Heading out of town for the weekend (don’t worry I already got my annual dose of “Rudolph’s Shinny New Year”), but hope everyone has a great New Year’s Eve! See ya in 2010.

I’m not mean enough to do a list for every medium, but these various things were the worst of the worst in 2009.

• Avatar - If I didn’t know better I’d say the dialog was stolen straight from bad 80’s cartoons.
• Project Runway - The move to Lifetime and L.A. was not a good one. Calling this past season a “hot mess” would be putting it too nice.
• The Ugly Truth - I love romantic comedies but this crapfest gives all romantic comedies a bad name.
• NBC – Sure they have a few watchable shows, but on a whole the ship has sunk. When The CW and cable networks have higher ratings you know something is wrong.
• 3D Movies – I saw eight movies in 2009 in 3D and they weren’t worth it. The whole process is still too gimmicky. Talk to me again when 3D moves the medium forward.
• Halo ODST – I was super hyped for the game, but calling it a game is wrong. It turned out to be nothing more than a badly marketed expansion who’s gameplay was nothing new or fun.
• Grey’s Anatomy – My the mighty have fallen. If it wasn’t for fast forward I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the episodes that aired this fall.
• Opinions of Obama - Everyone has an opinion on Obama and I’m sick of hearing it. I’ve heard him been called Jesus incarnate and I’ve heard him refered to as the anti-christ and you know? I don’t care. The only time I have an opinion on Obama is when he interrupts prime-time TV.
• Jon and Kate – Why did they ever have a TV show? Why did they become so big? She’s a bitch, he’s stupid, and now the kids are f* up.

The shows that appear in the list below shouldn’t be a surprise. I make more posts about them than any others.

• 10) Supernatural – The boys freed the devil from hell and brought about The End of Days!
• 9) Curb Your Enthusiasm – Two Words: Seinfeld Reunion
• 8) Chuck – There are few shows that make me laugh more than “Chuck.”
• 7) Friday Night Lights – There is no show that does angst better than “FNL.”
• 6) Big Love - Forget the religious undertones, “Big Love” is one of the best  dramas on TV.
• 5) Damages – Easily one of the smartest shows on TV.
• 4) Breaking Bad – I don’t like sad and depressing shows. That’s why you never see me comment on “Mad Men” “Sons of Anarchy” or “Rescue Me.” But Bryan Cranston does an amazing job of making “Breaking Bad” watchable.
• 3) True Blood – Season 1 was ok, but season 2 took off!
• 2) Dexter – I wasn’t happy with the season finale, but it capped off “Dexters” best season ever.
• 1) Lost – There can be no other. I’ve spent more time writing and thinking about “Lost” than any other show on air. It’s easily in my top five of all time favorite shows and I’m counting down the days till the final season.

Honorable Mentions: Greek, 30 Rock, Party Down, The Big Bang Theory

What I want to point out is that these are not movies that I think will necessarily win awards. These are the movies I most enjoyed in 2009.

• 10) Away We Go
• 9) Inglorious Bastards
• 8) District 9
• 7) Coraline
• 6) Where The Wild Things Are
• 5) 500 Days of Summer
• 4) Star Trek
• 3) Fantastic Mr. Fox
• 2) Up In The Air
• 1) Up

2009 was the year of family movies and “Up” was easily the best of the best. Not only was it funny, but it was 100% my kind of movie. There was romance, humor, a great character arc, and tons of action.

Honorable Mentions: The Blind Side, Zombieland, The Hangover, Julia & Julia

It was a good year for gaming, but not a great year. Here is what I most enjoyed and what system it was best on:

• 10) New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
• 9) The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)
• 8) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
• 7) Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360)
• 6) Borderlands (PC)
• 5) Scribblenauts (DS)
• 4) Assassin’s Creed 2 (Xbox 360)
• 3) Dragon Age: Origins (PC)
• 2) Left 4 Dead 2 (PC)
• 1) Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)

Although I read a lot, I don’t read enough to name the BEST books of 2009. However I devour YA fiction and feel confident that the list below is a pretty accurate one (they aren’t in any particular order):

• Fade (Wake) by Lisa McMann
• The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5) Rick Riordan
• Fire (Graceling) by Kristin Cashore
• If I Stay by Gayle Forman
• Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
• Garcia, Kami & Margaret Stohl. Beautiful Creatures
• Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud
• Gateway by Sharon Shinn
• City of Glass (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare
• Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins

So on this most festive of holidays, my gift from me to you… the above picture, a teaser of an upcoming project. Expect to here more sometime in early 2010!

Hope you all manage to get a few minutes away from the TV and spend some time with family and friends. Then, as Santa would say, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

‘Tis the season for Marathons and here is where they are:
Dec. 24

• Bravo: Starting at 2 am Christmas Eve day, Bravo is showing all the “West Wing” Christmas episodes.
• Syfy: A marathon of “Ghost Hunters.” Nothing says Christmas like ghosts. Just ask Ebeneezer Scrooge.
• DSC: “Deadliest Catch” marathon.
• AMC: “White Christmas” marathon.
• VH1 Classic: “Pop-up Video” marathon
• ABC Family: A full day of Christmas movies
• NBC: “It’s a Wonderful Life” at 8 pm ET/PT.
• TBS: “A Christmas Story” all day long.
• ESPN: Hawaii Bowl, Nevada vs Southern Methodist
• VH1: “100 Greatest Songs of the 90s.”

Dec. 25

• ABC: The Disney Christmas Day Parade
• Comedy Central: “Scrubs” marathon
• TBS: More “A Christmas Story”
• AMC: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” marathon
• TCM: All day Christmas movies
• SpikeTV: “Bad Santa” all day.
• DSC: “MythBusters” marathon
• TNT: A “Bones” marathon, followed by “The Librarian” marathon.

This list makes up my favorite Christmas specials/movies. These aren’t necessarily the “best” but are the ones that I personally have to watch every year for it to feel like Christmas time: (Read on …)

Just to be clear… this list does not take “Christmas Specials” into consideration. Instead it focused solely on regular TV episodes that had a Christmas theme. (Read on …)

So what’s a “non-Christmas Christmas” movie? It’s a movie that takes place during Christmas season but the plot or themes don’t actually have anything to do with Christmas.

• 10) “Go”
• 9) “Trading Places”
• 8) “Ice Harvest”
• 7) “Lethal Weapon”
• 6) “Family Stone”
• 5) “Serendipity”
• 4) “Love Actually”
• 3) “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”
• 2) “Gremlins”
• 1) “Die Hard”

“Friends” had some great Thanksgiving episodes, but their Christmas episodes were pretty bad. The one exception being “The One With The Holiday Armadillo.”

The main story of the show focuses on Ross & Ben. For once, he has Ben for the Holidays and decides to teach him about Hanukkah. Ben of course gets upset because they aren’t celebrating Christmas, so Ross decides to make up a Hanukkah character to show that Hanukka is just as cool as Christmas. So Ross comes home as the Holiday Armadillo. He tries to teach Ben about Hanukkah, but then Chandler shows up dressed as Santa, Joey shows up dressed as Superman and all hell brakes lose.

List of “Friends” Christmas Episodes:

• Season 2: The One with Phoebe’s Dad
• Season 3: The One Where Rachel Quits
• Season 4: The One with the Girl from Poughkeepsie
• Season 5: The One with the Inappropriate Sister
• Season 6: The One with the Routine
• Season 7: The One with the Holiday Armadillo
• Season 8: The One with Ross’s Step Forward
• Season 9: The One with Christmas in Tulsa

“Humbug Not To Be Spoken Here” is a light adaptation of “A Christmas Carol.” Mr. Mortimer, Scrooge-like workaholic,  wants others to work on Christmas eve. When Darren’s job ends up at risk, Samantha steps in pretending to be the Spirit of Christmas. She then wisks Mr. Mortimer to the North Pole to meet the real live Santa!

I remember watching this as a kid, and didn’t expect to enjoy it, but I really did. Specifically I liked how matter-o-fact Samantha was about the existence of Santa. Then when we finally get to meet Santa the two go on like old friends. I know the episode aired in 1967, but honestly it felt like a fresh take on the subject.

Here is the list of when all your favorite shows will return/premiere in 2010: (Read on …)