Best of 2009 - Television

Ah, 2009. A great year (I know, I too think it’s weird that I enjoyed it as much as I did), and a great year for television.

The family finally started paying for HBO, changed to digital cable (offering many cable favorites in High Definition for the first time), and purchased a genuine 1080p television. Usually I do the Top 35 shows of the year, but I’m tired and it’s not fair to compare half-hours to hourlongs. Instead, I offer two Top 10 lists. Some important honorable mentions will be posted when time permits.

Half-Hours

10. The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle

Thank God for DVD. This six-episode BBC masterpiece manages to be an anglicized version of The Larry Sanders Show and one of the most nuanced psychological character studies in television history, much less in a comedy. You would think that a humorless social scientist’s fruitless efforts to humanize the enfant terrible head honcho of a trashy talk show would have an effect akin to some over baked independent film, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m not even sure if a second series was ordered, but if it wasn’t… for shame, BBC. For shame.

9. The Spectacular Spider-Man

Action on television has always been dubious and shoddy, especially in the field of animation. Let’s face it. Name any cartoon series since the invention of the cathode ray tube that actually vibrated with electric excitement. Something that has a palpable thrill to it. I never thought that I could be swayed to the end of my seat by an animated “spider-man” battling a “sand-man” in a subway, especially when I know that neither party is headed toward their doom, but it happened. Color me impressed.

8. Modern Family

If Rico Rodriguez II doesn’t become the next Michael Cera by the time he turns 18, I’ll eat my hat. Seriously. For years I mistakenly believed that 30 Rock is the heir apparent to Arrested Development (certain elements lead me to believe that that program is more in tuned with The Simpsons), but if another show had to take its place, we could do a whole lot worse than Modern Family. It’s the rare show where people are allowed to be flawed and terrible to each other without actually making the characters unlikable. It’s also rare that the sight of a gruff no-shit grandpa intentionally flying a miniature motorized airplane into the face of his clueless and naïve son-on-law manages to make you feel empathy for both parties involved, and that’s a skill that Modern Family has in spades.

7. How I Met Your Mother

I didn’t become a fan until the tail end of Season Three, and the canned laughter still drives me absolutely fucking bananas, but I couldn’t be happier that this show was allowed to grow and mature at the pace it has. It’s also hard to believe that I excitedly tune in every week, even though I couldn’t care less who the mother is. The show has blossomed into a more impressive version of the Golden Age of Friends, and if it lasts until 2030, I won’t complain.

6. 30 Rock

The current fourth season has faltered somewhat (especially after three phenomenal seasons that managed to improve upon themselves exponentially), but it’s still a blast to hear every word out of Tracy Morgan’s mouth and savor every single second of Dr. Leo Spaceman’s screen time. The laugh-per-minute ratio can, at times, rival Airplane! and the middle seasons of South Park (the golden examples of meta jabber), and that’s why it’s still on this list. I would normally end with some desperate gag about Tina Fey’s desirability, but I’d be beating a dead horse.

5. The Office

A certain BFF stopped watching this show regularly, and when I found out I was crestfallen. The frustrating fourth season was redeemed with a fifth season that boasted a JAM engagement and the brilliant machinations of the Michael Scott Paper Company. Its sixth season, however? Better than the show has been since “Branch Closing.” Newlywed Jim Halpert has managed to evolve from a man with no ambitions other than gazing at his former receptionist lady love and making his psychotic desk mate miserable into a man devoted to upward mobility, financial security, and the wellbeing of his company. This shift in character represents a maturity that eludes most shows in their third seasons, much less their sixth. The show can fall to some really weird depths (“Mafia” is, joke for joke, one of the funniest episodes of television I’ve ever seen and, paradoxically, joke for joke completely wrong for the show in terms of realism), but this is still a show that made me cry over a clip show. A clip show! Sure, they used Travis’ “Sing” to great effect, but every time I think of the Maid of the Mist end to “Niagara,” I get a little verklempt.

4. Community

A half-baked pilot featuring a cast full of one-dimensional characters has blossomed into a completely unpredictable half-hour that tends to redefine the term “meta.” Sure, I get all goo-goo eyed over Alison Brie, but my future wife aside, this show boasts an ensemble that is completely inseparable. Remove one single element and the franchise would collapse. I never thought I could find present-day Chevy Chase humorous, or witness a fully rounded, perfectly calibrated Ken Jeong character, but this show never fails to surprise me. Let’s also not forget the fact that the Russo Brothers have returned to television for the first time since the first season of Arrested Development, which is money in the bank, seeing as how there are Russo fingerprints on practically every episode.

3. Weeds

How did this happen? Usually, when a series implodes and decides to go in a different direction (like Jenji Kohan et al did in Season Four), crappiness is sure to follow. But by allowing the human black widow known as Nancy Botwin to shack up with a corrupt, gunrunning Mexican politician, I’m looking more and more forward to having no idea where this show is going. I love that every season manages to throw a corkscrew that defies logic yet never feels out of place, a talent that tends to make me flat out jealous. Also, the five-month jump from Nancy considering leaving Esteban to the Grizzly Adams version of Andy, General Lee and all, was one of the best storytelling decisions I have seen on television since the first flash-forward on Lost.

2. The Venture Bros.

Adult Swim caters to stoners. Why else would they air The Mighty Boosh at 2 A.M. or make a film based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force? Yet, they managed to procure the best half-hour animated comedy since the first demise of Futurama. Layered to a T and capable of offering plot twists that bruise like sucker punches, this is no cartoon. There are stakes in this universe, and every word out of every character’s mouth has some significance in the grand scheme of popular culture. Did I manage to mention that the show also happens to be goddamn hilarious? Any show that manages to recast the grunts of G.I. Joe into former-homosexual-born-again-Christian warriors of justice with codenames like Shore Leave deserves a sloppy kiss.

1. Parks and Recreation

I know what you’re thinking. “I didn’t much care for that pilot, or the five episodes that followed.” If only you had any idea what you’re missing. Aubrey Plaza, my future second wife, manages to say more with a pouty scowl than most actors can accomplish with a monologue. Amy Poehler has allowed Leslie Knope to blossom into a character that resembles Michael Scott only in the way that any well-meaning yet disastrous characters resemble Michael Scott, and proves every week that this is much more than The Office 2.0. When Leslie stumbles, I feel her pain and frustration without being unable to laugh at the scenarios she finds herself stranded in. The shenanigans in Pawnee, Illinois manage to be overly broad and silly without becoming frustrating, layered with dialogue and deadpan performances that harkens back to the screwball comedy classics of the ‘40s. If you went back and digitally replaced the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup with Leslie, Tom, April and Andy, nothing would seem out of the ordinary. This is the perfect example of a show that was born out of greed and corporate tinkering and managed to become the most striking can't-miss comedy series on television. As long as it remains on the path it’s on, I know where I’ll be on Thursdays at 8:30.