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The Good Wife

Worst TV of 2016

worst-tv-shows-2016

From revivals of shows that should have stayed dead to returning favourites that suddenly sucked, it was an often bleak year for TV (especially in the one-hour drama realm). I sat down with my fellow TV junkie Nicole for our annual chat about what we watched and hated. (Check out our Best of TV list here.)

MOST DISAPPOINTING NEW SHOWS:

Jen: I already talked about Westworld in our Best of TV chat, but that’s my pick. I’d also add The Path. If you told me last year that I’d quickly abandon a show starring Aaron Paul, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Nicole: I think mine was Divorce. I watched a few episodes but it just wasn’t the least bit enjoyable. I’m too busy (and old!) for TV to be work. I also did not get the hype of The Night Of. It was like a longer Law & Order. I was so bored.

Jen: Yeah, I still think The Night Of had the best first episode of the year (it was so tense I was sweating). But then it eventually dissolved into a standard, boring procedural.

MOST DISAPPOINTING RETURNING SHOWS:

Jen: This felt like the year of decent shows with terrible series finales. I was ok with both The Good Wife and Gilmore Girls, but I hated the last 30 seconds of each.

Nicole: I liked Gilmore Girls but I totally agree with you on The Good Wife ending.

Jen: This might be the year I end up breaking up with my beloved superhero TV shows. That hurts, especially when it comes to Arrow because it was on my Best Of list in 2015. This time last year, they had just aired one of their best episodes ever (which featured a proposal followed by a brutal limo attack). But then the show fell off a cliff and never recovered. When it’s good, Arrow is a fun blend of soap opera and comic book. At the end of last season, they leaned too heavily into the former; then they tried to course-correct this season by leaning too heavily into the latter. So now it’s all about stunts, trick arrows and new costumed heroes to make the comic book fanboys happy, but if you like character development and interactions between your favourites, you’re screwed. And their treatment of the few female characters left has become abysmal: Felicity is now a pod person, Thea is marooned on her own Scandal-lite show, and Laurel just pops up randomly to bait canon worshippers.

Nicole: I have crazy superhero fatigue! Arrow is the only one I’m still watching and frankly, it’s hanging by a thread. I don’t really care about any of the new people on the team and that’s a problem.

Jen: I’m less invested in The Flash so I’m less disappointed in it, but damn can that show figure out another threat besides evil speedsters?  I’m also bummed that Iris’ new relationship with Barry (which I don’t buy for a second) has somehow made her less of a character. She’s now been reduced to a pep talk vending machine. The only highlight of this season is that everyone is FINALLY calling out Barry for being a selfish jerkwad.

Nicole: I find that I’m dropping shows because they’ve gotten just plain boring. I love a good procedural but Elementary is just yawns now. If Person of Interest hadn’t been ending they would have lost me. TV can be so good now that I think I need more of a challenge.

Jen: Speaking of boring, I’m pretending The X Files revival didn’t happen, with the exception of the “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” episode. Every other one, though? Just didn’t exist!

Nicole: I had such high hopes for UnREAL after last year. Are you kidding me with showing a police shooting from the perspective of the white girl?!?! I think the characters were too unlikeable and not funny enough this season. I’m giving them two more episodes and then I’m out.

Jen: Yeah, I’m with you on UnREAL, which experienced such a brutal sophomore slump. It’s like they forgot that the magic of that show is watching Quinn and Rachel together, and kept them apart nearly all season. Speaking of dropping shows, I’m not sure if I’ve ever quit a series as fast as I quit The 100 after they killed Lexa like such a gross afterthought. The only silver lining: it led to a widespread #buryyourtropes conversation about TV’s treatment of gays and minorities that’s still reverberating.

SADDEST CANCELLATIONS:

Jen: The loss of Agent Carter sucked, especially since Hayley Atwell immediately jumped to a far inferior ABC show (Conviction) that was promptly cancelled.

Nicole: I can’t say I’m heartbroken about any cancellations this year, but I do hope Haley Atwell finds a place to land.

Jen: I’m also still mourning the cancellation of The Grinder. That show was so funny and I’m totally stumped about why it couldn’t find a larger audience.

DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Shows that suffered bummer declines in 2106: The Fall, Mr Robot, Sleepy Hollow, The Affair, Poldark

Check out our Best TV of 2016 picks

The Good Wife Delivers One Final Bitch Slap to Fans

the good wife finale julianna marguiles

The Good Wife finale was…not good. I hate procedurals but somehow got sucked into this show because the weekly cases/trials were so weird and riveting, and yet they ended on the most confusing non-case ever. (Did Peter do it? Did the police “pit” the bullets? How did Kurt answer the affair question on the stand?) But even worse, a show that’s been historically very feminist saw the lead character needing her life mansplained by a ghost, her political future decided without her, and her final showdown a catfight about a man she doesn’t even want to be with anymore. Jesus. A few critics seemed to like the bitter, cynical ending (she winds up with no job, no friends, no boyfriend, no husband, no kids — who she recently admitted she didn’t like anyway), but it didn’t feel in any way earned.

-Also, when the showrunners feel the need to explain the ending? Not great, Bob.

Idris Elba is no longer single. Sigh. I’m mean, I love him so logically I’m really happy for him to be reunited with his baby mama. But my heart guts say otherwise…

Victoria Beckham says they’d cut her mic off during the Spice Girls concerts and let the other girls handle the singing, but she was cool with it because she was the only one who got Gucci dresses. Not having to work AND getting free clothes? Teach me your ways!

-Can anyone confirm if the Living Proof company that helped produce that the miracle wrinkle-reducing lotion that everyone’s talking about is the same Living Proof that Jennifer Aniston‘s associated with? Cause if so, she’s now controlling the entire world.

-Captain America: Civil War has a worldwide haul of $678 million after just 12 days in release, which means that even if it suffers a Batman v Superman-level crash, it’ll still hit the $1B milestone. [*whispers* I thought Civil War was kind of boring]

-Sadness: Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are splitting after 33 years(!) of marriage.

-“Without Jen, there’s no #Alias.” Here’s an oral history of the show, featuring Jennifer Garner, J.J. Abrams and more.  I recently rewatched the pilot, and it still holds up as one of my fave first eps ever.

Blac Chyna is pregnant. Does this mean I have to finally figure out who this person is? Sigh.

-Have you seen the quiz associated with Channing Tatum’s live Magic Mike show in Vegas? It’s feminist slant is making me swoon.

-Also, it took me way too long to discover this delightful interview with Channing and Carly Fleischmann, who is autistic and non-verbal.

-Even sampling Hillary Clinton’s speech can’t turn Jennifer Lopez‘s “Ain’t Your Mama” into a good song.

Lauren Hill has apologized for being two hours late for her Atlanta show, saying “I have nothing but Love and respect for my fans. The challenge is aligning my energy with the time.” Frankly though, if you’re buying a ticket to a LH show in 2016 and expecting her to show up on time, you’re an idiot. She’s been consistently pulling this crap for years.

Brie Larson had a big weekend. She hosted SNL and got engaged to longtime boyfriend Alex Greenwald.

Tom Brady and Gisele are releasing a $200 cookbook (even though all past references to their diet have been beyond depressing).

-Ruh roh. Selena Gomez was spotted with Orlando Bloom again.

-I see Johnny Depp is taking his dog smuggling apology very seriously.

Nardwuar has a new interview with Drake and it’s great. Also, the fact that Drake has seriously thought about what song he’s going to play at his wedding is … something.

-I’m very intrigued about which TV shows this writer is ranting on Twitter about. (I’m guessing Sleepy Hollow and Castle?). I disagree with his assertion that its critics’ jobs to be calling out actors who use medical excuses to get out of a series, but still.

Kate Hudson‘s performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U” is surprisingly pretty great.

-Meanwhile, Nick Jonas was grilled by Ellen on his relationship with Kate Hudson.

Aaron Paul, Amanda Seyfried and Russell Crowe get emotional in the Fathers and Daughters trailer.

Dakota Johnson Denies Relationship Rumours in Marie Claire

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Dakota Johnson looks lovely on the cover of Marie Claire, which totally makes up for the dress she wore to the How to Be Single premiere. In the cover story, she says she’s single and shoots down those relationship rumours surrounding her and Matthew Hitt.

-Speaking of premiere dresses, Jennifer Aniston has rarely topped any of my best dressed lists to begin with, but what the hell happened to her in the last year? Did she get a new stylist? And does that stylist hate her?

Blair Underwood has signed on to star on one of The Good Wife’s final 9 episodes. That’s all well and good, but I wish they’d remember all the actors they had that just mysteriously disappeared. Remember Taye Diggs? Amanda Peet? The girl who played Robyn?!?

-The Flash ratings hit a 14-month high this week, which is awesome because I was starting to wonder if I should drop that show and last night’s episode totally turned it around. I mean, Barry was still a selfish asshat but whatever.

Kate Winslet says she won’t boycott the Oscars because she “just couldn’t imagine not being there to support” Leonardo DiCaprio, which is actually pretty damn sweet.

-Guys, Idris Elba may be single! This is not a drill!!!
-People has named Ryan Reynolds The Sexiest Dad Alive. Ok, People. Now you’re just making shit up.

-Meanwhile, Ryan says fell in love with Blake Lively — while on a double date with someone else. Rude!

-AMC made the first four minutes of Sunday’s Walking Dead mid-season premiere available now. I’m not getting sucked back in, I’m not getting sucked back in, I’m not getting sucked back in…

Aaron Sorkin is adapting To Kill A Mockingbird for Broadway and Twitter reacted accordingly.

Will Smith is worried that he and Jada may have been a little too hands-off with their parenting style. Gee, ya think?

Melissa McCarthy raps her favorite Kanye West song in her SNL promos.

Rory’s best boyfriend is officially returning for the Gilmore Girls reboot. Woot!

Hayley Atwell just landed the lead in a new ABC legal drama, which doesn’t bode well for Agent Carter’s chances. Yes, it’s not unheard of for an actor to book a pilot when they’re not sure if their existing show will be renewed, but the fact that it’s on the same network makes me think TPTB have already made a decision.

-A film producer spent the afternoon tweeting out terrible descriptions for female characters in scripts, and it was glorious.

-Also glorious: the season 3 trailer for Broad City.

-Wait, so Batman V Superman has to make $1 billion globally to be considered a success? Ruh-roh.

Tom Hiddleston strips naked in the new trailer for High-Rise and you’re not even paying attention to anything else I’m typing are you so I can just type random words at this point sausages petticoat tupperware pizza dildo ankle