The 2008 Random Awards: TV

The awards start with the small screen. Let me know what your thoughts on the year in TV are.

• Plot Twist of the Year: (Spoilers, obviously)
  
• Runners-Up:
• House -- You have Thirteen and her issues and Cuddy with the adoption, but it's all about the first few episodes with House and Wilson. Outside of one show (which, hint, finished its run and will win a lot of these awards), that was as good as TV got this year.
• Entourage -- Yeah, it actually happened. Vince's career collapsed. You never thought they'd even have the slightest conflict, but they went all the way.
• C.S.I.: -- They've flirted with killing off a C.S.I. before, but the death of Warrick was shocking and led to a great season premiere.
• Winner:
• Lost -- This always wins best twist, right? The Oceanic Six, Ben leaving the island, Sayid finding Nadia only to lose her for good, Desmond going insane before finally finding Penny, Whitmore's rivalry with Ben, the island moving, and the final reveal of Locke's dead body. And more. Just a few weeks away from starting again!
  
• Disappointment of the Year:
• Runners-Up:
• Fringe -- J.J. Abrams launches a new X-Files-type show. I lasted two atrocious episodes. I want those two hours of my life back.
• Marcus on Survivor: Gabon -- The guy was brilliant, strong, and everyone liked him. He was a lock to win it all, until a twist screwed him.
• Pushing Daisies -- One of the best-written and funniest shows on TV got cancelled.
• Heroes -- Until the fall finale, this show was horrible and unoriginal.
• Winner:
• Grey's Anatomy -- Denny's ghost. No, really, her dead fiancee is back. And they're having sex. And he's making smart-ass remarks. No, I'm not kidding, Denny is back on the show.
  
• Acting Performance of the Year:
• Runners-Up:
• Andre Royo (Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, The Wire) -- I could go with Clarke Peters (Freamon), Wendell Pierce (Bunk), or, of course, Michael K. Williams (Omar), but I go with the one shining spot in the last season of the greatest show in TV history. With everything else to get down about, from Dukie hitting the needle to Michael's life as a killer, it was Bubbles going through the program and then finally getting to go upstairs in his sister's house that made us smile.
• Jon Hamm (Don Draper, Mad Men) -- He's Gandolfini-esque in his perfection of Draper's complexities.
• Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan, Dexter) -- A great season with a stronger-than-ever supporting cast, but it's always Dexter who rules this show.
• Winner:
• Hugh Laurie (Dr. Gregory House, House) -- What can I say? Greg House is as good as it gets. (Note: I just re-printed the same thing from last year.)
  
• Reality TV Personality of the Year:
• Runners-Up:
• Parvati (Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites) -- Has to be the best game ever played by a woman, right? She was manipulative, smart, and in charge at every turn.
• Nick and Starr (The Amazing Race) -- I've probably only seen a third of the seasons of The Amazing Race, but this was as dominant a performance as I can remember.
• David Cook (American Idol) -- Just when we were ready to bail on Idol, he pulled us back in.
• Winner:
• Jeff Conaway (Celebrity Rehab) -- No-brainer. The best reality show of the year, by a million miles, and he was the most interesting thing about it.
  
• Moment of the Year:
• Runners-Up:
• "Hello" -- The performance that really put David Cook on the map. I could watch this over and over.
• Desmond finds his Constant -- Yeah, I could have gone with the big reveal of Locke at the end of the season, but it's all about Desmond finally speaking to Penny again.
• Spaghetti Cat! -- Here's the Soup clip. You know the rest.
  
• Winner:
• Omar -- You had to pause and rewind the episode to a) make sure it actually happened and b) get over your emotions before watching the rest of the show. By the way, I almost teared up watching it again.
  
• Show of the Year:
• Runners-Up:
• Celebrity Rehab -- The best reality show of the year and the best new show of the year (even though I love 90210, which I haven't mentioned). We all liked Dr. Drew before, but he's elevated to another plane of TV existence.
• Entourage -- I thought this show was toast, but it had its best season ever.
• House -- Like I said earlier, the House/Wilson stuff was fantastic. They also did a great job of working all of the doctors, new and old, into episodes by the end.
• Dexter -- A very strong season, thanks to great performances from Jimmy Smits and David Zayas. I was worried with where they'd go at first, but it had all kinds of twists and plenty of the dark humor that we love.
• Lost -- Lots of good shows this year and I can't leave this one off. Flashbacks, flash forwards, new characters, old characters in a new light. It's just humming along at top speed.
• Winner:
• The Wire -- Duh. The best show in the history of television went out with a bang. I'll leave it by linking to my series recap from right before the finale all the way back in March.