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REVIEW: 2010-2011 Television Season

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I have always watched a crap-ton of tv, but this year seemed particularly heavy. I had at least two shows per day Monday thru Thursday and I discovered the brilliance of British television. It’s been a busy television season and on the whole, I’m satisfied with the finales we got.

Shows That Premiered This  Season…

After watching the pilot episode, I stuck with only four shows this year: Being Human, Shameless, Happy Endings and The Walking Dead. I always bitch about how much I hate American remakes of British tv shows…and yet two of them made the list. However, unlike Skins, these remakes are actually good. People have been listing Happy Endings on their comedy Emmy wishlists, and while I think that is a wee bit of a stretch, this show surprised me. Any sitcom revolving around a group of friends is immediately likened to, well, Friends. I found the overall premise of Happy Endings to be relatively weak, but the show definitely improved over the course of its short season.

FAVORITE NEW SHOW: Being Human, hands down. The show just gives such a fresh spin on the whole vamp-werewolf dynamic and it totally holds its own against the U.K. counterpart. Although, it’s official, I can’t stand the Josh/George character aka the werewolf in either version.

Discovered shows already on air…

This year, I discovered so many wonderful programs that are already on air. I love this, because then I have oodles of episodes to watch without an annoying hiatus. Thanks to blogs and mostly Tumblr, I had heard only high praises for the British shows, Misfits and Skins. Misfits is by far one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen and I kind of have a crush on Robert Sheehan. I also randomly stumbled upon The Big Bang Theory bloopers on YouTube and even those made me crack up, which gave me the incentive to blindly purchase the dvds. And it’s amazing. I am making it my mission to attend a taping before I leave LA.

While I am still making my way through Parks and Recreation & 30 Rock, I have to say, I love NBC’s Thursday night comedy line-up. I know I am so late to The Office party, it’s not even funny. Within a course of 4 days, I watched every single episode on Hulu. What can I say? It was a boring finals week. And unlike other fans, I don’t think the show has necessarily lost its mojo, I for one, loved season 6. I caught the last few episodes of season 7 on air and while I do agree that it will be a different program, I think the show has potential to be great without Michael Scott / Steve Carell. One of my roomies always sang the praises of Chuck, so I gave that a try, too. It’s a great dramedy and I kind of have a crush on Zachary Levi, too.

FAVORITE NEW SHOW ALREADY ON AIR: This is such a tough decision because I love each and every one of the programs shown above. But it has to be Community. If Glee gets an Emmy nod and Community doesn’t, there’s officially no justice in the world. Even Community‘s “weaker” episodes are better than most shows’ best. And it’s two-parter paintball season finale was damn near flawless. Community‘s comedic style is exactly my cup of tea and I am officially the biggest Jeff & Annie fan ever. I would normally find a relationship between a 20-year-old girl and a guy who is nearly 40 to be disgusting, but they are absolutely adorbs. And to think I only discovered this gem because it was on sale at Target…I have so much love for Target.

Returning shows…

FAVORITE RETURNING SHOW / BEST OVERALL SEASON: This was really not a tough call, as a lot of these shows had lackluster seasons, The Vampire Diaries. Now, I am not one of those crazy TVD fans who stakes out polls on Entertainment Weekly until TVD reigns supreme, but this season was very strong overall. I am such a fan of Tyler & Caroline and I cannot wait to see where the writers take this storyline. We finally saw some progression in the Stefan / Elena / Damon triangle and Jeremy finally got some lovin’ and a relationship I approve of. No sophomore slump here.

ONE TREE HILL: Much like Glee becoming the Kurt Show at times, One Tree Hill morphed into the Brooke & Julian Show. And I love Brooke and Julian, but it was overkill with the babies. If the network would have let Mark Schwahn & crew do the abortion storyline intended for Brooke in season 4, it would have added another dimension to the fact that she is unable to have children. It just seemed too easy to have Brooke get magically pregnant, with twins no less. I love me some Stephen Colletti, but I think the fact that he is now a series regular says enough. We all know that One Tree Hill should have ended after season 6, if not season 4. Although OTH never racked up high numbers, as a long-time fan, it’s horrible to see how its fallen not only in ratings but in quality.

LIGHTS OUT: I won’t divulge too much because it hasn’t aired on NBC yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed the finale. It was the perfect end to a nearly-perfect show. Can we get some Emmy love, pwease?

I generally enjoyed 90210‘s season 3. I think the first half of the season why stronger, but it overall was exponentially better than Gossip Girl. The only thing I really liked about Glee season 2 was the return of Fuinn and we all know how that ended. As for Grey’s, hopefully this season will be its last and it can go out on a high note. It’s already losing its magic, I don’t buy any article that claims Grey’s is having a comeback. Just limit the Calzona, give Alex a substantial love interest, bring back Addison and reunite Mark & Lexie and you’ll be back on track.

So what’s going to be my summer obsession? Well, So You Think You Can Dance, obvi, but I also started watching Six Feet Under today and I’m loving it so far. I am also planning to spend this summer checking out Fringe, Parenthood, Modern Family and The Good Wife.  All I can say is, thank God for Netflix.

RECAP: The Vampire Diaries, Bad Moon Rising

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“If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?” Ah, the age old question. Well Damon, they’re chilling in the woods with body-con wife beaters and shorts. Apparently the wardrobe of the howlers of the night is consistent across the spectrum.

Damon, Stefan and Elena question Alaric about the Lockwoods and the “furry problem” that seems to affect the family males. Damon is skeptic but says, “If this wolfman thing is true, I’ve seen enough movies to know that’s not good.” Except when it’s 120 odd minutes of a shirtless Taylor Lautner. Damon does some references to Don Chaney and Bela Lugosi, he’s a horror film nerd too. This is so meant to be.

Elena heads off to Duke with Damon and Alaric to read up on Isobel’s research. Isobel’s former research assistant goes rogue and attempts to skewer Elena with an arrow. Damon takes the shot (sigh, how brave) and then tells Elena to pull the damn thing out. That’s what she said.

Damon reveals he does not have the power to read minds. This is one area where Edward Cullen reigns supreme. But if you want to see him naked, all you have to do is ask.

Meanwhile the teens of Mystic Falls are relaxing at the watering hole whilst throwing back hoards of illegal alcohol in the standard red cups of shadiness. It’s the full moon tonight. I’m sensing the fur is going to fly. VampCaroline can’t catch a break. She is forced to wear the tacky ring so she can venture into the sunlight, whose powers can be relinquished by her witchy-poo amigo, Bonnie, at anytime; Stefan instructed to hunt and feed on an innocent bunny rabbit; and now her powers of compelling have driven away her boyfriend. I guess she really is a “psychotic control-freak” on crack.

Stefan and Damon are giving the disheartening news that a werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire. Better not piss off the Lockwoods tonight. Lame. We don’t even get to see the transformation of Uncle Lockwood. I was expecting a cringe-worthy “An American Werewolf in London”esque scene.

A mysterious growl sparks Stefan’s attention. He stupidly follows the sound and finds the van of Uncle Lockwood where the alleged transformation took place. A werewolf jumps out of nowhere and runs off. Caroline and Matt are getting jiggy in the woods when he cuts himself. Of course Caroline consequently goes nuts and starts feeding off his blood. The growl continues. Stefan takes Caroline and they flee the scene. Lockwolf tackles Caroline and Stefan throws him into the darkness.

I’m impressed CW. The werewolves on the show look less CGI than the Twilight ones. Props.

Tyler finds the wreckage of his uncle’s car. And his pants. He turns up looking like one of the chimneysweepers from Mary Poppins. Tyler has an epiphany: he’s a werewolf. Congrats, we knew that since last season.

The inevitable Damon and Elena chat. And yes, he’s lost her for forever. It’s like Damon just got shot with the arrow again, his reaction was painful to watch. He tells her that she has more in common with Katherine than he thought. Ooh burn.

Speaking of Katherine, she appears in Caroline’s room. But don’t worry; they’re going to have a lot of fun together.

RECAP: The Vampire Diaries, The Return

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When I tuned in to The Vampire Diaries’ pilot last year, I was expecting a flop, or at least a few good laughs. When the end credits rolled I was shocked. I liked it. A lot. Ever since then I have been a devoted fan and have never missed an episode.

This day has been marked on my calendar for at least a month. The Vampire Diaries season premiere: September 9 at 7 p.m.  At 6:45 I started trolling the Internet for a new cookie recipe to try. I found one for peanut butter triple chocolate chunk cookies. Needless to say, I got a bit distracted. I randomly glanced at the top right hand corner of my lovely MacBook Pro…it’s 7:07. Crap.

Luckily, I don’t think I missed a lot in those first seven minutes. I tuned in just in time to see Damon confront Elena about their supposed kiss – a scene that I am ashamed to say; I had to replay on YouTube. Elena is confused, Damon gets defensive, Aunt Jenna actually has a few lines and then Damon starts to piece it all together. Katherine’s back.

Oh Damon, I’ve definitely missed you on my television screen. I’m glad the famous eyebrow raise and smart-ass comments are back in my life.

There’s some exchanges between characters I don’t particularly care about: Caroline’s all right, Matt is relieved, Uncle John is paranoid that Katherine’s back, Tyler’s substantially hotter uncle shows up, Jeremy is moping around as usual, Bonnie is off being a witch.

Stefan and Katherine have a talk. He drops the bomb that he never loved her. Ouch. Katherine whips a dagger out of nowhere and rams it into Stefan’s side. Bitch is pissed.

Melancholy music plays as Damon laments. Katherine appears. Halfway through the discarding of clothes, Damon poses the inevitable question.  He has a heart, ladies and gentlemen and it’s been shattered for over 140ish years. And the truth is: she never loved him. She loved Stefan. It was always Stefan. *cue the most heartbreaking expression ever* Man, the guy just can’t win.

A drunken Damon shows up in Elena’s room. What is it with vampires and bedrooms? He tries to get Elena to admit that there is something between them. In a complete déjà-vu Elena tells Damon that she loves Stefan. It’s always going to be Stefan. A double-whamy in one night. Can I just give him a hug now?

Tyler’s confused why he gets so hot and bothered easily. Hot Uncle tells him that it’s in his blood. It’s a curse. I think it’s safe to say he’s a werewolf. Can we get some original vampire storylines here?

Jeremy is resurrected after being seemingly killed by Damon. Katherine smothers Caroline to “death.” Never liked her, I’m okay with this.

I think it’s safe to say The Vampire Diaries is off to a good sophomore season. As long as Damon and Stefan don’t start sparkling in the sun, it’s all good. I think the world can only handle one glittery vampire.