The first episode from Season 2 of Friday Night Lights is available right now on Yahoo. The sophomore year of the series officially kicks off on Friday, October 5 at 9pm on NBC.
And Bill Simmons wrote a great article about the show on ESPN.com.
Watch it, read it, let me know what you think.
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One of my favorite entertainment columnists, James Poniewozik from Time Magazine, has offered up his list of The 100 Best TV Shows of All Time: www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1651341,00.html?iid=redirect-100tvshows
I was pleased to find that all of my personal favorites made the list (so I noted them with an asterisk). While I can certainly appreciate the cultural impact that many of these shows had/have on society, there are a few surprises.
Take a look at Poniewozik’s list below. What do you think? Are there any egregious omissions? Are your shows represented?
24
60 Minutes
The Abbott and Costello Show
ABC’s Wide World of Sports
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
All in the Family
An American Family
American Idol
Arrested Development *
Battlestar Galactica
The Beavis and Butt-Head Show
The Bob Newhart Show
Brideshead Revisited
Buffalo Bill
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Carol Burnett Show *
The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Cheers
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
Dallas
The Day After
Deadwood *
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Dragnet
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ernie Kovacs Show
Felicity *
Freaks and Geeks
The French Chef
Friends
General Hospital
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Gilmore Girls
Gunsmoke
Hill Street Blues
Homicide: Life on the Street
The Honeymooners
I, Claudius
I Love Lucy
King of the Hill
The Larry Sanders Show
Late Night with David Letterman (NBC)
Leave It to Beaver
Lost *
Married… With Children
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
M*A*S*H
The Monkees
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Moonlighting
MTV 1981-1992
My So-Called Life
Mystery Science Theater 3000
The Odd Couple
The Office [American] *
The Office [British]
The Oprah Winfrey Show
Pee Wee’s Playhouse
Playhouse 90
The Price Is Right
Prime Suspect
The Prisoner
The Real World
Rocky and His Friends
Roots
Roseanne
Sanford and Son
Saturday Night Live
Second City Television
See It Now
Seinfeld
Sesame Street
Sex and the City
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Singing Detective
Six Feet Under *
Soap
The Sopranos *
South Park
SpongeBob SquarePants
SportsCenter
Star Trek
St. Elsewhere
The Super Bowl (and the Ads)
Survivor
Taxi
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Twilight Zone
Twin Peaks
The West Wing
What’s My Line?
WKRP in Cincinnati
The Wire
Wiseguy
The X-Files *
Your Show of Shows
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There are online rumblings that Season 4 of Lost will air on Monday nights at 8pm beginning in February of next year.
As someone who races to blog about the show immediately following each episode, I welcome the earlier time slot.
Even though they’re on different networks, this change could create a Must-See Monday line-up of Lost at 8pm on ABC and Heroes at 9pm on NBC.
Thoughts?
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I just got back from vacation, which was quite relaxing…until I turned on the Emmy Awards last night. Just like last year, I found myself screaming at the TV on many occasions. But this time I was in a hotel room. In Vancouver. Where they aired the entire event without censoring any comments. I heart Canada.
Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Dear Emmy Voters,
According to the official website, over 13,000 of you representing “television professionals from every field” comprise the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
However, after watching the Emmy Awards last night, I am convinced that very few of you who are eligible to vote actually watch television. Or at least more than the single screener episodes that are mailed to you.
You got 4 out of 5 nominations right for Outstanding Drama Series. But Boston Legal instead of Lost or Friday Night Lights?? Similar to Desperate Housewives, that show is neither comedy nor drama; it is a quirky hybrid in the spirit of Ally McBeal. And no one watches it. Except for you, vague members of the Academy. Shows like Boston Legal simply confuse, clutter and clog major categories, resulting in serious snubs for far more deserving series’ and performances. Which brings me to…
James Spader for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. COME ON. Over James Gandolfini? It is painfully clear that you have a soft spot for Boston Legal. Case in point: William Shatner’s infuriating prior victories for the same damn show. Is Spader replacing Shatner as your perennial sentimental favorite? Is he your Tony Shalhoub or Doris Roberts? Are you trying to alienate and/or annoy dedicated viewers of shows that receive critical acclaim by torturing us with nominations for inferior performances? Can you seriously say with great conviction that Spader deserved this more than Tony Soprano’s swan song season or the incredibly underrated/extremely complicated Denis Leary on Rescue Me? In my opinion, Kyle Chandler or Matthew Fox should have been nominated in place of Spader. If you had watched more than one episode of Lost last season, you would have chosen Fox; he was the anchor and the intensity that revived the second half. If you had jumped on the Friday Night Lights train along with most critics, you would have recognized Chandler for his integral role as coach and father figure to an entire town.
Yours in frustration,
Jo
Moving on…
As much as I appreciate Jaime Pressly as Joy on My Name is Earl, I was rooting for Jenna Fischer as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. I believe there is genius in subtle comedy, and she is the master of that domain as Pam on The Office.
And now, for the positive notes.
30 Rock
My heart is with The Office, but the Outstanding Comedy Series statue for 30 Rock is the icing on the cake from their last-minute reprieve. Tina Fey is quite talented, and I’m a big fan.
Ricky Gervais
What a pleasant surprise for Lead Actor in Comedy Series. Although Alec Baldwin steals the show on 30 Rock and Steve Carell is fantastic on The Office, Gervais is hysterical on Extras. And frankly, I was just relieved that it didn’t go to Shalhoub and Sheen.
Katherine Heigl
She and Chandra Wilson are why I still tune in to Grey’s Anatomy. Although I was rooting for Rachel Griffiths for Brothers and Sisters, I am more than satisfied that Heigl won for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Izzie is far more compelling than the character after whom the show is named…the one who should have perished in the water during sweeps.
Terry O’Quinn
I’ve said from the beginning that Lost lives and breathes by and through John Locke, that O’Quinn’s character is more important to the entire series than the island itself. Sweet victory for a VERY deserving actor. And his competition in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series was fierce; the statue could have easily wound up in the hands of Lost‘s evil Ben (Michael Emerson) or The Sopranos’ tragic Christopher (Michael Imperioli).
The Sopranos
Those last few episodes of the final season really sealed their status as one of the best shows in the history of television, and they truly were an Outstanding Drama.
Writing – Comedy
There was pure comedy gold throughout the small screen last season. As much as I loved Harry Potter’s cameo on Extras, I vividly remember how brilliant and laugh-out-loud funny The Office was. So I applaud Greg Daniels’ win for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, for his ‘Gay Witch Hunt’ script.
Random Observations
Look, I’m not a member of any voting academy and I don’t claim to be an expert. I might come across as a bitter couch potato, but I’m just a passionate fan of television and high quality programming. And I am living off of vacation vapors at the moment. So please excuse me if I seem snarky or cranky, or if any spelling errors made their way into this post.
Good night.
