Finally.
I had some fun with this two years ago, just compiling various movies and TV that impressed me over the past year, and realizing that I didn't have to make it "best movies" or "best TV shows" or anything else... no rules! Whee!
So, herewith, a compendium of 2011. Not the best year to write home about... but not the worst, either.
1. The Closer (TBS, all seasons) - The Police Procedural genre is pretty much played out these days, killed (whamp-wah) by Law and Order, where SVU limps along begging to be killed. (Remember when Mariska Hargitay was a tough talking butch girl with a boy cut? Who's that glamour gal who replaced her?) Or consider CSI, which I find all but unwatchable, except Miami, where "train wreck" doesn't begin to describe the self parody of David Caruso. Or all of the tongue in cheek variations of the procedural on USA. All of which is why I initially dismissed Kyra Sedgwick leading an LA Homicide division of major crimes. But Sedgwick, as it turns out, is still the real thing: a remarkable actress with one of the great parts for a woman over 40 on TV just now, making the most of it. And her southern accent is just darlin', too. Add to that some of the better writing on a whodunnit show of late, and the result is eminently watchable, all of the time. Like SVU used to be, without quite so many of the creepy pervs.
2. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), and Daphne Guiness (at the Museum at FIT). The big fashion exhibit of the past year was a blockbuster show (literally) of the Met's Costume Institute, a retrospective of recently passed designer Alexander McQueen. I was one of the last to see it, having stalled all summer, and I'm sorry I waited, though not that sorry, since the exhibit was mobbed from beginning to end. After standing in a two hour line, the rooms were all but impossible to navigate, for all the crowds, but the payoff was reveling in the genius of McQueen, in an exhibit that barely scratched the surface of his complex vision. McQueen committed suicide, depressed about losing his mother and apparently uncertain about his future, but Savage Beauty made the case that his prospects were genuinely limitless. But, oh, those crowds! What was impossible to fathom was why McQueen generated this much audience - summer, tourists, curiosity... but really, it made next to no sense: people with no real interest in fashion, cruising around an admittedly arresting set of displays, barely comprehending the man who could do leather bondage jackets or tartan ballgowns with equal fluidity and grace. Savage beauty, indeed. The real kudos probably go to Anna Wintour, who draped her prominence and Vogue's name across the whole affair, and helped push the Met to finally commit to an expansion of the Costume Institute, including more gallery space. Long overrdue, and all you needed was a mob to prove it. Without the mob, you get graceful, inventive shows like Daphne Guiness at Fashion Institute of Technology, where the clothes had room to be seen (from all angles), and Guiness' own devotion to McQueen made more sense in the context of one woman's fabulous closet.
3. This Week with Christiane Amanpour (ABC, cancelled). When ABC announced the brave step of hiring Christiane Amanpour for its Sunday weekly news discussion, I was both thrilled and anxious - would Amanpour rise to the challenge of doing a different kind of show or would she, like Fareed Zakaria on CNN, do a dull show of pet causes and inaccessible narrowly tailored topics? The answer was surprisingly a bit of both, and then some. Amanpour expanded the reach of Sunday shows, delving into foreign affairs like no one else on network TV, and assembling unexpected panels of enexpected views (and true to form, put herself in harm's way in places like Egypt and Libya). Moreover, she had the nerve to do a townhall of American Muslims and their detractors, leading to some impressive, intense confrontations. Still, her disdain for the horse race aspects of American politics and the "who's in/out" discussions of the DC elite showed, and she struggled to make these discussions cvompelling. But then... who isn't just now? For whatever reason - and I suspect it was mutual - ABC and Amanpour gave up as the year drew to a close. This past week's return to the ordinary - a lumpy, less interesting than ever George Stephanopolous - was not auspicious, and as they have since losing David Brinkley, ABC can't seem to decide if they want to do better than NBC, or just photocopy them (and frankly, David Gregory's quite unimpressive as well). One of the few bright spots of political coverage in 2011 is gone and now, in a more interesting year, we have even less. Why must the audience be punished?
4. The Good Wife (CBS). It's got it all: a grown woman in the lead role, women who talk to one another about something other than getting or attracting a man, interesting cases, and intelligent dialogue. I'm not even a huge fan of Julianna Margulies and I have to admit... she's got it, right now. And who else has a supporting cast this deep and rich - Christine Baranski, Archie Panjabi, Chris Noth, Josh Chares, Alan Cumming, Mary Beth Peil... I mean, come on. Of Course, it's basically a glossy soap opera with some legal drama thrown in... but hey, I love a glossy soap opera, and I'm not apologizing for it.
4. Archer (Seasons 1 and 2). The best animated series you're probably not watching. Yes, it's demented and sick... and wrong, but nobody's doing it better. It was hard to figure out how they could top Season 1, but from Archer's baby to Cheryl's millions (well, her family, the Tunts) to Pam's history a hard drinking bare knuckle brawler, nothing was entiurely what it seemed, and everything was up for taking up to, and past, the limit (if nothing else, of good taste). Just as a for instance... until Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, I had no idea that "The Honey Pot" had actualy been a serious spy term. Nor, until I tripped over it online, did I realize they were serious about Krav Maga, the new mixed martial arts discipline. And more of it is just around the corner.
5. The Artist, which restored my faith in silents.
6. Higher Ground, which respected my faith.
7. Downton Abbey (PBS). Sure, it's your basic glossy pre-World War 2 British costume drama on steroids - Upstairs, Downstairs at My Brideshead Revisted in my Gosford Park and all that jazz - and sure, it's so top heavy with those usual British names (I swear I just saw a scene where Maggie Smith banters with Diana Rigg!)... but hell, can anyone fight it? Why would you? To its credit, Julian Fellowes - who also wrote Gosford, and is the current go-to guy for storytelling the British landed gentry - is careful to both cater to the fascinations while subtly undercutting the business entirely. Never has titled nobility both seemed so chic, and yet so unnecessary. It's all very well done - and it was a hoot watching it trample Mildred Pierce at the Emmys - but it's all so... typical, really, isn't it? It's what we all think Masterpiece Theater always does... and here they are, doing it. Let's not overdo the idea that somehow, that makes it brilliant.
8. Burn Notice (season 4). My Chirstmas present from Mom, since she can't bring herself to buy most of the things on my Amazon wishlist. Still. It's enough that she gets me a gift I wouldn't necessarily get myself - as much as I've enjoyed this show, between vampires and other night creatures, there's not much time left for super spies. Which is a shame, because Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar and Bruce Campbell have gelled into a tight, natural ensemble, aided, now, by Coby Bell as yet another burned spy. And that's before talking about Sharon Gless, whose performance has been demanding an Emmy for a while now. I'm not done yet... but so far, it's immensely satisfying.
10. The Vampire Diaries (Seasons 2 and 3, The CW)). It wasn't until Spring that I fully appreciated Season 1 of Vampire Diaries on TV, and by then, Season 2 was ending on the CW... so I bought every episode, one at a time, on Amazon (and then I went and got the DVD anyway). By September, the question was whether the show, which had managed to up its own ante in Season 2, could keep on an upward trajectory... and remarkably, so far, it largely has. Balancing a large cast and multiple stories has its challenges, but Kevin Williamson (along with co-creator Julie Plec) has reasserted himself as a master of merging the fear (and violence) of horror with the teen angst of high school dramas. Which is why the fizzling debut of similarly themed The Secret Circle has been such an odd disappointment. Vempire Diaries remains my example of not dismissing genre pieces aimed at youthful audiences - this is better writing, and surprisingly good acting, more than much of series television these days, surely better and more convincing than a genre killer like Twilight.
11. Midnight in Paris.
12. Bridesmaids. And we'll get a sequel!
13. Supernatural (Season 6, The CW). With a near pitch perfect conclusion to a five season long story arc, Supernatural faced a "what now" question for much of Season 6 (the season when, it seemed, they thought they were cancelled, only to be renewed). As it turned out, there was plenty to explore, much of it, naturally, quite dark. From soulless Sam to Dean's inner demons to Bobby's gruff stoicism, each of the leads had plenty to work with and explore... and then it turned out that Misha Collins' angel Castiel was the real secret weapon of the whole thing. Now the only problem is... what do they do with Season 7? Hopefully... more than they've done thus far.
14. RuPaul's Drag Race (Season 3, Logo). Raja, Raja, Raja! And Yara, Alexis, Manila, Carmen, and Shangela... Halleloo! The bitchiest season yet, more drama, more tears, more catfights and some damn fine drag, from start to finish. Much of it courtesy (as usual) of runner up Manila Luzon, easily one of the most beautiful men doing drag ever (though yes, Carmen Carrera was indeed stunning, and didn't even need clothes). In the end, despite the silly division into two competing camps, talent and graceful artistry shown through, and if Raja seemed a little predestined to win (she's known RuPaul for years, apparently), she did nevertheless earn it (and nearly lost out, lip-synching for her life), with some stunning looks and some inspired performances. But it was just the overall increase - in talent, in intensity, in sheer size - of the show into must see television week to week that lifted it wig and shoulders above the rest. As RuPaul, Inc threatens to take over Logo (can anyone else deliver reliable programming to them?... no seriously, can they?), another Drag Race is about to begin... and already looks like...a winnah. Cue Ru's maniacal laughter.
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