New Year Celebration: Worst Character Countdown

 

The new year is upon us and most of us were awake to watch the big countdown. Each year, millions gather to count down to a new year, something that never appealed to me. This year was the first year I did not participate in watching the ball drop because the countdown wasn't important to me. Today I was thinking about what countdowns are important to me. I consulted my "Countdown App" that counts down to events I have programed. Among the events I deem worthy are all my school vacations (42 days, 21 hours, and 5 mins until the next one) and the season 3 premiere of Girls on HBO (11 days, 4 hours, 49 mins). Today I have assembled the countdown of  10 of the best and worst characters in television (in my limited experience and opinion). I will attempt to describe each character in a sentence.

Worst Characters: The characters I cannot love

 

10. Karen Cartwright from Smash: Karen has many redeeming qualities but is too bland and whiny to earn my respect.

9. Tamara from Awkward: Tamara starts out as funny but her constant spewing of nonsensical phrases has grown annoying.

8. Hannah Horvath from Girls: Hannah makes both lists because sometimes she acts completely crazy and makes choices I cannot understand and is therefore annoying.

7. Jenna Hamilton from Awkward: Jenna cannot get her act together and I am getting tired of her complaining.







6. Celia Hodes from Weeds: Celia is mean and selfish with very few redeeming qualities... especially in regard to parenting.

5. Ellis Tancharoen from Smash: Ellis is slimy, untrustworthy, and an all around terrible person.

4. Adam from Girls: Adams is creepy, gross, and occasionally borderline abusive. Needless to say, I find it very hard to sympathize with him.

3. Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones: Joffery is mean and pure evil with zero redeeming qualities.

2. Cook from Skins: Cook is supposed to be one of the heroes of the show but he is vulgar to the point of being labeled "a disgusting human being".

1. Jimmy Collins from Smash: Jimmy is ungrateful, rude, and has a temper issue. He is supposed to be a hero but I cannot help but root for his decline due to my complete lack of sympathy. He is utterly infuriating.

 

 

Links:

http://www3.images.coolspotters.com/photos/805276/karen-cartwright-profile.jpg

http://www.mtv.com/onair/awkward/season2/photos/flipbooks/cast/tamara2.jpg

http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120412015127/girls/images/0/03/Hannah_horvath_1.jpeg

http://www.trbimg.com/img-4febaeb1/turbine/zap-tvs-most-awkward-pics-022/600

http://rubazahran.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/elizabeth-perkins-como-celia-hodes-en-weeds.jpg

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog_post_349_width/2012/02/smash_jaime_cepero.jpg

http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/592x888/g_j/girls-s2e1-03_gl_7feb13_pr_b_592x888.jpg

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120703113314/gameofthrones/images/0/0b/Joffrey_HBO_Promo_Shot_2012.jpg

http://www.skinsmusic.co.uk/images/season_3/cook/cook_skins%20Searies3.jpg

Tags: celebration, character countdown, friends, awkward, Game of Thrones, smash, the newsroom, Girls, Weeds, skins,













New Year Celebration: Best Character Countdown

 

The new year is upon us and most of us were awake to watch the countdown. Each year millions gather to count down to a new year, something that never appealed to me. This year was the first year I did not participate in watching the ball drop because the countdown wasn't important to me. Today I was thinking about what countdowns are important to me. I consulted my "Countdown App" that counts down to events I have programed. Among the events I deem worthy are all my school vacations (42 days, 21 hours, and 5 mins until the next one) and the season 3 premiere of Girls on HBO (11 days, 4 hours, 49 mins). Today I have assembled the countdown of  10 of the best and worst characters in television (in my limited experience and opinion). I will attempt to describe each character in a sentence.

 

Best characters: The characters I love and the characters I love to hate.

 

10. Janice from Friends: Janice is an incredibly annoying, yet funny and appealing recurring (albeit minor) character.

9. Valerie Marks from Awkward: Valerie is hilarious and unpredictable with no regard for what is appropriate.

8. Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones: Tyrion starts as a simple character but transforms into a very interesting and promising character.

7. Ivy Lynn from Smash: I used to dislike Ivy, but now see her as a tragic yet strong and persistent character that is extremely talented and worthy of praise.

6. Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen from Game of Thrones: Daenerys is strong and kind yet harsh and firm when she need be.

5. Sloan Sabbith from The Newsroom: Sloan is smart and beautiful but incredibly socially awkward which makes her a fun character.

4. Hannah Horvath from Girls: Hannah is such a mess but I can sympathize with her and I enjoy her antics.







3. Nancy Botwin from Weeds: Nancy is confident but flawed and may be a terrible mother... but she is a pretty cool person

2. Phoebe Buffay from Friends: Phoebe is always hilarious and is by far the best in the group.

1. Effy Stonem from Skins: Effy is an exceedingly complex and confident character with an icy demeanor. I am always left to wonder what is happening in her head.

 

Links:

http://cache.thisorth.at/00000/01086/060.460x325.jpg

http://ifelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Screen-Shot-2012-06-20-at-10.06.56-AM.png

http://static.tumblr.com/58f04174d7e2d806d6bd4eb18f62ff4b/omzjqeh/Sj9mj3m6d/tumblr_static_tyrion-lannister-tyrion-lannister-23793056-600-900.jpg

http://www.mytakeontv.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/NUP_146471_3096.jpg

http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130127151117/gameofthrones/images/6/62/Daenerys_S3.jpg

http://newsroom.jepeteo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/sloan-sabbith-olivia-munn-the-newsroom-2.jpg

http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120412015127/girls/images/0/03/Hannah_horvath_1.jpeg

http://www.bu.edu/arts/files/2011/12/weeds.png

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/31400000/Phoebe-Buffay-phoebe-buffay-31435080-640-480.jpg

http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2013107.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Skins-2013107.jpg

Tags: celebration, character countdown, friends, awkward, Game of Thrones, smash, the newsroom, Girls, Weeds, skins,















Awkward manages to entertain despite inconsistency

7.5 out of 10

 

 

 

Awkward is a scripted show on MTV centering on a girl named Jenna. One summer, she begins a causal relationship with the school hottie, Matty McKibben. She returns home to find a letter addressed to her. Inside is a list of reasons why Jenna sucks signed by "A friend." A freak accident follows that looks a lot like a suicide attempt and changes her from "invisible girl" to "that girl".

 

 Season one follows Jenna and her friends as they begin a climb up the social ladder and as she struggles to maintain the attention of Matty, all the while trying to find out who wrote her the letter. The result is utterly engrossing. Sure, it is stupid but it is also raw, honest and often funny. The show itself is utterly ridiculous as illustrated by fast talking and word-inventing Tamara and the completely inappropriate guidance counselor, Ms. Marks. Plenty of other character are interesting such as Jenna's parents and school bully, Sadie Saxton. Jenna is a character I could really root for as she generally had the best of intentions and was a victim of circumstance. All the actors and actresses are fantastic all the way through. They are funny and generally authentic. The mystery of the letter also adds a unique dynamic to the show. A sort of whodunit part left me wanting more and contributed to a successful first season.

 

With the drama of season 1 behind her and the mystery of the letter solved, season 2 find Jenna back but changed. She is now considered popular and has a new set of problems. Jenna is considerably more annoying, always complaining about her life. She often fights for the man she wants, changes her mind, changes it again... so on and so forth. Jenna, who was once the adorable underdog, now comes off as a floozy. I frequently found myself screaming at the TV, "PICK A MAN JENNA! STOP MAKING OUT WITH EVERYONE AND PICK A MAN!" And so I came to regard season 2 as the show's darker days, as it was ultimately less inspired. Let me be clear, the show still has some redeeming qualities, such as humorous scenes and a memorable heart wrenching moment, but mostly just feels like a cheesy teen soap.

 

Season 3 part 1 finds Jenna finally settled on a man... until she meets a new one. And just like that, all certainty goes out the window. Immediately, it veers into some darker territory by killing off one of the supporting characters. The characters then begin to try to piece together the death and determine the cause all throughout the first part of the season. This seems to be an attempt to recapture the "mystery" aspect of the show but ultimately fails. The show seemed more humorous than its previous season but still managed to frustrate. Jenna's promiscuous nature was really getting on my nerves and I wasn't sure if I could handle the inconsistency any longer.

 

When season 3 part 2 came around, I was skeptical. I sat down and once again found myself pulled in. It is a completely different product than the first season but still manages to be entertaining. Jenna is still confused about what she wants and in this season makes some terrible choices, which was an utter joy to watch. For once, she finally seems sorry for her infidelity and shares a lot of teary-eyed, heart-wrenching moments. The show finally is able to balance its humor with emotion and never feels sappy. Dialogue is poignant and affecting. I once again felt satisfied when the credits rolled and find it a joy to finally see scraps of a deeper, emotional component of this show. I am certainly glad I stuck with the show because this season is what I was waiting for. Awkward is almost done airing its 3rd season. Overall, Awkward is fun but very inconsistent.

 

Awkward is rated TV-14

http://www.sonotstraight.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/awkward-girl.jpg

Tags: MTV, comedy, drama, television, tv, TV-14, tv14, awkward, awkward.,