For the next chapter in our Fave Five project, Movieline has enlisted the help of Chelsea Handler's right-hand pop-culture commentator, writer, comedian, and "Staff Homosexual" Guy Branum. The 30-year-old panelist on Chelsea Lately mixes self-deprecation, Jonas Brothers awe, and the occasional Joy Luck Club reference into an effective blend. Now, the TV expert gives us his Fave Five primetime moments of 2009 and includes the best reference to Casablanca since Animaniacs.
Night Cheese
"30 Rock continues to be a festival of delicious verbal constructions. Jenna assuring us that "Drama is gay man Gatorade: it replenishes their electrolytes" stands out particularly. That said, no moment this year was as magical as Liz Lemon in a Snuggie singing to her cheese. Simple, magical pathos is all I ask from my sitcom characters."
Shambo's Hair
"I know, who still watches Survivor, huh? We've had 19 seasons in nine years, and it all seems pretty tiring. Then a middle-aged former marine with a magnificent mane of salt and pepper curls shows up and manages to make it all new again. Sure, Shambo's thick wits made her the perfect pawn in Russell's unstoppable power plays, but her sweet Kentucky Waterfall never lost its dignity."
"Casablanca"
"Modern Family is great. They've managed to make a single-camera sitcom as joke-dense and heartfelt as the best multi-camera family sitcoms, but they had a nasty habit of leaving the gay couple to comic relief C-plots. Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet have managed to answer this problem with magnificent performances. The scene where Stonestreet recounts the game of charades that made clear they were meant for each other is a perfect moment of television."
Jakob and Ellenore on So You Think You Can Dance
"The best dancer never wins SYTYCD. It's always some cute boy who the 14-year-old girls at home have a crush on. The parties screwed over this year were Jakob Karr and Ellenore Scott. Their performances dazzled throughout the season, building to a transcendent interpretation of a contemporary piece by Sonya Tayeh. I will miss getting to watch them, but I assume it's only a matter of time before I run into Jakob at an L.A. gay bar."
Kristin Chenoweth on Glee
"Glee is fun, but the season has been unsteady. Yeah, they make bold choices, but they're not always good ones. The music is what saves the show, and on the fifth episode the music quality crested with the work of Broadway legend Kristin Chenoweth. The episode's songs were amazing, Chenoweth played hilariously against type, and we got a taste of how exciting guest appearances on Glee could be."