Hulu Awards Week 8: John J. Joex’s List

Round 1 Nominations:
This is the last set of Round 1 nominations until January, so I’ll make the best of it.

Best Travel / Leisure Show:
I’ll avoid the Fashion shows for now, because I am no expert there. And for the Travel shows, I gravitated to those with culinary themes (as I say, when in doubt go with food).

1. Three Sheets – What is it with shows about comedians travelling around drinking? I may not be a comedian, but I’ll act pretty funny if I can get this gig too.
2. After hours with Daniel – At least this time it’s a chef traveling around drinking and eating.
3. Uncorked – Already gave this one a nod in the Non-Competitive Reality Show category, but I will recognize it here as well.
4. Destination Truth – Can be worth a look at times.

Best Cooking/Food Show:
Now we’re talking! I can sink my teeth into some of these shows even if Hulu does have a fair number second-tier entries among their selections. Unfortunately, many of the better choices only have clips available, but then again that’s not too bad if you are trying to figure out how to prepare a dish. I would have included 30 Minute Meals, but it seems to have been removed from the site (and I'm suffering from Rachael Ray burnout anyway). Also, I will avoid duplicating the entries I already including in the Travel / Leisure category as several of the same shows made it here as well.

1. Good Eats – Alton Brown is the ultimate food nerd. You know that you’re not going to buy all of the gadgets he has or put as much effort into each dish, but he definitely provides some good information and I have picked up more than a few helpful hints from him.
2. Great Cocktails – Some good info on how to mix up a variety of drinks.
3. Everyday Italian – Giada whips up some pretty tasty recipes.
4. Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger – Provides some decent tips on healthy-leaning dishes.
5. Chef’s Kitchen – Good instructions on some pretty high-class dishes from famous chefs.

Worst Reality Show:
Don’t get me started here. The easy answer is all of them. Of course then you have to really look at what counts as a reality show, and quite a number on this list don’t fall under what I consider the reality show umbrella. Many steer closer to the documentary genre or travelogue or cooking show or instructional series. A true reality series to me means an unscripted show where people are put together in a situation and the camera captures their actions and interactions. Shows like The Real World and Survivor. Then there is the offshoot of this where the cameras follow around one or more celebrities either during their normal routine or through situations contrived based on the series premise. The latter being the group that gravitate to the top of my worst of list because of their gratuitous voyeurism taken to the nth level. My list is below, but I am withholding comments on the individual entries because this is a family site.

1. Living Lohan
2. Pam: Girl on the Loose
3. The Girls Next Door
4. Rob and Amber: Against the Odds
5. Snoop Dogg's Father Hood
6. Hey Paula
7. Temptation Island
8. Paradise Hotel 2
9. Celebrity Apprentice
10. Gimme My Reality Show
11. Make Me A Supermodel
12. Mad Mad House
13. Rob and Amber: Against the Odds
14. Snoop Dogg's Father Hood
15. Deion and Pilar: Prime Time Love
16. Denise Richards: It's Complicated
17. Dr. 90210
18. ---Oh wait, sorry. I was supposed to stop at six. I told you not to get me started. Just go with the top six above.

Round 2 Nominations:

Best Animated Short:
Poor God and Nun Fight Club made it to this round which is enough for me. The other three I am somewhat ambivalent about, but they will do.

1. Poor God
2. Nun Fight Club
3. Crooked Mick
4. Carnivore Reflux
5. Metro

Best Cartoon Series (non-anime):
All four of my Round 1 picks made it through and I will tack on the always enjoyable Wallace and Gromit to round out the five.

1. The Pink Panther
2. Exosquad
3. The Simpsons
4. Futurama
5. Wallace and Gromit

Best Anime:
My three Round 1 noms made it through, and I will throw in Speed Racer as a guilty pleasure. The others I am mostly neutral toward, but I will go ahead and tack on Naruto.

1. Death Note
2. Mushi-shi
3. Astro Boy
4. Speed Racer
5. Naruto

Round 3 Nominations:

Best Dramatic TV Series:

ER - Agh!!! I can’t stand it!!! Picket Fences didn’t make it to the finals. I don’t know that I even care, now. I guess I will go ahead and go with this medical drama mainstay.

Best Dramatic Movie:

Of Mice and Men – Another loss! How could In the Heat of the Night not make it to the finals? I’m giving Karate Kid the nod in the best family movie category, so I will go with this one here.

Best Short Format Comedy:

Carpet Bros. – At least this one made it through to the finals. Really, if you are a Tarantino fan, check this one out.

Best Family Movie:

The Karate Kid – Definitely worthy of the nomination. If you haven’t seen it in a while, set aside the time to revisit it.

The Hulu Awards will be on break for the holidays and will return in mid-January.

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)