Rank: 15
Genre: Supernatural/Horror/Action
Channel: The CW
Current Season: Tenth
Season Premiere Date: October
2014
Plot
Summary: Demon-hunters Sam and Dean Winchester travel North America
exterminating all manner of ghosts, ghouls, beasts, and terrors. They also
avert an apocalypse or two along the way.
Why
It’s Worth Watching: Supernatural was initially envisioned as a five-season
narrative by creator Eric
Kripke, and yet here it still is going into its tenth season. The show’s
writers continue to tell very good episodic and continuing stories, and Jared
Padalecki and especially Jensen Ackles are great in their roles. I have been saying
this for a few years now: if you like Buffy
the Vampire Slayer and Angel,
Supernatural is made in the same mold – from the strong characters, stories,
and mix of drama and offbeat comedy to the weird and ambitious episodes.
Rank: 14
Genre: Period Drama
Cast:
Hugh
Bonneville, Laura
Carmichael, Jim
Carter, Brendan
Coyle, Michelle
Dockery, Joanne
Froggatt, Rob
James-Collier, Phyllis
Logan, Elizabeth
McGovern, Sophie
McShera, Lesley
Nicol, Maggie
Smith, Penelope
Wilton, and Allen
Leech
Channel: PBS Masterpiece
Theatre
Current Season: Fifth
Season Premiere Date: September
2014
Plot
Summary: This drama tells the story of the continuing lives of those who
inhabit the English countryside estate Downton Abbey, from the high-born
Crawley family to their servants.
Why
It’s Worth Watching: Downton Abbey and its creator Julian Fellowes were
faced with the difficult task of weathering a few exits by key cast members,
and these exits forced Fellowes’s hand narratively speaking creating some
shocking and heartbreaking (and even infuriating) moments. And yet, the series
continues on just as good as ever, propelled forwards by its great characters
and strong writing. It is everyone’s favorite period soap opera.
Rank: 13
Genre: Horror/Action
Cast:
Andrew
Lincoln, Norman
Reedus, Steven
Yeun, Chandler
Riggs, Melissa
McBride, Lauren
Cohan, Emily
Kinney, Scott
Wilson, and Danai
Gurira
Channel: AMC
Current Season: Fifth
Season Premiere Date: October
12
Plot
Summary: Former police officer Rick Grimes does his very best to lead a
small group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies and desperate people.
Why
It’s Worth Watching: The Walking Dead is an interesting series that
walks a fine line. Personally, I think it continues to get better and does a
fantastic job building tension and creating suspense, especially as the show
has been unafraid to kill off its characters. That said, the series does feel
very repetitive and even tedious sometimes, as there are really only so many
ways that its writers and directors can stage a zombie attack. I am interested to
see where the series is headed (having not read any of the comics for which it
is based). How much bleaker can things get? Will the show ultimately end with
Rick all alone, driven completely insane (like many of the characters we have
met along the way)? It is definitely not for everyone, but in its best moments
it sure is compelling.
Rank: 12
Genre: Mystery/Action/Drama
Channel: BBC America
Current Season: Third
Season Premiere Date: April
2015
Plot
Summary: Sarah Manning is a streetwise hustler, who is pulled into a
grand conspiracy after witnessing the suicide of a girl who looks just like
her. She soon discovers that she has many lookalikes, and she begins working
with them to find out the truth – but can she trust them?
Why
It’s Worth Watching: Orphan Black instantly became one of television’s
most exciting new shows when it debuted on BBC America thanks to its very cool
concept. The Canadian production perfectly blends action, mystery, drama,
comedy, and sci-fi elements. Plus, Tatiana Maslany is absolutely brilliant,
playing each of her many roles splendidly.
Rank: 11
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Cast:
Taylor
Schilling, Danielle
Brooks, Taryn
Manning, Laura
Prepon, Michael
Harney, Kate
Mulgrew, Jason
Biggs, Natasha
Lyonne, Pablo
Schreiber, Dascha
Polanco, Matt
McGorry, Yael
Stone, and Uzo
Aduba
Channel: Netflix
Current Season: Second
Season Premiere Date: June
6
Plot
Summary: Piper Chapman is your typical middleclass woman in her thirties
– a nice life and about to be married to a man who loves her. There is just one
hitch in her seemingly perfect life: an innocent mistake in her past has come
back to haunt her. She has been sentenced to fifteen months in prison after
being convicted of a decade-old crime (transporting money for her then
drug-dealing girlfriend). Now Piper must find a way to survive and maybe even
thrive in prison.
Why
It’s Worth Watching: House of Cards was
such a big hit for Netflix, Orange Is the New Black suddenly had all this
additional expectation put on it when it debuted last summer. Not only has the
show met that expectation, it has surpassed it, and I think it is a better
overall series than House of Cards. It handles its drama and comedy with equal
skill and weight, and it has created some of television’s most interesting and
compelling female characters. One aspect that I am curious about is whether
creator Jenji Kohan
can keep the storytelling and writing at a high level as the show progresses. I
say this because her last series Weeds was
phenomenal at first but became kind of awful in its later seasons.
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