Monday, January 4, 2010

What I look forward to in 2010

Ok, I gave you my Top 10 (well, 11) of 2009, so here is what I am looking forward to in 2010. Again, no particular order. And again, the one exception is that Number 1 IS Number 1.

1. LOST: The Final Season. When this show first started in 2004 and I saw commercials, I convinced Kevin to watch despite his reservations (he thanks me!) because I knew it would be amazing. Boy howdy, was it. There have been some lows (I'm looking at you, Nikki and Paulo! Hoping the white light still leaves you buried alive in the sand.) but overall it has been an amazing ride that has kept me on the edge on my seat. I think Team Darlton have proved that they know what they are doing and that they have a plan, and I'm excited to just let these last episodes play out and see where it takes us. I know not everyone will be happy with what they have come up with, but I CANNOT wait to see what it is!\

2. Friday Night Lights. I have Comcast, not DirecTv, so I have not seen the season that is playing now, which is why this is on my "looking forward to" list. This show is amazing. Where LOST is genius fantasy, and Mad Men is beautiful art, FNL is heartbreaking realism. I don't think any show on TV is acted in a more genuine and realistic manner. This season is full of a lot of goodbyes for characters who graduated last season. I read a lot about Zach Gilford's final episode, and I am so anxious to see it. My tissue box is ready for me. If you have never seen this show - rent it, or be cheap and get it from the library like I do! How Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton have never been nominated for Emmy's is a mystery. Best married couple on TV.

3. True Blood. You all (or should I say y'all?) knew it was going to be on here! Last season was, well, insane, and I am intrigued to see how Alan Ball is going to transform Club Dead, the 3rd book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. There have been so many new additions in the cast. Most notably, Joe Manganiello as Alcide, the werewolf/new romantic foil for Sookie. The show is always so different from the books, and in my opinion, even better than the books. I look forward to each hour and spend my Sunday evenings counting down until it airs. So, bring it on Alan!! You haven't disappointed me yet. (Oh, and Eric. Lots o' Eric!)

4. American Idol/So You Think You Can Dance. This is mostly about Idol, for a change. I'm still unsure about the Ellen Degeneres thing. I love her, I do. I'm just afraid of what will happen there. BUT, it will be a new voice, so that is good. I'm looking forward to seeing how she handles being mean to crap singers, and even more, how she handles Simon. I'm also excited for the leg of auditions where NPH is the guest judge!! WOOHOO!! As for SYTYCD, I look forward to that in general, but I'm really hoping Billy Bell makes it to the Top 20!! I'm still sad about Billy Bell.... I need to let it go.

5. Parenthood. I loved this movie. When I heard they were making a show, I thought, "OK, this may work". (Let's ignore the fact they already tried and it failed oh so miserably) I saw the cast: Peter Krause! Maura Tierney! Then Maura got sick (**super sad face**) and things started to look not so great. And then.... LAUREN GRAHAM!! For those of you who never watched Gilmore Girls (why??), you may not understand this, but I literally did a happy dance when that re-cast was announced. She is fantastic and may finally get that Emmy nod she deserved for all 7 seasons of GG. The scenes I have viewed look great so far. I'm anxious to see if it works out. Please oh please let it work!

6. USA Original Programming. This may seem like an odd one, but I genuinely enjoy every single original program on USA. Monk is gone (and not a moment too soon) but there is still plenty to love. Royal Pains is soapy goodness. White Collar is buddy-cop-style fun. Burn Notice is a sexy action movie every week. In Plain Sight is actually (shock!) an original cop show. And Psych - Oh sweet sweet Psych - is one of the funniest hours of television every week. And to top it off, each one is smarter than the one before. The only exception to this rule, Law & Order CI. I used to love it - but Vincent D'Onfrio, Julianne Nicholson and Kathryn Erbe are all leaving, and it just is not the same without them. So while I may watch, I can't say I'm "looking forward" to it.

7. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. To avoid major spoilers for those who are not there yet, I won't say anything more. But, ohmygodwhendoesseasonfourstart????

8. New HBO Programming. This season on HBO there is going to be a ton of new stuff. Mark Whalberg has a new comedy, How To Make it, starring Bryan Greenberg (an adorable Jewish boy). Treme is a drama about a neighborhood in New Orleans as it deals with the seemingly everlasting post-Katrina mess. Boardwalk Empire is produced by Martin Scorsese and he also directed the pilot. Nuff said about that one! And there is a lot of buzz around a pilot that they haven't even finished producing starring Sean Bean, called Throne. Plus there is the new mini-series, The Pacific, which is a follow up to the AMAZING mini-series, Band of Brothers. If there is one thing on HBO that you all must watch this year, it is this. I get you don't all love the vampire stuff, so I can't say the same for True Blood, but The Pacific is going to be great. (Side note only sort of related - I'm really excited to see Justified on FX. Stars Timothy Olypahnt and the creator is Graham Yost, who produced and wrote parts of the Pacific and BofB)

9. GLEE!!!!!! I added the exclamation points so you could "hear" the squee in how I said that word in my head. The show may be uneven, and have some of the most aggravating storylines/characters ever (Sorry Jessalyn) but dammit if it doesn't make me grin like a goof every week. And can they sing! If you've never seen it, you can now rent the first half of the season because it is on DVD. I dare you not to get tears in your eyes when Rachel sings Don't Rain on My Parade in the last episode, "Sectionals". Girl's got pipes. And when it comes back extra good stuff: Madonna episode, Kristin Chenoweth, Indina Menzel, Jonathan Groff! It's a Broadway lovers dream! In the meantime, we all know what is playing most often on my iPod.

10. Better Emmys. Now this is just a dream, really. Chances are I'm looking forward to something that will not happen. Last year's ceremony was great to watch because of NPH and the brief moment of Ricky Gervais (watch the Golden Globes, people!!) but the awards themselves?? Meh. I am sick of the same people every year - and I watch most of the shows that win!! How about some How I Met Your Mother, Friday Night Lights, Big Bang Theory..... anything!! Just change it up for goodness sake!! There should be a rule that you can not win more than twice in a row. It's getting to be like the years of Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond again! So please, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, for the love of Barney, Coach Taylor and Sheldon, mix it up this year, would ya??

Again, there is more I look forward to, but these are the 10 I thought of first.

And for the sake of symmetry, here is my daytime-themed number 11. (It's like Spinal Tap - this one goes to 11)

11. More familiar faces on General Hospital. Again, this could just end up being a dream.... BUT the powers that be at GH have been in talks to bring back Vanessa Marcil (Brenda) and Genie Francis (Laura). This time they have actually talked to both actresses and are not just saying their names in interviews to get people to buy those silly magazines. Storyline-wise it will make sense to have them back- especially Laura since the shit is about to hit the fan with that family. Please let them come back!!! They are two of the best the show has ever seen, and Port Charles will be a lot more fun to watch if they are there!!

4 comments:

Kylene said...

Ah! Is it June yet! I agree I can't wait to see what Alan does with "Club Dead," and how much he changes from the book. I'm dying to see who he casts as Debbie. I'm also thrilled with the casting of Kevin Alejandro! That announcement made my day! (And always Eric MORE Eric!) So far it is shaping up to be a fantastic season.
I LOVE "In Plain Sight" and I can't wait for it to come back as well. I'm so thrilled that Joshua Malina is going to be back this Season for more episodes, he was a great addition last year. And of course Royal Pains! LOVE IT!
I am also looking forward to Boardwalk Empire. Like you said Martin Scorsese, no brainer! And GLEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I agree the season has been a bit uneven but those kids can SING! And Jane Lynch is AMAZING! I can't wait for all that you mentioned in #9. And as for #10...I would be taking up WAY too much space on my thoughts about that one. All I say is for the love of Sheldon, Barney, could you PLEASE show some LOVE to fresh Blood? And that's how Sue "c" it!

Anonymous said...

It's worth mentioning that the showrunner for "Parenthood" is Jason Katims, who also runs "Friday Night Lights." So, here's hoping that "Parenthood" also shares that tender writing and "Friday Night Lights" doesn't suffer from his multi-tasking.

I'm most looking forward to "Treme," simply because it shares so much pedigree with "The Wire."

Anonymous said...

I need to start watching USA. With all the cooking and real life drama of Food Network and HGTV I don't venture into the odd channels much (I think USA is 107 or something strange), but obviously I should.

Maroussia said...

It will be great to watch Ricky Gervais, i have bought tickets from
http://ticketfront.com/event/Ricky_Gervais-tickets looking forward to it.