Top Ten Most Anticipated TV in 2010

10. Damages

OK, sure season 2 was a mess of convoluted plot involving a bribed judge, a double-crossing FBI investigation, and a cokehead stabbing Patty(Glenn Close) in an elevator, but I have high hopes that season 3 of Damages will return to the glory that was the amazing, thought-provoking, twists and turns of season 1.

Damages returns to FX on January 25th.

9. Jeff and the other chick on The Amazing Race

Last season’s winner of Big Brother, whatsherface, will be joining the cast of globe trotting contestants on the next season of The Amazing Race. But the big news is that her racing partner is none other than the ubersexy, Jeff, who you may remember was her (OK, fine. Her name is Jordan) showmance in the BB house.

I cannot wait to see him jetsetting for the million bucks. Preferably shirtless. Here’s to hoping the producers have come up with lots of hot locales to ensure maximum topless Jeff moments. I’m just saying.

Jeff and um... what was I saying?

8. Southland returns on TNT

I don’t know who’s in charge over at NBC, but it must be run by morons. They consistently cancel awesome shows like Journeyman, Life and Scrubs. Then they let a gem like Medium get swept up by the good people at CBS to make room for five nights of the chronically unfunny Jay Leno at 10pm.

Thankfully, cooler heads prevail over at TNT and they’ve given new life to the gritty police drama Southland. The season finale was a jaw-dropper so thank the TV gods that TNT will pick up the show so we can see how it all plays out.

7. Stargate: SGU

Thanks to my friend Cathy sending me all ten seasons of Stargate: SG1, I have another sci-fi franchise to add to my must-see list. I’m currently starting season 2 of Stargate: Atlantis, but couldn’t wait to get through all five seasons of that before diving into Stargate Universe which premiered on SyFy last fall.

SGU follows a band of military personnel, scientists, and civilians trapped on a spaceship built by The Ancients who developed the stargates as they try to figure out a way back to Earth.

Some of my fellow Stargate fans complain that SGU is more Battlestar Galactica than Stargatey, but that’s okay with me. I love the dark sets, mental manipulations, and catastrophes of the week plots.

6. The final episodes of Nip/Tuck

Tonight FX kicks off the final nine episodes of Nip/Tuck. Even though I can admit that the show has been bordering on very cheesy and plain-ass ridiculous for at least two seasons now, I am sorry to see it go. I will watch tonight, and for the next eight weeks, and begin my goodbyes to the sexy, super rich, but morally bankrupt doctors of McNamara/Troy.

5. V

We were teased with four episodes of the remake of the 80′s cult hit V. There were holes like, how the hell did the Vs manage to just drop off sleeper agents without anyone noticing? I mean, it’s not like dropping someone off at a bus stop. But overall, I’m hooked.

It just went back into production in January, so I’m not sure when the new epis will air. I’ll be there whenever that might be.

4. 24 in NYC

Two of my favorite things will be mixing it up on FOX: Jack Bauer and New York City.

Two words: Hells.Yeah!

24 returns on January 17th.

3. Caprica

Caprica, the Battlestar Galactica prequel, tells how the Cylons (at least the Cylons of the 12 colonies of the series) came to be. The pilot was available on DVD last spring and I’ve been waiting like a crackhead ever since.

Caprica premieres on SyFy on January 22nd. Read my Caprica review here.

2. GLEE!

My new favorite show returns… in APRIL! I know! What the hell? We have such a long wait, but no doubt it will be worth it.

What will Quinn do now that everyone knows Puck is the father of her baby? What will happen with the new Shuster/Pillsbury romance? Will Rachel and Finn hook up now that he’s free? Will they please give Kurt more airtime and can we get a full hour dedicated to the awesomeness that is Sue Sylvester?

1. LOST

Come on, now. You knew this would be number one. The final season of Lost begins February 2nd .

SPOILER ALERT:

We’ve met Jacob and the creepy guy that has been trying to kill him since, like, forever. Creepy guy had apparently taken over Locke, who has really been dead all this time, and used him and Ben to finally get to Jacob. There was lots of time traveling and time shifting which led to a big-ass gun fight and Juliet falling down a shaft. Oh, and we got to see the smoke monster kick more ass.

I’m looking forward to all of my questions of the past five years being answered. That’s right. All 1384 of them!

What are you looking forward to? What shows do you miss the most?

Thank the Gods for Caprica. So Say We All!

Oh, how I had hoped Caprica, the new Sci-Fi original series – Battlestar Galactica prequel – set to air in 2010, would not suck. When I heard the news that season four would be Battlestar Galactica’s (The Best Show in the History of EVER) last, I was sad. Then I watched 4.0 as it aired and was devastated. How could I not have this show to look forward to for 2-3 months of Fridays every year? During season 4.5 it became my “don’t call here, don’t bug me, and no I’m not cooking tonight” show.

I savored every episode. Some four or five times. When I played Halo 3 online I began to refer to the map displaying bad guys as Dradis. I answered the house phone, “Galactica actual,” and I’d been known to cuss a motherfrakker the frak out. I’ve watched the series finale about 15 times and I refuse to delete season 4.5 from the bedroom TiVo until I have the complete series on Blu-Ray this summer. Yes, I might have to sell an ovary to afford it, but hey, I already have two kids (a girl and a boy) and besides, I have another one. My Rock Band name is Caprica and my band’s name is The Final Five Cylons. (Don’t judge me!)

I cried like Gimpy Gaeta when Anders shot in him in the leg as the show ended and the only thing to keep me from going completely insane with grief was the knowledge that I still had Battlestar Galactica: The Plan to look forward to this fall, and Caprica in 2010.

“Please God, don’t let Caprica suck. Let it be good. And let enough of us diehard BSG fans watch faithfully so that the SciFi Network won’t pull a bonehead move and cancel it after like, three episodes. Please God don’t let me have to go black girl crazy and cut somebody.”

Last night, Donny came home with the DVD pilot of Caprica and I was afraid to watch it. I needed this to be good. I needed it to be great. It did not disappoint. I watched it twice last night and another three times this morning.

Caprica is set 58 years before the fall of the 12 colonies. Daniel Greystone (Eric Stoltz) is like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates rolled into one. He’s perfecting his Cybernetic Life Form Nodes (Cylons) when his teenage daughter Zoe (Alessandra Torenson) dies suddenly. After her death, Daniel discovers that he wasn’t the only brain in the family dabbling in artificial life.

Zoe Greystone

Joseph Adams/Adama (Esai Morales), an attorney, has also lost a daughter and through their mutual grief the two men embark on a journey that questions religion, death, life after death, and playing God (or Gods.)

I think fans of BSG (as the cool kids call it) will be satisfied. It has that same blend of drama and sci-fi that worked so well on Galactica. One of the things that made BSG so appealing was it’s rich history. It’s a sign of a great show that we know how it ends, yet we are still interested in seeing how it began. And once Caprica begins, you stay interested.

Yeah, I was a little disappointed that there were’t more… connections to BSG, but it’s a different show and I know I gotta “let it go.” The only character on Caprica that existed on BSG is young Willie Adams/Adama… and he’s 11! I found myself thinking early on, “Right now, the final five Cylons are on their way to warn humanity. Too bad they won’t arrive for at least another 20 years and we know how that ends up.”

I love that we see the origins of Cylons (at least the 12 colonies’ version) and their belief in the one true God. I love that Caprica looked different than the Caprica we saw in flashbacks during BSG’s run. Things change in six decades. This new vision of Caprica looks old-timey, yet sophisticated. It looks like a culture on the verge of big changes and innovations.

Was I the only one that immediately went to Adama giving Apollo his grandfather's lighter when watching this scene?

I wondered whether it was a coincidence that two of the people most responsible for the attack on the colonies (Greystone and Baltar) lived in damn near identical homes/areas. Unfortunately, though entertaining, the commentary by Ronald Moore, David Eick, and director Jeffrey Reiner didn’t touch on that – but we do learn that the V-Club seen throughout the pilot is the same as the Opera House in BSG.

There’s lots of good stuff here – Adama and Greystone are both tortured and driven to do bad things in order to hold on to pieces of their beloved daughters, the early Centurions, great acting by Alessandra Torenson, and wonderful music by Bear McCreary. Seriously, can he just score every show on TV from now on? I found myself restarting the show to have it play while I did homework, just to hear the fabulous music.

My only complaint? We have to wait for 2010 to find out what happens next.