TV 2009: Major Moments, Major Madness

It's that time of year again. Time to reflect on favorite TV moments and madness of 2009. I personally had a lot of favorite shows this year: "Lost," "24," "House," "Dexter," "True Blood," "Battlestar Galactica," "Mad Men" to name just a few.

"Flash Forward" had a cool concept and a few good episodes, but it needs to retool itself before coming back in March. The same thing goes for "V," though at least "V" is a pretty basic good guy/bad alien show that's hard to mess up.

We were up to our scrubs in TV nurses which caused me to ask the question, "What if Nurse "Hawthorne" Were White and "Nurse Jackie" Were Black?"

2009 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals

Here are some more of my 2009 boob tube thoughts:

Biggest Surprises: Glee, The Good Wife and Drop Dead Diva. All quality shows with charismatic stars--Matthew Morrison, Julianna Margulies, Brooke Elliott--and in the case of "Glee" some kick ass musical numbers.

Matthew Morrison arrives at Kennedy Center Honors in Washington

Biggest Disappointment: Dollhouse. Joss, I love ya' but here's hoping your next one's more well thought out.

Sweetest New Character: Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) on "Grey's Anatomy." She's the freshest thing about "Grey's" since McSteamy showed up and I love her to death. The episode "Invest in Love" when she loses her young patient and does the sweet dreams speech with his mother at the end had me sobbing like a baby.

Still Rockin' It: "The Closer," "Damages," "Desperate Housewives," "Ugly Betty."

Better Than the "Twilight" Movies It's Copying--but Not By Much: "Vampire Diaries."

Most Shocking Death: Rita Morgan (Julie Benz) on "Dexter." The Trinity Killer (John Lithgow) got the last word. RIP Rita.

Most Satisfying Death: George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) on "Grey's Anatomy." George had run his course. RIP.

Most Emotional Death--We Think: Juliet's (Elizabeth Mitchell) on "Lost." If she really is dead that is. You never know with all the crazy goings on on that island. And Josh Holloway was robbed of an Emmy nomination for that scene.

Saddest Death: The sacrifice of Bill Buchanan (James Morrison) to save President Taylor (Cherry Jones) on "24." What a man! RIP.

Best Blood Sucking Triangle: Sookie (Anna Paquin), Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) on "True Blood." The blood's gonna fly next season.

Best Vampire Immolation: Godric (Allan Hyde) on "True Blood." It was positively a religious experience.

Show That Should Have Kept Anne Boleyn Alive: It was all downhill on "The Tudors" after that royal vixen lost her head.

Rabid Fans Who Were Rewarded with Renewal "Chuck's" fans were thrilled with its revival from the ashes.

Best "American Idol" Winner--Sort Of: Adam Lambert! Um, I mean, Kris Allen! Lambert is hands down more talented but since when did that determine an "Idol" winner?

Best "American Idol" Winner--Sort Of, Part 2: Adam's walk on the sexual wild side during the recent "American Music Awards" had the "Idol" producers thanking their viewers for picking Kris Allen.

Good Idea That Should Have Caught On but Didn't: "Harper's Island." What's to be bad? A summer slasher TV show where every week another character gets whacked in a particularly gruesome way. It wasn't perfect, but it was entertaining.

Major Moments

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama
Oprah calling it quits
The arrival of digital TV
"Saturday Night Live's" Mother's Day digital short, "Motherlover" starring Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg. An instant classic.
Balloon Boy
David Letterman's on air sexual confession
Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Emmys and everything else
Kanye West stealing the mic from Taylor Swift
Paula Out on "Idol"
Tyra Out on "Tyra"
The Michael Jackson Memorial
Susan Boyle's debut

Major Madness

Jay Leno and his chin moved to 10pm and took up a third of NBC's primetime schedule. Viewers demanded "Law and Order" back.
It was a bad year for the soaps: "All My Children" moved Susan Lucci and the entire production to Los Angeles. "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns" were both cancelled. And then there were six.
"Dancing with the Stars:" Donny Osmond people!? Really?
"Project Runway:" Um, it was kind of boring....szzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
The "Real Housewives of Atlanta" and "John and Kate Plus 8" were a little too real.
Chris Browne deciding on Grammy night it was a great time to beat up his girlfriend Rihanna on the way to the ceremony. He's since apologized a few times and been sentenced to community service. Jerk.