TV Preview 2013/2014 – 25 Must-Watch Series, Part 4: 10-6

Part 3: 15-11

Homeland

Rank: 10

Genre: Crime Drama/Mystery Thriller

Creator(s): Gideon Raff, Howard Gordon, and Alex Gansa

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.

The Newsroom

Rank: 9

Genre: Drama

Creator(s): Aaron Sorkin

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).

Justified

Rank: 8

Genre: Crime Drama

Creator(s): Graham Yost

Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, and Walter Goggins

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.

Dexter

Rank: 7

Genre: Crime Drama/Thriller

Creator(s): James Manos, Jr.

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.

House of Cards

Rank: 6

Genre: Political Drama

Creator(s): Beau Willimon

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).

Part 5: 5-1

TV Preview 2013/2014 – 25 Must-Watch Series, Part 1: 25-21

The Americans

Rank: 25

Genre: Period Family Drama/Political Thriller

Creator(s): Joseph Weisberg

Cast: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, and Noah Emmerich

Channel: FX

Current Season: Second

Season Premiere Date: January 2014

Plot Summary: Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings seem like the typical 1980s American family, but they have a secret. They are deep-cover Russian spies.

Why It's Worth Watching: The Americans is a fantastic cold war thriller that explores both its characters as a family drama and the politics of the 1980s (the tension of the cold war). Keri Russell is brilliant on the series (and should be up for an Emmy). What is interesting about the series and what makes its different than Homeland is that it is about KGB agents – the heroes of this series are really villains. This is a must-see series for fans of spy dramas.

Shameless

Rank: 24

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Creator(s): Paul Abbott

Cast: Emmy Rossum, William H. Macy, Justin Chatwin, Ethan Cutkosky, Emma Kenney, Cameron Monaghan, and Jeremy Allen White

Channel: Showtime

Current Season: Fourth

Season Premiere Date: January 2014

Plot Summary: The Gallagher clan lives in Chicago, doing whatever they must to stay together even though their mother has left, their father is an alcoholic, and they are dirt broke. So, they must scheme and cheat, but family is the most important.

Why It's Worth Watching: Shameless is wonderfully funny and dramatically engaging due to its superb ensemble cast, lead by Emmy Rossum and William H. Macy. At its heart, it is a family sitcom, but without many of the tired troupes that usually infect the genre. Instead, it succeeds on its great characters and strong writing. And, being that it is on Showtime – it can take its characters to very raw and outrageous places, which is very fun to watch.

Hannibal

Rank: 23

Genre: Crime Drama/Horror

Creator(s): Bryan Fuller

Cast: Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, and Laurence Fishburne

Channel: NBC

Current Season: Second

Season Premiere Date: Spring 2014

Plot Summary: Serving as a prequel to the Hannibal Lecture films, the series explores the relationship between a young FBI profiler Will Graham and his psychoanalyst Dr. Hannibal Lecter (who begins helping out on cases, and more).

Why It's Worth Watching: While NBC has yet to decide whether or not Hannibal will return for a second season, the show is too brilliant to leave off this list of the twenty-five best series on television for the 2013/2014 season. Bryan Fuller is one of TV’s most imaginative writers (with past series including: Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies). He brings such a rich texture to this crime drama (when it easily could have just been a slight twist on the boring procedural formula). The cast, especially Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen, is phenomenal as well. Hannibal is one of the bright spots for drama on Network television (and the only non-cable drama to make this list). UPDATE: NBC has picked up Hannibal for a second season.

Community

Rank: 22

Genre: Comedy

Creator(s): Dan Harmon

Cast: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Ken Jeong, and Jim Rash

Channel: NBC

Current Season: Fifth

Season Premiere Date: 2014

Plot Summary: Six friends (formally seven) make their way through Greendale Community College – attending odd classes, making dioramas, and going on adventures.

Why It's Worth Watching: The fourth season of Community was very disappointing (which is why it has fallen out of the top five all the way back to twenty-two). It lost its creative soul when Sony/NBC fired creator Dan Harmon. But, the cast is still the best among any sitcom and it still has its moments of sheer joyful and hysterical bliss. Somehow, despite its perpetual low ratings, it is back for a fifth season (and like season four, it will only have thirteen episodes). Season four showrunners David Guarascio and Moses Port simply tried so hard to copy Dan Harmon’s version (and failed) instead of making the show their own. Sony and NBC are looking for a new creative head. Surprisingly, there is a rumor Harmon might be returning. Also, Chevy Chase has left the series (but if Harmon returns, will Chase return too?!?). UPDATE: Dan Harmon is returning!!!!

The Vampire Diaries

Rank: 21

Genre: Horror/Romance/Drama

Creator(s): Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec

Cast: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Kat Graham, Zach Roerig, Michael Trevino, and Candice Accola

Channel: The CW

Current Season: Fifth

Season Premiere Date: October 2013

Plot Summary: Elena Gilbert was seemingly just a typical high school girl until her life became filled with vampires, werewolves, and witches. Now she finds herself torn between two vampire brothers Stefan and Damon, both of whom she loves.

Why It's Worth Watching: The Vampire Diaries is at times overly melodramatic (after all it is targeted at teenagers and is on The CW), but mostly it is a very engaging fantasy drama, which often features wonderful story and character arcs (and to some extent fills the void left by Buffy the Vampire Slayer). With Klaus and his siblings finally leaving Mystic Falls (for their own spin-off The Originals), the series can explore much-needed new stories and villains (I feel that Klaus narratively overstayed his welcome by about two seasons, which impaired the storytelling progression).

Part 2: 20-16

TV Series of the Week – Brotherhood

This month’s TV series is Brotherhood (2006-2008).

The crime drama is about two brothers, Michael and Tommy Caffee, who grew up and live in an Irish neighborhood in Providence. Michael is a local gangster recently out of jail and Tommy is a state representative causing constant confrontation between the two. Its creator Blake Masters went on to develop Law & Order: LA. The series stars Jason Isaacs, Jason Clarke, Annabeth Gish, Kevin Chapman, Fionnula Flanagan, Fiona Erickson, Madison Garland, Kailey Gilbert, Ethan Embry, Kerry O”Malley, Tina Benko, Matt Servitto, Len Cariou, and Brian F. O’Bryrne. The show ran for three seasons before being cancelled by Showtime; however it does have a suitable ending. The first two seasons are fantastic, making it one of the best crime dramas in 2006-2007 (probably only second to The Sopranos), while the third season is good but not quite as strong. The cast is wonderful as well, especially Isaacs and Clarke. It is well worth checking out for fans of great crime dramas.

Available on DVD and Streaming

TV Preview 2012/2013 – 25 Must-See Series, Part 5: 5-1

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Community

Rank: 5

Genre: Comedy

Creator(s): Dan Harmon

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

Homeland

Rank: 4

Genre: Crime Drama/Mystery

Creator(s): Gideon Raff, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa

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.

Game of Thrones

Rank: 3

Genre: Adventure Drama

Creator(s): David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

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).

Mad Men

Rank: 2

Genre: Period Drama

Creator(s): Matthew Weiner

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.

Breaking Bad

Rank: 1

Genre: Crime Drama

Creator(s): Vince Gilligan

Cast: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, and RJ Mitte

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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TV Preview 2012/2013 – 25 Must-See Series, Part 3: 15-11

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The Vampire Diaries

Rank: 15

Genre: Horror/Romance/Drama

Creator(s): Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec

Cast: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Kat Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Michael Trevino, and Matthew Davis

Current Season: Fourth

Channel: The CW

Return Date: October 11, 2012

Plot Summary: Elena Gilbert, a typical high school girl, finds her life plunged into a world of monsters when she falls in love with a pair of vampire brothers who are both drawn to her as she is identical to their long lost sire.

Why It Made the List: The Vampire Diaries started out as a poorly done vampire love-triangle teen soap, drenched in fanciful overly dramatic romance and clunky plotlines about vampires trying to pass as high school students, but about halfway through season one the tone of the series changed to more of an action and adventure romance drama and the show has been brilliant and very compelling ever since. Yes, some of the romance beats are still overly dramatic, but the whole show is stylized to be that way (at its core, it is really a show for teenage girls like most stuff on the CW). However, the series has become very much like a reimagining of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and has much of the same feel (though, considerably less silly and funny – this is much more serious tonally, which makes it different). As a huge fan of Buffy, I have grown to count this among my favorite TV series right now as each season get better and better thanks to very engrossing drama/storylines and great characters.

Treme

Rank: 14

Genre: Drama/Music

Creator(s): Eric Overmyer and David Simon

Cast: Khandi Alexander, Lucia Micarelli, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Rob Brown, Kim Dickens, Michiel Huisman, Melissa Leo, India Ennenga, and Steve Zahn

Current Season: Third

Channel: HBO

Return Date: September 23, 2012

Plot Summary: Following Hurricane Katrina, the people of New Orleans pick up their lives and carry on.

Why It Made the List: Treme is firstly a great drama (from David Simon, who gave us The Wire and Generation Kill), but the show can also be appreciated and loved for its dedication and passionate enamor for the music of New Orleans. Every episode is full of music and performances. The characters are also fantastic and drawn across the spectrum of the city, so viewers really get a sense of the different parts of the city and separate yet connected lives of its citizens. While not very flashy, it is consistently very good and well worth checking out for both drama and music fans.

Supernatural

Rank: 13

Genre: Horror/Drama

Creator(s): Eric Kripke

Cast: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Jim Beaver, and Misha Collins

Current Season: Eighth

Channel: The CW

Return Date: October 3, 2012

Plot Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester, trained as hunters by their father, battle monsters, ghosts and any other supernatural evil that threatens our world.

Why It Made the List: Eric Kripke originally had a five-season story arc for Supernatural, and stepped down as showrunner after season five. I wondered if the show could continue its excellence when Sera Gamble took over for a two-season story arc. Seasons six and seven were just as good as the first five. However having finished the arc, Gamble is stepping down and new showrunner Jeremy Carver is taking over for season eight. Carver has written for the show since 2007 and also brought Being Human to America. Much like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural is sort of the heir apparent to style and genre championed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (The Vampire Diaries is like Buffy, and this is like Angel in a way). For fans of Horror, this is a wonderful action drama that is not afraid to be quirky and aesthetically interesting and tackle moral and deep questions about humanity, all while being very entertaining.

Sons of Anarchy

Rank: 12

Genre: Crime Drama

Creator(s): Kurt Sutter

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Mark Boone Junior, Kim Coates, Tommy Flanagan, Maggie Stiff, Ron Perlman, Theo Rossi, William Lucking, Ryan Hurst, Dayton Callie, and David Labrava

Current Season: Fifth

Channel: FX

Return Date: September 11, 2012

Plot Summary: The series follows the exploits of the SAMCRO motorcycle gang as they try to hold onto their territory and keep the gang together amidst threats both externally and internally.

Why It Made the List: Sons of Anarchy, much like The Shield (which Kurt Sutter also worked on), is a show that one would imagine being filled with adult language, and yet it is so well written that the viewer never notices or even questions the way the characters speak (being in a PG-13 or less manner). There are a lot of good crime dramas on TV right now (this, Breaking Bad, Justified, Dexter to name a few) but this has different, more rugged feel to it. The characters on this series are not afraid of being complex and having a duality to them, and in many cases being unlikable at times. A drama about a motorcycle gang may not seem like something that would appeal to everyone, but I highly recommend it. This series is gritty and dirty and utter compelling.

Dexter

Rank: 11

Genre: Crime Drama

Creator(s): James Manos, Jr.

Cast: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Lauren Velez, David Zayas, James Remar, C.S. Lee, and Desmond Harrington

Current Season: Seventh

Channel: Showtime

Return Date: September 30, 2012

Plot Summary: Dexter Morgan is a serial killer, but he only kills criminals that have slipped through the system and avoided justice. To hide his true self, Dexter tries to assimilate into normal society with a family and friends, but his dark secret slowly begins to seep to the surface.

Why It Made the List: Usually, Dexter would be higher on this list. Seasons one through three saw it as probably the best show on TV, but with seasons four and five, while still very good, the show has become reparative with each season arc sort of being the same. Season six was easily the weakest, and rumbling started that the show had outstayed its useful life. That said, season seven will be the second to last, as all involved have stated that the series will end after season eight in 2013. Season seven looks a lot better than six, based on the preview trailers I have seen, and I am excited for the guest stars this season being Ray Stevenson and Yvonne Stranhovski. Plus, the story has finally come to a very interesting and different place than the past seasons.

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