I was on the subway home and thinking about how much I wanted something sweet when I get home. Not kidding, I get home and see a black box with Brenda Lee Johnson on the back eating cookies. I open said black box to find a dozen assorted cookies courtesy of THE CLOSER!

To celebrate Season 4, TNT has sent out sweets and I love them for doing so. We’re on the same wavelength and they’re anticipating my cravings! I hope that they can read my mind right now: “more episodes like Ruby and more creepy serial killers after BLJ please…”

These cookies are never going to tide me over until the premiere of The Closer in July but they’ve got my attention! I think I’ll try the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie first! Yummo.

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.

The Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations are out and listed below. I have to say that while I’m excited for Mad Men, Michael C. Hall, Glenn Close, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, and The Office Cast nod — I’m pissed that Friday Night Lights is once again being shut out. Connie Britton is acting her ass off out there in Texas and noone seems to be taking notice. This is hands down my biggest problem at the moment, give the girl some respect. The show also should have been nominated for Ensemble. That’s bullshit.

Also, seriously no How I Met Your Mother for Ensemble Comedy? Come on… Lost? Matthew Fox? Someone’s huffing some strong stuff over there in LaLaLand.

Male Actor in a Drama Series
James Gandolfini, The Sopranos
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
James Spader, Boston Legal

Female Actor in a Drama Series
Glenn Close, Damages
Edie Falco, The Sopranos
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN / 30 Rock
STEVE CARELL / The Office
RICKY GERVAIS / Extras
JEREMY PIVEN / Entourage
TONY SHALHOUB / Monk

Female Actor in a Comedy Series
CHRISTINA APPLEGATE / Samantha Who?
AMERICA FERRERA / Ugly Betty
TINA FEY / 30 Rock
MARY-LOUISE PARKER / Weeds
VANESSA WILLIAMS / Ugly Betty

Male Actor in a TV-Movie or Miniseries
MICHAEL KEATON / The Company
KEVIN KLINE / As You Like It
OLIVER PLATT / The Bronx is Burning
SAM SHEPARD / Ruffian
JOHN TURTURRO / The Bronx is Burning

Female Actor in a TV-Movie or Miniseries
ELLEN BURSTYN / Mitch Albom’s For One More Day
DEBRA MESSING / The Starter Wife
ANNA PAQUIN / Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
QUEEN LATIFAH / Life Support
VANESSA REDGRAVE / The Fever
GENA ROWLANDS / What If God Were the Sun?

Ensemble in a Drama Series
Boston Legal
The Closer
Grey’s Anatomy
Mad Men
The Sopranos

Ensemble in a Comedy Series
30 Rock
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
The Office
Ugly Betty

Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
24
Heroes
Lost
Rome
The Unit

The SAG Awards are supposed to be held January 27th but who knows what will happen with the whole WGA Strike issue.

I’ve received a couple emails already because I have yet to write about last week’s Part 1 of THE CLOSER Season Finale. The reason I have yet to write about the 2 part finale is that I’ve not yet seen it… either part.

Last night I had every intention of watching the final 3 episodes of the season but I only made it through the episode prior to Part 1 of the Finale. I will post as soon as I watch the 2 Part Finale, I promise. Hoping to make some headway tonight.

Without spoiling me or anyone else, was it awesome?

This recap of THE CLOSER will be pretty short and sweet this week because to tell you the truth I was feeling like crap when I watched it and don’t really remember much of it.

I know that Dept. Chief Johnson and the rest of the PHD were working on a case of an old man (Orson Bean) who claims to have poisoned 7 other assisted living residents, one being the fresh corpse they brought him in with. For some reason I associate this old man with THE COMEBACK with Lisa Kudrow. Was he an actor in the series she was on? And no I’m not talking about Valerie Cherish’s main gay Mickey. God, I miss The Comeback.

Back to the show, kind of because as I’m typing this I feel like I might have even missed the ending. I can’t think of who killed these old folks, was it the Nurse from Desperate Housewives? Was it the Assisted Living Center Manager name Nasedo from Roswell? Was it French Stewart? Someone please fill me in because obviously I was on crack.

It was great to see Sgt. Gabriel come back into the fold though I think I would have preferred him being away for at least another episode. I just love him and his interaction with the Chief so in that regard, I enjoyed having him back around her. You could just tell it made her happier to see him.

The quest for a house with Fritz took up a good portion of the episode as well. Their new Real Estate guy, Gary, who seems like a total nutjob took them to an old woman who apparently wasn’t even in the market to sell her house. She was lonely and wanted friends. Call a service lady because Brenda doesn’t have time for this!

So there are a couple questions… What was the outcome of the case? What was the outcome with that house? Was this a huge letdown was this from last week’s Ruby or was I just so out of it?

I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of tonight’s episode of THE CLOSER entitled “Ruby.” Remember how last week was such a fun, light, comical episode? It was just something to distract you from the hell on earth coming tonight. Yes, this is a Special Episode of The Closer but not in that we all learn a lesson kind of way.

“Ruby” follows Priority Homicide as they are called to a missing persons case of an 8 year old girl named Ruby Williams. This case involves not only multiple police forces but the FBI and Fritz once again works closely with Brenda and Co. Think Without a Trace times 10.

Spoilers After the Jump
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Last night quir-to the-ky but I have to confess I still loved this episode of THE CLOSER. It was lighter in content (which sometimes is a welcomed change) and had some hysterical moments and some genius comedic lines. What more could you have asked for? A slap fight you say? How about two of those! Yeah The Closer delivered on all fronts!

This week starts at a funeral and Flynn is up on the alter giving a highly inappropriate eulogy much to the dismay of everyone except Provenza. These two are like Laurel and Hardy, I can’t stand how funny these two jackasses are! I love them both and I love how no matter where they go, trouble follows.

Why is it that both Flynn and Provenza have a sketchy track record with perps and corpses? If Provenza’s business card isn’t in the pocket of a body, a body’s in the garage of his house. If Flynn hasn’t tussled with a suspect, or an acquaintance, it might have been the deceased. Or as in the case last night, they both have worked the job before and fail to mention that to Dept. Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson.

While I’m still a little confused on the specifics of Flynn and Provenza’s relationship to the case, I can tell you that they both knew the cop that died – well enough to be pallbearers and for Provenza to drop the casket causing it to fly down a flight of stairs, snapping open and revealing two dead bodies. One of the deceased cop, the other of some blonde wrapped in a blanket.

The cop was being blackmailed by the blonde who was working with her ex and her plastic surgeon to do the cons? Regardless, it wasn’t about the case really, it was about the antics revolving around the case that were most intriguing.
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It’s summer and it’s hot outside and on TV! Podcast #10: Ducky and GMMR Sun Themselves

TV Podcast 10: Ducky and GMMR strap on their tankinis, floaties, and hit the pool to tackle the chaos of the summer television schedule in the sweltering heat.

Shows we’re watching: Age of Love, Top Chef, The Next Food Network Star, Kathy Griffin’s D-List, The Closer, Rescue Me, Traveler and obviously So You Think You Can Dance.

Shows we’re looking forward to: The return of Big Brother 8 and the premiere of Burn Notice.

Then we hit the news and crazy ass Isaiah Washington, Heroes casting, the return of Sark, Nip/Tuck, 24’s Female President, and we give big bear hugs to Kelly Clarkson. Oh yeah, and we talk The Office cast on the big screen.

We’ll cover a ton of shows so thanks for coming back and listening to the joint TV Podcast between www.givememyremote.com and www.duckyxdale.com

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Interested in catching up on our past podcasts? Head on over to the podcast page where you can listen to all of our previous episodes.

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This is Dan and Kathie’s favorite method of contact because it allows us to hear from you and we use these messages live on our podcast to answer your burning television questions. It’s FREE and you don’t have to do anything but click RECORD BY PHONE on the box below and it will walk you through how to contact us!

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This is a great way to spread the word about our podcast and it really helps new listeners determine if they want to subscribe to us or not based on YOUR COMMENTS. Subscribing to the joint podcast between duckyxdale.com and givememyremote.com is the best way to listen to us.Please comment on duckyxdale and givememyremote’s TV Podcast at iTunes.

Well it wouldn’t be THE CLOSER if Brenda Leigh wasn’t pissing off yet another scary (and connected) big boss man from some organization or another. If it’s not a foreign diplomat with terrorist connections, or a gang leader, or a serial killer, or a mob boss, or crooked cops, or politicians, then it must be a Priest with a sketchy past and a Boston accent.

That Brenda, she’s wacky!

Seriously, girl needs to watch her ass because each season she goes after more and more bad guys who are truly BAD and I have a feeling one of these days it’s going to turn on her. Then again this is what I love most about Brenda Leigh. She’s unflinching in the face of even the nastiest of nasty bad guys because she doesn’t care what it takes to solve the crime.

Last night though it got a little personal when her usual ragdoll sidekick Sgt. Gabriel decided enough was enough. It was a scary tense scene when he tried to stop the Chief from going back into the interrogation room and taking down a now prominent anti-gang community leader because of what it could do to the communities he serves. While he’s correct in that it could cause more trouble than just leaving him alone, Chief Johnson is only concerned with the law and solving the crime. He was forceful and persistent and for the first time ever she was stunned (as was I) and got very forceful and righteous ten fold.

Gotta hand it to the lady, she’s got moxie!

Now what are the chances that we’ll see Father Jack again? These baddies always tend to show their faces again. What I couldn’t tell though was at the end when she went into his interrogation room there was a moment there. I’m not sure what the moment was, but there was def a moment. Was she realizing he might not be as bad as she thought or was it that she had acceptance for the job he does? Either way, I’m not convinced that Father Jack isn’t one scary ass dude. If Provenza and Flynn don’t trust him, there’s something there.

Best line of the night?

Brenda: “Who’s Father Jack?”
Det. Flynn: “An asshole”

I absolove The Closer and Kyra Sedgwick’s performance. I heart her insecurities and her personal quirks. The ongoing business with hiding her relationship from her family is boiling over and just in time because if they dragged this out much longer I wouldn’t care at all. I’m happy that they’ve cast her Father (Barry Corbin) to go up against the powerhouse Mother (Frances Sternhagen) and I cannot wait for them to descend upon the city of Angels and Fritz.

PS – Jon Tenney in a towel, pretty hot! I saw him last fall at one of the preview nights for the recent Tony winning SPRING AWAKENING and he didn’t look nearly as hot as he did in that towel. Best move he ever made was dumping melted face Hatcher and finding a job on The Closer.

The Closer Season 3 kicked off tonight and if I had any doubts going into the third season, they were quickly squelched. What I’ve always loved about Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and her gang over at Priority Homicide is not the cases that they solve but the manner in which they go about it.

The season premiere not only brought an incredibly complex case of dual identity, bigamy, and murder but one of severe sadness and pain the actions of others bring up those around them. A wealthy family is found brutally murdered, the Father, Mother, and 12 year old Daughter were all stabbed to death.

While Brenda and the team are investigating the house they hear a cell phone ring and find the Son of the family, Eric (played incredibly by Veronica Mars‘ Kyle Gallner) drugged out and locked away in the attic. The obvious conclusion is that the whacked out wasteoid son did it but wait, Chief Johnson gotta get to the bottom of this case regardless of what it means to budget cuts and possible layoffs.

As the hour unfolds we learn that not only is Eric over-privileged, cute, a fan of boxer briefs, and a druggie but that he’s also gay as the day is long. He’s been screwing his Tutor for quite some time now. The tutor’s brought in, plays the typical cocky rich kid but Brenda reduces him to a cockroach and then clears him of all charges.

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Tonight is a pretty big night of television over on TNT. The Closer enters Season 3 at 9pm with an amazing episode that I had the privilege of seeing already and let me tell you… it’s not to be missed! Veronica Mars fans will be excited to see The Beav (Kyle Gallner) resurrected for yet another role far removed from Cassidy Casablancas and let’s face it, Kyra Sedgwick alone is reason to tune in. She’s phenomenal.

I’ll have my thoughts on the premiere later tonight as to not spoil it all for you good folks. Hold on to your seats… Thank You

Then at 10pm watch the uneven premiere of HEARTLAND with Everwood’s doc Treat Williams. Eh, I’ll tune in for a couple weeks to see if it kicks off.

Now, let’s hear it for Brenda Leigh Johnson y’all! Now another for Priority Homicide! And another for Lt. Provenza… alright I’ll stop.