DOCTOR WHO won’t return in the U.S. until next month (Titanic much?) but thanks to BBC One, we’ve got a promo video of greatness to tide us over. You’ll hopefully recognize Catherine Tate’s return as Donna (The Runaway Bride) who’s searching for The Doctor. I’m freaking out because not only will we get Donna and Martha this season, we’ll see the return of my beloved Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). It’s going to be magical.
*Sci-Fi will air the 90 minute Season 3 to Season 4 bridging Christmas episode (”Voyage of the Damned”) on April 18th. The following week will be the official Season 4 premiere.
Hey gang, as a bunch of our favorite TV Shows are only a week or two (or 5 months) away from returning after their WGA Strike imposed hiatus, a handful of TV Bloggers got together to share their favorite characters currently on television.
Below is a list of the Top 25 Characters of Television! Did your favorite make the cut? Share your Top 10 in the comments section below if you like!
1. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Battlestar Galactica)
2. Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)
3. Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)
4. Benjamin Linus (Lost)
5. Dexter Morgan (Dexter)
6. Coach Eric Taylor (Friday Night Lights)
7. Landry Clarke (Friday Night Lights)
8. Dwight Schrute (The Office)
9. Lily Rush (Cold Case)
10. Omar Little (The Wire)
11. Gaius Baltar (Battlestar Galactica)
12. Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies)
13. Shawn Spencer (Psych)
14. Sheldon Cooper PhD (The Big Bang Theory)
15. Dr. Juliet Burke (Lost)
16. Michael Weston (Burn Notice)
17. Captain Jack Harkness (Torchwood)
18. Dr. Miranda Bailey (Grey’s Anatomy)
19. Chuck Bartowski (Chuck)
20. Brenda Leigh Johnson (The Closer)
21. Emerson Cod (Pushing Daisies)
22. Ned “The Piemaker” (Pushing Daisies)
23. Liz Lemon (30 Rock)
24. Stephanie Lane (My Boys)
25. Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)
TORCHWOOD Season 2 begins on BBC America on January 26th and if that wasn’t enough to have get my blood flowing, how about throwing in Buffy alum Spike James Marsters. Sadly he’s only in the first episode as far as I know but we can always hope and dream for more. Speakjing of dreams… is that Ianto and Jack making out? Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick!
Watch TORCHWOOD Season 2 Preview:
The greatness —
SPIKE!
Capt. Jack Harkness: “I’m Jack Harkness, note the stripes!”
Gwen: “Excuse me, have you seen a blowfish driving a sports car?”
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.
I just got teary reading this news tidbit… ROSE will return to DOCTOR WHO for 3 episodes next season!
When we last saw RoseTyler, The Doctor left her on the beach supposedly to never see each other again. I bawled my eyes out in the finale of Season 2 because Rose was my first companion. I never watched the show prior to Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor so dropping the companion for another was a hard one for me to swallow. I’ve grown to love Martha as well, but I’ve always held out hope that Rose would return at some point. Rose and David Tennant’s Doctor were simply magical together so if 3 episodes is all I’ll get, I’ll take it!
Actress Billie Piper is to return to Doctor Who, the BBC has confirmed. She will star in three episodes of the sci-fi drama, reprising her role as the Doctor’s companion, Rose Tyler.
Rose’s return will mean the Doctor has three assistants in next year’s series - Donna, played by Catherine Tate, and Freema Agyeman as Martha.
The new series begins in March and will run for 13 episodes. There will be three special editions in 2009 before the show takes a break until 2010.
Piper left Doctor Who last year, when Rose was transported into a parallel universe.
The character had been a hit and Piper won a number of awards for her performances. She was named most popular actress at the National Television Awards in 2005 and 2006.
A separate show based on Rose had been planned by writer and series producer Russell T Davies, but was scrapped when Davies decided the programme was “a spin-off too far”.
Filming is currently under way in Cardiff for the new series of Doctor Who, which sees the Doctor meeting an old group of enemies - the Sontarans - 35 years after first encountering them.
Before that, the programme will return to television screens at Christmas with a special episode set on the Titanic, which will co-star singer and actress Kylie Minogue.
2005’s Doctor Who’s Christmas Invasion (taking place between Season 1 and 2) will reair Saturday, December 8th at 6 p.m. on BBC America.
2006’s The Runaway Bride (Christmas episode briding the gap between 2 and 3 with Donna The Bride) currently has no plan of airing before Christmas. I will update if it does.
2007’s NEW Doctor Who Christmas episode “Voyage of the Damned” aboard the Titanic (guest starring Kylie Minogue) so far has no airdate on Sci-Fi or BBC America. I hope it’s soon. Here’s a preview:
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