Rueben’s Ramblings is celebrating its 10th Anniversary!!
In honor of that I decided to highlight some of the big events that took place during each year of the past 10 years.
Today’s salute is focused on 2013:
Some memorable shows that debuted during that year included:
* The Americans – This FX drama hit the small screen in May, starring former Felicity star Keri Russell and Brothers & Sisters alum Matthew Rhys as an average American couple with kids who were anything but. They were actually embedded Russian agents at the height of the Cold War. The show was heralded by critics for its writing, characters and acting, but it didn’t win any Emmys until its last season on the air while receiving two Peabody Awards, which is a rarity.
* Orphan Black – This innovative series debuted on BBC America in March, and featured talented actress Tatiana Maslany not only in the lead role of Sarah Manning, but during the show’s five season run, she appeared in at least 13 different versions of herself: same face, but different name, different upbringing, different life. It was a ground-breaking show that will never be replicated.
* Sleepy Hollow – The FOX drama debuted in September with the most outlandish tagline: Ichabod Crane is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers. The show shouldn’t have worked (and after season one, it really didn’t), but its debut season made the most implausible story work, and had people looking forward to hearing Ichabod call Abbie Mills – leftenant.
* Orange Is the New Black – The comedy-drama debuted in the summer of 2013, becoming the most watched series on Netflix and won three Emmy Awards for its first season. The show was widely acclaimed by critics and fans alike and was praised for “humanizing prisoners and for its depiction of race, sexuality and gender and body types.
Some of the shows that came to an end in 2013 were:
* Nikita – The CW remake came to an end in December of that year after four seasons on the air; and the leads, Nikita and Michael, even got to have a happy ending: they ended up married (they eloped), spending their life together on an island, but going on one last mission as you can see in this video clip:
You can also read my salute to the show.
* Burn Notice – After 7 seasons on the USA Network, this action drama came to an end in September with one very big series finale. Mama Bear Maddie sacrificed herself to save Michael; Michael and Fiona’s deaths were faked with Jesse and Sam seemingly prepared to take on the mantel held by Michael and his team previously while Michael and Fi were in a cabin safe and sound with Michael’s nephew.
* The Glades – This was the little cop show on A&E that should have been renewed, especially given it was in its fourth season and the final episode was to include the much anticipated wedding of leads Jim and Callie; but instead of getting to the church on time, Jim was shot by an unknown assailant, bleeding out in his home with no one the wiser as the finale came to an end. This was the worst kind of cliffhanger to leave for fans, but made all the more worse because the network cancelled the show AFTER this finale aired.
Among the top TV moments that year included the following:
Tony and Ziva finally kiss on NCIS. It only took 8 seasons of will they/won’t they and did they/didn’t they on the long-running CBS crime series for all that bottled up chemistry to finally lead to a kiss.
You can watch that scene below:
Richard Castle proposed to Kate Beckett on Castle. It may have taken five years for it to happen, but for fans of the show and of the TV couple, it was a moment long worth waiting for.
Here is the video of both the proposal that aired in the season finale in May of that year followed by Kate’s (albeit awkward) answer in the season premiere that fall:
Also in 2013, Castle celebrated its 100th episode – a big milestone for any show; and the same thing happened for the USA Network series Psych.
Another milestone in TV history, Doctor Who celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Make sure to check out the video below of when 11 meet 10:
Before the massacre happened
Another big moment on TV was the Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones otherwise known as “The Rains of Castamere.” For those countless viewers who (like me) were unaware of this story from the book, watching this massacre play out was literally and figuratively gut-wrenching, especially given the relentless amount of death depicted all throughout this show’s run.
Also for the fans of the long-running thriller Supernatural, it was so much fun to see fan favorite Felicia Day show up as Charlie Bradbury, who would play an important role in the lives of the brothers Winchester.
A big announcement was made on March 13 by Veronica Mars series creator Rob Thomas. A Kickstarter campaign took place with the goal of raising 2 million dollars to create a box office film that would continue the cult classic/fan favorite TV series. The devoted fans rallied together that culminated in 5.7 million dollars to make the film a reality.
In movie news, the #1 box office film was Iron Man 3, but it was the animated movie Frozen that took the world by storm. One movie that might not have been a box office hit – it only earned 5.3 million – but Joss Whedon (the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and the director of Marvel’s The Avengers) released a modern-day take of William Shakespeare’s classic tale of Much Ado About Nothing. Two of the worst movies, however, were Grown Ups and R.I.P.D.
Just as in years past, I selected an interesting group of people who were the faces of that year and those faces that people should be on the look-out for in the coming year.
Among those I selected in 2013 included: Aaron Tveit, Luke Mitchell, Emily Bett Rickards, Tom Mison, Lupita Nyong’o, Sam Heughan, Lily James and Alicia Vikander.
COMING SOON: Salute to 2014
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