Favourite Things from 2011, Vol. 3
"Despite a disappointing Fall Season, this was another great year for television." That was the first sentence of last year's entry and I can just repeat it. Fall season was awful and the few mid-season replacements so far don't give me much hope for the rest of the year. (Except Smash. Smash is extraordinary.) But there were still A LOT of good shows in 2011. I had over 40 shows on my short-list that I wanted to talk about so it was really hard to cut it down. If you feel like I forgot anything or just want my opinion on your personal faves - just ask. I probably saw it or have at least formed a half-assed opinion based on Internet forums.
First off:
MOST IMPORTANT SHOWS I'M STILL BEHIND ON SO I WON'T MENTION THEM HERE
Breaking Bad
Fringe
Vampire Diaries
Sons of Anarchy
Downton Abbey
FAVOURITE NEW CHARACTER
Teen Wolf's Stiles
Runners-up: Happy Ending's Max, Alphas' Gary, Game of Throne's Arya Stark, New Girl's Schmidt, Revenge's Tyler and Shameless's Fiona. Plus, Park & Recreation's Ben Wyatt who only had two episodes back in 2010 when he joined the show.
2011 was also a fantastic year for non-stereotypical gay characters. I will write a whole post about that sometime this month.
New Character with the Most Wasted Potential: Friday Night Light's Hastings Ruckle.
TV MOVIE OF THE YEAR
MINI-SERIES OF THE YEAR
Runner-up: Marchlands
LINE OF THE YEAR
Tessa Altman: "If you could have dinner with any famous person, living or dead, who would it be?"
Ryan Shay: "Scarlett Johansson. Dead." (Suburgatory)
Runner-up: "This is the only store in Chicago that sells the porn I like. It's called Bloody Guys. It's British guys. Covered in blood." (Happy Endings)
MOST IMPROVED SHOW OF THE YEAR
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT aka "NEEDED MORE DINOS" OF THE YEAR
BEST KEPT TV SECRET
Runners-up: Awkward. and Michael, Tuesdays and Thursdays
WORST TV SHOW OF THE YEAR
Runners-up: The Cape, Episodes, Last Man Standing, Doctor Who's "Rebel Flesh"-two-parter and Community's "Advanced Gay". Plus, that horrible, horrible Grey's Anatomy-musical episode. Probably also Glee but I haven't seen enough episodes of it last year.
MY FAVOURITE COMMUNITY-EPISODES IN 2011
5. Studies in Modern Movement
4. Paradigms of Human Memory
3. Regional Holiday Music
2. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
1. Remedial Chaos Theory
MY FAVOURITE NON-COMMUNITY-EPISODES OF THE YEAR
10. How I Met Your Mother - Symphony of Illumination
09. Misfits - Episode Seven
08. Futurama - Reincarnation
07. Alphas - Blind Spot
06. Natsume Yūjin-chō - Young Days
05. Teen Wolf - Night School
04. Enlightened - Consider Helen
03. South Park - You're Getting Old
02. Friday Night Lights - Forever
01. Parks & Recreation - April and Andy's Fancy Party
MY FAVOURITE SHOWS OF THE YEAR
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And in case you missed it, here is last year's list.