Best and Worst of 2006: Annie's list

I'm going to start off with the negative stuff, because I'm well aware that these are the gems that people want to read so that they can tell me how I'm so horribly, horribly wrong.

I'm not angry, just disappointed: Project Runway, Scrubs. God, Project Runway was just plain painful this season. Not only did we have to put up with Vincent and Angela for an ungodly long time, they were brought back for an additional challenge! Then, Jeffrey, the designer with the worst collection of all (well, in my personal opinion), won the whole competition. Livid, I was. I definitely expected better taste from what I've long considered the classiest reality program on television. And as for Scrubs, I think it's lost its charm... JD does that stupid nasal voice all the time (it's at its worst when he does that damn "zoom zoom zoom"), his pregnant girlfriend is an awful character, and Dr. Cox's hair looks like something ripped off a 70s model home floor. I used to think Scrubs was hysterical, but it's really missing something now and I've almost lost complete motivation to watch. If the upcoming musical episode doesn't restore my faith, I doubt anything will.

I'm not angry, just really disgusted: Flavor of Love. Boy, I thought the first season was bad. This time around, I couldn't even watch more than three episodes. I mean, c'mon... A girl pooped on the floor in the middle of an elimination ceremony. I have to draw the line somewhere.

Just Say No: American Idol. It just gets worse and worse every year, doesn't it? Well, I'm going to continue not watching. Honestly, I've tried getting into it, but it still fails to captivate me the way it has sucked in the souls of the millions of Americans around me. Please keep in mind that I stopped watching Flavor of Love only after a girl pooped on the floor but I can't even get through a single episode of American Idol. Let that process for a moment.

"Why is this still on television?": Last Call with Carson Daly. Sometimes I forget to turn off the television after Conan's over, so when Carson Daly's face pops up on screen, I spend a solid five minutes half-writhing in pain, half-groping blindly for the remote. There's usually a lot of screaming involved as well. God, Daly's show is an insult to late night. Not only are his monologues' "current event" jokes outrageously dated, he doesn't seem to know how to carry himself as a host. It's like the TV gods gave him this show just so that he would shut up and stop crying about being too old to keep working on MTV's TRL. "I'm hip! I'm hip!" he probably cried, as he put on a trucker's hat six months too late.

And now... The good stuff.

Favorite Newcomer: Ugly Betty. What a lovely show! Not only are all the characters wonderfully charming (the hilariously bitter Marc and Amanda included), but it's nice for people to have a genuinely kind-hearted character like Betty to cheer for. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Oh, and the fact that I've had a bit of a crush on Christopher Gorham (Henry) since Popular may have something to do with my love for the program.

Favorite Return: The Venture Bros., Green Wing. The Venture Bros.' latest season was -- for lack of a better phrase -- crazy-good. Marriage! Haunted pants! Gay alchemists! David Bowie! It doesn't get much better than that, folks. Green Wing also had an amazing final season, even though I was mildly disappointed by the finale. For the first time since watching Tim and Dawn from the original The Office, I had emotions invested in the characters' relationships. For a robotic stoic like me, that's really sayin' something.

Favorite New Addiction: Doctor Who. Thanks to the Sci-Fi channel, I've become a huge fan of the Doctor within a few short months. Not only have I already had nightmares about Daleks, but I've spent hours at malls searching for reasonably-priced, cream-colored Converse Chuck Taylors. After I finish up the rest of David Tennant's episodes, I'm going to check out Torchwood as well.

Best Use of Cameos: Extras. Ricky Gervais made Harry Potter fling a condom across a room. Ricky Gervais got to kick Professor Flitwick in the face. Ricky Gervais got to be manhandled by Gandalf. Yup. Ricky Gervais has one of the best jobs in the world. Oh, and the continued use of "Barry off EastEnders" never fails to crack me up.

Best Use of Fans: The Colbert Report. It seems as though the people from The Colbert Report are now well-aware that they have all of Stephen Colbert's fans wrapped around his finger. Vandalize Wikipedia? Rig a competition or two? Start a revolution? Fine. Y'know, sooner or later, all the Colbert fans will be issued uniforms of some sort... or at least standard eyeglasses. God, this could get a little scary.

The Pleasant Surprise: 30 Rock. I didn't like Tina Fey all that much when she was working on Saturday Night Live, but I quite enjoyed Mean Girls (I really surprised myself there). So, I decided to give 30 Rock a chance when I saw that NBC.com was streaming the premiere online. I'm really glad I did, because, as it turns out, 30 Rock is some pretty funny stuff.

Ol' Reliables: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Late Night with Conan O'Brien. I can always count on Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'Brien to help me get to sleep with a smile on my face. It's nice.