TV That Made an Impression This Year

 Memorable TV of 2011

The newbies

Once Upon a Time - Arguably the best new network show of the fall season. It brought our beloved LOST writers back to TV and, once again, gave them two worlds to juggle. While we were stunned by the midseason finale, we have to admit it was ballsy and a good episode. Just about everyone loves a good fairy tale, and while critics thought this one was going to be too weird for audiences, the show proved them wrong. This year, this show taught us that viewers want something different and something that the whole family can watch. But not something that infantilizes the audience, like Terra Nova (which one of us likes).

Homeland - Arguably the best new cable show of the fall season. The tension, the characters, the acting, and the writing were all top notch. This show proved that people will be engrossed by complicated characters over flash.

New Girl - This show put quirky, “adorkable,” and weird front-and-center and thus garnered lots of young fans. While this show is groan-inducing because Jess SINGS HER OWN THEME SONG and the character is basically an exaggerated version of the already-existing Zooey Deschanel, we don’t care. We love it. She’s bringing femininity back with her clothes and innocence back with her optimistic attitude. Best of all, the show is funny and the supporting cast is good too. Leeard loves this show so much, that she let's Ern know "I love this show" every time she watches it. Ern knows, dammit.

Happy Endings - This was the only Friends copycat in the recent year that survived, and thank God, because the others were terrible. This one has funny writing with lines that are sometimes said too fast. However, you know a comedy is bringing funny back when it redeems Elisha Cuthbert for a 24 fan.

American Horror Story - We didn’t think a TV show that relied on a shock a minute would work. We thought this would be too much. And yeah, we were right. But we were also entertained for weeks. There’s never been a TV show like this, for better or worse. We don’t want to give anything away for people who haven’t seen it, but this show is not afraid to kill. And it’s not afraid to go to the most messed-up place possible in order to make us s*** our pants in fear.

Revenge - We’ve talked to multiple guys who say that this show hooked them. Stephen King even likes it. It’s rare that a soap aimed at girls can grab just about everyone, but this one did it. It has few (if any) haters, redeemed a so-so actress, and brought us Nolan. The lead is likeable, even though she is bent on revenge. We understand her, but we can’t predict her. It’s one of the better primetime soaps in a while. At first, we thought it was going to be a predictable revenge procedural, but then they brought out the real Emily and things started getting crazy good.

The Playboy Club - This show sucked, and the American audience let everyone know that Hugh Hefner and Playboy are gross, not things that we can emotionally invest in. Thank you, American public, for once. Besides, the show was too tame for the people who would be edgy and liberal enough to embrace it. We will remember this show for being lame and being over very quickly. It wasn’t smart enough to be Mad Men.

Charlie’s Angels - This was one of the worst shows we have ever seen, and that’s saying something. It wasn’t even bad in a fun way. It was just unwatchable. We will remember this for ruining Charlie’s Angels for us forever.

Enlightened - Apparently, this show got good after we dropped out and has been renewed. It made an impression as an off-the-wall, female-driven comedy, and we can respect that. The pilot almost worked, so we can see that it might be worthwhile if it got better, which apparently it has. We’ll be checking it out.

The Killing - We were never under the impression that the mystery would be solved at the end of the first season anyway, so we don’t share everyone else’s rage that we didn’t find out who murdered Rosie. And we don’t care what anyone else says: We think that acting was good. But this show provided a warning to showrunners everywhere: Give us answers, or you will become a joke.

The Chicago Code - A good show that got axed too soon.  Good acting, good villain (especially in the first few episodes, when you weren't 100% sure he was bad), and a satisfying finale, for a show that really could have (and should have) gone on longer.

Game of Thrones - Arguably the best new show of the year, Ern even thought it surpassed the book in enjoyability. Shut up, that’s a word. It stayed true to the book, down to lots of the dialogue, and didn’t hesitate to pull off the book’s infuriating, shocking twists. Nerds have been suffering without intelligent science fiction and fantasy on TV these days, and HBO jumped to fill the void. The details and visuals of the world HBO created was admirable. They didn’t half-ass this. And no one will forget the episode “Baelor” that shocked all the show’s fans who hadn’t read the book.

Off the Map - We will remember this show for being decent and for delivering one of the most unsatisfying conclusions to a series of all time. We still miss this show. It had a pretty and talented cast that needs to get hired again by other shows, ASAP. They deserved better. It was just as good as some seasons of Grey’s and Private Practice! Why didn’t those fans jump on this show? Maybe too much of a popular thing is just too much.

Shameless - This show redeemed Emmy Rossum for us after she came out with that hideous music that didn’t show off her classical voice. Seeing her slumming it in this show and taking care of her siblings was a good trainwreck. We loved everyone in this twisted family, and we will be returning for another visit when the show starts up again. This show was very easy to watch and proved once again that remaking British shows works a lot of the time. Unless it’s Skins. That was a bad idea. People don’t like shows that only exist to shock and stir up controversy. There has to be more to it than that. With Shameless, there was.

The Returning Shows

Breaking Bad - This season perfected the slow burn. Just when we thought this show couldn’t get any better, it masterfully crafted a fustercluck for the ages with Tarantino-like crazy moments. The acting, of course, remained incredible. It was probably the most quality TV this year. Sons of Anarchy lost that award with its snooze-inducing finale. Breaking Bad’s finale left us gasping.

The Office - This was the year that we said goodbye to Michael Scott, which is memorable in itself. His exit was perfect. We also think that the show found a way to be decent again, even without him. It certainly isn’t as bad as The Office’s horrific season six, which had no funny episodes even with Michael. We thought this show was dead, but it may still have life.

Two and a Half Men - This show was already bad and creepy. How many jokes about whores and poop can they do? Those seem to be limitless. Now, the show has betrayed even its most ardent fans by ruining John Cryer’s character. We were told that Alan contemplated STEALING from Ashton Kutcher’s character. Now, fans of this show are stupid. But they don’t deserve to have the character they loved for being a stand up guy turn into Charlie Sheen. The show could have thought of a better way to introduce Ashton’s character. The ratings are still good, but we know the fans are disappointed.

Glee - Made an impression by taking a sweet, believable show and turning it into what we saw this year. A hot and cold, uneven pile of crazy with exactly no likeable characters and mostly bad music.

Parks and Recreation - This year in Parks and Recreation was perfect, especially Lil Sebastian’s funeral. This comedy proves that you don’t have to be mean or sarcastic to be funny. In fact, the characters can be sweet and all love each other. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Friday Night Lights - A solid season ended with a perfect, bittersweet finale. We miss that show.

Big Love - A weird season that ended with a finale we really didn’t like. We know the show ended up being about the family, and that whoever didn’t get that just missed the point. But somewhere around season three, it looked like the show was going to be about Nicki’s awakening to love and real independence. Then she backslid and became first wife. Then Bill died and it just felt like they killed him just so that they would have something to do for an ending. We guess the finale scene with the women was sweet though. And we miss this show too. Also, what happened to Joey? Why did this show waste our lives with him and then just have him just disappear?

Community - The Dungeons and Dragons episode and the one with the multiple timelines were two of the most perfect comedy episodes we’ve encountered. Ever. This show stumbled a little in the beginning of its third season, but for the year overall, it produced creative, funny episodes. Oh oh! Also there was the one where Pierce was “dying” and bequeathed gifts to his study group. Classic. Then the Christmas episode happened, and we just had no words. This show is the best, and if it leaves us forever, at least it went out like that. But it better not leave us forever.

The Good Wife - This is the year that it finally grabbed us. It was always good and watchable, but in 2011, we saw Will and Alicia finally hook up, the cases seemed to get better, we got more Eli Gold, and everything just seemed to get more fast-paced and entertaining. Bravo, show.

Are there any shows that you think made a splash this year? Probably Boardwalk Empire. Yep. We spoiled ourselves there, so we know what happened. Wowser. Should the Grey's Anatomy musical episode have made this list?

In which we offend every New Age person reading this blog....

Enlightened - "Pilot"

This show focuses on a woman into what lots of people call “The New Age movement.” But not the cool, confusing, heady parts. This show is about New Age 101. Mostly just meditation and shallow platitudes. The thing about this part of New Ageism is that no one can really argue with it, but plenty of people have a problem with it. Sure, positive thinking is a good thing. Making new starts and making amends are also healthy. But they are just not ENOUGH for most people to change their lives.

That’s part of what doesn’t work for us about this TV show. Amy Jellicoe’s whole outlook on life is changed by things that just aren’t powerful enough to transform you. The experiences Amy has (or what we see of them in the pilot) just don’t have that kind of juice. Sure, the big sea turtle was cool, and many people can experience God/life force/whatever through nature. Another thing that doesn’t work for us is that the show doesn’t seem to know if it supports this kind of thing or if it wants to mock it.

That is realistic, because we think that’s the way a lot of people see New Age books, meditation, and talk about the universe. In the right crowd or at the right time, lots of people will roll with it. “I believe in a God. You believe in some universal force? SAME THING!” At other times, they will deem it wishy washy, stupid, or a waste of time. Because most of it really can mesh with lots of religions and lots of forms of atheism. Your stance on it will be as flexible as the “belief system” itself. This kind of modern spirituality has become a catch-all for people who realize that humans are spiritual beings but who don’t want a label or don’t agree with any established religion.

You get a lot of types who differ in beliefs, rituals, habits, and backgrounds. That’s one of the things that is awesome about that crowd. But sometimes when people are afraid to make a gathering about something (because someone in the group might choose not to work with that concept), it’s hard to make your gathering about anything. Except for trees. Everyone likes trees. But are they powerful enough that you will become enlightened by thinking about them in a seated position?

Amy works at a company called “Abbadon,” which, as any religion (or LOST) nerd knows, means “hell” in Hebrew. She has a breakdown while she is there after having an affair with her boss and getting transferred to an inferior department. She takes two months off, goes to rehab, swims with turtles, and does hippie dippy activities that make her want to be different when she gets back. And different she is. She dresses casually (like a hippie), has curlier hair, hugs strangers, smiles, and tries to keep her temper in check. That doesn’t always work.

That’s realistic. No matter what belief system is changing your life, it doesn’t happen all at once. Don’t let this post fool you into thinking we are totally against all of this hippie stuff. There’s a lot of truth in it, and if you are open to it, you might learn new thought processes or tools to deal with life. What you can get out of this post is that we think Eckhart Tolle and his intellectual ilk are a supplement to real life, not the complete guide.

It can spark debate, call you out for splitting hairs or demanding that your own terminology be used, and it can make you more accepting and understanding of people who think differently. It can make you care about the environment more, be more open, and be less rule-oriented in your worldview. And yoga is relaxing. We dip into the pool, take what we like, add it to what already works for us, and run with it. Also, hippies are really into rocks. All kinds of rocks, big and small. Rocks. Are. Awesome. Anyway...

Amy’s problems are relatable, and lots of people today are embarking on a similar spiritual journey. Lots of people also have trouble communicating with a parent. Lots of people have addict husbands who look like Luke Wilson with a beard. So why is Amy so hard to relate to then? Whether she is following her new beliefs or lashing out, Amy comes across like a side-show. A train crash. We're pretty sure even Oprah's most loyal followers, people who have feathers in their house to clear energy, and psychics would think that both Amy and this show are too shallow and simplistic. What crowd is this catering to?

This show doesn't know what it is yet. It's supposed to be a comedy, but who are we laughing at? Amy? The miserable drones around her? The show is not really funny. It’s tone is uneven and confusing. The premise is too ordinary. And the voiceover gives us plenty of platitudes that sound like nothing, but they are expected to be taken seriously. Sure, the voiceover is true. But it is missing conviction, oomph, and self-awareness. Much like this show. Much like the New Age movement.

Episode grade: C+

New Show: Enlightened

Enlightened
HBO, Monday October 10

Starring: Laura Dern (Blue Velvet, October Sky) and Luke Wilson (Legally Blonde, Old School, The Royal Tenenbaums)

Plot: Amy Jellicoe (Laura Dern) is a self-destructive executive who has a public breakdown following a breakup. She goes to rehab and has a philosophical epiphany. She then tries to meditate, think positive, and shake up the system in order to get her life together.

Why We Are Excited: This looks like a more grounded, relatable version of Eat, Pray, Love. It definitely looks different and a little funny, without mocking hippies. It could be controversial.

Why We Are Not Excited: Luke Wilson tends to pick a lot of iffy projects. My Super Ex-Girlfriend, anyone? Also, this could be weird or offensive to some.

Preview:


Anticipation Score: 7/10

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