Geekscape’s Favorite TV Shows of 2010
<p>2010 was a pretty good year for geeks watching TV! Beyond Chuck getting renewed and brand new superhero shows hitting prime time, we had an explosive ending to Lost (at least on internet message board debates), the death of Caprica, the arrival of The Walking Dead, brand new animated comic book shows (Avengers on Disney XD is AMAZING) and mainstays like Dexter, Doctor Who and Being Human returning to the air. My yearly in take was pretty light. I was disappointed by the mixed back of the Lost finale, watched tons of Being Human and Mad Men and thought The Walking Dead started off strongly, spun its wheels and reset its course for a promising and unpredictable second season. Oh, and did I mention that Avengers on Disney XD is AMAAAAAZING!?!?! So let me step aside so that more qualified Geekscape personalities can take the stage with what they believed were the best TV offerings of 2010!</p>
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<h2>Week in Geek Writer Eric Diaz</h2>
<h2>#5. Project Runway</h2>
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<p>After the move from Bravo to Lifetime, I still watched Project Runway, but more out of force of habit than anything else. You pretty much knew who would win after, say, the second episode. But then this year, the capital D Drama was BACK. You had not one, but TWO villains in the forms of uber bitches Gretchen and Ivy, a lovable underdog in Michael Costello (I heart you Michael C!) and a winner everyone could get behind…who ended up not winning. (Mondo Guerra, you were ROBBED) Seriously, the best dramatic moments on tv went down on catwalk this year.</p>
<h2>#4. Glee</h2>
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<p>The second half of Glee’s first season aired in the spring of 2010, and was as brilliant as the first half in my honest opinion. So why is the show so low on the list? The first half of the second season came this close to totally fucking up everything that made Glee so great. WAY too many gimmick episodes (both the Britney Spears and Rocky Horror episodes were pretty damn lame) The show forgot plot and character and seemed to only be concerned with their itunes sales. But the last few episodes seemed to bring some of the old Glee magic back, and it seems Glee got their groove back just in the nick of time.</p>
<h2>#3. Dexter Season Five</h2>
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<p>The question after the previous season’s game changing cliffhanger was “how could Dexter ever top the last season?” Well, they didn’t…but, they also didn’t fall flat on their face either. Michael C. Hall continues his brilliant evolution for Dexter from sociopath to actual human being in a convincing and believable way. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about the addition of Julia Styles’ character (a victim of a gang rape and torture group rescued by Dexter) to the series, but I ended the season thinking that her character was Dex’s true soul mate in a way Rita never could be. Sadly, the show had a real opportunity for a few game changers at the end of the season, and totally pussied out on both of them. The reason last season is remembered so fondly is because they had the balls to make drastic changes to Dexter Morgan’s life, and this season just chose to play it safe, which is a shame. If not for that this show would have had a real slot at #1 on my list.</p>
<h2>#2. True Blood Season Three</h2>
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<p>Sure, there are better and more “quality” shows on television, but none are as addictive as the deliciously trashy True Blood. Season Three might have introduced way too many new characters, but when some of those new faces are awesome character actors like James Frain as psychotic vampire “procurer” Franklin Mott, and Denis O’Hare as Vampire King Russell Edgington, you give the show a pass. The plot of season three was admittedly all over the place, but it was the individual moments that make the show so much fun to watch, not the overall plot. Where else can you get Nazi Werewolves, gay vampire sex that ends in staking from behind, and a sex scene that ends with one person turning the head of their partner 180 degrees. True Blood remains tv’s best carnival ride and sideshow.</p>
<h2>#1. Mad Men Season Four</h2>
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<p>Mad Men’s previous season was good, but it was this season, as we jumped forward in time to 1965 and the offices of the newly minted Sterling/Cooper/Draper/Pryce ad agency that might have been the series’ best yet. Season four had so many awesome moments, from Don Draper brilliantly turning the loss of Lucky Strike Cigarettes from a crippling blow to a life saver for the company (he hopes) to Don’s being a total idiot and proposing to his doe eyed much younger secretary. Betty Draper unhinged into a bigger bitch than ever before, and Peggy Olsen got a backbone and even called Don out on his shit for the first time ever. (Could you even imagine the Peggy of season one doing that?) But even with the brilliant ensemble, the show is stolen each week by one Jon Hamm, who as Don Draper makes me believe that a brilliant business man and a delusional lothario controlled by his dick can co exist within the same brain from week to week.</p>
<h2>Worst: Lost</h2>
<p>When everyone else turned on Lost, say around season three, I stuck with it. I believed that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse knew exactly where they were going with their epic sci fi/fantasy/whatever saga. Man, was I wrong. As we got to the final episode, and nothing was really revealed, I realized that I’d been had. “This show was always really about the characters and their journey” said the producers after the final episode aired. Uhhh…yeah, ok in part, but it was also a show where mysteries and questions were brought up in just about every episode, and not one was given a satisfactory answer in the end. Not one. Instead, we got a beautiful and heartwarming trip down memory lane as long gone characters returned, and everyone hugged it out in heaven. And I got emotional too, I’ll admit…but then as the tears dried I realized we’d all just been had. For six years, we’d been had. Fuck you Lost.</p>
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<h2>News Editor Brian Walton</h2>
<h2>#10. Big Bang Theory</h2>
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<p>This show seems to be a lightning rod of controversy amongst geeks.I find it to be a hilarious and heart felt ode to our culture.</p>
<h2>#9. Smallville</h2>
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<p>As we continue further into the 10th and final season of Smallville, it continues to add more DC continuity into the mix. The renaissance of Smallville has been a pleasure to see as Clark and Lois Finally become Lois & Clark.</p>
<h2>#8. Community</h2>
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<p>The most creatively funny and original comedy to come across the screen in ages. Abed and Troy are the greatest character duo to come to television in a very long time. The highlight was the amazingly creative Christmas special, which I’ve embedded above.</p>
<h2>#7. Chuck</h2>
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<p>The perpetually on the bubble Chuck has always been able to take risks, because every season has been a gift. It’s great to see that sense of nothing to lose isn’t going away just because it finally has a little job security, so to speak. The casting of Linda Hamilton as Chuck’s mom is brilliant and the above episode is a turning point in the season.</p>
<h2>#6. Vampire Diaries</h2>
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<p>I was ready to hate on this show as a tired Twilight clone from day one, then I caught a marathon last year and had to eat my hate filled words. The Vampire Diaries is fun, sexy, entertaining and sharply witty. It has surprisingly more in common with Buffy the Vampire Slayer than Twilight the soul killer. Plus, Ian Somerhalder is massively entertaining in his role as Damon Salvatore, the unrepentant vampire brother.</p>
<h2>#5. Son’s of Anarchy</h2>
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<p>If you aren’t watching this show, you are missing out on one of the most intense emotional roller coasters to ever broadcast on American TV. This past season saw the motorcycle gang with a heart of gold travel to Ireland to recover a kidnapped child and settle the score with an old nemesis.</p>
<h2>#4. Justified</h2>
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<p>When Deadwood ended, people were very disappointed that they would no longer get their weekly dose of bad ass in Timothy Olyphant. The FX network was kind enough to find Mr. Olyphant a new vehicle for his brand of intense justice.</p>
<h2>#3. The Walking Dead</h2>
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<p>The show had a hard time keeping up with it’s premise and pilot for the first six episodes. While a little off from it’s source material, the show is still one of the most dynamic dramas to air this year.</p>
<h2>#2. The Good Wife</h2>
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<p>Go ahead, scratch your head, laugh and get it out of your system, but week in and week out The Good Wife is the most human and entertaining show on network TV. What seems like a movie of the week premise has developed into a compelling and earnest legal drama.</p>
<h2>#1. Doctor Who</h2>
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<p>Matt Smith brings a little old school charm to the Doctor. Steven Moffat repurposing the show from adventuring couple/morose loner to more of a family dynamic has made this the most entertaining Doctor yet. Amelia Pond adds whimsy to the companion role and Matt Smith’s Doctor has a youthful yet mature nature.</p>
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<h2>Star Geekscape Co-host Ian Kerner</h2>
<h2>10) Justified</h2>
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<p>This show is awesome. Timothy Olyphant (Hitman, Deadwood) is U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, with a classic Western’s attitude in a modern world. Bad motherfucker. The first season saw him forced back to his home town in Kentucky, where he had to deal with a criminal father, unresolved feelings with his ex-wife, and an old friend turned terrorist played by the great Walton Goggins (The Shield).</p>
<h2>9) COMMUNITY</h2>
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<p>Not enough of you are watching this brilliantly funny show. You don’t need to have been watching all along, although I highly recommend watching the previous episodes. Watch it. You will laugh.</p>
<h2>8) LUTHER</h2>
<p>Another entry on this list from the BBC, this is anything but a typical cop show. Idris Elba, who has done much acclaimed work here, stars as a recently returned to the force cop, with an estranged wife. Yes, It does sound like a typical set up. It is far from. This deeply psychological thriller of a show is a really great ride.</p>
<h2>7) DOCTOR WHO</h2>
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<p>In it’s Fifth season, the show, in many ways feels like it has begun anew, with both a new lead Actor and new Head writer. Neither disappointed. The season was clever, intense, scary, and exciting. It was everything we hope for in The Doctor. The just aired annual Christmas special, while always good, was particularly exceptional. Who would have thought yet another take on A Christmas Carol could feel so original.</p>
<h2>6) MAD MEN</h2>
<p>There’s a reason that this show keeps winning so many awards. It’s just that good. Every season seems to peel the layers of Don Draper even more.</p>
<h2>5) DEXTER</h2>
<p>Who would have thought that a show about a cold blooded serial killer could make us care so much? This show is not afraid to take chances, as, surprisingly, the seemingly detached main character continues to evolve over the course of it’s run.</p>
<h2>4) BREAKING BAD</h2>
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<p>This show just continues to shock and awe. It’s like nothing that has come before it. This is really surprising, since the story of a High School chemistry teacher with cancer who starts making and selling meth to provide for his family before he dies seems like such a typical slice of Americana. I don’t want to say too much here about the twists and turns the recently finished season 3 has taken, because this is a show that, if you aren’t already watching, you need to go out and rent from the beginning.</p>
<h2>3) LOST</h2>
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<p>It feels like something is missing from a Holiday season that doesn’t include counting down the days to the beginning of a new season of LOST. A lot can be said about the final season of LOST. Indeed, a lot has by many critics. It’s ending will be debated endlessly. What is not debateable is that it was Television at it’s finest. Whether you were happy or not with the end, the ride was fantastic.</p>
<h2>2) FRINGE</h2>
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<p>In it’s third season, this show is firing on all cylinders. The methodical layering of it’s mythology over the first two seasons is now paying off. With the first half of the season over, one can only hope that the brilliant way the show managed to become two shows, alternating week to week between the different universes, can somehow be sustained. While many fans fear that Fox’s moving of the show to Fridays is a death toll, Fox is certainly promoting it, and claims to be standing behind it.</p>
<h2>1) THE WALKING DEAD</h2>
<p>Fanboys everywhere had anxiously awaited this adaptation of the award winning comic book for years. The adaptation somehow managed to go beyond the source material, delivering a truly enthalling depiction of humanity at both it’s best and worst. Truly television at the top of it’s form.</p>
