I love making end of the year top ten lists. Sometimes I think it’s the only reason I put up with the fifty weeks of mediocre nonsense (but then I take my antidepressants and go back to playing with that shiny piece of foil). The problem with having television as your medium of choice is that the television schedule doesn’t fit nicely into the Gregorian calendar. Typical seasons on the networks run from September to May, while cable tends to stick closer to the actual climatological patterns of the earth. It’s easy to say that first season Friday Night Lights was the best thing of 2007 except for the fact that half of the season landed squarely in 2006. MagneticMediaFed has figured out the solution to all of this: EPISODES. Episodes are what make television TELEVISION. A good episode keeps you glued to the screen for the full hour (or half hour), it tells a complete story while adding significantly to the series as a whole, it shows you something you didn’t think you’d see or makes you laugh in ways you didn’t think were possible.
I’ve spent a good chunk of the past couple weeks culling over the MMF-archives reminding myself of those episodes that I thought really stuck out. I watch a lot of television, though I don’t purport to watch all television (anyone who does should be shunned and bathed — not necessarily in that order). Because of this, my list only includes the shows that I regularly watch and is missing some obvious gems that I simply don’t know/care about (i.e. Battlestar Galactica, A Shot At Love with Tila Tequila). Still, I think most of the bases are covered. If there was a fantastic episode you remember from this past calendar year, please let us know in the comments. The full list, available right after the jump…
I have to make this super-quick as I have to catch a flight in a few hours and could use a little sleep. Join me after the jump for some parting words for HBO and the BBC’s Extras…
And so another mostly successful season comes to a close for America’s favorite (?) serial killer, Dexter Morgan. Good times were had, capture was evaded, blood was spilled, and all with a catchy Latin beat! I’ll slice and dice the details after the jump…
This post is basically an excuse to use this awesome picture of Letterman that The Post ran on Friday, as well as to say that various sources are reporting that all of the big-four late-night hosts have been talking about coming back on the air at the same time (presumably early January) as to avoid generating Ellen-esque animosity from the union.
Update: The NYTimes just posted this story about talks between Letterman and the WGA that would allow him to come back in January WITH writers.
So we have Oscar Vibenius played with an odd subtlety by the awesome Paul Reubens as well as that creepy neighbor kid from Mad Men both having hair fetishes. In the series each character gets his dream to come true when the female lead snips off a small lock as a souvenir. All we need is one more character on one more program and I suppose it becomes a trend. C’mon, Hollywood, don’t let us down now. More after the jump…
Not a particularly riveting Project Runway this week — still solid reality programming, but not a lot in the way ruffled feathers (though that wedding dress did have some ruffles of its own, if I’m not mistaken). The big news would have to be Jack’s premature exit from the series for health reasons (though it appears Dale from Top Chef has helped him land on his feet), and Chris’s resurrection from out-ness to keep the competition (and number of episodes) intact. Everyone seemed pretty excited for Chris to come back, though I have to say, if I was there I’d be kind of pissed that it kind of negates the entire previous week’s competition. Alas. Large jolly men are really in right now.
As for the challenge itself, I really enjoyed this week’s offering. Anytime the models are nontraditional and the clothing more commercial I tend to pay closer attention. That being said, it also eliminates a lot of the risk taking that you want to see from high-end fashion designers. Poor Chris was in the bottom three again because everything he designs looks like it has come right off of an actor in Chorusline, but Steven was deserving of being out as he was the one contestant who regularly couldn’t hit his deadline.
I missed the original broadcast of this show Monday night, (clearly I need to be reading more men.style.com) but thanks to cable televisions need to fill hours upon hours of air time on a relatively feeble budget budget, I was able to record the show last night. I’m glad I did. The show was awesome for several reason, all of which I’ll detail after the jump…
I don’t know if Dexter will ever go down in history as GREAT television, due in large part to the fact that the seasons tend to sag in the middle. That being said, the show really knows how to bring it when push comes to shove comes to mass murdering. There are still flaws. Deb and Lundy I find to be physically repellent, and perhaps the reason I’m rocking a 100-degree fever right now, and while I more or less love watching “crazy,” Lila might be going over the edge a bit. I guess we’ll have to wait until next week to see where all of this leads, but this episode, the penultimate, was a ton of fun. More after the jump? Of course…
Editor’s Note: I made it pretty far into this season before rolling up my sleeves, clapping my hands and saying “Good luck!” Honestly, with only two episodes to go I’m surprised I bailed. I stuck around much longer with far more ridiculous shows, but I suppose that’s something I’m going to have to rationalize between me and my god. In any case, it seems unfair for The Hills to wrap up its epic third season without anything in the way of a send-off (though MTV might have done enough for all of us) so I’ve decided to outsource this post and call in the pros. After Tom Brady and Gilbert Arenas turned me down I begged my friend/Hills-Super-Fan Kim to tackle the write-up, which she did brilliantly, available to everyone right after the jump…
I’ve gotta say, it’s a hell of a relief to know that Friday Night Lights will be off the air for a good month or so. It’s going to need the time to let the bad taste from these past nine episodes dissipate from our collective mouth. Still, I gotta say as far as a “let’s do everything in our power to wipe the slate clean” sort of episode, there was some good stuff in there. There was some god-awful stuff as well, but it certainly wasn’t the soul-crushing hour I was expecting (part of the reason I put off watching it as long as I did). More after the jump…
This is the second time Carter Baizen has reared his ugly(?) mug in Nate’s life. The first time was during Chuck’s card game from a handful of episodes ago. There, his appearance was mostly invisible and entirely forgettable (I found out on TV.com). This time though he couldn’t be missed — at least by me — because his name was said constantly. Carter Baizen! Carter Baizen! Over there, in the foyer, Carter Baizen! This isn’t really of any specific concern to the masses unless you happen to be a die-hard How I Met Your Mother fan and know that one of its co-creators is named “Carter Bays” (who happened to write for The Late Show when I interned there). So when I hear Carter Baizen (which sounds a lot like “Bays” when said aloud) that is immediately what my mind goes to. I suspect I’m one of maybe fifteen people who has this problem (including Carter himself, I’d assume). Anyway, the goods after the jump…
Um, yeah, I’ll take one jelly, a glazed, and your soul.
Well, I’m back on the horse. After a few weeks away, I’ve been working my way back into Reaper and I think I’m a better man for it. When I bailed a month or so back it had a lot more to do with the excess mediocre programming I was watching (and maybe a bit Reaper’s early tendency toward repetition) than an disinterest in this specific series. Having cut a lot of fat from my lineup (and having finished my novel-in-a-month) I suddenly find myself with — get this! — extra time on my hands. That time has been partially allotted to Reaper. More after the jump…
In lieu of a The Hills post this week, I figure we’re all better off just watching this Funny Or Die video. I just pray that everyone finds it funny so as to avoid any unnecessary deaths around this, the holiday season.
Hey animation fans, head over to AdultSwim.com and check out this week’s episode of The Boondocks* as it might have been visually their most impressive episode to date. In addition to a ton of amazing action sequences (that find a way to be simultaneously active and static), it seems like effort has really been put into facial expressions. I’d have to go back and watch other episodes to be sure, but it certainly felt like the frame was unusually tight on each of the characters’ faces this week, to great artistic effect.
And of course the content was strong as usual, especially the opening sequence at the NBA All-Star Game and the announcer at each of the little league games.
Technically, I’m still encouraging everyone to boycott network-sponsored episode-streaming until the writers strike is over, but I don’t think it affects animation (semantics, I suppose).
Wow. That was unsettling. When I first watched Dexter on Showtime a little over a year ago I was expecting a certain kind of show. I was expecting something morally complex, intense and pitch black, to my surprise the series has always been far more fun than I (or anyone) would expect of a series about a serial killer to be. The thing is, despite the enjoyment that the week-to-week shinanagins may bring, Dexter has never really achieved the level of moral uncertainty I’ve long thought it was capable of… until this week. More after the jump…
MagneticMediaFed is written weekdays by Rick Pecoraro, a television obsessive currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Feel free to contact him via e-mail (rick at magneticmediafed dot com)
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The daily routine.
This post is basically an excuse to use this awesome picture of Letterman that 
Pee-Wee’s other playhouse.
Not a particularly riveting Project Runway this week — still solid reality programming, but not a lot in the way ruffled feathers (though that wedding dress did have some ruffles of its own, if I’m not mistaken). The big news would have to be Jack’s premature exit from the series for health reasons (though it appears 
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So Deb, got something to tell ya…
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Look everyone! It’s Carter Baizen
Um, yeah, I’ll take one jelly, a glazed, and your soul.
Mad Skilz.
