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See Part 1 and Part 2.

The Reilly 2040 Worst padding award.

Yup, its the award Pie Man named after me

The story behind this award being that there are various shows I really think would’ve benefitted from a shorter, UK-style 13 episode season rather than the full 20+ episodes the US likes.  Its generally arc-based shows I find suffer from it, with their compelling main storyline dragged out to fill the mandatory season length.  There can be other factors as well, as while arc-based shows tend to do very well, studios prefer standalone episodes for their stronger performance in repeats.  And that’s definitely the category our winner falls in to.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Sarah Connor had a 13 episode first season.  It had a running plot thread with Cromartie rebuilding himself and chasing after Sarah and co, as well as developing its characters, with Sarah’s ex fiancée discovering she was still alive and finding it conflicting with the life he’d built for himself or FBI Agent Ellison slowly discovering the truth of what was happening with the Terminators, or Sarah’s ongoing attempts to prevent Skynet from being developed.

Given this success, a second season quickly followed, along with a bump to a full season order.  However the story also goes that the studio was unhappy with all the linked plots and demanded more standalone episodes.  Sadly for me, this really soured the second season.  We had an interesting main plot with the Weaver T-1001 and what it was up to, developing “John Henry” who may or may not turn out to be Skynet.  We had Sarah, John and co slowly finding clues pointing towards what she was doing.   We had Jessie manipulating everyone and trying to sow distrust between John and Cameron.  All really interesting plots, especially with the way the writers started using the fact that all the time-travel was changing and confusing things.

However, the standalones really broke this up and dragged everything out.  It didn’t help that when we finally did get Sarah and the gang meeting Weaver that it was rushed into the last five minutes of the last (ever) episode.  Instead we got a bunch of standalones of wildly varying quality.  While I quite enjoyed the one with Cameron at the library, the episode which featured Sarah and the Sleep Institute really caused me to struggle with the series.

I can’t help but feel this was a series that really would’ve been better had it been restricted to 13 episodes a season, and allowed to tell a tight storyline across those episodes.

Worst network interference,

There’s a couple of contenders for this.  Sarah Connor I’ve ended up talking about in depth above, and the other is Dollhouse, which Joss Whedon started working on for Fox, after being convinced it wouldn’t end up another Firefly, only for Fox to start demanding changes to the scripts to remove plot and add in more Eliza Dushku in skimpy outfits.  The result was a very uneven and at times formulaic start to the first season, and viewers leaving the show in droves.  However, Fox did redeem themselves a bit by signing up the show for a second season, much to everyone’s surprise.  I guess they’re trying to learn from the Firefly mistake, and want to give the show a little room to grow before ditching it, which is commendable, although it remains to be seen as to whether or not the damage has already been done.  Still I wish more networks would give some shows that same kind of leeway.  We’ve seen so many shows that go on to be classics have a ropey first season.  Babylon 5 probably being the most notable.  So who am I going to give the award to?

Dollhouse

This was very close, and I had to think over it a lot.  However I think what tips it, is the element of history repeating itself.  While Fox are now bringing it back for a second season to give it a chance, it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.  You’ve got Joss Whedon making the show.  The guy who produced several of the big cult successes over the last 10 years in the form of Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Doctor Horrible.  How many successes does the guy need to have before they trust that he knows what he’s doing?

Pie Man special award.

Hmmm, is Pie Man supposed to choose this award for me I wonder?  Anyway, the random award for a show that deserves mention, and I’m giving it to:

My Own Worst Enemy

This is probably my favourite show I’m currently watching.  Christian Slater stars as Henry and Edward.  Henry is a normal, quiet family man, whereas Edward works for a top secret Government Black Ops unit.  Unfortunately for Henry, they’re also the same person, and when the chip that controls which of them is awake at any one moment breaks down, Henry’s life is thrown into turmoil.

I’d thought this sounded like a fun show, and I’m just continually impressed by how good it is.  There’s solid action in the spy missions, intrigue regarding Edward’s backstory and what motivates him and suspense as Henry and Edward strive to keep their broken condition secret from the heads of their unit.  There’s strong consideration to the characters involved as well and great performances.

This is going on a bit long, so I think I’ll split it off again.  Look for part 4.

Fellow Blogger and regular commenter Pie Man 70′s done his own TV awards, and it was such a good idea, I thought I’d rip it off.  It helps that I agree with a lot of his choices, thus making it easier to cut and paste most of this post

You can check out his awards here: The Pie Man Television Awards 2009.

The only real rule I’m sticking to is that its focusing on cult/sci-fi/fantasy type TV shows.  The time frame is fairly vague, but pretty much anything in the last 12 months.

Best New Series

There’s been a load of good new shows over the last year.  Sadly most of them are now axed thanks to the recession and the usual keenness of US networks to axe anything that doesn’t have brilliant ratings from the get-go.   I was personally very tempted to give this to My Own Worst Enemy, which is currently airing on Sci-Fi UK and is ruddy brilliant.  However, its still halfway through its run, so in fairness I should give it to a show that’s shown all its episodes.  And this is the first award where I’m in complete agreement with Pie Man 70.

The Middleman

Its difficult to understate just how much I enjoyed this series, and how gutted I was when it was axed. Apparently ABC completely failed to realise what a potential hit they had on their hands and neglected to advertise it. Which has been a real shame, as every review I’ve seen of the series raves about it. Gloriously silly, great sense of humour and visuals and a great cast. Grab the DVDs, buy it on iTunes, pray Sci-Fi UK buy the rights, but see this show.

Best Returning Series

I’ve slightly tweaked the name of this award from PieMan’s version just for clarity.  There were loads of really good returning series this year.  Heroes followed up its slightly lackluster volume 2 with a great volume 3, but volume 4 didn’t click nearly as well for me.  Battlestar Galactica headed towards its finale with confidence, Prison Break delivered a brilliant payoff in its finale that was a real treat for fans following the show from the beginning, Dexter continues to be superb television, delivering a great story every year and Lost continued to be must-watch TV, revelling in its own backstory.  However for me, the ultimate winner has to be:

Chuck

Despite barely escaping cancellation this year, season 2 delivered on everything that made season 1 so popular.  A brilliant sense of humour, great action sequences, a stellar cast and most of all, heart.  Be it Chuck dealing with the carnage his double life causes to those closest to him, the Buymore staff dealing with their latest evil deputy manager, you really care about all these characters.  Cap it off with some superb guest stars, and really, its amazing this show had to struggle for a third season.

Most Improved Series,

This one’s very tough.  Partly due to so many shows getting the axe these days after their first season.  Galactica was a serious contender for me.  I felt that season 3 seemed to lack focus, and I wasn’t hugely impressed with the first ten episodes of season 4.  However the final ten episodes turned everything around and reminded me how much I loved this show.  Ashes to Ashes also improved a lot over its not-brilliant first season.

However for me the winner has to be:

Torchwood

Granted, the time period this is covering is pretty vague, but for me it works for either series 2 or especially series 3.  See the numerous other blog posts about how good series 3 was, but even series 2 was a marked improvement over a ropey first season, dispensing with the almost adolescent aspects in its approach to being the “adult” Who spinoff (a feeling they nailed with the third series), giving us a great new character in Captain John and delivering a great storyarc with Owen’s “death” leading up to his and Tosh’s final sacrifice.

Most gratuitous T&A in a series.

Dollhouse is probably the only other contender in this award, but even it doesn’t match up to the winner:

Knight Rider

Really the only choice.  Its arguably one of the main areas in which the show was misjudged and thankfully calmed down as the show went on.  They were a bit too fond of the gratuitous numbers of women in bikinis in the first half of the season.

The Andromeda WTF is this still running award.

Like Pie Man, I can’t really give this award to anything.  As shows have been axed left, right and centre.  There’s probably a soap opera or something that it applies to, but there’s nothing particularly on my radar for this.   Dollhouse is a potential contender for this next year unless it really blows me away, and Heroes is dangerously close to going off the bubble unless they manage to recapture some of that series 1 magic.

This is going on a bit long, so I think I’ll split it up a bit.  Look for parts 2 and 3 in the near future.

Much anticipated, and then when it arrived, sparked much controversy, Dollhouse is the latest series from Joss Whedon, and we’re now three episodes in on Sci-Fi UK.

Why controversial? Well, the show was highly anticipated (as expected for a new Joss show), however stories quickly emerged of problems behind the scenes with the studio demanding changes and rewrites. When the show finally aired, it was widely regarded as utter rubbish, only for Joss to ask fans to stick with the show till episode 6, which was the game-changer where the show fell away from the studio interference and back into line with his original plan. Then Fox pulled the last episode from broadcast, something everyone pretty much took as a sign it was all over, only for Fox to then go on to shock pretty much everyone by renewing the show for a second season.

But with the show now guaranteed a 13-episode second season and season one airing in the UK, what do I actually think of it?

Well, when the first episode aired, I have to be honest and say I saw straight away what everyone had meant.  The pilot was awful.  An intriguing concept with people signing away their lives to the Dollhouse who then go on to wipe their memories and hire them out to wealthy clients as bodyguards, negotiators or just good old-fashioned sex toys (depending on the personality they get imprinted with that week), yet somehow just incredibly dull on screen.   Nothing happened to make me actually care about the lead character of Echo (and why should I?  She’s a different person every week).  It really was no surprise that the show got an almighty kicking online.

However, with the knowledge of episode 6 in mind, I knew I had to stick with it (and the buzz from those that stuck with the show is that everything does indeed kick into high gear in episode 6).   And I was glad I did as episode 2 turned my opinion around.  

While still following the same basic imprint-of-the-week premise (Echo this time being imprinted as the perfect girlfriend for a client.  However, sadly he turns out to be a nutter, and she ends up being hunted through the woods while her handler tries to rescue her), this episode injected far more mystery into proceedings.  We were given tantalising glimpses of Alpha, an operative who somehow retained and amalgamated parts of his imprints only to escape the Dollhouse, leaving a hefty trail of bodies in his wake.  We know Alpha has seen something in Echo that led him to not only leave her alive, but take an active interest in her.  

And then we discover Echo isn’t quite as wiped as they’d like to think when, at the end of the episode, she mimics a gesture from the hunter who chased her.  Is she a timebomb waiting to go off like Alpha, or something different?

Meanwhile Paul Ballard is a cop trying to expose the Dollhouse.  He’s widely regarded as a bit of a loon within his department, while we all know he’s actually onto something.   His plot is a bit slower moving at the moment, but sure to build as he gets closer to the truth, especially since we’ve seen Alpha send him a picture of Echo.

We’ve also got the mystery of Echo herself.  Who was she before she signed up to the Dollhouse?  We see her put herself forward seemingly willingly for the role, but what could drive her to do so?  And as for the Dollhouse, what’s the story with it?  What are its motivations?  Is there something beyond the huge financial gain they make hiring out their operatives?  It’s certainly sinister enough, but there’s obviously a lot more about the Dollhouse to be revealed.

Overall, despite an incredibly weak first episode, I’m suitably intrigued by the show.  From what I’d heard online, I thought that making it to the mythical 6th episode was going to be a bit of a struggle, but I’ve actually quite enjoyed episodes 2 and 3.  Episode 2 was obviously the best so far, laying a lot of groundwork for the central mysteries, but I’m expecting good things from the rest of the series.

As an aside, I’m quite glad to hear that the renewal is only for 13 episodes.  While this might seem a bit strange, I tend to feel that a lot of US arc-based shows have suffered from longer seasons recently.  Sarah Connor season 2 suffered from a lot of throwaway padding episodes unlike its much tighter first season, and even the almighty Battlestar Galactica could really drag when it wanted to.   So with a show like Dollhouse, which currently seems to be based very much on the mysteries its establishing, I’m actually glad to hear its got a shorter run, as the danger otherwise would be that the mysteries would start to feel very dragged out.