Rank: 5
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Ken Jeong, and Jim Rash
Current Season: Fourth
Channel: NBC
Return Date: October 19,
2012
Plot
Summary: Seven friends started out as just a study group at the lowly
Greendale Community College, but over the course of the show have become so
much more – hanging out, mixing it up and going on adventures.
Why
It Made the List: Season three of Community is one of the most brilliant
pieces of sitcom television (or television period) ever. The show’s creative
head Harmon, his writers and the wonderful cast have taken the show to crazy
and awesome places that fans never could have imagined. It is simply one of the
best and most creative things on TV. That said, season four faces the major
challenge of overcoming the loss of Harmon (who was fired as the showrunner for
not working well with NBC, but Sony did not object to his firing either), and
along with Harmon a number of the show’s producers and writers are leaving as
well. The new showrunners are David
Guarascio and Moses Port
would did do a great job with Happy
Endings’s second season. Likely, despite Guarascio and Port’s promise to
keep it the same, things will be different for the Greendale seven – but
hopefully the show will still be the weird and brilliantly funny series it is. #SixSeasonsAndAMovie
Rank: 4
Genre: Crime
Drama/Mystery
Cast: Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Morena Baccarin, David Harewood, Diego Klattenhoff, Jackson Pace, Morgan Saylor, and Mandy Patinkin
Current Season: Second
Channel: Showtime
Return Date: September
30, 2012
Plot
Summary: Nicholas Brody is a marine that went missing in Iraq eight
years ago. Carrie Mathison is a CIA agent that suspects that he might be a
sleeper agent when he is miraculously found and brought home. Carrie risks her
career to prove that he is plotting an attack on America, but is he really?
Why
It Made the List: Homeland is a great thriller, built on effective
writing and pitch perfect performances. Claire Danes is probably doing the best
work of any actress on TV right now. The series also works well as a mystery,
as we try to discover the truth behind Sergeant Brody. Personally, I cannot
wait to see where the writers and actors take the series in the second season.
Rank: 3
Genre: Adventure Drama
Cast: Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Maisie Williams, Michelle Fairley, Emilia Clarke, Alfie Allen, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Jack Gleeson, Aidan Gillen, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Richard Madden, and many more
Current Season: Third
Channel: HBO
Return Date: March 31,
2013
Plot
Summary: The series is about the plotting and fighting of seven noble
families, as they all joust for control of Westeros.
Why
It Made the List: Game of Thrones is probably the most addictive series
on TV right now. All the characters and stories are wonderfully compelling, and
the world in which the series takes place is aesthetically pleasing and
otherwise alluring (especially for fantasy genre fans). However, even though
season two was great and just as good as season one, the show has an issue with
the number of characters, which is massive. There are really too many. The
episodes feel, at times, choppy (and the overall narrative feels bogged down)
as the story jumps around so much to give snippets of each character’s story.
The series is still masterfully written, but certainly this could become a
problem (and already is for some viewers). That said, there may not be a more
enthralling and entertaining program on television (and I cannot wait for
season three).
Rank: 2
Genre: Period Drama
Cast: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Staton, Rich Sommer, John Slattery, Kiernan Shipka, Robert Morse, and Jessica Pare
Current Season: Sixth
Channel: AMC
Return Date: March 2013
Plot
Summary: The series follows Donald Draper, a talented yet mysterious ad
executive in New York City during the 1960s, as he wrestles with balancing his
responsibilities and desires.
Why
It Made the List: Mad Men is maybe the best written show on TV. It has
some of the best characters, dialog and individual episodes of any show.
Seasons three and four made it what I would consider the best show on
television, but season five was both excellent and somewhat disappointing
(especially the finale). The series has such high expectations, that anything
short of sheer brilliance is a letdown. The series is changing a lot as some
characters start to feel out of place in their own time, while other are coming
into their own – the series expertly set against the social and political
upheaval of the 1960s. There is not a better straight drama than Mad Men right
now. If you are not watching it, you are missing something special.
Rank: 1
Genre: Crime Drama
Current Season: Fifth
Channel: AMC
Return Date: Part 1: July
15, 2012/Part 2: 2013
Plot
Summary: Walter White is an underachieving genius chemist resigned to
teaching high school chemistry due to failed ambitious. One day Walter is
diagnosed with terminal cancer. Hoping to leave his family with some security,
he turns to crime producing the highest quality crystal meth on the market.
However, his life of crime continually pulls him deeper and deeper in the dark
life of the business.
Why
It Made the List: Breaking Bad has always been a brilliant program, but
as Walter White’s journey gets darker and darker the series gets better and
better. Bryan Cranston’s work is probably the best on TV, as White is a
fascinating flawed character. The show’s fifth season is its last – split into
two eight episode chunks. Really all of the top three shows on this list could
be number one, but Breaking Bad seems to just be getting stronger. If you are
not watching this show, you are really missing out on one of the greatest
series of all-time. I highly recommend it to everyone.
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