Best Of 2008: Top 5 Shockers

By Jen Smith
Fancast.com

The best part about television is that it never ceases to amaze us. Sometimes the underdog wins the big prize, an overzealous talk show host suffers from foot-in-mouth disease, or—even worse—an awful show gets renewed for another season. This year was a virtual see-saw of shocking moments. The effects of the writer’s strike left TV in a critical state, so perhaps the head honchos in charge tried just a wee bit too hard to get all our shows back in order. Throw in the divisive election year and you’ve got a list of bombshells for the record books. Check out our list and relive the surprises all over again.

1. Sarah Palin’s Katie Couric Interview

Sarah Palin was under tremendous heat this past year, but nothing compared to the backlash she endured after her interview with Katie Couric. Palin was supposedly expecting a “softer” interview because Couric is a woman, and was thrown off when the seasoned journalist asked the tough questions. Her biggest flub? Not being able to name a Supreme Court case besides Roe v. Wade. That, combined with her beauty pageant-type answers, caused Palin’s poll numbers to plummet. There wasn’t enough lipstick in the world to cover up this embarrassing interview.

2. Heroes Saved the Cheerleader, Killed The Show

Apparently, “Villains” was supposed to frighten us. Instead, it left us confused and frustrated. Although season three of Heroes is marginally better than season two, we’ve yet to see anything as exciting as the first season. The constant time travel, the bad dialogue, the cliché storylines, the subpar acting. While most fans are sticking in there as a thank-you for the good moments, the bad moments are overwhelming the audiences. Ratings have suffered, and so have the devoted followers. Can somebody please ask Hiro to stop time and knock some sense into the writers?

3. Friday Night Lights On DirecTV

Broadcast networks are notorious for quick to pull the trigger on fledgling TV shows, so when NBC announced a partnership with DirecTV to save fan favorite and critical darling Friday Night Lights, we were all pretty shocked. In a win-win deal, DirectTV agreed to share production costs for the privilege to air Season Three before it airs on NBC. Fans rejoiced for the reprieve, but were bummed if they didn’t have a satellite dish. With the run on DirecTV over, NBC is airing the new season starting in January on—get this—Friday nights.

4. Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, And Eli Stone Canceled—On The Same Day

Blame it on the writer’s strike. Blame it on the network suits. Blame it on Middle America. Just blame somebody for the atrocity that occurred on that fateful day in November when ABC axed three of its most promising shows: Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, and Eli Stone. Fans were outraged at the cancellations, mostly because these shows were praised for their originality and wit. Let’s just say we were sick of countless CSI spin-offs and poorly made game shows. But ABC lost faith and decided to stick to what worked.

5. Melrose Place Remake Announced, America Rolls Its Eyes

Give ‘em and inch and they take a mile. Now that the CW has received mild success from the remake of “90210,” they’re looking to jump back on the bandwagon for a remake of the once-popular “Melrose Place.” It seems like the fledgling network is grasping at straws, hoping to draw in new viewers, as well as the die-hards who once followed the lives of the dramatic apartment building tenants back in the ’90s. They have once teensy little problem… it doesn’t look like the MP alums will be quite as accommodating with special appearances as the 90210 alums were. We predict the new remake will drown face-down in a pool after being dumped by Darren Star.