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#1 of 2007: Friday Night Lights

Monday, December 31st, 2007

I have evangelized this show (often ineloquently) till I’ve been blue in the fingers. Accusations of a sophomore slump, dummying down and pandering to demographics have all fallen on my deaf ears. Friday Night Lights was the show of 2007 here at Mikey Likes TV.

For the wayward Ghost Whisperer fan whose found their way to my humble blog, FNL is a show based on a movie, based on a book about the real life struggles of a small Texas football town. Clearly this far down in a game of industry telephone, the series is also based on all of no facts. It’s just a miraculously endearing portrait of handful of characters in what could have easily been an obnoxious teen soap or an incredibly boring sports show.

In 2007, FNL had frank portrayals of racism and the grieving process of the recently handicapped and the rarely explored sympathy for the high school golden boy. It may also be the only show in history whose scheduling banishment to Friday nights actually made me occasionally stay in. I’m that invested. I can’t help but feel that Friday Night Lights might not see it through the end of next year, but I’ll continue to write about it in hopes that either god or Ben Silverman ever happen upon it.

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#2 of 2007: Battlestar Galactica

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

Had last season’s allusions to the American occupation of Iraq and that “duh” moment of realization that the cylons are, in fact, no worse than the old US of A actually fallen in ’07… Battlestar Galactica would have most certainly nabbed the number one spot. The beginning of last season was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen on TV. 2007 was a little different though. The year brought a few too many of their cringeworthy filler episodes followed by a hefty hiatus – BSG was off my radar for the majority of the TV-watching year! But looking back, 2007 was also the year of “Rapture,” of “Maelstrom, “of “Crossroads Part II” and of last month’s rockin’ “Razor!” Sure, Battlestar Galactica occasionally falls short. It’s also capable of a deeply involved allegoric intelligence the likes of which you almost never get. Seeing a fitting end to this awesome series in its final season is my number one reason for wishing this damned writers’ strike would end already.

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#3 of 2007: Lost

Saturday, December 29th, 2007

My crash course in Lost last summer probably makes my perspective on the show a unique one. While most of you toiled and questioned the show’s numerous “wtf?”s for over three years, I watched all 70 episodes in a third as many days. Lost currently ranks high on my list of favorites. My excitement to actually watch it unfold in real time (the way I think serial TV is best enjoyed) is immeasurable. Most agree that the series has seen its share of awesome highs and desperate lows since its 2004 debut, but for me there is no question that this past season (its 2007 installment in particular) saw the show at its strongest. My bizarre rationale for this assessment: Juliet Burke.

I often feel like the only person who is completely obsessed with her. For me, she’s the most interesting and dynamic character the show has yet to offer. My major obstacle with Lost was that I had a hard time getting into the survivors of Oceanic flight 815. You have to try to love them. This may be a failure on their part and it may just be my own laziness, but it was enough to keep me from watching until the demise of Veronica Mars left my TV roster mystery-deficient. Juliet hasn’t just fueled my interest in “the others” and the origins of the island, she’s made me care about Jack again. I’d sort of written him off as the same old Party of Five whiner, but his lust for the morally ambiguous Juliet (combined with his dismissal of the seriously not that swoonworthy Kate) has put our noble lead back in my favor. The first thing I’d like to see in this season’s potentially flash-forward-tastic season? Juliet’s role in Jack’s melodramatic descent into alcoholism.

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#4 of 2007: Veronica Mars

Friday, December 28th, 2007

Veronica was my girl. I’ve written enough postmortems to prove it. For three seasons, she was more or less my reason for watching TV. The show’s cancellation was the ultimate lowlight of 2007, so it’d be wrong not to acknowledge that tragedy one more time as I look back at the year. The third season may not have been her strongest, but compared to most of the crap out there, it was solid gold. Here’s one last tip of the hat to you, Veronica Mars. You surely will be missed…

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#5 of 2007: Pushing Daisies

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Pushing Daisies… oh, Pushing Daisies. I can honestly say that I was never more excited about a new show in my life. All summer long I watched and rewatched the pilot, went to public screenings and Q&As and never once thought that the rest of the series wouldn’t live up to my ridiculously high expectations. By some stroke of bizarro luck, it didn’t – which is even more awesome considering what stinkers 99% of the season’s other new offerings ended up being.

Forget, for a moment, the saturated colors and over the top visuals. The real wonder of Pushing Daisies is creator Brian Fuller’s fantastic take on love, life and death. It’s unlike anything else on television and adds astounding depth to an otherwise cartoonish show. This time next year, the charm of Pushing Daisies may very well have run its course. I already know more than a few people who’ve tired of the twee and über whimsy. It’s a different breed – far off from even Fuller’s previous offerings – so there’s no telling how it will work in the long run. But much like I did last summer, I’m choosing to not dwell on what might go wrong with Daisies. I’m content for now with how happy it’s made me.

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#6 of 2007: Big Love

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

The sophomore season of Big Love proved that its more than just a sophisticated, Mormon update of soapy family dramas like Dallas or Dynasty, it’s a showcase for some of the best acting on television. Bill Paxton continues to be the only one of the ensemble to garner formal attention for his efforts – a shame considering his talents are continually outshone by almost every other player on the show. My fondness for his wives (Jeanne Tripplehorn in particular) has long been a reason for watching.

But 2007 took the show in a new direction. The introductory season laid ground for many members of the Henrickson clan to reassess their status as polygamists. Some of their decisions broke my little heart (like Barb returning home with her tail between her legs) and others rocked my TV world. Sarah’s cold “I don’t respect you” speech to Bill during their father-daughter dance was one of the show’s finer moments. I knew she had it in her though. She’s an effing firecracker. One character I didn’t expect to fall for this year was creepy Mormon prophet and fan of child-brides, Roman Grant. Bill’s recent moral failing and Roman’s charming bouts with senility planted me firmly in his corner by the time he was unsuccessfully gunned down. I never really thought much of Harry Dean Stanton, but I challenge anyone to watch him play the harmonica in Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project and not fall in love.

With The Sopranos finally in the grave, The Wire on its way out and John From Cincinnati proving to be barely a blip on the radar, Big Love will likely be seated at the throne of drama on HBO in 2008 (you know, if there’s TV in 08). My only problem with Big Love is the paltry 12 episode orders – that and my fear that they probably aren’t going to keep the wife count at three.

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#7 of 2007: The Sopranos

Tuesday, December 25th, 2007

I’m not going to pretend to know exactly what David Chase intended to convey with the final scene of The Sopranos, and I’m certainly not interested in spending 10,000 words making biblical references. Onion rings and transubstantiation? Zzzzzzzzzz… For the people not too consumed with arbitrary rage over what they see as insufficient closure, most explanations for the scene have been boring and trite – two characteristics we could never assign to The Sopranos.

This many months down the line, I’m no longer concerned with whether he lived or died, I’m just impressed that a television show on a premium cable network was able to bring the country to a standstill with ten seconds of blank screens. TV events like the JR shooting on Dallas, Luke and Laura’s General Hospital nuptials or the revelation that Bob Newhart’s second show existed completely in the dreams of his character in the previous series all grabbed the nation’s attention. Things like that don’t happen anymore. People don’t watch the same show at the same time. Fandom, DVRs and the ever-shortening attention span of the collective have polarized viewership more than ever. What The Sopranos did was bring TV watchers together. It made everyone who wasn’t tuning in feel left out.

As much as The Sopranos was landmark television and an unfailing entertainer, its departure was a welcome one. Ten years with a serial so frequently grim was starting to wear on my nerves. I appreciate its contributions though, and I’ll think of it every time I come out on the stinky side of the Lincoln Tunnel.

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#8 of 2007: Flight of the Conchords

Monday, December 24th, 2007

No other event of 2007 worked its way into my subconscious, my lexicon or my daily interactions like the first season of Flight of the Conchords. This might be because nothing else was funnier, more engaging or oddly relevant to my own life. After all, Conchords isn’t so much a musical sitcom as it is a subtly brilliant sonnet for the confused, impoverished and selectively motivated 20-something New Yorker.

New York is often portrayed in television (usually on the Warner Brothers’ lot in Burbank) but it rarely resembles the city as I’ve always seen it. The fault lies somewhere between TV’s tendency to glamorize everything and my own, sorry socioeconomic standing. New York is a city of oddly socialized lifers and a slew of immigrants, ex-pats and drifters from far off lands – be they North Dakota or New Zealand. Bret and Jemaine happen to be from the latter, but it really doesn’t matter. It also doesn’t particularly matter that they be in New York, because their struggle is universal. The locale just makes me like it more.

Taking the HBO water cooler phenomenon to the next level, Conchords wasn’t just fodder for Monday morning discussions. Any one of the many three-minute breaks in each episode could prompt a week’s worth of Tourette’s-fueled musical moments for its more rabid viewers. The Sopranos certainly struck a chord with the American public, but for every media mention of their series finale, I’ve noticed at least three partygoers or strangers on the street break into binary solos. For these few reasons, and many more, Flight of the Conchords is both one of my favorites and a cultural first – a serial slacker comedy focusing on hyper-emotional young men who frequently burst into song and/or dance. Its return will likely be one of the most heralded premieres you’ll see covered here in ’08.

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#9 of 2007: Dexter

Friday, December 21st, 2007

Since I experienced both the first and second seasons of Dexter in 2007 (and in the same three-month period leading up to this list), it seemed impossible to leave it off. I feel kind of dirty about my bandwagoning considering how long it took me to jump on board. My general (and waning) skepticism of Showtime series and my desire to perfectly preserve my TV memories of Michael C. Hall as David Fisher made me avoid Dexter until the flu and an empty DVR forced me to watch the first run over the span of one weekend.

Most arc-driven serial drama aims to entertain viewers in a way once traditionally reserved for the movies. Dexter’s high-gloss finish and grindhouse-quality gore don’t definitely don’t hamper their attempts, but it’s their cinematic approach to storytelling that raises the bar. TV tends to dwell on ensembles and avoid fully fleshed out character studies. Even shows focusing on titular characters can lose focus when the actors who play them aren’t up to par or the writers let the supporting cast become too interesting or appealing to fans. But Dexter, the show and the character, deftly navigates a stellar supporting cast without ever straying too far from the absurd mind of the protagonist. He’s made me love first person narration again – and somewhat tolerate flashbacks.

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#10 of 2007: 30 Rock

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

If this list had existed last year, 30 Rock would not have made it. I was so unimpressed with the pilot and annoyed by the whole “30 Rock vs Studio 60” brouhaha of fall 2006, I gave up before it really even started. Such a foolish mistake. I didn’t retune-in until I caught the episode where Tracy had to appear on Conan in the midst of a hallucinogenic mental breakdown, and I haven’t stopped watching since.

Satirical looks at the entertainment industry have become such a common premise for television series in the past five years, it’s inevitable that most of them come off just as pretentious as their real-life counterparts that they’re trying to lampoon. 30 Rock has avoided this by never taking itself seriously and creating shows, films and plays in their own world that are unrivaled in their absurdity. The metaculture of 30 Rock is funnier than anything in our own world, and the glimpses of it are so brief, I’m left longing to live a world where I can buy tickets to “Mystic Pizza: the Musical” on Broadway, Netflix Who Dat Ninga? or watch the full video for “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” on MTV. It just doesn’t even seem fair. 30 Rock also bears a comforting resemblance to Mary Tyler Moore – a highly publicized fact that certainly can’t do them any harm.

Not only has 30 Rock proved itself to be the most consistently funny offering on NBC’s Thursday night, it’s also the only one to graciously forgo the sappy, group-huggy notes that most episodes of The Office and Scrubs end on. It may have just scraped in at number 10, but it walked all over a few longtime favorites to even get that far. Here’s one reason why:

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