Talking Squid has no hesitation in telling others how to vote. In this spirit of generosity, we offer Grant Watson’s guide to the Hugo nominations for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.

Was 2009 really this poor a year for SF television? It certainly seems to have been a strange one: the episodes most deserving of acclaimed failed to make the Hugo shortlist. I suppose Russell T. Davies’ masterful Torchwood: Children of Earth was, at five episodes, more a contender for Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form (in which case Avatar unfairly stole its place on the ballot), but there really was no excuse for fans to exclude the excellent Stargate Universe. As it stands we’re left with four nominees that arguably made the ballot on earlier, far superior works, and only one genuine contender – so with that in mind, I have to put my support behind Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer’s excellent FlashForward pilot “No More Good Days.”

“Epitaph 1″ is probably as good an episode as Dollhouse ever had, but it still doesn’t escape the problem that the entire series was structured around a faulty premise, and it’s hard to believe it didn’t make the ballot out of affection for Joss Whedon’s numerous awards-worthy TV scripts for older, better series.

The less said about the three nominated Doctor Who episodes the better – of the three it’s only “The Waters of Mars” that stood as anything exceptional, and even then it pales in comparison to previous Hugo-winning episodes.

Voting advisory service: “No More Good Days,” then “Epitaph 1,” then, at a stretch, “The Waters of Mars.”

Grant can be found ranting at the Bad Film Diaries, Eiga: Asian Cinema and on Livejournal.

Tags: doctor who, Dollhouse, FlashForward, grant watson, hugo award, short form, television, tv