We understand that people think television is evil and that some even advocate for killing one's television. Yeah, well, in the words of television icon Homey the Clown, "Homey don't play that." Onward and upward then.
(1) The Sopranos. Don't stop believing. Period.
(2) Arrested Development. Man do we miss the Bluths.
(3) The Shield. Just try to turn away.
(4) The Obama acceptance speech in Grant Park. It really doesn't matter who you were rooting for, where you lived or where things sit today, on that night Chicago was the center of the Obama nation and all was right in the world.
(5) Mad Men. We know what the good people at Stuff White People Like have to say about this. And us. We say suck it.
(6) The F%!@#$ Matt Damon video. The perfect intersection of celebrity, sex, humor and the direction television is inevitably heading.
(7) Friday Night Lights. God bless you Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler.
(8) Rescue Me. Profane and profound and all post-September 11th. Really something.
(9) 24. While season six and the assassination of President Palmer was crazy good, watching that first season was like smoking television meth. Or so we hear. For real.
(10) Scrubs. Not Arrested Development, but did quirky and heartfelt like no one else.
The rest in no particular order include: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls and the Lazy Sunday video from Saturday Night Live.
We should add, that we recognize that these aren't all shows per se, but that phrasing definitely tested best with the focus groups. We also recognize that we are supposed to be watching The Wire and we will. We promise.
And with that we will sign off. Mostly. There is a video that we think just might change your life.
This is the first year that we thought rolling out a Top Ten list focused on television might be fun, so we're going to run with our 2008 list today, focus group the heck out of it over the coming year and revisit whether or not our R&D dollars are well-spent in this area during the TBWCYL, Inc. spring board meeting. That said, we thought there was much to like in 2008, whether it was the shows, the people or the personalities.
(1) Obama's acceptance speech in Grant Park - Did anything else this year really compare? No need to answer that.
(2) The Shield - Where do you start? Has any show ever been more stressful and more unrelenting? And the finale, kick-ass. Long live The Shield.
(3) Mad Men - God bless Don Draper.
(4) Sarah Silverman's I'm F***ing Matt Damon video - Yes, we know, it was a viral sensation, but it started on television and it was too good, especially Damon's endlessly deadpan mug.
(5) Friday Night Lights - It might be worth it for the football scenes alone. But then you would be over-looking Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton's most awesome interaction, and the Smash, and on and on.
(6) The Office - While Amy Ryan's presence alone elevated the show to great heights during this past season, the dinner party episode where Michael and Jan break-up was as painful and well-executed as anything on television this year.
(7) Tina Fey as Sara Palin - It's already been hyped beyond belief, but that first appearance with Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton appearing together at the faux news conference announcing Palin's selection was genius.
(8) Ted Danson - As both himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and big props to Vivica A. Fox this past season as well, and as Arthur Frobisher on Damages. I'm still not sure what happened on the latter show, but Danson tore it up.
(9) How I Met Your Mother - Not as twisted and awesome as Arrested Development, nor as wacky and touching as Scrubs, but always a pleasure, so as needed, please see the Star Wars episode or anything with NPH getting his Barney on.
(10) Scott Baio - So nice to have him back. And back again, pregnant or otherwise.
Honorable mention: Entourage - A little uneven this season, but no one does male like the Entourage.
MONKEYBICYCLE, issue number five, the dirty humor issue has officially, and finally, been released. We have just received our copy at headquarters and have noticed that we find ourselves compulsively washing our hands and brains every time we pick it up, something that makes us think that you might want pick it up as well. Of course, such run of the mill OCD behavior may not be enough of a draw for you, but did we mention its dirty? Humorous? Nearly banned? And has some killer writers, including everyone from Patton Oswalt to Amy Guth to Sarah Silverman, and even TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer eloquently riffing on family life and penis. If we didn't, we should have, because we think those are some pretty good reasons to obtain a copy of your own. Plus, well, you know, reading it just might change your life.
(4) The Obama acceptance speech in Grant Park. It really doesn't matter who you were rooting for, where you lived or where things sit today, on that night Chicago was the center of the Obama nation and all was right in the world.
(8) Rescue Me. Profane and profound and all post-September 11th. Really something.
