Damon: I took away your suffering once before. I can do it again, but it's your choice.

Jeremy: Look, I know you think you took it away, but it's still there.  Even if I can't remember why, I still feel empty...alone.  And making me forget won't fix it.  It won't fix what's really wrong.
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So here they are, my favorite TV episodes of 2010.  It was hard enough to pick these, let alone put them in some kind of order, so they are pretty much just listed as I thought of them :o)

Community "Cooperative Calligraphy" While I did love "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" a few weeks ago and last season's "Contemporary American Poulty" and "Modern Warfare," I think this was my favorite episode this year.   Annie accuses someone of stealing her pen and the entire group goes on lockdown in the study room.  There is nothing flashy or fancy about the episode, it is just the actors in a room being funny.  Plus, there is a Puppy Parade at the end!

Dollhouse "Epitaph Two: Return" Joss really started to hit his stride in season two of this short-lived series.  Network executives should know by now not to mess with the genius.  Alas, it was canceled before it's time, but not before giving us an AWESOME finale.  What happens ten years from now when the tech gets out of control?  Hopefully not what happened on Dollhouse, as I am hoping there is no one out there wiping people's memories and imprinting them with new ones.  But you never really can be too sure :o)

Justified "Fire In The Hole"  In the series premiere, Federal Marshall Raylan Givens is reassigned from Miami to his childhood home of Eastern Kentucky.  The episode sets up the character of Givens perfectly as an old-school Marshall living in modern times where, even in Kentucky, his cowboy-look is out-of-place and his quick-draw is not always warranted.  He is not where he wants to be and he now has to deal with all the things that made him leave Harlan in the first place.  The new season starts February 9 and if you are not watching this show, you really should be.

The Vampire Diaries "Founders Day" or "The Return"  It is hard to say whether or not I liked the finale of season one or the premiere of season two better.  The finale was action-packed and tied up the story of the tomb vampires, leaving us with three possible-death-cliffhangers.  Whereas the first episode of the second season gave us the infamous Katherine in action.  When this show started, I really did not think that it was going to be anything special but it continues to get better every week and is never dull.  I know the thing a lot of TV critics point to is the amazing acting of Nina Dobrev, but she really is phenomenal in her dual roles and the show would not be nearly as successful without her.  It also does not hurt that the ENTIRE cast is gorgeous :o)

Grey's Anatomy "Death and All His Friends" The reappearance of Denny Duquette in season five made me wonder if I should continue watching Grey's Anatomy.  But, my girlfriends and I endured (with the help of a few margaritas) and were rewarded by a great season six and an awesome season finale.  With a shooter on the loose in the hospital we saw many shocking losses and some heart-wrenching acting performances.  Shonda Rimes said early on in the year that the season finale would be a "game-changer" and she was definitely right.  We are still seeing the repercussions in the current season and I am glad to say that the show has rebounded nicely from its tumor-induced-hallucination.

White Collar "Copycat Caffrey" Neil and Peter discover that there is a Criminology class at a local college that is studying Neil and the work of several other white collar criminals.  The problem is, they are not JUST studying them but copying their heists.  Neil goes undercover as himself, minus the FBI job, and tries to get in on the students next con in hopes that it will out the professor as the leader of the group.  I pretty much love every episode of White Collar, but this one really made me laugh.  The dynamic of the Peter/Neil relationship, the return of Alex and the always-lovable Mozzie make for a very good time.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods" This episode has guest appearances by Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.  Do I really need more of an explanation for why I love it?! :o)

Friday Night Lights "The Son"  Why this show has been nominated for so few awards is beyond me.  The whole series is phenomenal, but this is the best episode of this year.  It is not just about a boy whose father dies as a soldier in Iraq, leaving him to take care of his grandmother.  It is about a boy who struggles with the emotions of his loss and reconciling them with the fact that he hated his father for abandoning the family when he volunteered to go back to Iraq in the first place.  It really is a shame that more people, including myself, did not watch this show from the start and I will be sad when it is over at the end of this season.



Honorable Mentions: Spartacus: Blood and Sand "Kill Them All," Accidentally on Purpose "Speed," Mad Men "The Suitcase" and The Glades "Pilot"

What were your favorite episodes this year?!  Please let me know in the comments section!

I hope everyone has a very, Merry Christmas!

xoxo

c

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"Why spiders? Why couldn't it be 'follow the butterflies'? "

Halloween has come and gone and, while it is not my favorite holiday nor do I enjoy scary movies, I did want to share a clip from my favorite Halloween movie:

Not scary, but definitely awesome. :o)

I have not written in a while but have actually been pretty busy watching a lot of different things. Netflix: Watch Instantly is evil and has allowed to me to watch many more movies and shows in a shorter amount of time :o) If I talked about all of them right now, this post would be ridiculously too long, so I have split them up and will post again in a few days.

So let's get started....

I had heard some great things about the show Spartacus: Blood and Sand, so I decided to give it a try and it was FANTASTIC. It is the real story of Spartacus and how he became a gladiator, but is only loosely based in history. It is shown on Starz, so it is kind of graphic, both with blood and sex, but it is mostly driven by the stories of its characters which are very compelling. The entire series is shot in front of a green screen and the blood and guts have a fake, Kill-Bill-like feel to them. I am extremely interested in seeing where season two takes us, especially considering how season one ended (which I will not spoil for you) and the fact that their lead actor is being replaced because of medical reasons. I HIGHLY recommend you watch this show, if you are not already.

On the more family-friendly front, I am really irritated that ABC Family, after only ONE month, stopped playing reruns of Friday Night Lights. They kept it at 6 p.m. for about two weeks before moving it to 11 a.m. for another two weeks and are surprised that not many people could keep track of when it was on. That, combined with the fact that the final season is being played on DirecTV before it airs on NBC (probably next spring or summer) means I have to take over one of my friend's televisions in the city every week to get my Tim Riggins fix. Lucky, I do not watch anything else on Wednesday nights, so I have the time. The things I do for my TV shows!

In terms of movies, I have finally watched MacGruber, Inception and Rebel Without A Cause.

Even though it got pretty bad reviews, I was sort of hoping that I would like MacGruber. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I had not seen the Saturday Night Live sketch, but understood what the concept of the character was about, however the only thing I found funny about the movie was Kristen Wiig.  Sadly, I would say that this is a movie you can skip seeing.

Rebel Without A Cause sat on top of my bluray player for about three weeks before I finally got around to watching it. Made in 1955, it stars James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo as three teens who all have issues with their parents, as teens tend to do, and the trouble they get into. It was well done and definitely worth seeing, if only because it was the last thing Dean made before his unfortunate death.

I really was not planning to ever see Inception.  I mean, I probably would have eventually, but I had no plans to do so.  However, under the guise of carving pumpkins, I was lured to my friend's house a few weeks ago and forced into watching the movie. Okay, it was not quite as scandalous and devious as that, but I did not know that is what we were going to be doing that night.  And I do have to say that the movie was pretty good. I would not say that it totally blew my mind, but it was definitely interesting and different and not anything that I could have ever come up with on my own. One problem with seeing it so far after everyone else and reading too many reviews was that I knew that there was going to be some big twist at the end, so when it happened, I was not surprised. It was well done and definitely worth seeing, but I do not think I would go so far as to say it is the best movie I have ever seen.

Well, that is it for now.  I will return shortly to talk about The Tudors, Due Date, The Social Network and a few other things.  I hope everyone is enjoying the Harry Potter Marathon Weekend on ABC Family and this lovely fall weather :o)

xoxo

c

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