Rank: 10
Genre: Crime Drama/Mystery
Thriller
Cast: Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Morena Baccarin, Mandy Patinkin, Rupert Friend, and
F. Murray Abraham
Channel: Showtime
Current Season: Third
Season Premiere Date:
September 29, 2013
Plot Summary: Carrie Mathison is an obsessed, driven
CIA agent who believes missing Marine Segeant Nicholas Brody who has recently
resurfaced in Iraq after eight years is not a returning hero but a sleeper
agent for dangerous terrorist Abu Nazir.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Homeland’s first season was
incredible, and while season two also played mostly to critical acclaim many
where put off by certain aspects of the narrative (i.e. Carrie got annoying).
Showrunners Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa seem to have received the message from
fans and have promised that season three will see the series return to its
critical status as one of televisions best dramas. They also have brought in a
new writer James
Yoshumura (in addition to shaking up the current staff). Yoshumura
previously worked on Treme
and Homicide: Life on the
Streets.
Rank: 9
Genre: Drama
Cast: Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher Jr,
Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn, and Sam Waterson
Channel: HBO
Current Season: Second
Season Premiere Date: July
14, 2013
Plot Summary: Network new anchor Will McAvoy fell
into a rut, putting rating above integrity. But when executive producer
MacKenzie McHale, a former girlfriend/love-of-his-life, returns, she lights a
fire under Will reviving his tenacity and principles. Now, Will’s new goal is
to make a real news show (regardless of ratings and resulting enemies).
Why It’s Worth Watching: The Newsroom is brilliant
for multiple reasons. First, Aaron Sorkin’s writing is unmatched – the quick,
witty interchanges between characters are delightful. Second, the cast is
top-notch across the board, including great guests. And third, the show allows
Sorkin to comment on American politics in a manner that is sorely missing from
actual news programs (as ‘news’ programs in America are an embarrassing utter
sham).
Rank: 8
Genre: Crime Drama
Channel: FX
Current Season: Fifth
Season Premiere Date:
January 2014
Plot Summary: As much as U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens
tries to escape his connection to his small, poor rural coal-mining hometown in
Eastern Kentucky, he just keeps getting drawn back in resulting in
confrontations with dangerous characters.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Justified has walked the
line between being a procedural and a serialized drama – and it works as either
(and both) really due to Timothy Olyphant’s great performances as Raylan Givens
(sort of an old-school cowboy stuck in the modern world) and the strong
writing. The series also seems to get stronger with each season (which is rare
these days it seems). HBO and FX lead this list with five shows each, and
Justified is FX’s crown jewel.
Rank: 7
Genre: Crime Drama/Thriller
Cast: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter,
David Zayas, C.S. Lee, Desmond Harrington,
and James Remar
Channel: Showtime
Current Season: Eight, and
final
Season Premiere Date: June
30, 2013
Plot Summary: Dexter Morgan is a blood splatter
expert who works for the Miami Metro Police Department – he is also a serial
killer (but he only kills bad people).
Why It’s Worth Watching: After a very disappointing
sixth season, Dexter saw its return to its high standards with season seven –
for its first three seasons, it was the best series on television. But, it is
time for the show to end, and season eight will conclude the series. Yvonne Strahovski returns
as Hannah and season eight welcomes an awesome guest star in Charlotte Rampling. As
it is the end, I expect the season to be extreme and fearless in its
storytelling.
Rank: 6
Genre: Political Drama
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Kristen Connolly, Constance Zimmer,
Mahershala Ali,
Sakina Jaffrey,
and Kate Mara
Channel: Netflix
Current Season: Second
Season Premiere Date: Spring
2014
Plot Summary: Majority Whip Francis Underwood
expected to be a member of the President’s cabinet after helping him get
elected into office, but he is politically dismissed. That betrayal will not go
unpunished, as Underwood plots, schemes, and slithers his way back into a
position of power – his goal: to destroy those that crossed him on his way to the
White House.
Why It’s Worth Watching: With House of Cards and
(season four of) Arrested
Development, Netflix has given network television a friendly reminder that
their time is over. The series is incredibly addictive and Kevin Spacey is
brilliant in it. I cannot wait for season two’s release in another thirteen-episode
chunk (which I will again be marathoning over one weekend). Netflix took a big
step forward creating original content and hit a homerun (we have all forgotten
about Lilyhammer
right).
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