What A Year It Has Been: Shows I Am Thankful For

It is too easy to be a total crank about the failures of TV, too easy to look for the faults and ignore the joys of the small screen. So, while I am snowed in at my familial home, I have decided to share my optimistic view with you. Here are the shows that have brought me so much hope over the last year.

Supernatural
Yes, yes, my obsession with this show is kind of sick, but it is completely warrented. Depiste the giant mistep of "Heaven and Hell" (which I will deal with in Jan. when my amazing show returns), this season has been a wonder to behold. I have the utmost respect for Erik Kripke, both for his willingness to address the atlternates of evil and for allowing his characters to grow, question, and maybe oneday believe that their struggle is more than a pyric victory.

Battlestar Galactica
Most shows are cop-outs; unwilling to make the truly difficult choices that would allow them to tell real stories about the human condition, they inevitably disappoint. Not so for the remnants of the 12 Colonies and their Cylon allies. Earth is a scourged wasteland rather than the Edenic resting place. The gray-toned landscaped that closed the first half of the last season established with viewers who may have forgotten that this show with always challenge, always demand more, and always (ultiamtely) satisfy.

Chuck
This little show is so easily overlooked, and it is a shame. Charming and clever, the perfect mix of ridiculous action and ridiculous comedy all wrapped up in endearing relationships, this show is neither deep nor shallow, but is a comforting companion to end a long day with. How refreshing to watch a show about an Everyman, who is more and yet not, and it actually be a person you wouldn't want to punch in the face.

Skins
I watched this show on YouTube in a 48 hour marathon, all except the final episode of Series 2 (which is the final episode for the original cast, so as far as I am concerned, the series finale). Those of you out there wringging your hands over the wayward children on Gossip Girl would have no interest in this show, and as a thinking girl, I should write a separate post to discuss objectively the cultural comments this show makes. But I leave any offense to my American-Purtian sensibilities that may or may not have been done. In contrast to the majority of American shows about teenagers, Skins potrayed people you could not help but love. Passionate, determined, and often mistaken, they are rarely self-pitying and ultimately neither selfish nor cruel. The death of one of the characters in the penultimate episode (I won't say which one here) felt more real than almost any death I have seen on TV. Feel free to stand back and judge, but you will miss out on some spectacular people. "I always loved you the best Sid."

Mad Men
I am in no mood to kiss this show's ass right now, I will leave that to the rest of the internet. All I will say here is that maybe my favorite part of this show is that women larger than a size 2 get not only screen time but storylines.

How I Met Your Mother
The Naked Man. Enough said.

The Soup
I know that I rarely talk about anything but scripted series, but I in the spirit of Christmas, I do have to mention that Joel McHale is one of the brightest lights of my life. I don't know what I would do without his recap of the week's events on Tyra and The View.

Please don't think that I have not immensely enjoyed and am eternally grateful for all that Gossip Girl, The Office, 30 Rock, and Prison Break have given me, but in all honesty, I admit to moments when my faith has wavered in each. Above are the shows that have held my heart, even in the times when they were less than they should have been.

For all its problems, 2008 was a good year.

The TV Girl