2009 was a good year for television. It offered the resurgence of the comedy on network television, and the continuing growth of original programming on cable. In all honesty, I don't think I could just do a list of what was great and what was horrible on television because I would need pages and pages.
Instead, I'm going to focus on the things that really stood out this year. Sorry, Mad Men fans, but even though this was a great third season and an amazing finale, I expect it at this point. It's the only way I could come up with to keep my list manageable.
Also, as a point of protest I did not include Jon, Kate or the balloon boy hoax. These events got more attention than they deserved already this year, and I feel bad I even mentioned them.
This might not be the biggest DVD release day in history, but it's certainly one of the business. There's something for everyone this week, including a bunch of "Fan Favorites" DVDs for various sitcoms, including NewsRadio, All in the Family, and I Dream of Jeannie. That's a neat idea, though I wonder, if you're a big fan, wouldn't you already have the DVDs?
Oh, and remember Day Break, the ABC mystery series from a couple of years ago? You can get the Complete Series. I don't think I ever saw the end of that show. You can watch it on SlashControl, so maybe I'll start there before buying the set.
And soKings has ended its run on NBC. This was one of the "quality" dramas that some people got excited about when it debuted months ago ... and then it crashed and NBC shoved it over to Saturday nights. But if Twitter is any indication, it still has its fans. What did you think of last night's episode?
Were you hoping to find out if David was able to reconnect with his family or why William Cross' son had a high heeled shoe in his room? Tune in two months from now to find out.
NBC's Kings has been moved to the middle of June after just four episodes, the last of which was moved from Sunday to Saturday just as Macaulay Culkin made an intriguing special appearance.
This just spells even more gloom and doom for the show that has suffered from low ratings and a juggled time slot since it hit the air. A two-month hiatus is the television equivalent of the "I just want to be friends" dump.
(S01E04) - "What's the point of having power if you don't use it?"
The inevitable has slowly become reality. NBC has shuffled Kings off to a Saturday time slot, affectionately known in TV watcher circles as the "death slot." Kings has now been left in that barren viewer-less void of TV's unwanted to rot in the hot sun of the shunned. Does anyone else smell bacon burning?
It's a shame really. Last Saturday's episode was able to give the series a good kick in the ass, even after the last episode felt like an action packed opus setting itself up for a shark jumper.
"Judgment Day" has turned Kings from a simple game of "Candy Land" where the good make it to the land of sugary goodness and the evil end up stuck in the Chocolate Swamp to a complex mesh of chess where the pieces are allowed to move each other.
There are two ways to get rid of a show. The network could just cancel it outright and never show it again, or they could take the show and burn off the remaining episodes on Saturday night, once a night of must-see TV but now a night filled with reruns, movies, and shows like Cops. Some would say that the latter is the worst of the fates, since you know it's going to be canceled but it's still on the air as a tease. Guess which NBC did with Kings?
Yup, the network has taken the show off of Sunday nights and will air the remaining eight episodes on Saturday nights at 8PM. The ratings kept falling and falling, with last week's episode getting the lowest ratings yet. NBC just sees no reason to leave it on Sunday nights. To fill the hour, Celebrity Apprentice will expand to three hours.
Just kidding. They're expanding Dateline to two hours. Is that better?
(S01E04) - Lives are more important than livelihood.
A major political leader's daughter has been kidnapped by militant insurgents and only one government insider can save her. Throw in a pair of electric nipple clamps hooked up to a car battery and a ticking clock, and it sounds like you've got an episode of 24.
This, however, was last night's Kings. Episode four takes a seemingly innocent decision to give Port of Prosperity to rival Gath and almost turns the whole affair into the white hot embers of a growing civil war within Shiloh.
King Silas' decision to give Gath the Port of Prosperity returns to bite him in the ass when its residents don't like their leader's use of eminent domain. So Silas puts our hero David Shepherd back in the spotlight to quell the growing insurgency and test his loyalty.
2009 was a good year for television. It offered the resurgence of the comedy on network television, and the continuing growth of original programming on cable. In all honesty, I don't think I could just do a list of what was great and what was horrible on television because I would need pages and pages.
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
Nickelodeon has a SpongeBob SquarePants marathon all night.
At 8, NBC has a new Kings.
Food Network has a Chopped marathon all night.
Travel Channel has a new Man vs. Food marathon all night.
'Breaking Bad' Tidbits from Cranston, Paul and Odenkirk
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Ed O'Neill on Being the 'Modern Family' Patriarch
