The TV Addict 

NEW & NOTABLE:
KNIGHT RIDER (8PM NBC)
The good news: There’s something new on tonight! The bad: It’s this. Given how many people we know who’ve gotten sick of late, it’s somewhat appropriate that in tonight’s episode a Y2K-like bug infects our favorite talking car. And by “favorite” we mean “by default ’cause it’s the only one we know of.

MACHINES OF MALICE (8PM Discovery)
Watch this hour focused on torture devices like the guillotine and electric chair… and then drift off to pleasant dreams of using them on, say, your boss.

ALL MY CHILDREN (8PM SOAPnet)
Once again proving that the folks at ABC really know how to celebrate the holidays, this rerun focuses on Ryan and Annie’s desperate search for their missing daughter and Zach’s being told that Kendall probably won’t be waking up anytime soon. At 10 p.m., those fun-lovin’ ABC folks will keep things festive with a rerun of GH featuring the Black & White Ball. You know, the one where a madman ran around stabbing people and one of the show’s most beloved heroines, Emily Quartermaine, was strangled to death. Happy New Year, everyone!

DICK CLARK’S PRIMETIME NEW YEAR’S ROCKIN’ EVE WITH RYAN SEACRESST 2009 (10PM ABC)
Talk about a title that’s a mouthful! And it doesn’t even mention the musical guests or our very favorite party, which is the idea of Kelli Pickler serving as “correspondent.” For some reason, that makes us giggle.

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If winning more free stuff just so happened to be at the top of your New Year’s Resolution Checklist (after of course being sure to visit theTVaddict.com a minimum of twice daily!), consider this your lucky day.

In celebration of GREEK: Chapter Two hitting shelves (and Amazon) this week, we’re giving away one copy of the DVD to one lucky reader.

To enter to win one of this TV Addict’s favorite shows of 2008, simply let us know in the comments below who your favorite student at Cyprus-Rhodes University is. And be sure to check your email box on January 7, 2009 to find out if you won.

Direct from our newest correspondent Aleks Chan (or as we like to call him, our very own Ken Tucker in training) comes theTVaddict.com’s third and final Top 10 of 2008.

1. THE WIRE
Some say that David Simon’s Dickensian tale ended on a weaker note compared to season’s past. They’re dead wrong. A single episode of THE WIRE (about the drug wars, the cops investigating them, and the corrupted city government in Baltimore), even the worst one, is still better than everything TV had to offer in 2008. The final season centered on the local paper too inept too take notice of the overt tragedies before them. We saw the series’ most engrossing characters fall into the archetypes the failed city doomed them to fill, and we saw our antiheroes’ faces tighten into grimaces as their futures unfolded in an appreciated final goodbye. It wasn’t just a cop drama about good poh-lice and the gangsters they hunted, but a testament to the most tragic, serenely poetic, and tearfully funny tale of our time: us. THE WIREe wasn’t just TV, it was a masterpiece.

2. MAD MEN
Don Draper (Jon Hamm, stone-jawed poster-man for steely-eyed Great Performances), flailing in his age and failing to stay faithful, goes covorting by the sunny poolsides of California, far away from his Madison Ave office, where chaos is in full swing: Sterling Cooper, the ad agency where he works, has just been sold to a British firm. His ex-secretary has catapulted to the top of the steno pool, landing a junior copy writing job in a man’s world; his weaselly protege is unravelling like a ball of yarn thrown out the window. And his wife, peering into her refrigerator late at night, grabs a bottle of milk, and takes a swig. She just got back from her own extra-marital tryst, rendering her empowered, yet disgusted. MAD MEN’s second season unfolded with relishing zest, set at its own pace, tagging us along to the Bay of Pigs.

3. 30 ROCK
This spot should really be for Tina Fey, who’s celebrity went from “that sassy girl from SNL,” to “I can see Russia from my howse!” But her show 30 ROCK seemed to benefit just as well: its ratings are slightly up (though its no Two and a Half Men), and it’s as boldy creative as ever in its third season, anchored by Alec Baldwin’s game-changing performance as a whispery GE honcho. 30 ROCK is the true blood heir to the late ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT in that it is the embodiment of the best of TV’s past (think Mary Tyler Moore meets Seinfeld), under-appreciated for its smart, literate sense of humor. I bet Sarah Palin watches.

4. THE SHIELD
Now this is how you do a final season. Shawn Ryan’s tragic drama about a corrupt police squad came to the most arresting emotional breaking point in the series’ history as Vic Mackey’s (the astounding Michael Chiklis) seven years of a downward spiral finally thudded against the ground, leaving us in fits of tears, laughs, and pain. Walton Goggins, as Vic’s longtime partner and ultimately betrayer, deserves an Oscar. I don’t even care that it doesn’t make sense. THE SHIELD’s profound legacy doesn’t always either.

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1. NBC President Ben Silverman: Call us crazy, but we expected more from the man who brought UGLY BETTY and THE OFFICE to America.

2. HEROES: Somebody please be sure to let us know when Bryan Fuller’s first episode premieres.

3. 90210: You know you’re in trouble when the show pulls out the long-lost-crazy brother card a mere half way through the first season.

4. Jay Leno’s New Deal: Will either effectively put the final nail in NBC’s coffin, or completely change the landscape of primetime television forever. Either way, fans of quality scripted fare are pretty much screwed

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1. McDreamy & McSteamy (GREY’S ANATOMY)
2. JD & Turk (SCRUBS)
3. Bart & Milhouse (THE SIMPSONS)
4. Stewie & Brian (FAMILY GUY)
5. Barney & Ted (HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER)
6. Sheldon & Leonard (THE BIG BANG THEORY)
7. Denny & Alan (BOSTON LEGAL)
8. House & Wilson (HOUSE)
9. Chuck & Morgan (CHUCK)
10. Sam & Dean (SUPERNATURAL)

… will not be revealed here. As this TV Addict has pledged to remain 100% spoiler free until LOST premieres in all of its high definition glory on January 21st. That said, if you’re the type who simply can’t wait to discover for whom destiny calls, click here, here, here and/or here for some early first looks.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:
ELI STONE (10PM ABC)
In tonight’s brand new episode, Taylor and Matt learn unsettling news about her pregnancy. News, from an undoubtedly compassionate ABC executive that we can only imagine sounded a little something like this, “You’ve been cancelled and we’re moving up your delivery to next month!”

NEW & NOTABLE:
MAN OF HONOR (8PM FX)
The curse of Cuba Gooding Jr’s post Oscar career continues with this tedious and uninspired been-there-done-that tale chronicling the Navy’s first black diver. But on the plus side, there are no talking dogs.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS (8PM HBO)
Attention TWILIGHT fans. Witness director Chris Weitz’s disappointing adaptation of this best selling novel and be afraid, be very afraid.

FIFTEEN AND PREGNANT (8PM Lifetime)
Watch Kristen Dunst struggle with teenage pregnancy before Juno Macguff (JUNO) and Amy Juergens (THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER) made it cool.

FAMILY GUY (8:30PM TBS)
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Alum Alert! The always hilarious David Cross guests stars as a preacher hired to rap about abstinence.

Putting together my annual list of top 10 shows is never easy. Some years, it’s because there are just too darn many choices. Others, too few. So how did 2008 fare? Let’s just say that THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA made the list and leave it at that.
 
The problem isn’t necessarily that the season was necessarily bad so much as it was mediocre. Shows that have been fantastic in the past were average at best (GREY’S ANATOMY, UGLY BETTY) and nearly unwatchable at worst (HEROES). So this year, I’m going with the 10 shows that gave me the most bang for my buck. In some cases, they might not have been MENSA worthy, but they brought me a whole lot of pleasure. So while you won’t find MAD MEN on my list, it’s mainly because I haven’t seen it yet. (No, not even season one. Hey, I’m only now starting to watch BIG LOVE!) Without further ado — and while fully aware of the slings and arrows sure to be launched my way by the peanut gallery — I present to you, in no particular order, CT’s Top 10 Shows of 2008.
 
THE BIG BANG THEORY
Newsflash, folks: Comedy isn’t dead. And if it were, these guys would probably be able to reanimate it in their lab. Yes, everyone and their mother is heaping praise on Jim Parsons for his role as Sheldon, but take him out of the equation and this cast would still keep me coming back for more. In fact, they might wanna be careful not to become too Sheldon-centric. My hope? That in the coming year, we’ll see a whole lot more of supporting players Howard and Rajesh. 
 
TRUE BLOOD
I was tempted to lump this show and DEXTER together if only because they only give us 12 episodes a season. But each deserves separate recognition because of what they do best. With TRUE BLOOD, it’s a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. I’m not a particularly huge fan of the show’s supposed root-for couple, Sookie and Bill. But the secondary characters — especially Rutina Wesley’s heartbreaking Tara and Ryan Kwanten’s comically self-destructive Jason — are the true lifeblood of this seductive series.
 
DEXTER
Although this series is, in essence, a one-man show, the writers have done an amazing job of fleshing out the people in our anti-hero’s life. This season, Dexter’s efforts to achieve normalcy in both his relationship with Rita and his ill-fated-from-the-start “friendship” with Miguel allowed us to see not only much-needed growth on the part of our favorite serial killer, but also, in an ironic and tragic twist, just how difficult it will be for him to expand his universe.

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As we take a page from virtually every media outlet across the globe, this TV Addict thought we’d end off 2008 by deluging you with an endless string of utterly pointless yet mildly entertaining Top 10 Lists. Because as we mentioned yesterday, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing. (Just ask EW.com!)

1. Clarke Duke (Dale on GREEK)
2. Tina Fey (Liz Lemon on 30 ROCK)
3. Michael Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh on BSG)
4.America Ferrera (Betty Suarez on UGLY BETTY)
5. Stephen Colbert (THE COLBERT REPORT)
6. Damon Lindelof (LOST showrunner)
7. John Hodgman (I’m a PC, THE DAILY SHOW)
8. Christian Clemenson (Jerry Espenson on BOSTON LEGAL)
9. Rich Sommer (Harry Crane on MAD MEN)
10. Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus on LOST)

*Eye issues include glasses, eyepatches and in Benjamin Linus’ case — Bug eyes!

By: Allan Tong

With Juno making teen pregnancy palatable to mainstream American audiences, ABC Family’s THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER seems to have struck a chord among teens looking for a TV drama that talks about sex and parenting on their terms.  Well, they’ve found it here, though the overall show could be better.

The DVD cover says it all: star Shailene Woodley (as sweet 15-year-old Amy Juergens) in profile gazing down at the bulge within her blue maternity dress.  That’s the result when she lost her virginity to fellow marching band member Ricky Underwood (Daren Kagasoff) at band camp over the summer. 

Early episodes find Amy struggling to tell her parents (including her mother played by former teen movie queen Molly Ringwald) and current boyfriend Ben (Kenny Baumann) who is a nice kid who offers to marry her.  In later episodes, it gets harder for Amy to hide her pregnancy, and her circle of family and friends  at Ulysses S. Grant High School have to deal with her situation.

Meanwhile, Amy’s ex and the father of her child, Ricky receives counselling to treat his rampant promiscuity.  His therapist (Ernie Hudson best known for Ghostbusters) traces Ricky’s condition to sexual abuse inflicted by Ricky’s father.  Ironically, Ricky is now dating the school’s blonde cheerleading babe, Grace Bowman (Megan Park), who is a devote Christian committed to abstinence until marriage.  That’s right: the school nympho and the Born Again are a couple.

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