Favorite TV Show We Said Farewell to in 2012

No, we didn’t get the end of the world in 2012, but it was the end for several story worlds we’ve grown to love. Which of these dearly departed shows are your favorites?

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I know I’m missing a few shows that ended in 2012, so feel free to nominate other shows on our Facebook page, tweeting me at @waterfallbooks, or by leaving a comment below. (Be sure to stick with live-action, scripted shows.) Also, there are several shows that have been canceled, but will air their final episodes in 2013, and are therefore not included below (Fringe, Last Resort, The Office, etc.).

Without further ado, vote for up to five of the shows below! Poll will close Monday night, December 31st, so spread the word quickly!

What's your favorite show we said farewell to in 2012? (Choose up to 5!)

  • Leverage (48%, 556 Votes)
  • Merlin (10%, 117 Votes)
  • Chuck (8%, 96 Votes)
  • House (7%, 77 Votes)
  • Eureka (6%, 71 Votes)
  • The Finder (4%, 48 Votes)
  • The Closer (4%, 45 Votes)
  • Fairly Legal (2%, 28 Votes)
  • Common Law (2%, 25 Votes)
  • The Secret Circle (2%, 19 Votes)
  • Ringer (1%, 17 Votes)
  • Gossip Girl (1%, 15 Votes)
  • Awake (1%, 13 Votes)
  • Alcatraz (1%, 6 Votes)
  • Bent (0%, 5 Votes)
  • NYC 22 (0%, 5 Votes)
  • One Tree Hill (0%, 5 Votes)
  • GCB (0%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 715

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News: How I Met Your Mother Gets 9th Season, Leverage Canceled, Psych Gets Shortened 8th Season

Both good news and bad news popped on the radar last night. For the good, How I Met Your Mother was renewed for a ninth season! Jason Segel had decided to not to do another season, but at the last moment he changed his mind. I’m kind of hoping the show reveals the mother at the end of this season, and we get to see her and Ted’s relationship in the ninth season, but who knows what the show’s creators have up their sleeves?

Sad news for Leverage fans, though – the show has been canceled, and Christmas Day’s season five finale will be the series finale. Executive producer Dean Devlin had stated that they “decided to end this season with the episode we had planned to make to end the series, way back when we shot the pilot. So, the episode that will air on Christmas is, in fact, the series finale we had always envisioned.” Leverage’s “The Ho Ho Ho Job” is currently winning our poll for favorite Christmas episode. While I still love the show, I have to admit that a few of the later episodes haven’t been as compelling (though the finale looks like it’s going to be awesome!). I’ll be kind of sad if the show ends without us finding out Sophie’s real name, or without Eliot finding someone (poor dude has been the odd man out now that Nate and Sophie and Hardison and Parker are together). And I look forward to seeing where the actors end up next year!

Also renewed – Psych! It’s been given a season 8 before season 7 has even begun to air. It’s only an 8-episode season, though (a shorter season sometimes indicates a final season, but they haven’t stated it’s the final one). That may be to get the show on a different schedule, as what used to be a summer show was pushed back to a fall, and now a late winter, start.

Other news: the final main actor (Chloe Bennet) for the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot has been cast, and she’s another newbie to the Whedonverse, making Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson) the only Whedonverse actor to have a regular role in the show. Speaking of the ‘Verse, Jewel Staite’s show The L.A. Complex has been canceled by the CW (it was previously canceled on its original Canadian broadcast channel, but it’s dismal US ratings made it unlikely to be saved by the CW).

The CW seems to be moving away from glitz and glamour and toward grittier drama with an archery bent (and who wouldn’t, after Arrow’s success?). The network has just ordered a script for Sherwood, a period drama about a noblewoman who joins up with Robin Hood and his merry men as she tries to find and free her serf boyfriend.

On the network’s Beauty and the Beast, Sendhil Ramamurthy (Covert Affairs, Heroes) will reoccur as an ambitious assistant district attorney determined to find the vigilante (aka Vincent) who’s been stalking the streets.

AMC has renewed The Walking Dead for season 4 (big surprise), but Glen Mazzara is stepping down as showrunner.

Brian Klugman is joining Bones as a new squintern, as some of that weird, brillant group will possibly depart for other projects.

Monday Madness: Favorite Christmas Episode

It’s hard to believe Christmas will be here in about a week! One of my favorite parts of the season are the awesome holiday episodes shows put out, and now it’s your turn to vote for your favorites! I purposely saved this poll for right before Christmas so I could add in some of 2012’s holiday episodes.

Fans have used Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, forums, Reddit, Pinterest, blogs, and chatboxes to get the word out about past polls. Our toolbar at the bottom of the page has lots of quick links to help you share this post, or you can mouse over the image above!

I know I’m missing some of your favorite Christmas episodes, so feel free to nominate more episodes on our Facebook page, tweeting me at @waterfallbooks, or by leaving a comment below. Please include both the show and episode name, and yes, you can nominate this year’s holiday episodes! (Be sure to stick with live-action, scripted shows, though it’s fine if just this one episode has some animation, like with a certain Community episode.) Please only nominate Christmas episodes that are part of a regular show, not one-off specials like “A Charlie Brown Christmas” or movie-related specials like “Shrek the Halls.”

Without further ado, vote for up to fifteen of the episodes below! Poll will close Sunday night, December 23rd, giving you one week to spread the word!

What's your favorite Christmas episode? (Choose up to 15!)

  • Leverage - The Ho Ho Ho Job (17%, 154 Votes)
  • Supernatural - A Very Supernatural Christmas (8%, 76 Votes)
  • Doctor Who - The Christmas Invasion (5%, 43 Votes)
  • Doctor Who - Voyage of the Damned (4%, 35 Votes)
  • Doctor Who - A Christmas Carol (4%, 35 Votes)
  • Doctor Who - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (4%, 34 Votes)
  • The Big Bang Theory - The Bath Gift Item Hypothesis (3%, 31 Votes)
  • Psych - Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy (3%, 26 Votes)
  • Bones - The Man in the Fallout Shelter (3%, 24 Votes)
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Amends (3%, 24 Votes)
  • How I Met Your Mother - How Lily Stole Christmas (2%, 23 Votes)
  • The Big Bang Theory - The Santa Simulation (2%, 22 Votes)
  • Castle - Secret Santa (2%, 21 Votes)
  • NCIS - Faith (2%, 20 Votes)
  • NCIS - Newborn King (2%, 19 Votes)
  • Bones - The Santa in the Slush (2%, 19 Votes)
  • Friends - The One With the Holiday Armadillo (2%, 18 Votes)
  • NCIS - Silent Night (2%, 17 Votes)
  • Psych - Christmas Joy (2%, 17 Votes)
  • How I Met Your Mother - Symphony of Illumination (2%, 16 Votes)
  • The Vampire Diaries - O Come, All Ye Faithful (2%, 15 Votes)
  • Community - Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas (2%, 14 Votes)
  • New Girl - Santa (2%, 14 Votes)
  • Psych - The Polarizing Express (2%, 14 Votes)
  • Community - Regional Holiday Music (1%, 13 Votes)
  • Community - Comparative Religion (1%, 13 Votes)
  • Eureka - O Little Town (1%, 12 Votes)
  • Warehouse 13 - Secret Santa (1%, 12 Votes)
  • Eureka - Do You See What I See (1%, 12 Votes)
  • Warehouse 13 - The Greatest Gift (1%, 12 Votes)
  • Arrow - Year's End (1%, 11 Votes)
  • Chuck - Chuck vs Santa Claus (1%, 11 Votes)
  • Veronica Mars - An Echolls Family Christmas (1%, 10 Votes)
  • House - It's a Wonderful Lie (1%, 10 Votes)
  • The OC - The Best Chrismukkah Ever (1%, 9 Votes)
  • Glee - A Very Glee Christmas (1%, 9 Votes)
  • The X-Files - How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (1%, 8 Votes)
  • M*A*S*H - Death Takes a Holiday (1%, 8 Votes)
  • The West Wing - In Excelsis Deo (1%, 6 Votes)
  • Seinfeld - Festivus (1%, 5 Votes)
  • The Office - Dwight Christmas (1%, 5 Votes)
  • The Office - A Benihana Christmas (0%, 4 Votes)
  • Go On - The World Ain't Over 'Til It's Over (0%, 4 Votes)
  • The Office - Christmas Wishes (0%, 4 Votes)
  • Monk - Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa (0%, 4 Votes)
  • The Mindy Project - Josh and Mindy's Christmas Party (0%, 3 Votes)
  • Suburgatory - Krampus (0%, 3 Votes)
  • Smallville - Lexmas (0%, 3 Votes)
  • Monk - Mr. Monk and the Miracle (0%, 3 Votes)
  • The Neighbors - Merry Crap-mas (0%, 1 Votes)
  • Guys With Kids - Christmas (0%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 276

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Midseason Premieres and Schedule Changes, Legends Gets a New Lead

The CW has just announced that midseason thriller Cult will debut Tuesday, February 19th, taking Emily Owens, MD’s 9pm slot. This show-within-a-show follows Jeff (The Vampire Diaries’ Matt Davis) as he investigates a show (also) called Cult, whose fanatical followers may have had something to do with his brother’s disappearance. Check out the video preview:

As previously announced, the CW’s other midseason show, The Carrie Diaries, will begin Monday, January 14th, at 8pm, pushing 90210 to 9pm.

ABC is moving Suburgatory to its old 8:30 slot, and premiering How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) at 9:30, both on April 3. When Suburgatory finishes its season, The Family Tools will get a (very) late spring debut on May 1st at 8:30. I assume that means The Neighbors’ freshman run ends in March?

On the drama side, ABC is neatly fitting its midseason shows into the slots held by its canceled shows. Body of Proof will return to take Private Practice’s Tuesdays-at-10 spot, Red Widow will replace 666 Park Avenue Sundays at 10 (after a 9-11 two hour premiere March 3, and Zero Hour drew the short straw and got Last Resort’s doomed 8pm-on-Thursdays-where-ABC-shows-die spot starting February 14th (I’m predicting it will do about as well as Missing – though who knows, maybe all the guys without Valentine’s dates will tune in for the premiere).

Syfy also announced midseason programming, with 3 scripted dramas to premiere Monday, January 14. Canada time-travel police drama Continuum makes its US debut at 8pm, Being Human returns for season 3 at 9pm, and season of Lost Girl kicks off at 10pm. Also, the final season of Merlin makes its way across the pond on January 4th at 10.

TNT drama pilot Legends has a new lead after Brendon Fraser left the role, and it’s someone who two kinds of fantasy fans can get excited about – Sean Bean! The Lord of the Rings and Games of Thrones actor will play a deep-cover operative with an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job.

What do you plan to watch in 2013? Does Sean Bean’s casting make you more likely to check out Legends if it makes it to series?

Best TV Show Flashbacks Poll

Which TV show has the best flashbacks? That’s the question you get to answer in this week’s poll! Flashbacks add depth to current storylines and allow us to understand characters’ motivations, and range from heartrending to hilarious.

You can nominate shows missing from the poll below, but be sure the show has a significant amount of flashbacks to be included. The show should have a minimum of two episodes with a large portion of the episode as flashback, preferably more, and they should have some impact on the story/characters (a brief explanation would be appreciated!).  I’ve added some flashback explanations to a few of the shows in the poll, but they are to jog your memory, not represent every flashback in the show. (One more note – I’ve put Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as one option since their flashbacks revolve around the same characters for the most part.)

Fans have used Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, forums, Reddit, Pinterest, blogs, and chatboxes to get the word out about past polls. Our toolbar at the bottom of the page has lots of quick links to help you share this post, or you can mouse over the image above!

Our next poll will be favorite Christmas episodes! Feel free to nominate episodes on our Facebook page, tweeting me at @waterfallbooks, or by leaving a comment below. Please include both the show and episode name, and yes, you can nominate this year’s holiday episodes!

Without further ado, choose up to ten of the shows below, but be sure to vote based on how awesome the flashbacks are! Poll will close Friday night, December 15th, giving you about a week and a half to spread the word!

Which TV show has the best flashbacks? (Choose up to 10!)

  • Once Upon a Time (Fairy Tale Land) (12%, 121 Votes)
  • Leverage (recreated past stories) (10%, 105 Votes)
  • How I Met Your Mother (Robin Sparkles, hippie Barney, college Ted, Marshall, and Lily) (10%, 102 Votes)
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel (pasts of Darla, Angel, Drusilla, and Spike) (9%, 91 Votes)
  • Supernatural (8%, 78 Votes)
  • The Vampire Diaries (pasts of Damon, Stefan, Katherine, and Klaus) (7%, 71 Votes)
  • Psych (7%, 70 Votes)
  • Lost (5%, 53 Votes)
  • Friends (5%, 48 Votes)
  • Arrow (scenes on the island) (4%, 43 Votes)
  • Person of Interest (4%, 42 Votes)
  • NCIS (Gibbs' and Tony's pasts) (4%, 39 Votes)
  • White Collar (3%, 32 Votes)
  • Criminal Minds (3%, 27 Votes)
  • True Blood (2%, 22 Votes)
  • Pushing Daisies (2%, 20 Votes)
  • Nikita (1%, 14 Votes)
  • Highlander (1%, 13 Votes)
  • Being Human (BBC) (1%, 11 Votes)
  • Revolution (1%, 9 Votes)
  • Being Human (Syfy) (1%, 8 Votes)

Total Voters: 421

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Update – here are some pics I’ve edited to promote the poll! Now you have additional images you can pin on Pinterest, or you can share them on Tumblr, Facebook, and more! I’m working on getting more for the other shows, but you can help out by creating your own!

Top 10 Favorite TV Couples 2012

We have our winners! Our favorite TV couples ultimate showdown has ended, and now it’s time to see which couples garnered the most votes from you, their fans!

You may notice there’s “2012” at the end of the title above. That because I’ve decided to make this TV couples poll an annual event! Things will change up a little each year. I also plan to continue the spring polls with more specific categories, though I will probably change those the most – maybe divisions for comedies and dramas, or by networks. Stay tuned!

Three of these couples did not make it into their division’s top 10, yet managed to improve their rank against increased opposition. Couples from the realistic division dominated this round, winning 6 of the 10 slots and the top two spots by a large margin. None of the wildcard additions made it into the top 10, with most situated close to the bottom (Nick and Jess from New Girl, despite not being an official couple, made it the highest of the newbies – #19).

Speculative couples got a lot of shakeup from last poll to this one. Once Upon a Time had 3 couples in the top 10, now they have none. Whedonverse shows had a decent showing with 2 couples from Firefly and one from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but none got to the top 10 in this poll. Even the winner of that poll barely garnered a hundred votes this time around.

The realistic couples were much more steady. Each of the five shows represented below also had couples in the top ten of the spring poll, though there was a bit of shuffling as to who from each show made it in.

#10 – Barney and Robin from How I Met Your Mother

This time, How I Met Your Mother fans preferred this destined-to-happen couple (don’t you love those HIMYM flash forwards?) over the rock-solid Marshall and Lily (which were #9 in the realistic show poll) by more than 100 votes. In the spring poll, they were less than 50 behind their friends for a #12 finish.

 

#9 – McGee and Abby from NCIS

Like Barney and Robin, this NCIS couple just missed making it into the top ten in the spring (#11), but got a better rank this year while getting about the same number of votes. (Hmm, I would who would win if we combined votes? Nah, too much math for me, but you’re welcome to figure that out and post it in the comments!)

 

#8 – The Doctor and Rose from Doctor Who

I can appreciate this couple more now that I’m partway through season two of the show. Their rank dropped from a #4 in the speculative poll, though they managed to garner an additional hundred votes this time around.

 

#7 – Booth and Brennan from Bones

In the spring poll, this couple was #6 and was joined by their coworkers Angela and Hodgins at #10. Pretty impressive that they only slipped one spot in the ranking against more competition.

 

#6 – Scully and Mulder

This couple was ranked #13 in the speculative poll, but the original shippers rallied and got them a spot in the top 10 this time.

 

#5 – Arthur and Gwen from Merlin

This couple stayed rock-solid in the ranks, earning the #5 spot both times. In this poll, they received 250 more votes, perhaps an acknowledgement of the fact that we soon will be bidding them farewell. In my mind, they tie McAbby for the most adorable couple in this top ten.

 

#4 – Derek and Meredith from Grey’s Anatomy

This couple made a dramatic comeback in the final days of this poll, going from #32 to #4 in less than 4 days. They also improved over their rank (#5) in the spring poll.

 

#3 – Elena and Damon from The Vampire Diaries

This couple jumped from #6 in the speculative poll, probably aided by the current plotlines on the show. It’s interesting to note – the day that poll ended was when I tried watching the pilot, probably influenced by how many people had voted for Elena and Damon. (Although it didn’t hook me, I watched 5 episodes in one evening when I gave the show another chance 3 1/2 months later.)

 

#2 – Tony and Ziva from NCIS

This couple remained at first and second place for most of the poll’s run, and lost by only 123 votes, a marked improvement from their #4 spot in the spring poll. With Tiva heating up, I wouldn’t be surprised if they win next year.

 

#1 – Castle and Beckett from Castle

The top favorite couple in the realistic division won a much closer race to again emerge victorious! While the spring poll coincided nicely with the season finale that brought these characters together, it’s great to know fans still love Caskett even with the will they/won’t they tension gone.

Which TV couples would be in your top 10?