TV, if not the best of all time, and two of the best television actors around.  So many characters over the 4 seasons have made such an impact, much like the Wire, I will only be able to see the actors that played them as Matt Saracen or Jason Street or Tim Riggins or Vince Howard.  For whatever reason, Minka Kelly will always be Minka Kelly and not Lyla even if she marries that overrated Yankee.

1) Mad Men
          I've enjoyed Mad Men right from the beginning, but this season was one of the all time best seasons of any TV show ever.  The four episode run of Waldorf Stories, The Suitcase, The Summer Man, and Beautiful Girls was the best four episode run ever, with The Suitcase being the gem of the whole season.  If you don't watch this show you are missing out on story telling at it's absolute best.  Anyone who says TV is vapid and cheesy and that film is a better medium isn't watching this show.

Honorable Mentions: Sons Of Anarchy, Fringe, Tosh.0, Rubicon, Breaking Bad

How I Met Your Mother: The Mermaid Theory

     "The Mermaid Theory" was season 7 of HIMYM encapsulated in 30 minutes, a constant flow from great funny moments to total misses.  I wish I was just able to say that this episode was awesome or just plain horrible, but my opinion seemed to change with each changing scene.  The opening scene was classic.  The Happy Captain/Scary Captain was hilarious and brought back one of my favorite moments, Marshal's obsession with blowing up pictures and charts at work.  Lilly's theory about a single person and a married person of the opposite sex hanging out had potential as well, but then Ted screwed up the narration and things took a turn for the worse.  I loathed this storyline.  It was stupid and took you out of the flow of the episode.  It might have worked better if it was the main story, but I didn't care about Lilly and Barney in this episode so the constant changing of the story was just annoying.  The one saving grace was when Ted showed up in a green dress.  I love when later episodes are set up!
     The Marshall/Robin story was very hit or miss as well.  The idea of them having an awkward dinner was cool.  We've all hung out it groups and while we can have a good time hanging out with everyone in the group, there are some people who we know we just wouldn't enjoy hanging out with alone.  I thought that's where this was going, but when it took a turn in a different direction I didn't buy it.  At the same time, The Mermaid Theory was awesome.  It was HIMYM at it's best, taking a nugget of truth, spinning it into a funny theory and introducing it with either a college flashback (because where else did any of us have the time to come up with these types of theories then college?) or a fake historical reenactment.  I would have been much happier if they had used the theory with another storyline, but oh well.
      The Ted storyline had its moments, but for the most part I though it was a miss.  The ticking Mermaid clock at the end of the episode had no punch at all.  Really?  There's going to be sexual tension between Ted and Zoe?  Why the hell would she be hanging around if there wasn't?  The episode acted like it was some big revelation that Ted was going to find her attractive, that the clock was ticking before Ted saw her as a mermaid, but I was under the impression that he already liked her.  The mermaid theory says that someone that is not attractive to you slowly becomes attractive.  It seems to me that Ted has always been attracted to Zoe, he just can't admit it for various reasons (she's married, she wants to stop his building of the GNB building, etc).
     It seems to me that the writers of HIMYM are still trying to capture the magic of the first few seasons and haven't quite figured it out yet.  This type of search almost always results in a hit and miss season and that it exactly what we are in the middle of.  Nothing has showcased that more then this episode that seemed to go from hit to miss back to hit minute by minute.  All we can hope for is that when all is said and done, it's been more hit then miss and they figure things out so next season can be all hit.

How I Met Your Mother: Blitzgiving

     This season has developed a pretty consistant pattern of every other episode being good.  Which means, after last weeks subpar episode, this week was going to be excellent.  And the pattern held true once again.  Blitzgiving was classic HIMYM and was everything last week's Robin Sparkles episode wasn't.  The concept of the Blitz was creative, funny and totally original.  It allowed the writers to do all the things that have made HIMYM a must see comedy, funny flashbacks, random pop culture references, inside viewer jokes (I love the sandwiches in every college flashback), well used cameos, and new catchphrases (Aw, Man!, turturkeykey, The Gentleman).  The idea of the Blitz was able to carry a whole episode while remaining entertaining and pushing the overall story along in a way that Robin Sparkles just can't anymore.  These are the types of episodes we need more of instead of the rehashes of jokes and themes we've already seen three or four times.
     I also love the way the elements of the amazing night Ted missed were reveled.  I love that we were never told all the details of the night.  What's with the parking meter and the hot dog cart?  Why exactly does everyone keep saying, "The Gentleman"?  I know it has something to do with the game they were playing with the top hat, but how the hell did that start?  It's like the pineapple all over again and man, do I want to know where the pineapple came from!
     I have to admit the episode wasn't totally perfect.  The end got supper sappy and the relationship between Ted and Zooey feels very forced.  I didn't buy the episode's resolution at all.
     I forgot to mention in my review of last weeks episode that as disappointing as it may have been, we did get a big piece of this years puzzle.  We were told what wedding the season started with.  I was totally off.  But in all fairness how was anyone going to guess that it was Punchy's wedding?

How I Met Your Mother: Glitter

     Alright, thanks to my sister's wedding, I'm a week behind, so bare with me...
   
     I might come off like a hypocrite on this one, but I think I'm over Robin Sparkles.  I know I've been calling for more references and flashbacks, but I feel like the Robin Sparkles storyline has been played out.  Did we really need a third episode on this subject?  Instead of coming up with creative storylines that intertwine and amuse, the writers answer to bringing the show back to its roots seems to be to rehash tired ideas.
     And what ever happened to Barney and his boutonniere?  That would have made a great side story.  It was introduced and then never mentioned again.  I was much more interested in that then Robin and Lilly.  Is it me or is Lilly become really annoying?  Her character feels so one dimensional at the moment and I couldn't care less about that dimension.  She comes off as whinny and concerned about issues that just don't matter.  She's acting like she's already pregnant!
     That being said, the Robin Sparkles stuff made me laugh.  I realize how that comes off.  I bitch about a storyline and in the next breath say it was funny.  But it was.  As much as I've felt we've covered the material, I was humored by the jokes.  The beaver song was classic.  Let's just agree that we don't need to have another whole episode about Robin Sparkles again.

How I Met Your Mother: Natural History

     I've spent a lot of time writing about what constitutes a classic HIMYM episode and what constitutes a typical sitcom episode.  In almost every case I trumpet the classic episodes that play with time, make fun of life as a thirty-something, and bend the rules of conventional sitcoms in anyway way possible, while blasting the "normal" sitcom scenarios and style that the show relied on last season.  Natural History is an exception.  There was nothing that separated the episode from anything you would see on Two And A Half Men or Big Bang Theory, the story was liner, the setting was limited, there were dick and fart jokes, yet, it was extremely entertaining.  The writing was sharp, the poignant moments were touching without overwhelming the comedy, the comedy was both clever and sophomoric, all the characters story lines were advanced in a convincing manner.  It was easily one of the two best episodes all year.  As much as I long for crazy flashbacks and allusions of things to come, I could watch episodes like this without losing faith in where the show was going.
     Funniest moments... The Captain vs Galactic President Superstar McAwesomeville, the Barney/Robin touching contest (although I'm disappointed there was no licking!), Ted's sophomoric whispers.  And another thing to add to the list of ways Ted's life mirror's mine, #15: Crossword Day.  Although mine is Sunday, not Saturday.  Saturday is the toughest of the week, but Sunday is the biggest and the most enjoyable.

Top 5: Monkey Songs

     After being forced to take a week off due to time constraints, I'm back with a classic.  In college, my good friend and radio show partner, Bryan, had a theory about how to make sure any song you write is great.  He hypothesised that any song that mentioned monkeys has to kick ass.  Now, over the years I've come across a few songs that prove this theory wrong, or at least not as concrete as Bryan would like to convince you, but it hasn't made it any less fun a topic to talk about.  So, this week, in honor of Bryan and his theory, I give you the Top 5 Monkey Songs...

5. "Feather Pluckin'" - Presidents Of The United States Of America
     These guys could easily be considered the kings of the monkey song.  They at least 5 monkey songs on their first two albums.  This one is my favorite.  It talks about 10,000,00 monkeys playing guitar.  And it kicks ass.

4. "Brass Monkey" - Beastie Boys
     There is something about the Beastie Boys that cures any empty dance floor.  I've never seen a tepid response for the Beasties at a party and this song is one of their classic cuts.  I guarantee if you are DJing a get together of people 30 and younger and nobody is dancing, play Brass Monkey and your problems will be solved.

3." Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey" - Beatles
     Even the Beatles, the greatest pop band of all time, have a monkey song.  And it's one of their more kick ass numbers.  I'm not sure if Paul actually had a monkey or not, but I know if I was as rich as him there would be no way I wouldn't have a monkey.

2. "Monkey Man" - Toots & The Maytals
     This is a classic ska standard.  It is probably the most covered monkey song in existence.  Cover versions include, Reel Big Fish, The Specials, No Doubt and Amy Winehouse.  A kick ass song that will be played forever.

1. "Monkees Theme Song" - The Monkees
     This one kind of goes without saying.  The greatest monkey song ever written.  I defy anyone to not sing along anytime it's played.

Honorable Mentions - "Shock The Money": Peter Gabriel, "Bungle In the Jungle": Jethro Tull, "If I Had A Million Dollars": Barenaked Ladies (because haven't you always wanted a monkey?"), "Ghost Monkey": Taco (thanks Joe P)

How I Met Your Mother: Canning Randy

     Canning Randy was another strong episode from the HIMYM people.  They seem to be swaying back and forth from good to bad at this point in the season, which only begs the question, is the broadcast station season of 24 episodes just too much?  Throw out every other show so far this season and you have a super strong season.  The big three would be much better off if the modeled there seasons like cable, but the almighty dollar will prevent that from ever happening.  So, we will all just have to continue watching the mediocre with the good and enjoy it as much as possible.
     The big question as far as the show's plot is concerned is, what does the future hold for Ted and Zoey?    I'm sure we haven't seen the end of her, but I'm also fairly certain that she isn't the mother.  The feeling one is left with is that there is more to her story, but what is that story?  Are they going to get together at some point?  Or is just going to remain an adversary relationship?  With the creators promise that we are moving closer to finding out who the mother is this season, one would think that Zoey is playing some role in getting to that revelation, but it's still unclear what that role is.  There has to be more to her relationship to Ted then making his life difficult.
     This episode made me feel old.  Ted jokes about playing Pixies B-Sides for his students and says they didn't know who the Pixies were or a b-side.  My first reaction was, of course they know what a b-side is.  Then I thought, why would they know what a b-side is?  Am I really that old or is technology just started changing popular culture that much faster.  I mean, my dad grew up with b-sides and so did I.  My dad grew up with records and so did I, but these kids have no reason to know what cassette tapes are forget about records.
     I love that they are also focusing on the hardships of teaching this season, little things that people who haven't spent time in a classroom most likely wouldn't get.  Like last weeks jokes about Lilly's struggles give her child the same name as any of her problem students and this weeks take on Ted wanting to be the "cool" teacher.  Everyone goes into teaching wanting to be the "cool" teacher, but the hard fact is that if you want to be a "good" teacher most students are not going to like you.  It's not the easiest lesson to learn and the show handled it in a convincing manner this episode.  We will have to see if Ted carries the lesson into future episodes.