THE 2009-2010 TV SEASON WRAP-UP
Once upon a time in Tucson, this idiot named Ashley decided it would be a good idea to watch twenty-seven TV shows a week while holding down two jobs and going to graduate school full time. It all worked out fine, I suppose. She didn’t mind gradually descending into the bowels of hermit-dom, only coming out for school and work related obligations, and for Mexican Breakfast with Lindsay, Alison, or Krystal. And she watched a shit-ton of TV, at least, as much as humanly possible when you’re not getting paid for it.
The following is a list that I compiled throughout the 2009-2010 season. Some of my choices were a no-brainer. Some will make you scratch your head. Some you might blatantly disagree with. If I was a fancy professional critic, this list would no doubt be different (read: longer), but I’m not. Last year I attempted to include episodes from shows that I did not watch, but frankly, that was way too much work, and I’m not sure that I was entirely successful. So here’s how this year’s list works: the first section of The List features the twenty best episodes that I personally watched, in order of airdate. Why twenty? Because I wasn’t counting, and that’s how many I ended up with. (Last year I only had sixteen.) You will probably be able to identify my favorite episode by the evocative 100 x 100 icon located in the top left hand corner of this entry. The fact that this episode was my favorite was unknown to me until I sat down to make this list, so it was as much a surprise to me as it is to you now.
The second section includes episodes that I loved, but which didn’t quite make the cut (either because the overall quality of the show just wasn’t up to par yet, or because the show it’s from already had a better qualified episode on the list). Section three has superlatives (everybody loves those). And finally, section four is where you guys come in. I’ve compiled a list of TV shows that I did not watch at all this year, and that I want you to weigh in on. (This means you need to COMMENT . . . ahem.) Some of them I have watched in the past but have not had a chance to catch up on the current season (How I Met Your Mother, Mad Men), some I haven’t watched at all yet (Breaking Bad, Dexter) , and some I have absolutely no plans of ever, ever watching, mostly because HBO is incredibly overrated and I’m sick of it. Don’t even talk to me.
“I need you to be clever, Bean. I need you to think of solutions to problems we haven’t seen yet. I want you to try things that no one has ever tried because they’re absolutely stupid.”
