My Favorite Television Shows of 2009

Friday Night Lights - this show has been so strong this season, but one episode in particular makes this show the best on television right now. The 5th episode of the 4th season entitled "The Son" which deals with one of the main characters as he reacts to the death of his father overseas in Iraq. Episodes about death on television are usually bogged down by scenes of melodrama and actors just screaming for an award, yet here Friday Night Lights tones that down to a realistic portrayal that doesn't hit you over the head but still absolutely breaks your heart. So well done and shot in a handheld style that gives it a documentary feel that it doesn't even seem like you're watching a TV show, you're watching life unfold. And the shameful thing is that you aren't watching it! Buy the DVDs, they're cheap!

Dexter - The serial killer who murders serial killers came back in what was my favorite season of Dexter yet. This year saw Dexter as he hunted down "The Trinity Killer." Perfectly played by John Lithgow who delivered an absolutely frightening portrait of a serial killer who is also a family man. I say this because there was one moment where the Trinity Killer confronts Dexter that startled me and made me want to take a step back (even though I was sitting down). The scenes between his family offered some of the most awkward but compelling moments in the show. It all builds up to a great and shocking final episode that makes me dread the next 9 months or so until the next season begins.

Community and Parks & Recreation - if there's one thing NBC did right this year, it was the introduction of these 2 new shows. Both ensemble single-camera comedies that are consistently funny with some really quirky but likable characters. Both feature lead roles that are absolutely perfect, Joel McHale in Community and Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation. Add in some great supporting characters, and general insanity and wackiness, make these 2 shows a great addition to the already hilarious 30 Rock and The Office.

Dollhouse - yeah the first half of the first season was crap, and honestly, after watching the first episode, the only reason I stuck it out was because it was a Joss Whedon show. As people who know me know that I love his work, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, and you might not know him but you've probably seen some of his work, for instance, he wrote Toy Story. Well Fox just wouldn't get their grubby hands off of Dollhouse and kept tampering with it and the result is that the first half of the first season is just so watered down and so un-Joss-like. After they finally let Joss do his thing, wow what a show this became.

What's great about Dollhouse is that it packs everything that Joss is good at into 2 short but oh so sweet seasons of television. There's action, comedy, drama, sometimes all in the same scene! There are tons of twists and surprises. People you think are good are bad, people you think are bad are good. And it wouldn't be a Joss Whedon show if there weren't a lot of deaths. People you love will die, and you will hate Joss for doing it. But it's how Joss makes you love the character in the first place is what's important. They knew that Season Two would be it and it's like they packed all the ideas they would have done if the show ran for 5 years into 1 year. As a result, those final episodes were entertaining as hell.