Top 50 Shows of the 2010s

With 2020 approaching, many websites primarily writing about movie and television are doing their end of the decade list, so I thought - why not join in?  I've certainly seen enough to make such a list.  While I glanced at a few - mostly to make sure I wasn't forgetting any shows - I have tried to make this list with as little outside information as possible.  And there are a few shows listed in most lists that I simply haven't seen or haven't seen enough of to include unfortunately - Halt and Catch Fire, Treme, Persons of Interest, The Good Wife, Legend of Korra, Fringe - those are at least the big ones.  There is a good chance that - when I would get to those shows - at least one or more would be a part of this list.  But there's always going to be blind spots for a list with one person.

I'm going to follow Alan Sepinwall's model on this one on what shows to include.  For shows that premiered before 2010, it must have over half of its episodes air in this decade and that it must not have aired over two seasons.  The big omission by this rule is Mad Men, which aired 3 seasons in the 2000s, and It's Always Sunny, which has actually had 97 of its 148 episodes this decade.  Which is a blessing frankly.  I have no idea how to judge Mad Men as a show if I'm forced to remove the first three seasons, which when included with the fourth, I think are its best.  It's certainly on this list, but where is a mystery, especially since I haven't watched the show since the finale.

That's another thing - I am not a heavy rewatcher of shows.  Its why I'm able to watch so many shows, because I watch it once and then move on to another show.  So some of this list will include shows that I haven't seen in over five years, and thus, I'm mostly trusting my memory of how I felt about the show.  Again I have one very specific example in mind that I will rewatch at some point, because I don't remember the show all that well, just that I loved it.  This is going to be a long list, so I'll just get on with it.

#50 - Drunk History

Drunk History has suffered in my annual top ten lists, just because it's basically the same thing season after season.  But for a list like this, that doesn't matter.  It's a simple concept - drunk people trying to tell history accurately - and done well.  As a person who has entertained the idea of becoming a history teacher and as a drunk person, this show is right up my alley.

#49 - Arrow

The first Arrowverse show is also its best.  Legends of Tomorrow was strongly considered and frankly I have preferred that show to Arrow for most of its run, but no Arrowverse show has matched the heights of Arrow - back half of season 1, all of season 2, season 5, and this latest season.  It would not have made the list if not for its last season and I'm worried I'm letting recency bias affect this too much, but I think it deserves a spot.

#48 Key & Peele

I watched my first episode after it went off the air - although obviously I had seem some of the individual sketches - and was at first underwhelmed.  The thing about sketch comedies shows - even highly acclaimed ones - is that not every sketch is a hit.  But this has enough classic sketches that can go face to face with any classic sketch comedy show and the pure consistency of this show to produce at least mildly funny laughs is nearly unparalleled in sketch comedy shows.

#47 New Girl

I'm not much of a binger - I try not to watch two episodes of the same show in one day believe it or not - but I was put off by the ads for this show and didn't watch it immediately, but I watched the first two seasons on Netflix in like 2 weeks.  And I was a fan for good.  This just has a very good comedic cast that could make even mediocre writing funny.  And I'm not suggesting this had mediocre writing (although later in its run, they kind of did, but that's most comedies that air as long as this one did)

#46 Marvel's Agents of Shield

Two superhero (or superhero-adjacent) shows already?  I believe this is the last one.  Whether you consider that a good thing or bad thing, well I'm just letting you know this really isn't indicative of most of my list.  Partially due to trying to time the show with a Marvel movie, this show started really slow, so much so that I stopped watching.  But I picked it back up and it got better and better.  It still has one more season to go, but the show doesn't pick up steam until the last batch of episodes in season 1. (If you're considering starting this, just start at Bill Paxton's first episode.  You may or may not be a little lost, but the first fifteen episodes are extremely skippable)

#45 Silicon Valley

Pending on how I end up finishing my 2019 top ten list - which I haven't started - this show never made my top 10 comedies of the year and yet I have it here.  Part of that is that I didn't have a list in 2014 honestly (I think it would have made it), but it was pretty consistently in the 11th-15th range if I extended my list past ten shows.  I probably gave it an honorable mention every year for instance.  Anyway good show with a very good cast.

#44 Black Mirror

I hesitate to put this on my list because it doesn't have that many episodes and it doesn't really have that many truly great episodes either.  It's not like it has a 100% success rate with its episodes, especially the Netflix seasons.  But I don't know it would feel weird to not include this show (which also never made my list and I'm not even sure its best seasons that were before I started this would either cause they were three episodes).  And even if the episode is not quite as good as I'd like, it at least is vastly different than anything else on television.

#43 The Leftovers

Holy shit Gabe this is low, right?  I liked the show more with each successive season, but there are three seasons and I liked two episodes - TWO - of the first season.  And the Guilty Remnant was a huge drag on the show in my opinion.  So yeah it's not going to rank all that highly for me - especially in comparison to other critics - and I'm definitely going to one day give it another shot, but hey I still have it at 43, so clearly I like it a lot.

#42 Catastrophe

One of the truly annoying things about making a list like this is just how different certain shows are in length.  This has four seasons with six episodes a season.  That's as much as one season of a network comedy.  How the hell do I judge these shows in comparison to one another?  Well, fair or not, what I usually do, is I give credit to the longer show if it uses the extra episodes to still make good episodes.  Which is mostly why Catastrophe is this low.  Because there just aren't that many episodes.  (I do have shows with less episodes higher, so it's not the only reason admittedly)

#41 Terriers

Ladies and gentleman, this is the show I was referring to above.  I probably haven't seen this show in 8 years - it was on Netflix whenever I watched it, but it wasn't long after it aired.  And I did love the show.  But I remember very little about why I loved it.  So admittedly, this could be higher - or lower - and I wouldn't argue with you, but I feel like 41 is a pretty good hedge bet especially since this only had 13 episodes.  I will one day rewatch this show.

#40 Master of None

The second season was unfortunately very hit or miss, which is why it isn't higher, even though the hits were among the best episodes on television.  The first season was much more consistent, but again I'm just not working with very many episodes, so I can't place it much higher than this.

#39 Succession

The timing here is fantastic for Succession to make my list.  The most recent episode I watched - and I haven't watched all of the second season yet - was my favorite of the series.  I know people wanted this to be labeled a comedy, but it wasn't until my most recent episode that it completely clicked as a comedy for me.  And I realize that's a little insane if you watch the show, but it wasn't really laugh out loud funny for me.

#38 Russian Doll

If End of the Fucking World is any indication, it's a blessing that the second season hasn't aired yet.  End of the Fucking World, clearly a one season show if there ever was one, would have made this list if they didn't have season two.  But they did.  Russian Doll is also clearly a one season show that will be making a season two - and I'm part of the problem since I'm going to watch it - but boy did I like the first season.  I hate to sound like a broken record here, but it's only eight episodes and that's why it's not higher.

#37 Bob's Burgers

Bob's Burgers does not have the lack of episodes problems - it has 181 episodes made in this decade.  And I think maybe 10 of them are weak episodes.  It probably doesn't reach the heights of most of the shows on this list, but it is startlingly consistent.  Nearly every episode is at least good and definitely entertaining.

#36 Game of Thrones

Everyone talks about how bad the final season was, but it barely came as a shock to me because it wasn't all that good the season before.  Nonetheless, it still has what I'd call the "book years."  I'm not going to overreact to the last season and not include it on this list, but I'm also not going to pretend that I included this show on my top 10 every year before its last season.  (Granted, no top ten lists before 2015, which is removing its first four seasons).  This should probably be higher, but it's also a show that was pretty heavily reliant on nailing its ending and boy did it not do that.

#35 Louie

Oh boy did I not want to include this show!  And apparently a lot of sites felt the same way.  Including this show is a minefield I'm not interesting in stepping in, but I'm also interested in, you know, presenting an accurate list so I kind of had to include this.  It would feel dishonest not to, which is why I'm not going to pretend this wasn't one of the most highly acclaimed shows of its time (including by me).  Now that I've properly pissed off half the people reading this, I'll piss off the other half: it's fine if Louis CK goes away from pop culture and is never heard from again.  (He has admittedly made this incredibly easy if his recent standup is any indication of where he plans to go from here)

#34 Mr. Robot

I hate that I'm writing this list before the conclusion of this show.  This is at 36 with the assumption that it's going to nail its ending, because it has sure nailed the final season.  This is a show that lost me with its second season and with a third that I thought was fine, but nothing special.  But I was a Mr. Robot fanboy for its first and the show grabbed me back with a gripping final season.  If Sam Esmail fucks up the ending, it's lower than this and maybe not even in the top 50.

#33 Documentary Now!

What a difficult line the writers (and directors) have to straddle to make this entertaining television.  They have to craft 21 minute effective parodies of well-known documentaries and put enough of a twist on them to still make it entertaining on its own.  And they manage it every time.  And like Drunk History, bonus points for a comedy making me interested in classic documentaries which I think is cool as shit.

#32 Lodge 49

This is not a show I would oversell to someone who is interested in watching it personally.  It is an extremely low key type of show that is pretty uninterested in plot.  That's the type of show, that if oversold, can make people wonder what the big deal is.  That would have happened to me had I not "discovered" it on my own.  But I recommend this show and be prepared for how laid back it is.  Unfortunately it was cancelled which on the bright side means a low investment in time to watch the whole thing.

#31 American Vandal

Remember above when I mentioned that Russian Doll is probably benefiting from not yet having its second season air?  Well it could pull an American Vandal, which did have a weaker second season, but not by much.  What a delightfully unusual show this one is.  It's a show that makes you sound like a crazy person when you make the case for it in person: believe me I've tried.

#30 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

I'm very glad this show exists.  While I don't exactly think this show had many weak points, the main character could be... tough to watch at times, which is why I can't place it higher than this.  But still this is a show with many, many original numbers (most of them inspired by something else) that are endlessly re-listenable.  Search for some Crazy Ex songs on Youtube, and if you enjoy them, this show might be for you.  (Here are two of my favorites: 1 and 2)

#29 You're the Worst

This show was a little too committed to the awfulness of its characters to place higher than this (sometimes it became hard to watch), but it told its story in the time it wanted and had a good final season, which is better than you could say about a lot of shows honestly.

#28 Watchmen

To be perfectly honest, this show is better than some shows above it - but it is working with a very small sample of episodes, and if it continues its momentum, will be high on the 2020 lists.  I've also only currently seen four of the episodes, but am pretty sure I'm not going to regret this ranking.  Including shows that clearly are going to go for more seasons but literally just started is weird when making an end of the decade list.

#27 GLOW

This is mostly here on the strength of its second season, probably one of the best seasons of television of this decade.  That's to take nothing away from its first - which needed to get to the wrestling part to find its groove - or its third - which is a little too scattershot, but still has its high points.  Still a pretty great show.

#26 Party Down

All shows are unrealistic, but I now know how lawyers feel about the accuracy of lawyer shows and doctors feel about doctor shows.  Cause wow.  This show is about Hollywood caterers and while I obviously live in St. Louis, this show does not seem all that realistic.  Nonetheless, this has one of the greatest comedy casts ever and takes advantage of that.

#25 Boardwalk Empire

The curse of being the show compared to The Sopranos.  I didn't see this show on many end of decade lists, so I was very surprised to find out that the entire show did in fact air this decade.  A highly underrated show, again this show had the misfortune of being directly compared to The Sopranos due to Terrance Winter, and while it is no Sopranos, it still is worth a place on this list.

#24 Broad City 

This is one of those shows were initially, the perception of this show of people whose TV tastes I trust was at odds with my perception.  Not to say I ever disliked this show, but they always seemed to grade it a little higher than I thought.  But the show seemed to only get better with each season, an opinion I'm not sure is shared by many, and didn't overstay its welcome.  In fact, I believe its last season will land on my top 10 this year, which again - aside from cancellations - doesn't happen that much.

#23 Jane the Virgin

Ah, a show with a title that is instantly off-putting - and to a certain extent the premise is too.  This sounds like a show you can write off - but you can't.  Sometimes, I warn that shows get off to slow starts and eventually find their way - that's the norm actually - but this show came out of the gate instantly great and in fact made my top 10 shows of the year every year since its inception.

#22 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Talk about unlikely good shows - go back to the Roast of James Franco and lots of people make fun of Andy Samberg for this - which hadn't aired yet - becoming cancelled or bad soon.  And I didn't really blame them for thinking it to be honest.  Instead season seven is going to air in 2020 after a cancellation and subsequent pickup by NBC.  This has the consistency of a Bob's Burgers with better high points.

#21 Stranger Things

Part of me wonders if this should be higher, but then I remember that the solo Eleven story exists, which is easily the worst thing this show ever did.  A huge gamble and I admire the ambition, but man did that episode fall flat and halt that season's momentum.  Anyway, aside from that, the rest of the show is great.

#20 Barry

A hitman turned actor is a great premise that I can also see failing spectacularly.  But Bill Hader has long been a great actor in need of a vehicle for a starring role and Barry finally provides it.  And ronny/lilly is one of my favorite episodes of anything for a long time and completely unlike anything I've ever seen.

#19 Hannibal

I'm a little worried about recency bias for most of my list, but not this one, which I haven't seen in four years since it last aired.  But I remember loving this weird, well acted show that has been unlike anything I've ever seen.

#18 Review

It's here where I'll again knock a show for very few episodes, because this show is a masterpiece.  It's only three seasons with the third being only 3 episodes, and it's not immediately clear it's a masterpiece when you first watch it.  So I'm aware I'm probably raising expectations too high.  But hilarious and dark show.

#17 Better Call Saul

The spinoff of Breaking Bad ultimately has a chance to pass that show in quality, depending on how it ends.  But for now, it'll have to "settle" merely for being the 17th best show on my list.  It is a way better than show than it has any right to be.  Yes, the character of Saul Goodman always looked ripe for his own show, but it never seemed like it would be this good of one.

#16 Fleabag

It is a testament to how good this show is that I have it this high with just 12 episodes.  I cannot stress enough that the amount of episodes and the success rate of that amount is heavily factored into where shows ranked.  It just does not seem fair to rank a show with 50 good episodes below a show 20.  But as I said, this only has 12!

#15 Gravity Falls

As a show that was on Disney XD, which I'm not convinced is a real channel, I did not watch this when it first aired, but well after, on Hulu.  It's only two seasons and 40 episodes, but it has a central mystery behind the comedy that is compelling in its own right.  This is a classic mystery show that constantly teases and foreshadows and actually delivers on that promise, unlike... just about every other mystery show there is.

#14 Nathan for You

This is one of those shows that, I'm sure if you watched the first episode - maybe even the first season - you'd be truly mystified at this ranking.  And I don't necessarily blame you.  It's best episode by far is its movie length last episode - another thing that would mystify based off just watching the first episode.  But stick with the show and you'll find it more than just funny and entertaining.

#13 Justified

I truly do want this to be higher, but I can't really go any higher than this, since for most of its run, it never really vaulted into one of the best shows on television.  The exception is the Margo Martindale season 2, and Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins constantly kept things entertaining, but what sealed its place on this list was its strong final season as well.  Modern Western that I wholeheartedly recommend.

#12 Community 

The sheer consistency of this show for its first three seasons is nearly unmatched by any other comedy on this list - and the first 9 or so episodes of the first season are not included in this list since they aired in 2009.  But that barely harms the show since it didn't really hit its groove until the 2010s hit.  Unfortunately, there's the dreadful season 4 and season 6, but I hardly feel compelled to hold that against them.  Dan Harmon was fired, a lot of the behind the scenes people left with him and the show's momentum was killed.  They did recover to make a good season 5 at least.

#11 Bojack Horseman

I have not completed the most recent season, but I don't have to - the show's first five seasons speak for themselves.  I'm knocking it ever so slightly for keeping its characters in stasis - and they are far from the first show to do so - but it tends to tilt towards misery porn at times with watching its main character constantly screw his own life over.  It's still 11 so obviously I don't have a huge issue with that, but it's a small complaint.

#10 Veep

Even in its down years, the cast and the colorful language kept this entertaining.  And obviously, the show became nearly prescient with what's happened after it aired, making its parody of politics reality.  I will say - it doesn't hurt the show much - but in its middle years, the show's commitment to not reveal Selena's party hurt it a bit - in my opinion anyway.

#9 Rick & Morty 

If only I could put this on this list without the backdrop of its annoying fandom that surrounds it.  I think I got into Rick & Morty before I let the fandom impact my opinion of the show, but I pretty much don't blame people who don't watch it at this point.  Nonetheless, they are missing out as this is a very inventive, funny comedy.

#8 Rectify 

I am struggling to write passages for every show - I'm not sure why I did that - but especially so for shows like Rectify.  Rectify apparently last aired an episode in December of 2016, and while that was three years ago, it feels like five.  So my memory of this show is of a quiet, very well-acted, very well-written drama that I need to rewatch as soon as I can.

#7 Parks and Recreation

With the 2009 episodes cut off, you lose.... virtually nothing.  You lose Hunting Trip, which is a classic, but otherwise you get a very different show in the first six episodes and a show still finding its footing in the beginning of season 2.  And I wholeheartedly recommend you start watching at season 2, but it's not quite at its peak yet.  Rob Lowe and Adam Scott enter the picture in the back half of season 2 and then the show becomes a classic.

#6 Fargo

If only it weren't for season 3, which is definitely better than I remember it, but which was coming off the tails of one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched in season 2.  The show is this high almost entirely on the back of season 2, even though season 1 is quite good in its own right.  And like I said, season 3 isn't bad, it's just mostly unpleasant to watch, which I realize sounds like a different way of saying it was bad, but you'd understand if you watch the show.

#5 Atlanta

How good is this show?  Well it's ratings appear to be shit, though I do not know the context for FX shows, and it got renewed for a third season after the second season and a fourth season in August of 2019 very randomly.  It still hasn't aired the third season.  Between Donald Glover's music and movie career and Laketh Stanfield being in every movie lately, I feel like we're going to get season 4 in 2025.

#4 The Pacific

This is technically a miniseries and I obviously have no other miniseries on this list, even though I'm sure I could have included more.  Alias Grace comes to mind.  I strangely haven't seen Show Me a Hero, but that's a David Simon show so I'm sure that has an argument.  But I just had to include this show, which doesn't even seem like it aired this decade, but it did.  It is a much more difficult watch than Band of Brothers, but no less remarkable.  In fact, it's told in a more - ambitious? - way and with less audience hand-holding.

#3 Breaking Bad

I'm not the biggest fan of the final season, but seasons 3 and 4 are the most thrilling, fly by the seat of your pants television I have ever seen and probably will ever see.  This is sort of a "watch it one time" type of show and if you watch it more than once, watch it with someone else with fresh eyes.  I'm still afraid I'm putting it too high - not that many would argue - just because, as I said, not the biggest fan of season 5.  But even then, season 5 has Ozymandias so you know what, it belongs.

#2 The Good Place

It is entirely possible that this show will fuck up the ending, but that actually doesn't matter at all on this list.  I mean a show as geared up towards an ending as Good Place will retroactively make the rest of the show worse if they do it badly enough, but I don't think that's going to happen.  Truly one of my favorite shows of all time.

#1 The Americans

I mean come on.  If you guys ever ever read my TV stuff - literally ever - this is the least surprising #1 pick ever.  It was my #1 show every single year I made a top 10 list.  I'm going to have to make my first top ten list without The Americans in a couple weeks.  And I don't know what's replacing it.  So that'll be fun.  So watch The Americans I say enthusiastically and demandingly.

Honorable Mentions
Legends of Tomorrow - A truly entertaining show I recommend to anyone.  It probably should have made its way on my list.

Archer - Unfortunately, this show was great for about two years, and one of the better years was in 2009 so pretty easy omission here.

The Crown - It's a bit too boring, but it's very well made and has great acting.

The Knick - The Steven Soderbergh produced show benefits heavily from what I thought was a great ending in its two season run.

Black-ish - In terms of sitcoms with serious highs, this had a real shot, but there's a whole lot of episodes of this show that are skippable.

Wilfred - This show never had a real shot at this list, but I do want to give a shoutout to this weird ass show that I liked a lot!

This is Us - Yeah yeah this show is actually good and it's kind of annoying, but it does try to manipulate emotions too much.

Shameless - At this point, I think the not good seasons outweigh the good ones, and that's why it's not on here, but it had a good run for a while there.

Santa Clarita Diet - Dark comedy featuring Olyphant and Drew Barrymore that I can't recommend enough if you like dark comedy.

Orphan Black - Again, never a real shot, but watching Tatiana Maslany play 20 different characters is worth the price of admission.

Banshee - Very kickass show

Chernobyl - I forgot to mention this show when mentioning miniseries that probably could have made it.

On Becoming a God in Central Florida - I felt weird putting too many one season shows on this list unfortunately otherwise it did have a shot.

Top Ten Dramas in 2016

If you missed it, on Monday, I posted my top ten comedies of 2016 along with some strong honorable mentions.  I was honestly not truly expecting to add any show to this top ten between then and now.  Technically speaking, I hadn't made this top ten yet.  I had 11 shows in mind and I needed to cut it down to 10.  In the process, I was watching another show, thinking it would be a strong honorable mention at best.

Well, I entered today needing to watch the final three episodes of that show so I didn't write a single word.  I knew if this particular show would make my list, it would be on the bottom part of the list and I tend to want to write these in order.  So once again, I'm making this post after having cut it down to the wire.  By the time I post this, I will have finished my last top ten show just two hours before and I hadn't written a single word when I finished the finale of that show.  Luckily, the hard part of this post is watching tons of hours of television and not actually writing the post itself.

#10 The Girlfriend Experience (Season 1,  )
Model Episode: "Separation"

Without spoiling, the finale was an incredibly bold piece of television.  It's not bold for the reason you'd assume a finale would be bold either.  For one thing, it's been revealed that this show is an anthology show.  So nothing that would theoretically happen in a conventional finale would carry over into season two.  So it's not really the firework type of finale.  But it's off-putting and surprising and probably divisive as hell.

In fact, while I put The Girlfriend Experience here, I'd have to know your specific tastes to recommend it.  It almost seems anti-television.  It took me a few episodes to understand what it was doing.  In the process, it was beautifully shot.  Just absolutely gorgeous cinematography.  It's a part of the series' design, but this show was really cold.  The protagonist - she's not really a good person and the tone of the series mirrors her personality.  So for one thing, don't really go towards this show if you have an eye towards connecting with characters.  You'll feel for her at times - especially when the show takes sort of a thriller vibe - but you will probably not understand her all that well.  And as for the supporting characters, they don't get really get ANY characterization.  It's hard for me to explain the appeal of this show to be honest.

#9 Game of Thrones (Season 6; HBO)
Model Episode: "The Door"

I said this in my comedy top ten for a different show, and it applies here as well.  Game of Thrones isn't on this list because it improved significantly from season 5 to season 6.  (You could probably argue it declined, but I've never really looked at Game of Thrones all that critically so I'm not going to be the one to do that.)  It's on this list, because six of the ten shows I put in my top ten last year did not air a single episode in 2016.  How crazy is that?  Three of them ended, one of them was a miniseries, and the other two just couldn't get their season done in time for 2016.  (Which again led to some difficulty in the top half of my list)

I'm shortchanging Game of Thrones.  Honestly, it suffers from something that plagues a few series I consider: I mostly forget about it by the time this list rolls around.  I remember Game of Thrones by the big moments, but forget just about everything else.  The big moments are admittedly really great television.  I included "The Door" instead of "Battle of the Bastards" because that final scene hit me like a ton of bricks in a way very few shows have done.  A characters' death still being capable of doing that to me is a good sign for Game of Thrones.

#8 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Seasons 1-2; CW)
Model Episode: "When Will Josh and His Friend Leave Me Alone?"

Talk about an impossible show to compare to other shows.  This show basically ruins the concept of a top ten for me.  Because I don't know whether to call it a drama or a comedy, but it's an hour long so that's easy enough for me.  (For what it's worth, The Girlfriend Experience is a half hour, but that is clearly a drama)  If you're into musicals, watch this show for sure.  I'm not really into musicals, but the music is a key element of this show.  Each episode will usually have two musical numbers.  Here's the show's most expensive element from the second season premiere.  I don't think context will be needed to watch that one.  That is NOT from the episode I picked as the true musical number I would have picked would be a huge spoiler.

Anyway Rachel Bloom navigates a complicated character who has some serious issues.  Nobody else could play her.  I mean she's the creator of this series so it seems like she already had this character in her head before this ever became a show.  And if you want to have an idea of the type of humor Bloom has, just look at any of her Youtube videos, pre-Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.  The second season has somehow been an improvement over the already pretty great first season, with more of a reflection on the friendship between Rebbeca (Bloom) and Paula (Donna Lynne Champlin).  Their relationship centers the second season in much the same way that the love triange centered the first.  Watch this show because the ratings are LOOOOW and I don't really want it to get cancelled.  Thank you.

#7 Stranger Things (Season 1; Netflix)
Model Episode: "The Flea and the Acrobat"

Confession: I guessed on that episode.  I didn't really think of Stranger Things has having one particularly great episode because the whole show is too connected to think of it that way.  I'm sure one of the episodes is the standout.  I watched it six months ago though.  It mostly could have been any episode.  Besides, if you're watching Stranger Things, you're not skipping to the fifth episode for the model episode; you're watching all eight.

Strictly speaking, from a critical sense, this is probably too high.  But I had more fun watching it than I do watching most things.  David Harbour (Hopper) should have his career explode now.  Similarly, Millie Bobbie Brown will go on to have a great career as she does some very difficult things as Eleven.  I mentioned this in my review of Stranger Things, but the one disconnect between how most people who perceived Stranger Things and how I did was Winona Ryder's performance, which I didn't feel was all that great.  But that's mostly a minor thing.

#6 Jane the Virgin (Seasons 2-3)
Model Episode: "Chapter 51"

If you're wondering, I just picked the most recent episode of Jane the Virgin.  Jane watches Alfred Hitchcock movies to improve her writing, so the show takes breaks from reality at points in the episode and then shoots the show like Hitchcock is the director for short snippets.  It's a perfect encapsulation of the appeal of the show.  They do whatever the hell want.  There's also a strong telenovela storyline with Rafael trying to find details from his past, Jane feeling like she's lost a connection to religion, and Rogelio trying to find a baby mama.  It varies wildly in tone and it makes them seamlessly fit together.

If I was a betting man last year and I needed to bet on whether Jane the Virgin would be on this list this year, I would easily bet that it would not.  Not only does it repeat, but it's actually one spot higher than last year.  Sure, part of that is due to the mass exodus of most of the shows in front of it, but another part of it is that Jane the Virgin might just be the most consistent show on television, an amazing thing to say for a show that navigates as many storytelling devices as they do for 22 episodes!  Here's hoping it lands on this list next year and I'm not as sure that I would make the same bet.

#5 Rectify (Season 4; Sundance)
Model Episode: "Pineapples in Paris"

It's really too bad the show didn't begin season four as strong as it finished it.  The finale was naturally a bit too long, but given the circumstances, I certainly can forgive it for that.  Besides the inflated length, the final four episodes were some of the strongest Rectify episodes they've had.  If the first four had been as strong, Rectify would be making a strong case for a higher ranking (probably not #1 though)

But it speaks to the power of the show that I'm able to say something like that in an eight-episode season and still rank it #5.  I've said it many times, but Rectify is among the most emotionally devastating shows on television and it does so quietly. The things that make you teary-eyed in Rectify would usually not make you teary-eyed on normal shows, but Rectify is so well-written and so well-acted that it can blindside you with the simplest things, like someone getting a job or someone asking for a divorce.

#4 American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson (Season 1; FX)
Model Episode: "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia"

Man this show really blew up when it aired, didn't it?  I'm sorry to inform you guys that season two will suck.  Of this I am certain.  Ryan Murphy had NOTHING to do with season except as a producer.  The guys who wrote this season?  They gone.  Murphy is back to writing for the second season in this anthology series.  Whether you're a fan of his or not, I can't really see how American Horror Story or Glee or Nip Tuck or any other show he's done in the past would fit into the tone that the first season of American Crime Story did.  So appreciate this season while you can.

Oh right I guess I should talk about this show.  Well I have it at #4 for a reason and most of that reason has to do with the acting, whether it be Sarah Paulsen as Marcia Clark (hence my pick for the model episode), Sterling K Brown as Christopher Darden, and Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran.  I mean damn all three of those people have a good case for winning an acting Emmy and I really couldn't argue with it about it.  John Travolta plays Robert Shapiro very weird, but it somehow works, and David Schwimmer manages to evade the character Ross in playing Robert Kardashian.  Cuba Gooding is a weak spot in an otherwise great ensemble, but this series focuses on the trial and OJ isn't a huge part of that so it's not an issue.

#3 Better Call Saul (Season 2; AMC)
Model Episode: "Klick"

More confession time: Better Call Saul got screwed over last year.  It probably should have been in my top ten somewhere.  Again, and I'll try to figure out a way around this next year, it is simply a matter of recency bias, or lack thereof in Better Call Saul's case.  Its season starts in January and ends in April and by December, so many other shows have entered my mind that the greatness that Better Call Saul hits escapes me.  I suffered that too this year.  I needed to look up the episode descriptions to remember how great this season was.  In this case, the disappearance of six of the shows from last year is a blessing.  Better Call Saul may very well have been forgotten if I wasn't forced to look harder for a top five.

However, I'm making it sound like the second season isn't better than the first and it clearly is.  So yes, I feel bad, but I don't feel too bad, because it should have been in the bottom half of the top ten and most of those shows end up interchangeable with how close in quality they are.  Jimmy is edging ever so closer to becoming Saul Goodman, but if that's what you're looking for, expect to wait longer.  The creators love Jimmy and want to delay his "transformation" for as long as possible.  They want to see more Jimmy and I can't say I blame them.

#2 OJ: Made in America (Miniseries; ESPN)
Model Episode: Episode 5

I really didn't want to have two OJ Simpson focused television shows on my list.  I watched the first two parts in June and kind of forget about it until December.  I was struggling with whether to watch it when considering my list.  I reasoned "It probably won't make my list anyway because I have no interest in having to OJ Simpson shows on here.  They'll be too alike."  Well obviously I decided to watch the whole thing.  I don't know what happened over the summer to get me to stop watching, but I'm glad I picked it back up.  Obviously.  It's #2 on this list.

I also quickly found that there was no way I could combine both OJ properties onto this list because they are entirely different entities.  They simply aren't the same.  This documentary is higher because of its scope.  It's way bigger than just the trial.  Also, we get a really great look into OJ Simpson, which American Crime Story didn't do at all.  That's why I felt I needed to separate the two series.  Because they aren't trying to accomplish the same things at all.  This documentary is a freaking masterpiece.

#1 The Americans (Season 4; FX)
Model Episode: "The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears"

Man Gabe really couldn't go with an easier episode title.  There's a simple reason that The Americans is higher than OJ: Made in America, which I called a freaking masterpiece just two sentences ago.  That reason is time and being scripted.  That's it.  I figured out that, in minutes, The Americans had more minutes in its season than the documentary had in its five parts.  I consider them on mostly equal footing, I just hold a wholly original creation slightly higher than a documentary, no matter how good.

So this will not be the year that The Americans is unseated.  I'm guessing it would not have been my #1 show in 2014, but I wasn't making these lists then.  For the sake of my enjoyment, I hope it never leaves the #1 spot.  I have nothing else to say except "WATCH THIS SHOW IF YOU AREN'T ALREADY GOOD GOD WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO CONVINCE YOU PEOPLE"

Honorable Mentions

Orange is the New Black - I held Orange is the New Black's fourth season in a similar vein as I did to Game of Thrones' sixth season.  I had a desperate want to include it on my list somewhere, but it became increasingly clear only one of them could make it.  I feel Game of Thrones is a tighter show.

iZombie - I also pretty desperately wanted this show on my list.  The aforementioned 11 shows I needed to cut into 10 shows included this show.  Then The Girlfriend Experience came into play and iZombie got lost in the shuffle.  It definitely suffers because for some reason, its newest season doesn't begin until 2017, which is highly unusual for a network drama.

Mr. Robot - Mr. Robot's first season would have made it on my top ten if it aired a year later.  But the second season wasn't quite as good - it was pretty much all set-up really - so I couldn't include it here.

Vikings - Vikings is a very daring show that I thought could make my list.  If the entire show was as compelling as any scene Travis Fimmel is in, it would make my list, but unfortunately the other aspects of the show aren't nearly as strong.

The Path - This really only gets an honorable mention because I want to call attention to a solid show produced by Hulu!  It probably isn't in my top 15 shows of the year, but it's a good watch about a cult.

The Crown - This series surprised me.  I really didn't expect to like it as much I did.  There really is just not room for it on my list unfortunately.

No I did not forget about this show

Westworld - Well there's always going to be one show where I disagree with the vast majority of people and/or critics.  Last year, it was The Leftovers.  This year, Westworld.  So this isn't a true honorable mention so much as an acknowledgement that somebody might complain about this show's omission.  I reviewed this show if you want my thoughts on it.

My All-Time Favorite Shows

I talk a lot about TV shows on this blog, but I just realized I haven't actually given a list of my all-time favorite TV shows.  I haven't listed TV shows that are my favorite purely from a personal enjoyment standard.  This is a show that is on TV and I'll stop what I'm doing and watch it.  

As I write this, I don't have a specific number in mind of how many I'll list so it could be anywhere from five TV shows to 20.  There's also no order, rhyme, or reason why I pick these shows.  It's not necessarily based on the best quality either.  So literally you cannot disagree with me on these shows as I have defined my list.

So with all that said, I would like some commentary on if my favorite TV show list is respectable, shameful, or whatever.  Then feel free to point me to your favorite and I'll see if I plan to watch or need to pay attention to.

Friends
Aired: 1994-2004
10 Seasons: 238 Episodes

This show needs no introduction.  Even if you weren't paying attention when this show aired, re-runs are on several different channels every week.  You've probably seen an episode or two or 10 or 100.

This was the first show I really watched.  I burned through this show with my sister six episodes at a time until finally we realize we should pace ourselves.  Then we re-watched it.  Several times.  The number of times I've seen this show makes it impossible for me to a put a number on it, however I'm sure I've seen the equivalent of well over 1,000 episodes.

This show consistently made me laugh and it still does.  Re-watching the episodes does not make the laughs any less harder or the show diminish somehow.  The characters were so well realized and so well written.  The creators knew what was funny for each character.  Chandler was an easy character to make funny since he's funny in the show, but Monica's obsession with cleanliness, Ross' bad luck in everything, Joey's dimwittedness, Pheobe's wackiness, or Rachel's cluelessness (at first), the show had a reliable humor machine for each of the characters.

Take characters you know well and like and put them in weird and funny situations and you have Friends.  It's funny, but that's how you make a successful sitcom.

The show does have flaws, namely nobody is overweight, nobody is unattractive (though this is TV), and seemingly nobody in that universe is anything other than white.  Also, the show could be described as "safe," as in it took basically zero risks. (Monica and Chandler could be construed as a risk.  It's hard not to use hindsight to know they just worked as a couple though)  The basic outline of every episode is the same.  Lastly, Ross and Rachel drama was hilariously stretched as thin as possible.  Most cliffhangers at the end of the season showed Ross and Rachel possibly getting together, only for a super convenient way to back out of that when the next season aired.

Most of those things don't actually bother me. (The lack of diversity is disturbing though)  But I realize how it technically is a fault of the show.  Anyway, I've rambled on enough about this show.  I plan to write episode recaps in the future on this show so I have plenty more to write!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Aired: 1997-2003
7 Seasons: 145 Episodes

I only just finished this show in December last year and I feel confident in saying this is one of my favorite shows.  A good barometer on how much I love a show is probably how much I want to write about it.  I am planning to write about this show a lot in the future, detailing the quality of each season.  Yeah, my outlet is writing because nobody I know will watch this show (except one!) so I can't talk about it ever.

This could be a bit more difficult to talk about.  If for some reason, someone somewhere decides to watch this show based on this recommendation, well I choose to avoid spoilers.  Also, I bet almost none of the people reading this have seen the show so that wouldn't matter anyway!

The character of Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar (sure everyone at least knows that), was fully realized from the beginning.  Her character arc is the most consistent over the seven seasons, with each representing her growth as a person.

In fact, I say this to anyone who I recommend the show to, Season 1 was terrible.  Not all of it was bad.   Like I said, Buffy's character was the only consistent part of the show and she was truly a three-dimensional character from the start.  Willow, played by HIMYM star Alyson Hanigan, and Xander were not.  They became awesome characters, but in the first season they get little to work with.

Granted, I'd say watch Season 1 if you have patience, because around half of the episodes are good.  They become worse with hindsight, but some of the episodes are actually good on first viewing.  If you have no patience, start with Season 2, though you may be a bit confused.  That's what you get for not being patient!

Seasons 2 and 3 have some of the best television I have ever seen.  It doesn't reach those heights after those seasons, but there are some amazing episodes such as The Body, Hush, and Once More with Feeling (a musical episode).

Breaking Bad
Aired: 2008-2013
5 Seasons: 62 Episodes

As of now, I'm conflicted on whether to do an episode reaction for Season 5 Part 2 episodes in the summer.  It's not something I do on this blog, but I think I'll make an exception.

This show is actually kind of hard to write about since I think anyone who has read this blog has seen the show.  The transformation of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman's characters has been remarkable.  If you told me in the beginning of this show that by the end I'd be rooting against Walt, well I'd have thought the show took a bad turn (I mean in quality) somewhere.  But it has not.

I had a whole paragraph written out and then I realized for anyone who hasn't watched Season 5, there were huge massive spoilers in there.  For the two people that read this that haven't caught up to Breaking Bad, I'm thinking of you.

I mean I got nothing else since I'm not writing any spoilers here.

The Wire
Aired: 2002-2008
5 Seasons: 60 Episodes

The best television show of all time.  When I first watched The Wire, there wasn't a show I had ever seen like it.  And I doubt there ever will be.  People who've never seen The Wire are surely skeptical, but try to find someone who has seen The Wire and thought it was alright, because those people don't exist.  I mean people who have seen the show, not people who've seen the first few episodes and gave up.

The first episode doesn't do a whole lot to soothe you in.  It acts like you've known these characters, drops in a million of them, and then by the end of the episode, you're not totally sure what happened.  You know how in a pilot episode, shows typically introduce the idea of the show and the characters and have characters saying stuff they already know just for the audience?  Well that doesn't exist in this show.

I promise that whatever the plot point it is, it leads to somewhere.  Almost nothing that happens is irrelevant.  In addition to entertainment value, the show makes these ambitious themes about modern America.  Institutions prevent change, the decay of the American working class, the ineffectiveness of the drug war, how the system consistently fails inner-city kids, the corruption of the government and the slow death of the newspaper.

Buy the entire series on Amazon if you have the money.  If you don't, buy it anyway and then sell it back once you've finished the series.  That's what I did.  Although I have been dying to re-watch the show and kind of want to buy it again.

That 70's Show
Aired: 1998-2006
8 Seasons: 201 Episodes

I think the remarkable thing about this show is that many of the actors in this show got their start here.  Topher Grace (Eric), Milas Kunis (Jackie), Ashton Kutcher (Kelso), Wilmer Valderama (Fez), and Laura Prepon (Donna) had never been in a credited role before this show.  Most of them were 20-years-old or younger with the youngest being Milas at 15-years-old (14-years-old probably when it was filmed).

The most experienced was Danny Masterson (Hyde) who had guest starred in a bunch of TV shows such as Roseanne, NYPD Blue, Party of Five, and Cybill plus had appeared in The Faculty as Fuck Up #1.  Actually most successful TV shows have careers very similar to Masterson's.  Lots of guest roles just waiting for the their big shot.

I think playing high school kids as a first time actor isn't terribly difficult, which is probably why this was successful.  I mean most of these actors were still kids.  Ashton Kutcher couldn't really act in this, but he didn't really need to.  With probably the exception of Milas and Wilmer, they were basically just playing themselves.

Kurtwood Smith (Red) is one of the best parts about this show.  Apparently they originally offered this role to Chuck Norris.  Thank God that didn't happen.  Debra Jo Rupp (Kitty) plays the seemingly normal, but actually crazy alcoholic mother really well.

This show just got a bunch of talented people together (discovered most of them) and wrote a funny script.  I don't think it's a mistake that all of these actors have had good success after this show.

Honorable Mentions
I guess that's it.  A few shows I debated with myself quite a bit about putting on here.  I'm going on pure feeling here and these shows just didn't feel like my favorite.   I got no other explanation.  Again, this isn't about quality.  Actually a few of these shows would probably be on the best ever list of their genre.

Friday Night Lights
I love this show.  This doesn't feel like a favorite show of mine if that makes any sense so I couldn't put it up there.  This could change.  I could re-watch it, appreciate it more, and then constantly want to re-watch it until it finally lands there.  I mean Friends, That 70's Show, and Breaking Bad were all more appreciated after they were re-watched.

But for now, it gets a strong honorable mention.

Archer
This is more of a length problem.  It's one of my favorite shows without a doubt that is currently airing. I feel weird putting it up on my favorites list with having seen only two seasons.  If it keeps up the quality that the first two seasons provided, then this will no doubt make its way up to my favorites.  I'm pretty confident it can pull off the job.

Game of Thrones
Copy that last paragraph and put it here.  This show has been phenomenal, but the show is geared towards a conclusion that hasn't been filmed.  It's pretty impossible as well to say this is my favorite as well because this next season is the first that deviates from the book.  Will it keep up the quality when it has to come up with semi-original content?

Shows that I appreciate but won't ever be my favorite
Mad Men
Man I really do respect this show and know it's well made and love watching it.  But what kind of favorite show has few memorable episodes?  The episodes all mix and mangle and I can rarely remember specific episodes that blew me out of the water.  From a critical standpoint, I appreciate the attention to detail, the characters' consistency, and the time period.  It'll always be on my best of list, but not my favorites.

Arrested Development
This is way different than Mad Men.  I find this funny, I laugh out loud more than most shows, and the witty and joke a second all works for me.  I like Archer more strangely even though I'll admit this was a better show (for now).  I feel like I just don't get it the way hardcore fans of this show do though.  I find it to be a great comedy, but I feel like I'm slightly missing something here.

Louie
In a sentence, this show is too depressing for it to be a favorite show of mine.  The show's outlook on life is entertaining, but not something I'll want to re-watch a lot.

That takes care of my favorite TV shows.  This spot was originally going to review Zero Hour until I found out that it was terrible and about evil Nazi clocks.  I don't like hate-watching TV like some people.

Next post: The supernatural section of my TV shows.

Unconventional Dramas

Before reading this, I suggest you read the introduction to this site where I say what I'm doing.  

This list is 13 shows and counting.  I say counting because I remain very optimistic about the new series coming out on FX called The Americans.  I will be tuning in to watch the premiere and hopefully the entire first season.  

Shows I've watched

There are only two shows on this list and both lasted a single season before they were cancelled.  Let me assure you they were not cancelled because they were bad shows, but because nobody watched them.  Bad marketing,hard premise to sell, whatever it was, the shows received poor ratings.  (Both were acclaimed critically.)

In 2002, Joss Whedon created his first show that had nothing to do with the Buffyverse tackling a futuristic Western space show.  It starred Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds (or Captain Tightpants) as captain of Serenity, the relatively modest space ship.  Reynolds and his crew battle the law, his sometimes adversary and sometimes enemy Badger, and Saffron (played by Christina Hendricks of Mad Men.)

So Fox screwed this up.  One of the best pilots I've ever seen was not aired until it was clear the show would not be renewed.  I cannot for the life of me understand why the pilot was not aired.  So right off the bat, the second episode, which does the first episode an injustice in introducing the characters and the world, gets the show on a bad start.  Then they air the episodes out-of-order throughout the run making it difficult to get any serious serialized storytelling done.  Firefly never stood a chance with ratings thanks to Fox.

Against all odds, the show was able to do a follow-up movie called Serenity, which is phenomenal as an epilogue to the show and I think as a stand-alone movie, though I have no idea.  Anyway, this show is 18 episodes and a movie, all on Netflix and is a good way to pass the time.

Terriers is a very good, short-lived show about two private investigators who run an unlicensed P.I. firm.  I'm going to blame the marketing on this show's lack of ratings.  It's not that I hadn't seen ads when it was released, it's just that the ads revealed nothing about the show.  You see the ad and you don't want to go see the show, you wonder what the show is about.  Most people are not curious enough to see what the show is about.  You have to WANT to see it.  

Anyway, Donald Logue plays an ex-cop and recovering alcoholic and his partner is an ex-criminal.  Between the two of them, they have no problem skirting the law and they are pretty successful at their job despite loads of personal issues.

Shows I am watching

We'll go from shittiest to best.  Dexter is gaining in viewership and declining in quality.  Seasons 1-2 were great TV that did little to nothing with the supporting characters and it has shown in the decline of the show.  Seasons 3-4 were both good, but it was not hard to see the show was starting to lead to the not great Season 5.  Basically, it's hard to create suspense around a criminal who has no consequences for anything he does.  After each season, the writers wipe the slate clean and act like nothing happened.

My advice to anyone looking to get into Dexter is to watch the first four seasons (if only because John Lithgow is amazing in Season 4) and then stop.  Just stop.  (I'm 8 episodes into Season 7 and it's some of the best the show has done since Season 4, but they could easily mess this up.)

Next up his Homeland.  Season 1 was amazing, all the acclaim for the show very deserved.  Season 2 was... ridiculous.  I understand you need to suspend disbelief to watch a show just as this, but preposterous plotline after preposterous plot line made the show borderline unwatchable.  The writers seemingly thought the audiences were watching the show for the thrilling action and surprising twists.  Despite more action in Season 2, Season 1 was more successful in creating tense moments and realistic story lines.  The Season 2 finale fortunately gives me hope they will try a different approach in the upcoming season.  

I've only seen the first season of The Walking Dead and so far it is pretty good. It's obvious the creator forced a season's worth of material into six episodes so the plot moves way too fast.  They introduce a new set on one episode, the next the set explodes.  It would have been nice if they could have taken their time more.  

I'm five episodes into The West Wing and so far I like it.  The cast is excellent with Martin Sheen as the POTUS.  Bradley Whitford playing Josh Lyman and Richard Schiff playing Toby Ziegler are the most interesting characters so far.  As usual, Sorkin has written shitty female characters, but I guess that's why all his shows are nearly all-male.

I'm pretty excited that the so far bland and lone black character (and also seemingly forced) is the main character of Pysch.  Maybe he'll show more personality in later episodes!

Lastly, the wonderful Game of Thrones, which I have little to complain about.  I haven't read the books so I don't care if they are true to the source.  (I kind of plan on reading the books if I ever get in a book-reading mode of my life).  There are three characters on this show that I love: Peter Dinklage, as Tyrion Lannister, Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen.  


The title really says what this show is about: a battle for the throne of the Western kingdom.  It's highly entertaining and I'm greatly invested into seeing who will win this "game."

Shows I will watch
Two people whose opinions I respect strongly recommended The Newsroom so despite not great feedback from my other sources, I will give the first season a watch.  I'm not optimistic about the show, but I'll at least give it a chance.  Plus, I love Jeff Daniels and Sam Wasterson so I don't see a huge downside to watching the show.

Justified is a show that will take a while for me to start.  I might just wait until the series ends so I can buy the entire series.  This show is not on Netflix or on my premium channels at home like most HBO and Showtime shows so it appears I will have to buy this series.  So while I actually am very interested in starting this show now, money and availability are huge impediments. 

I'm interested in Twin Peaks not because I like David Lynch (I did not like Mullohand Drive for instance), but because of how it different it was from anything before it.  It was a creative leap from what I've read at least from any other show and could have paved the way for the shows that changed TV (according to Alan Sepinwall).  

Lastly, Prison Break will be watched well into the future.  I know Prison Break is more or less like 24 in style (not the timeline aspect, but the thrilling action), so I will wait to watch this until I've seen 24.  

Unfortunately, 24 is by far the show I am least interested in watching of the shows that changed TV so that means I will be getting to Prison Break quite a bit later. 

Final Thoughts
Watch Game of Thrones.  Easy choice.  Watch Homeland Season 1.  Whether or not to watch Season 2 highly depends on if Season 3 is good or not.  So you should probably just wait.  So far I'd recommend Sons of Anarchy (through 11 episodes) and West Wing (through five episodes), but neither show has really been watched that much.

Definitely watch Firefly and definitely watch Terriers.  The Walking Dead was good in season 1 (will have season 1 review at some point, but I'll probably re-watch that season to refresh my memory).
There's a few shows I want to watch but the availability of the series is not great.  Shameless with William H. Macy looks awesome, but I just discovered it so I have to figure out a way to watch the first two seasons without paying since I'm a cheap bastard.  The same applies to House of Lies with Don Cheadle, though my interest there is significantly less.  Whereas I'd probably pay to watch Shameless, House of Lies I wouldn't.

I kind of want to watch Girls, but not near enough to add it to my huge list of TV shows.  (Also, a recent description of the show that it was Sex in the City for hipsters is so unbelievably not what I want to watch so probably avoid this.)  I desperately want to watch Boardwalk Empire, I'm just waiting until I can catch a moment where Season 1 will be available on HBO premium.  I want to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm and Eastbound and Down, but I'm incredibly late to the party.

I'm watching Go On on Hulu.  It's good enough for me to not quit, but shitty enough to not write about.  Actually, it's probably really bad, but I just like Matthew Perry.  

The Good Wife and Fringe are shows I'm slightly interested in.  May add to them to the list in the future.  The Americans, Zero Hour, and Cult are shows that are premiering this winter that I will watch the pilots of and decide whether or not to go further. 

I'm at an odd time for posting.  My original intent was to post the eight sections of TV shows that I created, however it appears that will not be my plan.  Whenever I finish a season of a show I'm watching I will post my review of that season.  I already posted my review of Downton Abbey Season 1, I posted my review of Sons of Anarchy Season 1, and later I will post my review of The Walking Dead Season 1.  I also plan to do a season-by-season review of Buffy, though I can't decide if that would be one post or a two-parter.  I'm getting too far ahead of myself though.

(Also I'll mention if I have spoilers or not for the reviews.  Planning on not having spoilers, though it could prove too hard.  I may have a section for non-spoilers and then indicate when the spoilers come.  Hopefully people reading will choose to avoid the spoiler section though I kind of doubt they will.)

I'm planning to watch American Horror Story very soon in conjunction with Sons of Anarchy Season 2.  I have little idea what this is about, but it looks different and interesting.  Connie Britton being on the show certainly makes my acceptance of this show more likely.  I'm not into the horror genre, but a few episodes won't kill me.

Next post: I will review The Americans pilot with Keri Russel and Matthew Rhys