Friday, November 30, 2007
What do we love? Pain!
Topic for the weekend (and into next week if you want): what were the best shows (or even episodes of shows) you watched on TV in the calendar year 2007? Any genre, any daypart, doesn't matter; if it was on TV in '07 (and not a rerun like a "Seinfeld" episode or something), it qualifies. I know we have another month to go, but I need to start gathering my thoughts for the Best-of list, and while I have a lot of things in mind (probably too many already), I'm always paranoid about missing something obvious.
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92 comments:
30 Rock had by far the most laugh-out-loud-until-I-cried-and-then-
had-to-hit-rewind-on-the-DVR moments.
--Ted
This list was more difficult than I'd expected, and I'll admit that several of these are more sentimental favorites than truly outstanding quality.
-- 30 Rock: "Hard Ball"
-- Battlestar Galactica: "Crossroads II"
-- Chuck: "Pilot" (Not their best, but I fell for that screener.)
-- Friday Night Lights: "State" (the emotional and literal pinnacle)
-- Flight of the Conchords: "Bowie" (For "Bret, You Got It Goin' On", though you'd probably choose "Mugged" for the Rhymenoceros!)
-- Doctor Who: "Blink" (with the human arc as a runner-up)
One word. Dexter.
My favorite shows are pretty well covered on this blog so I tried to think of the best episodes.
Curb- "Anonymous Donor"
Sopranos- "Kennedy and Heidi"
Friday Night Lights- "I Think We Should Have Sex"
Earl- The first Cops episode
Flight of the Conchords- "The Third Conchord (season finale)"
My darkhorse is Project Runway (the entire 3rd season was great, but the finale specifically was very intriguing). I'm sure there is a great 30 Rock episode that stands out above the others but I can't pick one out.
The Lost finale.
Heroes' Company Man episode.
Big Love had a great second season, but all the episodes are blending together in my head.
The wrap-up to last season's Desperate Housewives mystery (The Little Things You Do Together) was pretty great too.
John from Cincinnati. It's such a shame they canceled it after just one short season.
I was going to say BSG "Crossroads: Part 2" but Alanna beat me to the punch. Then I thought about it, and decided as cool as it was, it wasn't *quite* as awesome as "Exodus: Part 2" and Galactica jumping into the frakin' atmo!!!
This is proably going to be on your list, but I don't want future generations to think your commenters missed it:
Mad Men. Just about any episode.
Keep the suggestions coming, guys.
And, again, it can be either a series as a whole or an episode (or even a group of episodes). In some years, I've done series-only, which would make it hard for me to include something like "Lost," where only the last three or four episodes were really very good, but I would be fine putting the "Lost" finale next to, say, "Mad Men" season one.
For me, "Lost" was, hand down, the best thing on television in 2007. Suspenseful and deeply weird it gripped me after I drifted away in Season 2.
Otherwise, props for "Company Man," which has since been shown up as an anomaly of excellence of the dire "Heroes."
The finale of "Veronica Mars" was quite good, and bittersweet end for a show that never regained its first season glory.
Of the fall 2007 crop, I've only stuck with "Journeyman." Love that show! Of course, it's doomed.
The season finale of Dexter, season 1. (That was 2007, right?)
Heroes, "Company Man."
Sopranos, "Sopranos Home Movies." (I love the finale, but this is the episode that I really remembered from the final season. Brilliant writing.)
Oh, in that case (with regards to your comment - I thought you only wanted single episodes), I'd choose all of Dexter, season 1. Just a tight, smart, great season with hardly any missteps.
I'll go with "Mad Men," too, because its greatness was just so surprising. AMC decides to do a dramatic series, and it's about the advertising business 37 years ago? I certainly never expected it to be both unique and brilliant.
Apart from that, "The Office" (more earlier in the year than later), "30 Rock," selected eps of "How I Met Your Mother" and "South Park," "Friday Night Lights," "Dexter," "House," and, too a slightly lesser extent, "Chuck" and "Torchwood."
Also, I think "Two and a Half Men" is funny, and I never miss "World Poker Tour." Sue me.
One show stands out in my mind above everything else: Mad Men.
I'll second the love for the very strong, dark sendoff of Veronica Mars. I'll have to brainstorm what else might be in danger of slipping through the cracks...
Er, in regard to "Mad Men," I meant to say 47 years ago.
Friday Night Lights: Mud Bowl.
Dexter, seasons 1 and all of 2 so far.
HIMYM: Slap Bet was 2007, right?
My Boys: Duche Bag Intervention portion of the otherwise lame episode.
Craig T. Nelson playing Guitar Hero in his underwear on My Name is Earl.
30 Rock: Just about any episode, but I want to give special credit to "The Head and The Hair" and "Cleveland."
The Office: "Beach Day" and "The Deposition."
Flight of the Conchords: The Mugger
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Any moment Larry talks to Leon.
Connie Britton at any given moment she is on screen
Season 2 of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. God bless Danny DeVito's drunken, tiny body.
Kid Nation: Jared playing Dance Dance Revolution last week.
okay, let's see what I can remember, but I am sure that I will leave some stuff out.
BSG: "Crossroads (2)"
South Park: All three "Imagination Land episodes"
Pushing Daisies: "Pie-lette"
All 13 episodes of "Mad Men" initial season
Curb: "The Ida Funkhouse Roadside Memorial" or the ending montage of "The Bat Mitzvah"
30 Rock: "The Fighting Irish." "The Rural Juror," "Greenzo"
Shield: Hard to pick just one out of the 10 eps from this last season. Perhaps "Baptism by Fire"
Veronica Mars: "The Bitch is Back"
Damages: all of Season 1. I know you weren't crazy about this show, but damn, it was good all around in my opinion
Reaper: "Pilot"
Friday Night Lights: "State" or just the whole second half of the first season that aired in '07
Heroes: "Company Man"
Lost: "Through the Looking Glass" (both parts)
More might come later as I remember things...
Mad Men. The whole series, but my favourites were "Babylon" and "The Long Weekend".
The Office - "The Negotiation"
Veronica Mars - The one-two hit of "Weevils Wobble..." and "The Bitch is Back"
Friday Night Lights. Every episode.
Ugly Betty - "East Side Story"
Family Guy's Star Wars episode.
For overall series, I'd have to go with this top five:
- Dexter
- Flight of the Conchords
- Friday Night Lights
- Life
- Pushing Daisies
As for individual episodes:
- Dexter: "Resistance is Futile"
- Doctor Who: "Blink"
- Heroes: "Company Man"
- Lost: "Through the Looking Glass"
- Rome: "De Patre Vosto"
I agree with earlier picks like the Veronica Mars finale, Heroes' "Company Man," and Doctor Who's "Blink."
Susan mentioned Dexter's first season, which was actually 2006, so I'll say Dexter's SECOND season, which is a big "Fuck you" to the very idea of a sophomore slump. They've taken the story and characters in new and interesting directions, building on what they established in the first season. And even when they tread down what appear to be well-trodden paths, they manage to surprise you anyway.
The biggest surprise of 2007 has been Chuck. The episode that cemented my love was "Chuck vs. the Alma Mater."
Also, I'm going to pre-emptively put the Avatar: The Last Airbender two-parter "Day of Black Sun" airing tonight on the list, because while this season hasn't been as amazing as the last, all early reports say it's what we've been waiting for.
Chuck: Chuck vs. the Nemesis
Heroes: Company Man
Friday Night Lights: every episode of the first season
BSG: Crossroads II
Connie Britton trying to talk to her daughter about sex in FNL.
Jack and Kate's confrontation in the parking lot of the Lost finale. "We never should have left."
I think the re-invigoration of House with the new Cottages is worth mentioning. And in particular, the episode where 13 killed the guy -- and the dog died with him! -- made things VERY dusty in the Pendleton TV room.
Weeds continued determination to not be pigeon-holed, and that they are not afraid to let all of their characters be unlikeable. And Mary-Louise Parker, in general.
The rise of Showtime, with Weeds, Dexter, Californication, Tudors, Brotherhood, etc.
Battlestar Galactica - "Crossroads Part II" and "Unfinished Business"
Rome - "Passover" (the premiere of Season 2 and the aftermath of Caesar's murder was brilliantly well done!)
The Wire - "Final Grades" (the conclusion of Season 4 of this brilliant and underrated show was heartbreaking!)
FotC: Girlfriends -- the one with "Foux Da Fa Fa" -- although the one with the three-way was also excellent.
There are like ten 30 Rocks I'd be happy to see celebrated in print, so no need to pick one. Although people should stop saying it's so much better than the pilot-- the pilot was fantastic.
Gilmore Girls: Lorelai singing to Luke during Karaoke
30 Rock: Greenzo and/or Cleveland and/or Rural juror
- Doctor Who: "Blink"
- Heroes: "Company Man"
- Lost: "Through the Looking Glass"
- Rome: "De Patre Vosto"
- Dresden Files "What About Bob"
About the Dresden Files episode, so much of the season was light hearted, especially Bob who was the comic relief, it was great to see Terrence Mann out scary the series big bad.
Absolutely The Wire's "Final Grades," and the Lost finale. Also, "Remember When," the second episode of The Sopranos this year, with Paulie and Tony going to Florida while Junior ran poker games in his institution.
Pushing Daisies: The Fun in Funeral
Doctor Who: Blink
Heroes: Five Years Gone
Battlestar Galactica: Maelstrom
Dexter: Morning Comes
The Office: The Beach
The Wire: Final Grades
-- Final Grades aired Dec 10th, 2006. I love THE WIRE, but it's not not eligble. Same for HIMYM's Slap Bet, I remember because it was on my birthday.
-- Series wise, I'd say LOST, OFFICE, MAD MEN, and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, and IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY for their 2007 episodes.
-- Episode only, THE OC series finale, LOST season finale, FNL's State, Office's Beach Day.
-- And for selected moments... The Kodak speech on MAD MEN, Day and Night Man on ALWAYS SUNNY, the botched pool suicide attempt on SOPRANOS, and the two insane monologues from JFC when John brought everyone together.
I like the props above for Doctor Who "Blink." While I like other episodes better as a big fan of the series, this was an A-mazing stand-alone episode that even non-fans would enjoy!
Almost any 30 Rock episode is hilarious.
And I have to endorse Journeyman.
My favorite eps have already been mentioned - LOST finale, VM 2-part finale, 30 Rock's "Greenzo" - so I'll give you some of my favorite moments:
Charlie, with the water pouring in, grabbing a Sharpie and writing on his hand to hold it up to Desmond through the porthole - "Not Penny's Boat"
Jack pretending to be Tracy's dad. God help me, "The honkeys shot me!" had me laughing for weeks.
Logan beating the crap out of that douchebag in the food court, and Veronica's intense look from him to Pizz and back...
Pam professing her feelings to Jim after walking over hot coals.
Also, I tend to watch cable shows on DVD way after the fact, so I'm not sure exactly which season happens in which year. But I'll give shout outs to my 3 major faves: Dexter, Weeds, Rescue Me.
Sopranos-Heidi & Kennedy
Lost season finale
The Office-the one with the bat in the office-maybe the most I have laughed out loud in years at any TV show
I second the "Day Man/Night Man" episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and agree with everyone citing "I Think We Should Have Sex" from FNL and "Hard Ball" from 30 Rock. The only wild card I think I have is the season finale of Burn Notice, which was tight, exciting and an incredibly entertaining end to an uneven season of television.
I have to say that, while I'm usually not a big fan of Always Sunny, I've watched the "Day Man" video at least a dozen times on YouTube. A very good example for a "so-so series/great episode" list.
"Master of karate..."
"... and friendship!"
"... for everyone!"
"Day Man!"
Also, one-shots, miniseries, specials, news events, whatever also qualify. I know this blog's focus is on ongoing series, but I always like to throw one or two wildcards into my list.
Count my vote for "Blink" of 'Doctor Who', the best episode of any genre
Some other faves:
The deaths of Paolo & Nikki on 'Lost'
John's Sermon at the Motel in 'John From Cincinnatti'
The use of clips from "The Defender" episode of 'Studio One' on 'Boston Legal'
Derek Jacobi as Professor Yana transforming into the Master on 'Doctor Who' in "Utopia"
the 'Pushing Daisies' pilot
and something that hasn't come over to these shores yet: 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'
Best line of the year: "I don't know Butchie instead." - 'John From Cincinnatti'
I only act out because I need your love. Dy-No-Mite!
OK, to business. What everybody else said -- I'm in full agreement with most of what's been mentioned here. Plus:
Extras, Season 2. Please please go rent this now if you haven't seen it. I still tremble with laughter at the memory of hte BAFTAs episode. True greatness, and watch the holiday special Dec 16 too.
Burn Notice. It's hard to do intelligent escapism well. And this gets a slot simply for the huge enjoyment I get from Bruce Campbell on this show.
Ugly Betty. No sophomore slump that I can see. Still loving it.
Sopranos The Blue Comet. I agree with what everyone else said about the other final season eps, but I'm still in awe of how the scene of Bobby Bacala's death was put together.
Longford. Just great performances from Jim Broadbent and Samantha Morton, and Andy Serkis killed in his two scenes. Only two scenes, but damn. Scary as hell.
House. I'm still loving it. What can I say? I'm also a Wiccan. It's a gentle religion, you know. ha.
Slings and Arrows. THe rest of the third and final season was patchy (though decent), but I cried pretty much throughout the series finale. William Hutt did an absolutely incredible job as a Lear raging at the world. In a purported comedy, no less.
Riches -- the episode where Eddie Izzard was tweaking on meth. Some thin writing on this show at times, but damn if Eddie and Minnie Driver didn't pull off some miracles, even when things got slow. Gregg Henry is also a huge treat on this show.
Katie and Dave on Tell Me You Love Me. Some incredibly powerful stuff here, all the more moving for being about the minute stuff of life -- the tiny things that end up meaning a lot. These actors had to be both incredibly subtle and emotionally naked, and they brought their A game and then some.
As for Doctor Who, I also want to recommend The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. Great stuff.
Did anyone else mention Ted Danson on Damages? How about that scene where he confronts his ghostwriter in the guy's apartment. Brilliant.
And remember, kids:
Never go with a hippie to a second location.
I knew I'd forget something! Andy wooing Angela on 'The Office' with "Take a Chance on Me" using his telephone backup singers.
Oh, and I'm a sucker for the Closer, too. Some pretty solid stuff on that show this year. Did get a lump in my throat when Fritz proposed to Brenda? OK, just a little bit.
oh the one above about Closer is from, er, me. I guess inputting my Google info gives me the name "Maureen" (which my mother much prefers to Mo).
- All of Dexter
- Battlestar Galactica: "Crossroads II" + "Exodus: Part 2"
- Flight of the Conchords (a few standouts)
- South Park (Imaginationland trilogy)
- 30 Rock
- The beginning and end of Damages (a few mediocre eps within but worth it for the amazing stuff)
- Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Veronica Mars - "The Bitch is Back"
- Pushing Daisies (all good so far)
- Dirty Sexy Money (i dont understand why no one talks about this)
- Rome season 2 (amazing)
And 2 british shows that deserve mad props: Skins and Peep Show
Dr. Who: "Blink," a truly scary, truly original EP.
30 Rock: "Rosemary's Baby," just for Jack's stream-of-consciousness role playing in therapy with Tracy.
All of the late, lamented Rome.
All of Pushing Daisies.
Jon Stewart's first 2007 interview with Jon McCain was probably the best TV moment of this year and many others.
The "Meta-free-phor-all" between Stephen Colbert and Sean Penn was utter genius.
Actually, you could pretty much name any moment from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and I wouldn't argue.
On to prime time: Ugly Betty, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" featured not only the incredibly painful moment of a gay character coming out to his mother, but the irony of said mother being played by Broadway legend Patti Lupone.
Third Rock "Greenzo" and Heroes "Five Years Gone" and "Company Man", which others have mentioned.
So far, pretty much the entire season of Chuck.
I can't pinpoint the episode, so that's not much use to you, but the moment during Pushing Daisies when I ceased to loathe Kristin Chenoweth.
Incidentally, Alan, what's going on with the comments? Are the new restrictions a Google/Blogger thing, or are they preferences that can be adjusted?
Best series that aired new episodes that I watched in 2007 were BROTHERHOOD, MAD MEN, THE SHIELD, 30 ROCK, ROME and the "Blue Comet" episode of THE SOPRANOS.
come on guys, we're missing the obvious...
hands down K&R parts 1, 2 AND 3 take the cake. I think the fact that the storyline needed 3 episodes says it all.
But seriously, I also have to say Office- 'The Deposition' and 30 Rock's 'Hardball'
Mad Men - The whole season, or selected episodes like 5G, Babylon, and Nixon vs Kennedy.
Dirty Sexy Money - The Pilot and The Watch word up, anonymous @ 9:59).
30 Rock - Somebody to Love
Pushing Daisies - Pilot
of the many Mad Men moments I adore -- just a few ...
Betty with the shotgun
Pete with the shotgun
Don and Roger leaving the office as the young guys fight in the background
The Carousel scene
Anne Dudek as Cutthroat Housewife (ha, just had to throw that in)
Don walking down the hallway in 5G
the impromptu performance of the play in Kennedy and Nixon
Roger Sterling breaking down in front of his wife after his heart attack
the chip and dip bowl
Cooper saying "Who cares"
My memory's not that great, and most of the good stuff has already been listed, but since you implied you wanted some non-primetime stuff, I'll add one wildcard: Regis's interview of Letterman on his first show after his bypass. Two pure entertainers, who are always great together. Plus with the show starting its 25th season, this is a good opportunity to give Reege some credit for his always interesting host chats.
Also, maybe some mention of "Andy Barker" or the opposite side of the law with "Knights of Prosperity"? Two unique, funny comedies that were too unique to be successes.
dyb speaks for me; BG would have my heart any other time, but dammit, they hop and skip and play Bob Dylan at really freaky moments, so for now I'm Don Draper's part-time boho love slave, should he ever have the low self esteem to want me.
drama series: damages
drama episode: doctor who (blink)
comedy series: flight of the conchords
comedy episode: flight of the conchords (mugged)
best actor: rhys darby as murray (flight of the conchords)
best actress: glenn close as patty hewes (damages)
Oh, thanks to Mo Ryan for mentioning that the third season of "Slings and Arrows" was actually on this year. Since I watched it on DVD, I wasn't sure, but I wanted to name it so much.
So yes, for me the list is:
Third season of "Slings and Arrows"
BSG: Maelstrom
Doctor Who: Blink
Ursula
Slings and Arrows. THe rest of the third and final season was patchy (though decent), but I cried pretty much throughout the series finale. William Hutt did an absolutely incredible job as a Lear raging at the world. In a purported comedy, no less.
Yay, Mo. As someone who works in theatre anyway, the show is just delightful. But some of my colleagues are Stratford Festival fanatics, and they went nuts when I told them about William Hutt appearing on the show, as he was pretty much royalty within the Canadian theatre world.
As for list ideas, here's a short list of the things I bothered to buy through iTunes or keep on the TiVo for months:
30 Rock
Slings and Arrows
Flight of the Conchords
Doctor Who 3rd Season
Mad Men
The Colbert Report (specifically, the Meta-Free-Phor-All with Sean Penn)
Chuck
The Office 3rd Season
The only other things that have lasted on the TiVo are either Good Eats from the Food Network or shows for the kids, like Fetch with Ruff Ruffman and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
To add a couple that haven't been mentioned before:
While I wouldn't give props to all of "Damages" (the middle of the season really dragged), the finale, with its pretty damn brilliant reversal twist, is clearly the strongest episode, and Close and Danson were captivating throughout.
"Torchwood" doesn't necessarily deserve overall credit, because it's so scattershot, but the episode with the time travellers in the biplane was really good.
The creative resurgance of "Desperate Housewives" this year (and particularly this fall) is worth noting.
Hard to single out a single episode of House, but I'll probably go with "Ugly," because of its smart combination of meta and smart use of the documentary stuff.
The comments have mostly focused on scripted television, but I would highly recommend Planet Earth. IMDB lists it as a 2006 production, but the US airing was in 2007. I think it was one of the best justifications of our HD television of the whole year.
Series: Mad Men, Lost (2007's 2nd half), Extras, Flight of the Conchords
Episodes that I have multiple stars next to in my notes:
Mad Men - Ep 1.12
Mad Men - Ep 1.09
Mad Men - Ep 1.08
Chuck - Ep 1.02 (vs the Tango)
Reaper - Pilot
John From Cincinatti - Ep 1.03
Sopranos - Ep 6.19
Sopranos - Ep 6.13
Extras - Ep 2.02 (Bowie)
Flight of the Conchords - ep 1.06 (Bowie)
30 Rock - 1.20 (Cleveland)
30 Rock - 2.05 (Greenzo)
The Office - 3.16 (Business School)
Friday Night Lights - Ep 1.17 (I think we should have sex)
Not a bad year...
For a short-run, "Jekyll". I can't believe we've gone 56 comments deep and none of us has brought up James Nesbitt's phenomenal performance. Plus, it's proof that Michelle Ryan actually *can* be something other than a black hole sucking the life out of any room.
Doctor Who: Blink, Human Nature/Family of Blood. The return of the Master was wonderfully camp even if the ending was kind of disappointing.
Life on Mars-the entire second series-was amazing. Probably the best show I've seen in years. I don't know if you're planning on blogging about this, but I'd enjoy your thoughts on it.
John Simm dominated my viewing year.
The Act Your Age, House Training, Family episodes of House S3 and the re-invention of the show at the start of S4 have been on par with the first two seasons and better than most things on TV.
Like just about everyone else has said-The Office, 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother and the Five Years Gone episode of Heroes.
I want to add my voice to the Rome fans. Can't believe I forgot my biggest DVD addiction of the year!
As for a non-PT moment... I thought the most gripping, "can't look away" moment of late night was the Jon Stewart interview of Lynne Cheney. I felt his pain.
And I almost don't want to mention this one, cuz CNN has pimped itself to the point of it being disgusting. But, I did think the CNN-YouTube democratic debate was actually something fresh and different, and that if you got past all the promo hoopla the format did lead to more candid and interesting conversatons than just the usual soundbytes.
As a former teacher, the who/whom discussion on The Office just about had me on the floor
Mackenzi, the second season of Life on Mars hasn't aired here yet -- I think it premieres on BBC American Dec. 11. I definitely plan to check it out. Not only was Simm good, Philip Glenister was really enjoyable as the old-school cop in the first season.
David, yeah, Hutt just blew me away in S&A. I love that show so much. Talk about a show that i'd stick with no matter what. Even when things got repetitive on Slings, you knew something good was just around the corner (how about Darren Nichels's horrific musical?)
I'm sure we're all still forgetting some top-notch specials, mini-series, etc. But since everyone's already mentioned the other highlights on my own list, I'll stick with Veronica Mars and give a shout-out to the episode where Lamb smells bread.
30 Rock - "The Head and the Hair"
"I don't know what your game is, friend, but if you're a gay guy looking for a beard, I don't do that...anymore."
Flight of the Conchords - "Business Time"
"Team Building Exercise '99"
"Two minutes in heaven is better than one minute in heaven"
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Night Man" / "Dayman"
"You pin me down with your strong arms and you come inside me"
"You're a master of karate and friendship for everyone"
Last five minutes of the Season Three finale of Lost
Any Coach and Mrs. Coach scene from Friday Night Lights
Scenes involving the non-tool characters on Heroes, i.e., Nathan, HRG, Sylar, uh....Elle and Bob, I guess. That's it. I like that show, but it's a tool factory. It's like an Ace Hardware store.
Burn Notice pretty much got me through the summer....and I was more interested in it than I am in anything that has premiered this fall.
Regarding miniseries, has anyone seen "Five Days," the miniseries which aired on HBO? I still have all five episodes on my TiVo but haven't gotten to it yet.
Also, I think "Two and a Half Men" is funny
Me, too! Now there's two of us here.
Pretty much everything I would nominate has been mentioned, so I'll just throw some more love to "The Deposition" episode of "The Office," which I watched three times in three days ("Line!"), plus some love to "Planet Earth."
Oh, and I nominate "Shark Week" on Discovery. They've been doing it for two decades and it's always interesting and enlightening--I learn something new every year. Plus, it has a lot of sharks!
polter-cow, what did you think of "Day of Black Sun"? I thought it was the best of the season so far, but given that this season has been mostly disappointing, that's not saying much :(
I thought these are some of the memorable series and episodes that I've seen this year. Looking forward to your list, Alan!
Series: Mad Men, House, Lost, Journeyman, The Office, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Chuck
Episodes:
The Office: "The Job" (Schrute bucks, Stanley nickels, and that final Pam talking-head gets me every single time).
Gilmore Girls: "Bon Voyage" (I thought this was a really nice send-off for the show; that last scene was perfect!)
The Sopranos: "Blue Comet"
Lost: "One of Us"
Battlestar Galactica: "Crossroads"
I don't think "My Name is Earl" has been mentioned yet. While I'm not sure I would put it on my absolute best-of list, I have to say that I really admire what they're doing this season. Rather than take the easy way out and do a quick, "Earl got out of jail immediately at the start of the season on some technicality" story, instead they've found a way to keep him in jail for what, maybe eight episodes already? (I haven't seen last week's ep yet.) They took a risk, and I think it's really worked - I've laughed out loud at this show more than any other (except 30 Rock) this year.
30 Rock: whole season
BSG: whole season, but especially Crossroads II and Maelstrom (also best series of the year, again!)
Flight of the Conchords: whole season
Pushing Daisies: everything, so far
Doctor Who: Blink and final arc- renewed my faith in RDM at the helm
The "Lost" season finale was the best episode of any show, ever. EVER.
Make that three fans of "Two and a Half Men"...
No one has mentioned "The Closer" or "Saving Grace" (which doesn't bode well for their inclusion, I guess). I really admired Holly Hunter's performances in the latter. They are two of my must-see shows (along with "Lost" and "The Office").
I'd also nominate the first Cops episode of "Earl" if that was in '07... can't quite remember when it aired...
I can't imagine anyone will read this at this point, but I'm going to go ahead and put in a vote for "Californication" since I haven't seen anyone else mention it, except in the context of Showtime overall. I know it can be a little uneven, but when it's good, it's very, very good. Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who genuinely likes this show.
As series
30 Rock
Flight of the Conchords
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show
The Office
The Sopranos
Curb Your Enthusiasm (A somewhat uneven season, "The Anonymous Donor")
As episodes
Friday Night Lights - Mud Bowl (I'd give it a series nod, but I'm just 2 episodes in to season 2 and see why it might not deserve the nod for all the episodes aired in 2007.)
Battlestar Galactica - Crossroads (The best things from season 3-- the New Caprica story-- wrapped in 2006, and 2007 saw the uneven standalone episodes. But Crossroads was a very ambitious two-parter with a cliffhanger that could pay off tremendously in season 4 or be the shark-jumping moment of the series. )
Lost - the s3 finale
Heroes - Company Man (One great episode in a series that otherwise has trouble achieving mediocrity)
Doctor Who - Blink
South Park - Imaginationland
I should add Top Gear (entire series, now on BBC America.) It's a show that couldn't be done in the states. PBS doesn't have the money to do something like Top Gear, and commercial TV wouldn't have a show that is so opinionated. That and it happens to be entertaining, too.
Flight of the Conchords: I found it too hard to pick just one, but the "Bowie's in Space" and the tour of New York eps made me laugh the most.
Lost: Season Finale. My favorite TV ep of the year reignited my love for the show. (The two before it were top notch as well.)
NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell. I thought this was a blast, and the best thing on VH1 in ages.
Chuck: The last one that aired? For me, this show keeps getting better and better each week.
Burn Notice: The best summer show, IMO, and the best show USA has ever done.
All in all, I thought there was some rather good TV this year.
Selected moments:
Mad Men: Don visits the Greenwich Village open-mike night and puts the damn filthy beatniks in their place.
It's Always Sunny: Charlie visits the jockeys' locker room and fields a unique request.
Flight of the Concords: The boys and Murray visit John Hodgeman in an attempt to sell their music to a greeting card company.
The Colbert Report: Stephen visits a beauty parlor in South Carolina to campaign for votes.
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Leon takes a call from Tim Meadows. "Barack Obama, motha f*cka! I'm the president of hitting that ass!"
Ah, good times, good times....
BSG Exodus was awesome, Andy's "Take a Chance on Me" was transcendent, "the Wire" had a great season, "Mad Men" was great, "The Office" is the best show on television when it's not driving into a lake.
WORD VERIFICATION SUCKS!
WORD VERIFICATION SUCKS!
Yeah, well comment spam sucks more.
Don't forget Series 2 Doctor Who ran stateside this calendar year.
Nevermind about Doctor Who...Season 2 ended just before 07.
House's "Survivor" arc should get some love too! It was a lot of fun.
Just remembered... I think my favorite tv experience all year was Human Giant taking over MTV for 24 hours. Great bands and lots of comedic friends dropping by and trying to out-outrageous each other.
Like this:John Krasinksi taking Rob Riggs (as security guard Cliff) and an unsuspecting Michael Cera hostage.
Someone mentioned "Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job" over on the other thread--I would submit John C. Reilly playing Dr. Steve Brule for one of the best things I've seen on TV this year.
another... Prince's Halftime show at the Super Bowl. Done in high heels, in freezing rain, while in need of hip replacement surgery.
Lauren Graham's Lorelai singing to Scott Paterson's Luke Danes "I Will Always Love You" in the karaoke scene was truly one of the most sublime moments I've ever seen on TV... not just 2007.
I love and agree with what everyone else has said, but I need to reiterate my love for that Gilmore Girl's moment of perfection during a really bad season.
Lost, Lost, Lost. Best thing on TV in 2007.
Of course, I don't have cable. I am looking forward to Mad Men on DVD someday.
One vote for Journeyman too.
There are many shows I have love for, but when it comes to episodes there's one that particularly sticks out: Cold Case 5x09 "Boy Crazy"
I never watch Cold Case and watched this episode on a whim and it was amazing. Hard hitting and heart breaking. One of the best episodes I've ever watched on tv.
Best montage goes to the final moments of the OC. That was a sweet little series finale... Go Team Julie! Seth and Summer marrying! Ryan coming full circle and helping out a kid in trouble. A very well-done hour of TV that I've kept on my Tivo for several months.
I'm just so excited by your "Say Anything... shout out! Another example of quality viewing Alan. Thanks for your great site.
I'll take any Dexter episode and the Battlestar finale for a dramatic series. Comedy is a little harder to evaluate, but 30 rock appeals perfectly to my sense of humor. I especially like the last episode they did.
We could be a while behind in South Africa, but a recent 'musical' episode of Scrubs that was broadcast here was pretty original and hilarious. Otherwise any episode of 30 Rock..
Smallville....the episode when Clark Kent had to protect the actress, in her appreciation she gives him a red cape.
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