The most wonderful time of the year

No, not Christmas. (Though my deepest Christmas wishes were fulfilled early - see #5)

It's awards season.

I'm aware that...

a. this is primarily a TV blog

b. the Emmys were way back in September, and

c. "awards season" is really just Oscar season

...so the subject of this post may seem irrelevant.

However, because I love awards shows, the Oscars in particular, I'm being indulgent. But perhaps most importantly, the little old Golden Globes are kind of the beginning of awards season (Oscar-lite/practice Oscars) and they happen to include awards for excellence in television. So although I could go on and on about many of the film nominees (the fact that I haven't even seen Up in the Air yet but am already totally behind it, the question of the deserved/undeserved hype surrounding Avatar and James Cameron in general and whether or not it/he deserved a nom) we're going to stick to more familiar territory for now, the television categories. If that wasn't enough explanation for you, feel free to depart. Moving on.

In case you've been living under a rock and haven't had a chance to glance over the nominations, or read one of the many nominee-by-nominee rundowns somewhere in the past week, the entire list can be found here.

Let's start from the top with Best Television Series - Drama. If you look closely at this one, I believe you'll find that "one of these things is not like the other things", if you know what I mean. It's been at least a year, if not two, since I stopped watching House, but I don't see any scenario where it belongs in a category with shows of this caliber (or one with Best at the beginning). Don't get me wrong, I love Hugh Laurie, and he's well-cast and entertaining in this role, but I have a hard time believing in that the year or so since I've watched, the show has gotten any less formulaic (Lupus? Sarcoidosis?), and thus, any better. Maybe the Best Actor nomination is deserved, I don't know. The rest of this category is pretty straight-forward, obvious, and accurate. And though Mad Men is basically the odds-on favorite for everything, I think Dexter may be on its heels in this case with a season that was initially uncertain, but taken as a whole, may be its best yet. So possibly some excitement here.

As for the Best Actor/Actress nominations for Drama, again mostly accurate. From the 1 1/2 episodes of CBS' semi-predictable The Mentalist I've watched with my grandparents I still don't know much about Simon Baker, but he seems to do well enough. And interesting to note in the Actress category, 3 of the 5 have already received this award. Perhaps it will be someone new this time around (fingers crossed for January Jones?)

Best Comedy Series, Actor/Actress and Supporting Actor/Actress after the jump...

Too Much, Too Late

Fall TV has been on at least a month now (more for some early-starters), and still no beat-down of what the ridiculous and wonderful world of network television has to offer this season. Yes, I've been slacking, but here it is. Too late, perhaps, for any of you to go back and hop on board with any of these gems, but let's face it, not many of them are even worth it. So without further ado...

ABC

Cougar Town

I understand that this comes from the mind that gave us Scrubs,

but I just can't wrap my head around it. The hybrid of the quirky humor that made said show popular and a plot based on middle-aged-lady-philandering has just missed the mark. The script is definitely not up to par with...anything, and I think Courtney Cox could definitely do a lot better post-Dirt. Ideally, I think this one just needs to be put out of its misery.

Eastwick

As much as I really wanted to enjoy this show, its unavoidable similarities to Charmed, as well as every witch-triumvirate Halloween movie that's ever existed (one of which it's based upon) and its Desperate Housewives-ey soap opera overtones have me unimpressed. It's visually pleasing, yes, and the actors aren't terrible, but it leaves something to be desired. It's all been done before, re-hashed too many times to be engaging or at all interesting. There's the possibility that it will get better with time, and grow into its place, but I seriously doubt it.

Modern Family

Enjoy it more than I probably should. Ridiculous and slapstick-laden at times, but it makes me laugh. Ty Burrell as the Michael Scott-worthy Phil and the loveable gays keep me coming back. Worth looking into (they're all there on Hulu).

Flash Forward

Hoping to be a replacement when Lost makes its exit next year, but it has neither the writing or the story to do so, in my opinion. A ca-razy concept slapped onto any old script does not a hit make. Well, not for me, but probably so for the rest of America who are eating this up. Don't say I didn't warn you.

FOX

Glee

I'll admit, when the pilot episode of Glee aired this spring and the

gays and choir nerds the world over were all atwitter, I decided that simply would not, and could not watch it (as Mo still hasn't, "on principle"). I was bombarded with suggestions to see it--usually accompanied by an "omg"and something along the lines of "It's soooooo good"-- which only served to strengthen my resolve. But I absentmindedly sat in while others were watching, and I can no longer deny...I liked it. To paraphrase a recent review I've read, It's gay, and it's good. Yes, it has its musical roots, but the majority of the songs are pop and fabulous (I couldn't resist). Plus, you can download the songs on iTunes (this crazy technological world we live in!), and some of us may or may not have done so. Anyway, if you're not on the wagon already, get it in gear, and join the rest of us.

NBC

Community

Haven't watched much more than the first episode, but I simply can't bring myself to go any further. Yes, I like NBC comedies generally, and yes, I like Joel McHale, but the constant self-promotion on Twitter, Chevy Chase, and the little I've watched have only proven to turn me away. If it's worth it, somebody tell me, otherwise, it's staying in the unwatched pile.

Mercy

Reminds me a lot of failed drama The Black Donnellys for some reason. Perhaps because it's main themes are a. depression b. sadness c. sadness. Iraq War veteran, beaten-down nurse rather than a doctor, New Jersey, prone to drinking...sad sad sad. I honestly don't think it's that terrible of a show, but watching this every week might make an already swine flu-paranoid, economically-concerned person need to up their dosage.

CBS

Accidentally on Purpose

Don't know why I even bothered to watch this one, because CBS + Comedy + Jenna Elfman + countless other unidentified actors = disaster. It's inane, unfunny, and painful. I give it one season. If it gets renewed, consider my faith in humanity cancelled.

The Good Wife

Better than I expected, to be honest. It's nice to see Juliana Margulies back in action (excepting that whole Canturbury's Law thing), especially if you like her. The usual legal procedural with a little twist thrown in, the fact she's the jilted wife of a philandering politician (ripped from the headlines no less). Enough fresh and new to keep some of us interested, but we'll see where it goes from here.

If it's not here, it probably missed the boat on my willing-to-give-it-a-chance week of new pilots. From what I've heard, I haven't missed anything truly remarkable, but if you think so, let me know, I'm open to suggestions.

FINAL NOTE: Hooray for ABC finally getting on the Hulu bandwagon! The constantly-changing, ever-worsening media player on their site was a real drag (not as much as other networks, but still), so thank goodness they've finally come around to the world of user-friendly online TV. And for those of us who have limited season pass space on our TiVos, or just prefer to watch our shows parked in front of a laptop, this is a dream come true.