Best Of 2007

According to me. My first end of year with a blog, so I’m gonna indulge.

Best T.V. Shows-If it was good, it probably got canceled. That’s the way it is now, if a show is not a monster smash from episode one, it’s over. Which sucks, because there were a couple shows that I thought were really great, but didn’t get American Idol numbers, so after investing in the characters and plot, tough shit, outta luck. Networks will not wait for an audience to build. Kinda like what destroyed the record industry. Two of those shows that I thought were excellent, but got cancelled:

Jericho-      

Even though it started in 06, it ended in 07, so I’m counting it. Great show about a nuclear strike against the U.S. and the people in the town of Jericho, Kansas. This one was saved from the chopping block by fans sending bags of nuts to CBS. Also, one of the few shows on network TV with a conservative bent. I highly recommend this show, and you can probably rent it on DVD.

Journeyman-    

A show about a guy who travels to the past, but only 10-30 years and only in his city, to help some poor soul fix something or other. Kind of like “Quantum Leap” but better. This show has been cancelled, but fans are trying a Jericho like strategy by sending boxes of Rice-a-Roni to NBC. (the show is based in S.F.) We’ll see if it works, but I’m not holding my breath. Great show, I really liked it.

American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, and Dancing With The Stars- OK, make fun of me, but I love these shows. Good wholesome family entertainment, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Hells Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmares-    

I have a man-crush on Gordon Ramsay, what can I say? Kick ass shows. My only complaint is that it’s too “Foxified.” Fox has this habit on their reality shows of cranking the annoying music so loud, that it literally overpowers the dialogue, and it’s a constant bed of music, it never stops. Also, after every commercial break, a complete recap of the previous segment. A 60 minute show is probably about 30 in real time minus all of the previews/recaps. I hate the way Fox produces reality shows.

The Riches-     

Starring Eddie Izzard, one of my favorite comedians. A show about a family of Travellers (con artists) that assume the identity of a wealthy family. Great show.

Big Brother 8-   

My wife and I are freaks about this show, it consumed our summer. We clearly have no life. Evel Dick rocked this season of BB, probably the best reality show contestant Evah. Some of the most compelling reality TV I’ve ever seen, especially the after hours stuff on Showtime, and believe me when I say I’ve seen a lot of reality TV.

24/Lost-         

These are a given, although this year was the weakest season of 24 yet. But the worst season of 24 is better than the best season of most shows. I’m still diggin Lost, even though a lot of people are losing interest.

Best Movies-

This is a tough one. I don’t think there were any really great movies this year, just varying degrees of OK. It’s amazing to me the total crap that gets turned out in Hollywood these days, I mean, how hard can it be to cull together enough interesting material to fill 2 hours? Apparently, it’s damn near impossible. To be fair, I didn’t see a lot of movies this year, so this is the best of what I saw.

Transformers-              

It was definitely kick-ass, it’s just too bad they put all that kick-assness behind a stupid toy. You know what made this movie work? Shia LaBeouf. His performance really humanized a movie about robots, that kid is really great. Without him, I think this would have been just a CGI wank a thon.

Ratatouille-              

The Pixar people are awesome. This was a joy to watch, beautiful to look at, great music, good story, and the attention to detail is mind blowing. Too bad a cartoon had to be better than most live action movies this year. I also really liked Meet The Robinsons.

Pirates Of The Caribbean-Worlds End         

Like Spider-Man 3, and Die Hard, this was good, but not great. I can’t put my finger on what went wrong in this series, but something did. Maybe it’s the ridiculously convoluted story, too much CGI, I don’t know. While entertaining, somethings just kinda hinky here.

Like I said, I didn’t see many movies this year.

Movies in 07 were underwhelming at best, as was the next category:

Music

To be honest, I got nothin here. Not one single artist grabbed my attention. I guess the big artists this year were Amy Winehouse and Kanye West. I could care less about either of them. I think Winehouse has already worn out her welcome, and as far as West goes, I refuse to acknowledge Rap as songwriting. Sorry, but you tell me one single Rap “song” that will stand the test of time, that will be played on the radio for the next 50 years. In a year or two, Kanye will be about as relevant as Sir Mix-A-Lot.

As dismal as music was, it wasn’t a pimple on the ass of the pathetic year in: Politics

The best? Sarkozy came here and sounded more patriotic than any American politician including George Bush, has for a while. The king of Spain told Chavez to shut up. That’s about it. American politicians continue to be an embarrassment to me, and my country. This was one of the worst years in American politics in a long, long time.

Overall, 2007 was a pretty lame year, notable more for bad things than great things, which will be on my much more fun “Worst of 2007.”