2011 TV Yearbook

2011 was quite the year in entertainment. Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globes, and his shameless ability to attack anyone still has folks talking – enough to ask him back in 2012. Charlie Sheen thought he was #winning and in fact he was unraveling, yet still managed to pull in a new show and more cash, though not a Two and a Half Men-size boatload. Prince William and Kate Middleton married while billions watched.  Other marriages, however, fell apart – Demi and Ashton, JLo and Marc Anthony, Aaaaarnold and Maria Shriver. If you could call it a marriage, Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries wed for a whopping 72 days. Adele, 21 and that killer voice took over the airwaves and took award shows by storm. Regis and Oprah left the daytime talk circuit after decades of making viewers laugh and cry, respectively. Mad Men who? The four-time Emmy winning show stayed off the air an entire calendar year. “South Park” creators made a Mormon book all the rage on Broadway. RIP Amy Winehouse, Elizabeth Taylor, Steve Jobs and Patrice O’Neal. We managed to survive no more “Harry Potter” books, and now we must go on without any new Harry Potter films. What a year it was!

It’s inevitable that some great shows, actors and moments will be left off this list which is part of the reason I wanted to focus on superlatives instead of a top ten. (Much easier to choose.) And of course, not everyone will agree with my opinion, but if we were all attending the Nisi School of TV, this is what the superlatives page in the yearbook would look like.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2011

BEST BOW-OUT: Friday Night Lights
About so much more than just a sport, FNL brought rich, real characters to our screens, dealing with everyday life in a small community that just happened to really, really love football, and focusing on a family who truly cared for the town and the teens growing up in it – even though they didn’t always get the same respect back. I cherished that final FNL football game; its story told mostly in silence. And though I often hate flashforwards, I would have felt cheated if we weren’t left with a sense of where our beloved characters ended up. (Eight months down the line in this case.) The Taylors, of course, moved on to the next stage in their lives…outside of Texas. Footballers came and went (some leaving more lasting impression than others) but, luckily for the residents of Dillon, Texas, Coach, Mrs. Coach and the Taylor family always remained, even if only in spirit. “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”

BIGGEST LETDOWN: NBC/ABC execs for curbing Community and Cougar Town
It should be an easy choice. The Playboy Club/Charlie’s Angels both relegated women to boring and useless, though beautiful, archetypes. There was something exciting about an edgier reboot of Charlie’s Angels, but it turned out to be wholly no fun at all. The Playboy Club had a lot of cotton tail and no substance. But the true tragedy above all? NBC/ABC execs curbing the return of Community and Cougar Town. Somehow they let drivel make it to air, but left their most unique and actually funny comedies on the bench.

BEST TRANSPORT: Downton Abbey
Where did this Reading Rainbow network come from, bringing us Masterpieces like Sherlock, and now Downton Abbey? Set in the unsettling early 1900s, since never has the aristocracy and their servants with their romance issues and financial problems been so interesting, mysterious, dramatic and funny.

BEST KEPT SECRET: Fringe
Much like Community was last year (and this year), there’s still little award love, and viewership continues to dwindle for this sci-fi gem. In my eyes, the storytelling and acting have only gotten better, more fascinating, and more unique with each season. John Noble continues to imbed mad scientist Walter with a deep sense of pain and struggle, not only due to his professional life, but his personal life as well. Joshua Jackson is effortless as Peter, a man trying to straddle a life strongly tied to two separate universes, and Anna Torv plays about a million Olivias, and I notice the infinitesimal differences. There are systematic shows, and there are innovative shows, and Fringe is the latter, pushing viewers to think outside the box, while always showing them a good time.

DRAMA QUEENS: Constance (Jessica Lange)  from American Horror Story and Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe) from Revenge
Typically, I’d throw a “king” into the mix, but this was the TV season for women. See the success of New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, Revenge and Once Upon a Time just to name a few. These shows are helmed by strong women, so sorry boys. It’s time to take a back seat. I wish I could pick them all, but these two standouts aren’t even leads (though certain award shows may think differently.) You never know when Constance (American Horror Story) is going to pop up, invading a house that’s no longer hers, or what’s going to come out of her mouth. Most likely it will offend somebody. Victoria Grayson, is quite the opposite, calculated with what she shares and how she’s perceived. Don’t be fooled though. She can appear very silent, but also extremely deadly at the same time. Best of all, these women are at the center of their show’s deep mysteries.

BEST COMEBACKS: Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) and Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis)
These two haven’t held down a TV series since 1995 (My So-Called Life) and 2009 (Life), respectively, but boy do I wonder how I wasn’t missing these two on screen after such fantastic performances of the equally tortured CIA agent and POW/possible terrorist in Homeland. Carrie and Nicholas should both be seeing a therapist every episode, Tony Soprano-style; that’s how messed up they are. Yet both are also extremely charismatic and intelligent. It’s quite the balancing act for an actor. Add in the 24-level intensity of espionage and terrorism, and it’s a whole different layer of mental taxation. Still, Danes and Lewis appear less like actors during their performances and more like normal people wearing a second, almost sheer, skin of a character.

VILLAINS YOU LOVE TO HATE: The Bennett Family
I’m absolutely Justified (too corny?) in adoring this backwater, racist, drug-toting mom and brood. The Bennett family could murder a man and adopt his daughter, make and deal with a man and then poison him, or beat on each other, and it would only make me love Mags, Coover, Doyle and Dickie more. The clan stuck by their own and against anyone who would do anything to take them down or break them apart. You’ve got to, at least, respect them. If not, just shut up and drink your Apple Pie moonshine.

BIGGEST CRAZE RUN AMOK: Charlie Sheen Mania
Part of me wanted to vomit over the 24-hour obsession with the breakdown of a sad, talented man and another (very small) part of me couldn’t help but join in, eyes unable to tear away from the train wreck. A man with Goddesses sounds like a man with it all, but then he lost his job, his huge paycheck and his goddesses. He could barely sell out a “supposedly” already sold out show. He sat through an extremely awkward Roast, and even more awkwardly, wished his old co-workers and replacement well while presenting at the Emmy’s. There. Was. Nothing. Right. About. ANY. Of. This. MADNESS.

BIGGEST REALITY UPSET: The Jersey Shore…in Italy.
Enough said, but I just can’t keep my mouth shut on this one. It’s like Saved by the Bell going to college. Hello! There are no bells! It just doesn’t make sense. Italy didn’t want them, they certainly didn’t need them, and the cast appeared to hate every moment of their highly overpaid vacation. I couldn’t tell if they were avoiding socializing with the locals or vice versa.

BEST CROSSOVER: Game of Thrones
Westeros is a land full of intrigue, double play, sex, war and revenge and the list goes on and on. So it was no surprise that fans worried how George R. R. Martin’s dense, dialogue-rich and character/plotline-heavy “A Song of Fire and Ice” series would translate on screen. The answer: earnestly and beautifully. In fact, AWESOMELY!

OTHER WINNERS INCLUDE:
BIGGEST BREAKOUT: Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly) and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
TIGHTEST CLIQUE: Happy Endings crew
CUTEST COUPLE: Kurt and Blaine (Glee)
BEST COMEBACK: Sarah Michelle Gellar. Ringer may be not so good, but she came back…twice!
PERSON I WISH HAD BEEN MY HIGH SCHOOL BFF : Jenna Hamilton from Awkward.(Ashley Richards)
MOST ANTICIPATED 2011 RETURN: AGAIN! Anything AMC (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead). These folks sure know how to do a mind-whacking cliffhangers.
2011 TELEVISION MVP: The ladies of TV, of course.

WRAP IT UP
The holidays are upon us, and if this fantastic year of television isn’t something to celebrate, then I don’t know what is. Do you think Charlie Sheen will find success and stability in 2012? Is it possible to have too many reality singing competitions? Will next year be less about the estrogen and all about the testosterone? What mid-season show are you most excited to watch in 2012? Are You There, Chelsea?, Smash, Alcatraz or something else? Sound off below. I can’t wait to hear your 2011 superlatives and 2012 hopes. Until next year!

Images courtesy of CBS, NBC, and Showtime.