2008-09 MVPS

As the summer begins and we flip the channel to the new season, here is a quick look back at this past season’s top performers:

The Mentalist. Someone wrote a review of this show, and forgive us for not remembering where or who, that said the appeal of this detective series is that it’s old-fashioned. It’s not fancy or single-camera; it’s not online so you have to actually watch it when it’s broadcast; it’s a basic whodunit. It’s old-fashioned. And it was also one of the few breakout hits of the 08-09 series. We agree. It is old-fashioned. And without charismatic half-charlatan wiseass Jane as played by Simon Baker, we’re not sure we’d watch it. Not that we really did anyhow. But we say congratulations to Simon Baker and the show anyhow for a great season.

Kris Allen and Adam Lambert and the final four of American Idol. Yeah, yeah, we know so and so really deserved it and did/didn’t win American Idol. The voting is over and it’s time to go home. Or in the case of Kris, the actual winner, Adam, maybe the bigger winner, and the two other super-talented runners up Danny Gokey and Alison Ireheta, it’s time to go on to big ol singing careers. And we’re glad for all of them. A season that will be tough to beat for talent. Tip of he hat to Matt, Lil, and Anoop, too.

Zeljko Ivanek. It’s almost become a cliche to say this guy is in everything, but this season, man, everytime you turned around, there he was. And for some of us, that mean we had to watch. Ivanek started off with an Emmy win in September, proceeded to guest in the pilot of the top rated new show (see above) . He guested in the 100th episode of House, had a creepy turn as a head honcho vampire on HBO’s True Blood, and then did a 10 episode arc on Heroes as Danko, aka The Hunter, and shared - or created- some of the most memorable scenes of the show’s half-season. And oh, yeah, he also showed up to throw a big ol twist into Big Love which, we hear, will continue next season. For Ivanek, though, it isn’t just the quantity of the work, it’s the quality. If you look at all he’s been in, just try finding a bad performance; we dare you.

Tina Fey We know it seems like a long time ago when we were in the midst of a hotly contest presidential election, and believe us when we say we don’t want to stir THAT up again. But Tina Fey has to get a year-end kudos for her spot on Sarah Palin parody. Who knows what effect it did or didn’t have on the voters, but it was mad funny. There’s also the fact she won an Emmy for her show and her performance on 30 Rock last fall. Great year for Fey? “You betcha!”

SNL Digital Shorts And Andy Samberg Outside of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (see above if you’ve already forgotten what we’re talking about…), Andy Samberg and the digitial shorts he leads on SNL were THE thing people were talking about on SNL this season. And probably the last few seasons if we think about it. We’re not sure if he writes and directs them too. So credit to whomever is behind all that stuff. But we do know, as SNL goes, it’s the films and Andy that people are buzzing about, downloading, ituning, googling, huluing, youtubing (at least til the clips are taken down…) and watching over and over again. The show probably wishes the same could be said for it all together, but, not this year. Throw in that Samberg hosted the MTV Music Awards and we’re see Sandler like dollars in his future.

PBS Newshour. Okay, so we’re geeks. We know we always shout out this show, but, man, an HOUR, and HOUR of analysis, in-depth analysis, when the rest of the world is fixated on fluff, or partisan yelling, or tabloid fodder? We’re not sure who watched, but NewsHour was there with more coverage than probably we even need during this election year and the tough times that followed. Watch it. It’s good for you.

Thanks for following along with nzone tv this past year! Stick with us for your favorite summer shows and and have a great summer!

-Beth Danesco