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?

Two Shows End Their Seasons

Two very different shows came to an end in the past week. Sadly, the one that is probably ending for good did not give us a satisfying conclusion.

Off the Map: After a cheesy, uneven, uninspired start, this show evolved into something we actually looked forward to every Wednesday. But all the hype and the lame, self-conscious pilot turned off too many people. The ratings were down, and actors have started jumping ship, knowing the show is over. The season (probably series) finale left us with many questions. Will the amazing Mina Minard return Tommy’s feelings of love? Will Ryan live? Will Mateo live? WILL THE SHOW LIVE? Too many questions, and we will be annoyed if the show is canceled and we completely wasted our lives on a season of this show and got no closure. Leeard is taking this worse than Ern is (probably because Ern watches Grey’s Anatomy and so Off the Map won’t leave as big of a gap in her doctor drama schedule). Ern still thinks there is a chance for renewal. Leeard does not. But Leeard loves it.

Season grade if we get a next season: B-

Season grade if we don’t: D-

Being Human: This ending was much tidier. Maybe too tidy (until the very last scene, that is). Poor guy-who-plays-Jacob-on-LOST. Not only can you not act, but you always get killed off of your shows. This show has been renewed for a second season, to air on SyFy. One of us wants to check out the BBC version over the summer, once most of the regular TV goes away. But this version has been pretty enjoyable, and we will be tuning in next year. We liked the season as a whole, but the finale was only “ok.” Our minds weren’t blown and we think they played it too safe.

Season grade: B+

Shows That Are In Trouble

We are dancing on the clouds about Fringe, Community, Parks and Rec, and Southland getting renewed. (Wow, that sounded less gay in our heads, but still. It’s accurate.)

Here are the shows that we want to see stick around that still haven’t been renewed…and the shows we hate and want to see go away. Their slots can go to good, new shows. Possibly. As for the ones we don’t mention: we either don’t care or we don't think the show is in enough danger to be on this list.

Our struggling favorites:

Chuck - Leeard is a beyond-faithful fan of Chuck, and Ern watches it when it’s on and she has nothing better to do. Still, both of us would like to see this cult fave survive yet again.

Outsourced - It’s offensive. Blah blah blah. What matters is that it’s really funny.

Off the Map - How are the Grey’s and Private Practice fans not watching this? Yeah, the pilot was awful and some episodes are cheesy. But the last episode was devoid of cheese and it’s getting better. It deserves a season two.

Lie to Me - The concept alone is worth keeping this show for. It’s been much better since they got rid of the stifling FBI stuff. Also, if they just aggressively serialized a few more elements of the show (like Bones does with its characters), it could start getting intense and making people care about the characters.

Two and a Half Men - We know, we know. You’re thinking, “What blog is this?!! It’s been taken over by imposters!” But we think it would be extremely entertaining to watch the show replace Charlie Sheen and even more entertaining to watch Charlie Sheen react to getting replaced. It will be a train-wreck ending to a horrible show. After we happily watch its demise with a glass of wine and an evil laugh, the networks can totally cancel it.

Perfect Couples - It's a way funnier version of Better with You. It could grow into something hilarious.

Shows we want gone:

The Event - We hate this show for promising to bring us a LOST-meets-24 dynamic and giving us a show we couldn’t give two craps about.

Better with You - Unfunny, sexist dribble. No one cares. Leeard is actually still watching this show, but doesn't care if it's cancelled or not. That's not a good sign.

Detroit 1-8-7 - If this goes away, then maybe its fans will console themselves with Southland, which is so much better than this cop show.

V - Die V, die! This show got a miracle second season and then proceeded to squander it by being silly, boring, and the opposite of addictive. It gives serialized drama, which we usually love, a bad name.

Yep, We Are Still Watching Off the Map

Off the Map is not nearly as good as Grey’s Anatomy was in its first couple of episodes (but it's a heck of a lot better than Private Practice was). It’s too light and it has yet to decide whether it’s more of a serial or a procedural. But the episodes don’t drag. It’s easy to watch, mindless entertainment. But it doesn’t sink to the level of superficiality and debauchery as most mindless entertainment shows involving romance (Jersey Shore, soap operas, etc.) Also, it is slowly but surely getting better. It’s easy to top the self-conscious, dumb pilot with potential that it churned out at first, but still. We think the dialogue is getting less schmaltzy too, as the characters’ redemption storylines have already been introduced. We can move past that a little now.

The latest episode featured an ex-law student (Mateo) on the run from the local, corrupt cops who is into Lily. He was on the show before too. This shows that Off the Map is starting to have the doctors forge connections with the locals that could turn into decent story arcs. We found out that Ben has a comatose wife whose funds support the clinic. This is a great surprise, and it shows us that the show is not afraid to go to a sort of creepy place and make the characters imperfect. Tommy is already starting to grow as a person and has stopped sleeping with every tourist who lands in the jungle. The show is moving in the right direction. We liked the giant snake, the ex-Nazi, and the father/daughter amputee plots. There are moments that are good, along with the cheesy, Grey’s-rip off moments. We are also enjoying Meryl Streep’s daughter, who plays Mina. She has an interesting look and enough charisma to pull of the character, even though we can see that she needs a little more acting experience. We actually like most of the cast. The scenery is gorgeous.

Zee and Cole were boring at first, but now we know that Cole used to be a drug addict and Zee has a hot Scottish guy after her. We really like that some of the natives are recurring and some stories are about to be set up. One of us likes the character of Dr. Ryan Clark. She’s cool, compassionate, and competent. We just wish she wasn’t sleeping with Ben. We’re glad Lily and Ben haven’t gotten together yet.

This show’s weakness is that it is relying too much on the big emergencies of the week, rather than focusing on a coherent, season-long plot arc for its main characters. This show would not work as a procedural. While patient stories are necessary, it’s the ongoing plots that keep people hooked on a show like this. Big patient stories each week are too unbelievable for a show that already has an out-there, fancy premise.

We want Ben’s wife to die, the clinic to conflict more with local corrupt law enforcement, and for Mina to get a love interest. We want the show’s messages to start being more subtle and we want the show to take more chances to break out of its “seen it, and it was Grey’s Anatomy” vibe. With so many good shows ending lately, we don’t feel like we should be too picky on a Wednesday night, packed only with American Idol, Cougar Town (on hiatus until April - or Mr. Sunshine is cancelled, which is unlikely because ratings are good), and Modern Family. Off the Map has yet to find its way, voice, and story. There’s room for it on our schedule, so we are going to really give it a chance to get good. If, by the end of the season, it isn’t, it’s gone. But we are giving it Season 1.

Now that We've Seen Two Episodes...Here is the Off the Map review

Oh great. A show for those of us who want another Grey’s Anatomy, only with fewer characters and more wilderness. We were nervous immediately when the beginning of the show informed us that it takes place “Somewhere in South America.” Pull out your maps. This continent is huge. This tells us nothing. You never hear “somewhere in Asia” or “somewhere in North America.” We guess the show’s writers consider this continent to be unvaried/not special. Even if they don’t, that’s a stupid way to start the episode. Just have a character make a crack about being in South America, and you would tell us all you want us to know without making us question it. Duh. Also, did they just use a “jungle noises” sleeping sound maching to make the background sounds?

Then, the first episode was super self-conscious. It kept dogging white people coming to third-world countries to help. The title was “Saved by the Great White Hope.” We guess that the show had to make fun of itself in a politically correct way to stave off the critics doing it. We don’t think this should be a thing. No one should make fun of Americans (or anyone, really) going to help others. If you scoff at that just based on the principle of white people helping ethnic people, you’re racist. It’s people helping people. What, only Spanish people are supposed to help their own? Rich, young Americans SHOULD help poor people, so why is it PC to scoff at them when they do? Unless they are doing a bad job or adding to the problem, we don’t see why this episode gave so much lip service to the mocking of it. The first episode had a whole character devoted to judging the gringos (Zee). Funnily enough, we would have guessed that she was white until she started speaking with a Spanish accent. We hope now that the show is done covering its arse, it can get down to business.

The cases in both episodes were good though. A few of them had us genuinely concerned for the fictional patients involved. It was weird how so many of the young doctors didn’t know Spanish. There are plenty of Americans who know Spanish. They could have gotten some recruits that knew it out of hundreds of applicants. Heck, both Leeard and Ern speak more Spanish than these people, and they're the ones actually going to South America. You can’t throw a rock in either of our towns without hitting people who speak more Spanish than this. Unrealistic.

We could have guessed it was a Shonda Rhimes production as soon as a guy had his shirt off. Or how about when the frat guy (formerly Matt on Friday Night Lights) made a dramatic speech about his need for redemption to a guy who didn’t speak English. Call us softies, but we kind of liked the theme were the people needed redemption and new starts. It grounds the characters into some kind of story arc right away, even if it is heavy-handed and cheesy.

In the end, we decided that most of the problems with this show are going to fade away as soon as the introductions are in order and the show goes on. People with medical knowledge might scoff at the coconut transfusion or the flimsy attempt at CPR by one character (that’s supposed to be able to break RIBS, woman!). But we don’t care. We are already asking, “Will Lily get with Dr. Ben or will the redhead from Twilight get to keep him?” The second episode was already better than the first one. We are going to stick with this. It could turn out to be enjoyable. And who doesn’t love that Caroline Dhavernas is on TV again? Wonderfalls was way too long ago.

Grades for the episodes combined: B-