Giving thanks

By Casey Gillis

Published: November 25, 2008

It’s that time of year, when we should all be giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.

When you’re a couch potato like me, many of those things revolve around television.

So sit back, relax and get into the Turkey Day spirit with my list of the TV-related things I’m most thankful for this year:

Alexander Skarsgard in, well, anything.
This couch potato’s got a new TV beau, and it’s Swedish hottie Skarsgard, whom I first fell for when he played Sgt. Brad “Iceman” Colbert in the great HBO miniseries “Generation Kill.”

Then he popped up on one of my guiltiest pleasures, HBO’s “True Blood” (the cable network must have a thing for him, too). The show is pretty bad, but Skarsgard keeps me watching.

I’m telling you, it’s only a matter of time before he’s a household name and has his face plastered all over magazine covers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And, remember: I saw him first!

Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) on “Grey’s Anatomy”
My love-hate relationship with “Grey’s” (9 p.m. on Thursdays) continues this season: did the writers really bring back my beloved Denny for this creepy ghost storyline? Elsewhere, Meredith never fails to annoy me, and now her little sister, Lexie, is doing the same. How ridiculous was that interns-operating-on-themselves storyline?!? 

But you know what I absolutely, positively love about the show right now?

Newest cast member Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt, a smokin’ hot, tough-as-nails surgeon who has a big thing for Cristina. Their flirtation is one of the only reasons I’m still watching the show, and it’s refreshing that they’re taking things slowly, unlike their bed-hopping fellow doctors.

Privileged
File this CW show under the season’s most improved.

When it first premiered, “Privileged” was cute and charming. But it didn’t feel like something you had to tune in for every week.

Boy, was I wrong. It’s now a favorite and one of the fall’s standout new series.

As Megan, Joanna Garcia has created one of the most relatable TV characters in recent memory. She often puts her foot in her mouth (“It’s like I have Tourette’s,” she says after one faux pas), doesn’t always do the right thing and gets flustered in romantic situations. 

Speaking of romantic situations, how could you not like her budding romance with rich neighbor Will (Brian Hallisay)? These two have been circling each other all season, and it finally paid off with a smooch a couple weeks ago. Adorable.

The rest of the cast is also solid: Anne Archer as cosmetics mogul Laurel, Megan’s mentor and boss; Allan Louis as Marco, Laurel’s flamboyant and hilarious personal chef; and Lucy Hale as the ditzy but well-meaning Rose. Her nasty twin sister, Sage (Ashley Newbrough) is even kind of growing on me, too.

The show airs at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Walter Bishop on “Fringe”
This series hasn’t lived up to my expectations, but I continue to be impressed by John Noble’s performance as the slightly loony and always entertaining Walter. He does a great job of going back and forth between endearingly kooky moments and instances of Walter’s genuine instability.

For the most part, Noble plays Walter humorously, whether he’s calling FBI agent Astrid by the wrong name (Asterisk is a few personal favorite) or fielding a call from his son (“Peter. This is me. Your father. Walter Bishop.”).

But there’s a layer of pain below the surface, and it really came out during last week’s episode, when Walter went back into the mental institution for a case. As soon as he walked through those doors, he reverted to an almost-childlike state, and you could tell how scared he was. It was a heartbreaking performance. 

“Fringe” airs at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, opposite “Privileged.” (This is what DVRs are for, people).

Chuck
This is another show I look forward to watching every single week (it airs at 8 p.m. on Mondays). I love everything about it, especially Zachary Levi. He’s charismatic and witty as the titular, often inept spy, and his relationship with CIA handler Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) is geek love at its finest.

One character that’s really grown on me is NSA agent Casey (Adam Baldwin). The big guy has softened up a lot since last year, and the writers have given him some great moments of comic relief.

Eli Stone
Rumor has it that this clever ABC series has been cancelled, so I thought I’d show it some love.

It’s a great, quirky show that kind of reminds me of the early days of “Ally McBeal,” when it was still good. It airs at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays. Watch while you can and then mourn ABC’s decision to cancel it, along with another imaginative series, “Pushing Daisies.”

ABC, we’re about to have some serious problems.