My Dream Team: A Review of the 2011 TV Season

The Emmy season is in full swing. The nominations aren't announced until July 14th, and the ceremony isn't until late September, but the internet is already a buzz with nomination predictions, nomination dreams, and possible winners. And while I didn't let myself invest in the Oscars this year, I am totally buying into the 2011 Emmys. I've been reading every article, and I'm counting down days until the nominations are announced. 

Now, before anyone poisoned my mind with nomination chances or anything, I thought I'd write up a little bit about who I think should win in each category, however unrealistic that idea may be. Since I don't really watch any worthy dramas (read: the only drama I watch is Gossip Girl, which is not deserving of any awards, ever), I am only considering the major comedy categories. So, without further ado, here are my favourite comedic actors and tv shows of the 2011 season. 

Best Actor

Over the last year, I've fallen out of love with the Big Bang Theory. Part of it is the simple fact that I had too many other shows to follow--Parks and Rec, Gossip Girl, Greek, etc--and I got distracted. Part of it is that I watched too much, too fast--Sheldon can get annoying fast. But the biggest thing is that this season wasn't very good. I thought Amy Farrah Fowler would be a fun character, for a few episodes. Oh, look, we get to see Sheldon date! But instead she turned into a regular character that I hated. She's the female Sheldon--only less funny. And the addition of Amy as well as increased screen time for Bernadette meant that Penny was squeezed out. Which really annoyed me. After Sheldon, Penny has always been my favourite character. I miss her! I want her back!

But no matter how much the show annoyed me or how little I watched by the end of the season (I don't remember if I made it through the entire finale episode), I always loved Jim Parsons. For a while here, this became the Jim Parsons Blog, where I'd do a post of him every other day. Nowadays, I'm not quite as obsessive, but I still think he is giving a great performance week in and week out. Sheldon Cooper is not someone most people would want to be friends with, and yet all the fans love him. Part of that can be credited to the writers, but I think a larger part can be credited to Jim Parsons himself. He takes a mean, egotistical, selfish guy, and he manages to make him loveable. Most of all, he makes him hilarious. Sheldon's character did not have his best season this past year, but he was still better than any other actor on tv, in my opinion. And so, I pick Jim Parsons as my Best Actor in a Comedy.

Best Actress

I don't watch The Office. I didn't really like Baby Mama. I've never taken to SNL. So there was nothing that suggested that I would like Parks and Recreation. But I did. By the end of the season I came to love it, in fact, and I think a large part of that is due to Amy Poehler herself.

She brings such life to her performance. So much energy. Like Sheldon, Leslie is a character that has the potential to be annoying. But in Poehler's hands, she's so much more than that. She's annoying, but she's also endearing. She's loveable. She's hilarious. I enjoy Leslie when she's paired with any character on the show--be it Ben in Road Trip, April in Fancy Party, Tom in the online dating episode, or Ron in the birthday episode. Again, give credit to the writers, but also give credit to this amazing actress, who works so hard and deserves to be rewarded for it.

Best Supporting Actor 

For this one, I have a near tie. One actor is absolutely hilarious, and wins hands down in the number of actual laughs he produces per episode. The other is an amazing dramatic actor who makes me love him even when I hate what the show makes him do. I'm going to give a shout out to both, since I think they both deserve the praise.

The first is Nick Offerman, aka Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation. That man is absolutely hilarious. Many of the lines he's given wouldn't be funny if they were written on the page. But the way he delivers them, they're absolutely freaking hilarious. He adds so much to the character, and his character adds so much to the show. There are so many classic scenes--Ron's pyramid of greatness, Ron's speech at the art gallery, Ron's cooking competition with Chris, etc, etc. That's because Nick Offerman is a genius. The funniest actor on tv right now.

My other contender is Chris Colfer. Now, I hated Glee this season. It was awful. Preachy. Cliched. Inconsistent. Boring. Irritating. A truly terrible piece of television. But for me, the one bright spot was Chris Colfer's character Kurt Hummel. Kurt had many great moments, but his stand out episode was clearly the prom, where he got to fun and funny and also heart breaking, all within forty minutes.  He made me feel for Kurt. He made me love Kurt. And, of course, he made me love Kurt and Blaine. They are such a cute couple! I loved their first kiss, their I love you's, pretty much every moment they were together this season. Credit to Darren Criss, credit to Ryan Murphy and gang, but biggest credit to Chris Colfer, who managed to stand out amongst all the slush.

Best Supporting Actress 

I almost didn't include this category. No one immediately came to mind, and I thought it would be a waste to pick a sub par actor to this list. Then I remembered Christa Miller, the brilliant Ellie from Cougar Town.

In the Emmy discussions, Busy Phillips usually gets thrown in. And, don't get me wrong, I love me some Busy Phillips. Hello, she's Audrey from Dawson's Creek. Plus she's funny and sweet and she has such a great relationship with Travis/Dan Byrd. But to me, she is second banana to the incomparable Christa Miller.

I love Ellie. She is absolutely hilarious. Again, here's a character who is constantly mean, and easily dislikable. Yet, Christa Miller makes her great. She makes her hilarious. Ellie scenes are always my favourite on Cougar Town. I love Ellie and Andy, and Ellie and Laurie, and even Ellie and Jules. I love her always. She refreshingly mean, and always hilarious. Christa Miller deserves more love for making this character someone you love to hate so much.

Best Comedy

Glee was terrible. How I Met Your Mother was boring. Big Bang was weak. 30 Rock was fine, just above average. Cougar Town was pretty good, but not great.

Parks and Recreation was amazing.

It's a great ensemble show, without one week link in the cast. I've already singled out Leslie and Ron, but I could easily considered most of the other characters, be it Tom (Aziz Ansari) or April (Aubrey Plaza) or Ann (Rashida Jones) or Ben (Adam Scott) or Chris (Rob Lowe) or even, heck, Jerry (Jim O'Heir). I loved them all, and I loved this season of the show.

The first I'd like to spotlight is romance, because, well, I'm totally obsessed with romance (Hi, my name is Katherine, it's nice to meet you). I so admired how the show handled both romances this season. April and Andy's courtship was adorable, but also realistic. I find Andy to be a trying character, but when he's with April, I love him. They are so sweet. I loved when they got together, and I loved when they got married. They are so low drama, yet still so awesome. That's really an achievement.

The other romance that I loved was Ben and Leslie. It was developed so well. It felt like these characters would actually be together. They were well developed as individuals, and they actually seemed like genuine friends. That's such a great foundation. From there, I loved how Ben got jealous and vulnerable about Leslie. I loved how they got together. I can't wait for the next season, where they'll finally figure out their future. They are a great couple, and I really hope they stay together.

So the romance was great. And I think it goes without saying that the comedy was amazing. I mean, this is the best comedy category. This show made me laugh more than any other on tv right now. The entire Harvest Festival, L'il Sebastian, the flu episode, the online dating episode, pretty much everything. There wasn't a bad episode in the bunch. That's amazing.

As of this moment, I love everything about this show. I love that they were able to integrate two new characters--Ben and Chris--so well. I love Ron effin' Swason. I love how everything is always blamed on Jerry. I love Donna's confidence. I love Chris's enthusiasm. I even love the freaking theme song. It's just so happy and upbeat. As is everything in this show. It's a great half hour of television, the best comedy on tv right now.

My Super Wacky Top TV Moments

This week on TV we experienced a whirlwind of wackiness, from teen arrests to singing doctors and World of Warcraft to Outdoor Exhibitions. Here are my top 5 wacky moments of the week:

1) CAPPIE on Parenthood!!!!


Let me repeat that: CAPPIE on Parenthood!! Cappie back in the world!! And yes, I know, it's not really Cappie. But it is Scott Michael Foster, and his face alone makes me so happy. I would describe his Parenthood character, but I don't really know anything about him since I couldn't stop squealing every time he came on screen. Any true Greek fan would understand. The world needs more Cappie, stat, even in little random roles like this one.

The rest of the episode surrounding Cappie was pretty good. Though it frustrated me that Sarah Braverman, aka Lauren Graham, aka Lorelai Gilmore, wouldn't know more about the size of university envelopes after the whole drama with Paris and Rory and everything. I don't think I'll every fully accept that Lauren Graham isn't actually Lorelai. I know I'll never accept Scott Michael Foster as anything but CAPPIE, the greatest human ever.

2) Grey's Anatomy! The Musical! 

It wasn't "good", so to speak, but it sure was hilarious. With all the random and awkward singing I was laughing for almost the entire episode! LOVED IT! In terms of the larger picture of Grey's Anatomy, it wasn't a great episode, since barely any plot was developed. Seriously, without the songs the entire plot would have been max. 10 minutes of the episode. But hey, it sure was different! And Sara Ramirez sure can sing! Though my favourite singer was Chandra Wilson. I really liked the emotion in her voice. On the opposite end, I think I could go awhile without hearing Kevin McKidd's voice again. He's pretty good, and he sure gave it a lot of effort, but he wasn't good enough to make up for the monotony of having only one male singer. Overall verdict: SO RIDICULOUS=SO FUN!!


3) The Return of Make It or Break It

It wasn't as good as I expected. But I was expecting gold. What I got was, let's say, bronze. Or fourth place. Or maybe even fifth. Still a fair showing, but not life changing. I got to see my girls again. Emily! Payson! I've missed you so much! Kaylie! You're still as annoying and whiny as ever! And Lauren, I still hate you! And no Damon. No Damon at all!!!! And without Damon, it can never be a great episode.

Other things annoyed me as well. I'm scared to find out to what they're doing with Sasha. The episode listed him as a "special guest star". What does that mean??? Is he not coming back to The Rock? What is The Rock without Sasha? What is MIOBI without Sasha? I sincerely hope we don't find out. I'm equally scared and eager to see the next episode.

4) The Teen Mom 2 Finale 


Oh dear lord. Things did not end very well for this season's crop of teenage mothers. Leah got it best, with big wedding, which, I will admit, was pretty sweet. I really hated the dresses the twins were wearing, but other than, I was very happy for Corey and Leah. They're not Caitlin and Tyler, but I liked them enough. My second favourite of the season was probably Chelsea, since she seemed like she was actually an okay mom. Adam is awful, and the finale only reinforced that. Kailyn had a fine episode, a fine ending as well. She got the custody agreement, which was great, but she also had to put up with more crap from Joe. I wish she would stop engaging him.

That just leaves Jenelle. I don't know if there's any hope left for her. I feel really bad for Barb and Jace. They don't deserve all that drama. I was so mad at Jenelle when she forgave Kieffer. He's awful, and she needs to move on!

Evaluating the season as a whole, I think I liked last season better. I loved Cailyn and Tyler so much. No one can beat them. I wonder who we'll get next year. And is we'll ever revisit the season 1 and season 2 moms. I hope so!

5) Mr. Shue is a Douche, even when the show isn't on

It was a slow week on tv, and this image was way better than anything that aired, so I just had to share:


And so Mr. Shue was renamed King Douche.

That's my week. How about yours?

TV Wasteland

It's a slow time for the tv season. The two shows I usually review (Greek and Gossip Girl) are both off the air. All the CW shows are gone, for that matter, and the new ABC Family ones don't start for another few weeks. Big Bang was off this week, as well as Parenthood, Cougar Town, and Modern Family. However, there were a few shows I did manage to catch. None that warrant a full review, but a good collection of WTF moments that I thought I'd share with you:

1) GLEE: THE KISS! THE KISS! THE KISS!

As per my usual, I have come to watch a show only for the romance. And, since I hate Finn more than any character ever, this has been pretty much the only couple to root for on this dying show. So, I have been watching Glee for 60 minutes every week, just waiting for Kurt and Blaine to get together.

All I have to say, is FINALLY. I am so happy! It was so freaking sweet! And so passionate! I loved Blaine's realization during Black Bird, and Blaine's speech. It was so romantic. And, of course, I loved the kisses. Kurt was so shocked and scared and happy. I was happy for him!

I'm sure Ryan Murphy will screw up this couple like he has with all the others, but for right now I will enjoy this unequaled bliss. Yeeee!

2) BONES: The Elevator

Admittedly, this episode was a little over-hyped. It was good and silly and fun, in classic Bones fashion, and, yeah, sure, there was a sprinkling of romantic moments, but it wasn't GROUNDBREAKING or DREAM FULFILLING, like, say, the 100th episode was.

I enjoyed that they were willing to talk so openly about their feelings and their relationship. I liked how awkward they both were. I liked how attracted he is to her. And I loved the last scene. The promise of something, someday. It's the whole someday girl idea from Cougar Town. And look how that turned out :)

3) PRIVATE PRACTICE: Naomi leaves!

Naomi has never been my favourite character. I don't agree with her on a lot of moral issues, and I hate how she forces her beliefs onto others and then gets mad when they don't agree with her. I hated how she dealt with the whole Maya pregnancy thing, and I hated when she chose William over Fife. And, now, I hate her for leaving. It's a bad character, with a bad excuse for leaving, with bad writing, plain and simple.

I also didn't love the Amelia Huntington's plot or the dying baby egg storyline (though it did feature a surprise cameo by Steve Brady). Altogether, I found it to be a rather silly episode. Which was annoying, because I was really looking forward to it.

I missed Community and 30 Rock so that's all I have this week. For two weeks actually, since not one show I watch is airing a new episode until the week after next. I don't know how I'm going to survive.

Maybe I'll blog about it :)