Community, Parks and Recreation and the leader-less, rudder-less ‘The Office’ have all been renewed through 2011-2012. Community continues to be the most ambitious and intelligent comedy on television. Parks has continued to grow from it’s rather mediocre debut season, though one wonders about the overall direction of the show given that arcs to date have been rather insignificant.
The Office will be without Steve Carell. It’s fairly stale and humourless with him so it’s difficult to see if it can get any worse. I’m sure you’ll all tune in to find out. I know I will.
Although it was their best episode to date, I’m really surprised to read that the Community series finale will take place during another school-wide paintball war.
For a show that prides itself on never using the same premise more than once, it seems rather contradictory to replicate an episode.
Today sees a dawn of a new series emanating from the brain that brought you ‘Dan-Blair Watch’ and ‘Ficus Recommends’. It’s a series I plan to add to every week; time, weather, strength and intestinal fortitude permitting. It will look out our favourite characters deemed by a panel of experts. Namely me. However, I do plan to consult with my ever burgeoning list of esteemed contributors…if they ever start contributing. Today I bring you Annie from Community.
Information gleaned from her 100% inaccurate wikipedia page:
Born: December 1990
Gender: Female
Religion: Judaism
Occupation: Student
Significant Others: Ficus (in dream-like world made of chocolate and Hermione Granger)
She is the girl next door. This more-american-than-apple pie sweetheart is a ficus-favourite over at NBC’s Community. Is it her sex appeal? No, my love of Annie extends past the superficial attraction to her unquestionable beauty and feminine charms. Perhaps it stems from the fact that her character has depth beyond her looks. Unlike other attractive female characters on TV, she doesn’t rely on her sexuality. Indeed, at the beginning of the series she appears barely cognisant of her ability to do this. We know from her interactions with Troy that she was invisible at High School. Star QB Troy didn’t remember her despite sitting in front of her in class for years. It is also stated on several occasions that she suffered a nervous breakdown in High School. It is this vulnerability which shines through Alison Brie’s delicate portrayal of Annie. At Glendale, she finds found a group of friends which understand her. Yet, her vulnerability and naiveté leads members of the group to treat her as if she was their daughter. In many ways this matches the experience of the audience. We want Annie’s innocence to be protected whilst at the same time find her so alluring in her innocence. We are Geoff Winger, so conflicted and torn that we don’t know whether we want to be her father or lover…or both. As she continues to evolve with superb writing and the nuanced performance by the brilliant Alison Brie perhaps this dilemma will be resolved. In the meantime we’ll continue to love her.
Greetings friends. I started off this daunting quest with the intent of creating a top 10 list. After weighing up my options, I realised that this would devalue the whole exercise. 10 is too many. It would mean including a few shows that aren’t mandatory viewing. These are, as I see it, the elite shows of 2010. I am interested in seeing everybody’s opinions. Well at least a person’s opinion. Feel free to post your own top 5.
Now to the order. I see Mad Men and Breaking Bad as interchangeable. But the again, Breaking Bad has Skylar as the ex-wife, Mad Men has Betty. I rest my case (order). Community is the best comedy on television. I give Lost the nod in favour of Fringe as the series finale blew my pants off (even though I was naked at time of viewing).
1. Mad Men
This is perhaps television’s most consistent performer. 2010 saw Don Draper transition from married man to bachelor back to married man. It was a quick 360, but it was one hell of a ride none-the-less.
Other highlights included Don and Peggy forming a close friendship. Given Don’s proclivity towards secrecy, it created a very interesting, although at times awkward, dynamic. Betty continued to discover ‘happiness’ cannot be attained via marriage. At least
not to a Republican…I think America learned this lesson already (High-Five!).
The mid 1960s. Beautiful women. Life after Kennedy. The dawn of the nuclear family. Don Draper. Enough said really. The shows that exudes class continues to be predictably classy.
2. Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad seems so long ago…that I barely remember what occurred in the 3rd season.
Yet, I do remember that the show continues to be riveting viewing. Walt’s transformation from mild-mannered science teacher to drug-manufacturing genius is complete. He is now Heisenberg.
So much so that he cannot envision a life without cooking…alot like Jamie Oliver. Jesse continues to be tortured by his girlfriend’s tragic death. This season featured some very gripping scenes, not least of which was where we saw Heisenberg on the edge of discovery by Hank (his DEA brother in law). The attack by the two twins on Hank was similarly amazing. It is never dull and features superb performances, especially by Cranston. It is the best told story on television. Breaking Bad continues to be mandatory viewing.
3. Community
In a TV season where the Office and Weeds continued on their quest for mediocrity Community stood out as a beacon of intelligence, humour and heart. And liver. And Annie’s Boobs. While episodes like ‘Modern Warfare’ and ‘Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas’ will become instantly recognisable classics, the week-to-week antics of our favourite undergrads are always lively. Unlike the stale and directionless ‘Weeds’ or ‘The office’, Community seems to push the boundaries each week. Ambition is the key. The characters continue to develop, sometimes in unexpected directions. Oh and did I mention Abed was awesome? And Alison Brie…
4. Lost
I have mixed feelings about including Lost on this list. For much of the final season I was disgruntled, disinterested and generally feeling dissed. Maybe it was the dysentery. The writers seemed to concoct a lot of weak explanations for much of the phenomena which we, as fans, enjoyed pondering and discussing for hours throughout the show’s 6 season run. The creation of smokey stands out as one example. Yet, the resolution for the characters was nothing short of breathtaking. The finale was stunning, beautiful and truly befitted a show that for all its faults was still an epic.
5. Fringe
In the latter parts of season 2 and the start of season 3 Fringe went from inconsistent monster-of-the-week sci-fi to must watch television. The formulaic episodes which plagued most of its inaugural season gave way to a greater emphasis upon the fringe mythology. Our universe and ‘their’s’ continued to edge towards a showdown of epic proportions. It’s a grand story which, if Fox allows it, may rival Lost. Not in hype, but in actual storytelling acumen.
Tomorrow I will post my ‘Most Disappointing Shows of 2010’ List
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Omniscient Sponge
MisanthropicFicus
Musings on Television by a Misanthropic Ficus 