Grading Roundup

I got a little caught up in nothing the past few months. I didn't even finish my mid-season report card for tv shows. So here is a little roundup on the grades i gave each show after their 05-06 season:

Series Finales:

ALIAS
Final Grade: B
Reason: After giving us closure, the season felt weak, they wrapped everything up nicely and didn't really tie up lose ends but burn them and recycle them from previous mysteries just so they could finish the rambaldi sinkhole they dug up for themselves. Overall it felt rushed but did give closure to the beloved characters of spies and villains.


EVERWOOD
Final Grade: A-
Reason: The best family show on the air had to end because of a network merger. The CW didn't want this great show to fill their new fall lineup and fans got what they didn't want to see this early but the best finale the show could have had at any moment in its history. The Abbots got their saught after baby, the Browns got their respective girls, Bright and Hanna will continue to be the cutest couple in Everwood, and Delia got her horse. The perfect ending to a great show.

WILL & GRACE
Final Grade: C+
Reason: Let me just say that i'm being good to this show, because it had a nice ending with Will and Grace separating and having their own lives finally and reuniting 20 years later. But this show was burnt down several seasons ago, with stunt guest casting, ridiculous plot lines and turning the show into Jack & Karen instead. Just thank the tv gods this show is finally over.

As of the rest of the season shows....

The best:
LOST (they're getting rescued!), BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (one year later???), GREY'S ANATOMY (boom), THE OFFICE (funniest holiday party ever!), 24 (damn those chinese), SCRUBS (a baby for JD?!), HOUSE (need to finish season, but great so far), VERONICA MARS (papa Mars is supposedly dead!, what an ending!)

The "whatevas":
THE SOPRANOS (not as great as i expected, but still good), SURVIVOR (entertaining, but too much of the same), KING OF QUEENS (fun getaway), AMERICAN IDOL (Chris wuz robbed!), SMALLVILLE (better than before)

The sad cancelations:
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (I want that movie!), INVASION (what happened to Larkin?), SONS & DAUGHTERS (funniest "normal" family ever)

Freshmen hits:
PRISON BREAK ('the fugitives'), MY NAME IS EARL (entertaining white trash), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (when WILL he find their mother?), EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS (oh, the days of the 80's)

Big Disappointments:
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (sophomore slump anyone), GILMORE GIRLS (it went downhill when the little girl showed up), TWO AND A HALF MEN (Completely unfunny with 'Candy'), THE AMAZING RACE (that Family Edition sucked!), MEDIUM (boooooooring!!!!)

And that's it for now, even though the summer season is full on already, i'll have a full report on that a bit later, i need to catch up with The 4400 and Deadwood, but good tv is coming from Entourage (Medellin!!!), Big Brother (welcome back Will), Rock Star: Supernova (Go Dilana!), Last Comic Standing (Josh Blue rules), and the surprisingly likeable Treasure Hunters (damn those 'to be continued's....).

See ya!

In the wake of the Emmys

Ok, like everyone out there I also had a "Dream Emmy Ballot", which included the shows & stars i would've loved to see nominated this year for their outstanding work in television this past season. With the new system for voting the academy put it place, all the good small shows looked to have a chance of making it in the ballot, but as it was expected all along, it was same ol' same ol', with some surprises here and there of course.

In my perspective, the biggest snubs this year (and there were a lot) were the tragic omission of LOST as best drama after winning last year with an equaly terrific season, no acting nods for the men of My Name is Earl, including the show itself, the only 'housewife' worthy of a nod, Marcia Cross, and the most cynic doctor on tv, Hugh Laurie in House. No acting nods to the castaways of LOST or the doctors of Scrubs, the leading cast of Grey's Anatomy or The Sopranos, and no love for Entourage as a series. Most notorious the glaring omission of sci-fi gem Battlestar Galactica in all major categories (tech categories were given).


With snubs also come not worthy nods, and you can see it when you count and see more than 50% of the actors nominated are from series that have already ended or were just plain cancelled. The biggest shockers here were the parents of Malcolm in the Middle, Stockard Channing for Out of Practice, Geena Davis for Commander in Cheif, the cast of Will & Grace, The cast of Six Feet Under (them over The Sopranos!), Huff and The West Wing. Completely outrageous.

But you have to comend them when they "try" to do something right, right? Not really. But they did nominate some that really deserve it and hopefully they win their categories, like Keifer Sutherland (Best Drama Actor - 24), Lisa Kudrow (Best Comedy Actress - The Comeback), Will Arnet (Best Supporting Comedy Actor - Arrested Development) going against Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Jamie Presley (Supporting Comedy Actress - My Name is Earl), Chandra Wilson (Best Suporting Drama Actress - Grey's Anatomy), Gregory Itzin & Jean Smart (Best Supporting Drama Actor/Actress - 24), and The Office and star Steve Carrell (Best Comedy Series / Comedy Actor). But as you read this list, those are the only ones that actually deserved their nods, mostly one of each category, most outrageous!

And to end with a rant (like i like to do), they had 'what the f***' nominations of shows still on the air too, like the long overdo Kevin James for The King of Queens, but this year was not deserved at all; Two and a Half Men and its two leads (one was a supporting actor???) for the show's weakest season to date; and Alfre Woodard for a "comedic" supporting role in Desperate Housewives! (that one was the most ludicrous).

And there are my two cents on the Emmy nods for this year, and if you see other commentaries from actual critics you will see that i'm not the only one with the same opinion.