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May 22, 2012

Best and Worst of 2005: Keith's list

by Keith McDuffee, posted Jan 5th 2006 11:04AM

bsgThe Best:

Battlestar Galactica: Holy Frak, does this show kick ass. I barely caught the old version of this show back-in-the-day, though from what I saw, it just can't be compared. If you think you'd be uninterested in overly sci-fi aspects of a show like this, throw those fears aside. There are no aliens and no light sabers. Pick up this series on DVD now and get caught up before next week, for Gods sakes!

The Shield: Has yet to disappoint, and this past season's inclusion of Glenn Close was masterful. I have to admit that I was skeptical when I heard she was coming aboard for a season, at first. In the end, though, I wished she was able to stay. Now coming on its (likely) final season, I'm very sad to see it go, and I'll savor every moment of it.

Veronica Mars: As some of you may know, I wrote about my experiences catching up with season one within a week or so, and I fell in love with this show. The second season has lived up to...no...beyond my expectations. The rest of this season is likely going to place this show on my Best of 2006 next January.

Lost: There are a lot of people who diss this show, and I do see where they're coming from sometimes. However, the people who trash talk Lost are missing the point: this show is damn entertaining. So what if we're scrambling for what the numbers mean, even though they probably mean nothing at all? It's fun, dammit!

House: I used to think this was a show that, as good as it was, was in severe jeopardy of being cancelled. "Why?" you ask? Well that's simple: it's on FOX. I've never been a real fan of medical dramas like ER, but House is in a league of its own. The writers for this show are some of the best, and I can't wait to see what else they bring to the table this year. Hopefully all of the praise and award nominations will keep it around for a long time to come, but you know FOX...

The Worst:

Bones: I really wanted to like this show. I really did. But I'm a stickler for certain technical aspects of shows, and this one just shat all over too many of them. The scenes with the holographic imagery made me squirm; they just did not fit. it's hokey and forced. I also didn't find the main character likable, and her team members aren't much better (or are worse). I'm seriously surprised this show is still around, though it's possible it got better after I stopped watching it. let me know in the comments if it's something that needs another chance.

Saturday Night Live: It's a real, damned shame that SNL needs to be on this list. Ryan is right -- Lorne needs to clean house. The popularity of the recent 'Lazy Sunday' skit should be the big kick in the ass that Lorne needs, so he sees what kind of talent and writing works on the show. Alas, one skit is too little, too late to save SNL from my Worst list this year.

Joey: I'm not sure what I need to say to explain this show's inclusion on my list. It's time to bury this show and call it a day.

Deal or No Deal: There was so much buzz surrounding this show that I just had to finally catch an episode before it went off the air for a while. I can see how it could be addicting to watch for some, but there's something wrong with a game show when you feel dumber for having watched it.

Other Good Stuff:

Best quotes: Veronica Mars, Family Guy and House.
Best Brit acting with an American accent: Hugh Laurie
Best sigh of relief: Knowing that this is the last season of Alias. Finally.
Most outrageous episode: South Park's 'Bloody Mary'
Good show that's a shame to say goodbye to: Kitchen Confidential
Good cure for no more Buffyverse shows: Veronica Mars
Better cure for no more Buffyverse shows: News that Joss is doing a Buffy Season 8 in comic book form.
Best guilty pleasures: I Shouldn't Be Alive, South Park, MythBusters and Masters of Horror.
Best line from SNL this season: "It's like a wookie is raping me!"

Other Bad Stuff:

Worst season from many: The Apprentice
Worst cure for no more Buffyverse shows: Bones
Most disappointing season from many: Curb Your Enthusiasm
Worst gimmick ever: The 3D episode of Medium

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LC

I would have to say that the Apprentice with Street smarts vs Book smarts was the worst season ever. This last season was actually pretty good and one I looked forward to seeing each week.

January 06 2006 at 1:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chuck

opinions are like asses... bones rules, galaktica sucks big time.

January 05 2006 at 7:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ooda

This season of The Apprentice maybe wasn't the best, but definitely wasn't the worst.

Curb Your Enthusiasm also didn't have that bad a season. The main culprit in my book would be Nip/Tuck.

January 05 2006 at 6:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lorraine

I totally agree with Battlestar. I got addicted to it at first glance on reruns. It's weird and disorienting and brilliant.

January 05 2006 at 2:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
doc

I'm with you on Battlestar. It was even better than I thought it would be, and I had pretty high expectations after the mini. I would add though that people need to catch up by tomorrow, not next week, unless they are in Canada. Sci-Fi has new episodes starting Friday night, with Canada's Space Channel starting the new episodes next week. :D

I would have Veronica Mars on the Best of 05 list as well, but more for the great second half of Season 1 than Season 2. Lately it seems to have lost a little focus, but previews for upcoming episodes look like it is getting back on track and setting up for a nice run to the end of Season 2.

January 05 2006 at 12:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael Sykes

I have to say that I disagree with your assessment of this season of "The Apprentice" being the worst so far - actually I thought it was one of the best. I think it was the combination of The Donald firing people at will (sometimes up to four at a time), combined with some contestants who I felt were actually pretty smart. Randal, Rebecca and Alla all seemed like they had a legitimate shot at things. Not to mention the season finale wasn't another 3 hour borefest.

Or maybe it was just the fact that I caught a couple episodes of the extremely bad Martha Steward version, and this made me really appreciate how entertaining Trump is.

On the other hand, I completely agree with your assessment of Bones. How am I supposed to watch a show where most of the main characters are just plain annoying? At best I found the scientists painfully amusing in an "I really want to give those nerds a wedgie" kind of way. Given that I'm a nerd and a scientist myself, well that says something. I watched about 4 episodes and decided to cut my losses.

Finally, I'm mixed on Joey. It's nowhere near as good as Friends was during its prime, but I'm finding it much funnier than the last few seasons of Friends. I don't think I'd make an effort to watch it if I didn't have TiVo, but TiVo makes it so easy.

January 05 2006 at 11:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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