The specials will be a co-production of BBC America and Logo, which has been airing the original five seasons of Absolutely Fabulous since April. The BBC’s release notes that the specials will pretty much pick up where the series left off. As a devoted fan I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Reprising their iconic roles as Edina Monsoon and and best pal Patsy, leads Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley will be joined by other original cast members Julia Sawalha as put-upon daughter Saffy, June Whitfield as Edina’s mother and Jane Horrocks as personal assistant Bubble. Other surprise guests will also be on board.

In the first episode, audiences will rejoin the ensemble in the middle of a “life-changing experience for one – which affects them all.” In the second show, Edina sets her sights on changing the career of someone described by the BBC as “a very big fish indeed.” In the concluding episode, Eddy and Patsy play their own part in the 2012 London Olympics.

All I ask is that they embrace the same hilarious disregard for societal mores as they did in the past.

There are so many things to love about Parks and Recreation - whip-smart writing, making mundane local politics hilarious, opening the second season with earnest (and super-square) heroine Leslie Knope giving a passionate rendition of the classic Fresh Prince song “Parents Just Don’t Understand” - but the crown jewels of the show are its each-one-more-hilarious-than-the-next cast of characters. I credit the writers and producers with taking such care to respect and flesh out all the players, each one contributing their own little piece to the ensemble’s whole: Amy Poehler‘s Leslie is the heart, Aziz Ansari‘s Tom Haverford the creative energy, Chris Pratt‘s sweet but dim Andy Dwyer the childlike enthusiasm. Throughout its three seasons all have had moments to shine, but none has done so more brightly than my current character crush Ron Swanson, the stomach of the show.

Case in point, I give you his journal dedicated to meat. Inspired.

Brilliantly played by Nick Offerman, on the surface Ron is a man of simple pleasures: breakfast foods, pretty brunettes, facial hair, woodworking, no BS. He’s a man who just wants a hearty meal and for the government to stay out of his business, and here’s where the beauty in the depth of this character begins: government is his business as he’s Director of the Parks Department. But that doesn’t stop this city servant from making sure no parks are ever built during his tenure and imparting a strong opinion on how existing ones should all be sold to corporations with impressive business models, a la Chuck E Cheese. He’ll even go so far as to influence future generations with his staunch libertarian outlook. This overall brusque demeanor shouldn’t make him so endearing, and yet he is the most cuddly curmudgeon on television.

Even his self-proclaimed Pyramid of Greatness makes me want to hug him closer. How could someone who emulates volatile college basketball coach Bobby Knight bring out the smit in me?

Perhaps he’s so easy to love because underneath that burly gruffness beats the heart of a romantic. He looks out for those he cares for (although he would never admit it outright), so noticeable when he patched up the relationship between his sullen assistant April and the lovelorn Andy and defended Leslie to a board of review threatening to fire her. It could also be his way around a saxophone moonlighting as Duke Silver.

Then again, it’s mostly his love of keeping meat real.

As the July 14th announcement of Emmy nominations approaches, I can only hope the protein gods will smile down and ensure that Nick Offerman’s name is on the list of Best Supporting Actors in a Comedy. For how can I live in a world where the man who brought us this is not recognized for his own piece of greatness?

Justified - No, I’m in no way employed by FOX Broadcasting Company or related to Rupert Murdoch. Usually I’m the harshest critic on series coming from Uncle Rupie thanks to asinine cancellations of great series (Arrested Development, Wonderfalls, Firefly…the list goes on), but this past year they’ve really impressed me thanks mostly to little brother FX which continued its commitment to out of the box programming. In Justified we’re treated with the classic archetypes of renegade cop and prodigal son wrapped up in lead character Raylan Givings, plus stories dripping in crime noir from the mind of author Elmore Leonard. I also confess that my country roots make me a sucker for shows set in the south. Plus Timothy Olyphant really pulls off that gun and cowboy hat combo (see also, Deadwood). Whatever the case, it can’t be denied that a strong lead and well-executed storytelling are at the heart of Justified and worthy of dedicated viewership.

Honorable Mention: Terriers (RIP) - I really believed FX would give this phenomenal PI series a second season, considering it fit well with the anti-hero niche the extended cable network had started to corner. Alas, ’twas not in the cards for Terriers as it struggled all 13 episodes to gain a decent-sized audience and it’s pretty easy to put my finger on why – the head-scratching title and obscure marketing choices. I’m all for avoiding the too-obvious route in storytelling, letting viewers discover a little on their own rather than hitting them over the head with exposition, but when it comes to enticing an audience to start watching there’s got to be some explanation to a show’s premise prior to its premiere episode. Those who took a chance and did tune in to the pilot were not disappointed. Surprisingly, but thankfully, the creators were given a heads up by the network to prepare for cancellation, so there’s a good sense of closure in this neatly packaged 1-season series that I highly recommend picking up on DVD when available.

Without interesting characters there can be no compelling storytelling, and for me the most interesting characters are those with serious flaws. Some are repellent yet intriguing, some are absolutely villainous but possess such charisma that you can’t help but be enthralled and others live in a world where difficult decisions must be made and you can’t fault them for sometimes choosing the morally ambiguous action.

There were a lot of amazing characters on television this past year, but the ones below resonated the most and elevated their respective shows to a higher echelon of scripted fare.

Kenny Powers - Eastbound & Down - Played with delightful mullet-ed bravado by Danny McBride, Kenny “Fuckin’” Powers possesses the rare qualities of being boorishly self-deluded while also endearing with the ability to garner sympathy for his continued back-slide into life’s lowest points, even though his own actions are always the catalyst. Constantly inappropriate, whether in the halls of the middle school in season 1 or this past year when his tactless behavior found its way south of the border, he’s his biggest fan and is never afraid to show it with a flair all his own.

Honorable Mention: Ensemble - Party Down (RIP) – The cancellation of this brilliant Starz comedy from Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas was heartbreaking as the exploits of this ragtag group of Los Angeles cater waiters looking for their big break in Tinseltown quickly became my favorite part of Friday night television. It was always hard to decide which character was the strongest in the bunch until I realized it was the combination of all the players that gave the show such verve. Even with the small cast change between its first and second year (losing Jane Lynch but gaining Megan Mullally!) everyone congealed in a way that made this series shoot to the top of my Brilliant But Cancelled list.

All of these selected moments made a truly lasting impression on me this past year: a show-stopping dance number directed by a personal creative hero, a shocking action sequence that takes its time building the tension before exploding, and two wonderful character-revealing comedy sequences. The shows herein are amongst my favorite currently on air, representing an eclectic taste but akin in delivering top-notch entertainment, creating some of the most indelible characters and scenes for them to play in.

And now the best pieces of a whole.

Glee - Safety Dance Flash Mob, “Dream On” - A show filled with many memorable moments, this choice is probably due to my bias of all things Joss Whedon, He Who Can Do No Wrong. However, it is a wonderful sequence that not only further demonstrates Whedon’s creative acumen (cannot gush enough about his choice to cut in shots that look like clips from the inevitable viral video this flash mob will become) it was also a beautiful piece for supporting character Artie who features mostly in the background, save for the occasional need of a little R&B flavor in some songs (see “Billionaire” or “Umbrella/Singin’ in the Rain”). Kevin McHale got to show off some serious dance skill that obviously couldn’t happen due to his character’s confinement to a wheelchair, and with the episode’s dream theme we thankfully (or heartbreakingly) get to watch Artie experience his deepest wish.

Breaking Bad - Parking Lot Shoot-Out, “Ambush” – How much praise can I heap on Breaking Bad in general? Suffering from what I call the “middle child syndrome,” this AMC drama has found much critical, and award-winning, praise but seems to consistently fall in the shadow of its big brother Mad Men. Both dramas deserve equal accolades, but what Breaking Bad has over Mad Men in spades is the ability to create tense scenes where the audience too-often questions whether the characters they’ve invested so much in will be making it out of any given episode alive. And this is the crux of what I’ve decided is the best scene from a one-hour drama in 2010. The actions of anti-hero lead, Walter White, in the previous season – killing New Mexico’s leading drug kingpin – brought in two of the scariest hitmen television has ever seen, The Cousins. It seemed no one was safe when these twin cold-blooded killers were around, and this scene with Walt’s DEA brother-in-law set in their sites was literally the most breathtaking moment I’ve witnessed on TV.

Modern Family – Song for Lily, “Dance, Dance Revelation” - It’s near-impossible to single out one definitive moment of Modern Family as being the greatest. Absolutely every character is given a chance to shine with every actor stepping up and knocking a performance out of the park, making it the definition of a stellar ensemble show. Saying this I will admit to playing favorites, and it’s that favorite character who provides the majority of my enjoyment when watching. Only because his defining episode, “Fizbo,” aired in 2009 I’ve chosen this scene from late 2010 as his best, demonstrating why Cam is both the heart and funny bone of the show.

Parks & Recreation – Ron’s Whiskey Harp, “Sweetums” - Another show that contains the best ensemble comedy group assembled on television, Parks & Recreation came into its own during the show’s sophomore year thanks in large part to how the characters’ relationships were continually made real and interesting as each episode progressed. Again, my urge to play favorites wins out as I highlight the MVP character of the show, Ron Swanson. The dynamic between Ron’s Director of the P&R department and his Deputy Director (and show lead) Leslie Knope is second only to the stellar team of 30 Rock‘s Jack Donaghy and Liz Lemon. This sequence demonstrates Leslie’s constant need to play by the rules coming to blows with Ron’s equally constant need to maintain an upper-hand and most importantly always be right. Both go way too far to prove their points, but ultimately we see that they want to project a strong image of themselves out of their underlying respect for each other.

These are 30 or 60 minutes that encapsulated everything that makes these shows great – acting, writing, et al. Of course it’s easy to place Mad Men and 30 Rock in this category and they both can do no wrong (usually), but even these stellar shows will rise above the high bar they’ve set for the rest of television.

SELF-CONTAINED GENIUS

Mad Men, “The Suitcase” – Coming in at the mid-point of a so-so fourth season, this episode is, I dare say, the drama’s finest as it showcased the amazing dynamic of its two strongest characters. Giving the bulk of time to just Don and Peggy as they try to tackle a new campaign for their client Samsonite, which was really just a device by writers to setup an all-nighter of cocktails, confessions and a chaste “sleepover,” allowed the acting prowess of Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss to shine most brilliantly and should guarantee them both their first Emmy wins.

Community, “Modern Warfare” – “Come with me if you don’t want paint on your clothes.” One of countless amazing lines found in this late-freshman year episode, the premise – campus-wide last-man-standing paintball game – seemed on the surface only a gimmick to pile on as many action movie cliches as possible. It ended up not only giving us a lot of clever “Oh that’s from…” moments (Spanish teacher Senor Chang as a John Woo movie-type villain is mind-blowingly brilliant), it was able to further develop and be true to the characters at the heart of the show – keeping an edge, being honest about relationships, without getting too schmaltzy – which makes Community one of my favorite new obsessions.

30 Rock, “Gentlemen’s Intermission” - From Liz’s father Dick Lemon in search of an extra-marital dalliance to Jack’s need for someone’s DIHC (that’s Drive, Intelligence, Humility and Chaos) in order to be fulfilled as a mentor and Tracey’s decision to make sure he leaves an  obituary that doesn’t include a submarine DUI, this episode contained everything that makes 30 Rock stellar: quotable lines (“Albino ninja!”), absurdity (Tracey’s all-giraffe basketball team the New York Necks), a little low-brow humor (“She’s got just the right amount of DIHC for me. I hear it and I don’t care.”) and a perfect storyline for Jack & Liz, the greatest on-screen couple that will never fall victim to “will-they-or-won’t-they” sexual tension syndrome. Plus we get to see Liz completely fail at “seducing” her father dressed as Tootsie.

COCO, COCO You’ve Come Back to Us!

Tonight brings the glorious return of the one-and-only, gangly, invisible-string dancing, ginger-hair-havin’ late-night talk show host and there’s high hopes that the hooplah surrounding Conan’s return won’t all be for naught. Really I’ve no doubt CoCo will deliver the goods, and the only things to truly speculate on are: will we get regular visits from old Late Night gags that were deemed too inappropriate for the Tonight Show timeslot (my own ridiculous favorite the masturbating bear) and will we see a tone that harkens back to Conan’s goofy roots?

Conan on TBS weeknights, 11/10c

This week’s full schedule from Team COCO:

Monday 11/08

FIRST SHOW POLL WINNER
You clicked and we listened! Who will be the poll winner: The Pope? The Sultan Of Brunei? Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Gerhard Ertl? WATCH AND FIND OUT!

SETH ROGEN Polls aside, our REAL first guest is a mega superstar who you know from such blockbusters as “Knocked Up,” “Superbad,” and “Funny People!” He helped us out on tour in his home town of Vancouver, BC; he’s the man who always brings the funny, SETH ROGEN!

LEA MICHELE (@MsLeaMichele)You can see this Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actress each week as Rachel Berry on the smash hit TV show, “Glee!”

MUSICAL GUEST: JACK WHITE Legend has it that Jack and Conan first met in a Detroit area bowling area in the 90′s. Since that meeting, Jack White has gone on to rock n roll stardom in The White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and Dead Weather! Conan and Jack cut a “45 record at Jack’s studio in Nashville, and when these two get together, you never know WHAT’S gonna happen! Ladies and gentlemen… JACK WHITE!

Tuesday 11/09

TOM HANKS (@TomHanks) Multi Academy Award winner, one of the greatest actors of our generation – and more importantly, the man who coined the nickname “Coco” – TOM HANKS is joining us tonight!

JACK MCBRAYER You know him from movies like “Talladega Nights” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” – and of course, as Kenneth the Page on “30 Rock.” WE know him as a dear friend who got his start playing bit parts on our show! Don’t miss the hilarious JACK MCBRAYER!

MUSICAL GUEST: SOUNDGARDEN (@Soundgarden | Myspace)
This legendary and highly influential Seattle-born multi-Grammy Award winning rock group is back to rock us all with a track off their new album “Telephantasm!”

Wednesday 11/10

JON HAMM This dashing Golden Globe winner can be seen on AMC’s “Mad Men” as the suave and sophisticated 60′s ad executive Don Draper and most recently in the Ben Affleck helmed crime caper, “The Town”… JON HAMM!

CHARLYNE YI This charming actress and comedian has appeared in such movies as Knocked Up, Semi-Pro, and Paper Heart! Her new movie is “Fast”… The lovely and talented CHARLYNE YI is on the show!

 FISTFUL OF MERCY (@fistfulofmercy | Facebook | YouTube | Myspace | Official Site ) This supercool rock n roll supergroup consists of Dhani Harrison, Joseph Arthur, and Ben Harper – who will be stopping by to rock us out with a slice of their new album “Fistful of Mercy”!

Thursday 11/11

MICHAEL CERA He’s starred on the hit show “Arrested Development” and in such films as “Superbad”, “Juno”, and “Scott Pilgrim vs The World”! The awesome and hilarious… MICHAEL CERA!!

JULIE BOWEN From her co-starring role on “Ed”, to her guest starring stint on “LOST”, to her current Emmy nominated turn on ABC’s breakout hit “Modern Family”, Julie Bowen continues to amaze and astound! “Modern Family” airs Wednesday nights at 9/8c on ABC!

JON DORE ( @TVsJonDore | Facebook | YouTube | Myspace ) Hey! It’s the hilarious comedy stylings of stand up comedian JON DORE! You’ve seen him on Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham” and “Comedy Central Presents…”, “Held Up” on Crackle.com, and on “The Jon Dore Television Show” on IFC and The Comedy Network in Canada.

Related Articles

• The Inside Word on ‘Conan’ From Writer Brian Kiley (tvsquad.com)
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Huh? Isn’t that the TLC show about a kennel for designer dogs? Obscure title aside, after viewing the pilot I immediately wanted more and every episode of this SoCal detective series that’s followed has delivered on its fine first hour.

Coming from the mind who created The Shield, Shawn Ryan, and the wordsmith of the Ocean’s 11 remake, Ted Griffin, Terriers is such a perfect mixture of self-contained cases and over-arching mystery that this fan sees strong resemblances to gone-before-its-time fave Veronica Mars since it includes conspiracies and corrupt, wealthy locals in a seemingly idyllic beachside community (sans the high school setting). While not starring a spunky, pixieish blonde  it does have an excellent lead pairing in stars Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James as the two intrepid private investigator heroes who, despite not being officially licensed, take cases that continually put them in harm’s way (or police custody), don’t always pay off big and usually involve beefier men highly trained in the art of pummeling. Basically the kind of situations that create great drama, action and quite a lot of comedy.

With a rather lackluster crop of new shows on the big five networks’ fall schedule, Terriers is a welcome breath of fresh air, another noteworthy notch in FX’s impressive belt of series and has the privilege of receiving a coveted “series recording” space on this TV aficionado’s overtaxed DVR queue. In other words, it’s one to watch – FX, Wednesdays at 10/9c.

Being only half-way through the 13-episode run, it’s easy to play catch-up thanks to the interwebs. Let this excellent promo whet your viewing appetite.

Related Articles

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While zombies have had their day in cinema, this TV addict can’t recollect a time that they have been the subject of serialized storytelling and it’s long overdue as there is a wealth of metaphor in what they can represent and address – class, addiction, apathy, disease, consumption – but usually the base of all zombie stories is the human struggle to survive. AMC’s The Walking Dead tells the story of the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse and follows a small group of survivors traveling across the United States in search of a new home away from the hordes of zombies. As their situation grows more and more grim, the group’s desperation to survive pushes them to do almost anything to stay alive.

In anticipation of the premiere a recent fan-made video was released depicting his personal vision of the show’s opening credits. Truly a staggering and impressive creation it has caught the eye of several industry notables working in the sci-fi/fantasy genre including Lost honcho Damon Lindelof.