by Jeff Siler of The Forum
This has been one of the best seasons of television in recent memory
With every end to a television season we have to say goodbye to some of our favorite shows and this season had some of the longer running shows, leave us for good. Dr. House did what he does for the very last time, the original “Housewives” left us, everyone’s favorite spy in recent memory said goodbye, and the Scott brothers left us after nine years.
Along with the shows that willingly leave us, there are also the shows that leave us because of how their network viewed the show. CBS has the best case in this having to pull shows like: CSI: Miami, A Gifted Man, and Unforgettable because they needed the space to fill new shows into their slots. All three of these shows had rather good ratings and viewership. All the other networks did not have that kind of luxury by having to pull shows because of low ratings, viewership, and new shows. It was no surprise to see NBC pull Harry’s Law (I’m surprised it didn’t go last season). I know FOX is kicking themselves for reviving Breaking In. There were a few shows like Charlie’s Angels, Pan Am, and The Playboy Club which sounded like good ideas on paper but they both didn’t make it to winter break before being cancelled. I was perplexed by one cancellation, and that was the CW pulling The Secret Circle from its lineup. The show was the network’s second highest watched show behind The Vampire Diaries, but the network decided to keep other shows that got killed in the ratings. I just found that odd.
Some of the better things from the world of sitcoms were: How I Met Your Mother (who I felt had their best season in three years), Parks and Recreations (best season to date), Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory (of course), Community (better than last)… I could go on and on about good sitcoms from this past season because there are legitimately twenty-five sitcoms on my “must watch” list.
The world of drama is a much shorter list for me because I am picky with my time and when a show is twice as long it takes a lot more to keep me watching. For me, shows like Unforgettable, Person of Interest, A Gifted Man, Grimm, and a few others are very good shows, but they just got too repetitive and I stopped watching. The big thing I look for is something original and something that keeps me entertained throughout. Smash was one of my favorites from this past season because of the writing on the show. The Secret Circle also made this list but it’s gone for good now. The one network show I highly recommend is Revenge. This show is one of the best written shows on television with so many twist and turns in each episode. When it comes to cable I say to just turn your tv to AMC and watch the “masterfulness” ensue. The Walking Dead is one of the best shows on television, Hell On Wheels is really good, I hear the Mad Men and Breaking Bad are really good as well (I regrettably have never seen either one) but above all, If you are listening to me at all, I HIGHLY recommend The Killing. The show has some of the best writing I have ever seen and the characters on the show are some of the most likeable characters on television. The plot turns are another great thing about this show.
So, there is this past television season in a nutshell, so to speak. Make sure to pick up the August issue for my preview of the upcoming season.
Comments
Post a Comment