Elfman's Favorite TV Shows of 2008

5) The Mentalist
Okay its not Masterpiece Theater, but I really like this show.The Mentalist is pure entertainment. It's mindless TV, but it's good Mindless TV.
Forget the dark sub plot and comparisons to USA's Psyched . The Mentalist delivers an hour of neatly wrapped crime solving suspense, but with a bit of a twist. Simon Baker (The Guardian) plays Patrick Jane, a former phony psychic who now works for the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation) now using only his observational skills to assist the team in solving murder cases. The show goes a long way on the charisma of Baker and a stellar cast including Robin Tunney (Prison Break). An hour of polished crime drama. Deep but not too Deep.



4) Mad Men
No other television show in recent memory has been so critically acclaimed (if viewer hungry), then Mad Men. And it has the Emmy and Golden Globe Awards to back this up. Madmen explores the deceptive and twisted world of power advertising in the 1960's. It follows the high pressure life of Don Draper, the best rep at Sterling Cooper, and certainly one of the best on Madison Avenue. Don, among others has some dark secrets in his past however. The show is a slow moving character study of successful but misguided troubled people and it sucks you into their lives on a weekly basis. Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Moss, John Slattery, and January Jones head up a cast that defines excellence. It is also interesting to see how many things have changed for the better since the 60's when you see all the inequality for women, blacks and gays of the period. Another sign of the times is the amount of drinking on the job, constant smoking by everyone in the cast and even littering.



3) Brothers and Sisters
Want to feel better about your own screwed up dysfunctional extended family for at least one hour a week? Then you must tune in to ABC Sunday Nights at 10 for the very entertaining Brothers and Sisters. The prime time sudser follows the lives of The Walker Clan, led by intrusive, but loving matriarch Nora Walker (Oscar and Emmy Winner Sally Field). The death of William Walker leaves the family to deal with the matter of running the family winery and the discoveries of all his extramarital affairs and indiscretions. Seems there is always a new Walker sibling showing up at the door step.
The plots are well written and finely polished for a soap covering the gambit of soap storylines including politics, addiction, gay marriage, and forbidden love..This show should be sponsored by Pepsid AC because I don't know how any of them get through a family dinner without sever indigestion.
Besides Field the cast includes seasoned professionals Rob Lowe, Colista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths.



2) Raising the Bar
I accidentally caught this show while channel surfing on Monday night and am extremely glad I did. From Emmy winning producer Steven Bochco(NYPD Blue), Raising the Bar follows a group of young public defenders in their daily lives and courtroom battles for the underdog with the powerful DA. Each week offers a gripping hard hitting drama but with a lot of heart there too. It stars Mark-Paul Gosselear (NYPD Blue, Saved by The Bell) as Jerry Kellerman, one of the most idealistic of these young attorneys who leaves no stone unturned for the rights of his clients. He has become one of the finest young actors on television today. His hair, however will remain a moot point. The superb cast is rounded out by Gloria Reuben (ER), Jane Kaczencrek (Malcom in the Middle) and Teddy Sears (One Life to Live).



1) Bravo Network
There's a new melting pot in America and it's right here on Bravo TV. No other network has ever assembled such an eclectic group of diverse interesting characters. How can you not be intrigued by the rich and powerful, sometimes back-stabbing women of the Real Housewives series, notably Nene (Atlanta) and Vicki (Orange County)? And how about Jeff Lewis of Flipping Out, who has raised OCD to an art form?
Bravo didn't invent reality TV, but they sure perfected it with shows like Millionaire Matchmaker and Top Design. But nowhere is this more evident then in the Network's two most successful shows, Project Runway and Top Chef. These shows take you behind the scenes of the competitive worlds of chefs and upcoming designers and their claw to the top. The judges are smart, tough and funny with Chef Tom Colicchio on Chef and Michael Cors doing the honors on Runway. They've got eye candy too with Top Chef's food-tasting temptress Padma and Runway's Heidi Klum, the queen of Victoria's Secret. There's also father figure and style mentor Tim Gunn, who has become a superstar in his own right from the designing show.
And how can you forget some of the contestants. There was the constant back-stabbing between Betty and Marcel on Top Chef season Two. Some of the chefs even went as far as to try to scalp Marcel during a night of drinking. And how about the knife wielding road runner Hung, from season 3?
Runway has its favorites too. There was season 4 winner Christian, who showed superstar designing talent and coined the phrase "That's Fierce". And the constant whining and underhandedness of style princess Kenley from last season. Bravo for me is Must Watch TV.

My Top 5
I don't know why I've been agonizing over this, maybe because it seems so final ... here it is ... My Top 5 TV Shows of 2008:



5. Sons of Anarchy (F/X)
This is the only "new" show to make my list, and for good reason. When I first read about it in TV Guide, it was heavily compared to the Sopranos. As a fan of the latter, I had to check SOA out. And I wasn't disappointed! Starring Brit export Charlie Hunnam (another reason I wanted to watch), Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal (in a stunning, career-reviving performance), the show centers around the lives of a close-knit motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in the San Joaquin Valley in Northern California. The club specializes in running guns and ammo around the country and look-out if you decide to get in their way! Well-written and even more well-acted, this show easily fills the void left by my favorite Jersey gangsters. I only wish it were on HBO or another pay channel where it could get real nasty. Who knew Peg Bundy could be so tough?



4. nip/tuck (F/X)
It was early this past year when we last saw Drs. Sean McNamara and Christian Troy, but they'll always be close to my heart (and I'm sooo looking forward to the eight new episodes starting in January!). The show, originally set in Miami, moved last season to Hollywood and the already over-the-top shenanigans got even higher. Dylan Walsh's McNamara became a consultant on Hearts and Scalpels, a show loosely based on his own practice; dated a starlet with an eating disorder (doesn't everybody in H'wood?) and was stalked by his murderous agent (Sharon Gless, was that Cagney or Lacey?). While the hottest Doc on TV (McDreamy and McSteamy can't compare), with the biggest libido, Julian McMahon's Troy continued to bed everybody - oh and unintentionally (??) threw one of his problematic conquests off a roof to her death. Bye-Bye Gina! Nip/tuck is cheese at its best, I absolutely love it! Who knows ... maybe the Carver will return next season ... now that would make my New Year!



3. The Shows of Bravo
The Elfman and I totally agree on this one! Thinking about my Top 5, I realized I watch a lot of Bravo! He put it better than I ever could, but here's my rundown starting with the show that put Bravo on the map - Inside the Actors Studio. Though not in any permanent time slot, I still look for it on a regular basis and not for the guests. I find host James Lipton fascinating! Remember he made my most fascinating list last month, and for good reason. If you can, check out his book - Inside, Inside - you'll see what I mean. If you're a regular reader of this blog you already know that I love Project Runway, Top Chef and all the Real Housewives. But I also make time for Million Dollar Listing (Chad, get a real hairdo dude!), Tabitha's Salon Takeover (someone's gonna kill that woman), Sheer Genius (Kim Vo - WTH?), The Rachel Zoe Show (Brad, grow a pair) and Flipping Out (Jeff Lewis, don't ever change man). Looking to 2009, I can't wait for these shows to return, with the exception of Project Runway, of course, who's move to Lifetime is still being held up in court. So I say Bravo to Bravo, my favorite Guilty Pleasure!



2. Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction drama that deals with the machinations and activities of the Cardiff branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute. An anagram of Doctor Who, from which this show is spun, Torchwood delves into darker subject matter and is also sexier and adult oriented. Starring the dashing John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, a man who can't die, the team deals mainly with incidents involving extraterrestrials and time- and universe-travel. A little cheesy, but that's how I like my Sci-Fi, Torchwood got even better in its second season. Although not currently airing on BBC America, the show can be found on DVD. Try Netflix.



1. LOST
Is anyone surprised that this made my No. 1? Ever since Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on a supposedly deserted island on September 22, 2004, my TV world has never been the same. After watching the first three episodes, I was, well, lost! And I haven't found my way back yet, although last season really pulled out all the stops. What other show could possibly end their season by moving - yes, moving - an entire island? Season 3 ended with us finding out that some castaways actually got off the island and went home, while Season 4 showed us everything that led up to that fateful day, leaving us wondering what happened to everybody else? Sun lost Jin, Claire found her dead father in Jacob's cabin (and he seemed alive), Desmond found Penny, Jack and Kate left Sawyer behind and we found out, after a year of speculating, who was in the coffin. Are you LOST reading this? If so, too bad. If you haven't been watching, it's too late now unless you go back on DVD and watch from the beginning. I can't remember a show that had me debating theories with complete strangers before. And I mean heated debates. Fans of this show are passionate and for good reason. Looking forward to its return on January 21!

Honorable Mentions: Since we limited it to 5, here's the rest I considered good TV, in no particular order. Survivor: Gabon, Big Bang Theory, Dexter, Entourage, Skins (another BBC show), Doctor Who, Californication and The Graham Norton Show.

Happy New Year Everyone - don't spend tonight watching TV - go out and enjoy!

Blogging about Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating People of 2008 special got me thinking … so here’s my 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009. Heads up – they’re all entertainment-related, because that’s where my main interests lie. So no politicians, sports figures, big thinkers, heck, some of them aren’t even real people – just great characters. Anyway, here’s who fascinated me this year!

10. The Elfman – If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably already figured out that I actually know the enigma known as The Elfman. And though I’ll NEVER reveal his secret identity, he never ceases to fascinate me. (I just realized both those sentences kinda read like Austin Powers’ "Allow myself to introduce myself." Pardon me.)
Whether it’s his passion for Blue Oyster Cult and really, really bad cinema, his love of reality TV and Sally Field, or his witty comments on this blog, I’ll always consider myself lucky to know him. Thanks Elfman!

Bruce Wayne

Tony Stark
9. A tie between The Dark Night/Bruce Wayne and Ironman/Tony Stark. Though I’ve only just met Tony this year, I’ve known Bruce most of my life. What’s not to love about these guys – I mean, they’re both handsome, very intelligent, rich, powerful, mysterious and in their spare time fight crime. And they’re both dark and brooding too. It’d be the perfect relationship for me – go ahead guys, save the world, I’ll just stay here at the mansion spending your money! Yeah baby!


8. James Lipton. The host of Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio makes this list for his fascinating autobiography "Inside, Inside," where he divulges that early on in his life, while living as a young man in Paris he was a meck – which is French slang loosely translated as pimp. Yeah, you read that right – pimp! For one prostitute in particular, who was a good friend, he would help set her up on "dates." Say it ain’t so James!
He also reveals that in addition to schooling and interviewing talent, he can pirouette, fly airplanes, compose Broadway musicals, star in Guiding Light, and produce Bob Hope TV specials. Plus he’s run away with gypsies in Greece -- a truly fascinating person indeed!


7. Dan Radcliffe. The star of Harry Potter makes my list not because of his body-baring role on Broadway in Equus, but because of the intriguing interview he gave Details magazine this past fall. In it, the 19-year-old revealed losing his virginity at 16 to his then 23-year-old girlfriend!! Yeah, that completely blew my mind … think about that the next time you watch Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire!


6. Jeff Lewis. The obsessively compulsive star of Bravo’s Flipping Out, Lewis fascinates me to no end. I could and have literally watched him for hours, usually trying to figure out those surgically enhanced lips. Well, I don’t know for sure, but they have to be right?
Jeff’s rants and hissy fits are what makes reality TV great, whether he’s scolding his Nicaraguan maid Zoila, firing then rehiring his staff or explaining exactly how hot his Starbuck’s coffee must be (120 degrees, BTW). Can’t wait for next season.


5. Stephenie Meyer. The 36-year-old Mormon mother of two who had a dream one night about a boy and girl in a meadow discussing how much he wanted to kill her, and decided to write it down. Fortunately for us, as her dream became the hugely successful vampire saga abou love and angst Twilight. Though I only discovered the books last August, they quickly consumed most of my time. Not since Harry Potter have I devoured books so fast, and I've turned many friends and coworkers on to the series. They all have the same reaction -- "I just couldn't put it down." "I told you," I reply.
Thanks Stephenie – now get back to writing the next one, Midnight Sun!


4. Capt. Jack Harkness. Who, you say? Early this year I was lucky enough to discover what was the No. 1 show on BBC America, a sci-fi thriller called Torchwood. Capt. Harkness, as played by the extremely handsome and talented John Barrowman, is the leader of this secret agency that polices aliens that come thru the rift in time in Cardiff, England. I’d liken it to Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets the X-Files. Did I mention that Torchwood’s a spin-off of another hugely successful British sci-fi series – Dr. Who?
Dr. Who just narrowly missed making this list. Both series come with the appropriate amount of cheesiness, but Torchwood’s darker and more adult-oriented. If sci-fi’s your thing, check it out.


3. The cast of LOST. This is a no-brainer right? I mean, who on television has been more intriguing this year? I can’t remember another show that had me thinking so much … and not just me, I’ve had huge, in depth discussions with complete strangers over LOST theories. What other show can you think of that would pull out all the stops and make an entire island disappear. Who’s Jacob? How did Locke die? Did everyone on the ship really die? Why is Claire with Christian in that cabin -- is she dead? And what’s the deal with Richard? What do the polar bears have to do with anything? Will Ben kill Penelope? Will the Oceanic 6 go back? And where the hell’s the island? Hopefully, we’ll all get some answers on Jan. 21 when it returns to ABC.


2. Robert Pattinson. C’mon, you all had to know he’d make my list. Not since Leonardo DiCaprio went down with the Titanic have I been so captivated by a handsome, young actor. And boy is he young … only 22. Being cast as the lead in the movie adaptation of Twilight literally turned him into a overnight star. A brief mall tour of Hot Topic stores turned 14-year-old girls ravenous, showing up by the thousands. And most of their mothers were there too.
But it's not just about Twilight, he's quite the musician as well, playing piano and guitar; possesses smooth vocals; writes songs and scripts, and, of course, there's that irresistable British accent. It's no wonder most of us have no problem with his hobo-style of dress and messy, unwashed hair. I think we'd even be forgiving if we found out he really was a vampire ...
Most of the time, I'm a closet fan (those around me aren't aware of my problem), and luckily I’ve stumbled upon a wonderful support group online of other similarly-aged women who’ve become just as taken with the British wonder. Fortunately for him, we’re all content to keep it amongst ourselves and not turn stalker. It’s all led to a fun cyber-friendship with these great ladies from around the world! Thanks Rob.

So, if I think he’s so wonderful, why isn’t he No. 1 you might ask? Well, that space is reserved for the only "person" I found even more fascinating than Pattinson this year …

1. Edward Cullen. Of course, Pattinson is to Edward what Dan Radcliffe is to Harry Potter. Edward Cullen arrives on page 22 of Twilight and that's exactly when you'll forget about whatever else you were going to do that day ... that week ... that month, or however long it takes you to finish all four books!

What girl could resist a guy whose old-school gentleman, graceful, wealthy, hangs on every word she says, is totally devoted to her forever (and I do mean forever) and is described quite often as being unbearably beautiful? Yes, there's always a down-side and his is that he happens to be a 108-year-old vampire trapped in a 17-year-old's body. Or is it?
Yes, it seems that vampires and their lifestyle prove to be incredibly sexy. You know, the ultimate bad-boy, who just might slip and kill you in the heat of passion. One who could offer you eternal life as well. There is an upside to being immortal. Afterall, he's super-strong, incredibly fast, very intelligent (has had a LOT of time to study), doesn't need to eat, doesn't sleep, won't ever age, doesn't even need to use the bathroom, and to top it off, he glitters in the sunlight!
Did I mention the unbearably beautiful part? Sorry, I'm just spacing out over here ... hmmmm
To put it bluntly -- Fascinating!

Well, this post is getting waaaay too long, so wrapping-up here's a few who almost made my Top 10:
The aforementioned Dr. Who (David Tennant). Yes, I was a fan of the original, but I really enjoy the updated version. I'd love to climb in the Tardis and travel the universe with the handsome Doctor!
Big Bang Theory's Sheldon. Every now and then, I gotta get my Geek on and OCD Sheldon is my fix!
Heath Ledger's Joker. Another great bad boy, he's the fan favorite villain to Batman, and the late Ledger brought him justice. Never thought anyone would outdo Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's Batman, but he managed to.
The girls of Sex & the City. Loved the show, loved the movie. Samantha, Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte will always be dear friends of mine.
The Cloverfield Monster. Fascinating because after all this time (the flick came out in January) I still haven't been able to find a decent picture of it! Enough already, WTH is it???

What are your thoughts? Hit the comments and let me know your most fascinating person of 2008. Gotta go, Survivor's coming on ...

Just for fun, I couldn't resist sharing this popular youtube video with you. It's from last Friday, somewhere in Texas where news junkie Geraldo Rivera was covering Hurricane Ike. Although he's off camera when the wave hits, watch him role thru the shot, a total wipe out!! Enjoy!

Well last night I took my own advice and decided around 7:30 p.m. to click on over to the Sci-Fi Channel and check out the pilot episode of Lost. Within minutes I was totally absorbed in one of my favorite shows and, since Sci-Fi was airing four episodes back-to-back until 11 p.m., I got totally lost in Lost and missed everything else on TV last night.

It looks like regular Monday evening programming may be off my schedule until further notice ... I mean, I even missed The Hills (horror of horrors!). It never even crossed my mind until this morning. Good thing MTV will continue to air the episode only about 1,000 more times this week. (Of course, I'm kidding, The Hills has really been going down hill, pardon the pun, this season, I'm sure I didn't miss a thing.)
I did manage to pry myself off the couch close to 9 p.m. to make sure I taped Prison Break on Fox. This is one of those shows that I used to love, but like many relationships, has been going on too long. If I didn't like the characters so much, I wouldn't still watch.

Prison Break had a great premise in the first season. Like it's name, the whole show centered around Michael Scofield getting himself sentenced to the same high security prison where his brother, Lincoln Burrows, was serving on death row, awaiting his final sentence for "murdering" the vice president's brother. I write "murdering" because the guy was alive all along.

Once inside, Michael hatched an elaborate scheme to break his brother out, over the course of the season. Along the way we met various shady characters, none more ominous than Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, who could hold his own with Hannibal Lecter any day.

Season One ended with the big break-out. Season Two followed the escapees as they ran from the feds. Season Three had most of them imprisoned in a sleazy fortress in Panama, and guess what, they broke out in the finale. So far, Season Four has the group of escapees forced back together by the government to find "Scylla" some kind of electronic black book that details the inner functions of "The Company." Oh, and Sarah (who was beheaded last season) is back, alive and well. Like I said, this show has gone on long enough, give these guys a happy ending already.

TV on DVD Tuesday: Hurray, Torchwood Season 2 comes out on DVD today. If you haven't seen Torchwood, you don't know what you're missing. I LOVE this show!! Torchwood, which I discovered on BBC America (America's fastest growing new network), is a spin-off of another popular BBC show Doctor Who. In fact, the word Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who (go ahead, figure it out). The show centers on Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who heads up the super secret government agency that finds and controls aliens coming thru a rift in time in Cardiff, UK. Darker and not nearly as whacky as Doctor Who, I always describe Torchwood as sort of X-Files meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For more information check out their BBC America website at http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/262/index.jsp

And speaking of Doctor Who, Dark Horizons says that British actor David Tennant held out for a Doctor Who movie deal when signing for a 5th season of the popular show. Can't wait for that! Also, I'm glad to see Tennant coming back as the Time Lord, when previous reports had The Doctor "changing" again with Robert Carlisle taking the lead.

House is back for its fifth season tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox, followed at 9 by Fringe, JJ Abrams new thriller about disastrous happenings in our world. I highly recommend this show. If you're a fan of Lost, Heroes or even Alias, you might want to check it out.

Big Brother 10 crowns a winner tonight at 9 p.m. on CBS -- as if anyone still cares. This was definitely the dumbest season with the dumbest contestants yet. What can I say, it's impossible to top last summer's scheming Evil Dick, his slutty daughter Danielle, and masochistic Jen.

DVR Alert: Tomorrow Ellen Degeneres gets a rare sitdown with Twilight Saga author Stephenie Meyer. They'll be discussing her latest book and final in the Twilight series "Breaking Dawn." Also, on her website, Ellen promises to try her best to get Stephenie to finish writing "Midnight Sun", the anticipated retelling of "Twilight" from Edward's point of view (all the books are written from Bella's POV). An unfinished manuscript of the book was leaked on the Internet a few weeks ago, and a devastated Stephenie has put the book on hold indefniitely. Also, hopefully, they might show a clip from the upcoming "Twilight" movie.

And for all you Nip/Tuck fans, the doctors are in. Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh returned to the set yesterday to begin filming Season 9 of the popular F/X series. Nineteen episodes have been ordered for 2010/2011.But don't fret, there are still 8 or more unaired episodes from Season 8 that will debut sometime in January. Bad-boy Dr. Christian Troy, hey that rhymes, is one of my all-time hotties -- till we meet again ...