End-Of-Year: Favorite 2014 TV Shows, Part 1

2015 is over three weeks old already and there are already fantastic NEW TV shows I've been obsessing over. All of that just means is that it's about time I finally post my list of favorite TV shows from 2014. So here's the first part...

Though a few honorable/dishonorable mentions first:

HONORABLE MENTION to Transparent which is technically a 2014 TV show, but I literally just saw it this weekend so I feel weird about including it in a list I finalized a couple of weeks ago. In any case, Tambor and cast are great and everyone should watch it.

DISHONORABLE MENTION to Gracepoint because even though I only managed to see its pilot and finale, it was still crystal clear what an unnecessary remake it was. Just watch Broadchurch, people!

DISHONORABLE MENTION to How I Met Your Mother whose rocky final season could've been completely salvaged by sticking the landing and instead they tripped and fell into a fire pit. If they had just aired the 'alternate' ending I'm pretty sure the show would've ranked for me.

HONORABLE MENTION to all the awesome reality TV shows (since I decided to stick with only scripted shows in my list) such as American Ninja Warrior, Amazing Race, Face Off, Fake Off, Masterchef, Masterchef Jr., So You Think You Can Dance, and The Quest. The latter was REALLY fun. Google it!

DISHONORABLE MENTION for networks cancelling good or potentially good comedies such as Enlisted, Trophy Wife, Selfie, A to Z, Suburgatory, The Crazy Ones, Benched, etc. Comedy isn't dead, but there's certainly been a lot of comedy murders lately.

Finally, HONORABLE MENTION to the brilliant actors in not-so-great (but still good) shows like Hayden Pannetiere in Nashville, Matthew McConaughey/Woody Harrelson in True Detective, Allison Janney in Mom, and Ian McKellen/Derek Jacobi in Vicious. I dedicate this to Cristin Milioti.

And now my list... starting with a shameless tie for #35!

35. Elementary/Sherlock - I kept going back and forth between the two Conan Doyle adaptations. Elementary is still my preferred Watson/Holmes duo, but Moriarty's brief appearance and Mary's introduction in Sherlock were hard to forget.

34. Once Upon a Time - There's still a large swath of the show I personally don't care for, but Regina as the reformed villain, Hook's sincere dedication to Emma, and the inspired Frozen arc made this an easy inclusion on my list.

33. Silicon Valley - A strong sense of place and characters helped overcome my hesitation over the weak pilot and in the end I honestly just wanted to keep following their journey.

32. Masters of Sex - Its pedigree and quality acting kept this in my list, but a muddled second half and an increasingly dull (to me) relationship between the two leads knocked this down a bit; the supporting characters are still aces.

31. You're the Worst - Got to this show late, but the critical love to this unlikely comedy gem is totally warranted. Full of heart and sarcasm in equal measures and isn't that always the best formula especially for comedies?

30. The Walking Dead - People have dismissed this as either too bleak or too disposable and while the former is true, the latter isn't. There were some nice character studies last year and all without sacrificing action and tense sequences the show is duly known for.

29. Orphan Black - The inimitable Tatiana Maslany was brilliant throughout, but the season as whole didn't quite reach up to her level despite some surprising developments to the increasing mythology of the show.

28. Homeland - It wasn't a home-run season like days of yore, but it was immensely improved from whatever last season was. Getting out of the US and having an actual mission to focus on helped a lot. And unlike most, I dug the quiet finale.

27. Downton Abbey - I particularly found the current season airing in PBS (and aired in UK in 2014) quite good especially in terms of my favorite characters. Still wish the beats were slightly more unpredictable, but this show is hardly going to win prizes for being groundbreaking now.

26. The Affair - The unique structure is a little gimmicky and sometimes got distracting and repetitive while the two leads together is probably my least favorite thing about the show. With that said, the acting is unimpeachable and the compelling family drama were the reasons it's on my list. Oh, and Pacey. With a gun.

25. Enlisted - God, this show was so damn good with a wonderfully quirky ensemble and lots of heart. I still don't understand why this didn't get more viewers, but at least its finale was pitch perfect. Hands on heads forever.

24. The Mindy Project - They did a reverse Moonlighting curse as the show improved greatly once they put Mindy/Danny together. The show finally had a stable focus and in the process gave Chris Messina more to do, which is always a good thing. Especially when it involves dancing/stripping.

23. House of Cards - I actually think they delivered a strong sophomore season with both Spacey and Wright going deeper and darker with their characters than even I expected them to. I'm already fearing what the third season will bring with them currently on top!

22. Black-ish - While the pilot was slightly heavy-handed, the series so far has been quite delightful and most of that has to do with the great family ensemble they've assembled. The youngest kids especially are too adorable for words.

21. Broad City - Apart from how ridiculous and funny the two leads are (and they're plenty both I assure you), I  think I just love the show because it just feels so authentically New York City. Plus I just envy their relationship with each other.

20. How to Get Away with Murder - It was my favorite pilot of the fall season and while a lot of the show falls under "hot mess," it's still incredibly fun to watch especially when it's Viola Davis chewing scenery or when literal gay sex is happening on screen. Both occur quite a lot thankfully.

19. Mad Men - If they had continued with their final season, I have no doubt this would be ranked higher in my list because I felt the season was JUST starting to rev up towards the end. I still have high hopes for it and I'm confident they'll deliver.

18. Looking - This show was highly anticipated for me since I expected it to pretty much be the TV version of Weekend and it pretty much was with the adorable Jonathan Groff as the looking-for-love lead. I was bound to love it.

17. Vikings - They did not withhold anything with this sophomore season! If anything, they just did everything bigger and better from amazing battle sequences to heart-wrenching drama; the season had it all. I mean they crucified one of the characters! Also, Lagertha is my queen forever.

16. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - This show (barely) made my list last year mostly due to my undying love for Whedon and my appreciation for Marvel. Thankfully since then it has gotten SO MUCH better with the writers/actors clearly more in sync with most of the characters as well as the welcome throughline of an actual mission driving the plot forward. Hope they can keep this up!

Part 2 aka my top 15 shows of 2014 soon!

The 2014 Emmys: The Winners

This morning I saw someone describe last night's Emmy Awards as "almost shocking predictability," which pretty much sums it up perfectly as the majority of winners went to those who have won Emmys before, most for the same category/roles they've won previously. In fact, all eight acting winners last night had won an Emmy before with only now 6-time Emmy winner Allison Janey winning for a new role. Meanwhile, Modern Family and Breaking Bad respectively won Best Series for a 5th and 2nd time fighting off buzzy newcomers such as Orange is the New Black and True Detective (both which a lot of people think were done in by category confusion).

It was a huge night for Breaking Bad in their last year of eligibility not only winning Best Drama Series but picking up hardware for all of its principal actors and for writing which went to only the third woman ever to win in this category for solely writing a TV script. True Detective did win Directing while Julianna Margulies won extending the wonderful streak of women from The Good Wife winning Emmys to five years. In the comedy side, it was no less predictable and yet more frustrating. Network TV stood tall here with Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, and Mom winning most of the awards while Louis C.K. (for his writing) and Veep's Julia Louis Dreyfus representing cable/premium. The latter by far had one of the best reaction to a win tonight as she got to hilariously make out with her previous Seinfeld beau Bryan Cranston on the way to the stage. Serious question though, when will the TV Academy tire of awarding Modern Family? With their win, they tied Frasier as the winningest comedy.

Fortunately/unfortunately, the miniseries/TV movie actually provided some surprises as presumed frontrunners Fargo and The Normal Heart only walked away with three trophies total including Best Miniseries and Best TV Movie respectively. The rest of went to Sherlock and American Horror Story: Coven. I actually went 0 for 4 in those Miniseries acting categories putting my overall prediction tally at 11 of 19 (with alternates 13 of 19).

The ceremony itself was okay even though there were a lot of skits and presenter banter/monologues that fell flat or went on too long. Unless you're Amy Pueblo (Poehler) or Julia Louis-Dreyfus, I don't recommend doing anything extra. Seth Myers was fine in his Weekend Update Late Night Show Host kind of way, but he really wasn't help by the lack of suprise winners or moments during the ceremony. The Weird Al performance of TV themes set to lyrics was equal parts genius and messy (would've help if they had provided captions). I also love Billy Eichner so his Emmy on the Streets routine was great, but I can see him being polarizing. The In Memoriam segment was beautiful and depressing and Billy Crystal's moving tribute to Robin Williams was perhaps the highlight of the night for a lot of people. The lowlight, at least for me, has got to be Sofia Vergara being placed in a rotating platform as Academy president ironically talked about diversity on TV.

The complete list of winners from tonight (plus the guest acting winners from last week):

DRAMA
SERIES: Breaking Bad (AMC)
ACTOR: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)
ACTRESS: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
SUPP. ACTOR: Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (AMC)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad (AMC)
DIRECTING: Cary Joji Fukunaga, True Detective (HBO)
WRITING: Moira Walley-Beckett, Breaking Bad (AMC)
GUEST ACTOR: Joe Morton, Scandal (ABC)
GUEST ACTRESS: Allison Janney, Masters of Sex (SHO)

COMEDY
SERIES: Modern Family (ABC)
ACTOR: Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory (CBS)
ACTRESS: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)
SUPP. ACTOR: Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Allison Janney, Mom (CBS)
DIRECTING: Gail Mancuso, Modern Family (ABC)
WRITING: Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
GUEST ACTOR: Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live (NBC)
GUEST ACTRESS: Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIALS
MINISERIES: Fargo (FX)
TV MOVIE: The Normal Heart (HBO)
ACTOR: Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock (PBS)
ACTRESS: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven (FX)
SUPP. ACTOR: Martin Freeman, Sherlock (PBS)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Coven (FX)
DIRECTING: Colin Bucksey, Fargo (FX)
WRITING: Steven Moffat, Sherlock (PBS)

End-Of-Year: Favorite 2012 TV Shows, Part 2

A mixture of laziness, writer's block, work, and tennis has conspired to delay this post of my top 10 favorite TV shows of the past year. I was supposed to have posted this a day after I posted the bottom part of my Top 30 list, but alas. So without further a due...

My Top Ten TV Shows of 2012

10. Fringe - This should probably be ranked higher, but this final season, which has been pretty good, isn't matching the highs I felt last season where the alternate universe arc reached its zenith. But those last few episodes last season makes this a worthy top 10 inclusion especially with the promise of major tears coming for the series finale airing tonight. I'm so not ready to say goodbye to these characters.

9. The Good Wife - Yes, Kalinda's S4 arc with her husband is perhaps the one blight in an otherwise another excellent year for this show with Alicia doing better than ever balancing the whole mom/lawyer/wife dynamics while everyone else experience some growing pains. The law firms' financial troubles have been particularly well handled I thought. This show remains the blue ribbon example of casting and ensemble work certainly in all of network TV.

8. Sherlock - The first season, which also had just three episodes, ended up in my top ten list two years ago for the seamless way Moffat updated the Holmes story for our times with pitch perfect acting from Cumberbatch and Freeman to bring the roles of Holmes and Watson to life. This season second was more of the same with higher, more personal, stakes and a couple of brilliant turns from Andrew Scott and Laura Pulver playing Moriarty and Irene Adler respectively.

7. Breaking Bad - Coming off an explosive season and heading towards the finish line, this past season had a lot riding on it, but I think this transitional period went just right. Walter's devolution has reached its peak while everyone around him are really starting to suffer none more so than Skylar played devastatingly by Anna Gunn. The heat is on and things are reaching its boiling point.

6. Downton Abbey - It's very difficult to say anything about this show because most people on this side of the ocean haven't seen the latest season, but I quite enjoyed it, more so than last season which I also quite liked. With the war over, the show was able to focus more with its characters. Like most soap operas, and yes this show can be characterized as such with no shame, there are insane plots, but in the end it's also about whether you care enough about these people to put up with all the crazy and I really do care. Which is why certain developments make it that much more difficult to accept.

5. Shameless - I already gave this cast my Best Ensemble award, because I really do think the young actors making up the Gallagher family are doing something special. It helps that they are led by a very good Rossum who has found that once-in-a-lifetime role that was tailor-made to show off just how talented she is. We are continually rooting for them, for her, to suceed and when they inevitably don't you can't help but keep watching and hoping.

4. Homeland - Apparently the show jumped the shark, or so the internet is telling me. I do think the whole "Abu Nazir in the United States" plot line was a bit too much, but the rest of the season played out as thrilling, exciting, suspenseful, and nervewracking as the show's hailed first season. In fact, the first few episodes of this season pretty much gave me whiplash from how quickly things were progressing. Lewis, Danes, and Patinkin were just aces. The final episode only made me need the next season more.

3. Community - A part of me wondered whether or not my longing for the show's return had any effect on its relatively high ranking. But even if it did, the show can well damn stand on its own merit especially as still one of the most random and inventive sitcoms out there. An entire episode with the characters playing a video game? A tribute to Law & Order? An epic pillow fort/blanket fort war that leads into a Ken Burns-style documentary episode? An episode where the characters realized they might have been stuck in an insane asylum all this time? I miss you, show.

2. Parks and Recreation - *BEST COMEDY* My #1 show last year drops a spot only because there were maybe a couple of episodes that didn't live up to standards BUT the show is still so damn good. From Leslie's campaign and subsequent rousing win to Ben's Washington sojourn and eventual proposal to Leslie, it's been a year full of big changes for almost every character. The comedy is still gold and the relationships between characters have never been better developed. Basically this show is pretty much the moment when Leslie met Joe Biden: magical.

1. The Hour - *BEST DRAMA* It doesn't happen often, but sometimes shows have the perfect season where every episode is just as strong or better than the rest while characters and plots are working seamlessly with one another. I fully believe this latest season of The Hour was one such season. The first season was good, but was slightly unmemorable while this season pretty much destroyed me. Most of the change had to do with really narrowing the focus of the overarching mystery and making it more personally relevant to the characters. The acting has never been better from the leads and supporting alike with some familiar S1 faces getting much-deserved focus and air time this season along with some excellent casting for new characters. I'd watch it all again in a heartbeat.

Addendum: The network with the most shows in my top 30 is ABC, but none of its shows ranked higher than #17. PBS scored two top 8 shows, which are both technically British imports. Speaking of British shows, 4 made my top 11 including my best show of the year. The network with the second most shows in my list is NBC with 4 including two in the top 3. Only 6 new shows made my list.

Shows that I watched, but didn't rank: 2 Broke Girls, Amazing Race, Big Bang Theory, Don't Trust the B- in Apt 23, Elementary, Glee, Glee Project, Masterchef, Modern Family, The Mindy Project, Nashville, The New Normal, The Office, Project Runway, Raising Hope, Revolution, Smash, Supernatural, Survivor, Teen Wolf, True Blood, Wilfred

Cancelled shows or shows I've stopped watching: 666 Park Avenue, American Horror Story, Arrow, Bunheads, Grey's Anatomy, Grimm, Newsroom, Pan Am, Partners, The Killing, The Secret Circle, Touch, Up All Night, Weeds

And finally, just a brief word of a few shows that merited Dishonorable Mentions...

Critics' Choice Television Awards Winners

It was only last year when the Broadcast Television Journalists Association held the inaugural Critics' Choice Television Awards and just tonight they handed out their second set of winners. I unfortunately didn't get to talk about the nominees when they came out a couple of weeks ago since I was still in blogging limbo-hiatus land, so just wanted to quickly give my thoughts on the nominees below and the eventual winners.

BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory
COMMUNITY
Girls
Modern Family
New Girl
Parks and Recreation

Community surprised everyone by notching the most nominations of any show and it shocked everyone again by taking the top prize. While it wouldn't be my personal choice (my vote would have been for Parks & Rec), I can't help but feel ecstatic for the show and the cast. Nomination-wise, no big shockers. Happy Endings and Cougar Town really should be here, but it is what it is.

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
HOMELAND
Mad Men

I would have loved for them to find room for Fringe, but how can I really complain with a nomination list so obviously full of quality? My own pick would probably be Breaking Bad, but I do mean it when I say that any of these shows would've been a worthy winner. This year the prize went to Homeland.

BEST MOVIE/MINISERIES
American Horror Story
Luther
SHERLOCK
Page Eight
The Hour
Game Change

Weirdly enough I've seen four out of the six nominees though not the one starring Julianne Moore. Sherlock took the win and it probably would've gotten my vote as well from the choices.

TV Report: Week of 1/15

Don't have as much to say on TV this week, but that's probably because I've been all caught up with tennis and other things. With that said, other than yet again missing an episode of The Secret Circle (which doesn't bode well for me catching up on that show any time soon), I pretty much found the time to watch all my usual shows. Just a few quick thoughts on some of them...


CBS Shows Reach Milestones

How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory celebrated their 150th and 100th episodes respectively. One of the more refreshing things about both episodes was that if you didn't know about the milestones, you wouldn't have really known it by the episode, but once you do you can look back and appreciate what they did. Both made great use of the past to comment on where the future of each might be heading. For Mother, we get the gang struggling to handle the idea of Lily/Marshall moving out of the city into Long Island prompting Barney to find their replacements in Lily's stripper doppelganger and her pimp. The new credits first sana Lily/Marshall and then with the new gang were nice touches, but of course the episode ends with the original gang hanging out in Long Island in their "new booth." For Big Bang, Leonard asks Penny out on a date seemingly wanting to get back together with her. We find out in the end, that the entire episode was a daydream, but before the audience feels cheated, Leonard really asks her out. The fun bit in the episode of course were the main cast wearing the same as what they wore in the pilot.

Wedding Bells Are In the Air...

...Or at least that's what it felt like this week. Glee actually had an okay episode that revolved around Will trying to figure out the best song (how about no song?) to use when proposing to Emma. I was especially shocked at my non-hating feelings considering the episode largely focused on characters I didn't really like, but good solid performances plus a rare three-dimensional Sue plus the random Helen Mirren voiceover put it on the good column for me. Of course the episode ends with another proposal with Finn hilariously asking Rachel's hand in marriage.

In Revenge, Daniel finally bit the bullet and proposed to Emily, but if the pilot is any indication, he's one day closer to death. This episode most of all proved that while Emily's laser-focus on wreaking havoc upon the Graystones is fun to watch, it's also hurting innocent bystanders. Jack's been badly beaten while Charlotte's world has been turned upside down with the reveal that she's David Clarke's daughter (though she doesn't know this yet). Emily was just about to retreat a bit only for Daniel to put his foot in his mouth and diss her father. Vengeance wins yet again!

Other potential wedding bells on TV this week... Frank is already trying to get together with Butterface in Shameless to get her insurance money while The Office's Andy thinks about proposing to his new girlfriend, but is still confused about his obvious feelings for Erin.


Cute Guys Abound

I wasn't such a huge fan of 30 Rock this week even though I knew Fey and company was going to deal with Tracy's troubles from last year. With that said, Jane Krakowski remain hilarious in every scene she's in and cute guy James Marsden is revealed as Liz's new boyfriend. At the moment, she isn't sure is he's just Dennis 2.0, but um... it's James Marsden. Another cute guy Paul Rudd makes his first appearance in Parks and Recreation as Leslie's political foe. In Parks style, the character isn't really evil and more spoiled dumb brat. Love his interactions with the cast as well as the dueling ads of Ben and Leslie. Finally, there's the mysterious cute guy that appeared at the end of Once Upon A Time played by Eion Bailey. Who is he? My friends and I are betting the Big Bad Wolf, but it could be anyone really. And since I'm already talking about this show, how great was it to see Emma Caulfield as the Blind Witch? She looked amazing.

Miscellaneous/Other TV Tidbits...

Sherlock's finale was emotionally brutal... Fringe was spectacular two episodes in a row... Not the best Good Wife episode, but the end was great with Kalinda put in the precarious position of either betraying Will or Alicia... I also find little children cursing funny so that Modern Family storyline this week worked for me.

2011 TCA Awards

Last night, the Television Critics Association (TCA) handed out their annual honors in the midst of their Summer Press Tour (click for the nominees). Will any of the winners repeat at the Emmys?

Program of the Year: Friday Night Lights
Outstanding New Program: Game of Thrones
Outstanding Achievement in Drama: Mad Men
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: Modern Family
Individual Achievement in Drama: Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Individual Achievement in Comedy: Ty Burrell, Modern Family and Nick Offerman, Parks & Recreation
Outstanding Achievement in Movies and Miniseries: Masterpiece: Sherlock
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: Restrepo
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: Sesame Street
Career Achievement Award: Oprah Winfrey
Heritage Award: The Dick Van Dyke Show

The night's top winner is Friday Night Lights taking the Program of the Year for its final season similar to 2009 winner, Battlestar Galactica. Suffice to say both shows are not Emmy staples, but Friday Night Lights made a breakthrough last year getting its two leads nominated and repeated the feat this year as well as getting the show nominated for Outstanding Drama Series.

Unfortunately for that show, its Emmy chances aren't high especially since it will be up against Game of Thrones and Mad Men nabbing awards last night as well, New Program and Drama Series respectively. Mad Men also scored when Jon Hamm beat out fellow Emmy-nominees Steve Buscemi, Peter Dinklage, Julianna Margulies, Margo Martindale, and Tim Olyphant in Individual Achievement in Drama. Note that last year's winner Margulies shockingly did not repeat her win at the Emmys.

Last year's big winner Glee was snubbed this year even during the nomination phase, which opened the way for Modern Family to repeat its Comedy Series triumph last year. Meanwhile Ty Burrell and Emmy-snubbed Nick Offerman shared the honor for Individual Achievement in Drama besting Louis C.K., Amy Poehler, Danny Pudi, and Jon Stewart. As happy as I am about Offerman's win, I honestly expected a lot more Parks & Recreation love (for example, winning over Modern Family). Jane Lynch did repeat her win here last year at the Emmys and Burrell could do the same if vote-splitting amongst his three other co-stars isn't a factor.

In a bit of an upset, though not to me, Sherlock was able to win the miniseries category beating Downton Abbey and presumed Emmy-favorite Mildred Pierce. Sherlock, however, was not nominated in the counterpart category at the Emmys. The Amazing Race, of course, gets the first reality award the TCA has given out while Oprah Winfrey expectantly gets the Career Achievement Award. They really couldn't give it to anyone else this year.

The Art of Disguise

This post is part of Andrew's "Episode Blogathon" in which the participants must pick their favorite TV episode during the past season.

To say I had a myriad of choices for this blog-a-thon would be underselling it. That's what happens when one watches approximately 25+ TV shows regularly with episode counts ranging from 3 to 24. What I quickly realized though was I was going to pick something British. I'm not saying American TV had nothing to offer because that's far from the truth. I could've just as easily picked and talked about an episode from Fringe, Parks & Recreation, Community, or The Good Wife, but for some reason I knew I wanted to satisfy the Anglophile in me. And yet even with this self-imposed limitation, it was still quite daunting. After all how could I possibly choose between such diverse and brilliant shows such as Downton Abbey, Misfits, Being Human, Doctor Who, and Sherlock?


Last week I narrowed it down to the heart-wrenching third season finale of Being Human "The Wolf-Shaped Bullet," the Neil Gaiman-penned and supremely elegant Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Wife," and the thrillingly intense Sherlock finale "The Great Game." All three episodes I could probably watch ad nauseum with the production, the acting, the writing, the direction all just top-notch. But I had to pick one and so I picked Sherlock Holmes*.