Best of 2009/Best of the Decade (cont'd)
Best of 2009
In the Huffington Post, TV critic Ed Martin places Mad Men at the top of his list. The Northwestern lists Mad Men at #6 on their list. Behind House? Are you kidding? Alan Sepinwall, a Mad Men blogger from way back, places it first, as does the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
USA Today names Mad Men one of the year’s best, and Jon Hamm one of the actors of the year.
The Baltimore Sun was, as you may recalled, annoyed at the inaccuracies of Out of Town, but even downgrading Mad Men, still thinks it’s among the year’s best. The California Chronicle also has (legit) complaints about the show, despite naming it one of the year’s best.
CNN doesn’t think Mad Men is the best of the year, but it gets an honorable mention.
The AV Club lists 45 great moments from TV this year, covering scripted shows, reality TV, talk, news, and more. Mad Men’s moment is one that surprised me: I’d have bet it would be either Roger in blackface or Don’s “Dick in a box” confession, but look what they chose instead! In addition, our own Alison Brie gets a “moment” from Community. Good for her!
The Boston Globe’s year-end list talks about attention spans, and lists Mad Men as a show that doesn’t underestimate its audience.
Someone has to disagree: Leave it to this guy.
Best of the Aughts
Television Without Pity has a photo essay on the best scripted television shows of the decade which includes Mad Men (as well it should). Salon’s Heather Havrilesky, a long-time Mad Men supporter, places it midway through her list of the 15 best shows of the decade. The AV Club points out, in praising Mad Men as among the decade’s best, that period pieces rarely work. In an unusual move, it lists The Jet Set as an essential episode.
The Salt Lake Tribune lists Mad Men as a best show of the decade AND best of 2009, and has a charmingly different best movie list as well.
The AP lists 50 things that changed our lives in the aughts, including “Retro Chic” (meaning Mad Men style).
Oregon Live has a fun list of the decade’s best TV “stuff” (shows, people, etc.) and lists AMC for Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and even The Prisoner. Similarly, USA Today names Mad Men, and the rise of basic cable, one of the TV trends of the decade.
The National Post suggests that the movie of the decade is a television show, and waxes poetic about Mad Men, even though it gets facts wrong.
Basket of Kisses: The unofficial blog of AMC's Mad Men. Where all the cool kids meet & greet to talk about Don Draper, Janie Bryant, Christina Hendricks, Jon Hamm, Matthew Weiner, & subtexty things.
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December 29th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Ausiello got a SCDP shirt…
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/12/25/ausiello-s...
December 30th, 2009 at 11:57 am
All in all, the '00s were a terrific decade for television. Which is kind of ironic, considering how technology has been fragmenting audiences and effectively ending network television as we know it.
This was definitely the era of the cable network's triumph over every other television distribution platform. HBO and Showtime had amazing runs. AMC, of course, had a fantastic end to the decade with our beloved MM, Breaking Bad and the re-make of The Prisoner.
I say: more good times on the tube. My personal favourites during the '00s…
1) Mad Men
V (I know, only four episodes so far, but hot damn it's been great)
2) The Wire
3) The Sopranos
4) Rome
5) Battlestar Galactica
6) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
7) Glee
9) Band of Brothers
10) Doctor Who (re-imagination)
11) Being Erica (Canadian television show, quite good, I encourage American viewers who get Soapnet to watch)
12) Arrested Development
December 31st, 2009 at 6:32 am
Greg, mentioning V reminds me how few people have named Firefly (also starring Morena Bacarin). Yes, a cult phenom that no one really saw, but it radically altered a lot of television thinking. Its cancellation fueled anti-network sentiment, and caused a reexamination of cult TV; remember, it was the incredibly high DVD sales that convinced the studio that a movie could be made. It indirectly led to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which itself is a major new breakthrough in what television can potentially be, and it pushed forward the careers of Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Summer Glau.
January 2nd, 2010 at 6:08 am
I'd like to add Deadwood to my list of favorite TV in the 'oughts'.