The Best TV Shows of 2013
Who said television's "Golden Age" is over?
Spoilers ahead, if you're bothered by that sort of thing.
The key word for television in 2013: death. In a superb year marked by some of the best seasons yet from several of TV's biggest shows, there were plenty of casualties. Let us give one final "Rest in Peace" shout-out to Walter White, Richard Harrow, Clay Morrow, Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark, The Governor, and Hershel Greene. Fans of Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, and The Walking Dead are still in mourning. Those endless glasses of champagne on New Year's Eve can't arrive soon enough.
It wasn't all doom and gloom, though. Amidst the bloodshed and sadness, a significant number of freshman shows muscled their way into the hearts of viewers and critics alike, and, for the most part, they're all upbeat. That's right, in the dark TV days of Heisenberg, fun times are still in vogue, whether it's legitimately funny new sitcoms like Brooklyn Nine-Nine or raucous comedy-dramas like Sleepy Hollow. Another cause for celebration in 2013? The rise of Netflix, which brought forth the year's best new reason to laugh (and sometimes cry) in front of a small screen: Orange is the New Black.
Indeed, it's been a dynamite year for television, one that, with Breaking Bad's final hour leading into the same for Mad Men and Sons of Anarchy in 2014, could signal the end of TV's "Golden Age." That question has been on the minds of small-screen critics lately, namely Grantland's Andy Greenwald, who went so far as to call this TV's "zombie age." If that's the case, then the last 12 months gave people some wonderful corpses. And here are the best of the best, The Best TV Shows of 2013.
RELATED: Best TV Shows of 2016
Related: The Best TV Shows of 2017
Spoilers ahead, if you're bothered by that sort of thing.
The key word for television in 2013: death. In a superb year marked by some of the best seasons yet from several of TV's biggest shows, there were plenty of casualties. Let us give one final "Rest in Peace" shout-out to Walter White, Richard Harrow, Clay Morrow, Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark, The Governor, and Hershel Greene. Fans of Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, and The Walking Dead are still in mourning. Those endless glasses of champagne on New Year's Eve can't arrive soon enough.
It wasn't all doom and gloom, though. Amidst the bloodshed and sadness, a significant number of freshman shows muscled their way into the hearts of viewers and critics alike, and, for the most part, they're all upbeat. That's right, in the dark TV days of Heisenberg, fun times are still in vogue, whether it's legitimately funny new sitcoms like Brooklyn Nine-Nine or raucous comedy-dramas like Sleepy Hollow. Another cause for celebration in 2013? The rise of Netflix, which brought forth the year's best new reason to laugh (and sometimes cry) in front of a small screen: Orange is the New Black.
Indeed, it's been a dynamite year for television, one that, with Breaking Bad's final hour leading into the same for Mad Men and Sons of Anarchy in 2014, could signal the end of TV's "Golden Age." That question has been on the minds of small-screen critics lately, namely Grantland's Andy Greenwald, who went so far as to call this TV's "zombie age." If that's the case, then the last 12 months gave people some wonderful corpses. And here are the best of the best, The Best TV Shows of 2013.
RELATED: Best TV Shows of 2016
Related: The Best TV Shows of 2017
36. Catfish: The TV Show (MTV)
Stars: Nev Schulman, Max Joseph
No one is here to pretend that Nev and Max, the hosts of MTV’s Catfish: The TV Show, are going to be winning a Nobel Peace Prize anytime soon (or ever). But the show’s basic premise—that people can be whoever they want to be when there’s a computer screen separating them from the real, living and breathing world—is something we can all relate to, for better or worse.
When the movie Catfish came out in 2010, Nev’s public punking by a sad old woman in Nowhere, Michigan seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime story. But then came the premiere of Catfish: The TV Show, in which dozens of other (somewhat) seemingly normal individuals emerged who claimed to have “fallen in love” over the Internet with a paramour whose face they’d never seen in person. And they wanted the experience of a bona fide dupe like Nev to help them separate fact from fiction. The endings were not particularly happy, but audiences were intrigued nonetheless. And by the time the show’s second season premiered, Catfish had morphed from a title to a verb that was being used by just about every media outlet on the planet.
The timing of season two could really not have been any better. Just five months earlier, Deadspin broke the news that Notre Dame football player Manti Te’o—a Heisman Trophy candidate—had been the victim of an online romantic hoax. In the article, it was revealed that Lennay Kekua, Te’o’s longtime girlfriend who passed away on September 11, 2012 (the same day as Te’o’s grandmother) following a battle with leukemia, had in fact, never existed. She was entirely the creation of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, an acquaintance of Te'o's.
The story remained at the top of the news cycle for weeks, and the phenomenon known as “catfishing” was introduced to a global audience. Perhaps as an attempt to capitalize on their newfound newsworthiness, Nev and Max returned with a vengeance in June, and this time they were ready to change up the “Boy meets girl on Internet, boy woos girl on Internet, boy turns out to be a girl” formula that had worked so well in season one.
Sure, the season featured more of the too-sad-to-turn-away-from types who had featured so prominently in the first season. But on July 16th, they scored a legitimate first: a genuine connection between Lauren and Derek, whose eight-year, MySpace-initiated courtship was 100 percent true. Which has some viewers concerned that season three (which MTV confirmed in October) might transform into The Bachelor, particularly after Derek proposed to Lauren in the show’s reunion episode, with Nev (who helped pay for the ring) declaring that, "I don't see why we shouldn't make an episode or a show about it. And get all the cast and other people from the show."
Somebody alert Chris Harrison! But even if that day does come, we'll always have Catfish: Season Two, in all its starry-eyed, mind-fucking glory. —Jennifer Wood
35. Shameless (Showtime)
Stars: William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, Justin Chatwin, Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney, Cameron Monaghan, Jeremy Allen White
Since the days of Thalia and Melpomene, comedy and tragedy have gone together like peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and chocolate, or peanut butter and the balls of a lonely dog owner who hasn’t been able to connect with anyone since he came home to find his girlfriend “walking another man’s dog.” But striking the proper balance between the two, so a story is both entertaining and relatable, is no easy task. Too little humor mitigating the shittiness and you wind up with a depressing scenario that real-life people would toast with a Drano shake if they couldn’t laugh about it.
With its horrible, hilarious, dysfunctional Gallagher family, Showtime’s Shameless has always made equilibrium seem effortless, and the third season was no different. Whether he’s using his attention- and approval-seeking delinquent son to scam a children’s cancer foundation, scamming an AA sponsor for rent-free lodging, or pretending to be gay to scam a domestic partnership program, alcoholic, drug addict, and deadbeat patriarch Frank, played masterfully by William H. Macy, is always equal parts sad and side-splitting. For eldest daughter Fiona (Emmy Rossum) and the five siblings she helps support and raise, the hijinx of unsupervised kids (theft, underage drinking, a crusade against neighborhood perverts, etc.) counterbalance heart-breaking struggles to prevent child protective services from splitting them up, to find healthy and loving relationships, and to turn Frank around before he drinks himself to death.
With gifted showrunner John Wells overseeing the shifting tone and a stellar cast that never suffers from its youth, Shameless is the rare show that nails both comedy and tragedy. If you feel some kinda way when you laugh so hard you cry and suddenly bawl, thinking about the distance between you and your dad, don’t stress it. As many tissues as you soak through, at least you’re not the guy with peanut butter on his balls. —Justin Monroe
34. Sleepy Hollow (Fox)
Stars: Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones, John Cho, Katia Winter, Lyndie Greenwood, John Noble, Jill Marie Jones
This should’ve been one of the worst new shows of the TV season. A modern-day re-telling of the Sleepy Hollow legend? A trailer featuring the iconic Headless Horsemen brandishing…a streetsweeper? Everyone was all set to point and laugh at FOX’s freshmen drama, and in one of the year’s most inexplicable turn of events, the pilot was indeed ridiculous—ridiculously fun.
In the hands of another creative team, a premise that sees the legend of Sleepy Hollow repurposed into the biblical apocalypse—the Headless Horseman is now the Horseman of Death—with a time-traveling, no longer nebbish, action hero Ichabod Crane could be a total disaster. Instead in the hands of blockbuster screenwriting duo Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the scripts, a blend of procedural monster-of-the-week, sometimes Revolutionary War-era informed gothic mysteries, crackle with a mischievous sense of fun, filling a void you probably hadn't even noticed in the TV landscape.
You can also blame the show’s addictive nature on co-leads Tom Mison and Nicole Beharie, whose buddy-cop banter—he’s the stranger-in-the-strange land; she’s the deadpan straight woman!—would feel tired and rote if they didn’t have a winning chemistry that needed next to no-time to develop. Quips, genuine scares, and an ever-twisting plot that is, for now at least, managing to toe the line between fun and farce. George Washington and the founding fathers were in on the secret fight between evil? Sure, why not?! Necromancers, witches, demons—the more, the merrier!
It’s unclear how long Sleepy Hollow can keep up this high wire act, but watch the pilot and episodes like “The Midnight Ride” and “Sanctuary,” and try to front like it isn’t doing so right now. —Frazier Tharpe
33. Kroll Show (Comedy Central)
Stars: Nick Kroll, Jon Daly, John Mulaney, Jenny Slate, Andy Milonakis
More people know Nick Kroll for playing prick lawyer Rodney Ruxin on The League than they do for his Comedy Central sketch series Kroll Show, but in 2013 the latter was the funnier of the two—by far. The FX sitcom about friends who play fantasy football has fallen into a rut of repetitive jokes and hit-or-miss NFL player cameos but Kroll’s baby was a fresh satirization of modern television that benefited from its star’s excellent and varied character work (including old stand-up faves like meathead mama's boy Bobby Bottleservice and flamboyant craft services coordinator Fabrice Fabrice) and his comedian friends who range from regulars like Jenny Slate, Andy Milonakis, and Jon Daly, to special guests like Fred Armisen, Ed Helms, and Rob Huebel.
The foundation of Kroll Show is the comedian’s viewing habits, which he described to Complex earlier this year as a sort of ADHD sampling of all that the boob tube has to offer. What Kroll clearly identified in his channel surfing is ubiquitous stupidity, primarily on star-making reality shows that focus the public’s attention on talentless morons. His nuanced lampooning of the spoiled children of famous people ( “Rich Dicks”), celebrity plastic surgeons (Dr. Armond of “Armond of the House”), and brain-dead and self-absorbed Hollywood publicists (“PubLIZity”) are spot-on hilarity. Outside the reality realm, Kroll captures the ridiculousness of cacophonous debate shows (“Can I Finish?”), teen dramas like Degrassi (“Wheels, Ontario”), sports broadcasts that have a little too much access (Ref Jeff), and more with misfires rare.
Thanks to Kroll, bad TV never looked so good. —Justin Monroe
32. The Walking Dead (AMC)
Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson, Emily Kinney, David Morrissey, Michael Rooker, Chad L. Coleman, Sonequa Martin-Green, Lew Temple, Dallas Roberts
After a disappointing end to season three, it looked like 2013 was finally going to be the year that The Walking Dead collapsed under shoddy writing and the unrealistically high expectations of fans. But thankfully, the series bounced back in a serious way during the first half of season four, which saw gripping storytelling, strong character interactions, and shocking plot twists that still have fans reeling. The show accomplished this by going back to basics. With dead weight like Lori and Andrea now gone, the characters fans actually care about finally took over, resulting in some of the best drama the show has provided since its rookie year.
The first half of the season revolved around three major story threads: a deadly virus that devastated the prison, the expulsion of Carol from the group, and the violent return of The Governor. These plots continued to build tension throughout the season like a dangerous game of Jenga until the mid-season finale, which featured the most thrilling and heartbreaking action scene in the series' history as Rick's crew went head-on against The Governor's new army. Oh, and there are still zombies; plenty of them. So if you threw your hands up last year and gave up on The Walking Dead, now’s the time to come groveling back to your undead master. —Jason Serafino
31. Hello Ladies (HBO)
Stars: Stephen Merchant, Christine Woods, Nate Torrence, Kevin Wiseman, Kyle Mooney
The TV shows able to elicit a visceral reaction in its viewers are those that normally deal within the realms of horror/explosions. HBO's Hello Ladies is the rare comedy that will make you cringe, groan, and curl up in discomfort. If you get queasy in uncomfortable or painful situations, the debut season of this show from Ricky Gervais' BFF Stephen Merchant might very well make you throw up. Stuart Pritchard (Merchant) occupies the stereotypical Los Angeles that's full of beautiful, superficial people. His ever-spiraling misadventures in the quest for love and ass are like a swarmy Larry David fresh after reading a pick-up artist instructional manual.
Besides warping the ideals of thousands of young men, Entourage's lasting legacy was painting Los Angeles as a playground for the wealthy and the superficial. Hello Ladies takes place in this world, but instead of following around the top ballers, we're stuck, painfully, with Stuart and his lovable loser friends. And while the vicious city never quite defeats Stuart's spirits, his intentions are so intense that at times we root against this bird-like man from getting what he thinks he wants. Most shows set in L.A. use the glitz and glamor as fuel for aspiration; Hello Ladies subtly reminds us that the City of Angels is human, after all. —James Harris
30. Hannibal (NBC)
Stars: Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Laurence Fishburne, Hettienne Park, Gina Torres, Gillian Anderson
There are many good, and hideous, reasons why Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller was welcomed into the horror community with open arms this year. Because somehow, by some act of network TV magic, he and the creative team behind NBC's Hannibal conceived grisly and imaginative post-murder imagery that rivals, if not exceeds, what's being done in genre films. There's the shot of victims' back-skin being elevated into angelic wings; the one where a young girl's lung-free body is mounted onto a deer's head; or the sight of a guy's throat cut open and vocal chords used as violin strings.
Again, these aired on NBC, shortly after Parks and Recreation and The Office. It's no wonder that Hannibal—starring the great Mads Mikkelsen as the titular doctor and the similarly impressive Hugh Dancy as his long-time fictional counterpart, Will Graham—barely received its second season pickup, due to low ratings. As critics everywhere and the show's small but loyal following know, though, it's much more than a small-screen slaughterhouse. Intelligent, fearless, cold-hearted, and shocking, Hannibal is an expertly crafted gem that's unlike anything else on television. —Matt Barone
29. Rectify (Sundance Channel)
Stars: Aden Young, Abigail Spencer, J. Smith-Cameron, Adelaide Clemens, Clayne Crawford, Luke Kirby, Hal Holbrook
Ray McKinnon’s Rectify, the Sundance Channel's first stab at an original series, is the opposite of escapism. It’s uncomfortable and claustrophobic, and at times seems to crawls by like seconds in a cell—all of which suits the engrossing drama to a prison-issued tee. At the story’s center is Daniel Holden (Aden Young), a man who, after spending 19 years on death row for the rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend, walks free when new DNA evidence contradicts the prosecutor’s allegation that the kite-high 18-year-old was solely responsible for the crimes.
Freedom proves less than liberating for Daniel, and the people of his Paulie, Georgia, hometown, for whom his return reopens a painful wound. To some, he’s a thrilling curiosity. To others, whose grief and rage need a focal point, he remains a monster, no matter what the DNA says. After all, if he didn’t commit the crime, who did? That mystery is cleared up quickly for the viewer without turning the well plotted six-episode first season into a standard whodunit or reducing the weight on Daniel's shoulders.
That's an important detail, because Daniel Holden is one of the most complex and enigmatic protagonists television has to offer. Young, a relatively unknown Australian actor whose biggest stateside credit is Killer Elite, deserves more recognition than he’s currently getting for nailing the conflicted role of a man caught in between his past, present, and a future that, for the first time in 19 years, is suddenly unknown to him. To look at him or hear him speak is to feel the effects of his imprisonment and death sentence: He’s an awkward philosopher who's nearly two decades behind the times in the alien free world and not entirely sure he’s even innocent after the various punishments he’s endured. The pathos Young brings to difficult scenes, like when Daniel’s step-brother Ted (Clayne Crawford) probes about sex in prison, is devastating.
The strange thing about the creeping discomfort and sadness the show makes you feel as internal and external threats emerge and life slowly unravels is that by the time the all-too-brief season concludes you miss it like an institutionalized man misses the 6 by 8 foot enclosure he calls home. —Justin Monroe
28. Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Stars: Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Aziz Ansari, Jim O'Heir, Retta
If any sitcom deserves to be enshrined in the pantheon of the so-called "Golden Age of Television," it's Parks and Recreation. After six seasons, Pawnee, Indiana, has become as fully developed a world as The Wire's Baltimore or The Sopranos' New Jersey. Unlike these shows, and Parks and Rec's comic peers like Veep and Girls, this show has never leaned on cynicism and pessimism to fuel storytelling.
Parks and Rec has accomplished the rare feat of being a show that is at once optimistic, human, and compelling. Perhaps only Friday Night Lights, Parks' dramatic soulmate, has captured the beautiful, foolish optimism of small town America so fully. It's a gift from the gods of incompetent network management that we've gotten this many seasons of Parks and Rec. Sadly, despite the unflagging cult popularity of the show, you get the sense that this show's days are numbered. (Just look at the ratings.)
When Parks goes off the air and onto all time best-of lists, we'll likely wait a long time for a show like Parks and Rec. Until then, we'll continue to devour all of the eggs and bacon that the show has to offer. —Brenden Gallagher
27. Million Dollar Listing: New York (Bravo)
Stars: Fredrik Eklund, Ryan Serhant, Luis D. Ortiz
“I hate this guy!”
That was the assessment lobbed at “million dollar” realtor Fredrik Eklund (a.k.a. gay porn actor Tag Eriksson) by my husband when a perhaps serendipitous series of events—including extreme laziness, a rain storm, and a lost remote control—forced us to endure the first episode in Million Dollar Listing: New York’s second season. He was right. I hated this guy, too. And cringed even more violently when his equally slimy, but far less charming, wheeling-and-dealing co-stars, Ryan Serhant and Luis Ortiz, appeared on the screen to deliver yet another round of egomaniacal ranting that reminded me why I had lived in the same apartment for 10 years: because realtors are sleazy.
Whereas their L.A. counterparts are weird and wooden, Fredrik, Ryan and Luis are over-the-top in their pomposity. But they’re not such highly skilled actors to make it clear that this is all an act. Because in what reality would a top realtor—or his clients, bosses and colleagues—allow the inner-workings of his negotiating tactics to be broadcast for all the world to see. What sort of leverage would that leave him?
“My brokers are appalled by what happens on these shows," Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman said in a Wall Street Journal feature on the reality show realty phenomenon. “It's way exaggerated.”
Former Ricky’s CEO Todd Kenig, who happens to be one of Ryan’s client, agrees, saying of Serhant in the same article, “On TV he can be a little obnoxious. But [in person] he's very pleasant and very easygoing."
I myself hated these guys even more at the end of episode two, when the show’s producers desperately tried to get all three guys to look beyond their own egos in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, but only selfishness seemed to reign. I was horrified in episode three, when Luis didn’t see a problem with Photoshopping images of granite countertops and top-of-the-line appliances onto the real interiors of the crack house he was attempting to sell—and that his bosses didn’t deem this an egregious enough deception to fire and sue him (especially considering that the New York State Department launched an investigation into his actions in June; and on August 2nd, he was canned by his employer, Keller Williams).
And by the time the season finale concluded with Fredrik, now a married man, landing a listing with Donald Trump, I realized two things: I had been unknowingly ensnared in one of Bravo’s notorious 12-hour marathons. And as much as I had been appalled by the smarminess I was witnessing, I wasn’t willing to change the channel (and yes, I had actually re-located the missing remote at this point).
Translation: As nauseous as it made me to see the wholly manufactured way in which three real estate douchebags were representing their profession as well as their city—which also happened to be my city—I couldn’t turn away. Which is exactly what Bravo’s masters of reality programming were banking on when they retooled season two of this Million Dollar Listing: Los Angeles spinoff. And it worked.
All of which is to say that my DVR is already set for the season three premiere. —Jennifer Wood
26. Luther (BBC One)
Stars: Idris Elba, Warren Brown, Dermot Crowley, Michael Smiley, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Sienna Guillory, David O'Hara
If history has taught us anything about popular British television it’s that there will likely come a day when some Hollywood producer will wrestle the rights to make an American adaptation of Luther, and on that day the fans will cry. Because the majority of Americans will come to associate “Luther” with Denis Leary or whomever they decide to cast in the lead role, and an entire country’s perception of one of the decade’s best television shows will forever be tainted. In the same way that we ruined Skins, The Inbetweeners, Absolutely Fabulous, The IT Crowd, Spaced and Coupling. (I really hope I’m wrong about that.)
The Golden Globes can call it a “Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television” all they want. As much as Americans hate the fact that Brits prefer to run a show for three short seasons before calling it quits, the BBC’s Luther is a television series. And a damn fine one at that, starring Idris Elba as a homicide investigator tasked with capturing some of London’s most gruesome criminals.
All in all, the third season added up to just four hours of television. But what a powerful four hours it was. And jam-packed. In addition to investigating a series of fetishistic murders, Luther is trying to save his own ass, as he’s got a couple of former colleagues who are gunning to take him down, and aren’t afraid to crush any innocent bystanders (like Luther’s new love interest) who get in their way.
Because it was meant to tie up the series, the third season was met with slightly less critical enthusiasm than the previous two, namely for its focus on the procedural aspects of the job as opposed to new and creepy criminals. But if I had to put on my statistician hat, I’d say that the show remains 100 percent better than 93 percent of the past year’s television offerings. (No, I don’t have a math degree. But I do watch a lot of TV.)
Though Luther is rather preoccupied with the investigation that's been launched against him, he finds time to reconnect with Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), the brilliant young beauty who killed her parents in the show’s premiere episode but who has since become a confidante; and Mary Day (Sienna Guillory), Luther’s latest love interest. Despite the godliness his character seems to possess—he’s a towering figure of intelligence, bravery, and wit—Luther has clearly got a soft spot for the ladies in his life. And it’s this weakness that almost leads to his undoing.
While the third season has been stated as the show’s last, both Elba and the show’s creator Neil Cross (who describes Luther as a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Columbo) have expressed their interest in continuing the series on the big screen, with Elba once noting that, “That's where the ultimate Luther story will unfold… [on] the big silver screen—London as a huge backdrop and a very menacing, horrible character to play against.” Yes, please! —Jennifer Wood
25. Drunk History (Comedy Central)
Stars: Derek Waters, Various actors
Created by comedian Derek Waters, Drunk History mimics American history reenactments that you might find (and ignore) on serious educational TV channels. The one difference here being that the narrators are incredibly intoxicated while giving their accounts on important moments in American history. And by intoxicated, we mean that these comedians are nearly incomprehensible. In fact, one comedian had to take a break during his narration so he could throw up in his kitchen sink.
As a result, their accounts of historical moments like Watergate or the expedition of Lewis and Clarke are not entirely factual. Nonetheless, Waters casts celebrated actors from Phillip Seymour Hoffman to Aubrey Plaza to reenact these slurred and heavily interrupted accounts as they play famous figures in history. The result is an incredibly hilarious TV show that is both idiotic and educational at the same time. Who could ask for anything more? —Vanessa Castro
24. Black Mirror (DirecTV's Audience Network)
Stars: Rory Kinnear, Lydia Wilson, Daniel Kaluuya, Jessica Brown Findlay, Toby Kebbell, Jodie Whittaker, Hayley Atwell, Domhnall Gleeson, Lenora Crichlow, Michael Smiley, Tuppence Middleton, Ian Bonar, Daniel Rigby, Jason Flemyng
When done properly, the genre anthology series format can make for some of TV's most thought-provoking and unsettling entertainment. Think back to Rod Serling's original The Twilight Zone, the original The Outer Limits, and England's Hammer House of Horror. More recent shows have tried to emulate those successes, like Showtime's Masters of Horror, but have been too uneven to have any lasting impact. England's Black Mirror, though, deserves placement right alongside The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.
Wisely, series creator Charlie Brooker limited Black Mirror's two seasons (which originally aired in 2011 and 2012 overseas before premiering stateside this year) to three hour-long episodes each. Thus, there's no filler. The core theme remains the same throughout all six entries: Technology is advancing rapidly, and, before we know it, it's going to bite us all in our asses.
Black Mirror has something for everyone. There's the melancholy romance of "Be Right Back," in which a woman reunites with her deceased lover whose reanimated body operates solely on personal information gathered through his social media interactions. Things gets dark and disturbing in the very Serling-esque "White Bear," a look at a possible futuristic justice system that makes A Clockwork Orange seem humane. Reality TV also gets a scathing indictment in "Fifteen Million Merits," a Running Man-inspired depiction of an American Idol-inspired competition. Something for everyone if you want your sleep troubled, of course. —Matt Barone
23. The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
Stars: Stephen Colbert
2013 was the year the The Colbert Report finally dethroned The Daily Show as the reigning king of the Emmy Outstanding Variety Series category. The preferred Internet narrative following the win was that The Report had somehow overtaken its older brother. Such an angle may set the stage for spirited debate, but it also misses the point. These two shows are not running the same race.
The Daily Show is a news magazine. The gags, the segments, and the interviews send up the day’s stories, but they also provide legions of Americans with the only news they trust. The Colbert Report is a never-ending character study. With each piece of memorabilia that accumulates on Colbert’s fake mantle and with each institution that names something after him, we add another piece to the absurd, meticulously detailed puzzle of the character “Stephen Colbert.”
Years down the road, when Colbert hangs up his American Flag lapel pin, he will be remembered alongside Stewart as one two of the era’s greatest satirists. In a way, that sells Colbert short. While we should honor Colbert as a comedic voice, we can’t forget that he is also an actor playing a role. In “Stephen Colbert,” Stephen Colbert may have created the most fully realized comedic character in history. His performance is so vivid, so complete that it's easy to forget that The Colbert Report is the world’s longest running one-man show. The most impressive of The Colbert Report's many achievements is the ongoing creation of a fully realized, grotesque reflection of the brash, arrogant, passionate, hilarious aspects of America, embodied in one man smiling impishly behind a desk. —Brenden Gallagher
22. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)
Stars: Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Chelsea Peretti, Joe Lo Truglio, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero
Dramas may be fleeing to premium channels, but comedies still rule the networks. And one of the freshest new series to hit screens this fall is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Created by Parks and Recreation’s Michael Shur and Dan Goor, this single-camera comedy follows a dysfunctional group of detectives in a fictional Brooklyn precinct as they desperately try to keep law and order. Led by a stellar cast that includes Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, and Terry Crews, Brooklyn Nine-Nine succeeds on the strength of the comedic chemistry of this ensemble.
While there are numerous hilarious dynamics on the show, it’s the relationship between Samberg’s childish Detective Jake Peralta and Braugher’s rigid Captain Holt that is the centerpiece of the series. Braugher is the classic straight man to Samberg's manic immaturity, and it's this conflict that propels the show above every other comedy introduced this season. The plots never rise above the typical police show formula, but it’s the banter between the characters that makes Brooklyn Nine-Nine work. It hasn’t quite matched the level of 30 Rock, Community, or Parks & Recreation yet, but with a cast like this it won’t take long for Brooklyn Nine-Nine to get there. —Jason Serafino
21. The Good Wife (CBS)
Stars: Julianna Marguiles, Josh Charles, Archie Panjabi, Makenzie Vega, Graham Phillips, Alan Cumming, Zach Grenier, Christine Baranski, Chirs Noth, Jerry Adler, Stockard Channing, America Ferrera, Melissa George, Nathan Lane, Rita Wilson, Jess Weixler
20. 30 Rock (NBC)
Stars: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Judah Friedlander, Katrina Bowden, Keith Powell, Scott Adsit, Lonny Ross
It’s been nearly a year since 30 Rock went off the air, and many are still experiencing withdrawal symptoms without their weekly dose of Tina Fey’s genius. That’s just a testament to how great this show was, though—even in its seventh season, Fey and co. managed to deliver a hilarious, on-point, sharp sitcom, while most other new shows on at the time (*cough*The New Normal*cough*) were struggling to produce even one laugh-out-loud worthy scene in an entire episode.
Firstly, it was one of the only shows that has ever been able to pull off such insane, ridiculous characters and plot lines. Case-in-point: The final moment of the show was Kenneth the Page-turned-Head of NBC, sitting across from Liz Lemon’s great granddaughter in the very distant future…not having aged a day. Aside from Parks & Recreation and Community, it’s about impossible to name another contemporary comedy capable of a scene like that without veering into “what the hell am I watching” territory, but 30 Rock did it effortlessly, and they had fun. The ratings weren’t the greatest, but it didn’t matter—as Tracy Jordan said during the series finale of TGS: "Thank you America, that's our show. Not a lot of people watched it, but the joke's on you, 'cause we got paid anyway."
Most importantly, though, 30 Rock’s final season demonstrated character development done right. By the end of the series, Liz had gotten married to her longtime boyfriend Criss and adopted two children. She'd matured to the point where she was able to say “I love you” in both romantic and platonic senses without hesitation. She accepted that she enjoys being a homebody who works on her nightcheese while watching bad reality shows, and she finally realized that work was not her life—but, also, that working, rather than being a stay-at-home mom, made her happy, and that was OK. From the start, Liz had been looking to have exactly this. She wanted to go to there, and she did. —Tanya Ghahremani
19. Sons of Anarchy (FX)
Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Katey Sagal, Maggie Siff, Jimmy Smits, Kim Coates, Tommy Flanagan, Theo Rossi, Dayton Callie, David LaBrava, Kurt Sutter, Robin Weigert, Peter Weller, Rockmond Dunbar, CCH Pounder, Donal Logue
Season six of Kurt Sutter’s biker gang crime drama made a few things abundantly clear: One, Sons falls short of transcendent shows like The Sopranos, The Wire, and Breaking Bad, which critics will deconstruct for decades to come, because Sutter fails to fully engage with some of the most interesting and important issues that he introduces. Two, he gives zero shits what anybody thinks should happen with his show and when. Three, despite these truths, Sons of Anarchy is still a wild ride that feels as good as wind whipping through your hair as you snake down the Pacific Coast Highway on a Harley.
With a rebellious showrunner like Sutter, you have to expect the unexpected, but few fans anticipated the gut punches he threw this year. The season kicked off with one of the series’ most soul-crushing developments, when a gun that SAMCRO sold winds up in the hands of a demented school shooter who kills several of his classmates. In hindsight, it seems so obvious and logical a step for a story about gun runners, but it was the first time that Sutter forced fans to consider the full extent of the impact that the trade has upon the community and it was undeniably jarring. Sadly, not enough was subsequently done with the shooting. For such a contemplative, journal-writing protagonist, SAMCRO President Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) spent little time meditating on his responsibility in the horrific tragedy. Instead of a theme, it became a plot device that led to a few additional bodies dropping, convinced Jax to expedite the club’s exit from guns, and allowed career-minded DA Tyne Patterson (CCH Pounder) to come down hard on the Sons, their friends, and family, looking for a weak link to exploit so she could pin the atrocity on someone and get a promotion.
Guilty of not exploring a weighty issue like adolescent gun violence, or the rape and child abuse that factored in later, Sutter still spun a hell of a crime story, as Jax finds himself at deadly odds with the DA, an unhinged U.S. Marshal, his despicable imprisoned step-father Clay (Ron Perlman), the club's IRA gun connect, and even his wife Tara (Maggie Siff), who devolves into a manipulative and monstrous mother figure akin to her nemesis, Gemma (Katey Sagal), in order to get her sons away from their father and his destructive and miserable life of crime. Sutter's gift is maintaining palpable tension and subverting expectations like an expert puppeteer. When worse inevitably comes to worse, you rarely see it coming or anticipate just how far the creator is willing to push the envelope of murder and mayhem. The Reaper's scythe sticks in your brain and you must admit: Sutter killed it again. —Justin Monroe
18. Arrow (The CW)
Stars: Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, Colin Donnell, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Willa Holland, Paul Blackthorne
Just because a show is on The CW doesn't mean it sucks. Aside from the obvious exceptions to the rule, Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries, there's Arrow, the hour-long adventure drama based on DC comics slickest archer, Green Arrow. If you're unfamiliar with the saga, Arrow tells the story of a billionaire playboy who changes his way after going through traumatizing and life-changing events while marooned on an island for five years. He returns to his home of Starling City a new man, ready to avenge his father's death and stop the corruption that runs amok.
But unlike Smallville and the CW's other attempts at superhero shows, Arrow (at least from what we've seen in its first season and the exceptional first half of season two) does a believable job of balancing camp and badassery. This is thanks, in part, to the writers knowing exactly how to embed each character (OK, with the exception of Katie Cassidy's Laurel Lance) into the action. Not only do you look forward to the show for another Oliver Queen ass-kicking, but also to what his right-hand man Diggle's bulging biceps will get into this week and what kind of sexual innuendo his IT girl Felicity Smoak will make next.
Oh, and the fact that it drops familiar names like Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins doesn't hurt either. —Tara Aquino
17. Scandal (ABC)
Stars: Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn, Columbus Short, Darby Stanchfield, Katie Lowes, Guillermo Diaz, Joshua Malina, Jeff Perry, Bellamy Young
Scandal, a political thriller starring everyone's favorite person Kerry Washington, is one of the most stress-inducing, yet highly amusing, shows on television right now. Already on its third season, Shonda Rhimes' show does not seem to tire of surprising its audiences with crazy plot twists and uncomfortable situations that you can't get away from. With death-threatening cliff hangers and never ending affairs with the President of the United States, it's hard to take your eyes from the screen.
The acting was a bit melodramatic in the early seasons, but Scandal's recurring cast has stepped up its game. Over the years the plot has become more intricate and we are still getting to know their main characters, which means that there is so much more room for this show to grow. Yes, Washington's crying face will continue to annoy certain people, but screw those people, OK?
For now, we're all sitting on the edge of our seats to find out how the rest of the third season will go. Educated guess? People are going to die. But it's all right so long as no one touches Olivia Pope's flawless, powerful face. —Vanessa Castro
16. Justified (FX)
Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Erica Tazel, Jacob Pitts, Natalie Zea, Raymond J. Barry, Jim Beaver, Jere Burns, Brent Sexton, Ron Eldard, Joseph Mazzello, Lindsay Pulsipher, Patton Oswalt, Mike O'Malley, Robert Baker, David Meunier
Some television series kick off with an explosive event, while others use the weeks between their premiere and finale to build up to a big-bang ending. Justified opts for a slow burn approach. To call it a “build-up” wouldn’t necessarily be incorrect, but it also wouldn't be 100 percent accurate. The pace is a restrained one that maintains a narrative formula best described as equal parts action, tension, and humor as the story follows the caseload of Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), a U.S. Marshal sent back to clean up his backwoods Kentucky hometown after bringing his cowboy act to Miami and getting a little gun crazy (albeit rightfully so).
It says a lot about Justified—which returns for a fifth season on January 7th—that its first season was its weakest, because its first season was phenomenal. Still, the show has continued to reinvent itself in subtle ways with each new season, like changing from a one-crime-per-episode format in its first year to a season-long storyline in season two. But it’s done in such an organic way that viewers haven’t missed a beat. Or had reason to complain.
Even season four saw a slight tweak to its format when Raylan took on a cold case. And while it veered away from previous seasons in that it was focused on solving a mystery instead of a recent crime, the fact that Raylan’s dad Arlo (William J. Barry) was clearly involved in the case offered up a multitude of opportunities to see the two actors go head-to-head, which was a treat for viewers, as their interactions offer some of the show’s most quietly layered moments.
Raylan never shows a bit of tenderness or compassion toward his father, whom he calls Arlo, and dear old deadbeat dad returns the favor, never offering a bit of repentance for all the trouble he has caused. Yet there’s a palpable warmth in the coldness that exists between their characters that makes their banter—which, like the rest of the show, is filled with a brilliant, spitfire dialogue that pays tribute to the late, great Elmore Leonard, the show’s executive and author of Fire in the Hole, the short story upon which the series is based—some of the most enjoyable scenes to watch.
Raylan is also well-matched by his childhood friend turned (sometimes) nemesis Boyd Crowder, a complicated but immensely likable criminal deftly brought to life by character actor Walter Goggins, who just might be the most underrated actor on television at the moment.
Whereas other series paint themselves into a corner, leaving viewers to wonder how much steam the concept really has left by the time the second or third season rolls around, it’s easy to imagine a story arc happening several years from now in which an AARP card-carrying Raylan calmly rejects the notion that he’s too old to be catching criminals and refuses to turn in his badge, cool (as always) as the other side of the pillow—the ten-gallon hat somehow adding to his charm. —Jennifer Wood
15. The Returned (Sundance Channel)
Stars: Yara Pilartz, Jenna Thiam, Clotilde Hesme, Swann Nambotin, Céline Sallette, Guillaume Gouix, Gregory Gadebois, Ana Girardot, Pierre Perrier, Anne Consigny, Frédéric Pierrot, Grégory Gadebois, Jean-François Sivadier
Yes, there was another zombie drama on television this year. And let's be clear: The Returned buries AMC's The Walking Dead in every possible way, from tension, storytelling, and just overall quality. This is coming from a big fan of The Walking Dead, too. Furthermore, the intricate, masterfully layered narrative orchestrated by series creator Fabrice Gobert and his The Returned deserves to be in the same 2013 discussions with Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones.
Originally airing in France in late 2012, and brought to America by Sundance Channel, The Returned is a zombie drama without any actual zombie movie beats. The titular "walkers" don't eat flesh or look like rotted skeletons—they're just as they were in life, except that the world's gone on without them, and they don't remember ever dying. Not quite horror, The Returned explores how the characters deal with the confusion, fear, and overwhelming joy that derives from coexisting with a dead loved one again, and how that affects lives that have otherwise moved forward.
Lest you think it's all sap, The Returned has an abundance of brutality, darkness, and suspense throughout its eight episodes. The score, from Scottish post-rock band Mogwai, is nightmare fuel, backing moments of cannibalism, murder, and suicide, most of which come in flashbacks woven into episodes, a la Lost. Except that, fortunately, The Returned actually makes sense. No, scratch that—The Returned, for all its death and sadness, illuminates. —Matt Barone
14. Girls (HBO)
Stars: Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, Adam Driver, Alex Karpovsky, Christopher Abbott, Andrew Rannells, Chris O'Dowd, Donald Glover, Patrick Wilson
On the first season of Lena Dunham's Girls, we watched the auteur turn into a full-blown physical comedian. Dunham used her body and face like a star of the silent era, perfecting dopey expressions and filling the screen with herself.
The second season of Girls, an improvement on the first, turned physical in a way that has more in common with modern performance art and Hannah Wilke. The plotlines didn't always felt earned—Hannah's OCD emerges too suddenly, for instance—but within these stories there have been more than enough moments of brilliance to compensate. The brutal sex scene in the penultimate episode was unlike anything on TV this year, fuck a Red Wedding. Watching Hannah pull a splinter from her ass, or dig in her ear with a Q-tip exposed something raw. We're told this kind of soul baring should be embarrassing, that it isn't art, that it must be self-indulgent. Those are all just defensive postures in the face of something uncomfortable and important. It's easier to call this masturbatory than to call it what it is: great. —Ross Scarano
13. Masters of Sex (Showtime)
Stars: Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan, Nicholas D'Agosto, Teddy Sears, Beau Bridges, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Allison Janney, Rose McIver, Annaleigh Ashford, Julianne Nicholson, Ann Dowd
At it's worst, Showtime's new dramedy Masters of Sex, about sex researchers in the late '50s, feels like Mad Men without the subtext. At its best, it's a funny, deeply-felt celebration of sex combined with thoughtful commentary on gender and sexism. It declares everyone's right to sexual pleasure (word to Ellen Willis), and, even in 2013, that's all too rare a thing.
The show opens in 1956, at Washington University. Dr. William Masters, played by Michael Sheen, has hit a wall with his research into fertility. He realizes the next step is to explore the way a woman's orgasm might affect conception, and he needs a partner to help. Enter Lizzy Caplan's Victoria Johnson, a progressive single mother (can there be any other kind?) unafraid to do like Salt-n-Pepa and speak truth about the realities of the bedroom.
Caplan is going to catch an Emmy for her work here, there's little doubt. Her character cuts through the bullshit of sexual politics in the conservative '50s, and the most sobering thing is how rare that feels even on shows set in the present. We need Lizzy Caplan and Virginia Johnson. —Ross Scarano
12. House of Cards (Netflix)
Stars: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly, Kristen Connolly, Sakina Jaffrey, Constance Zimmer, Sebastian Arcelus
Sex scandals, political corruption, and pretty people—House of Cards made the case for binge watching. It's impossible not to get hooked on the series, with its David Fincher aesthetic and beguiling plot: a congressman (Kevin Spacey) and his equally calculating wife (Robin Wright) manipulate their way to the highest post in the U.S. government, all while taking down those who've worked to stop them.
But it wouldn't be fun to watch if it were so easy. In their way is the underrated Kate Mara, who plays a savvy journalist whose motto is essentially "Fuck ethics" and seeks notoriety for leaking the biggest stories in D.C.
With season two of the series not premiering until next Valentine's Day, screw everything else on your Netflix Instant Queue and marathon this instead. —Tara Aquino
11. Mad Men (AMC)
Stars: Jon Hamm, Jessica Pare, Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, Vincent Kartheiser, Kevin Rahm, Rich Sommer, Kiernan Shipka, Linda Cardellini, Christopher Stanley, Ben Feldman, Jay R. Ferguson, Harry Hamlin
Mad Men spoiled us. Coming off of the show's fifth and best season, expectations soared for the sixth. But the sixth season proved uneven at best, punishing at worst. Don found Hell, but the journey there felt leaden too much of the time.
Still Matthew Weiner and company accentuated the lows with brief spots of positive illumination; moments like Bobby talking to the movie theater attendant and a sing-a-long at camp make each and every failure of character all the more bitter and heart-rendering.
Months removed from the season, though, what shines brightest is the finale, and its hope for the show's final season. Sally's discovery about her father led Don to, as New York magazine's Matt Zoller Seitz wrote, turn away from his old self.
There's no telling what will happen in Mad Men now that the central question—will Don Draper's real identity come out?—has been removed from the equation. This unmooring is what makes the show greater than its peers. As bumpy as season six was at times, there's no doubt that it will lead to more excellent things. —Ross Scarano
10. Orphan Black (BBC One)
Stars: Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris, Dylan Bruce, Kevin Hanchard, Michael Mando, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Matt Frewer
One woman plays seven characters (with three more one the way), and each is an entirely believable distinct creation. That's a testament to the incredible talent of newcomer Tatiana Maslany, who plays a young woman named Sarah Manning. On the BBC's Orphan Black, Manning discovers the existence of several clones of herself, all of whom are being killed one by one by a mysterious organization.
The chase sequences, gun fights, and ducking and diving are fun to watch. The cliff-hangers keep you on the edge of your seat until the next episode. The anxiety over whether or not you can trust a character is ever-present. That is all to say, the hype is real. Get familiar in time for the return next year. —Tara Aquino
9. Eastbound & Down (HBO)
Stars: Danny McBride, Steve Little, Katy Mixon, Jerry Minor, Elizabeth de Razzo, Ken Marino, Tim Heidecker, Jillian Bell, John Hawkes, Jennifer Irwin, Andrew Daly
The "Outstanding Miniseries or Movie" Emmy category has been a joke among critics for years. Clearly episodic shows like Luther and Political Animals are regularly nominated despite being neither a miniseries nor a movie. The most absurd examples of course are shows that are cancelled early and then re-branded as mini-series. It would never happen, but might we suggest Eastbound and Down take home the statue this year?
Eastbound was never a sitcom: the supporting characters never had much agency, and the show wasn't really episodic. Every person who entered the world of Eastbound was stuck in Kenny's warped orbit. Every scene, every line, every novelty T-shirt was about Kenny Powers and his outsized ego. Each season was a continuation of the same tragic film, in dogged pursuit of the same central question: will Kenny ever realize the harm his delusions of grandeur inflict on the world around him?
It seemed a strange choice to bring back Eastbound and Down for a fourth season at first. The three-season-long film was already finished: Kenny had returned to the majors and then flamed out, as we always knew he would. As it turns out, season four offered a lovely coda to the show. We got to chase the windmills of fame one more time with the Shelby Sensation, long after his star had been extinguished.
Just like the alcoholic dad who misses every soccer game he promises to attend, Kenny can't stop disappointing to the very end. Even a local sports talk show, it turns out, can turn him back into an egomaniacal Mr. Hyde. Though we know that it could never be, we would watch Kenny flame out again and again as he grows older, chasing an impossible dream as he trampled over the back of anyone who offered him a leg up. —Brenden Gallagher
8. Veep (HBO)
Stars: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Sufe Bradshaw, Timothy Simons, Gary Cole
Veep is the evil twin of Parks and Recreation. While Parks and Rec ultimately believes in the power of government, friendship, and human decency, Veep advances the thesis that any good that happens is the world is the result of someone's selfish vanity. The flawless cast is forever engaged in ridiculous verbal sparring for any small advantage in the political arena. The result is hilarious, petty jockeying for parking spaces and photo ops in too small offices and too public luncheons. Nothing short of brilliant.
Every character, from Julia-Louise Dreyfuss' V.P. to Timothy Simons' lowly Jonah, is forever game to do battle, and the results are comedic perfection. The comic battlefield is so perfectly pitched by brilliant creator Armando Iannucci that every guest star who enters the fray shines with their own vitriolic verbal punches. With Veep, Iannucci has created an environment that is too funny too fail. Here's hoping for four more years of gut-busting gut-punching. —Brenden Gallagher
7. Love and Hip-Hop: Atlanta (VH1)
Stars: Mimi Faust, Joseline Hernandez, Erica Dixon, Rasheeda Buckner, Karlie Redd, Tammy Rivera
The first season of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta was so ridiculous many wondered whether or not the show would be able to entertain on that same level the second time around. There should’ve never been any doubt, as we now know.
From Kirk Frost going out of his way to be perceived as the worst husband in the history of reality TV, to Erica Dixon’s mama slowly strutting down the steps before nearly brawling with Lil’ Scrappy’s mama, the ex-pimp, LHH:ATL remains the Beyoncé of telenovelas. All others can bow down. —Michael Arceneaux
6. New Girl (FOX)
Stars: Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris, Hannah Simone
Comedies are always hit or miss. What's funny to one person doesn't necessarily mean it'll work for the next. That's why sitcoms are such a gamble, and only a handful pilots survive a second season. But when one hits, it's friggin' magic. Enter: New Girl.
Now on its third season, the sitcom has developed palpable cast chemistry between the four roommates that makes the jokes land even better. With the will-they-won't-they tension between Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick (Jake Johnson) resolved, Schmidt transcending douchey to become hilariously endearing, and Winston finally given a believable Phoebe Bouffay-like shtick, the FOX sitcom is at its best. —Tara Aquino
5. Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Stars: Steve Buscemi, Michael K. Williams, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, Stephen Graham, Jeffrey Wright, Brian Geraghty, Ron Livingston, Gretch Mol, Jack Huston, Michael Stuhlbarg, Kelly Macdonald, Anatol Yusef, Erik LaRay Harvey, Anthony Lacuira, Vincent Piazza, Margot Bingham, Rosanna Arquette, Stephen Root, Eric Ladin, Wrenn Schmidt
Once again, Boardwalk Empire showrunner Terence Winter proved that he and his writing staff aren't interested in shock and awe, or immediate, unearned gratification. Television's most patient drama, Boardwalk demands that its viewers have faith—every season start off slow, but, around the midway point, the narrative kicks into high-gear, and things get really real. Season four, to its credit, didn't wait until episode six—Nucky Thompson's (Steve Buscemi) Atlantic City universe settled into unnerving darkness and its unwavering momentum in episode four, "Erlkönig," a somber, tragic hour centered on usual background player Eddie Kessler (Anthony Laciura), Nucky's under-appreciated servant.
Eddie's final hour is indicative of Boardwalk's magnificent fourth season on the whole. The show's best run yet, season four thrived on everyone around Nucky, which isn't atypical for Boardwalk but felt more successful than ever before this year. The introduction of Harlem antagonist Dr. Narcisse (a superb Jeffrey Wright) allowed Michael K. Williams to deliver his best work yet as the beleaguered and defiant Chalky White. An at first problematic subplot involving Eli's (Shea Whigham) son ultimately provided the underrated Whigham the chance to wow viewers in the season's final episodes, particularly during the finale's incredibly brutal brawl with FBI agent Tolliver (Brian Geraghty). On the gentler side, there was Richard Harrow (the always A-grade Jack Huston), fulfilling his domestic dreams en route to the season's devastating final image.
Discussions of TV's best current dramas typically involve the following: Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and Mad Men. Consider Boardwalk Empire's superlative fourth season all the evidence it needs to join that conversation. —Matt Barone
4. Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
Stars: Taylor Schilling, Dascha Polanco, Jason Biggs, Danielle Brooks, Samira Wiley, Taryn Manning, Laura Prepon, Natasha Lyonne, Kate Mulgrew, Pablo Schreiber,
Contrary to whatever junk you've seen online, Orange Is the New Black is not your stereotypical women-in-prison show. On top of being one of the only all-female-led shows on the air, it's also the most diverse. Sure, the entrance point to the show is a WASP-y white girl Piper (Taylor Schilling), who got herself locked up after a past involvement with drug trafficking, but each episode isn't dedicated to her. Rather, it delves into the stories of other inmates, from a transgender woman in for credit-card fraud to an off-kilter yoga nut doing time for manslaughter.
It might sound like an unwieldy circus of oddball characters, but give Jenji Kohan (the creator of Weeds) more credit. Kohan and her gifted team of writers, have turned OITNB into a hilarious and heartfelt must-see. Netflix does it again. —Tara Aquino
3. American Horror Story: Coven (FX)
Stars: Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Jamie Brewer, Evan Peters, Denis O'Hare, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, Josh Hamilton, Danny Huston, Patti LuPone
Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy may be the sickest, most twisted storytellers TV knows. And they better not stop.This year's American Horror Story installment is more glamour bitch than the previous ones, but Coven is just as ugly as it is pretty. Coven concocts the right blend of alluring drama and nauseatingly disturbing imagery (the first few minutes of the premiere alone) to satisfy everyone's morbid fascination.
The strong, all-female cast is refreshing amongst a sea of male dominated sitcoms and dramas. The writers wickedly play the characters off each other as alliances are forged, lines are crossed, and heads roll. Laden with secrets and power plays, it's like Lord of the Flies except the monsters are real. Unlike the rest of the supernatural shows, Coven embraces voodoo, necromancy, and witchcraft. Enough of those flimsy teenage vampire romances, the magic in Coven works because it's ruthless and unforgiving, just like the characters. It's a dark indulgence for your inner Fiona.
With a delicious plot twist every episode, anything could happen and the only thing we can count on from Coven is that the dead will not rest in peace. —Arianna Friedman
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
Stars: Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams, Jack Gleeson, Richard Madden, Alfie Allen, Kit Harington, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Carice van Houten, Michelle Fairley, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Sophie Turner, Natalie Dormer, Oona Chaplin, John Bradley, Sibel Kekilli, Rose Leslie, Liam Cunningham
Tuck your Emmy season in. It's been a great year for television, with many of your favorite shows adding more classic episodes to an already impressive roster. Yet, a half-year's worth of TV since Game of Thrones went dark in June couldn't out do its third season, which, aside from the misadventures of a high school chem teacher, delivered the only instantly classic collection of episodes of the calendar year.
We can't think of the last time an episode of TV left us as slack-jawed as the season's crown jewel, "The Rains of Castamere," a devastating reminder that Game of Thrones houses the cruelest universe of all time. And yet, we can't wait to return. —Frazier Tharpe
1. Breaking Bad (AMC)
Stars: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk, RJ Mitte, Betsy Brandt, Jesse Plemons, Laura Fraser, Steven Michael Quezada, Michael Bowen, Lavell Crawford
That evil genius actually did it. That statement applies to both series mastermind Vince Gilligan and his now iconic character, a storied mastermind in his own right, Walter Hartwell "Heisenberg" White. In Breaking Bad’s insanely engaging final run, Gilligan, through W.W., achieved that ultra-rare feat that's eluded many a showrunner and great series: he stuck the landing.
Some fans were left a little disappointed in how “easily” Walter wrote his own perfect ending, but for the most part, the masses were left satisfied as Heisenberg lay dying in a puddle of blue light, surrounded by the instruments with which he built his empire (and destroyed his life). Because, really, what was so neat and happy about the conclusion of the White family saga? Junior may end up with a fortune in drug money he didn’t actually want, but closure and millions don’t erase the ruin King Walter left in the wake of his crumbling empire.
A ruin that was brilliantly parceled out over eight pulse-pounding episodes that completely overtook the zeitgeist during the last weeks of summer, peaking with the devastating, instant all-time classic episode “Ozymandias.” Look on Vince Gilligan’s masterwork and rejoice. There’s a new entry on the GOAT ballot. —Frazier Tharpe