Favorite Characters on TV, or How this is why Lists were created!

Here goes, for no reason whatsoever and prompted by nothing but boredom and a will to procrastinate like it's nobody's business, I give you my favorite characters from TV from 2008. Yes, they are arbitrary, only include characters from shows I actually watch (so yeah... House, any of them Heroes, 90210ers and Gossipy boys, any procedurals or McDoctors will not be found here... for that you people got the Tv rags and them People's Choice whatevers). Here, strong women and gay men rule the world. Also being a bitch helps you out. A lot.

Top 10 Favorite TV Characters from 2008

Shoutouts to:

Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton (that laugh... so creepy, so funny!), the rest of the Desperate Housewives (yay Ensemble work!), Vanessa Williams' Wilhemina Slater (Ugly Betty) - she's scarier in HD!, Christina Applegate's Samantha (Samantha Who? - exactly!), Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report) - cause it wouldn't be Indecision 2008 without good ol' Stephen, Jack Donaghy (30 Rock... actually that entire cast for being so hysterical!)... I could go on, but instead here's the actual list.

10. Holly

Amy Ryan (The Office)

Who knew Amy Ryan was so funny? And awkward? And Michael Scott's secret long-lost soulmate? She has been a breathe of fresh air (and a welcome one at that!) in The Office's newest season.

I was trying to adjust the lumbar support on Toby's chair and that made this up-down lever not work and I took the whole chair apart and that is the story of me on the floor. It's pretty good right? I'm gonna sell the movie rights.

9. _____

Kristen Wiig (SNL)

I had to include Kristen here, because well... she makes EVERY skit she's in AMAZING. 

Actually, there's a few ways -- just kidding, there's only one way -- just kidding, I don't know how many ways there are -- just kidding, I do, there's eight -- just kidding, there's eighteen, I counted them -- just kidding, my friend did and she never lies -- just kidding, she lied once, but I wasn't there -- just kidding, we're not really friends, we work together -- just kidding, I work by myself -- just kidding, I workout by myself -- just kidding, I don't work out, 'cause I kicked out of my gym -- just kidding, it closed -- just kidding! 

8. Jenna Maroney

Jane Krakowski (30 Rock)

Me want food... er me want Jenna! Jane sells every line she gets handed as if it was a comedic 

gem, and by the time you're done laughing you realize it is. Fat Jenna? Funny. Skinny bitchy Jenna? Hysterical. Porn video game voice actress Jenna? Priceless. I am very excited for what's in store for that Mystic Pizza the Musical actress/Muffin Top singer.

These things happen Liz. I had my "no sex with Asians" rule but then one day you walk into Sharper Image and there's Quan

7. Marc St James

Michael Urie (Ugly Betty)

Marc is the funniest half of the funniest Fag/Fag-Hag pair to grace Prime Time since a certain flat-chested red-headed Jewess was rooming with a sex-less suburban lawyer gay. Marc is deliciously bitchy albeit stereotypical, and that scene where he slapped fake Wilhemina was priceless (add to that his wardrobe) and you have numero siete on my list.

Sure, if by 'beer' you mean 'Appletini'

6. Bree Van de Camp... ahem Hodge

Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives)

Everyone's favorite housewife is even more desperate this season what with no more baby, a failing marriage, a bickering partner and well... thankfully, a soaring business. Here's hoping for more Bree-bites this season.

Andrew, tell this gentleman that if he calls me 'sweetie' again I'm gonna grab his camera and take a picture of his colon!

5. Barney Stinson

Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)

In one word Barney is "Awesome" ... or maybe just "Legen...wait for it... dary!" HIMYM is a show that shines when NPH gets great storylines and even better one-liners. I'm interested to see how the "falling in love" with Robin storyline will play out (Nothing's funnier than an anxiety-ridden Barney!) Bonus points: Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

What's that? Self-five? Nice, we out!

4. Six, Tricia Helfer 

(Battlestar Galactica)

Earlier seasons might have been all about President Roslin (Roslin'08!) and Starbuck, but Six dominated this past season - in all and every one of her incarnations. And much of that has come from the writer's willingness to explore the "humanity" in the cylons and of course the increasing talent of a certain Ms Helfer who's proven she's as talented as she is gorgeous.

God has a plan, Gaius. He has a plan for everything, and everyone

3. Tina Fey's Sarah Palin

Tina Fey (SNL)

What can I say about Tina's Palin that I haven't said before? Her Alaskan accent, her matching outfits, her crazy never-ending sentences... It has made for Must-Watch Saturday Night TV. And gosh-darnit, Tina made me be interested in your crazy US of A politics by following a certain moose-hunting, anti-women Alaskan right-wing nut. Here's hoping that this SNL exposure can make Tina's other doppelganger (Liz Lemon) gets some traction starting next week on NBC, making 30 Rock Must-Watch TV as well.

Senator McCain and I are not afraid to get Maverickey in there

2. Olive Snook

Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies)

Cheno is clearly a staple at this blog (click here for more) but really, a spunky romantic little blond waitress who sings? How could I resist? Also Season 2's story arc where she was a nun was hilarious but I'm also glad she's back in the Pie-Hole bickering and rooming with Lonely Tourist Charlotte Charles.

Our store is called The Pie Hole. As in shut your. Or in this case "Open your" because it's real good.

1. Joan Holloway

Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)

Joan is amazing. She is a bitch, she's gorgeous, she's curvy and sexy. And in Season 2 she's proven she's more than a cliché (See here for more on Joan) - how crushing was her rape scene this past Sunday? It's no wonder she made the banner for A Blog Next Door. Oh also: she's a Whedon Alum (if you don't know what Whedon show I mean you need to re-watch Firefly) and that just gives Christina Hendricks a boost of a gazillion points.

(Commenting about Paul to his new African-American girlfriend) 
"The last thing I would’ve taken him for was open-minded"

Sony Entertainment, or How apparently the Gender War is not over

I sometimes wonder (never outloud of course) what ‘television studies’ in my discipline entails. Sure I have browsed the TV section at local bookstores (where else is one supposed to find 'Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer'?) but I do wonder whether studies that go beyond the particularity of television shows and/or television personalities are plausible given the elusive, ephemeral and here-now, not-here-tomorrow atmosphere of television.

I am actually very drawn to the ways shows are marketed and sold to audiences on a weekly basis – here are some thoughts on the subject:

I have been living in North America for over four years now. Which is why it throws me off balance when I go back home (Latin America) and start watching TV shows on different networks. Gone are ABC, NBC and CBS and we have instead ‘Warner Bros,’ Fox, FX & FoxLife, and more importantly Sony Entertainment Television. The marketing of the latter has been fascinating to watch these past weeks.

Example Numero Uno: The ad for Ghost Whisperer actually sounds something like ‘This new season, Ghost Whisperer has more spooky cases, and the same bad Jennifer Love Hewitt acting’ – I am quite certain J-LoHew’s agents have not been briefed on this particular ad but they should; is this really a way to promote a show?

But what I found more interesting was the Monday and the Friday schedules. Monday is a ‘feminine’ themed night called ‘Mentes Peligrosas’ (Dangerous Minds) and Friday is a ‘masculine’ themed night called ‘Macho Que Se Respeta’ (Man Worthy of Respect – it has a nicer ring in Spanish, you'll have to trust me on that one). One doesn’t need to go far away to see the gender politics at work: women have ‘dangerous minds’ that need to be fed with fluffy (albeit better) shows which can only be marketed as such while men need to be treated as the beer-drinking football watching men that they should be-ahem are. I would actually love to get my hands on the statistical ratings divided by gender for each night to see how the marketing pays off.

Samantha Who?
Grey’s Anatomy
Big Day
Rules of Engagement
My Boys

Es cierto, nada más peligroso que la mente de una mujer, seducimos, confundimos y manipulamos, como sólo nosotras sabemos hacerlo y siempre funciona… pensamos mal de todos y especialmente de todas, por eso siempre tenemos la razón. Es mi naturaleza, mi sexto sentido… mi lengua es afilada con todas las que miro, lo qué no dicen mis palabras, lo digo con la mirada… y mi príncipe azul es aquel que domino. Soy así, sensual, semi diosa, es parte del perfecto plan de mi mente peligrosa.

Translation: It's true, there's nothing more dangerous than the mind of a woman, we seduce, counfound and manipulate, like only we know how and it always works... Need I continue?

Til Death
The Game
Everybody Hates Chris
Carpoolers
Friday Night Lights

Porque el mundo es de los machos, para orinar no hay que sentarnos. Escupimos, eructamos… cerveza y tequila… las mujeres sólo van de la cama a la cocina. Fútbol y testosterona, mejor que el sexo es un gol de Maradona. Macho que se respeta: el nuevo espacio de Sony, dedicado a los héroes como nosotros, porque Macho que se respeta no llora, no pide direcciones, no se complica y siempre tiene la última palabra. La gente come para vivir, pero nosotros vivimos para comer. Los niños algún día serán hombres, nosotros siempre seremos niños. Unos descansan en el medio tiempo, nosotros descansamos a tiempo completo. Hay quienes ven deportes que apestan, nosotros apestamos viendo deportes.

Translation: Because the world is of/for men, to pee we don't need to sit down. We spit, burp... beer and tequila... women only go from the bed to the kitchen. Soccer and testosterone... Need I continue?

Now, I'm not adverse to gender-geared marketing, but I do think that when your scheduling and marketing pivots solely on age-old gender stereotypes (including monologues by females whining about their men on Mondays and voiceovers narrating what 'Men' should/do on Fridays) you should really sit back and try and cook up a fresh and maybe more of a 21st Century take on selling these worthy shows to a market that, despite what the guys (and girls) at Sony Entertainment Latin America might think, will connect with these shows on more grounds than the gender-war theme they got going on.

Applegate Who? or How I prefer 'Bad Sam'

Monday 9:30pm
Samantha Who? (ABC)
Continuing my devotion to writing up short and helpful reviews of new fall shows (really, just a way to past time here...) I watched ABC's new comedy 'Samantha Who?'
Before I say anything more I'll just say this: I like Christina Applegate. I loved her in Married with Children, loved her emmy-winning turn for arguably one of Friends' best episodes ever! (The One With Rache's Other Sister) and she is one of those actresses that just makes me smile whenever I see her in anything (be it a Will Ferrel movie, or a Cameron Diaz comedy, a Gwyneth (crashing) vehicle...) cause she seems so genuinely funny - the kind of actress I'd invite for drinks cause I know we'd have a good time.
And yet, I can see her struggling in this: it sounds like a good enough premise - 'bad' Sam loses her memory and is now finding out who she is and wanting to make better to choices (like tell her boyfriend she was cheating on him, and apparently, moving in with her parents...). And true enough that does offer some moments of laughter - her antics during an AA meeting are actually a highlight of the episode even if it is a bit over the top. But Applegate is better when she's by herself and works the comedy alone. And I say struggling because the entire episode kept trying to find humour in the situation more than in Sam herself, so that by the end of the episode her mom and dad had already annoyed me, her best friend had irritated, her 'lover' struck me as sleazy and I was left with only two characters (other than Sam) that I wish I had seen more of: the hottie Barry Watson from 7th Heaven fame as the boyfriend, and Melissa McCarthy of Gilmore Girls fame as her estranged 'school' friend who lies her way back into Sam's life: "We stopped being friends when you became more popular and I became less and less... and less" she tells Sam [this may just mean I have a soft spot for WB alumni...]
But yes, over all quite disappointing. In a way it left me wanting to see what a sitcom with just 'Bad Sam' could be like - the flashback to the coffee place where Sam and Todd meet was also a highlight - who doesn't like Christina Applegate playing bitchy? I know I'm not alone when I say 'Bring on the bad Sam!'

Favourite part of the show:

Todd in a biker jacket.

"I know you're in a hurry to get to work, but your street corner will still be there when you get there!" - our first glimpse at the 'bad Sam' underneath 'good Sam'

"If people could still change, would you still be you?" I don't know Ms Jennifer [I still know what you did last summer] Esposito... I don't know, would you?