The first season of Friday Night Lights is shot partly like a Dogme 95 project -- no blocking, heavily improvised -- and partly like a Terence Malick film; the haunting long horizon of the Texas landscape sometimes dwarfs its often inarticulate characters. Throw in a perfect soundtrack of ambient indie rock, pop songs, and the ever-present drone of local sports-talk radio, and you have a perfectly art-directed, beautifully-acted, gorgeous-looking American epic. -- Drunken Bee
Gilmore Girls
So many tears! So much anguish! So much yelling and screaming and back-biting! And that was just on the TWoP forums. Will we ever forget that infamous day when the Squee fell finally silent? Doubtful. And let's be honest, all that emotion about a TV show? In this case, it was completely justified. The fifth and six seasons had been a bit of a letdown for longtime fans, but by the close of Season 7, the show had truly turned it around. Rory became smart again and, when she rejected a marriage proposal from her sometimes-smarmy, slightly-redeemed boyfriend, reminded us of the salad days when she was far less annoying and merely the stunningly beautiful town darling. Lorelai, meanwhile, via a myriad of bad moves and a stubborn will to make the wrong choice, married and then dumped good ol' Christopher, for whom the torch had inexplicably never fizzled. Until it fizzled. As she sends her confident and well-balanced daughter out into the world amid the cheers of the townies, her new life with Luke seems just around the corner. Shorn up by the most fantastic supporting cast of characters and almost-always great writing, these Girls will be sorely missed. -- Al Lowe
Grey's Anatomy
In her blog, Shonda Rhimes pointed out the symmetry between Meredith helping Izzie take off her prom dress at the beginning of the season, then helping Cristina take off her wedding dress at the very end. Both were fantastically acted and emotional scenes that were extremely well done overall. Unfortunately, in between those two you had...the rest of Season Three. Meredith waffled between men, she nearly died, then her mom died, then her mother figure died, and then her mystery half-sister had a Moment with her boyfriend. It's a wonder the producers didn't have her run over a puppy on her way to work just to lighten the mood a bit. ["I'm sure the writers thought they lightened the mood enough when they made Addison a sterile spinster pining after a baby she can never have. Any lighter than that and the show would be competing in the comedy category." -- LTG] There were still some bright spots, such as the return of Kyle Chandler, as well as all of Sandra Oh's acting. But with all of the unrelenting, outlandish drama and the disgusting George-Izzie "soulmate" debacle, Season Three wasn't really the show that viewers had grown to love. From a portrayal of multi-layered characters and believable drama, it devolved into a series of cheap gimmicks and lazy writing that left a whole lot of fans feeling let down. -- Lauren S
Heroes
By The TWoP Staff
The first season of Friday Night Lights is shot partly like a Dogme 95 project -- no blocking, heavily improvised -- and partly like a Terence Malick film; the haunting long horizon of the Texas landscape sometimes dwarfs its often inarticulate characters. Throw in a perfect soundtrack of ambient indie rock, pop songs, and the ever-present drone of local sports-talk radio, and you have a perfectly art-directed, beautifully-acted, gorgeous-looking American epic. -- Drunken Bee
Gilmore Girls
So many tears! So much anguish! So much yelling and screaming and back-biting! And that was just on the TWoP forums. Will we ever forget that infamous day when the Squee fell finally silent? Doubtful. And let's be honest, all that emotion about a TV show? In this case, it was completely justified. The fifth and six seasons had been a bit of a letdown for longtime fans, but by the close of Season 7, the show had truly turned it around. Rory became smart again and, when she rejected a marriage proposal from her sometimes-smarmy, slightly-redeemed boyfriend, reminded us of the salad days when she was far less annoying and merely the stunningly beautiful town darling. Lorelai, meanwhile, via a myriad of bad moves and a stubborn will to make the wrong choice, married and then dumped good ol' Christopher, for whom the torch had inexplicably never fizzled. Until it fizzled. As she sends her confident and well-balanced daughter out into the world amid the cheers of the townies, her new life with Luke seems just around the corner. Shorn up by the most fantastic supporting cast of characters and almost-always great writing, these Girls will be sorely missed. -- Al Lowe
Grey's Anatomy
In her blog, Shonda Rhimes pointed out the symmetry between Meredith helping Izzie take off her prom dress at the beginning of the season, then helping Cristina take off her wedding dress at the very end. Both were fantastically acted and emotional scenes that were extremely well done overall. Unfortunately, in between those two you had...the rest of Season Three. Meredith waffled between men, she nearly died, then her mom died, then her mother figure died, and then her mystery half-sister had a Moment with her boyfriend. It's a wonder the producers didn't have her run over a puppy on her way to work just to lighten the mood a bit. ["I'm sure the writers thought they lightened the mood enough when they made Addison a sterile spinster pining after a baby she can never have. Any lighter than that and the show would be competing in the comedy category." -- LTG] There were still some bright spots, such as the return of Kyle Chandler, as well as all of Sandra Oh's acting. But with all of the unrelenting, outlandish drama and the disgusting George-Izzie "soulmate" debacle, Season Three wasn't really the show that viewers had grown to love. From a portrayal of multi-layered characters and believable drama, it devolved into a series of cheap gimmicks and lazy writing that left a whole lot of fans feeling let down. -- Lauren S
Heroes