what some call insanity

actors.


Allison Janney came into my life over the summer, and I'm still annoyed with myself that it took me that long. If I had watched TWW live, I have no doubt that I would have spent way too much time fangirling her.




Jennifer Carpenter is someone I've liked for a long time - I love her character on Dexter, which is how she first came onto my radar - and over the course of season 5 I developed a total talent!crush on her.



I started watching Stargate SG-1 a little over a year ago, fully expecting to fall head over heels for Amanda Tapping; I was in no way prepared to be swept off my feet by the sarcastic, slightly grumpy silver fox that was Jack O’Neill, or the awkwardly awesome man who played him. That's what happened, though, and once I got over my inital surprise, I didn't look back! Richard Dean Anderson makes me laugh and occasionally make funny noises when he flexes his arms in certain ways, and I can't ask for much more than that, really.



Chris Colfer was another surprise, considering that a guy my own age is about as far from my type as I can imagine (which sounds quite strange when I put it like that). It was nearly impossible not to fall for Chris Colfer, though - he's so freaking perfect, I can't imagine anyone NOT having a crush on him. He's witty, brilliant, talented, and inspiring, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what 2011 brings for him.



I've wasted many hours these past few months just looking through pictures of this girl. On top of being unbelievably stunning and talented, she has a kind of grace about her that I don't usually see in girls (much less celebs) her age. She's independent, headstrong, a dreamer, and seems incredibly down to earth. I can't get over how quickly I fell for her, but I'm so glad I did - she's someone to watch.



Of all the surprises this year, Erin Gray shouldn't have been one, but wow. My friends and I went to the Big Apple Comic Con to see Mary McDonnell, and wound up spending the weekend - and following weeks - in a daze over her manager. Seriously, though - the woman is gorgeous, classy, intelligent, and really everything I love about Mary. At this point, the biggest question is how it took me so long to realize it. Better late than never, I suppose.



And, of course, Mary McDonnell herself has been #1 for several years now, and that's not going to change in the near future. This year further cemented my love and admiration for everything she chooses to be (even if not all the projects she chooses to be a part of, lol). I could go on and on about her, list a million adjectives, and it wouldn't do justice. She's chnaged my life in a lot of ways - I've met my best friends through her, I've traveled to places I might not have otherwise been, and in doing all of this, I've become a different - and in many ways, a better - person.

~~~

shows.
 

I'm still bewildered by the fact that I've become such a Gleek. I know there are a lot of issues with the show, things that would really piss me off normally, but I can't help loving it. The cast, the characters, the relationships, the music - it makes me happy, and I've quit trying to justify it to myself, because that's why I started watching TV in the first place.

 

honorable mention: 24 

 

In many ways, I hated season 8 of 24, but I can't not list it, just because it's been a major part of my life since I was 12. It introduced me to so many amazing characters and actors, and it was my first ever TV fandom; as much as the last few seasons disappointed me, they were still part of a crazy and wonderful journey.

 

honorable mention: dexter

Dexter is such a brilliant show. Last year, I think it would have been one of my top five, but season 5 didn't bowl me over in quite the same way - regardless, it's such a smart show with an amazing cast of characters that constantly makes me think and reconsider my own principles.



I've still only seen about half of the episodes, because I have no interest in seasons 9 and 10 and the plot didn't interest me nearly enough to sit through eight entire seasons. The characters, on the other hand, sucked me in; I love team dynamics, and SG-1 is that at its best. At some point I may go back and actually watch the whole thing, but as it is, I'm perfectly content rewatching the character/relationship-centric episodes that I love and occasionally indulging in a new episode.



I put off watching this show for years and years, because I knew that I would fall in love with it and I was already juggling too many fandoms. After BSG, 24, and Lost ended, I decided that it was time to go ahead and bite the bullet, and of course spent the entire summer beating myself up for not doing so sooner. The first four seasons of this show are sheer, unadulturated brilliance; even the less amazing last three seasons were better than most of what's on TV these days. It made me look at politics (both my own and generically) in an entirely new light. There's not a single weak link in the main cast, and it expertly balanced drama with the dry humor that I love. I'm already ready for a rewatch.



This is my favorite show still on the air, and with good reason - I literally had a mini dance party when I found out that it had been saved from cancellation. Glenn Close is great in anything she does – I’ve watched both Jagged Edge and Fatal Attraction within the past few weeks, and damn, the woman can act – but Patty Hewes takes the cake. She's such a mysterious, complicated character and even after three seasons I have trouble figuring out exactly what her motivations are. The driving force of the show is the relationship between Ellen and Patty, and that relationship has taken so many twists and turns that I can’t even begin to imagine how season four is going to go.



I know that a lot of people weren't thrilled with the final season of Lost, and I understand that - a lot of plotlines were left dangling. While I was invested in the plot, and loved having my mind blown on a weekly basis, the show was all about the characters and relationships for me, and I felt like that was wrapped up perfectly. Season six, like the previous five, had me on the edge of my seat every episode, and always left me feeling sucker-punched, either because of some insane plot twist or revelation, or because of some sort of character interaction that I never would have thought necessary until it happened. I miss this show ridiculously. It changed television in so many ways, all for the better.



I don’t care that this show ended almost two years ago, it’s still my favorite. I’ve started my rewatch and am falling in love with it all over again. It’s been long enough since I’ve watched it straight through that I’ve forgotten so many of the little details that made this show so spectacular – Helo’s lollipop, the brilliance of Billy’s awkwardness, the slow evolution of the Cylons (both in the fleet and on Caprica) – and that’s only within the first few episodes of season one. No show has ever affected me like this one has, and I’m glad that that hasn’t changed though the show is over.

~~~

ships.
 

I still don't understand why or how I fell for Finn/Kurt, but I did. I love all forms of the relationship - slashy, bromantic, friends, whatever. It's the main reason I'm eager for Kurt to get back from Dalton - Blaine is fine and all, but I miss this relationship.

 

honorable mention: deb/lundy (dexter)

 I know I should want Deb to be happy and all, and if Quinn can give her that, great, but Deb/Lundy is endgame for me - a bit dysfunctional, maybe, but generally a sweet and really beautiful relationship.



whenidream and I started shipping this mostly as a joke, but it became an actual thing! They got closer over the course of season seven, and there were some really lovely scenes between them in season eight; I still reject the last third of season eight as canon, and this is a major reason why. I'm glad that Ethan, at least, remained in character, but it pisses me off that they had to basically write him out of the show for that to be possible, and I'll never forgive what they did to Allison. In my mind they're living off happily ever after (along with Martha Logan, Aaron Pierce, Bill Buchanan, and Karen Hayes) where TPTB can never touch them again.


Once it became apparent what the whole sideways universe was all about, I was left on pins and needles waiting for the inevitable reunion between these two, but aware that it probably wouldn't meet my expectations. It did, though, and then some - major kudos to Josh Holloway and Elizabeth Mitchell for that. Of all the characters on the show, these two deserved a happy ending more than most of them, and though it came after a long road of pain and sorrow, it made it that much more satisfying. Both of them grew so much through each other, and it was incredible to watch.



These two are always and forever going to be one of my favorite ships - I've loved them for ten years now, and can't imagine that ever going away. It doesn't matter that I know every step of their journey inside and out, I never get tired of it; that's one reason that I love it when new movies come out, because it offers moments that might not be canon but are still lovely and new, like the piano scene. Harry/Ginny will also always be one of my favorites, but Ron and Hermione are on a different level (maybe because we got to see more of the relationship over the years) and their relationship is one of the best parts of the series.



Like I said, I still haven't seen all of Stargate, but the reason I didn't give up halfway through season one was these two. I was rewatching Upgrades and Divide and Conquer recently and my dad, who was in the room, was pretty appalled when I explained that they didn't actually get together until post s8, and even then it was offscreen. That's part of why I love them, though! They couldn't be together but they still had a life together, a life that no one but SG-1 could even dream of, and the things that kept them apart - their roles as Air Force officers, their devotion to their jobs and to the planet, and their places on SG-1 - are the things that they most loved about each other. (All of that said, I still want to see them together onscreen, so let's make that third movie happen soon, MGM!)



I'll never be free of her, nor do I want to be. Theirs is the angstiest, most depressing romance I can imagine, but that makes it all the more passionate and necessary; they found each other at the end of the worlds, grew together as leaders, found solace and comfort in each other where they couldn't find it anywhere else, and despite the tragedy of their situation, they were in some ways as happy as they'd ever been with each other. The slow build of their relationship - the awkwkardness and eventual military coup of season one to "I can't live without her" in season four - somehow turned into the greatest love story I've ever witnessed.

~~~