My Top 10 TV Moments of the Year: 2008

OK, so tis the season for Top 10 lists, and now I'm doing my first one ever. These are not necessarily the best, just my favorites, so here we go:

10. Perfection, always - Dancing With The Stars: Kristi Yamagucci's Win

Yes, I'm starting my list with my top guilty pleasure, that I don't really feel that guilty about. DWTS has had some kick ass champions in the past. Drew Lachey, Emmit Smith, Apollo Anton Ohno, but no one ever dominated like Kristi and Mark did. They got a 28 on the first week out, achieved a 30 earlier than anyone in the competition ever (For an amazing jive that would have and did made the Hough siblings jealous.) Of course they didn't have the stiffest competition. Jason Taylor was closest, and he couldn't touch them. Christian De La Fuente was good and loveable but again, Kristi and Mark just dominated. They had a perfect 30, 30, 30 and the fans behind them. It was nice to see a woman win for once...of course it repeated with Brooke Burke, and I keep meaning to check out the new cast, or see if its posted, but I seriously doubt anyone will ever beat Kristi's pure domination, it just won't happen.

9. "I can see Russia from my house" - Saturday Night Live: The Vice Presidential Debate.

I would be the world's worst TV writer if I overlooked the best political impression SNL's had since Will Ferrell's W. And no, I'm not talking about Tina Fey's Sarah Palin (Although it is amazing) I mean Jason Sedakis's Joe Biden. He even got the crazy eyes. And his declaration about the great city of Scranton, that "No one but me has ever come out of that hell hole!" had me laughing harder than I've ever laughed. And it would be just plain pop culture ignorant to overlook the fantastic impression of Governor Palin that Ms. Fey did. I'm still quoting it, "I'm going to ignore that question and talk about Israel...I'm not saying this to pander to Florida voters, since I was a little girl my two biggest loves were Israel and Cuban food!" It might have been the funniest speech ever done on SNL. I'm grateful for SNL's resurgence and Tina Fey's acceptance by the mainstream, it's been about seven years since I decided I wanted to be her. As my friend Katie put it, "It's a little strange. Everything that Tina Fey has accomplished, the first female head writer of SNL, the Mean Girls screenplay, all those Emmys for 30 Rock, what she gets mainstream recognition for is looking like some other lady."

8. "I want to call my mom!" - Entourage: Tree Trippers

This might be my new favorite episode of Entourage, replacing "One Day in The Valley," or "The Sundance Kids," which were always battling for first in the past. Anytime you take the boys out of LA or their natural habitat is always interesting. This episode, where they decide to take shrooms to make Vince's next career decision is a tour de force of their bonding pattern. Ari runs off on his own and spends the episode on the phone with Lloyd, trying to find his way back to the boys. Arnold, the boys lovable pitbull runs away from the group and the other four search after him. E loses the ability to speak, and Turtle realizes his own uselessness, and begins to beg for his mother. My favorite element of this whole season was the switch of focus from Drama to Turtle. I've always found Turtle endearing and wonderfully sweet and I was happy to see more of his stories told. And happy to see him made romantically fulfilled with Jamie Lynn Sigler.

7. "Same Sideburns, Same Commitment Issues." - 90210: The Bubble

I don't think anyone who's read this blog since September can possibly argue how excited I was when we found out the Dylan was the father of Kelly's son on 90210. Granted I was hoping for Brandon, but it really was an exciting little bit of taste of future plot lines. First of all, I'm still praying for Terminator's cancellation, so that we can get some David in, but honestly, the door is open for Dylan now, come on in Luke. We know you want to. Granted, it was after this that we got that positively classic 90210 moment, Brenda deletes Dylan from her cell phone, to save her friendship with Kelly...*sob* Dylan McKay, Brenda Walsh, soul mates no longer. OK, maybe they were never soul mates, I guess it was established in that episode where Dylan saw his past life and he and Kelly were married in the wild west and Brandon was like the sheriff or something that he and Kelly were soul mates. Whatever, those episodes right before Dylan left were pretty god awful. Let's hope when they bring him back stronger than they did when he came back for the last season of the original, personally I'm thinking Dylan and Brandon smackdown. Then Steve can say something obnoxious. It'll be great.

6. "I have stretch marks, I have a butt, that's who I am!" - America's Next Top Model: Cycle 10 Finale

God Bless Tyra Banks and all she's doing for women in America...that was sarcasm. But for real, Whitney, the first ever plus size model to with ANTM was a cool choice. Granted, Paulina Poriscova clearly hated her, and maybe she was a little more pageant queen than model (My sister would kill me if I didn't disclaim that), but seeing a girl with actual curves, who's an admitted size 14 win this competition which is normally dominated by stick figures and anorexic ghetto girls was really cool.

5. "Her parents have a pool." How I Met Your Mother - Sandcastles in the Sand

This episode is one of the best examples of what makes How I Met Your Mother great. Combining the oddball out there humor, and real friendship heart. Sandcastles in The Sand brings back Robin Scherbotsky's early nineties teenage alter-ego "Robin Sparkles" the Canadian pop sensation who created the hit "Let's go to the mall." "Sandcastles in The Sand" is Robin's other single, which never made the charts. It did however introduce her to Simon, a loser who she dated for the 2 1/2 weeks of Canadian summer. These things aren't what made the episode great, it was three things, 1. Simon was played by James Vanderbeek, who on his return to Robin's life had a receeding hairline and a beer gut. I always appreciate the Creek kids trying to get back in the game. 2. I forget what it was that got Barney upset, but in the end Robin ended up comforting him, which established my new favorite hopeless couple to root for, Barney and Robin. and 3. The actual "Sandcastles in The Sand" video and song which were both as awful as you would think they would be.

4. "I would eat Tangerine Chicken but I don't have Tangerine Chicken" - The Big Bang Theory: The Tangerine Factor

Just like Sandcastles is the best of How I Met Your Mother, the season finale of Big Bang was the perfect storm of this hilarious one note joke show. Adorably awkward Leonard finally made his move on sweet and sexy Penny. In the second season we learned that this didn't work. But it was nice anyway. The B plot line was Sheldon trying to get to the bottom of a mystery, was the chicken at their favorite chinese place tangerine chicken or orange chicken. Oh right and Wollowitz was being pervy looking for Penny's ex boyfriend's blog which detailed their sex life. Largely, brilliant.

3. "It's Not What I'd Have Done." - Heroes: Dual (Much thanks to my brother for helping me pick!)

Peter Petrelli has his powers back. Thank God for it! I'm not among the people who think that this season of Heroes has been horrible so far. I think it's a hell of a lot better than last season. But the pivotal, "We're Baaack," moment for me came when Peter injected himself with the newly perfected formula and got his powers back and flew himself and his brother Nathan out of a burning building. Nathan's response was that it wasn't what he would have done, and at last the Nathan/Peter dynamic was restored to what it always should have been. Nathan is a dick and Peter saves him anyway. Oh right, and we saw how Peter got his scar. Which is kick ass. Between that, Claire forgiving her dad and walking away from the "Petrelli lifestyle" and "killing" Sylar, she's well on her way to fulfilling her destiny, you know becoming a brunette. I can't wait to see what happens next which is part of the redemption. Heroes is on it's way back to what we loved, I promise it is. Oh right, and Milo with the scar...totes hotter than Milo without the scar. Meow!

2. Meeting Half Way - Weight Loss: The Office

The moment Office fans all waited for. Jim proposing to Pam in the most Jim and Pam way possible. They met at a gas station half way between Scranton and New York (For your information, no such place exists.) and he got on one knee in the rain. It was the squeal heard round the world. Jim and Pam's relationship is so wonderful, and sweet and pure, it's nice to see it come to this step. We'll see what happens after the holidays, but I think things will keep being good, don't you?

1. "This is me! And I love you!" - Gossip Girl: Oh Brother, where Bart Thou

Nothing, and I mean nothing captivated me this year like the Gossip Girl fall finale. Chuck's breakdown, the revelation of Lilly and Rufus's baby...and most importantly, as usual, my favorite part of anything Gossip Girl, Blair showing her humanity. Her sobbing begging confession of her feelings to Chuck and his subsequent rejection and then acceptance and then his running away...it's like everything amazing about the Blair and Chuck romance all wrapped up into one angsty perfect hour. I can barely contain my excitement for the coming return...it's only two weeks away, thank God!

So there you have it. Yes 2008 was hard. The economy collapsed, my presidential candidate lost, but there were good things too. Like Turtle finally got a girlfriend, The Heroes began to fulfill their destiny, a fat girl finally won ANTM, Barney and Robin hooked up and Blair and Chuck confessed their love. Perhaps that makes up for it. Maybe.