Newsgroup: it.fan.tv.buffy
Titolo: Top 2004 shows by Herc

Ovviamente SPOILER per la quinta di Angel. (Ma anche per tutte le altre 
serie, che ne so, la quinta di GG quindi Caia non leggere! :P)
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=19057
      10. The L Word (Showtime)
      If it starred Rosie O'Donnell instead of Mia Kirshner, I'd
probably hate this show with a red-hot fiery anger of a thousand suns.
But in the "L Word" universe all the lesbians are skinny, young, pretty,
horny, vulnerable and prone to ready nudity. Even the butchest of the
lot wears a lot of eye make-up. It's created in part by the same
lesbians who gave us "Go Fish." Does it offer a realistic depiction of
American gay women? I. Don't. Care.
      9. Veronica Mars (UPN)
      "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (minus the supernatural nonsense)
crossed with "Karen Sisco" by way of "The Rockford Files" multiplied by
"The OC." But darker. Veronica was raped, her beloved mom disappeared,
her beloved dad lost his job, her beloved boyfriend dumped her and her
beloved best friend was brutally murdered. You wouldn't think a show
with this kind of backstory would yield such solid comedic footing, but
lo! We must learn the truth behind Lianne Mars' departure. We will learn
the truth behind Lilly Kane's demise.
      8. The OC (Fox)
      Endlessly entertaining verbosity and romantic antics of
comic-loving super-nerd Seth Cohen keeps the guilt out of the "OC"
pleasure - but one does tend to cry almost as much as one laughs at this
SoCal Angst-a-thon, and by "one" I do mean me. Having admitted this, 
I'll
say we'll likely learn precisely how important Adam Brody is to the
franchise when Josh Schwartz finally launches his second Fox hourlong,
"Athens," come summer.
      7. The Sopranos. (HBO)
      "Do you think you're alone in this??" A series that gets better
with every new season cablecast. Adriana La Cerva, essayed by the great
Drea De Matteo, died in one great episode. Tony Blundetto, essayed by
the even greater Steve Buscemi, died in the next. It also brought us the
execution of Lorraine Calluzzo, Carmella boning TJ's teacher, the
betrayal of Feech La Manna, the crash of Phil Leotardo, and the fall of
Johnny Sack. Only 10 episodes left .
      6. The Wire. (HBO)
      The best crime drama on American television was largely ignored
this year because America was too busy enjoying the ABC "comedy"
"Desperate Housewives." With any luck, however, DVD (and Blu-Ray and
HD-DVD and Super-Extra-HD-DVD) will ensure the third-season saga of
Hamsterdam will endure long after its competition's plotlines are as
forgotten as those of "Dynasty" and "Melrose Place." Mouzone returns,
Barksdale gets boned, Stringer gets dead, Herc summons the Sun, Prez
gets indicted, Bunny gets fired, Pearlman and Daniels succumb, and
McNulty might find salvation yet in young Beatrice Russell. How many
movies were as good as "The Wire" this year? Not so many!
      5. Gilmore Girls. (The WB)
      "Oh my God, what have I done?" What's funnier than Kirk's naked
night-terrors? His demeanor during a "Pippi Longstocking" unspooling!
There's a lot of talk about how the show has rediscovered itself this
season, but I think fans are just relieved that Rory dumped Jess and
Luke finally got Lorelei. For my money, "Gilmore" has always been, year
in and year out, one the most consistently brainy and hilarious filmed
entertainments ever engineered.
      4. 24 (Fox)
      The third season got off to a rickety start as it awkwardly
wrapped the strange tale of Nina Myers, but the final nine hours of the
season, all aired in 2004 after Gael got gassed, were gripping gold.
Michelle proved her willingness to execute disobedient civilians, an
infected civilian escaped anyway, David Palmer ordered Bauer to kill his
boss, Tony betrayed CTU to save Michelle's life, Bauer used Saunders'
daughter as grim leverage, Sherry Palmer got her desserts, and Bauer
rediscovered the usefulness of dismemberment. I even liked the bits with
Kim. The fourth season starts in one week, when Fox devotes all of its
Sunday and Monday primetime schedule to the first four of the next 24.
      3. Wonderfalls (Fox)
      Souvenirs begin telling a cranky, Ivy League-educated slacker
retail clerk named Jaye Tyler to do odd things to further mysterious
agendas. She reasonably suspects she's gone insane, but it seems she
might be an unwilling tool of higher powers. Jaye is likeably
misanthropic, has cynically likeable friends and hails from a family
that has produced far more successful individuals than she. It was last
season's best new show, a deep-thinking enterprise that routinely
elicited an improbable number of laughs. Fox pulled the plug on the
thing, created by comedy genius Bryan Fuller ("Dead Like Me") and
overseen by comedy genius Tim Minear ("Angel," "Firefly"), in early
April after airing only four episodes. Most won't understand the full
impact of the loss until all 13 produced episodes are finally released
on DVD Feb. 1.
      2. Lost. (ABC)
      It's not just the best new show of the season, it's the best show
in production, period. This baby's got everything: sci-fi, comedy,
adventure, romance, high drama, suspense, violence, mysterious monsters,
big twists and great characters. Evangeline Lilly, who plays fugitive
Kate, is an amazing find, and should play Wonder Woman. Jorge Garcia,
who plays Hurley? Equally amazing find, but should steer clear of Amazon
princess roles. David Fury deserves an Emmy for writing that fourth
episode centering around John Locke. And as much as I love the pilot
J.J. Abrams wrote and directed for "Alias," the pilot he co-wrote and
directed for "Lost" is even better. Had it been released in cinemas, it
would have been one of the five best movies of the year, right alongside
"Kill Bill 2," "Spider-Man 2" and "Life Aquatic."
      And the best series (by far) of 2004 .
      "Hamilton!"
      "He's not my boyfriend! I mean, I certainly didn't betray you!"
      "Drop the act, Harm. I knew you'd turn on me. I just didn't know
when."
      "What do you mean you 'knew'?"
      "Loyalty? Really isn't high on your list."
      "Oh, is that right? I'll have you know I am damn loyal, dumbass!"
      "You betrayed me. You are betraying me now even as we are
talking."
      "Because you never have any confidence in me!"
      "Nooo. Because you have no soul."
      "I would, if you had confidence in me!"
      "Get out of the building."
      "Are you firing me??"
      "Among other things? Yes."
      "Do you think I could get a recommendation?"
      "Yeah, okay."
      "But, you see, if you don't so much live as the other thing, how .
?"
      "It's already on the desk."
      "You're the best! Good luck. Um, may the best man win?"
      "So."
      "Yeah."
      "Did that hurt at all?"
      "Little bit. But it's all part of the job. The senior partners
spent an awful lot of time and resources on you. Personally, I would
have told them not to bother. You're gutter trash. That's where you
should have stayyyyed. Drinking and whoring your way through an
unremarkable life. But the fates stepped in and made you a vampire. With
a soul no less. Champion. Hero of the people. And yet you still managed
to fail everyone around you. Doyle. Cordelia. Fred. They're all gone. 
It's
time you followed."
      1. Angel (The WB)
      "Why can't I stay?"
      Fourteen episodes of "Angel's" best and final season aired in
2004, including four astonishing five-star episodes: "A Hole in the
World" (Fred bids Wes goodbye), Underneath (Hamilton, the new Wolfram &
Hart liaison, arrives), "The Girl in Question" (Angel and Spike learn
Buffy Summers has moved on) and "Not Fade Away" (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
shuffles off his mortal coil). Cordelia Chase departed for good, Harmony
fretted, Connor redeemed, Gunn sacrificed, Knox was vanquished, Andrew
and an army of slayers descended, Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan
became this enormous badass and there were puppets, lots of puppets.
"Angel" was the only Mutant Enemy series in production last season and
it benefited mightily from creator Joss Whedon's less-divided attention,
to say nothing of the additions of Ben Edlund ("The Tick," "Firefly")
and Drew Goddard ("Buffy") to its writing staff. By turns hilarious and
heartbreaking, the spinoff's fifth season rivaled in terms of quality
even the best seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (I have no greater
compliment to bestow). The entire final season is available Feb. 15 via
amazon.com
 for $38.99, and would be worth that price for "Not Fade Away"
by its lonesome. It even sees the return of the peepee demon. Trust me
when I tell you this: The Whedon owns all our asses. Even yours.
-- 
Laz - [
http://www.dimensionedelta.net
]
"Well I jumped into the river too many times to make it home"
np: [winamp not running] 

 when I tell you this: The Whedon owns all our asses. Even yours.
Azz...
Bye,
	Red
-- 
"Beh, Stephen, quell'uccello e' senza ali..."
"Si'."
"...allora non si muovera' da li'."