Ripping Good Yarns TV Nominees: Long Form Division

Although TV operates year round, this is traditionally considered the end of the television season that runs from September to May.  Accordingly I would like take this opportunity to recognize the best with the Inaugural Ripping Good Yarns television awards.  Yippee!

The first category will be Long Form programs.  These are programs that run full seasons, producing 14 or more episodes that pretty much run the course of the season.  There will be another award for short form programs, and will include many of the shows on cable or are cut short, that run 13 episodes or less.

Another consideration as to what qualifies as Ripping Good Yarn are continuity elements.  I feel the more the stories and characters cross over into each episode, the better.  This diminishes for consideration, but doesn't eliminate, shows that primarily focus on single, done-in-one stories, such as the Law and Order programs.

These preliminary nominees are subject to change and revision based upon your input, my fellow Ripping Good Yarn fans. They will be finalized next Thursday, May 31.  So here goes:

Castle :  The strengths of this show center around the marvelous relationship between Castle and Beckett.  Nathan Fillion is a marvelous actor, and combines humor, charm and pathos.  Beckett is very attractive, but for all her sophistication, also emanates a kind of goofy nerdiness.  You honestly believe that these two are attracted to each other.  The dialogue in the show is superior to the plotting, and the supporting characters, especially those in the police department, are significantly weaker than the the leads.  Continuity elements include our interest in the development in the Castle/Beckett relationship, and the ongoing mystery of Beckett's mother's death and the conspiracy behind it.

Fringe: Probably the best alternate universe story ever devised for television.  Outstanding characters in Peter, Walter and Astrid.  Some also have counterparts in the alternative universe. Walter may be one of the best characters on television ever.  Alison does not care for Olivia, the female lead, and I admit that she is tolerable but not great.  Strong continuity elements, but also with criminal cases that have a weird science bent.  My second favorite of J.J. Abram's shows (Lost is my runaway favorite).

The Mentalist: Alison and I call this the "Cho Show".  The secondary character of Cho is that good!  He takes stoicism to a whole new level.  The rest of the characters are pretty good, the supporting cast much stronger than Castle's.  The Mentalist himself, Jane, is a bit obnoxious, but he can be intriguing.  Continuity elements center around his quest to find Red John, the person that killed his wife and daughter.  My guess is that Red John will ultimately be revealed to be somebody he knows very well, but we may have to wait awhile for that one.

Once Upon A Time:  There are two shows that were close for consideration here.  Grimm, a similar show, was in contention for this slot.  But I have to bow to the superiority of Once Upon A Time's stories and sense of continuity.  It's similar to Lost in that they are fleshing out the current story with selected reveals from the past.  Grimm is mostly case of the week procedural, although the continuity did sharpen as the season went on.  Alison finds the characters on Once Upon A Time not compelling, but I disagree.  At this point, the villains are more interesting than the heroes.

Revenge:  Again, two shows in consideration here.  The one I actually watched was Ringer, which we enjoyed, but whose ratings were never very good.  I am bowing to general consensus that Revenge is a superior show.  I hope to see it in summer repeats.  Everything that I've heard about it indicates that it deserves to be considered.

These are my leading contenders, but I am open to comments on these shows, or any others you would like to see considered. Post here or on Facebook, whichever is easier for you. Don't worry about long form or short form - I'll clarify that as we proceed.

Let the nomination review procedure begin!