Rank: 20
Genre: Period Drama
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt, Rob James-Collier, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Brendan Coyle, Siobhan Finneran, Penelope Wilton, and Jessica Brown Findlay
Current Season: Third
Channel: Masterpiece
Theatre on PBS
Return Date: September
2012
Plot
Summary: In the years leading up to WWI, the series centers on the
Crawley family and their servants, and the day-to-day workings of their lives.
Why
It Made the List: Downton Abbey has sort of taken America by storm,
becoming one of the must-see programs of the last year. Writer Julian Fellowes
is the perfect person to be leading the series with the fantastic period pieces
he has done – things like Gosford
Park and The
Young Victoria. For fans of period dramas, this is the must-see series on
television right now. It has a terrific cast playing a wonderful set of
characters.
Rank: 19
Genre: Comedy
Current Season: Fourth
Channel: FX
Return Date: October 2012
Plot
Summary: Six friends play fantasy football.
Why
It Made the List: The League takes full advantage of its writers (Jeff
Schaffer wrote on Curb Your
Enthusiasm and Seinfeld)
and cast (made up of mostly stand-up comedians). The show is hilarious, as most
of the dialog is improvised with only the scenarios scripted. Even if you are
not a sports fan and do not play fantasy football (though, admittedly the show
is almost entirely centered on fantasy football), the characters and funny
situations are enough to make this a great comedy and well worth checking out.
That said, being a sports fan and playing fantasy football does add to the
overall enjoyment.
Rank: 18
Genre: Horror/Drama
Cast: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Chris Bauer, Nelsan Ellis, Jim Parrack, Carrie Preston, Alexander Skarsgard, Todd Lowe, Deborah Ann Woll, Kristin Bauer van Straten, William Sanderson, and Joe Mangeaniello
Current Season: Fifth
Channel: HBO
Return Date: June 10,
2012
Plot
Summary: Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress, falls in love with a
vampire Bill Compton, and her whole world is thrust into a constant struggle
between all manners of monsters.
Why
It Made the List: True Blood is an up-and-down show, as some storylines
work much better than others. But, it is always highly entertaining and
engrossing, with excellently drawn characters. Going forward however, the
series faces a big challenge losing its creator Alan Ball as the series
showrunner (after season five is complete). Vampires have oversaturated the TV
and film market since the show premiered in 2008, but True Blood (along with The Vampire Diaries) remains
one of the best vamp incarnations still.
Rank: 17
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Platt, Jim O’Heir, Retta, Adam Scott, and Rob Lowe
Current Season: Fourth
Channel: NBC
Return Date: September
22, 2012
Plot
Summary: A mockumentary-style series looks at the public officials in
the parks department of a small town in Indiana, centering on their day-to-day
lives and capturing their antics.
Why
It Made the List: Essentially, Parks and Recreation is exactly the same
show as The Office, at least
on the outside. However, once you dive in and get to know the characters, the
two shows start to separate and the characters are different. After a very
mediocre first season, the show has really found its way and is now among the
elite comedies on TV. This is mostly due to it having possibly the best comedic
cast (though, I would probably argue for Community having a better one)
right now. Poehler, Ansari, Offerman, Plaza, and Pratt are brilliantly funny.
If you like The Office, you will like this show (though I would say that the
character relationships are not quite as good as The Office’s during its
prime).
Rank: 16
Genre: Horror/Drama
Cast: Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, IronE Singleton, Melissa McBride, and Lauren Cohan
Current Season: Third
Channel: AMC
Return Date: October 14,
2012
Plot
Summary: People in and around Atlanta, GA, try to survive the zombie
apocalypse.
Why
It Made the List: Season one of The Walking Dead was not very good. Yes,
it had some great moments (the pilot was fairly strong), but overall it was
disappointing (to say the least). Then, AMC fired the creator and showrunner
Frank Darabont, replacing him with Glen
Mazzara. Without Darabont, many fans worried the show would be worse off. But,
season two was fantastic and a lot better overall than the first. Finally, the
series is living up to the extremely high expectations and hype. Horror fans
will probably not do any better than this show on TV right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment