This was a great year for TV. While yesterday gave recognition to the new series that entered the zeitgeist and changed our TV conversation, today is about the shows that will go down as the best of the best. Mixing veteran shows with the newbies, this is a list dedicated to pointing out all of the highlights of TV in this year. Mixing comedies with dramas, there's a lot to be thankful for this year. Without further ado, here are the shows that if you are given the chance, you must watch in order to fully appreciate things.
1. Girls (HBO)
It is baffling how this show continues to only get better. After the dark and experimental second season, there was a lot of wonder of where the show would go next. As a result, it continued to expand its universe with confidence as it featured dancing in graveyards and performing Kinky Boots routines in the Hamptons. It may still feel sporadic and troublesome, but it's only because Lena Dunham craftily makes her universe so intricate to the 20-something experience of today. With the finale leaving a lot of interesting cliffhangers, there's plenty to wonder of where the show can go now that it is a seasoned HBO veteran. For now, we have another great season that continued to tackle hard issues while remaining consistently funny.
2. True Detective (HBO)
One last time with hyperbole for this show (in 2014, anyways). Coming out in January, it set a bar for what TV could be this year. With two phenomenal lead performances in Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the story excelled beyond the murder mystery and became about the troubled characters behind it. With great direction by Cary Fukunaga, it became auteur TV at its best while leaving questions on where season 2 actually goes. It may have only lasted for eight episodes, but how great they truly were. It is a season that will be much discussed for the foreseeable future.
3. Last Week Tonight (HBO)
Over the course of 22 episodes, John Oliver's new political satire show took over the public discussion and made its competitors irrelevant (kind of). This is likely thanks to its ability to give uncensored, 17 minute rants in which hard hitting topics would be explored with insight and humor. It was consistently the best written comedy series on TV and also had the ability to change the real world subjects it was commenting on. The series is very important and baffling in equal doses. How it works isn't entirely clear. However, Oliver is a force to be reckoned with and the time until he starts up next year will be long and cold.
4. The Affair (Showtime)
In a year full of unreliable narrators and multiple perspectives, no show approached it with more ingenuity and craft than The Affair. Turning Rashomon into a conflicting romance tale, the story managed to find ways to turn a couple against each other in the small details from clothing articles to simple actions. It is a show that asks to be watched very closely and even as the twists began to pile on were benefited from getting to know the characters so well. It is kind of scandalous, but it is overall one of the best love stories on TV this year, even if it is kind of tragic.
5. Enlisted (Fox)
There have been very few shows that have mixed comedy and sentiments with such ease. The story of three brothers in the army reserves may have flew under the radar for its entire run, but it definitely deserves your attention. As early as the second episode, the show was tackling PTSD in some of the most inventive ways imaginable. While the show at times feels like Brooklyn Nine-Nine with its great ensemble, it is so much more. It is a show about family, trauma and working together as a team. There isn't a show that earns its emotional beats more than this show. If you missed it during its run, you must find a way to watch it immediately. It is definitely one of the great "one and done" seasons of TV.
6. You're the Worst (FX)
There aren't any characters on TV this year that were more despicable than the entire cast of this FX comedy. However, they were also some of the funniest thanks to their underlying sense of empathy. The show not only managed to make unlikable people lovable, but it also managed to take the romantic comedy genre and subvert it with a crass and wonderful take that features some of the wittiest, most inventive plots of the year. When the supporting cast is as memorable as the leads, the show proves that it isn't about how crass your characters are, it's about how you execute them. You're the Worst delivers with a vengeance that will hopefully only continue to be explored in the next season.
7. Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
After becoming the premiere Netflix series last year, it had a lot of hype to overcome in the second season. What the show did was not only deliver more of the same, but make us care about secondary characters in ways we didn't expect. With turf wars, romances and drug addiction, the show reached operatic heights that worked thanks to Jenji Kohan's excellent writing. It remains as funny, dark and full of the best twists of the year thanks to a phenomenal cast that continues to shine. It deserves every ounce of success that it has gotten and may end up becoming one of the most essential shows of the modern era for evidence on how TV has evolved to encapsulate something more.
8. Fargo (FX)
It is the little show that could. While it will always be that spin-off show from The Coen Brothers' most popular movie, it manages to find its voice and become something more special. Beyond the accents and the familiar tones, the show managed to become something of its own. It introduced an excellent cast of characters that prove to be some of the best new characters of the year. It is drenched in weirdness, philosophy and the penchant humor that thankfully makes it one of the most unique adaptations of the year. Will it ever be better than the movie counterpart? Probably not. However, it isn't from lack of trying.
9. Nathan For You (Comedy Central)
Among the series from 2013 that Comedy Central produced, this seemed to come out of nowhere and quickly became one of the funniest. The show that essentially takes pranks and mockumentary culture to new heights continued to prove why it's the best this season. For starters, its "Dumb Starbucks" episode became a legitimate news story and created discussion on what an art exhibit truly is. However, Nathan Fielder's deadpan humor is the real charm of the show as he ingeniously thrifts businesses into doing what he wants. As long as he can trick people into going his way, he'll continue to be an unstoppable force that will deliver insight, humor and the greatest ideas currently running on Comedy Central or any channel.
10. Bojack Horseman (Netflix)
This is a series that shouldn't actually work as well as it does. For starters, the alcoholic anthropomorphic lead character is a little oafish and hacky. Beyond that, it is a show that relies heavily on running gags and continuity that makes it unassumingly brilliant. Chronicling Bojack's life as a former celebrity, the series manages to become a meta commentary on Hollywood culture as well as the dark underbelly that throws the show into disturbing territory. The show manages to be challenging in ways that its primitive animation doesn't let you think. It's crass yet heartbreaking in ways that benefit from binge watching culture.
11. Key & Peele (Comedy Central)
Now in its fourth season, the series has somehow remained as consistently demented and hilarious. This could likely be because of its decision to change up its format by having wraparound segments that felt like parodies of True Detective. It also helps that the show is just as much about exploring race, gender, religion and sexuality as it is about parodying pop culture icons like the What's Happening series. The show knows how to appeal to the Youtube generation by making memorable routine after memorable routines that hold up long after you've seen them a dozen times. There's only hope that this show can continue to remain fresh for as long as they feel like doing it because unlike every other sketch show out there, this one continues to feel relevant and unique in the process.
12. Transparent (Amazon)
With one singular show, Amazon became a threat in the VOD market. With its show about a transgender in transition, it managed to jump out of the gate with ferocity. The series itself treats the subjects of LGBT with reverence by exploring the vulnerable sides of the topic. Those who know very little about the subject could benefit from this series, as it paints an intricate and informed picture of the experiences not only of the protagonist, but of those around that must learn how to deal with the situation. It's funny, touching and powerful in all of the right ways that thankfully has gotten plenty of attention since its release.
13. Maron (IFC)
After a rocky first season, Maron came out of the gate with more stories based on his personal life including his break-up and feelings towards terrestrial radio. The show has evolved into a study not only of the self, but of relevancy in the modern culture. It helps that Marc Maron has become a confident actor and knows what to look for in each episode. It's plenty weird, but with a great supporting cast, it gets so much across in the half hour time span that it doesn't matter. You'll be laughing and crying along with him as he deals with the angst that we all face. He just happens to have more popular friends than you.
14. The Knick (Cinemax)
It is a gruesome show that quickly thrusts you into the medical world of 1900 without a moment to prepare. If you're not into gruesome surgeries, steer clear. However, it is only to emphasize how thankful we should be of how far medicine has come in the century following these events. With Steven Soderbergh adding a cinematic touch to the cold and stoney streets of New York, the show is a great exploration of a dark time in American culture that we have thankfully evolved from. It is scary and unsafe for almost everyone involved. Still, there are few shows as engrossing and informing as this one is.
15. Broad City (Comedy Central)
As Comedy Central continued to embrace the gal pal comedies, Broad City came out as an unstoppable force of gross-out humor and a whole lot of boundary-pushing love for each other. Most of all, it was perverse in all of the right ways, mixing cinematic touches with continuous undermining of characters at every turn. Thankfully, the two leads have impressive chemistry that makes it all go down smooth and with Hannibal Burress in the supporting cast, there's not a lot to hate about the show. It plays fast and loose, and that's okay. It still is really funny in the process.
16. Rick and Morty (Cartoon Network)
For those feeling a hole in your heart since Futurama's exit, prepare to have it filled up halfway. While it isn't as great, Rick and Morty definitely delivers the crass and strange future in this sci-fi animated cartoon. It pushes boundaries and creates a new universe that proves that Dan Harmon is beyond Community at this point. He wants to push beyond those boundaries by using the framework of a Back to the Future-type duo that is both endearing and as crass as Adult Swim's average show. It may be a bit of an acquired taste, but no show feels as unhinged in its creativity as this one does, trying to keep you guessing just how far they're willing to go for a joke.
17. Bob's Burgers (Fox)
It may have taken a little bit of a dip in quality this season, but that isn't to say that Bob's Burgers is without its charm. Now in its fourth season, the show can do with occasional rehashes that involves digging up supporting characters for some great plots. In the case of season 5, it is already off to a strong start with some of its best episodes in awhile. At its best, the show manages to find humor where the wells have been dug up and replaced with nothing. For that alone, the show deserves plenty of recognition.
18. Garfunkel and Oates (IFC)
As stated yesterday, if you aren't listening to their music, you're really missing out on the best in subversive comedy today. Thankfully the duo are also great actresses that manage to add a touch of commentary on gender politics in pop culture. This is intertwined with great videos that highlight their music and adds a certain weight to their work. The quick comparison would be to say that it is like The Monkees or Flight of the Conchords. In a lot of respects, they are. However, that's more of a compliment as they manage to take their brief run and turn it into a memorable exercise of what a show can be with a little enthusiasm thrown in.
19. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox)
Things seemed a little weird last year when Brooklyn Nine-Nine won a Golden Globe after only a few episodes. Thankfully, the show has only gotten better. With an impressive cast that is just as funny as it is diverse, it is one of the few shows that can go anywhere and still impress. Its take on procedurals is impeccable and the romantic subplots may be a little trite, but they all build to one of the more assured shows out there. There's only hope that it continues to be this wild and inventive as the time goes on.
20. Silicon Valley (HBO)
Mike Judge makes his triumphant return to TV with this show that parodies start-up companies in the best way possible. If nothing else, the show is dedicated to making really juvenile jokes through math problems. It also helps that the ensemble is very strong and the improvisational humor really works in giving the show an edge. It has become the essential nerd show of 2014. The only issue is that in its short run, it took awhile to get going. Once it did, it blew everyone else out of the water. Here's hoping that it can move further up the list next year.
Comments
Post a Comment