Snarkerati’s Top TV shows for 2009
I’m not overly a fan of Top Ten lists, but sometimes they’re great as getting some discourse going, so here we have one. I’m going to look at some of the best – in my humble opinion – TV series for 2009. If you missed any of these, for shame! Get to thy DVD store and rent or buy them, for they are splendid televisual viewing…. really.
Battlestar Galactica
What you didn’t expect me to have a top TV list and not have Battlestar Galactica on it did you, why you don’t know me at all do you! This show finished officially earlier this year after 4 amazing seasons. If you missed it, where were you?! Come on, even if you don’t like your standard sci-fi fare, chances are you would enjoy this because regardless of the spaceships, it’s more military drama than scifi show. I’ll not mention the TV movie The Plan, which wasn’t a patch on the series itself.
Fringe (season two)
The first season of Fringe was pretty good, but a little repetitive in the beginning and that put a few people off. The second season of Fringe though has gone from strength to strength so if you never stuck with it past those first 6 or so episodes of season one, you’re now missing out. Stand out performances time and again by the wonderful John Noble as Walter Bishop, great stories straight out of The X-Files meets even stranger stuff and a leading lady who is gritty and beautiful. Fringe season two has thus far been awesome and a definite pick for 2009.
GLEE
Don’t stop Believin, hold onto that feeeeelin! Ahh Glee, how I do love thee and think you will be around for years to come (what will that means for the kids when they leave high school… oh noes!). What makes Glee so great is that the whole family can watch it and get something out of it, from 4 to 94 (not that someone 95 wouldn’t enjoy it). It’s funny, moving and despite an annoying character or two (you know who you are!) this is must see TV for 2009.
Mad Men
This goes without saying really doesn’t it. I’ve left it open regarding seasons, even though this year we saw 3 airing, just because you truly should see all three seasons. Again this is a series with such a great cast and script, you need to see it. This is classy and detailed, so if you enjoy that sort of thing, go rent or buy it. This is another show that features the main charismatic male character who is actually a real douche, but people love him (go figure, I personally don’t get it, he annoys the hell out of me). Mad Men season 3 was a must see of 2009.
Modern Family
This mockumentary styled family sitcom has me laughing out loud every time I watch it, something that rarely happens these days with me because ‘comedy’ is rarely done well. Modern Family does it brilliantly. A couple of episodes are less amusing, but what makes this show so wonderful is the ‘family’ aspect that runs through it’s core. It’s diverse enough to appeal to most people and shows us family is what’s important, regardless of how that family happens to be made up. Great stuff for a newcomer.
Nurse Jackie
Where to begin, Edie Falco stars as the eponymous anti-hero Nurse Jackie, a nurse addicted to various drugs, but with a heart of gold. If you missed Nurse Jackie I cannot implore you enough to see this show. If this were a top ten in number preference of my favorite TV shows for 2009, Nurse Jackie would probably have hit the top spot, even amongst all the wonderful shows we’re listing here. It is in a word superlative.
Sons of Anarchy (season two)
I missed season one of this show and I generally would NEVER just start watching a new season (it’s a personal hate), but in this case I did, because I was told this was unmissable viewing. Unmissable? possibly, assuming you don’t mind the bad guys as hero thing (Tony Soprano anyone?). It can be difficult to fall in love with characters you know are bad, gun dealing bikers don’t really equal my heroes, but the acting is superlative and the fact the ‘real’ bad guys lack the moral fiber of these bikers helps. As far as shows in 2009 go this one definitely makes the list, the cast is astounding, the scripting gritty and the set pieces sublime.
True Blood
I loved the first season of this dark and sexy vampire drama, though season two took a bit of a nosedive into the ’so strange I’m not sure I’m enjoying this show anymore’. True Blood is great TV because it’s different. Sure and got a bit silly in season two, but for the most part people will stick with it because it’s not the sparkly wonder of Twilight, True Blood is grown up and clever. If you like dark humor, odd characters with a splash of the supernatural (okay more than a splash), check out True Blood.
Agree or disagree, I know there were loads of other great shows in 2009, but I can’t possibly list them all. That’s where you come in, what were your favorite TV moments of 2009 and what were your best TV shows of 2009?
Related posts:
- Most Memorable TV Moments of 2009 We all love TV shows for different reasons. In 2009 we saw some awesome TV moments and I thought I’d jot some of my own favorites in here in the hope of spurring some conversation in the comments. Why is this a good thing? Well because I love learning about new shows, shows I may [...]...
- It’s Australia Day so Snarkerati brings you The Best TV Shows from Australia It’s Australia Day here the land downunder, so I thought we’d look at some of the best Australian TV series over the last few years. Australia isn’t often thought of as a country with great TV, that usually falls to the US and UK. For the most part this is kind of true, but when [...]...
- TV shows on the endangered list – Axe a swinging The Hollywood Reporter has taken it upon themselves to play a bit of judge, jury and executioner by listing the shows they believe are for the chop this year (with percentage chance of renewal). If half of them are right, it’s going to be a terrible year for some fans, with shows seemingly doing okay [...]...
- Michelle Forbes Snarkerati’s Cult of Cool winner for January If you like cult TV, you’ll know who Michelle Forbes is straight away, as she’s appeared in more than her fair share of TV shows that fall under the cult umbrella. Forbes started her TV career back in the late eighties, but her first major cult role was probably that of Ensign Ro Laren in [...]...
- TV to be Thankful for this Thanksgiving What TV shows are you loving this year? There are loads of great TV shows we can be thankful for this Thanksgiving and some we can be thankful are no longer with us. For me this year it’s been a mixed bag of great new shows and the end of others. This year saw the [...]...