Boob Tube 2008 - Brother's Keeper View

At the top, let me say, that there is no greater expert on TV than T-Rex. No one watches more, no one cares more about TV than him, but he is just wrong. His head was so far up his fan-boy ass that his overview of 2008 was way off track.

Best of 2008:
1) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Easily the funniest show on television. This FX show came out of no where. The show follows the exploits of a group of friends who run Paddy's Pub, an unsuccessful Irish bar in South Phillie. The show is going into season 4. The brilliant Danny DeVito joined the cast in season two and that has mad all the difference. The cast are downright awful people and that is what makes us love them. They are the new version of the Seinfeld characters. The reason we loved George, Kramer, Elaine and Jerry was that they were incredibly selfish and would screw over anyone else to improve their lot in life. The same with Deandra, Dennis, Charlie, etc. in Sunny. They are evil and incredibly selfish and I love it.
You can't beat an entire CSI-like episode trying to figure out who pooped in Frank and Charlie's shared bed.
2) House - Speaking of crappy attitudes, Dr. Greg House is the best nasty doctor there is. House is a definite Tivo every week. One can argue that the new cast this season hurt the show and it shouldn't be on this best of 2008 list. I agree that the new cast sucks, but you could put a bunch of flatulent mimes around House and the show would still be great. House is about House, period. The rest of the characters are there for House to take shots at.
3) Pushing Daisies - This is an all-time great show. Years from now people will look at Pushing Daisies as one of the best made shows to ever be on TV. That being said, I understand, it is not easy to watch. It involves a commitment. A commitment to a heightened sense of reality with bold colors and outrageous characters. But once you are into it, it is stunning, funny and you care about the characters. It is sad that is has been canceled. Sad because According to Jim is still on the air and Daisies is dead. Sad because of what that says about America.
4) 30 Rock - Alec Baldwin may be an enormous jerk in his personal life but he is brilliant in 30 Rock. He is the show. Tina Fey is also incredible. For some reason, The Office gets all the praise, but 30 Rock is miles funnier and better written. (How many more of those knowing looks into camera from Jim can we handle, before we strangle him!?!?!) 30 Rock deserves more viewers. So everyone get out there and watch this show.
5) Lost - Was Lost even on in 2008? I really don't remember. Whatever. I love Lost. I can't wait until it comes back later this month.

What's on the Boob Tube?

TV. The old Boob Tube. The greatest invention of all time and my source of daily entertainment. I have been addicted to television since a very young age. I’ve had my love affair with it all. Cartoons, game shows, sitcoms, drama, the movie of the week, Monday Night Football, NBC’s Thursday night lineup, ESPN, court shows, heck, even a brief stint with soap operas. Point is, if it’s ever been broadcast on television, I’ve probably tried it out at least once. Some shows have stuck, some never make the cut. But thanks to my best friend TIVO, I can try them all. I can’t live without my TIVO, changed my life. Without it, and a little help from TV on DVD, I would never have found such gems like Mad Men or Dexter. And for that matter, I wouldn’t be utterly addicted to 60 minutes every week, but I digress, this column is meant to for me to wax poetic on whatever I find interesting on TV. So here goes. Here is a look at what was great about the 2008 fall season and what looks promising for 2009. Enjoy.

What was great this fall:

Season 3 of Dexter – Quickly becoming my favorite show on TV. Discovered this gem on DVD over the summer and was sucked right in. Dexter is helping Showtime take the mantle from HBO in terms of top cable network. Shows like Weeds, Brotherhood and Californication are all also highly recommended.

Fringe, my favorite new show of the year – When a new show put together by J.J. Abrams came up on the slate for 2008, it automatically gets my attention. And this show delivers. It has gotten consistently better each week and taps right into that X-Files type vibe.

The return of Friday Night Lights – Now I haven’t seen one of the new episodes from Season 3 yet, only because they are available via DirecTV only right now. But believe me, when these pop up again this spring on NBC, I will be right there following the Dillon Panthers.

What looks good in 2009:

Lost Season 5 – If you are a fan at this point in Lost’s run, you have got to be pumped for what’s in store for our favorite group of castaways. Rumors run rampant on what is to come with Lost, what’s true and what’s not, I could care less and really don’t pay much attention. This may be the only show that I don’t try to always find spoilers. I just kind of let it happen, then digest.

The return of my two favorite FX shows, Damages and Rescue Me – Thanks to the writer’s strike, it seems like years since I have seen either one of these gems. The first season of Damages reminded me a lot of the show Murder One (look it up if you get the chance, especially season one.) The entire season revolved around one court case with a major event happening within the first 10 minutes. The rest of the season is spent in real time and flashbacks as see how it all unfolds. Glenn Close is fantastic as is Ted Danson. A very solid pick on DVD, especially if you dig murder/crime/court shows. Rescue Me is all Dennis Leary and outside of the minisodes that aired over the summer, it is time to get the boys from the firehouse back on TV.

The series end to arguably the best show on TV, Battlestar Galactica – This will be a sad end but with the spin off Caprica set to launch in 2010, I am dealing well. I can’t recommend this show enough, especially to those who write it off as just Sci-Fi. Yeah, it is science fiction, but at the highest level. At it's core though it is a fantastic human drama that weaves action, politics, romance and religion perfectly to produce the best hour of television week in and week out. And bonus, as we head to the conclusion of Season 4, there are 10 webisodes running now on SciFi.com to hold you over.

The Return of Reaper - Season 2 of my favorite new show from last year kicks-off this March as Reaper makes its way back to The CW. Reaper is a wacky take on the old 'Deal with the Devil' concept and one of Angry Max’s favorites. If you dug shows like Charmed, Angel or Buffy it is worth a look. Season 1 is available now on DVD.

The Joss Wheadon produced Dollhouse - The creator of two of my all-time favorite shows in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly comes back to TV with Dollhouse. There seems to be some negative buzz in some circles around it stemming from re-shoots and creative differences, but regardless I’ll be there.

Dick Clark's Stroke-y New Year's Eve

Is it me or is anyone else convinced that when we ring in the New Year in 2025, good old Dick Clark will still be here to creep us out as we count down the year's final seconds? I mean, he'll probably be just a head with an arm hanging off, but I am convinced he will find a way to get on camera. Can someone please step in here and put us out of our misery? Hey Dick, it's over pal. You had a great run, an amazing run even, but it has ended, my friend. I think the stroke has convinced the man that the calender will not and can not change unless he is in front of a camera on New Year's Eve. Like time will halt and we will be stuck in that year forever. Dick, you're the only reason I still tune in to ABC to watch the ball drop. Not because it's rockin', sorry Seacrest, but to see your weird stroke-y talking! It's like the train wreck that is Britney Spears, I just can't stop watching and wondering if it's really happening. Enough man, turn the reins over to that cool cat hipster Ryan Seacrest for good, please. If for nothing else so I can stop tuning in and feeling old when they roll out one bad pop band after another that I have never heard of or probably will again.