11/13/2009

The Return of Bullz-Eye’s TV Power Rankings: Ever since the writers’ strike, the television industry has been in a state of flux. Most networks still can’t figure out what works from what doesn’t, while the current economic climate has forced others to simply give up. Whether or not “The Jay Leno Show” is a success for NBC is debatable, but by surrendering the 10 p.m. time slot, they’ve greatly decreased their chances of bringing in new viewers. We would be exaggerating if we said the decision affected Bullz-Eye’s latest edition of the TV Power Rankings, but our Winter 2009 list does seem suspiciously familiar. Still, it isn’t without its surprises, as a longtime favorite returned from an extended hiatus to claim the top spot, while buzzworthy rookies like “Glee” and “FlashForward” also made impressive Top 10 debuts. At the end of the day, however, the real winner is HBO, who walked away with three of the four top spots, thus reestablishing themselves as the best network around.

A few examples from the piece:

5. Glee (Fox): There isn’t a show on this list that we love and hate with the same enthusiasm that we have for “Glee.” It contains some of the best-drawn characters in Fox’s history (aspiring diva Rachel Berry, adorable germaphobe Emma Pillsbury, cantankerous alpha female Sue Sylvester), and the iTunes chart-burning musical numbers, lip synching aside, are deliriously fun. Imagine, then, if they didn’t make these characters jump through such ridiculous hoops. Will’s wife is actually going to take her fake pregnancy to term? Emma agrees to marry Ken, but only as long as they never tell a soul? (Those plot threads brought to you by Bad Idea Jeans.) Yet for each blunder the show makes, they come up with something as brilliantly funny as Finn’s technique for not climaxing (he thinks about the time when he hit the mailman with his car), or the drama queen freak show that is Sandy Ryerson (a pitch-perfect Stephen Tobolowsky). Getting Josh Groban to do a cameo as a horndog version of himself, meanwhile – and hit on Will’s drunk mother – was a moment of “Arrested Development”-style genius. Yes, it’s made mistakes, but “Glee” gets a spot in our Top Five because no other show on TV sports dialogue like “mentally ill ginger pygmy with eyes like a bush baby.” But man, it would be a wonderful world if they did. – David Medsker

15. Dexter (Showtime): Like “The Sopranos,” Dexter always has a theme that is explored within a season as a backdrop to the episodic progression of the show. Last season, it examined friendship within the context of Dexter’s secret world, and Jimmy Smits was brilliant as his first and only pal. This year explores the facets of intimate relationships, and balancing work and the rest of your life as it relates to it. Dexter (played with brilliant sincerity and conviction by Michael C. Hall) is struggling to find balance between his work as a blood splatter analyst, a new dad of an infant, stepfather to his wife’s kids, and his hobby of killing and dismembering other bad guys, while his entertainingly foul-mouthed sister Deb implodes the most stable relationship of her life when she sleeps with returning lover and retired FBI agent Frank Lundy. John Lithgow is also scary good as the Trinity Killer, the latest object of Dexter’s attention. When Trinity kills Lundy and wounds Deb while making it look like another killer’s signature, Dex is commanded by the ghost of Harry to seek revenge, making this season as entertaining as any in the past – no easy feat considering how consistently good this show has been. – R. David Smola

Honorable Mention – Cougar Town (ABC): Yeah, yeah, we know: the title’s a bit dodgy. But Bill Lawrence, who co-created the show with Kevin Biegel, has said, “The roll of the dice I’ve made is that the title is noisy and that people will be aware of this show.” True enough, though the fact that the series stars Courtney Cox would’ve probably done a pretty decent job of putting it on people’s radar, anyway. The pilot alone was strong enough to suggest that “Cougar Town” could prove to be the perfect series for female viewers who’ve outgrown “Sex and the City,” but with enough of a dysfunctional family element to fit perfectly into the closing slot in ABC’s new Wednesday night comedy line-up. Although the show continues to hone its comedic formula, the trio of Cox, Christa Miller and Busy Philipps clicked immediately (particularly the latter two, with their characters’ diametrically opposed personalities), and the relationship between the teenaged Travis and his man-child of a father rings true with its blend of unconditional love and complete embarrassment. Now that Jules’s fling with Josh is over, however, we’re curious to see who’ll be next on her slate to date — and how long this one will last. – Will Harris

Returning in 2010 – Lost (ABC): Here we are, folks. After five seasons of confusing viewers with one of the most elaborate mythologies on television, “Lost” is finally in the home stretch. Want to know what the heck that smoke monster really is? How about the weird statue? Heck, what about the Dharma Initiative itself? All will supposedly be revealed in the sixth and final season of one of the smartest, most fearless shows network television has ever bothered to offer. Of course, this being “Lost,” we still have something to bitch about – namely, that the goddamn Olympics will interrupt the show’s final 18 episodes – but if we’ve waited this long to determine the ultimate fate of our favorite island castaways, what’s a few weeks of curling and cross-country skiing? We’ve all had our issues with the way “Lost” has unfolded over the years, and the show isn’t the phenomenon it was in its first couple of seasons. To cop one of the fall’s most popular phrases, though, this is it – and if there’s ever been a serialized drama with the guts to stick the landing and make its finale truly count, we’re betting it’s “Lost.” – Jeff Giles

Check out Bullz-Eye’s TV Power Rankings in their entirety by clicking here or on the big-arse graphic you see before you. Also, be sure to check out the accompanying interviews with folks associated with the various shows, including David Goyer (”FlashForward”), Kurt Sutter (”Sons of Anarchy”), Jonathan Ames (”Bored to Death”), and Bryan Cranston (”Breaking Bad”).

Did any of your favorite shows miss the cut? Let us know by replying below!

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5/7/2009

Great Actors: Callie Thorne:

A couple of years ago, when I wrote a post entitled “Bad Actors: Tina DiJoseph,” which was dedicated to the “Medium” actress who plays Lynn DiNovi, a few readers (mostly her friends and family) said I was “negative” and “cruel,” but I just call ‘em like I see ‘em.

And when I watched this week’s episode of “Rescue Me,” I saw one of the best performances I’ve seen in a long time. I’ve admired Callie Thorne’s work on the show since the start, and now that her (wonderfully nutty) character, Sheila, is no longer dating and/or sleeping with Tommy Gavin, she hasn’t gotten as much screen time over the past couple of seasons, and the show has suffered because of it. (Don’t get me wrong — this season has been great, but there was a stretch there when I was wondering if the creators had a plan to wrap things up.)

Anyway, on this week’s episode, appropriately titled “Sheila,” Thorne is a tour de force. Her first scene is with her son, Damien (played by Michael Zegen), and the two are having lunch in a restaurant discussing Damien’s decision to become a fireman instead of finishing his studies at NYU. Sheila is understandably concerned and frustrated with this decision, and she hides those emotions for a while under the guise of “new Sheila.” But when Damien insists that Tommy guide him through the academy (instead of Mike the Probie), she flips out and goes on a minute-long rant about how spoiled and ungrateful he is.

Later on, she’s at the firehouse and runs into Tommy. She starts off by not speaking to him (because she’s angry about his failure to tell her about the news footage that proved that her husband died in the second tower, not the first), but with Tommy being Tommy the two start to argue. She goes off on him for being a closed-off prick and punctuates the scene by kneeing him in the balls.

Finally — and this scene is really the kicker — Sheila does an interview for a French journalist about what was going through her mind on 9/11. The revelation that her husband died in the second tower almost has a calming effect on her, and she dives into a four-minute monologue that is as touching, emotional and well-acted as any four minutes that I’ve seen in a long time.

For the first few seasons, I was rooting for Tommy and Sheila to end up together, mainly because I wanted to see her character find happiness, but now I hope she finds it somewhere else. It’s clear that Tommy just isn’t loyal or dependable enough for her, and her story arc this season has been about her exploration into why she is (or was?) so obsessed with him. Yes, Sheila has her flaws — after all, she drugged and (pretty much) raped Tommy and almost killed him in the house fire — but, hey, she just has a lot of love to give, right?

Unfortunately, the episode isn’t up on Hulu yet, but it’s an Emmy worthy performance, so catch it if you can.

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2/20/2009

The ultimate Oscar acceptance speech, by Denis Leary: Variety has the best acceptance speech…ever…as written by “Rescue Me” star Denis Leary. (Keep in mind this is from the POV of an actress, not an actor.)

Okay. First of all — I’d like to thank God for just taking time out of His busy schedule curing cancer and feeding the hungry and solving the crisis in Darfur with George Clooney and helping so many different wide receivers and quarterbacks to throw and catch footballs and instead making sure that I got singled out of such a wonderful group of actors like Meryl and Mary-Louise and Cate Blanchett and Angelina and Marcia Gay and Kate Winslet and just – all the Kates and the Kevins and the two name and the three name people I feel so honored just to be up here while they are all down there and I’d like to just thank the Academy and the people who hated me and treated me like such dirt and who made me stab them in the back just to get here and now you can suck it and Botox! I almost forgot Botox! And Restylin and Cosmoderm and Prestocheek and Instatit and all the other animal agents I’ve had injected into my face and stuff. Oh my god my agents — I almost forgot the entire squad of agents and managers and hangers-on whose asses I have kissed and coddled for so many long B and C movie years now and also — it would be so bad not to thank my team of surgeons who have stretched and sculpted and pulled and pressure-pointed every aspect of my face, neck and armfat until I look so young and ripe and yet somehow still able to move my forehead and eyebrows just enough to frown and laugh and look focused which is a huge part of why I just won this!

And that’s just about a third of it…

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1/23/2009

Bullz-Eye’s TCA 2009 Winter Press Tour Recap: Wait, didn’t I just go to one of these press tours…?

Actually, that was back in July, when the networks were busy pimping their new fall schedules; this time, they were presenting us with an idea of what we can expect to see on our favorite broadcast and cable channels from now until they premiere their next fall schedule.

Going out to L.A. in January was a new thing for me, though. It was my first winter tour since becoming a member of the Television Critics Association in 2007 – last year’s was canceled due to the writers’ strike – and, if the rumblings throughout the ballrooms at the Universal Hilton were any indication, it may well prove to be my last January tour. I’m hopeful that this presumption turns out to be inaccurate, but given the current economic climate and an increasing tendency for newspapers and publications to only send their TV critics out for one tour per year, there’s every reason to suspect that the networks will join suit and only be willing to pamper those critics once per year.

Sorry, did I say “pamper”? Of course, I meant, “Treat with the utmost respect.”

It feels a bit odd to be doing a wrap-up of my experiences at the tour before I’ve even had a chance to write up all of the panels I attended while I was out there, but, hey, when you get a good spot on the calendar, you make it work however you can. So still keep your eyes open for my ongoing pieces on the various shows you can expect to find on the broadcast networks during the next few months, but in the meantime, here’s a look at some of the best and worst bits from the January ‘09 tour as a whole.

Most enjoyable panel by a cable network: “Rescue Me,” FX.

I’ve been a big Denis Leary fan every since No Cure for Cancer, so I knew the guy was inevitably going to go off on a profanity-filled rant before the end of the panel. What I didn’t expect, however, was that Peter Tolan – who co-created the show with Leary – would start the proceedings by telling Leary to watch his mouth, adding, “If you were going to say ‘cunt,’ don’t.”

From there, the two of them seemingly battled each other in an attempt to offer up the most memorable line. Leary complained about his salary. (”I had a crazy idea of getting paid, like, $250,000 an episode. They put limits on that, let me tell you. That’s Kiefer Sutherland money right there.”) Then Tolan claimed that he was at fault for the show’s fourth-season slump, blaming it on a drug problem and that “I was heavy into a kazillion hookers that year.” Then Leary bitched about how Michael J. Fox was going to guest on “Rescue Me” and get the Emmy that Leary himself has yet to earn. (”Five fucking episodes, he comes in. God damn, $700 million from ‘Spin City.’ He never asked me to do the show. He’s going to walk away with the fucking Emmy. That son of a bitch.”) Then Tolan started mocking Hugh Laurie’s American accent by talking about how he could do a British accent. (”Aye, pip, pip, mate, aye! ‘Allo, Mary Poppins!”) And…well, as you can see, there was really no contest: this may well have been the greatest panel ever.

Most enjoyable panel by a broadcast network: “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” CBS.

To be fair, this was already set up to be a gimme by the fact that, the night before the panel, I turned on Ferguson’s show to hear him talking about how he was going to be addressing the Television Critics Association tomorrow. The guy appreciates the critics, but he also likes to tease them, and the combination makes him just as entertaining when he’s answering our questions as he is when he’s doing his own show. He assured us that his lead-in, David Letterman, is “very touchy-feely. He’s very, ‘How are you doing?’ You know, it’s hugs, not drugs. It’s all of that with Dave.”) He told us that concerns about his being too Scottish are possibly not shared by his fellow countrymen. (”Scottish people would tell you that you could get a lot more Scottish than me, that I am not Scottish enough. Look at me, Goddammit, I’m sober.”) And he impressed everyone by challenging us to not review his new late-night competition, Jimmy Fallon, until he’d been on the air for a month. (”He hasn’t done anything yet, but everybody is commenting on his performance. Give him a chance.”) But most importantly, he bought us pizza for the third TCA press tour in a row, describing his actions as a “shameless attempt to corrupt you.” Consider me corrupted, Craig.

Most disappointing panel by a cable network: “The Beast,” A&E.

Well, it was always going to be, wasn’t it? I mean, The Swayz wasn’t there. Clearly, we’re all rooting for him, but when one of the biggest reasons you were excited about attending the tour was to be able to talk to Patrick Swayze, you can still be bummed when you hear he’s not going to be there…though, of course, you first have to get over being horrified by the very real possibility that a man in his condition could check into a hospital with pneumonia and never check out again (Thankfully, Swayze returned home within the week.)

Most unnecessary panel by a broadcast network: “The Last Templar,” NBC.

It was bad enough that NBC only allotted the tour half a day, but rather than shine the spotlight on some of their existing series with large fan bases or even a returning show like, say, “Medium,” they set aside 45 minutes for a 2-part miniseries that – with all due respect to its stars (Mira Sorvino, Scott Foley, Victor Garber) and executive producer (Robert Halmi, Sr.) – absolutely did not need its own panel.

Most promising new program that I didn’t know anything about before going into the tour: “Important Things with Demetri Martin,” Comedy Central.

I’d been aware of Martin since the release of his 2006 album, These Are Jokes, but I’d never actually heard the album, nor had I caught any of his appearances on “The Daily Show.” But perhaps knowing that not everyone in the crowd was familiar with his work, Martin opened by showing a few clips from his new show (”I wanted to show the shittiest stuff so that then everyone would be even more surprised with how excellent it is after that”), then took the stage with a giant sketch pad and offered us a brief introduction to his comedic sensibilities. First, he assured us that the target audience for “Important Things” was no less than the whole world (”I’m not going to discriminate anybody with eyes or a head or ears or anything”), then admitted that his real aim was the United States but that he didn’t even need all of the US to fall in love with him. “I started thinking, okay, we have about 300 million people in the country,” he said. “Look, realistically, if I get a third of those people, that’s a hundred million people watching this show. That takes a lot of pressure off, because that means 200 million people can hate the show and it really doesn’t matter.” Despite his concerns about trying to do comedy at 10:00 AM, he certainly had me in stitches…and, as a result, he earned himself at least one new fan.

Least promising new series that still resulted in a really funny panel: “Osbournes: Reloaded,” Fox.

Oh, my sweet lord, does this look bad. It’s a mixture of hidden camera stuff, wacky shenanigans in front of a live audience, guest stars, and not nearly as much music as you’d like to have from the man who once fronted Black Sabbath. But you’ve got to give them credit: the Osbournes themselves remain a riot. The back and forth between Jack and Kelly still crackles, Sharon still doesn’t take shit from anyone, and although Ozzy had to have virtually every question repeated to him during the panel, he always managed to hear Sharon when she made a smart-arse comment at his expense. (After she quoted someone as saying, “Everybody adores Ozzy,” he snapped, “Why didn’t everybody adore me when I was pissed drunk all the time?”) I wish the Osbournes the best of luck, but on the whole, the clips they showed made me wish they’d cut their losses, throw in the towel on “Reloaded” before it ever gets on the air, and just give them their own talk show a la “The Kumars at No. 42.” Now that I’d watch.

Most intimidating person to talk to:

Male: Conan O’Brien. Damn, he’s tall.

Female: Eliza Dushku. Damn, she’s hot.

Least intimidating person to talk to (and I mean that in the best possible way):

Male: Tom Kenney (”Sit Down, Shut Up,” Fox). He was hanging out at the bar during the Fox party, so I struck up a conversation with him about his life in the world of animation. When he described himself as the equivalent of a session drummer, I said, “So, basically, you’re the Hal Blaine of voiceover work.” His response was to lean into my recorder, embrace me, and say, “You can’t hear it, but I’m hugging Will Harris right now because he knows who Hal Blaine is.” By conversation’s end, he had recorded a message for my 3-year-old daughter in his best SpongeBob Squarepants voice. Good times with a great guy.

Female: Tracey Ullman (”Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union,” Showtime). She was so pleasant from the moment that I approached her, and when I risked bringing up her music from the ’80s, she at least claimed to be amused by asking about it. First, we bonded over our mutual love of the late Kirsty MacColl, and then she proceeded to reveal that her son recently put one of her songs on his iPod when loading up for a road trip…and she responded by accusing him of taking the piss. (He assured her that he really did like the song.) Geez, I guess I’ll have to start watching her Showtime series now, huh?

Coolest person I still haven’t gotten to talk to, even after three tours: Hugh Laurie. The guy’s always so surrounded by people that I never feel up to fighting my way into his proximity, and I’m not sure I’d really want to do so, anyway, because I’d like to have an actual conversation with him, not just score a one-off question.

Cheapest thrill of the tour: It’s a tie between shaking Ozzy Osbourne’s hand (even though I know full well he had forgotten it the moment our hands unclasped) and asking Drew Barrymore a question in the press scrum and, as a result, finding myself close enough to her to see that she has a pierced tongue.

Coolest moment of the tour: Sir Ian McKellen scaring the living hell out of a PBS publicist.

I managed to score a 25-minute one-on-one interview with McKellen in his hotel suite, with the publicist keeping a discrete distance in the background, but as we talked about his appearance on “The Simpsons” and the supposed theatrical curse of speaking the name “Macbeth” aloud, he said, “I’ve suffered no ill effects thus far,” then gasped and clutched his side. The poor woman turned pale, and when he realized her reaction to his actions, he had to assure her, “No, no, I’m only joking…”

The moment that made many of my friends want to punch me in the face: Getting to watch an advance screening of the third episode of the new season of “Lost” (before the first two episodes had even premiered), then having the opportunity ask executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse questions afterwards.

The moment that every 10-year-old girl in American was jealous of me for experiencing: Getting to sit in the same room as the Jonas Brothers as they promoted their new Disney Channel sitcom, “Jonas.” They’re such nice boys.

Most awesome visit to the set of a network show: “The Big Bang Theory.” Just getting to look around the set of Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment was geek bliss. I mean, they’ve got an actual Green Lantern power battery there, for God’s sake. How awesome is that?

Biggest mixed-bag visit to the set of a network show: “CSI.” I’m not saying it wasn’t cool to tour the offices, and the opportunity to get my picture taken with the show’s two resident coroners was undeniably awesome, but there wasn’t nearly enough time or space for us to adequately approach the cast members for one-on-one interviews. I mean, literally, by the time I was able to get anywhere near any of them with my recorder, we were being told that our time was up.

Most awesome visit to the set of a cable show: “Trust Me.” Actually, it wasn’t that the set was all that awesome…it’s an ad agency, and having toured the “Mad Men” set in July, it couldn’t even remotely compare…but, still, I got to talk to Griffin Dunne and ask him about working on “Johnny Dangerously.” Look, I just admitted to getting a thrill out of seeing a Green Lantern power battery; it shouldn’t surprise you that I’m a fan of a movie with a theme song by “Weird Al” Yankovic (”This Is The Life”).

Best off-site visit that was in no way connected to the tour: I finally fulfilled a dream and got to see Jon Brion play at Largo…and – bonus! – Benmont Tench came out and played piano for several songs. When Brion performed a cover of Roxy Music’s “More Than This” on mandolin with Tench accompanying on keys, it took me to some heretofore-unexperienced level of musical nirvana. I couldn’t have asked for a better first Largo experience. (Special thanks go to the West Coast contingent of Popdose writers, with whom I attended the show.)

Best piece of swag: Everything offered up during Fox’s “Simpsons” breakfast. There were Simpsons watches, Pez dispensers, official Lard Lad doughnuts, and I’ll have you know that this entire piece is powered by a can of Duff Energy Drink that I brought home from the tour.

Most interesting way to hype a show which has yet to start filming: The new Amy Poehler sitcom…you know, the one created by Greg Daniels which isn’t a spin-off to “The Office,” even though it co-stars Rashida Jones…doesn’t actually go in front of the cameras until February, but to help get critics excited about the series, Daniels provided each member of the TCA with their very own copy of the script for the show’s pilot episode. And just to make sure nobody would get cheeky and leak it onto the ‘net, each copy has that TCA member’s name sprawled across every single page. If you’re wondering, yes, it IS very funny…not that that should come as a surprise, given the pedigree of the show’s stars and creator. And did we mention that the cast also includes Aziz Ansari from “Human Giant” in it? It just keeps getting awesomer and awesomer.

My best opening line to any interview: I walked up to Jimmy Fallon and asked, “So, are you scared shitless or what?” He looked momentarily shocked, then burst into laughter and said, “Yes. Yes, I am.”

Most obnoxious moment of the tour: Getting once again reminded that, for as incredibly cool as I think this whole thing is and how in awe of the proceedings I’ll probably always be, there are a whole lot of jaded jerks in attendance who think of it as just another day and can barely be bothered to sit through the panels to get to the free food and booze.

Not me, baby. The TCA tour is the greatest opportunity I’ve ever gotten in my career as an entertainment journalist, providing me with unparalleled access to talent both behind and in front of the camera, and it’ll always have my utmost respect.

Does that sound like I’m kissing ass? Probably. But it’s true nonetheless.

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11/12/2008

“Mad Men” tops Bullz-Eye’s 2008 TV Power Rankings:

It’s been nine months since the writers’ strike shook up the entertainment industry – forcing some shows to shut down production for the rest of the season and leaving others to scramble for survival – and television still isn’t the same. Many of our favorite shows have yet to return to form (here’s looking at you “Heroes”), while some (like Power Rankings newcomer and new #1, “Mad Men”) have risen to the occasion and helped fill the void. If there’s any pattern to this year’s TV Power Rankings, however, it’s that there is none. While NBC’s reign in the top 10 continues, a dozen of the 20 shows below didn’t make the cut last year, and nine of those 12 are making their Power Rankings debut (”The Shield,” “The Daily Show” and “Family Guy” have popped up in previous editions). Still think the writers’ strike didn’t have a lasting effect? Think again.

Below you’ll find some sample entries, but be sure to check out the full list, where you’ll also find links to DVD reviews and interviews, as well as some Honorable Mentions and our list of favorite shows currently on hiatus.

1. Mad Men

In any sane world, Matthew Weiner’s “Mad Men” would not be on any “power ranking,” much less in the #1 spot. This supremely stylish drama about the alcohol-soaked, nicotine-stained, sexual harassment and adultery-friendly lives of early ‘60s advertising execs started out as a low-profile curiosity from a former member of the writing staff of “The Sopranos.” Still, with some help from ecstatic reviews and the Emmys, the show has emerged as first-class appointment TV and a launch pad for at least one potential superstar in Jon Hamm. As the metaphysically secretive Don Draper, Hamm knocks back too many Old Fashioneds while casually invoking the sort of grown-up masculine charisma of classic era film stars Gregory Peck and William Holden. Better yet, Season Two saw the show’s large and very strong cast of supporting characters become even stronger and more layered as the subject matter grew bolder. A semi-surreal late-season left turn with a roving band of wealthy Euro-bohemians was just the tip of the iceberg as rape, nuclear annihilation, religion and the meaning of existence were broached, with vaguely disturbing yet highly entertaining and sexy results. “Mad Men” cannot be pegged, and that’s the best thing about it.

11. How I Met Your Mother

We were close. We were so damned close. Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas had teased us for three years, but we were sure that Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) had finally found the mother of his kids in Stella Zinman (Sarah Chalke). Of course, as we now know, we were wrong, but it was a hell of a ride getting there. Last season, “How I Met Your Mother” found the largest audience of its history as a result of scoring a pair of guest appearances by the superstar train wreck that is Britney Spears. And, even more impressively, she was really funny. Greeted with these new viewers, the series rose to the challenge of keeping them on, offering us Ted and Stella’s courtship, Robin’s rebound relationships, Marshall looking for work, Lily dealing with her credit crisis, and Barney banging as many babes as possible. We’re still not sure about this new wrinkle that Barney’s pining for Robin, but we trust that Bays and Thomas won’t turn it into a jump-the-shark situation. Or if they do, they’ll do it with a knowing wink and a smile.

17. Sons of Anarchy

If you took all the best parts of “The Sopranos” and “The Shield” and smashed them into one show, you’d have something that looks a lot like “Sons of Anarchy.” Created by “The Shield” co-writer and executive producer Kurt Sutter, the series is more Shakespearean than anything on television. It’s essentially a retelling of “Hamlet,” but instead of Danish royalty, they’re a California biker gang. There’s Jax (Charlie Hunnam), the second-in-command; his mother, Gemma (Katey Sagal), the very definition of a queen bee; and his step dad Clay (Ron Perlman), the club’s hard-nosed president and best friend of Jax’s deceased father. Heck, there’s even an Ophelia in the group – Wendy (“The Sopranos” alum Drea de Matteo), the drug-addicted mother of Jax’s newborn son. The theme of family and brotherhood is something that was explored in great length in both “The Sopranos” and “The Shield,” and it’s the driving force behind “Sons of Anarchy.” Add to that a supporting cast made up of some of the best tough guy character actors in the business (Tommy Flanagan, Mark Boone Junior and Kim Coates) and a multi-episode guest stint by Jay Karnes and you’re looking at a top nominee for Best New Show of the Season.

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