Everyone’s sick of end of year lists but how can I not do one on my favorite TV shows of 2007? I always find these lists hard to do because 12 months is a really long time and we watch a LOT of TV. I wish I could prepare enough ahead of time to write up some great “moments” that stand out but let’s be honest… I don’t get paid to do this so that’s not gonna happen.

Regardless, the end of the 2006-2007 season provided lots of thrills and even a few tears. The 2007-2008 season started off so promising but as we all know, many shows just didn’t live up to the hype and the WGA Strike has kind of killed any hope of making this a banner year for television. So what did I choose? Did I pick a previous favorite that ended last May? Did I give a sophmore series about superheroes another nod? Did those Housewives make a showing after being off the list for so many years? Here goes.

Ducky’s Favorite TV of 2007:

30 ROCK I was late jumping on the 30 Rock train but once I gave it a chance late last winter, I instantly fell in love. 30 Rock is the successor to Arrested Development and I actually may love it even more. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin together are impossibly brilliant and the supporting cast only add to the mayhem and madness. Highlights: Season 1’s “I love NY in springtime” moment, Season 2’s return of Will Arnett, “Me Want Food” and “Gay for Jamie“.

CHUCK Chuck Bartowski, how I love you! The funniest thing about Chuck is that GMMR and I had seen the pilot probably 10 times before we hit Comic-Con where Zac Levi and crew got a superheroes reception from the geek gala. I don’t know that the show has lived up to my expectations but I can’t say that I don’t love watching it every week. There’s an inherent sweetness to this action-comedy that makes me squee. Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski are magnificent together and anytime Adam Baldwin gets to be a smartass, I’m on board. So sad that the WGA Strike put an end to our enjoyment of the Nerd Herd! Highlights: The Pilot, Chuck and Lou, Captain Awesome’s many skin shots, and the return of Bryce Larkin.

DAMAGES Week after week this intense drama built to a shockingly graphic climax and it kept me guessing every step of the way. Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and Ted Danson delivered crazy intense performances for 13 weeks, proving that summer is not for the lazy brainless reality shows any longer. It was great interviewing most of the cast this summer, it really made me realize how brilliant the writing of the show really is. Kudos to FX for sticking with Damages and granting us 2 more seasons. Highlights: The endless time shifting and the seemless togetheness of it all, Glenn Close’s reaction to Ray Fiske blowing his brains out, the closing moments on the dock.

DOCTOR WHO/TORCHWOOD The one-two punch of Doctor Who and Torchwood coupled with my going to Comic-Con made 2007 my geekiest year to date. Season 3 of Doctor Who was probably the best of the new series. While I loved and miss Rose, Martha was a great companion. Capt. Jack may have ended up on Who at the end of Season 3 but more importantly he kicked some demon ass all season on his own show, Torchwood. Harkness, Gwen, Ianto, Owen, and Tosh made their show so much more than a spin-off. Torchwood delivered thrills, chills, and tears and I cannot wait for it’s return early in 2008. Highlights: Who’s Donna the Runaway Bride, “Human Nature” and the scary intense weeping angels of “Blink”. Torchwood’s gayness, “Random Shoes” with Eugene, Billis the scariest wrinkled creepy since the Preacher Kane from Poltergeist.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS The Dillon Panthers won State, the audience won another season and all seemed great down there in Texas. Then poor Tyra and Landry had to dump a body in a river leading to the most interesting coupling the show could ever have concocted. Some balked at the stunt plotline but I welcomed it once I saw how unbelievable both Adrianne Palicki and Jessie Plemons would make their roles. The Taylors continued to bring one of the most realistic and beautiful families to television not to mention Connie Britton’s acting her ass off. Highlights: Winning State, Plemons acting, Santiago’s first moment in the game during “The Confession”… breathtaking.

LOST Say what you will about Season 3 of LOST but the addition of Juliet and the jump forward solidified the show as greatness in my book. While it took a bit to flesh out Ben’s backstory, Juliet’s arrival on the island, Mr. Friendly’s allegiance, and the involvement of the Whidmore’s it was all worth the wait. We got some great answers this season, some scary twists and turns, some great revelations, some wonderful death’s, and HELLO, the chaos surrounding who’s coming to the island in Season 4? Matthew Fox continued to bring anxiety and sadness to the role of Jack and it’s a damn shame he wasn’t nominated for something this year. I’m psyched for it’s return on January 31st! Highlights: The story of how Juliet came to the island, the death of Charlie, the flash-forward, and Patch!

MAD MEN Seriously, do I even need to explain why Mad Men is on the list? The acting, the writing, the art direction, the costuming, the genius? Another summer sleeper that rocked my socks! Highlights: Jon Hamm as Don Draper, any scene with Joan, the sadness of the era, Don Draper’s carousel pitch.

PUSHING DAISIES The facts are these: Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Kristin Chenoweth and Chi McBride are my favorite finds of 2007. Bryan Fuller created a vivid, magical world I didn’t realize was missing from making my life complete until it slapped me in the face. My favorite pilot of 2007 led to stalking Fuller and Co. at Comic-Con, creating a fansite called ThePieMaker.com, and landed me on the Red Carpet interviewing these great talents. What a summer and fall leading up to the premiere of Pushing Daisies. This show makes me beyond happy and I cannot wait for its return in 2008. Highlights: The pilot, Ellen Greene, the musical numbers, Ned & Chuck, Bryan Fuller and Lee Pace recognizing me on the red carpet with hugs all around. Swoon…

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE I have to include SYTYCD because seriously could there have been a bigger obsession all summer long? Sure I loved Damages and Mad Men but sweet lord did it not compare to my lunacy over Neil Haskell and the rest of the dancers on SYTYCD. Highlights: Neil and Sabra’s boardroom brawl, Cat Deeley’s flawless hosting, Mary Murphy’s continued screaming, Wade Robson’s increased involvement, Debbi Allen and Shankman, backstage on tour.

SUPERNATURAL Love those Winchester’s. In a year that saw Sammy go real dark, the demise of YED, and a soul searching Dean, how can I not love Supernatural? The end of Season 2 was a wild wild ride but the beginning of Season 3 proved that this show is not and will not be stereotyped. Broadening the horizons of the demon world has suited the show nicely. Sure the addition of Ruby and Bela has been problematic for some but I can overlook that because the suspense and the gore has increased! Highlights: Visiting the set last May, blood and more blood, Supernatural:Origins comics, the return of Gordon.

The rest of the best: Battlestar Galactica, Big Bang Theory, Brothers & Sisters, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Project Runway, Psych, The Closer, The Office, Top Chef and the end of Veronica Mars.

Should be on the list but isn’t for one reason or another: Dexter (never finished Season 2 because we got rid of Showtime but I’m dying to see the rest), Bones (just got addicted so I felt it couldn’t be added just yet – though let it be known that I’m obsessed), Dirty Sexy Money (something just isn’t right just yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love it).

Have a safe and Happy New Year! Looking forward to a wonderful and hopefully television filled 2008.

Oceanic Airlines, grounded since the plane crash in 2004 that left “no survivors” has finally hit the friendly skies again. Whether you need to fly your dead father’s corpse back to the states or transport a fugitive for blowing up her Father, Oceanic is your airline.

Starting today, December 31st, Oceanic will begin service to 9 markets (Los Angeles, Calif., Tustin, Calif., Ames, Iowa, Miami, Fla., New York, NY, Portland, Ore., Knoxville, Tenn., Seoul, South Korea and Sydney, Australia).

“We are very eager to resume flying and apologize for any inconvenience temporary closure may have caused our loyal customers,” said Michael. Oceanic Airlines. “Oceanic Airlines is proud to be a top tier flight provider to providing travelers with many more years of unparalleled service.”

Visit Oceanic Airlines

USA Today is reporting that NBC won’t let threats from the WGA and Actors spoil their planned festivities for the January 13th telecast of the Golden Globes.

NBC said Sunday that it would air the Golden Globes Awards as scheduled Jan. 13, despite plans by striking Writers Guild of America members to picket the Los Angeles ceremony. The planned pickets sparked fears that nominees would boycott the ceremony and hurt ratings and led to early discussions about canceling the broadcast of the annual movie and TV awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Actors also have been leery about appearing on late-night talk shows affected by the strike.

Question though, how fun can the awards be if half the actors nominated don’t show up?

STRIKE TV is an internet based channel that will be showcasing original content from working professionals in the TV and Film industries in hopes of raising money for the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund, assisting non-WGA members, including IATSE and Teamsters affected by the strike.

To learn more about Strike TV head on over to their MySpace page where you can learn how WGA members can contribute and also how you can participate on January 9th.

It’s New Year’s Eve which means I’ll be in bed by 12:01 a.m. — whoo-hoo! Yeah, I’m increasingly more smug and old manish on New Year’s Eve. When I was a kid my parents would always have a huge party so it was great fun. When I was old enough to celebrate it with friends, it was a bunch of hardcore kids, a cactus accident, and no booze as all of us were straight-edge. Well, a decade or so later and I’m still not going to toast the new year with a drink so it’s kind of lost it’s luster.

I’ll probably head downtown for the parade and the “family” fireworks (over by 7:10 p.m.) and then head back home where I pray noone in my building is having a party so I can settle in to watch Cat Deeley, Strokey Clark, and some others until it’s time for me to say goodnight to 2007.

Remember back in the day when MTV had the best New Year’s Eve show ever? It was a huge countdown of the best videos of the year, then a huge party with a bunch of amazing artists performing. The best always being the alternative bands performing covers of 80s tunes just after the stroke of midnight. MTV’s gotten increasingly shitty so at most in recent years I’ve popped over for a second or two, enough to know I hate every one of their on air “talents” and enough to know that I hate almost every “artist” out there today.

This year we have even less to look forward to on MTV as that whore Tila Tequila basically has the night to her skanky self. Then add Perez, Kid Rock and Good Charlotte… hold on while I jump up and down looking for rope to hang myself with. How Mary J. got hooked into this telecast is beyond me. Girl, get out while you can. Tila Tequila’s New Year’s Eve Masquerade 2008 (11 pm/MTV)

Ex-MTV goldenboy Carson Daly is back on NBC with Alicia Keys and Lenny Kravitz. Project Runway’s recent dress form Tiki Barber is a correspondent. I don’t care for the newish waifish Carson Daly nor Alicia Keys… and is it New Years 1995 because I know Lenny Kravitz hasn’t had a hit in at least 10 years. New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly (11:35 pm/NBC)
(more…)