12/31/2009

My 10 Favorite TV moments that occurred sometime in the last 10 years

In no particular order:

When: 2009
What: Community
Episode: Football, Feminism and You

Jeff (Joel McHale) is trying to talk Troy (Donald Glover) into joining the Greendale Community College football team, because the dean (Jim Rash) has threatened to send out mailers featuring Jeff, which could harm his future career, unless Jeff can convince Troy to join the Human Beings.

Jeff: Football is a part of you, Troy, I can see it in your eyes!
Troy: That's racist!
Jeff: Your soul!
Troy: That's racist.
Jeff: Your heart?
Troy: That's gay.
Jeff: That's homophobic.
Troy: That's black!
Jeff: That's racist!
Troy: Damn

When: 2006
What: How I Met Your Mother
Episode: Slap Bet

Somtimes, sitcoms A stories are good and the B stories fall flat. Sometimes the A story is so-so and the B story is hilarious. In this episode, both storylines build to a beautiful peak and come together to make one of the funniest episodes of TV, ever, with the icing on the cake being the reveal of Robin's secret...her past as a Canadian teen pop star.



When: 2002
What: Firefly
Episode: Out of Gas

It's one of my favorite episodes of one of my top 3 favorite shows. Three timelines are delineated with lighting changes, and they twist and turn together to tell the story of how exactly the crew of Serenity got together in the first place, along with why Captain Mal is bleeding and passed out with what looks to be a nothing piece of equipment in his hand.

When: 2001
What: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Episode: Once More, With Feeling

As established by my list of movie moments, I'm a sucker for a musical, and with Once More, With Feeling, I got a musical episode of my favorite TV show. Sure, not all the singing was stellar, but the episode itself was perfection: it advanced the story, developed the characters, and even gave a plausible (for the Buffyverse) explanation for why everyone was singing and dancing.



When: 2008
What: The Middleman
Episode: all of them

In the summer of 2008, I found myself watching and falling in love with this show. I was sad while I watched it, because I could sense that no one else was watching it, and sure enough, ABC Family canceled it after a run of 12 wonderfully entertaining episodes. Based on the graphic novels by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les MacClain, The Middleman told the story of Wendy Watson (aka DubDub, aka Dubby), a struggling artist who is recruited to be a superhero in training. In addition, the friendship between Lacey and Wendy was perfection - two young women on TV who talked about things other than men. The dialogue was rapidfire and occasionally filthy, and the situations were ludicrous but entertaining, and I'm sad that I don't get any more episodes. ART CRAWL!



When: 2006
What: Six Feet Under
Episode: Everyone's Waiting

The last few minutes of one of the greatest television series ever. It was perfection.



When: 2007
What: Pushing Daisies
Episode: All of them

Whimsical and more than a little absurb, unbelievable set and art direction, occasional singing, and sweet as pie for every minute. The world really should have Darling Mermaid Darlings and a restaurant called The Pie Hole.





When: 2004
What: Wonderfalls
Episode: Crime Dog

I never caught Wonderfalls when it was actually on TV, but I rented the series from Netflix after catching the first season of Pushing Daisies, since both were created by Bryan Fuller. It had the trademark quirkiness and whimsy of Pushing Daisies, but the main character, Jaye, was decidedly not sweet. She was an Ivy League educated young woman with a degree in philosophy who had no ambition, and worked in a gift shop at Niagara Falls. I liked all the episodes, but I guess I have a little thing for tales told out of order, so this episode, which starts with something that happens more than halfway through the episode, is the one I have to go with. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube. What you need to know: Jaye gets cryptic messages from inanimate animal objects.

When: 2006ish?
What: So You Think You Can Dance
Episode: First performance episode season 3

There are a lot of dances I love that I've seen on this show, but this was my first exposure to the genius of Wade Robson, and for that, it will always have a special place in my heart.



When: 2000
What: Angel
Episode: She

It's truly a terrible episode of Angel that is completely redeemed by this clip and the scenes that play over the closing credits.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Middleman!!!! You weren't the only one watching. Loved every bit of it. Fun stories, great characters, and filled with sly and silly references to every sci-fi/fantasy work ever.

My television watching wasn't nearly as wide in the past decade as in my youth, but much more intense. I never missed Buffy, Angel, Lost, Dexter, Veronica Mars, Joan Of Arcadia, Mad Men, The Middleman. I liked The Sopranos, The Wire, House, Six Feet Under, and a few others, but never got obsessed with them.

If I tried to make a list, it would probably end up being all Buffy moments.

maurinsky said...

I can't believe I forgot Veronica Mars! I loved that show.

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