VAGUE SPACE

2012-2013 Season in Review Awards

Best Comedy

Modern Family (ABC)
Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
The Office (NBC)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Veep (HBO)

The final season of The Office did something pretty wonderful.  It made me start to watch again a show that I had long since stopped caring about and made me actually care about the characters again.  This was a year in which some long-running series I used to love, or at least like, ended (30 Rock, Weeds, iCarly) and others that I used to watch regularly I no longer had time on my schedule for (South Park, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory).  But the one least likely to matter did, when The Office made the surprising but brilliant choice to "break the fourth wall" of their faux documentary and make that the focus of the second half of the season (honestly the only half I actually watched).  That was good enough to finish in the top 5 comedies of the year, edging out the disturbing but often riveting Girls.  The other four shows include three nominees who have been in the Top 5 for years, including the last 3 winners in both this category and overall (Nurse Jackie in 2010, Parks & Recreation in 2011, and Nurse Jackie in 2012).  The new show is Veep, which has been pretty wonderful in its second season, displacing a show that was a fixture for so long but may be finally getting long in the tooth (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia).  And oh yes, I did finally watch the last two episodes of former staple Weeds some 9 months after they aired and they were really quite good.  Oh well.  Hopefully next year has some new blood.  Slim pickings left in the comedy world now.  Oh wait, Arrested Development is premiering on Sunday.  Yeah, I think we already know next year's winner.

2012 TV Show of the Year

1. The Walking Dead (AMC)
2. Homeland (Showtime)

Season 3

My favorite shows this year had an advantage over every other show on the list, particularly the show that finished #1, in that I watched multiple seasons of them in 2012, and fell in love, so while I'm kind of judging only on episodes that were first on the air in 2012, let's be honest, that judgment is clouded, and when I devoured the entire 3 seasons of Walking Dead within the past 3 months, it was pretty much a given that it would win Vague Space show of the year.  But not without a fight from Homeland, whose first season I watched over just a couple of weeks in August, getting me right and ready for the second season this fall.  If I were being honest, the first seasons of both shows were superior to the current season.  And for Walking Dead, for me at least, I even preferred the somewhat maligned season 2 to the one showing this fall on AMC.  But despite Homeland's noteable shift from psychological terror thriller to implausible action thriller, I was sold enough on the characters from Season 1 and the awesome performances by Damien Lewis and Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin -- particularly this season for him -- that it really took an incredible show to dislodge it from the top spot.  And that show, this year, was The Walking Dead.  Like I might have mentioned in one of my recaps, I even knew which characters wouldn't survive through Season 3 (and there were many) and I still couldn't stop watching episode after episode.  This is clearly the golden age of cable television if not the golden age of television in general.  And both of these shows were brilliant this year.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The Walking Dead

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I started watching AMC's amazing zombie series just this season and not only am I obsessed with the current storyline inside the gang's new environs in the jail but I've spent the last couple weeks devouring the show's first two seasons on Netflix and I'm almost caught up at this point. I've seen the brilliant 6 episode first season that introduces the world to a zombie apocalypse weeks or months later (the timeline isn't fully clear) when Rick awakens from a coma to see the world has changed (similar to 28 Days Later), takes a trip to an infested Atlanta on a horse and eventually inside a tank, and then the season culminates with the great CDC episode that both explained the state of the crisis and shaped the hearts and minds of the remaining survivors in their quest to find safety in a world with no hope. The series is so brilliant, the writing and acting so strong, that even the occasional lapses into "we are wandering the woods looking out for zombies" redundancies do not detract from the overall viewing pleasure. There's such a sense of dread and suspense and lost hope but as fans we remain hopeful that Rick and his family and newfound friends might possibly survive long enough to find that hope.  In fact, even though I've been sort of spoiled, having seen season 3 episodes and knowing who lives and who dies, it's no less compelling, that's how amazing it is, even the ending to the first half of season 2 with the barn scene that I already heard of earlier still shocked me still saddened me, still gave me that jolt of pure surprise, that's how great this show is. My recommendation is to buy the DVDs or check it out in Netflix, start with the start, the two seasons are only about 20 episodes I think. Believe me, you will be hooked, and actually the third season is maybe even better.  And if you already are a viewer, read on (spoilers ahead).

The Walking Dead

I've a huge fan of zombies.  Well, not the zombies themselves but pictures featuring zombies, and certainly zombie apocalypses and all that shit.  28 Days Later is one of my top 10 favorite movies ever.  So I was definitely intrigued when AMC put on a series about the zombie apocalypse called The Walking Dead, which was an instant hit.  But I didn't watch.  The series got rave reviews, had dedicated fans, and was a frequent feature on the Howard Stern channel programs "Geek Time" and "Jon Hein's TV Show" and I really wanted to watch.  But I never did.  During the hell that became my incarceration on my couch while recovering from a toe surgery that has ruined my life, I did check out a couple episodes of season 2 and it was good, but I didn't know the characters or the arc of the story and it seemed like every scene was this group of disheveled survivors walking slowly around in the woods, hoping not to get bitten.  I didn't go back.  Then Season 3 premiered a few weeks ago, setting viewership records and getting more rave reviews and just for the fuck of it, I started taping it, figuring it would remain on my DVR with all the shows I intend to follow but never actually watch (cough Revolution cough).  Then after the hell that was my life in the past 2 weeks with Hurricane Sandy, no power for a week, experimental treatments for my toe that forced me off the drugs that were stopping the pain (and didn't work, by the way), and then, of course, because shit ain't been shitty enough lately, I threw out my back from either the treatments or the shitty ass motel bed I slept on up north one night when I didn't have power and needed to be up north for the treatments but every hotel in the tri-state area that had power was booked so I slept on a what was basically a cot and then my back was out for a week, last week, and I was about as miserable as I could be and I sat in pain and unable to move in front of my TV and watched the first 5 episodes of Season 3 of The Walking Dead.  And it is fucking awesome.  Why didn't anybody tell me?  Oh wait, never mind, they did.

Homeland

So in May when Vague Space gave out its awards for best television programs for the 2011-2012 season, Showtime series Nurse Jackie edged out Parks & Recreation for best comedy program and Showtime series Shameless beat out Game of Thrones for best drama program, quite an impressive feat for the "other" pay cable station (bettering HBO).  Now, after spending the past 3 weeks gorging on the 1st season of Showtime drama Homeland, I might be inclined to say that the cable net has the best three programs on in all of television and I'm not entirely sure Shameless would have beaten out Homeland for best drama.  I was really impressed with the series, particularly the hour-and-a-half closing episode that wrapped up a self-contained season but also brought up scores of unanswered questions about the future of the series.  And honestly, what more could you ask for?  Game of Thrones -- despite its splendor and great set pieces and terrific acting -- did not come close to such a fulfilling ending of a self-contained season.  Homeland got it right and I'm not surprised at all that it beat out veteran Emmy winner Mad Men for best drama series in this year's awards a week ago.  Season 2 debuted last night and I didn't watch yet but I strongly encourage my readers to find the program on Hulu or DVD if they don't have Showtime or on on-demand if it's still available for Season 1 (DirecTV ended its offering when Season 2 began) and watch.  You'll be surprised at how fast you go through the season (I think it was only 10 episodes) and how quickly you'll want to watch the next episode once the first is complete.  

2011-2012 TV Season in Review Winners

And the winners are:

Best Comedy

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia  (FX)
Life's Too Short (HBO)
Louie (FX)
Modern Family (ABC)
Nurse Jackie  (Showtime)
Parks and Recreation  (NBC)

This was the toughest competition of the season, as Nurse Jackie (2010's winner) edges out Parks and Recreation (last year's winner).  Parks was pretty great again (although ratings have cratered, as they have for all of NBC's Thursday lineup) but Nurse Jackie was as good this season as it was in its first two seasons, even though there are still a few episodes left.  This is a sober Jackie for the very first time, a necessary step in the arc of the show -- her drug abuse was getting worse and worse and affecting her family and work -- and it was going to have to end.  Badly.  Which it did when guest Billie Joe Armstrong died in her arms after an overdose.  They handled the rehab rather well (although quickly) and have handled the "clean and sober" part equally well, as her husband has sued for divorce and custody of the kids, putting the rest of her life in danger in the absence of the drug use.  O'Hara's pregnancy has been a welcome addition (I assume Eve Best is pregnant in real life, but either way it works).  Getting Anna Deveare-Smith out on the floor as a nurse again was a stroke of genius.  And the inclusion of Bobby Canavale was a wise decision to give Jackie a foil (with the twist that she befriended his addict son in rehab -- a juicy detail that I can't wait to see how it resolves).  All in all, the show has focused more on the hospital than Jackie's family life (now that her husband has left her) and that has probably been for the good (he was always the weakest character).  So in the end, Nurse Jackie beats out the great "Leslie running for town council" season on Parks and Recreation.  Coming in third again was another solid season for Modern Family, edging out the 2nd season of the awkward but wonderful comedy of Louis CK.

 

2011-2012 TV Season in Review Nominees

I'm calling half-hour shows comedies and hour-longs dramas even though a show like Nurse Jackie is usually more drama than comedy (although not as much this year).  But here are the nominations for 2011-12 TV Season in Review.

Nominees are in alphabetical order:

Best Comedy

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia  (FX)
Life's Too Short (HBO)
Louie (FX)
Modern Family  (ABC)
Nurse Jackie  (Showtime)
Parks and Recreation  (NBC)

With all due respect to Girls and Veep, the new much-buzzed about HBO comedy block on Sunday nights following Game of Thrones, they are still too early in their careers (3 episodes in when I wrote this) to merit inclusion here but they are definitely starting out strong -- disjointed, too graphic (in the case of Girls), maybe a little too awkward (Veep) but both are very memorable and oftentimes awfully funny so I'm looking forward to what they will be doing in the coming weeks (and years... both have been granted 2nd seasons already).  As for the actually nominated shows, I'll say some words here about the ones that aren't going to win -- Curb and Sunny are showing significant signs of age (Curb particularly) but can still put out quality episodes (the Pakistani chicken was this year).  Life's Too Short was a frighteningly hilarious but short-lived BBC import (first season was only 7 episodes I believe, but it will be back for a second season) that featured some of the greatest laughs of any show this season -- Liam Neeson doing a comedy table read was frighteningly brilliant but also pretty much every perfectly embarrassing thing that Warwick Davis does was good.  And of course I love everything Ricky Gervais does. Which leaves the battle for Best Comedy between 2011 Vague Space Show of the Year -- Parks and Recreation -- and 2010 Vague Space Show of the Year -- Nurse Jackie.  Plus Modern Family and Louie.  This battle will go down to the wire -- Parks and Louie are done with their seasons and Modern Family is about to be done but Nurse Jackie is only halfway through hers.  We will find out the winner next week.

TV Madness Finals

So here we are at the finals of the TV madness competition that started way back in early March.  How did we get here?  And why did it take so long?  Let's get right into the matchup:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I certainly expected Buffy to be here, as pretty much anyone who knows me can attest to, but Sunny was a surprise.  I thought I'd see Seinfeld here or maybe Letterman or the Daily Show or even Arrested Development but the more I got into this competition the more I realized how fond my memories of so much of the life of Sunny has been so it's no longer a surprise.  And it wouldn't be an upset at all to see it beat Buffy here.  As I write this I do not know who is going to win, and admittedly I ignored the voting (which has tailed off quite a bit as the competition has gone forward).  The winner will simply be which show has the best 20 episodes ever, as that seems to be the fairest way to compare one vs. another.  (I could do like the best 50 episodes ever but who has that kind of time).

TV Madness Round 2 - The Dramas

The first round matchups for the dramas start as follows:

1 -  Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. 16-NYPD Blue
8 -  Beverly Hills 90210 vs. 9 - Angel

The results of the voting as of Friday were:  NYPD Blue leading Buffy by 4-3 and "The Bev" leading Angel 4-1.  Apparently not a lot of my readers have watched the Joss Whedon classics but just so you know, in say nearly every single "best shows" list I consulted for this, Buffy held a lofty position.  I know you wouldn't know if you didn't watch it, but Seasons 2 and 3 were probably the best television ever created -- and Seasons 1, 4 & 5 were awfully great.  I will admit that the mostly post-Whedon final two years were shaky at best -- let's not even talk about the decision to make the loveably adorable center of the show, Willow, become the "Big Bad" enemy of Season 6, but the point is, great show.  NYPD Blue was solid certainly but it's not moving forward.  As for the Buffy spinoff called Angel, it really wasn't that great in its first season when it focused more on "monster-of-the-week" storylines rather than the Buffyverse mythology but I think it found its footing during the adventurous 3-episode arc in the alternate universe of Pylea at the close of season 2, and a strong season 3 was followed by the perfect season 4 that featured both the return of Faith to the Buffyverse and the awesome episode arcs with an evil Angelus fighting "The Beast," but it peaked with the amazing closing episodes featuring the "god" Jasmine and a series of flat-out excellent episodes that ranked with Buffy's best.  Season 5 was a complete about-face that brought Spike on board now that Buffy had closed but it was more "monster-of the week" and not very good and the show ended with bad ratings and a bad taste in my mouth after the wonder of Season 4.  Meanwhile, the Bev was a high school story that wore fairly well as the characters graduated into college (much like Buffy later) and before it devolved into storylines as farfetched as anything like an alternate universe of Pylea (anyone remember when Kelly joined a cult!?), it was a really great show about some of the trials of high school mixed with a soap-opera sense of overblown drama that made it addictive to a younger mind like mine.  As great as Angel was at times (particularly Season 4), I don't think I was ever as invested as I was during the first Brenda/Dylan/Kelly love triangle that evolved when Brenda was in France for the summer.  That was good stuff.  90210 advances.

Winners:  1 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. 8 - Beverly Hills 90210 (vote below)