Hello! Wow it's been a while since the last blog - disappeared for a while there but Badgersmuffin and I are back with a new blog! Hope you haven't forgotten me! :)

We thought a brilliant blog to return with would be one listing our favourite and least favourite moments in TV for this year since it should be fresh in everyone's memory! Since I've seen the current seasons of only five shows I thought I'd choose one best moment per show!

Enjoy! And let me know what your favs were!!

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Warning: This Blog contains spoilers! If you have not seen the most recent series of Chuck, Pushing Daisies, CSI, Bones or Dollhouse but plan without spoilers to then you may not want to read!

And remember, these choices is my opinion so don't hate :)

....First a few things I didn't enjoy so much....

CSI - Too much focus on Langston....Yes we know he's Lawrence Fishburne, Morpheus from The Matrix but please does he have to solve EVERY case!? It's an ensemble cast, give Nick, Catherine and Greg a little more screen time - Please!

Bones Finale - does anyone else feel a little cheated!?... Don't promise every Bones fan the one thing they've wanted since the very first episode of the show only to provide us with a pretty cheap trick. The episode was good, but as a finale - not so good! And don't even get me started on the memory loss thing....

Pushing Daisies - so much potential, not enough time... A negative aimed solely at the Network , its annoying that stories had to be hurried and finished in time for the finale. Ned's brothers and dad, Chuck's dad, Emerson's search for his daughter, Ned's feelings for Olive... all were rushed to a resolution or even left unresolved. That said, they did the best they could!

...Ok, lets not dwell of the negatives and get on with the positives(nb: in no particular order!)!

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1. Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies - Season 2)

"...It's crazy. It's like imagining us as hobbits. Or on jet packs. Or hobbits on jet packs."

I liked Olive from season 1 of PD, she was funny and sassy but I always preferred Chuck and Ned since their relationship was incredibly cute. Plus Olive's crush on the Pie Maker made her less interesting and anti-Chuck - which I hated. Season two Olive was so much better, funnier and probably the most entertaining of the main cast. She had a lot more screentime away from The Pie Hole, spent more time helping them solve mysteries and had a cute new love interest in the end- all of which helped me begin to completely adore her character. Kristin Chenoweth plays her brilliant, who'd have thought someone so tiny could steal any scene she's in - plus, what a voice! Olive Highlights: Olive as a nun, Pigby (!!), secret handshake with Chuck, "Comfort Food" - every scene, Olive mack (!), and Randy Mann (Aw).

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2. Episode: "Turn Turn Turn" (CSI - Season 9, Episode 16)

CSI main characters have been dropping like flies recently (a metaphor our much loved bug-man, Grissom, would appreciate) Fact: CSI Has not been the same since Grissom left or even Sara and Warrick for that matter. But "Turn Turn Turn" made me believe it was possible for the show to live on without them. The story centres around the lovely Nick who is called to a motel where a young girl is found murdered; the episode sees Nick remembering the previous crimes he's investigated at the same motel and the realisation that they are all connected. I loved the episode because, first, it's a new twist to the usual episode storyarc, secondly, it's an emotional episode centring on Nick (all previous episodes as such have been of top quality: Grave Danger 1 & 2, Gum Drops) and thirdly, god does Nick know how to cry!! Now if the CSI writers can just produce a few more killer episodes like this next season they will please a lot more fans!

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3. Dollhouse - Whiskey's backstory (Season 1, Episode 11/12)

"...imprint the broken Doll..."

The last few episodes of Dollhouse were fantastic and the revelation that Dr. Saunders was a Doll was brilliant - complete shock! The flashbacks to her past as a doll provided not only a backstory for Whiskey but also for Alpha and how he became 'broken'. I was always curious about the scars on Dr. Saunders' face, and why Alpha had only scarred her but not killed her. So seeing this as his first outward act of violence was interesting and shocking. Although I think, the flashbacks failed to show why Alpha was so obsessed with Echo - we, as viewers, saw throughout the whole season how different she was to the other dolls - but we didn't really see how Alpha knew. Anyway, I digress.... The scenes between Topher and Saunders' were brilliant and left a few unanswered questions - why did Topher make her hate him!? Seeing Saunders walk away from the potential to know the truth about her life before she was a doll is a great sentiment to her character and how important she sees her role as doctor and protector of the Dolls. Amy Acker once again proving she is a brilliant actress!

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4. Booth & Brennan's Circus act (Season 4, Episode 12)

A very silly episode but also weird and very funny; I loved seeing Booth & Brennan go undercover again, especially Brennan who seems to just completely let go of herself sometimes when in character. But it's the Knife throwing act in particular which I remember the most from the episode purely for the expression on Brennan's face (one of pure glee) throughout the whole performance. Ok, so the first time I watched it I did so peering through my own hands but that just made the performance all the more entertaining. Brennan's immense trust in Booth is shown often in the show, but mostly figuratively or spoken in 'anthropological terms'. But in this scene is shown quite literally - she places her life in Booth's hands and trusts him completely with it. On the surface it's a wonderfully silly scene with a beaming, one-eyed, Brennan skipping around the stage, but underneath there's a heart-warming subtext!

5. Casey's 'High C' - Chuck versus the Sensei (Season 2, Episode 9)

Check out the scene here!

John Casey, a big, sarcastic "seething mass of pain" and former choirboy apparently!? This is the moment I went from liking Casey to loving him! Hilarious moment, which caught me completely off-guard, and made me burst out laughing instantly. Chuck and Sarah's reaction are fantastic too! It's amazing how one little moment can make you fall in love with a character, but it is a brilliant moment. One of many for Casey. (Close 2nd place was "Chuck Versus the Cougars" as its one of my favourite Sarah episodes!)

Hope you enjoyed my picks....I've missed blogging...let me know what you think and what some of your choices would be :)

Challenge 11: Character Entrances

The Challenge:

Pick five character entrances you like, the scenes have to be the first time you saw that character as a viewer rather than a flashback to the character's past. Describe the scene, pick a quote which symbolise the scene you picked and how you react/ed to the entrance. To make it interesting we had to try and pick different characters to our usual choices so the selection reflects diversity over 'absolute favourite'. I've tried to pick character intros I remember over characters I love; I've also tried to pick a range of character entrances, both funny and dramatic (the majority are dramatic since they seem to be the ones which stick in my mind)

Here goes...Enjoy :)

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The Dramatic Entrance:

Claire Bennett (Heroes)

Season 1:Episode 1 - Genesis

The Scene: shaky handheld camera, girl in a cheerleader outfit runs up some steps of a derelict structure, hangs off the edge, screams, Thud, gets up, pops arm back in socket, stares at camera

"This is Claire Bennett. That was attempt number six"

Ok 'ew ew ew' is the big reaction, of course, to the horrible arm crunching but I remember literally yelping when she jumped because it really shocked me. I think I was expecting her to fly or something rather than sort of 'Jump-Scream-THUD'. I liked that they put her in a cheerleading outfit - not in that way - but it just created an odd combination of images. The scene also sets the character of Claire up quickly and easily; she's popular but holds a dark secret. I kind of always liked Claire in the first season because she was never really helpless and this scene shows that perfectly. Very dramatic entrance to a show

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The "Oh my god" Entrance:

Irina Derevko (Alias)

Season 1, Episode 22 - "Almost Thirty Years"

The Scene: Sydney strapped to a chair, sitting with "The Man", guy tells her he isnt "The Man", gets up, silhouette of a woman walks into the room, cut to Sydney's face, shock

"Mom?"

You don't even see her face, only her shadowed figure and voice before panning to Sydney's face and her reaction - that's what makes this scene so cool. The scene wasn't about the viewer and how we would react when we saw her, it was about Sydney and her reaction. It wasn't a scene I particularly remembered well for any sort of drama or over the top craziness just the perfectly tense cliffhanger. I always just remember Sydney's reaction before quickly jamming Disc 1 of season two into my DVD player - tense stuff!

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The Funny Entrance:

Angela Montenegro (Bones)

(As you can see, I've cut my screenshot to give the girl her dignity)

Season 1, Epsiode 1 - Pilot

The Scene: Woman walks up to arrivals board, board broken, tries to catch people's attention, walks up to attendant, attendant silences her, tries to talk, attendant silences her again, woman rolls eyes, flashes bra

"Was Guatemala awful? Was it horribly backward?"

I remember this one because I think it really suits her character; you look back at the first episode of many shows and you can see how much the writers have 'tweeked' characters over time. But I still think Angela's entrance fits her personality - off the wall, weird and abrupt. It always makes me chuckle when I see it

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The Perfect Entrance:

Clark Kent (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman)

Season 1, Episode 1 - Pilot (1)

The Scene: Bus pulls up, man steps out, puts down case (C.K.), looks around, cut to bus skidding down the road out of control, man looks over, people walking across the road oblivious, bus halts just in front of old lady, man looks around and runs off, old lady points at bus, hand print.

When you're introducing Superman/Clark Kent you have to do it right because it has the potential to be awesome. I think this one does a pretty good job; yes its quite cheesy (two nuns, a lady with a pram, some children and an old lady all happen to be walking across the road as a bus hurtles uncontrollably down the street - cue, Clark Kent!) but it has two signature moments for me, seeing the 'C.K.' on Clark's case and seeing the handprint on the bus. I can't remember Clark's entrance in Smallville but I don't think it was as perfect as this one. Plus, Dean Cain - dreamy!

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The 'rip your heart out and hand it back to you' Entrance:

Illyria (Angel)

Season 5, Episode 15 - A Hole in the World

The Scene: Fred lying in Weasley's arms, dead, Weasley hugs her, her eyes turn blue, body starts to shake, Weasley is thrown backwards, camera pans away from Fred's body, Illyria stands up, looks at her new body, looks up

"This will do"

It took me a while to decide on this, my fifth and final pick; I'll admit Angel was the last place I wanted to look as it's been so long since I've seen it. But I can't think of many other character entrances which are as heart-wrenching as this one. Just as I was sobbing my little heart out at the death of my beloved Fred there's an evil looking Smurfette on my screen - "Hang on a sec..." -Fade to Black-

Dramatic. Marvellous.

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I hope you enjoyed reading. Let me know some of your choices?

Sorry - haven't blogged in a while - a mixture of being mega busy and mega uninspired! The new site layout disorientated me slightly and caused me to shy away from the site a little more. I won't rant about the likes and dislikes I have, I just hope the bugs are sorted if nothing else..

Anyway, a new challenge is here (yey!)

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Challenge 10 - Guilty Pleasures - We all have music, films or hobbies we're embarrassed about but love secretly! Now's the time to name and shame....split into five categories; TV, Music, Film, actors and misc (hobbies, etc)

Disclaimer: The below embarrassing items of media wonder are clas*fied as such by the author (me!) and by definition are not intended to harm or criticise anyone else who may enjoy these products or those who consider them 'cool'.

(In otherwords, all the things I've mentioned in my blog are embarrassing for me to like, but please don't get offended! It's all subjective and a little bit of fun!)

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Television

I'm not embarrassed of too many TV shows I watch, I'm into some superhero cartoons like Justice League, X-Men and Batman which is not something I'd admit to many people I've just met; I am a 'superhero fangirl' so although embarrassing, its more of an embarrassing extreme to my personality! One that's terribly embarrassing considering my personality is Laguna Beach - I really enjoyed it. I have no idea why because the people on the show epitomise everything I hate about young people these days but god I love it! :) Don't hate me, anyone who loves Laguna Beach or The Hills - it's just very not 'me' and therefore incredibly embarrassing! I also adore Pocoyo, a kiddie show narrated by Stephen Fry; I dated an animation student at university so I blame that! Really it's just too cute to be embarrassing...no really it is I swear!! :D

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Music

My music taste has always been a little random, I like a bit of No Doubt, Daft Punk I'm even partial to a bit of Marilyn Manson but also - and here's my guilty pleasure - Britney Spears. :oops: Let me first say, I was 12 years old when she first 'burst onto the scene' so I was the niche market she appealed to (along with pervy old men!). She was the first popstar I was obsessed with so I've defended her to the hills through all her recent years of troubles (despite the fact that the girl clearly went ga-ga for a few years!). I love listening her music when I'm doing housework; I'm a proper old-school Britney fan and, yep, I'm damn proud of it (but also, yes deeply ashamed!) Most pop divas don't have the luxury of my pride, most I say are awful but secretly love; I have a bit of Shania Twain on my ipod (my mum's fault!) and of course Mariah Carey! I also like Girl Aloud who are just pure poppy trash (for my American friends, Girls Aloud won an 'American Idol' type competition in the UK; in otherwords they are entirely manufactured).

(A more innocent time :oops: )

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Film

I own the whole Fast and Furious collection and I'm currently in a brief over the top obsession stage with them. I'm also dead excited for the fourth instalment which I will be forcing my friends to go and see - secretly of course, outwardly I will seem as uninterested as possible! I know nothing about cars really and I'm not a 14 year old boy so this guilty pleasure is yet another baffling one! Even worse is that my favourite instalment so far is probably Tokyo Drift which is easily also the worst and cheesiest. On to another set of films, Scooby Doo I've watched too many times (the shameful reason is given below) even though it is awful beyond words... Princess Diaries also make me feel warm and fuzzy when I watch them (that's Disney for ya!) and I admit that I watch them for a much needed bit of innocence in my life. Sometimes as well, my friend Katherine (yes I'm bringing you into this one!) and I fast-forward through Bring In On just to watch the last 10 minutes and then moan about how the Toros SO had the better routine! :lol:

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Actors/Character

I have a crush on Velma from the Scooby Doo :question: it's a geek thing. Or an intelligence thing.. Or maybe it's an orange jumper thing? Who knows but either way it's a little weird. Linda Cardellini made her almost geeky-sexy in the live action films which is where the shameful crush manifests from but I think its harboured from an earlier affection to the cartoon version. Whatever the reason, it is without a doubt a baffling crush! Another more normal crush, but one I've been too embarrassed to admit is Michael Cera (he was in Juno by the way - I loved him in those little yellow shorts), he has a real geeky charm I find so crushsome!

(*sigh* :P )

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Miscellaneous

I'm not OCD at all but I recently listed all my DVDs and games I own on a Microsoft Access spreadsheet; each have a picture of the DVD cover attached....oh the shame... I'm also absolutely obsessed with making sure my ipod playlist is impeccably neat (i.e. no duplicate songs, all band name correctly written, all songs in order) which again suggests I'm a little obsessive-compulsive but I'm honestly not....I just take pride in my gadgets :) It's also been explained to me by certain members of my family that naming my computer is incredibly odd - which I agree with, but this hasn't stopped me naming my new computer! Derek!

Well I've named and shamed most of my more awful embarrassments. Anyone have any they wish to share? Promise I won't laugh!! :D

Since it's the last day of August I guess it's the end of summer (well I think summer finished sometime in July over here...damn weather) so therefore the end of my summer mission. Badgersmuffin has already put me to shame by the amount of shows she's watched over the summer but here's my original list of possible shows to watch;

CSI (Season 8 ), Dexter (Season 1), Pushing Daisies (Season 1), Heroes (Season 2), Smallville (Season 5 +), House (Season 3+), Alias (Season 5), Reaper (Season 1)

So here's what I managed to watch;

CSI (Season 8 ) - I love this show but I didn't take to early season 8 quite as much as I have other seasons so I stopped watching it before the writers' strike. The rest of season 8 has actually been pretty watchable, there have been some real bad episode (Two and a Half Deaths) but also some really excellent ones (You Kill Me; For Gedda). There were some really good standalone episodes in there too, which are usually my favourite! I'll definitely try and keep up with the show in season 9

Dexter (Season 1) - Took me a while to get through it and admittedly I wasn't as hooked as I thought I'd be but I'm glad I've seen it now. Michael C. Hall is fantastic as Dexter, and his voiceovers add a great likability to the character. Rita is also a great character, her scenes with Dexter are tragicly sweet. I'm looking forward to season 2 of the show but I will probably give myself a break before I get into it!

Friends (Seasons 1-6) - Not on my original list but I've always wanted to go back and watch the whole show in order. I much prefer the earlier seasons when the characters are less ironed out, towards the latter seasons they become more caricatures of themselves. The show is still making me laugh out loud quite often so you can't really fault it as a comedy show. I'll continue to watch it to the end of season 10, but I'll stick to a slower paced viewing as the characters are starting to annoy me a little!

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I don't think I'll set anymore TV missions for the moment since its kind of TV'd me out temporarily! But I'm glad I've picked up two new shows in Dexter and Pushing Daisies which was pretty much the aim of the summer - yey mission accomplished! Anyway, looking forward to Bones starting next week!

Finally we come to part four - the finale - of our Emmy Inspired 'Best-ever' awards. The awards this time are the most prestigious; outstanding episode and series for both comedy and drama....

THE FIRST AND ONLY BEST EVER EMMYS (PART FOUR)

PART FOUR - OUTSTANDING EPISODE, OUTSTANDING SERIES

And the awards go to....

Outstanding Episode - Comedy "Fat Butt and Pancake Head" South Park/"The One Where Everybody Finds Out" Friends

I love both these episodes for different reasons obviously, being that they are entirely different shows! I couldn't decide between the two so I'm cheating a little here - both episodes win! Fat Butt and Pancake Head is the funniest episode of South Park ever! (See clip: Taco Flavoured Kisses) Its South Park at its most stupidest which is why I love it so much. Pretty much the entire reason I love this episode so much is because of Cartman's Jennifer Lopez impressions which always make me giggle. Awesome episode! The One Where Everybody Finds Out has always been my favourite Friends episode since I first saw it, and going back and watching the whole lot again hasn't changed my opinion. Every character has a great moment or two in this episode (except maybe Ross...) and it's got lots of Phoebe and Chandler in it - so you can't go wrong. Plus, this is the episode where Chandler admits he's in love with Monica which is such a cute and mushy moment.

Outstanding Episode - Drama "Grave Danger" (Parts 1 & 2) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

First of all, its Quentin Tarantino. Second of all, its Quentin Tarantino...and thirdly...ok you get the picture! Grave Danger was the first episode of CSI where I went from thinking it was a cool show to thinking it was an awesome show. This episode has me completely on edge every time I watch it, which is sad because I know the ending now but I still somehow always think they won't get to Nick until it's too late. I love CSI as a show because I can watch three or four episodes to fill an evening and I don't have to get too emotionally involved in it; so it's odd that my favourite episode would be one where I do the opposite. I guess the episode is so smartly written and directed that I can't help but love it - when CSI throws in those moments which require the audience to get involved, they do a pretty good job of it.

Outstanding Comedy Series The Vicar of Dibley

I'm going for a British show here because, being British, nothing is funnier (surprisingly..). I grew up watching Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders make fools of themselves, back when everything they touched turned to comedy gold. They've both had great success in their individual side projects; Absolutely Fabulous (Jennifer Saunders) and The Vicar of Dibley (Dawn French). Out of the two shows, which I both love, I prefer Dibley because I love the whole sane main character surrounded by a bunch of loonys thing; whereas Ab Fab they are all pretty crazy. As British comedies go I think its easily one of the best, I'm not a fan of the new breed (Little Britain, Catherine Tate Show) so I'll stick to the old stuff :)

Outstanding Drama Series Veronica Mars

Its difficult to choose the best drama in my opinion, pretty much because all I watch is drama shows but I've made the very tough decision and chosen Veronica Mars. For a long time I would have said Buffy, but despite how special that show is to me - being the first show I ever got into in my teens; I sometimes find it difficult to watch. I guess that comes with the territory with having seven season, there are always going to be bits that you wont like. But the fact is, without even realising it I completely fell in love with Veronica Mars when I first watched it. Its smart, its funny, its entertaining and its cool; but what makes it so special is that I could easily watch a season of the show in one sitting - which for me is a big thing. I like that there's very little that ruins it for me, and maybe that's because its only three season long? But really, I think it's because it's such a smart and funny show.

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There you go! I hope you've enjoyed reading! Let me know what your choices would be! :D

Part three of our Emmy-inspired challenges...the categories this time are for writing (Comedy and Drama) and title theme (overall) Here goes...

THE FIRST AND ONLY BEST-EVER EMMYS (PART THREE)

PART THREE - BEST WRITING AND TITLE MUSIC...

And the Awards go to....

Best Writing in a Comedy Series South Park

I like South Park, I'm sure that's going to lower some peoples opinions of me - its an acquired taste! I'm not always a fan and the humour doesn't always make me laugh but as comedy shows go it's quite politically and culturally driven. A lot of shows are quite satire and tongue-in-cheek but I love the way South Park does it. Maybe it's the way they can be very gross and intelligent in the same scene. The humour on the show has gotten a lot smarter in the latter seasons, obviously it's still obnoxious and crude, but it usually surrounds a storyline which is currently relevant.

Best Writing in a Drama Series Buffy The Vampire Slayer

(Love this pic :D)

This was a really difficult pick for me, for a while I was going for Bones as it's a smart show with great dialogue. But I've gone with Buffy because it has so much depth; there's great witty dialogue of course, which is a given on any show helmed by Joss Whedon. The characters are always so quick-witted and yes, its kind of unrealistic but who watches a show about a girl who kills vampires for the 'realism' - not me! Past the snappy lines, BTVS also has some wonderfully written emotional scenes and they are always written in a completely unique way (The yellow crayon speech just one example which springs to mind). Its a fantastic show for so many reasons but its underlined by a great foundation of wonderful writing

Outstanding Title Theme Music (Comedy or Drama) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Who "Who Are You"

I absolutely love the theme for CSI Vegas, nothing gets me into an episode more than a cheesy one liner followed by some loud kick-a** rock music. Its so cheesy but to hell with it, I love it! Whats great about it, is that it goes with the show so well, its loud, its brass, its over the top, its cheesy and its shiny (I know sounds cant technically be 'shiny' but work with me here...) - and that's CSI. There were a couple of close seconds, Friends (The Rembrants "I'll be there for you" - upbeat, again, fits with the show perfectly) and House (Massive Attack - "Teardrops"; mellow sounding, but it's not on the end credits and not on some DVD releases).

Lets all relive the awesomeness;

CSI - The Who

Thanks for reading :) Part four(the final part) coming soon!

I did it! :D

Yep, I finally finished season one of Dexter!

As some of you may know it's taken me a while to finish but I finally got there! I've just written a review so I won't go in to huge details but all in all I loved it. It has its bad points; the supporting characters aren't the greatest but Dexter is an amazing character. I had my reservations at first, I wasn't sure if he was likeable enough to sustain my interest but he's proved me wrong - awesome character! And I can't even begin on Rita, I loved her, she ends up in such a great place emotionally. By the last three episodes I was hooked on the story completely! Overall, I really enjoyed the Ice Truck Killer story; some good twists, not all surprising but one or two had me pretty much :shock:

So, yeah, on to CSI! Looking forward to a free weekend coming up (a very rare thing these days) so I can sit around in my pyjamas and watch some TV shows! (Between watching the Olympics which I'm totally hooked on at the moment)

Anyway, hope everyone is good :)

Yey! Part two of our fake Emmys! Same as part one, only this time its the turn of the dramatic actors and actresses. Enjoy..

THE FIRST AND ONLY 'BEST-EVER' EMMYS (PART TWO)

PART TWO - BEST IN DRAMA...

And the awards go to....

Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan (Dexter)

I've not been watching Dexter long but it's easy to see that Michael Hall is a great actor. I caught a few episodes of Six Feet Under a few years back and I was a fan of him then. In Dexter, he manages to play the sweet guy role alongside the psycho with seeming ease. A character like Dexter is a difficult one to play, it doesn't require a lot of emotional range as such, just very subtle, underplayed emotions.

Lead Actress in a Drama Series Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow (Alias)

What impresses me most about Jen Garner is how she manages to carry the series of Alias so well. I will admit that I'm not always the hugest fan of Sydney but Garner makes her likable. The stories in Alias are totally over the top but I love how she carries the emotional scenes so perfectly. She's the type of actress that you can't help but like, and I was glad she stayed with the series even when she became successful movie-wise. I think that's an example a lot of young actresses on TV need to follow. You are never bigger than your show.

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls (Veronica Mars)

Arguably Logan is a "Lead character" but to hell with it...I'm allowed to cheat this once! I absolutely adore Jason Dohring, I think he is so amazing In Veronica Mars. Comedicly, he delivers every snidey line perfectly but also makes you want to hug him when he delivers one of his emotional speeches. You love him, even when he's hates Veronica. Plus, although not a 'shipper', I have to say, an abbreviation of a couples separate names which makes "LoVe" is enough to make me want to join the Logan/Veronica boat :)

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

What can I say about Alyson Hannigan in Buffy other than 'she is absolutely amazing'? Ok, there isn't much else so I'll be simple - she is absolutely amazing and I love her. I've talked about Willow numerous times in my blogs so sorry if I repeat myself a little here! Willow grows so much as the show progresses and never do you feel that Hannigan's acting abilities hold the character back. It seems that no matter what the writers asked her to do she was able to do it. I've seen the pilot without Hannigan in it and I can say it sucked without her.

Guest Star/Recurring character - Eliza Dushku as Faith (Angel/Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

A character like Faith is an easy to play when they're being bad, and eventually downright evil. But it's harder to make you love that character in spite of all that. That's why I've gone for Eliza Dushku; she manages to show you why Faith is the way she is without saying much. At times in Buffy she was perhaps a little obvious with it, just big puppy-dog eyes, which is why I'm choosing her more for the way she was in Angel than in the former show. The scenes between Angel and Faith were some of my favourite, and both actors played the connection between two remorseful killers really well.

Challenge 9 - The annual Primetime Emmys; every year they acknowledge the finest talent on American TV (finest doesn't necessarily mean I agree with the noms!). But who would you pick if you could make your own award show, recognising actors and shows new and old....?

THE FIRST AND ONLY 'BEST-EVER' EMMYS

PART 1 - BEST IN COMEDY

And the awards go to....

Lead Actor in Comedy Series - Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder (Black Adder)

Probably my toughest pick but I wanted to make sure I picked an actor who was truly comedic beyond just the programme I picked them for. Rowan Atkinson was the first actor who sprang to mind. I am a huge fan of him in general (except maybe the most recent Mr Bean movie), everything from his line delivery to eye movement is truely brilliant. I think he is a fantastic comedy actor; his delivery of every snide remark in Blackadder is perfect.

Lead Actress in Comedy Series - Dawn French as Geraldine Granger (The Vicar of Dibley)

It's very easy to think of an actress who "plays crazy" in a comedy - those characters are the ones we remember for making us laugh. Sometimes however, the best character in a comedy is the one who is the sanest. They are us in that situation. Dawn French plays the character of the Vicar, Geraldine Granger, with just the right amount of sanity whilst still managing quite a few laughs herself. I absolutely love Dawn French in everything she does so it was an easy choice.

Supporting Actor in Comedy Series - Seth MacFarlane as the voice of Stewie, Brian, Peter and Quagmire (Family Guy)

I decided to go with something slightly different, a voiceover actor - being a part of an ensemble cast I thought it was only fair to name him best supporting actor. When you look at the characters Seth MacFalane provides the voices for (Brian, Stewie, Peter, and Quagmire), well, they are the best characters in the show. To me, that proves what a fantastic voice actor he is. If you listen to Quagmire next to Stewie, you wouldn't even realise it was the same person. He deserves the award due to the fantastic comedic range he shows with only his voice.

Supporting Actress in Comedy Series - Megan Mullally as Karen Walker (Will and Grace)

I don't expect everyone to agree with this choice. The character of Karen is one you either love or you hate. But this award is for Megan Mullally the actress and not the character. I think her timing is fantastic, her chemistry with ALL the other actors really comes across in every scene she is in. She also deserves it based on that voice, yes its shrill and annoying but also hilarious - how does she keep it up!!?

Guest Star/Recurring character - Michael Jackson as Leon Kompowsky (The Simpsons)

My favourite episode of The Simpsons ever, it's an early show (Season 3, episode 1) featuring the crazy legend that is Michael Jackson. His performance is not comedic as such but it's the idea of a big white guy thinking he is Michael Jackson - yeah so crazy... It's a shame he didn't sing the actual "Happy Birthday Lisa" song but the episode is proof none the less that MJ did know how to take the mickey out of himself, many years ago...

I tried to go for a diverse range, some obscure, some a little more obvious. Sorry to all my non-british friends who don't know a few of my choices! :)

A couple of weeks ago I came up with my Summer Mission to watch some TV; new and old (sounds adventurous doesn't it!?)

So how am I doing so far?

.....

Dexter - I got off to a good start with Dexter, the first two episodes I watched back-to-back but I very quickly stopped there. I admit, I wasn't really completely taken with it to begin with but that is slowly changing! Thanks to a discussion sparked by one of Mafalada's blogs I now skip the title sequence which makes it so much easier to watch. I'm now 8 episodes in to the show and enjoying it more than I was - yey! It helps that I now watch it during my lunch breaks at work when I don't feel sociable (on my brand new snazzy PSP...ipod screens are too small!), although it leads to too many people poking their heads into my eye-view and asking (very annoyingly) "Whatcha watching?". Let's just say Dexter is a difficult show to explain.

So my progress on my original list ends there....pretty sucky aren't I? .....but wait, have faith! :oops:

Friends - My wonderful and useful friend Badgersmuffin owns the entire collection of the show and I've never actually watched the whole lot in order. So I had to :) I'm now onto the third season - woo!

My plan is to follow the two shows with Pushing Daisies (currently sitting on my shelf; yet another lovely loan from Badgersmuffin) and CSI. That way I can twin two completely different shows together (as I am doing currently) and hopefully not get bored of them! My attention span these days...honestly shocking!

In other news, it's my birthday in less than 2 weeks so now begins the frenzy to be sociable. But before that, hopefully should post up another joint blog/challenge with Badgersmuffin (look at that, three mentions in one blog!)