Rank: 10
Genre: Sci-Fi/Mystery
Current Season: Fifth
Channel: Fox
Return Date: September
28, 2012
Plot
Summary: FBI agent Olivia Dunham, and her team, investigate strange and
paranormal occurrences and phenomena.
Why
It Made the List: Fringe started out as sort of an almost procedural
drama with character story arcs linking multiple episodes, but it has become a
much more serialized series in the last two seasons. If you were to watch an
episode of season one and then an episode of season four, you would be
completely lost story wise and maybe even narrative structure wise (not just
character wise, as would be the case with most procedurals). Network TV just
does not offer good dramas anymore because they try to attract too board an
audience and often play it far too safe with characters and situations (sadly,
because that is what most people watch looking at the ratings). Fringe is the
last great Network drama (and the only one to make this top 25 list – at least
of the big 4: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox), and season five is its last. The show
has a great mix of action, mystery and dramatic elements along with wonderful
characters making it the best sci-fi genre series right now.
Rank: 9
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Louis C.K.
Current Season: Third
Channel: FX
Return Date: June 28,
2012
Plot
Summary: The series basically tackles Louis C.K.’s everyday life – his
attempts to find love, taking care of his kids, his standup, and his misadventures
Why
It Made the List: Many critics point to Louie as the best comedy on TV
right now. In many ways, it is in the same vein as Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and Ricky Gervais’s Extras
– capitalizing on the awkward, strange and sort of sad situations that these
characters find themselves in. It is often hilarious, but also oddly inviting
on sort of a deeper intuitive way, as Louis C.K.’s exploits are very relatable
to us everyday Joes. Fans of comedy sitcoms should check this out (though it is
quite different than the average Network sitcom).
Rank: 8
Genre: Crime Drama
Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea, and Walter Goggins
Current Season: Fourth
Channel: FX
Return Date: January 2013
Plot
Summary: U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens tries to make peace with his past
when he is reassigned from Miami to his childhood home in Eastern Kentucky,
which he ran away from as soon as he was able.
Why
It Made the List: As a huge fan of westerns, I generally seek them out.
Justified is a wonderful modern western. Raylan Givens is the standard
old-school town sheriff type character from many of the classic westerns. He
both fits in and is completely out of place on this show, according to the
situation, which often finds him in trouble. The series seems to be getting
better and better with each season as it continues to sort of straddle the line
between being a procedural (case of the week) and a serialized drama (complete
with each season having a big bad). Givens is also a great conflicted
character, which only adds to effectiveness of the show’s stories and drama. For
fans of westerns, this is the must-see series right now.
Rank: 7
Genre: Crime Period Drama
Cast: Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, Aleksa Palladino, Michael Stuhlbarg, Stephen Graham, Vincent Piazza, Paz de la Huerta, Michael Kenneth Williams, Anthony Laciura, Paul Sparks, Dabney Coleman, Gretchen Mol, and Jack Huston
Current Season: Third
Channel: HBO
Return Date: September
16, 2012
Plot
Summary: The series follows Nucky Thompson, Atlantic City’s treasurer
during its heyday in the 1920s. Thompson rules the town through both political
means and organized crime, while rivals try to pull him down.
Why
It Made the List: Boardwalk Empire (like most HBO dramas) has excellent
production value, a brilliant cast and wonderful directors. What I particularly
like about the series is that it blends fictional characters and real life
people from the era (for example, one of the main characters is Al Capone
before he became a Chicago crime boss), giving the series a historical through-line
which allows it to play with and comment on events in American history. It also
fills the void in television right now for a great gangster style crime drama
(the series creator Terence Winter was a writer on The Sopranos). It is certainly
well worth watching for fans of crime dramas (and character dramas for that
matter, as Buscemi’s Thompson is one of the best on TV right now).
Rank: 6
Genre: Crime Drama/Mystery
Current Season: Third
Channel: Masterpiece
Theatre on PBS
Return Date: 2013
(Probably Spring)
Plot
Summary: The series is a modern take on the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Why
It Made the List: There is not a better mystery series on TV right now.
CBS is even doing their own version called Elementary (because adapting
British TV for American audiences is the craze right now). Benedict Cumberbatch
is absolutely fantastic and captivating as Holmes, completely dominating every
scene. The episodes are well written (most of them being phenomenal), and are
formatted a bit like individual films (each episode is ninety minutes). The
format gives the writers the ability to tell expansive stories (and cases). If
you like detective series, you need to be watching Sherlock.
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