VideoStic

One season of television

VideoStic is an English guide to 156 television series that were on the air in a single season, from September 2008 to May 2009. It is a time capsule: the old VideoStic of January 2009 listed the shows of that winter in alphabetical order, from 'Til Death and 24 to 30 Rock, 90210 and Aliens in America, and this guide gathers the series of the same season, the ones that showed new episodes between the first days of autumn 2008 and the last finales of spring 2009. The series sit on twelve shelves of thirteen, grouped in three families: the big four, with ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX; cable and the young networks; and animation and the world. Every series has an English synopsis, the creators, the cast, the network, the list of its episodes and a Watch now button that opens it on JustWatch, which shows where it can be watched in your country.

The season of 2008-09 was a turning point of television. The strike of the writers of Hollywood had ended in February 2008, the networks were rebuilding their schedules, and the dramas of cable were winning the awards: Mad Men and Breaking Bad on AMC, The Shield and Damages on FX, Dexter on Showtime. Hulu had opened to the public in the spring of 2008, and the BBC had launched its iPlayer a few months earlier, so that the season was one of the first in which viewers could catch up on the internet the next morning. The 156 series of the guide carry about 264,900 votes on TMDB, with an average rating of 7.65, and 53 of them are rated 8 or more. The most voted and the best rated is Breaking Bad, whose second season began on AMC in March 2009, with about 18,900 votes and a 9.0. The guide Start with VideoStic gives a first route through the shelves.

Some series of the guide were in their first season that year, like Fringe, The Mentalist, Sons of Anarchy, True Blood and Merlin; some ended, like ER after fifteen seasons, The Shield, Boston Legal and Battlestar Galactica; and some were already old friends, like The Simpsons, in its twentieth season, and Law & Order, in its nineteenth. The guide The season 2008-09 tells the season from autumn to spring.

The name and the look

The name VideoStic joins the video and the stick of a remote control, and the look of the site comes from the old videostic.com, of which the Wayback Machine holds the home page of 5 January 2009. Only the look was measured; every picture and file of this site is new. From that capture comes a page centred at the width of the screens of the time, 1000 pixels, made of boxes with rounded corners in a pale blue grey, #E9EEF1, with a second box of a deeper blue, #C5D8EB, for the links of the menu, which were separated by bars: TV Shows, Movies, Bollywood and Cartoons/Anime.

The text is in Trebuchet MS, the font of so many sites of the 2000s, at a small size; the links are the pure blue of the early web, #0000FF, and turn brown under the mouse, and a bright red, #FF1A0C, marks the rating of each poster. The links of the menu become here the board TV Shows, with the twelve shelves in pale boxes on the deeper blue, and each shelf sits in a rounded box with a See all link. The guide The look of VideoStic explains each colour.

How the season works

The series of the guide were chosen by hand from TMDB. Each one had to show new episodes in the season, between September 2008 and May 2009, on the network of its shelf; repeats and specials of older series were left out, so that the old Star Trek or Monty Python's Flying Circus, which TMDB records with later broadcasts, are absent. Series that began in the summer of 2009, like Royal Pains and Warehouse 13, belong to the next season. Each series sits on a single shelf, the network where it showed that season, and each shelf holds the thirteen most voted series of its kind with an English synopsis on TMDB.

The twelve shelves are ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX for the big four; HBO and Showtime, cable drama, cable comedy and science fiction, and the young networks, from The CW to Disney Channel, for the second family; and the cartoons, the anime, British television and the series of other countries for the third. The three families each hold 52 series. The guide How the season works sums up the rules.

The season 2008-09

The season began early, on cable and on The CW. Sons of Anarchy opened on FX on 3 September 2008, the new 90210 on The CW the day before, and True Blood on HBO on 7 September; Fringe, the series of J.J. Abrams, followed on FOX on 9 September, and The Mentalist on CBS on 23 September, the most successful new drama of the autumn. In Britain the BBC launched Merlin on 20 September, and in Japan the autumn brought Toradora!, Black Butler and A Certain Magical Index in the first week of October. The American election of November 2008 crossed into the comedies too: South Park, in its twelfth season on Comedy Central, showed an episode about the result the very next night.

The winter belonged to the endings and the new arrivals. The Shield ended on FX in November 2008, Boston Legal on ABC in December, and in January 2009 Battlestar Galactica began its last episodes on the Sci Fi Channel, ending in March. Lie to Me began on FOX in January, Dollhouse in February, Castle on ABC in March, and Breaking Bad began its second season on AMC the same month. In Korea, Boys Over Flowers began on KBS2 on 5 January, and in Britain Being Human began its first series on BBC Three on 25 January.

The spring brought the great farewells and the first episodes of two comedies. ER, the drama of an emergency room of Chicago, ended on NBC on 2 April 2009 after fifteen seasons and 331 episodes; Parks and Recreation, with Amy Poehler, began on the same network a week later, and on 19 May FOX showed the pilot of Glee after American Idol. In Japan, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Dragon Ball Z Kai began on 5 April, and K-ON! two days earlier. The collection New in 2008-09 gathers the 38 series of the guide that began during the season, in order of their first episode.

The big four

The first family, The big four, holds the series of the four great broadcast networks of America, ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, which still drew the largest audiences of the season. Its 52 series carry about 132,900 votes, half of the votes of the guide, with an average rating of 7.62, and its most voted are The Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, The Simpsons and House. The guide The big four sums up the family.

ABC

The shelf ABC holds the thirteen most voted series that ABC showed in the season, from 2001 to 2009. Its most voted is Grey's Anatomy, by Shonda Rhimes, the surgeons of the Seattle Grace hospital, then in its fifth season, with about 11,100 votes and an 8.2, the best rated of the shelf; its spin-off Private Practice, of 2007, followed Kate Walsh to a clinic of Los Angeles. Lost, of 2004, by J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber, showed its fifth season in 2009, the season of the jumps through time on the island, rated 8.0, and Desperate Housewives, of 2004, jumped five years forward in its fifth season, in the autumn of 2008.

Castle, of 2009, with Nathan Fillion as a writer of mysteries who follows a detective of New York played by Stana Katic, began on 9 March 2009 and ran for eight seasons; it is rated 8.0, like Lost. The comedies of the shelf are Better Off Ted, of 2009, a satire of a corporation of science, and According to Jim, of 2001, with Jim Belushi, in its last season. The dramas of 2007 and 2008 complete the shelf: Pushing Daisies, of 2007, the pie maker who brings the dead back to life, in its second and last season, rated 7.9; Boston Legal, of 2004, with James Spader and William Shatner, whose last episode came in December 2008, also at 7.9; Ugly Betty, of 2006, with America Ferrera at a fashion magazine of New York; Brothers and Sisters, of 2006, with Sally Field; Dirty Sexy Money, of 2007, and Life on Mars, of 2008, the American version of the British series, with Jason O'Mara as a detective sent back to the New York of 1973 and Harvey Keitel. The guide ABC in 2008-09 follows the shelf.

CBS

The shelf CBS holds the thirteen most voted series that CBS showed in the season, from 2000 to 2009, and it is the network of crime and of the sitcom. Its most voted is The Big Bang Theory, of 2007, by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, the physicists of Pasadena and their neighbour Penny, in its second season, with about 12,900 votes, the second most voted series of the guide. Chuck Lorre also made Two and a Half Men, of 2003, with Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer, in its sixth season, and How I Met Your Mother, of 2005, with Josh Radnor and Neil Patrick Harris, rated 8.1, was in its fourth.

The best rated series of the shelf is The Mentalist, of 2008, by Bruno Heller, with Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, a former psychic of television who helps the California Bureau of Investigation, rated 8.4, followed by Criminal Minds, of 2005, the profilers of the FBI, at 8.3, and Ghost Whisperer, of 2005, with Jennifer Love Hewitt, at 8.1. The crime of the shelf runs on: the three CSI series of Anthony E. Zuiker and Ann Donahue, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in Las Vegas, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY; NCIS, of 2003, the agents of the navy, which would become the most watched drama of America; Cold Case, of 2003, the old crimes of Philadelphia, and Numb3rs, of 2005, a mathematician who helps his brother of the FBI.

The newest series of the shelf is Harper's Island, of 2009, thirteen episodes of a wedding on an island of Washington where the guests are killed one by one, which began in April 2009. The guide CBS in 2008-09 follows the shelf.

NBC

The shelf NBC holds the thirteen most voted series that NBC showed in the season, from 1990 to 2009, the oldest and the newest of its classics side by side. Its most voted and best rated is The Office, of 2005, by Greg Daniels, the paper company of Scranton, in its fifth season, with about 5,600 votes and an 8.6. Greg Daniels also created, with Michael Schur, Parks and Recreation, of 2009, which began on 9 April 2009 with Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, rated 8.0, and 30 Rock, of 2006, with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, won its second Emmy Award for best comedy in September 2008, at the start of the season.

Dick Wolf gives the shelf its two oldest series: Law & Order, of 1990, in its nineteenth season, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, of 1999, the second most voted series of the shelf, rated 8.0, which is still returning more than twenty-five years later. ER, of 1994, ended in April 2009 after fifteen seasons. The new century gives Heroes, of 2006, in its third season, the people of the world who discover their powers; Chuck, of 2007, the spy of an electronics store; My Name Is Earl, of 2005, with Jason Lee, in its fourth and last season; Medium, of 2005, with Patricia Arquette; Life, of 2007, with Damian Lewis as a detective released after twelve years in prison for a crime he was framed for; the new Knight Rider, of 2008, with its talking car, and Friday Night Lights, of 2006, the high school football of a small town of Texas, rated 8.0, which NBC shared that season with DirecTV. The guide NBC in 2008-09 follows the shelf.

FOX

The shelf FOX holds the thirteen most voted series that FOX showed in the season, from 1989 to 2009, and it is the most voted shelf of the guide, with about 46,400 votes. Its oldest and most voted series is The Simpsons, of 1989, by Matt Groening, in its twentieth season, the first shown in high definition, with about 11,100 votes; Seth MacFarlane gives it two neighbours of the Sunday night of FOX, Family Guy, of 1999, and American Dad!, of 2005, and King of the Hill, of 1997, by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, was in its last seasons.

The best rated series of the shelf is House, of 2004, by David Shore, with Hugh Laurie as the doctor who solves medical mysteries at a hospital of New Jersey, in its fifth season, rated 8.6. Bones, of 2005, the forensic anthropologist of Washington, is rated 8.2; Prison Break, of 2005, showed its fourth and last season, rated 8.1, level with Fringe, of 2008, the agents of the FBI who investigate the impossible with a mad scientist, the new drama of the autumn. 24, of 2001, with Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, returned after the strike with its seventh day, set in Washington, and Lie to Me, of 2009, with Tim Roth as a scientist who reads the lies on faces, began in January. The rest of the shelf belongs to Joss Whedon and to the future: Dollhouse, of 2009, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, in its second season, while Glee, of 2009, with its pilot of May, waited for the autumn. The guide FOX in 2008-09 follows the shelf.

Cable and the young networks

The second family, Cable and the young networks, holds the series of HBO and Showtime, the dramas of cable, the comedies and science fiction of cable, and the young networks, from The CW to Disney Channel. Its 52 series carry about 73,600 votes, with an average rating of 7.58, and its most voted are Breaking Bad, Supernatural, Dexter and Smallville. The guide Cable and the young networks sums up the family.

HBO and Showtime

The shelf HBO and Showtime holds thirteen series from 2004 to 2009, six from each of the two premium channels and one shared with British television. The most voted and best rated is Dexter, of 2006, for Showtime, with Michael C. Hall as the analyst of the police of Miami who kills killers, whose third season, with Jimmy Smits as a district attorney, ran in the autumn of 2008, with about 5,900 votes and an 8.2. Flight of the Conchords, of 2007, for HBO, the two musicians of New Zealand lost in New York, played by Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, follows at 8.0, in its second and last season.

HBO opened the season with True Blood, of 2008, by Alan Ball, the vampires of Louisiana, on 7 September 2008, and added Eastbound & Down, of 2009, with Danny McBride as a pitcher of baseball back in his old school as a teacher of physical education, in February. Entourage, of 2004, showed its fifth season; In Treatment, of 2008, with Gabriel Byrne as a therapist, its second, five sessions a week, and Big Love, of 2006, the polygamist family of Utah, its third. Showtime added United States of Tara, of 2009, with Toni Collette as a mother with several personalities, and showed the last season of The L Word, of 2004, the women of Los Angeles, and the third of The Tudors, of 2007, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII. Californication, of 2007, with David Duchovny; Weeds, of 2005, with Mary-Louise Parker, and the British Secret Diary of a Call Girl, of 2007, with Billie Piper, made for ITV2 and shown by Showtime, complete the shelf. The guide HBO and Showtime follows the shelf.

Cable drama

The shelf Cable drama holds thirteen series from 2002 to 2008 of the basic channels of cable, AMC, FX, TNT, USA Network and A&E, which in that season made some of the great dramas of the decade. Its most voted and best rated is Breaking Bad, of 2008, by Vince Gilligan, with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, whose second season began on AMC on 8 March 2009, the most voted and best rated series of the whole guide, with about 18,900 votes and a 9.0. AMC also showed the second season of Mad Men, of 2007, by Matthew Weiner, in the summer and autumn of 2008, the season of the year 1962, rated 8.1.

FX is the network of five series of the shelf. Sons of Anarchy, of 2008, by Kurt Sutter, the motorcycle club of a small town of California, began on 3 September 2008, rated 8.4; The Shield, of 2002, by Shawn Ryan, the corrupt detectives of Los Angeles, ended in November 2008 after seven seasons, rated 8.2; Damages, of 2007, with Glenn Close as a ruthless lawyer, showed its second season, and Rescue Me, of 2004, with Denis Leary as a firefighter of New York, its fifth. Nip/Tuck, of 2003, the plastic surgeons of Miami and Los Angeles, completes the five.

The other channels complete the shelf. TNT showed The Closer, of 2005, with Kyra Sedgwick as a deputy chief of the police of Los Angeles who obtains confessions; Saving Grace, of 2007, with Holly Hunter, and Leverage, of 2008, a team of thieves led by Timothy Hutton, which began in December 2008. USA Network showed Burn Notice, of 2007, the spy dismissed and stranded in Miami, and In Plain Sight, of 2008, a marshal who protects witnesses in New Mexico, and A&E The Cleaner, of 2008, with Benjamin Bratt as a former addict who helps others to quit. The guide Cable drama follows the shelf.

Cable comedy and science fiction

The shelf Cable comedy and science fiction holds thirteen series from 2002 to 2009, and four of them come from the Sci Fi Channel, renamed Syfy in July 2009, just after the season. Its most voted is Battlestar Galactica, of 2004, by Ronald D. Moore, whose last episodes ran from January to March 2009, ending the long flight of the last humans from the Cylons, with about 1,900 votes and an 8.2. The best rated is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, of 2005, for FX, the five selfish friends of a bar of Philadelphia, in its fourth season, rated 8.3, and still returning more than twenty years later.

The science fiction of the Sci Fi Channel had three more series in the season: Stargate Atlantis, of 2004, which ended in January 2009 after five seasons, rated 8.0; Eureka, of 2006, a town of geniuses in Oregon, and Sanctuary, of 2008, with Amanda Tapping, which began in October 2008 after a life as a series of the internet. USA Network gave the shelf two detectives with a gift: Monk, of 2002, with Tony Shalhoub as the detective of San Francisco with many phobias, in its seventh season, rated 7.9, and Psych, of 2006, a young man who pretends to be a psychic to help the police of Santa Barbara, also at 7.9. ABC Family showed the third and last season of Kyle XY, of 2006, the boy found in the woods with his past a blank.

The comedies of the late night complete the shelf. Party Down, of 2009, for Starz, a team of caterers in Los Angeles who dream of Hollywood, with Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan, began in March 2009; Comedy Central showed Reno 911!, of 2003, a parody of the police documentaries, and The Sarah Silverman Program, of 2007, and Adult Swim showed Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, of 2007, and Childrens Hospital, of 2008, by Rob Corddry, a parody of the hospital dramas first made for the internet. The guide Cable comedy and science fiction follows the shelf.

The young networks

The shelf The young networks holds thirteen series from 2001 to 2009 of The CW, the network for young adults born in 2006 from the merger of The WB and UPN, and of the channels for children and teenagers, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and ABC Family. Its most voted series is Supernatural, of 2005, the brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, in its fourth season, the season of the angels, with about 8,800 votes and an 8.3, the best rating of The CW; Smallville, of 2001, the young Clark Kent, was in its eighth, and Gossip Girl, of 2007, the rich teenagers of the Upper East Side, in its second, rated 8.1, level with Everybody Hates Chris, of 2005, the childhood of Chris Rock in Brooklyn, in its last season. One Tree Hill, of 2003, was in its sixth season; 90210, of 2008, began on 2 September 2008 as a new version of the series of 1990, and Reaper, of 2007, the young man who catches escaped souls for the Devil, showed its second and last season.

The best rated series of the shelf, and one of the best of the guide, is Wizards of Waverly Place, of 2007, for Disney Channel, with Selena Gomez as Alex Russo, a young wizard of New York, rated 8.6. Disney Channel had three more series in the season: Hannah Montana, of 2006, with Miley Cyrus as the schoolgirl who is secretly a pop star; The Suite Life on Deck, of 2008, the twins Zack and Cody on a cruise ship, which began in September 2008, and Sonny with a Chance, of 2009, with Demi Lovato as a young actress of a comedy show, which began in February 2009. Nickelodeon gave the shelf iCarly, of 2007, with Miranda Cosgrove as a girl of Seattle who hosts a web show with her friends, rated 7.9, and ABC Family The Secret Life of the American Teenager, of 2008. The guide The young networks follows the shelf.

Animation and the world

The third family, Animation and the world, holds the cartoons, the anime, British television and the series of other countries. Its 52 series carry about 58,500 votes, with an average rating of 7.76, the best of the three families, thanks to the anime and the cartoons, and its most voted are Naruto Shippūden, One Piece, South Park and Futurama. The guide Animation and the world sums up the family.

Cartoons

The shelf Cartoons holds thirteen animated series from 1997 to 2008 of Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Adult Swim, and seven of them come from Cartoon Network. Its most voted is South Park, of 1997, by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, in its twelfth season, with about 5,200 votes and an 8.3; the best rated is Star Wars: The Clone Wars, of 2008, by George Lucas, which began on Cartoon Network on 3 October 2008, two months after its film in the cinemas, rated 8.5. Futurama, of 1999, by Matt Groening, lived again that season on Comedy Central, which showed the four films made for video cut into episodes, rated 8.4.

Cartoon Network had a strong season. Ben 10: Alien Force, of 2008, the hero who changes into aliens, now a teenager, rated 8.3; Chowder, of 2007, the apprentice of a chef, 8.2; The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, of 2001, the two children and the Grim Reaper, in its last days, 8.1; The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, of 2008, a boy raised by a whale, 8.0; Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, of 2004, the house of the imaginary friends abandoned by their children, which ended in May 2009, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, of 2008, Batman with a new partner in each episode. Nickelodeon gave the shelf SpongeBob SquarePants, of 1999, the sponge of Bikini Bottom, with 656 episodes one of the longest series of the guide; The Fairly OddParents, of 2001, and The Penguins of Madagascar, of 2008, which began in November 2008. Robot Chicken, of 2005, by Seth Green, the sketches with toys of Adult Swim, closes the shelf. The guide Cartoons of 2008-09 follows the shelf.

Anime

The shelf Anime holds thirteen Japanese series from 1999 to 2009 that were on the air in Japan that season, and it is the best rated shelf of the guide, with an average of 8.14 and nine series rated 8 or more. Its most voted is Naruto Shippūden, of 2007, the ninja of the village of the Leaf, now a teenager, with about 8,800 votes and an 8.5. The best rated is One Piece, of 1999, the pirates of Monkey D. Luffy, with an 8.8 and more than 1,100 episodes, the longest series of the guide, followed by Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, of 2009, the two brothers who seek the stone of the philosophers to recover their bodies, which began on 5 April 2009, rated 8.7.

The great series of the shonen magazines fill the shelf. Bleach, of 2004, the young man who becomes a reaper of souls, rated 8.4; Gintama, of 2006, a samurai in an Edo invaded by aliens, 8.2; Soul Eater, of 2008, the school of the reapers, and Dragon Ball Z Kai, of 2009, the new edit of Dragon Ball Z for its anniversary. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, of 2006, ended its second season in September 2008, rated 8.4; Toradora!, of 2008, a love story at a high school of Tokyo, began in October and is rated 8.2, level with Vampire Knight, of 2008, a school of vampires and humans. Black Butler, of 2008, the demon who serves a young earl of Victorian London; A Certain Magical Index, of 2008, a city of espers, and K-ON!, of 2009, four girls who form a band at their high school, rated 8.0, complete the shelf. The guide Anime of 2008-09 follows the shelf.

British television

The shelf British television holds thirteen series from 2002 to 2009 of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and E4 that showed new episodes in the season. Its most voted is Doctor Who, of 2005, with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, whose season was a year of specials, from The Next Doctor at Christmas 2008 to Planet of the Dead at Easter 2009, with about 3,500 votes. The best rated is The IT Crowd, of 2006, by Graham Linehan, the two technicians of a basement and their manager, whose third series came in November 2008, rated 8.2, followed by Skins, of 2007, the teenagers of Bristol, whose third series of 2009 brought a whole new cast, rated 8.1.

The new series of the season are three. Merlin, of 2008, the young wizard in the Camelot of the young Arthur, began on BBC One on 20 September 2008, rated 7.8; Dead Set, of 2008, by Charlie Brooker, the zombies around the house of Big Brother, ran for five nights in October 2008, and Being Human, of 2009, a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf who share a house in Bristol, began on BBC Three in January 2009. The comedies of Channel 4 and E4 are The Inbetweeners, of 2008, the four awkward schoolboys, in their second series, and Peep Show, of 2003, with David Mitchell and Robert Webb, in its fifth, rated 8.0.

Crime and adventure complete the shelf. Wallander, of 2008, with Kenneth Branagh as the detective of Sweden, began in November 2008; Spooks, of 2002, the officers of MI5, showed its seventh series; Hustle, of 2004, the con artists of London, its fifth; Primeval, of 2007, the scientists who chase creatures through holes in time, its third, and Shameless, of 2004, by Paul Abbott, the family of a council estate of Manchester, its sixth. The guide British television follows the shelf.

Around the world

The shelf Around the world holds thirteen series from 2001 to 2009 of Canada, Spain, Korea, France, Turkey and Australia. Its most voted is the Korean Boys Over Flowers, of 2009, for KBS2, a girl of a family of dry cleaners at an elite school ruled by four rich boys, from the manga of Yoko Kamio, which began on 5 January 2009 and became one of the great hits of the Korean wave, with about 1,900 votes and an 8.3. Spain gives the shelf two series of Antena 3 about schools: The Boarding School, of 2007, a school in a forest with dark secrets, rated 8.2, and Physics or Chemistry, of 2008, the teachers and students of a high school of Madrid, rated 8.3, level with Boys Over Flowers as the best of the shelf.

Canada holds six series. Flashpoint, of 2008, the tactical unit of the police of Toronto, shown at the same time by CTV and CBS; Being Erica, of 2009, a woman who goes back in time to repair her regrets; Corner Gas, of 2004, the gas station of a small town of Saskatchewan, in its last season, rated 8.0; Little Mosque on the Prairie, of 2007, a Muslim community in a small town of the prairies; The Border, of 2008, the agents of the border, and Degrassi, of 2001, the high school of Toronto, in its eighth season. Satisfaction, of 2007, comes from Australia, as does Underbelly, of 2008, the true crime wars of Melbourne and then of Sydney. The French Spiral, of 2005, the police and the judges of Paris, rated 7.9, and the Turkish Forbidden Love, of 2008, a love story in a mansion on the Bosphorus that began on Kanal D in September 2008, complete the shelf. The guide Around the world follows the shelf.

The endings of the season

Few seasons of television closed as many stories. The first to go was The Shield, on FX on 25 November 2008, after seven seasons of the corrupt detective Vic Mackey; Boston Legal followed on ABC on 8 December, with the wedding of its two old lawyers and friends. The new year brought the end of Stargate Atlantis on 8 January 2009, after five seasons and a hundred episodes, and on 20 March the last episode of Battlestar Galactica, in which the fleet finally finds a home. Flight of the Conchords ended on HBO on 22 March, and The L Word on Showtime on 8 March.

April was the month of the great farewell. ER, which had begun in September 1994 with George Clooney, Anthony Edwards and Noah Wyle, showed its last episode on 2 April 2009 after fifteen seasons and 331 episodes, with many of its old doctors back for one night. Life on Mars ended on ABC the day before, revealing that its detective was an astronaut dreaming on a voyage to Mars; Life ended on NBC on 8 April, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX on 10 April, and Corner Gas on CTV on 13 April, after six seasons in its small town of Saskatchewan. In May, Everybody Hates Chris, My Name Is Earl and Reaper showed their last episodes, and Knight Rider and Kyle XY had ended earlier in the spring. Two more had their last episodes held over to the summer: Pushing Daisies, whose last three episodes ABC showed in June 2009, and Dirty Sexy Money, whose last ones came in August.

The season online

The season of 2008-09 was also one of the first in which the series could be watched on the internet as easily as on television. Hulu, the site of NBC, FOX and later ABC, had opened to the public in March 2008, and it carried the next-day episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, Family Guy and House; the BBC iPlayer, launched in December 2007, did the same for Doctor Who, Merlin and Being Human in Britain. The networks streamed their own shows on their sites, and Netflix, which had begun to stream films and series to computers in 2007, started that year to reach television sets through game consoles and players.

Some series of the guide were even born online. Sanctuary began as a series of episodes on the internet in 2007 before the Sci Fi Channel picked it up in October 2008, and Childrens Hospital began in December 2008 as short episodes on the site of The WB before Adult Swim made it a series. The old VideoStic belonged to the same moment, a small site that listed the shows of the season for viewers who had begun to look for them online; this guide keeps its list and its look, and sends each viewer to JustWatch, which shows where each series can be watched legally today. The guide The season online tells that story.

The makers of the season

Greg Daniels is the creator who appears most often in the guide, with three series on two networks: The Office and Parks and Recreation on NBC, and King of the Hill, with Mike Judge, on FOX. The three CSI series of CBS share their creators, Anthony E. Zuiker and Ann Donahue. Two series each go to Chuck Lorre, with The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men on CBS; Shonda Rhimes, with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice on ABC; Matt Groening, with The Simpsons on FOX and Futurama on Comedy Central; J.J. Abrams, with Lost on ABC and Fringe on FOX; Seth MacFarlane, with Family Guy and American Dad! on FOX; Dick Wolf, with the two Law & Order series of NBC, and Josh Schwartz, with Gossip Girl on The CW and Chuck on NBC. The guide The creators follows them.

VideoStic in figures

The 156 series of the guide carry about 264,900 votes on TMDB, with an average rating of 7.65, and 53 of them reach 8 or more; the collection Rated 8 or more gathers them, best first, from Breaking Bad at 9.0 to One Piece at 8.8 and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood at 8.7. The most voted are Breaking Bad, with about 18,900 votes, The Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, The Simpsons, Naruto Shippūden and Supernatural. Over their whole lives, the series hold about 1,130 seasons and 21,900 episodes; the longest is One Piece, with more than 1,100 episodes, ahead of The Simpsons with 808, and the shortest is Dead Set, with five.

By the year of their first episode, the guide holds one series of the 1980s, The Simpsons; nine of the 1990s, from Law & Order to One Piece, gathered with it in the collection Began before 2000; and 146 of the 2000s, 38 of them new in the season itself. Drama and comedy are the first genre of 41 series each, and animation of 23. Of the 156 series, 138 are in English, thirteen in Japanese, two in Spanish and one each in Korean, French and Turkish, and fourteen of them are still returning today, from Grey's Anatomy to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The guide The figures gathers every number.

Where to begin

For a first evening in the season of 2008-09, take one series from each family: Lost or House for the big four, Breaking Bad or Sons of Anarchy for cable, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or Doctor Who for animation and the world. Then follow your mood: The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation for the comedies of NBC, Fringe and Battlestar Galactica for science fiction, Gossip Girl and Skins for the teenagers of two countries, Star Wars: The Clone Wars for the whole family and Boys Over Flowers for a first series of Korea. The guide Start with VideoStic gives a first route.

How to use VideoStic

The home page opens with an introduction in a pale rounded box and the board TV Shows, a box of a deeper blue with the twelve shelves in three columns, one per family, each in a pale rounded box with the family, the name of the shelf in blue and its number of series in red. Each row sits in a rounded box under a blue rule, with twelve posters and a See all link, which opens the full shelf. The menu in the header, with its links separated by bars like the old site, leads to the three families, and the search box finds any series by its title; the guide Search tips explains how.

Each poster sits in a white frame and shows the year of the first episode on a dark tag, the TMDB rating on a red tag and, on a pale blue band at the bottom, the tag of its shelf, for example ABC or Anime; under the poster come the title, the first genre and the number of episodes. The series page has the English synopsis, the creators, the cast, the network and the list of episodes. The Watch now button opens the series on JustWatch, which shows the services that offer it in your country, and the button Add to My List keeps it in My list, stored in your browser. The guide How to use VideoStic explains each part, and the guide The Watch now button explains how JustWatch works.

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