It’s the end of 2008 and it was a fun year for me in many ways, not the least of which was the arrival of Lyla. But I’ve written plenty of that (and will write plenty more)…it’s time to focus on my other hobby: pop culture.

Because of my involvement with Pop Critics in early 2008, I was deep into the world of TV, movies and comics. Yet towards the end of the year, my partner and I decided to call it quits because of all the work it took to make it awesome. And that ended up causing my movie watching to take a nose-dive in the second half of 2008.

Still, I’m here to confess to my readers what my favorite things were in the arena of pop culture/entertainment this past year, including favorite TV shows, movies, comics and top moments.

So without anymore stalling, let’s get into my all-important lists.

Top 10 TV Shows

This is a fun category for me. As my friend Davina said in a blog post of the same nature today, the television medium has developed into such a high-quality platform for entertainment, even movies may be lacking in that regard. It makes me laugh when I talk to these guys at work who say “television is crap, there is nothing of value on the tube”, yet they haven’t watched a single new show or given it a chance.

#10 – The Middleman – This was a toss-up between Burn Notice and The Middleman, but this show was such comic genius fun, it had to make this list. Will it return? Who knows…

#9 – Storm Chasers – What a show. I’m seriously smitten with these tornado chasing fools. So much so, I may spend some cash in the next few years to join them for a 10-day tour. I’m that addicted to it.

#8 – The Office – I’m sure I’ll get some hate here, but The Office was just not that good in the 2007-08 season, and luckily, did improve a bit this past fall. I love this show and will always watch it…but they need to stick to the 30-minute, in-the-office stories, instead of the super-sized episodes where they go on field trips.

#7 – The Soup – Joel McHale can do no wrong and I never miss this show.

#6 – Smallville – Hated last season with a passion, but the current year has been fantastic. The show is back to it’s original form and building towards an awesome conclusion.

#5 – 30 Rock – Tina Fey…what can I say? I “heart” you. And I “heart” this show.

#4 – Friday Night Lights – Thank God NBC and DirecTV decided to bring this show back together, because this fall was some of the best FNL ever. The four-episode arc with Smash leaving for school was brilliant. I really wish people got into this series, because honestly and truthfully, it’s so very, very good. And you don’t even have to know or care about football to enjoy it.

#3 -Dexter – Wow….Dexter. I started watching it early in 2008 and am entirely caught up now. I really don’t remember when I’ve had more fun watching the first season of a series since Damages. Fantastic, fantastic show. And this past year started off slow, but delivered in the end. Well done.

#2 – Battlestar Galactica – This show was utterly spellbinding in 2008 and the mid-season finale was shocking and unexpected. Still and always at the top of my list.

#1 – Lost – How could anything be better?

Top 5 Movies

I didn’t see a lot in the second half of this year, so I’m giving an abbreviated list this time around.

#5 – Slumdog Millionaire – Fun little movie…an uplifting story, with some real scenes of how life is in India.

#4 – The Bank Job – An awesome bank heist film…maybe one of Jason Statham’s best movies (I still like Snatch better)

#3 – Iron Man – Great film from one of my favorite entertainers, Jon Favreau. Awesome casting of Robert Downey Jr.

#2 – In Bruges – Funniest movie I saw all year, including Burn After Reading and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. An unexpected surprise. Hope it wins some awards.

#1 – The Dark Knight – No doubt this was my favorite movie from 2008. Crossing my fingers for Heath Leadger winning the Supporting Actor Oscar.

Top 10 Pop Culture/Entertainment Moments

Here are my favorite moments from 2008.

#10 – David Letterman, Conan O’Brien grow strike beards

#9 – Dwight Howard’s Superman Dunk at the NBA All-Star Weekend

#8 – Sara Silverman versus Jimmy Kimmel

#7 – Attending the San Diego Comic-Con for the first time.

#6 – The Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics

#5 – The Lost Finale and seeing just WHO was in the casket

#4 -Michael Phelps winning countless gold medals

#3 – Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

#2 – The Battlestar Galactica mid-season finale

#1 -  Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Comics

Not going to make a list here, but 2008 was truly the “Year Mike got into Comics.” And what a wonderful medium to finally get into. I have over 100 comics now, all organized in a box and inventoried with an Excel spreadsheet. Yeah…I’m that guy.

If any of you want to get into them and are looking where to start, here are some of the essential graphic novels: Watchmen, Batman: Year One, Y: The Last Man, The Dark Knight Returns, Blankets, Fear Agent and Ex Machina.

Happy New Year!

So that’s the list. Hope you found it interesting and I’m sure you have your disagreements and your own lists. I’d love to hear them!

Have a Happy New Year!