Top 5 TV Let-Downs of 2010

As you can tell by this blog, I love to watch and write about TV, but I don't watch nearly enough to put together a comprehensive Top 10 of 2010 List. Instead, I've decided to put together two separate lists, one that highlights shows that pleasantly surprised me and some that were kind of a let-down. Let's go ahead and get the negatives out of the way:

5. Glee

I've never hidden the fact that I'll forgive Glee for just about anything, but even I have to admit that the show hasn't quite been itself since coming back after its initial 13-episode run. People have blamed too many guest stars, not enough story, too much story, an overemphasis on selling songs on iTunes, or just too much hype. I for one don't point to those pitfalls because the first half of season one was not perfect either (what about the fake pregnancy and "Hairography"). It was obvious with "Hell-O" that something had changed, but I blamed a rushed back-9 order and was convinced Season 2 would be tighter. It looks like I might have given the show too much credit. My theory is that Glee bought into its own hype and the creators figured they could throw anything at the fans and they'd eat it up. Too bad a lot of people saw through that trick.  Despite all of the flaws, Glee still is one of my favorite shows but I cannot absolve it from all of its sins.

4. Lone Star & Undercovers

The reason these two rookie dramas made my Let-Downs list is because I had such high hopes for them. I shouldn't be surprised that Lone Star didn't last very long since it had a cable sensibility but was being sold to a network audience. Had it been on FX, Lone Star might have had a modest yet successful first go round, but FOX did not have the time or luxury to baby this con-man drama. Just because I understand why Lone Star was canceled doesn't mean I was happy about it. Undercovers on the other hand just totally missed the mark, and I was shocked that a spy drama from J.J. Abrams failed so miserably. You'd think the man behind Alias and Mission: Impossible III could have sold a show about a couple of married spies to the masses, but it never caught on. Maybe Abrams' name doesn't carry as much clout as it once did, maybe it was the unknown leads, or maybe it was just uninteresting. Regardless, Undercovers was probably one of the biggest flops of 2010.

3. Terriers

I really, really, really wanted to like Terriers, so I don't want people to misinterpret the show's place on this list. I was able to appreciate the fact that the show was well-crafted with good writing and acting, but unfortunately it just did not resonate with me. The characters were not relateable or sympathetic, the cases didn't interest me, and sometimes the humor and dialogue was too crass. Again, creatively the show wasn't a let-down, and I understood why people fell in love with Terriers. I just couldn't get into no matter how many times I tried, which is a shame because on paper it sounded like my kind of show.

2. How I Met Your Mother

I've been pretty harsh on How I Met Your Mother since the latter part of Season 3 ("The Chain of Screaming" was the beginning of the end), but I keep coming back with hopes that the show will return to form. Unfortunately, Seasons 4 and 5 were just as lackluster, but I refused to give up hope and was encouraged when the show runners promised to right the ship. I'll admit that there have been some good episodes between then and now, but the show as a whole still hasn't recaptured its charm. A lot of fans have felt that Season 6 has been HIMYM Classic, but I'm still not seeing it. Yes, "Cleaning House", "Natural History", and "False Positive" had an old school feel to them, but I've stopped caring about the characters and I wasn't able to appreciate the handful of decent episodes. Lily and Marshal are boring, Robin's a shell of her former self, Barney's in full cartoon mode, and Ted's just unlikeable. They're no longer the characters I fell in love with during Seasons 1 and 2, so it's hard to get back on board with the show, but I'm pot-committed so I'll be sticking with the show to the end. For now.

1. Andy Whitfield's non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Spartacus: Blood and Sand quickly became my guilty pleasure show, and I was excited for season 2, but production was put on hold when Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. First and foremost, it was a bummer that Whitfield became ill and I immediately hoped for a successful recovery. Fortunately, Starz decided to give the star time to get treatment, and it looked like Whitfield was healthy and ready to get back in his loincloth. Then his cancer came back which put the show's future into jeopardy, and ultimately the show runners pushed on without Whitfield. While I'm glad the cast and crew will keep their jobs, Spartacus will not be the same without Andy, but at least he gave his blessing. We're praying for you Andy.

I'm not saying that any of these shows are or were bad, but in my opinion they didn't deliver the goods like I had hoped. So there you have it, five shows/stories that didn't quite meet my expectations or just bummed me out. Later this week I'll focus on 5 shows/stories that were nice surprises in 2010.

News: LONE STAR Canceled

NOTE: I wrote this post prior to the official announcement that FOX canceled Lone Star.

After another poor performance last night, Lone Star is about to hit the old dusty trail. In a lot of way's FOX's new con-man drama was doomed from the start. Ads really didn't focus on the griffter aspect of the show, relied too much on a good looking man cheating on two women, and it's a character-driven story that is slow burning. Also, it's based in Texas, and the rest of the country is jealous of us, so they refuse to watch our shows *cough*Friday Night Lights*cough*. I kid.

Nothing about Lone Star screams, "main stream", but that doesn't mean that its ultimate demise isn't disheartening. It's one of the few truly original shows to debut this season, but we need to come to terms with reality that the typical audience does not want original. They want familiar. They want CSI: Honolulu. They want The Klumps: The Sitcom. They want Slumdog Call Center. Lone Star never had a chance.

The thing is, we shouldn't be surprised. The majority of the critics who praised the show also recognized that it doesn't fit the network model. They kept focusing on the fact that it feels like a cable show, and doesn't have the legs to fill a 22-episode order. It looks like they were right.

People are going to hold on to hope. They're going to petition that FX pick up the series, they're going to scream for it to be moved to a new day and time. Facebook pages will be created, and #SaveLonestar will show up on Twitter. All of these attempts will be futile because the show was D.O.A. It's sad, but true.

Sure, a miracle might happen, and FX could do for Lone Star what TNT did for Southland. FOX could shuffle it to Friday nights and move Human Target to Mondays. I just wouldn't hold my breath. I'm just glad FOX took another risk, and I hope this show's failure will not scare them and other networks away from putting on quality programming. Then again, CBS did decide to turn another Twitter feed into a sitcom.

TV Report Card: Week of September 19, 2010

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Quick Thoughts: CHUCK, HIMYM, LONE STAR, & CASTLE

Fall TV is back in full swing as two of my all-time favorites came back (Chuck and Castle), and FOX's critically acclaimed Lone Star made its debut. I might put together more in-depth reviews of the episodes, but I wanted to quickly share my initial reactions.

Chuck: "Chuck vs. the Anniversary"
Quick Thoughts: I thought the Season 4 premiere of Chuck was only OK. The first half of the episode was light on laughs and action, and a little too heavy on the "Suck" PDA. Also, the sexting running gag got really old, really fast (I didn't mind Sarah's photo shoot though). Are we getting yet another Big Bad Organization? That makes three in four seasons. I'm still a little pissed that NBC gave away Lundgren's Rocky shout-out during the preview. Not a stellar start to S4, but it could have been worse...Shaw could have come back from the dead again (I was actually a fan of Shaw by the way).

Last Episode: "Chuck vs. the Ring: Pt. 2" and "Chuck vs. the Subway" »

« Next Episode: "Chuck vs. the Suitcase"

How I Met Your Mother: "Big Days"
Thomas & Bays lied! HIMYM still sucks, and I don't know how much more I can take. I could only muster a few chuckles, mostly because of Barney's antics which are just as stale this time around as they were last season, but the rest of the episode was underwhelming. Another boring LAME storyline, one-note Robin jokes, and way too many "fake outs" all led to yet another subpar episode of television. Loyalty dictates I stick around for a few more weeks, but it's not looking good.

Lone Star: "Pilot"
The Twittersphere seemed to be mixed when it came to this Texas based con-man show from FOX. Some positively compared it to Mad Men meets Friday Night Lights, and some were bored after the first 30-minutes or so. Some even tried to compare it to Leverage and White Collar, which are two totally different shows that only have a grifter common denominator. Those two shows are very procedural in nature, whereas Lone Star is a serialized show, and a slow burning one at that. I for one enjoyed the hell out of the first episode, and I'll definitely be coming back next week.

Castle: "A Deadly Affair"
The Season 3 premiere of Castle was able to acknowledge last season's controversial finale, but was also able to pick up right where it left off. Watching the banter between Castle and Beckett ranged from cute to downright softcore erotic, and Stana Katic continued to kill with her subtle smiles and glances. The Caskett stuff was great, but Esposito and Ryan were the unsung MVPs (Ryan in particular). "A Deadly Affair" had the chemistry, humor, and suspense that a good episode of Castle should have. I can already tell Season 3 of Castle is going to be way better than Season 6 of Bones. Oh, bet on it.

The plan right now is to put together the usual TV Report Card once I'm caught up on all of this week's new episodes. I hope you come back to check it out.