My Top 10 TV Shows of 2011

I'm really hoping that with the new year, my zest for, well, anything really, will return, but until then, this blog is going to be pretty sparse. It's not that there isn't plenty to talk about TV wise (the fact that Once Upon a Time just killed off one of the few characters I liked is currently irking me and the fate of Boardwalk Empire sans Jimmy looms large), but I just can't seem to care enough to type. Venting to the kiddies at work is my current outlet. I highly recommend everyone get their coworkers hooked on all the same shows.

Anyhow, in spite of my apathy, I couldn't not put together a top 10 list of the best television programs of the year, and then some significantly pettier, dorkier lists as well. Without further ado, and in no particular order...

MY TOP 10 SHOWS OF 2011

JUSTIFIED
My love for this show knows no bounds, and the fact that it's been rather conspicuously absent from my schedule since March is kind of maddening. That said, the show is finally starting up in about a month and I can't wait. FX has been re-airing the first season and even though I've already seen it at least twice, I couldn't help but watch again. What's more, it didn't even occur to me to fast-forward through the boring or annoying parts because, well, there aren't any. It's not a crazy, fast-paced, explosion a minute kind of show or anything, but I find that I'm simply riveted from beginning to end. While season 1 was fantastic, season 2 brought something even more amazing to the table: Mags Bennet. When you have a cast of characters that includes the likes of the Crowder clan, it's hard to imagine someone stealing the spotlight, but Margo Martindale was electrifying. My one quibble with the show in general is that female characters tend to play the damsel, but the addition of Mags (and Loretta for that matter), balanced the scales in all the best ways. Oh sure, we started the "Oh, for hell's sakes, Winona!" drinking game during her tenure as the dithering damsel with sticky fingers, Mags was there to temper the gender gap. She was layered and warm and terrifying and ruthless and caring, oftentimes all at once. I'm incredibly sad that Mags won't be back for season 3, and her loss, coupled with the loss of Helen and Loretta, the other tremendous female characters on the show, means that we're left with Winona and Ava. If any show has the power to turn them into more than moronic damsels and fluttering love interests, it's Justified, but their treatment of these two thus far gives me pause... That said, the promos have Raylan and Boyd seemingly teaming up, so there's only so much I can worry about.

BREAKING BAD
Once upon a time, when television aficionados would herald the greatness of the medium or defend it against the slings and arrows of critics defaming it as pulp, they would call on The Wire to justify their cause. Now they call on Breaking Bad. This show is just so, so good. This is one of the few shows that I've actually addressed in fair measure lately, so I'll keep this short. Maybe. While it's been a powerhouse of awesome and artistry since day one, I think this most recent season might have been their best yet. The brilliance with which the writers balanced so many different factions, agendas, mental and emotional priorities, political concerns, and kingpins is nothing short of amazing. At any given time, I found myself pulling for someone different, condemning characters I once loved, and exalting the baddest of the bad. Then it would all change in the coming week. The best part of all is that these shifts in my loyalties were not based on the most ostentatious or sensational of events. By contrast, with Breaking Bad, it's the quiet moments that shed the most light and send me reeling. Which isn't to say that the show is lacking in big, insane, WTF moments or anything. There are certainly plenty of those. It's just that with Breaking Bad, a scene with a few guys sitting around a table talking (or a scene with no talking at all) is just as gripping and terrifying as the deadliest shootout, the biggest explosion, or a mass poisoning. This season saw the end of Tio Salamanca (ding! ding! ding!) and Gus Fring, two irreplaceable powerhouses, but I have every confidence that next season will see the introduction of even fiercer, quirkier baddies. In a lot of ways, I think the season 4 finale could have served well as the series finale, but I'm sure glad it wasn't.

REVENGE
Going into every fall pilot season, I have shows that I'm excited about, shows that I know I'll hate, and shows that I'm willing to give a shot, but fully suspect I'll drop them in a couple of weeks. Revenge definitely fell into the third category. Little did I know it would quickly turn into the sudsiest, juiciest, most delectably addictive soap opera to hit TV in years. The first few episodes had me a little worried that I was headed for a revenge procedural, with Emily dispatching of one of her father's foes each week, all wrapped up in a nice little bow. Much to my delight, those early episodes were only setting up the tangle web to come. This show is a soap opera, which is generally used in the pejorative, but there's not guilt in this pleasure. With any genre, there are going to be good ones and bad ones. For genres like "chick flick", "rom com", "soap opera", and "crime procedural", the bad so often outnumber the good that the genre as a whole gets a bad wrap. Well, Revenge may be a soap, but it's a bloody good one. The story-telling is lightning fast, but there's also a long con that sweeps maliciously from episode to episode, tying things tighter and raising the stakes. The characters are surprisingly layered and complex, giving the writers plenty of room to explore not just the outlandish soapy plot elements, but the more intriguing character elements as well. The cast in general is very strong, but my heart belongs to Nolan (which, given my propensity for siding with the smart, snarky game-changer should come as no surprise). Revenge is truly a watercooler show, even in an age when everyone seems to watch shows at different times. With Revenge, you simply can't afford to risk missing it or you'll be subject to 45 minutes of heated discussion without you. I'm not sure where the show is headed in the long run (although I hear a move to New York is in store for season 2), but I'm definitely along for the ride.

BEING HUMAN (UK)
Although the US version tries desperately to keep pace with it's British predecessor, it's an incredibly high bar that it will never surpass. The most recent season of the British version ended many months ago, but it was still one of the first shows to come to mind when compiling this list. Being Human, on paper, has one of the most absurd, campy, tween concepts in town. And yet, the writers brilliantly explore the human condition through werewolves, ghosts, and vampires. Indeed, by looking at what humans are when they aren't human at all, it sheds light on humanity as a whole. This most recent season was brutal and beautiful and heartbreaking. The writers had a plan from day one, plotted and executed it perfectly, and ended right where they should have, even if that was the most devastating place possible. It's months later and I still can't believe Mitchell is truly gone. As the season began, and it was foretold that he would be killed by a werewolf, fans couldn't help but wonder if that werewolf would be George. Against all inclinations to the contrary, as the season concluded, it only made sense that George would end Mitchell's life. It had to be done, I knew it had to be done, but it was devastating for all involved. No matter what Mitchell had done, no matter in how many ways his inhumanity wreaked havoc, he wanted so desperately to be a good person, but it just never happened. Until the bitter end. The wolf-shaped bullet ending his life was, in its own way, the most human thing to have happened. I honestly don't know where the show will go without his handsome mug, but even if it falls apart, I can always remember last season as being something truly special. The US version can try and try all it likes to match the darkness, the brutality, the hilarity, and the humanity of its predecessor, but I can't really fault it for falling short.

SUITS
Last year, almost all of USA Network's line-up got a nod in my "Best Of" list, but this year, only their newest show garners a spot. While one-time favorites slumped, fell by the wayside, or decreased in quality, Suits arose as the banner show for the network. I assumed this would be yet another "blue skies" procedural for the network, taking the exact same principles and elements of their other shows and wrapping them in the guise of "lawyer show," I was very pleasantly surprised to find the network's most adult offering to date. It has "lawyer show" elements, of course, but it's more of a serial than I've ever seen on USA, it takes more chances narratively, and it even adopts the standards and practices for foul language that networks FX and AMC have employed for years. The occasional "shit" may not seem like much, but it marks a shift in terms of tone and audience. I recently noticed that Covert Affairs has taken a similar tack, so I'm hopeful that as the network takes more chances, the quality and originality would follow suit. Don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed the "blue skies" approach taken by the network, but after a few years, it starts to wear on you with its sameness. For various reasons, USA's other options haven't retained their luster, but the sameness is one of the main factors. Burn Notice has played the same hand for the past three seasons, needing a reinvention sooner than later, In Plain Sight got pregnant and ruined the show, Covert Affairs is somehow surprisingly boring, seeming to have lost its narrative thrust, its sense of direction, and its understanding of its own characters, and Psych is... well, it's Psych. If you've seen one episode, you've seen them all. (White Collar is really the only other show on the network that has upped the ante and kept me totally enthralled.) Suits (oh yeah! we're talking about Suits!) bucks the trend of sameness in the best ways possible. It takes the best elements of the network's shows and adds so much more. Suits isn't afraid to have heroes that do bad things, characters that are unlikable, and real tension. All of this is undercut with an incredibly charming bromance, a lot of laughs, and several ongoing storylines to keep the show from stagnating or stalling. In the best surprise of all, they have crafted characters that are layered and intriguing in surprising ways for this network. Indeed, the show's lead, Harvey Spector, isn't particularly likeable on a number of levels, but that's what makes him so special. He's not the kind of character I usually latch onto, but I'm completely enamored. This kind of connection with characters, and the knowledge that they won't always do what you expect them to, makes for a surprising ride where I genuinely don't know what's going to happen every single minute of every episode. It's a lovely change of pace for USA and one that I hope continues. I can't wait for Suits to come back and have spent the downtime re-watching this year's episodes.

GAME OF THRONES
It honestly took me about half of the first season to really get invested in this show, but once I did, I found myself really looking forward to it week-to-week. Even if it weren't my kind of show, the size and scope and scale of the production should garner it a spot on most lists. My initial qualms with the show stemmed from the seeming marginalization of the female characters. Based on the time and setting, it made sense, but that didn't mean they deserved to be afterthoughts. As the season progressed, however, I was very pleased to see the female characters taking center stage and becoming substantive movers and shakers in the narrative. As the season drew to a close, my qualms were fully assuaged. Rumors of storylines to come have also bolstered my confidence. It's not the easiest show to jump into if you haven't read the books, but I think the writers and producers did a nice job of paring down the cast and explaining who was who in a mostly non-oppressive manner. I have always appreciated a show that's willing to kill people off (as long as it makes sense for the story and isn't to the clear detriment of the show... *cough* Once Upon a Time *cough*), and Game of Thrones does not hold back. I had heard that the characters who start off the series are not the ones you end up with in the end, but this didn't truly hit home until Ned was beheaded. That takes balls. As much as I enjoyed Ned, killing him off was true to form and turned the narrative on its head. That's the kind of storytelling that keeps me on my toes and genuinely surprises me. When all bets are off, there's a terrifying sense of the unknown that I absolutely love and dread with equal measure. For someone who watches as much television as I do, it's not easy to quash my expectations, so when a show manages to achieve such a feat, it gets rewarded with a place on this list. Game of Thrones wasn't perfect, but it came close enough. I'd tune in just for Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish alone, but Robb Stark and Jon Snow don't hurt either. Now that the show has it's legs and a better grasp of how to turn this story into a series, I'm very hopeful that season 2 was be even more sensational that season 1. It'll certainly be just as expensive to produce. Wow, HBO knows how to loosen the purse-strings and I can't thank them enough.

COMMUNITY
No top 10 list would be complete without the best comedy on TV. No, not Modern Family. Indeed, while Community continues to push the boundaries and have me rolling in the aisles for new and surprising reasons each week, Modern Family seems to get more and more boring. I used to really enjoy the show, but more and more, I find myself smiling on occasion, and almost never laughing out loud. This is most delightedly not the case with Community. Most shows on TV can be likened to other contemporaries or predecessors, but Community is genuinely unlike any other show. In any given week, the show somehow manages to combine hilarious gags, clever jokes, erudite allusions, and a hell of a lot of heart with a willingness to play with form and narrative unlike any other show. You truly never know what exactly to expect from Community, whether it be a Spaghetti Western, a musical, an homage to an obscure movie, a parody of an entire genre, a more conventional comedy episode with a splash of anime, or anything and everything in between. They play with storytelling in a way that makes me smile every time. All the while, the show maintains its warmth and heart. The show isn't too cool for school, and it embraces it. Indeed, this collection of characters is probably the most endearing family on TV. Other comedies find themselves hitting the same beats again and again, what with comedy being a genre where true character growth and development is difficult to manage, but Community throws out the rulebook, giving it's characters real journeys to follow all the while making me crack up. I'm heartbroken that NBC has shelved the show until who-knows-when. I realize that the ratings are bad, but so are the ratings of every other show on the network. I don't want to live in a world where dreck like Whitney and dumbass shlock like Two and Half Men survive, but Community gets put on hiatus. Oh, America. You make me sad sometimes. I do hope that NBC keeps sucking just long enough for Community to get another season. They're only about a season away from being able to be sold into syndication, so hopefully NBC will take that into consideration. Come back, Community! Come back!!!

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
The CW doesn't often get a lot of love when it comes to critical acclaim, but more and more, even the hold-outs have had to admit that The Vampire Diaries is one hell of a show. No longer mistakenly thought of as a Twilight rip-off or True Blood lite, The Vampire Diaries has set itself apart as a kickass supernatural thriller. It's storytelling is tight and compelling, giving viewers a thrill-a-minute, tantalizing cliffhangers, and a surprising amount of depth and character advancement. Sure it has its flaws, but ounce for ounce, it's one of the best shows out there. While the last part of season two got a bit muddled with the moonstone and the curse, season 3 has been its best yet. Two of the best aspects of the show are that it's willing to kill off important and beloved characters and if a character doesn't need to be in an episode he/she isn't in it. True Blood could learn a lot from TVD in this regard. TVD blazes through story at a breakneck pace, introducing new characters and killing off others in near equal measure. This keeps the cast from spiraling out of control the way that True Blood has. What's more, the storytelling is tight and interlaced among the characters. While True Blood has about 87 different storylines going at once, half of which have nothing to do with the others, TVD brings everything together in the most tantalizing of possible ways, ending each episode (if not each segment) with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger. There's an insane amount of character history and supernatural mythology that has been doled out over the past two and a half seasons, but somehow the show makes it all work (well, mostly). When Rebekah revealed the history of her family, the origins of werewolves, the original vampires, her brother as a hybrid, the sun and the moon curse, and everything in between, it... actually made a lot of sense! Sure there are certain things that we just kind of ignore, but for the most part, the writers put it altogether in a way that worked. No small feat, that. The show also manages to impart all of that history and mythology in a captivating way. Seriously, where most shows put me to sleep with plot exposition and info dumps, TVD makes those some of their best episodes. Seriously, in a recent episode, the entirety of the actual action that took place was Elena talking to Rebekah while Damon and Stefan hung out. Sounds like a snooze-fest, but it was exciting, revelatory, and fabulous. Best of all? Elena and Stefan, who used to be on the bland and boring side, have become interesting and badass in their own ways. Evil Stefan is even better than I would have guessed and Elena has finally taken some control over her life. Now if we can just kill off Bonnie and Matt, we'll be good to go!

THE GOOD WIFE
This is one show that has received a fair bit of press on this blog (more so than the other deserving entries on this list), but I promise, it's still not enough. That this is one of the best dramas on TV goes against so many factors. The show airs on network TV, said network is CBS of all things, the show features actual adults, it tackles sensitive issues like religion, politics, and money in just about every episode, it's been moved around on the schedule, and it skews older in terms of demographic (for some unknown reason). And yet, it survives. This show is smart and sexy and has more than a few serial elements to it. In a network viewing landscape that has seen the success of one crappy crime procedural after another, The Good Wife bucks the trend. Thank god! Season 2 was absolutely amazing. Seriously, the last 5 or 6 episodes could each have served as the jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching season finale, but they just kept piling on the awesome, episode after episode, culminating in one of the best season finales I've ever seen. So good, in fact, that had the show been unjustly axed after season 2, it could have served as one hell of a send off. Season 3 hasn't quite kept pace with the insanity of the last half of season 2, but it's building slowly and surely. One of the most heartbreaking factors of season 2, Kalinda and Alicia's falling out, reverberates through season 3 in a very real, restrained way. One of the things I've always loved best about the show is that the female characters are allowed to have layers, agendas, and a well-rounded presence on the screen. They're also allowed to be friends. On most shows, women are invariably pitted as sexual rivals. On The Good Wife, as with the real world, women are friends, they support one another, and form complex bonds and relationships with one another. Seeing Kalinda and Alicia, the best of friends, fall apart was devastating, but seeing the slow easing of tensions over season 3 has been incredibly rewarding. This show knows how to hit all the right buttons and it doesn't casually forget about things that have happened before. I'm constantly amazed at how a person, an event, or a piece of information comes back many episodes later like a lightning bolt. This show has an amazing cast, an enviable list of guest stars, and Eli Gold to boot. Alan Cumming is completely magnetic as Eli, but this is so good that even when he's not in an episode, I don't notice until long after the show is done. As with The Vampire Diaries, The Good Wife knows how to economize storytelling. If they don't need a character, they don't have that character. Case closed. (Heh, get it? Case closed? They're lawyers? I'll shut up now.)

SHAMELESS
Any and all US imports of British shows are met with extreme scrutiny and prejudice from this humble TV watcher. The same goes for animated shows being adapted to live action. In general, I simply don't see the point. In most cases, the original is by far the superior and a remake or adaptation seems unnecessary and counter-intuitive. It's with this bias in mind that I'm surprised at how much I grew to love Showtime's US adaptation of Shameless, a raunchy British program that I was honestly not too familiar with. To this day, I've only seen a couple of the episodes of the British series, but to my delight, the US adaptation took the principles of its predecessor, made the show its own, and made it really damn good. It took me a couple of episodes to really invest in the show, finding William H. Macy's character to be more of a hindrance than a celebrity draw, but as the show settled in and found its feet, it managed to craft interesting, complex characters whose interdynamics sucked me right in. At its heart, Shameless is about a family. For all of its dysfunction, and there plenty to go around, at the end of the day, the burdens and traumas they suffer makes them one of the closest knit families on TV. When you're that poor, that desperate, and that downtrodden, all you have is each other. The family simply has to work together just to survive. On a less dire level, I can relate. My family was by no means as bad off as the Gallagher clan, but it was very clear to all of us from a very young age that we don't have the luxury of bickering or fighting or holding petty grudges. We're all in this together, and a lot of the time, that's all we have. In speaking with other people, I'm constantly amazed at how well my family got along, how close we all were (and are), and how willing we are to give relatives money without any expectation of repayment. I always assumed all families were like that when I was a kid, but as it turns out, we were in the minority. Anyhow, with the Gallaghers, this hits home in a number of social, psychological, and financial ways. It was so heartbreaking to watch Fiona, the eldest daughter turned mother, trying to break free of all the responsibility, only to find that she simply couldn't. The last few episodes of the season were tremendous and showed how this kind of close-knit dependence on one another has its wonderful aspects and also its insidious underpinnings. Her siblings want her to go, they know she's paid her dues, but she just can't leave them. What started out as a raunchy dramedy that was trying too hard to be shocking quickly morphed into a searing character piece with the family unit as a whole being the most important single character of all. It's been gone for entirely too long and I can't wait for season 2 to premiere early next year.

**HONORABLE MENTIONS**

Alphas
It's a genre show, but it genuinely managed to put a new spin on an old routine. Most importantly for any genre show, it focused on the characters as much as the storyline, so that helped turn it into quite a quality program by the end of its first season.

The Chicago Code
Gone, but not forgotten. I'm not a huge fan of cop shows, but this one was excellent. It's ratings weren't spectacular, but they were steady and decent. This show really had Fox's once chance at any kind of dramatic critical acclaim, but they opted for poorly crafted CG dinosaurs and a bickering family that just refused to get eaten by them instead. Boo.

Nikita
Season 2 hasn't quite had the same focus or narrative drive as season 1, but this show is still a solid genre show that knows how to craft a spy thriller. Covert Affairs should take notice. This show is 15 times more entertaining and exciting on 1/10th the budget. Where Covert Affairs is so bland this year the background is more interesting than the story, Nikita takes what it has and makes the most of it.

Hell on Wheels
I'm... not entirely sure why I'm enjoying this show so much. Nothing... really... happens. But, I find I get swept up in whatever is happening on screen and I don't seem to mind that over the course of several episodes, we've basically built 10 feet of railroad and... ridden some horses? Whatever the reason, I'm digging it.

Boardwalk Empire
If my list above were a top 11, this would have made the cut. It made last year's list, but their second season took a lot time to really get me enthralled. I got several episodes behind because I just didn't feel very invested anymore, but once I got caught up, I could appreciate that in a number of ways, it was better than ever.

White Collar
Aside from Suits, this is really the only other USA network offering that I'm excited about. This last year the show hit quite a stride, and while there were some casting decisions I still can't believe, on the whole, this is a light, fun caper with enough depth to keep me eagerly anticipating its return next month. And then, of course, there's Matt Bomer, so it may as well be a freeze-frame for 42 minutes and I'd be just as pleased.

Aside from my overall top shows of the year (and well-deserving honorable mentions), there were some other odds and ends and categories that I just had to include in my year-end review as well. Here are some random judgments and dubious distinctions...

Shows that Showed Signs of Recovery Only to Flatline Once Again:

• Glee
  After the craptastic second season, I had pretty low expectations for season 3. When the season started off and seemed to have gained a slight grasp of continuity and storytelling, I was ready to put this in the Most Improved Show category... Until a few episodes ago when it all got shitty again. Seriously, that Christmas episode was even more painful than usual.
  
  
• How I Met Your Mother
  Started off a bit better than expected, but then Lily and Marshall got pregnant, then Robin got pregnant, or didn't... oh, who the hell cares. It was awful either way.
  
  

Worst Hair and/or Clothes:

• Robin (How I Met Your Mother)
  Apparently barrenness leads to hideous hair and horrible wardrobe choices? That's all I can guess, because why else would they make her look that way?
  
  
• The Entire Cast (Parenthood)
  Okay, maybe not the entire cast, but I think it's safe to say they hit critical mass about 3 characters back. When you hit 80%, is there any real reason to split hairs? (Heh, get it? Oh lord, that pun was almost as bad as Haddie's permed bangs... sorry about that.)
  
  
• Dr. Reid (Criminal Minds)
  Not going to lie, he's the reason I started watching the show. His look and persona were a huge part of the draw. Now he has this unfortunate fuzzy, choppy something or other on his head and it just takes the charm away...
  
  
• Rachel (Glee)
  The storytelling wasn't the only casualty during season 2...
  
  

Best Chemistry:

• Damon and Elena (The Vampire Diaries)
  A lot of real-life couples fall flat on screen, but these two totally sizzle. Seriously, that (fully-clothed) scene where he ran his hand along her ribs was sexier than some of the most explicit sex scenes I've seen.
  
  
• Eli and Kalinda (The Good Wife)
  They may not be sleeping together (that I know of... that would be kind of awesome, actually), but the rapport between Alan Cumming and Archie Panjabi is completely irresistible. Eli's chemistry with just about anyone is giggle-worthy and fabulous, but with Kalinda, he sees a true peer. He doesn't bullshit her the way he does other people and she doesn't try to manipulate him the way should would someone else. The professional courtesy is hilarious and undeniable.
  
  
• Nolan and Tyler (Revenge)
  These two are both so conniving, so manipulative, and so driven that it's hard to know just what to make of them as a pair, but one thing is for sure, their chemistry is sexy as hell. Although Tyler might claim otherwise, I'm guessing they're both about a 3 on the Kinsey scale, so anything goes. Their couple portmanteau is "TyleNol" by the way, which is just about the best I've ever seen.
  
  

Speaking of Magnetism on Screen, Here are My Irrational TV Crushes of 2011:

• Robb Stark (Game of Thrones)
  It took me a while to really connect with the show, but his presence among the cast was never an equivocal one.
  
  
• Jesse Pinkman (Breaking Bad)
  Aaron Paul is such a tremendous actor that yes, I kinda sorta really adore a murderer/drug dealer. I mainly just want to give the guy a hug. He certainly needs one.
  
  
• Harvey Specter (Suits)
  As I mentioned above, I'm a little surprised by this one, but Gabriel Macht is just beautiful and he manages to make a slick, corporate, 1 percenter unbelievably sexy.
  
  
• Johnny Iuzzini (Top Chef: Just Desserts)
  Love him. Aside from being talented, charming, and easy on the eyes, he's a bit of a gay icon and he's totally fine with that (even though he's straight). That wins him a hell of a lot of points in my book. Rather than being threatened by attention from the gay community, he embraces it. WIN.
  
  
• Seymour Birkoff (Nikita)
  I know, I know, of all the beautiful people on that show, I'm in love with the snarky computer nerd. That's just how I roll. Not that Michael or Owen or Ryan or anyone else isn't a winner, but my heart belongs to Birkoff.
  
  
• Nikita (Nikita)
  Okay, it belongs to Birkoff or Nikita. It's a toss-up. Maggie Q is amazing. She simply could not be any more fabulous. Or badass. Or gorgeous. Could I be her when I grow up? Pretty please? Ooh, or Kalinda!
  
  
• Hardison (Leverage)
  It's a mid-level show, to be sure, but Hardison makes it all worth it. He's far and away the best part of the show and certainly the easiest to look at.
  
  
• Mitchell (Being Human UK)
  Goddamn, he's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, he slaughtered a train full of people... Still beautiful. Sometimes, it's what's on the outside that counts.
  
  
• Paulo (The Borgias)
  Okay, I admit his hair is not doing him any favors, but that's what you get when you're cast in a period piece. That said, Luke Pasqualino will always be Freddie to me and that's really all it takes. My darling Freddie (sob). Love him. Unfortunate historically-accurate haircut and all.
  
  
• Nolan (Revenge)
  He may not be the most conventionally attractive guy on the show, but for me, personality, character, and intelligence count for about 80%. Being a 3 on the Kinsey scale certainly doesn't hurt either.
  
  
• Tim Gutterson (Justified)
  His character is pretty much the exact opposite of what I would ever really want, but I just adore him. Seriously, a law enforcement officer with a history in the military? Yikes. And yet, his manner is so appealing and his demeanor so chill, I just can't help myself.
  
  
• Jai Wilcox (Covert Affairs)
  Sure it took me an entire season to stop calling him Mohinder, but that in no way diminishes the pretty. It's a very attractive cast in general (you know, as opposed to all those shows with ugly people), but he takes the cake. Not that he'd be able to eat it, but still. It may be a boring show, but the scenery is nice.
  
  
• Damon (The Vampire Diaries)
  No list of TV crushes would be complete without Damon Salvatore making an entry. It's a plain and simple fact that's beyond reproach or argument.

Well, kiddies, I think that's it for me this year. I'm hoping to be less of a slacker as the new year begins, but I excel at not giving a shit. We'll see. Happy viewing!