The year 2009 was filled with some excellent televised fare and notable losses that made the ending of it a somber one; a year of reflective pause and a bit of uncertainty for the future.
Mother and son - Katey Sagal (Gemma) and Charlie Hunnam - (Jax) FX's "Sons Of Anarchy" Season 2 Premiere Screening - Arrivals - Paramount Theater - Los Angeles, CA. USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos
M&C has compiled a list of notable and lesser entities in TV that stood out for us.
The 2009 Monsters and Critics “The List” reveals the best and less in smallscreen efforts and people that we felt deserved a closer look by you, the viewer.
Perhaps you can add to this humble list with your own nominations.
Best Performances
KATEY SAGAL “Sons of Anarchy”
Katey Sagal tops our list for overall excellence and best dramatic female performance as Gemma Teller Morrow in FX “Sons of Anarchy.”
The recent early award announcements were so egregiously off in their omission of her work in the tour-de-force FX series as Gemma, the matriarch of the SAMCRO bike club, that these award shows have been written off entirely.
You will find no coverage of either the SAG awards or the Golden Globes here in M&C TV.
Sagal’s Gemma was the epicenter of her writer/producer husband Kurt Sutter’s richly imagined world of 1%-ers who have made a Devil’s pact long ago with the far-away IRA terrorists, moving their imported guns in Northern California.
They navigate the nefarious worlds of black, Chinese and Latino gangs while being encroached upon by expansionist White Separatist and Aryan Brotherhood factions hell bent on crushing Charming’s SAMCRO (The Sons of Anarchy) fiefdom.
Sagal was brutally gang raped early in the season, and her survival instincts combined with force of will and street smarts kept this secret from the men in her life until it was the right time to divulge and unleash the fury.
Her tough as nails veneer was peeled back this season as Sagal played her character with the right emotional balance that rang true to women. Sagal’s range as Gemma is complex, and as we have said before
She sings beautifully too, and her songs are dotted throughout the series.
Katey Sagal delivered the best female dramatic role on smallscreen this year.
CHARLIE HUNNAM “Sons of Anarchy”
You could effectively argue that the entire ensemble cast of FX’ Sons of Anarchy are all deserving of being singled out. I agree.
This season saw Hunnam, an Englishman by birth, rise as his American anti-hero character Jax, the heir apparent to the SAMCRO club. Season two saw Jax process the heightened bad blood building since season one between him and Clay (Ron Perlman).
This mutual resentment was brought full-circle during one of the most brutally realistic fight scenes while the two were caged in prison. The arthritic, knee-jerk responder Clay wants violent revenge on town invader Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin). The thoughtful technician Jax wants to move ahead with caution.
Put these two SAMCRO lions in orange jump-suits inside prison walls with their crew, and all civility is deconstructed.
Charlie Hunnam and Ron Perlman just knocked the snot out of each other.
Another great scene for Hunnam’s Jax was with Otto Delaney (Kurt Sutter) as he mans up and delivers the truth about Otto’s old lady Luann, and takes responsibility for her grisly demise.
The ending of season two was gut-wrenching as Jax is struck to the core of his soul when son Abel is spirited away by IRA man Cameron, in a vengeful move which foreshadows the SAMCRO tale possibly traveling across the pond to deal with the Irish head on in season three.
CHRISTINA HENDRICKS “Mad Men”
AMC’s Mad Men is a stylized, precise period drama that pulls us all back in time where men ruled the world, and women were the set dressing of their complex Machiavellian schemes.
Or so we think.
Hendricks’ Joan is the queen bee of the secretaries, and without even speaking rules the roost.
Hendricks has erased the orange-skinned, bobble headed, reed thin fake-breasted physical ideal honed on crap TV shows like “The Hills” to a new paradigm of female beauty.
A real woman. A scene stealer par excellence.
EVAN HANDLER and KATHLEEN TURNER “Californication”
Bravo to Kathleen Turner for becoming the lusty Sue Collini, the most eye-poppingly brazen “Sue Mengers-meets-the-Happy-Hooker” parody of a Hollywood female power broker on Showtime’s “Californication.”
Turner nailed so many great scenes with Evan Handler, the hapless Charlie Runkle who succumbs to Collini’s bull in a china shop overt sexual come-ons.
The scene where Sue tries to help Charlie out while Marcy and Rick are loudly getting it on within earshot was priceless.
Best Collini line?
“Have you released the chamber today Runkle? Of course you have…you’re Runkle…you’d whack it to a cat on YouTube..”
“Collini out” became the season’s best closer.
PAMELA ADLON and RICK SPRINGFIELD “Californication”
Adlon is one of the brightest spots on Showtime’s “Californication.”
Her professional pube-ripping Marcy Runkle is bawdy, quick-witted and honest and was beautifully matched with her fantasy rocker man Rick Springfield, who played a heightened bastardized version of himself this past season.
It was great fun to watch the singer of "Jesse’s Girl" put his lothario moves on Runkle’s wife, driving Charlie mad with jealousy.
MADELEINE MARTIN “Californication”
Becca and Hank
Becca grew up this season, amidst her father’s deep emotional regression.
Fans of this stylish Showtime series watched as she delivered a poignant father-daughter moment on the bridge in Venice.
Nary was a dry eye found as Martin’s Becca eases Hank in on the fact she is “a woman now.”
Her virginity is lost, without any real fanfare.
All done as this wizened child-woman reassures Dad that his perpetual screw-ups in parenting didn’t harm her and that she loved him completely, and enough to be honest about her very private life.
Outstanding emotional moment between Duchovny and Martin.
VIVICA A. FOX “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Vivica’s comedic chops were proven on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” playing Larry’s cancer-stricken guilt machine, Loretta Black, whose exit scene from the series was a memorable howler.
Vivica told M&C recently her favorite ‘Curb’ scene:
“When I tell Larry he had his ‘little taste of chocolate’ - that was the best ‘Curb’ moment for me.”
ALEXANDRA WENTWORTH “Head Case”
No one does deadpan humor like Alexandra Wentworth, whose Beverly Hills shrink Dr. Goode delivers brilliant satire on the narcissistic Hollywood ‘poor me’ crowd who run to their therapists for self-indulgent venting.
Goode gives them what they deserve as a self-absorbed overpaid Doctor who makes it all about her in this hilarious Starz Original comedy “Head Case,” that also features a superb supporting cast led by Steve Landsberg (Dr. Myron Finkelstein).
The show is brilliantly funny, all the time.
JANE LYNCH “Party Down”
Jane Lynch’s humor is so perfect, subtle and scene stealing, she is one of my favorite comedic actresses in everything she is in.
Starz Original series “Party Down” was one of the top comedies of TV bar none, and is far funnier than “Glee”; “Party Down” is a keeper.
JOHN LITHGOW “Dexter”
Of late, there has never been a finer villain on the smallscreen. Lithgow’s Arthur was so evil, wrapped in the sheep’s clothing of doting family man, that his performance made the Showtime show “Dexter” rocket to the top this season.
He gave Michael C. Hall a real actor’s toolbox workout as his Dexter tried to outsmart and maneuver the more experienced serial killer.
Lithgow deserves the Emmy for best supporting actor. Kudos also go to the writers of “Dexter” for giving Lithgow the great lines to reel off so eloquently in each frame.
JENNIFER CARPENTER “Dexter”
Poor Deb, the most tortured soul of the Showtime “Dexter” series. Heartbreakingly overlooked as a child, and in adult life tragedy follows her every move. She just wants love, and seems doomed to be let down at every turn.
Carpenter plays her with zero Poker face and the right amounts of moxie, profane ball-slinging attitude and emotion.
You want Deb on your side as a friend, and to never to be on her shit list. Carpenter’s Deb is the core of the “Dexter” family of actors.
ANNA GUNN “Breaking Bad”
Gunn delivered the most heartbreakingly honest scene between two married people on TV of late, as her realization at the end of last season that Walter (Bryan Cranston) has been deceiving her.
On the AMC series “Breaking Bad,” her character Skylar White is a principled real woman, dealing with a special needs child, a husband with cancer and financial stresses which makes this excellent and conflicted series a rich, full experience to savor.
EDIE FALCO “Nurse Jackie”
The Showtime series “Nurse Jackie” for me was inconsistent, but what stood out was how good Falco was in each frame. Her dead-on delivery of a nurse in denial of her demons made the erratic series hold together.
I hope the writers deliver for her next season.
ALLY WALKER “Sons of Anarchy”
Ally as the relentless Agent Stahl was the Irish-baiting, verbally adept thorn in SAMCRO’s side.
Walker played her conniving character as heartless and driven to win, and her performance was stand-out this past season on the biker drama.
We all want to know what will come of vile Stahl on season three of SOA.
ERIC ROBERTS “Crash”
We agree 100% with Mickey Rourke: Eric Roberts is the f*cking man.
His performance this season on Starz series “Crash" as Seth Blanchard exhibited all that is wonderful about this under-utilized actor who eats up film frames.
Roberts conveys more with a stare than most actors can deliver with perfectly penned lines. Hopefully he will be getting more roles that are worthy of his enormous talent.
ALEXANDER SKARSGåRD "True Blood"
HBO's Southern vamp gothic potboiler went a bit off the rails this last season, heavily enamored of the often times silly MaryAnn the Maenad storyline, but the center of gravity for this Alan Ball series is the sanguine sex god, Eric the Viking, the powerful vampire who has now infected Sookie (Anna Paquin) with his blood.
You know the next season is all about Bill (Stephen Moyer) protecting his human turf from Eric's wily undead ways.
BEST IN TV
FX “SONS OF ANARCHY” (2x winner )
There is a reason this tops the list again for M&C as best of TV.
Not one show was flawed, wasted or indulgently written. The unfolding epic tale of SAMCRO is Shakespearean in its scope of tragedy, and gritty and hyper-realistic as a Sam Peckinpah Western.
The second season of the MC drama that has turned out fierce performances from Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, Mark Boone Junior, Tommy Flanagan, Kim Coates, Theo Rossi, Taylor Sheridan, Johnny Lewis, William Lucking, Dayton Callie, Mitch Pileggi, Ryan Hurst, Maggie Siff, Ally Walker, Kurt Sutter and guest stars Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins.
The series fired on all pistons and dominated the smallscreen with riveting, adult drama with quality not seen since the Sopranos on HBO faded to black.
Season two delivered the mother of all cliffhangers, and sets up season three that is only equaled by Showtime’s “Dexter” in edge-of-seat anticipation for the faithful fans.
There is an unusual bonus in that the show’s creator, Kurt Sutter, has revealed himself to be a damned good actor, portraying the most tragic of SAMCRO’s brothers, Otto Delaney.
Not many writer/showrunner types have this elastic skill set.
The combination of excellence in storytelling, casting, ensemble acting work and standout scenes in each episode make FX "Sons of Anarchy" our top of the heap for all scripted TV shows.
SHOWTIME'S "DEXTER"
Into its fourth season, this show ramped up enormously with the brilliance of John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer.
Also appreciated was the reappearance of Keith Carradine’s Agent Lundy, and the dramatic trajectory the writers took us with Dexter’s life being completely upended by his better.
Lithgow’s Arthur got the last laugh and destroyed Dexter’s ray of light Rita, his tether to sanity.
The series had one of the most gut punching endings that people still shake their heads about. Bravo to all for this riveting effort.
SHOWTIME'S "CALIFORNICATION"
What an interesting, indulgent and enlightening season for the followers of Hank, our Peter Pan hedonist who is so damned charming, even his most heinous shallow acts are laughed off after the shock has past.
The savvy writers have kept this series alive beautifully by mining the HUGE talents of the secondary players, Evan Handler, Pam Adlon, Natascha McElhone and Madeleine Martin, and rounding out by writing in some of the best guest stars of any TV series: Kathleen Turner, Rick Springfield, Ed Westwick, Peter Gallagher and Eva Amurri.
Together these talented people delivered an effervescent yet poignant drama about one man’s fur-lined fall to rock bottom.
Comedic moments abound, but don’t kid yourself, this is no comedy. It’s heavy stuff.
AMC's "BREAKING BAD"
Another heavy series that grabs you and is unrelenting in personal moments, riveting scenes and a realism of emotion that is played in a surreal setting.
Walter (Bryan Cranston) is an unassuming devoted family man and chemistry teacher who falls into life’s abyss: Cancer diagnosis, inadequate insurance and certain financial ruin.
The saving grace is his ability to make Meth, the illegal drug that nets the necessary money needed to cure him and save his family.
If you had these abilities, would you call upon them in your time of need?
Would you risk everything you love, and justify your illegal actions as doing what you have to do for the survival of your family?
These are the big themes of a quirky, noir dramedy that keeps you guessing on where the line will be drawn, and if Walter can extricate himself from the path he is on. Brilliant series.
AMC's "MAD MEN"
The Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency is the scene where Don Draper (Jon Hamm), is the biggest swinging dick around who rules the boardroom and the bedroom.
The early 1960’s is the eve of so much social change in America, and it is the era that showrunner Matthew Weiner paints his character-rich drama that is heavy in atmosphere. Byzantine personal relationships inside and out of the agency are explored.
I don’t love this series as I do “Sons of Anarchy,” but I respect the quality of performances, crafts and overall attention to detail that make it a top dramatic series.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
Overall Excellence in documentaries
Consistently Nat Geo delivers superior diverse documentaries that don’t wallow in personal tragedies (cough… HBO), but take us to places in times past, or in worlds never before seen so we are enlightened, elevated and educated in our own living rooms.
The best in overall documentary series presentation, from their Explorer series, DogTown, Dog Whisperer, Rescue Ink, World’s Toughest Fixes, Ultimate Factories, Taboo, Locked Up Abroad, Naked Science, Alaska State Troopers, Dangerous Encounters to unique stand alone documentaries that unlock secrets and explore historical myths, there is so much to take in and it’s all done exceptionally well.
DISCOVERY CHANNEL “DIRTY JOBS”
Host Mike Rowe understands the men and women who make life effortless for the country’s elite who wouldn’t think twice about how their food got on that plate, or who sewed their clothes, fixed and cleaned things and kept their big city infrastructures running smoothly.
Rowe respects and celebrates the unsung worker who toils, out of sight and out of mind. His bonhomie, intelligence, natural charisma and willingness to find out how it’s done makes this show one of the best reality series on television.
Please watch this video with Mike Rowe, and make your kids watch it too:
FOOD NETWORK "DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DIVES"
Engaging and affable host Guy Fieri makes this motoring slice of Americana a must-see for anyone who appreciates unpretentious AMAZING food at reasonable prices, in out-of-the-way locales.
*Note for non-American citizens, you should really check this one out to see what Americans are really like, and what great food we have.
This is the best traveling food show around. People actually plan vacations around the “Triple D.”
HBO "CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM"
This show hits and misses for me, but this season did see the reunion of the Seinfeld cast.
More importantly, it was the continued hilarious unintentional malfeasance of Larry, who inadvertently slays an exclusive country club owner’s pet swan and rationalizes his way out of it.
Priceless episode.
2009 DEATHS
John Hughes
A great American filmmaker, John Hughes loved pop music, and he knew how to underline his poignant and humorous stories with great songs for key scenes forever etched in our mind’s eye.
Hughes rite of passage American teen tales marked time, places and feelings we all experienced, and his films have held up beautifully for future generations.
Hughes’ shocking death at age 59 is still hard to reckon with.
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze should still be alive and kicking; his perfect dancer body and big as Texas kindness captured on film for eternity, but he was cut down too soon by cancer at age 57.
Swayze’s work ethic and refusal to succumb to self pity and tremendous pain produced a wonderful smallcreen effort, “The Beast”, on A&E.
It was a lesson for us all in how to exit this mortal coil when dealt a shitty hand.
GOOD NEWS REPORTERS / PERSONALITIES
Fareed Zakaria of CNN
Fareed is a thoughtful voice that brings on qualified and powerful guests from all over to dissect world politics with intelligence, not bloviating bluster.
His quiet and spot-on analysis in a sea of boo-hooing Becks, cult of personality Coopers and the self-tasering Sanchez is an oasis of smart news dissemination.
He is a proponent of critical thinking and the lost art of reading books, as he urges his audience to pick up a recommended tome to review weekly.
Rachel Maddow of MSNBC
Rachel offers news plain and unvarnished. Highly watchable, not a distracting personality.
Jim Lehrer of PBS
Lehrer is the reigning king of thoughtful news analysis. No showy graphics and news crawls, his broadcast is for the educated that need unbiased facts presented without fanfare or slant.
Matt Frei and Katty Kay of BBC America
Energetic team, offer a perspective on news that is eye opening and more thorough than USA network news overall.
Neil Cavuto of Fox Business News
Neil is an unassuming genius; he brings on such a swath of guests and pols, and he is not afraid to speak truth to power in his interviews, lambasting the hypocrisy of the left and the right equally.
Wry, thoughtful and always pushing for the truth, Cavuto delivers the goods.
Dave Ramsey of Fox Business News
Aside from his preacher tendencies that rear occasionally, Ramsey offers people real solutions and great small business advice daily.
Our country is swamped, flailing and suffering and Ramsey is a calm oasis and source of excellent free information on how to right your financial ship.
Daily he instills common sense money and life values that so many people in this country lack. He performs his money Mitzvah daily in the afternoons.
Don Imus of Fox Business News
Imus is entertaining as hell each and every morning, and his guests run the gamut of political spectrum (much like Bill Maher) as they chew over current events and political trends.
I find that most people who bag on Imus have never given him a proper watch or listen.
Bill Maher of HBO's Real Time
Like Imus, Maher is either loved or loathed, and it seems the people who hear him only in out-of-context sound bites make the harshest judgments.
Maher brings a wide scope of politically diverse guests on his humor-laced show for a dissection of headlines, there is nothing like it on TV.
Like Imus, he is a distinctly polarizing personality and revels in his Vegan, child hating, pot smoking, black stripper-loving persona, which has absolutely nothing to do with the fact he entertains and makes people think by respectfully presenting ideas and voices that he even disagrees with.
Maher makes Friday night on HBO an event to look forward to.
Brian Williams of NBC News
For network news coverage, he’s the best of the lot.
Dagen McDowell and Tracy Byrnes of “Your Questions, Your Money” on Fox Business News
This is one of the best business news shows on the air.
These two qualified engaging women host such a diverse panel of American entrepreneurs and corporate chieftains in every vertical of business, giving average people a chance to ask questions and learn how to enhance their own companies.
It is a positive, educating and brilliant show.
Do yourself a favor and tune in.
BAD NEWS REPORTERS / PERSONALITIES
Rick Sanchez
Glenn Beck
Anderson Cooper
Soledad O’Brien
Steve Doocy
Keith Olbermann
Chris Matthews
Rush Limbaugh
THE 1ST ANNUAL PARIS HILTON AWARD
Epic fail celebrities now reduced to sight gag status
Tiger Woods
Amusingly, the Internets are now flooded with op-ed’s penned
Jon Gosselin
When a child has children. Gosselin is the Ed Hardy wearing poster boy for the immature, uneducated, indulgent man who should have never married to begin with.
Effectively “killed” the Golden Goose (his TLC/Kate plus eight gig) and is no longer rich.
Charlie Sheen
Given great looks and born into a family that facilitated a famous, privileged life, Sheen seemingly never learned from past mistakes, and he appears doomed to repeat them over and again. At least he’s rich.
Gaming mention :
The Beatles: Rock Band submitted by by Hector Cortez, editor of Gaming for M&C
"The Beatles: Rock Band is a must buy for any Beatles fan. With its fun gameplay, wonderful visuals and cool unlockables, it easily takes the crown for best music video game exclusive to one band, delivering on its promise of creating not just a game but an experience. The Beatles: Rock Band raises the bar for not only music video games, but video games in general." Review
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