THE BEST OF 2019 - The Best TV Of The Year

THE BEST OF 2019 - The Best TV Shows of The Year

- So, wow - it's the end of the year, the end of the decade, the end of the world (almost! maybe?!) - and so, as is tradition, I'm here to provide my list of the best of this past year in a number of pop-culture categories - starting with TV. I'll preface by saying that, in the interest of HOW MUCH there is to talk about - we've got best-of-2019 posts, BEST OF THE DECADE (!) posts, etc. - I'm going to aim for brevity in each of this year's Best-Of blog posts. I know, going against my very nature ... but hey: evolve or die, people.

So let's talk TV. 2019 was again a year of WAY TOO MUCH TV. Streaming services everywhere, each with tons of CONTENT ... so much of it seemingly aimed specifically at me. I mean, man, I remember the days when young sci-fi nerd me had basically *one* good show to watch (The X-Files) and a couple of not-as-good shows. Now, there's a whole DC Universe streaming platform with nothing but DC Comics shows and THAT DOESN'T EVEN INCLUDE WATCHMEN. Sorry for shouting so much ... I have a lot of pent-up blogging in me that has been screaming to get out. But yeah, there was a time, not that long ago, where I felt like I could reasonably watch pretty much all of the good stuff. Well folks, that day is now very much in the past. I've only just started Succession. I've not yet seen Bojack (it's on my list ... but, man, my list is super long ...). I am but one man, and I can only watch so much.

2019 did, I think, feel like the end of an era though. Game of Thrones was the last great water-cooler TV show. With that having ended, we're left with a lot of content that nobody is watching at the same time. It's a constant state of "no spoilers, please." It's kind of sad. It's so funny though how it's weirdly refreshing that The Mandolorian on Disney Plus is doing one episode per week - it's great. Please get on the bandwagon, Netflix and Amazon. Great pop-culture is meant to be carefully consumed and digested. It needs time to simmer. There needs to be that weekly period of speculation and discussion and theorizing and debate. If we do fully lose that, then I think we will have lost an essential element of the peak Peak TV era that may now be sunsetting. On a similar note, 2019 was also a year of a lot of *very, very good* shows but few truly great ones. The 2018 end of The Americans left a bit of a void, I think. Nothing this year got me quite as hyped as the final season of that all-time classic. But a few things did come close ...



DANNY'S TOP TV SHOWS OF 2019:



1. MR. ROBOT

- Season 1 of Mr. Robot was lightning in a bottle. It was an incredible season of TV ... but the show couldn't quite sustain that momentum through Seasons 2 and 3. But man, the fourth and final season of this mind-bending, twisty, punk-rock show somehow re-captured that lightning. Mr. Robot - like main character Elliot Alderson - could sometimes have multiple personalities. Was it a cyber-thriller? A meditation on mental health and the suffocating pressures of the modern world? A Lynchian mind-%$&#? A meta-narrative about reality vs. fiction? Well, Season 4 struck the perfect balance between all of those things - delivering pulse-pounding intrigue, deep dives down the rabbit hole that is Elliot's mind, and jaw-dropping twists that turned the entire series on its head - making us question everything that had come before. The hype is real about how good Rami Malek was on this show - he gave a captivating, often surreal performance that went to some very deep and very dark places. Christian Slater was similarly great as Elliot's "protector" - the role of a lifetime for one of my favorite-ever actors. Carly Chaikin as Darlene was the unsung star of the series - a punk rock icon who gave the show its sardonic, badass edge. And Portia Doubleday was similarly great as Angela, the girl next door who increasingly became a tragic figure - lost to the tidal wave of Evil. And, oh, I of course have to mention BD Wong as White Rose - an enigmatic villain with a mesmerizing backstory. What an all-time great final episode this show delivered. What a crazy ride it was.


2. FOSSE/VERDON

- In college, a screenwriting professor had us all watch Bob Fosse's autobiographical film All That Jazz. It blew me away, and really opened my mind towards movies that I might have previously considered outside of my comfort zone. So I was really eager to see this new take on the Fosse story, and I was not disappointed. The series got better with each episode. It had capitol "A" ACTING from Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams. It brilliantly weaved back and forth in time and painted an incredibly affecting picture of two creative partners who were both the best and worst things in each others lives.


3. VERONICA MARS

- "A long time ago, we used to be friends ..." - and a long time ago, Veronica Mars was one of TV's most underrated cult-classics-in-the-making. It was an ahead-of-its time mystery series with razor-sharp wit, expertly-plotted mysteries, a kick-ass cast of characters, and one hell of a theme song to boot. Cut to years later - and, amazingly, the show is back - via Hulu - and delivers its best season since the seminal S1. This return to the neo-noir beachfront town of Neptune, CA had it all - a multi-layered mystery, expertly-penned banter, satisfying character arcs for new and old faces a like, and some truly jaw-dropping moments that left me stunned. It was great having V Mars back in 2019.


4. THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES

- I long ago became a full-fledged member of the cult of Danny McBride, Jody Hill, and David Gordon Green. These guys have produced some of the most brilliantly ridiculous and hilariously dark comedy of the last fifteen years - from The Foot Fist Way, to Eastbound & Down, to Vice Principals, and now ... The Righteous Gemstones. This is just a wickedly funny satirical look at a family of evangelical celebrity preachers - that dares to go places that no one else but this warped trio would go to. Few comedies are able to truly shock me, but McBride, Hill, and Green never fail to leave my jaw on the floor.


5. FLEABAG

- How to describe Fleabag to the uninitiated? It's sort of like Curb Your Enthusiasm, but more female, way more British, far less improvised (i.e. not improvised), and with a much deeper emotional core. Okay, so maybe the Curb comparison doesn't 100% work. So really, you just have to watch it. You just have to realize that it's writer and star Phoebe Waller Bridge putting her biting sense of humor and knack for great characters on your TV screen. It's a character getting into ridiculous situations and then getting out of them in brilliantly hilarious ways. It's just really, really good and I highly recommend it. 


6. WATCHMEN

-The funny thing is ... it took me a good couple of episodes to warm up to Watchmen. I mean, it's Watchmen! Only a pseudo-sequel to the greatest comic book ever written, on HBO, with a big budget and top-notch cast and ... I mean, if this wasn't an immediate A+ ... And it took a little while, but by the time we got to Episode 6 - a stunning flashback episode that took one of Alan Moore's biggest comic book mysteries and re-invented in a surprising and jaw-dropping fashion - well, I was all-friggin'-in. Watchmen took a little time to find its footing, but the back half of the season delivered one holy-$%&#-this-is-good episode after another. And as a bonus, the show was a super-cool experiment in multimedia storytelling, with the Peteypedia website dropping weekly bits of series lore that were a legitimately awesome supplement to the episodes. I know Alan Moore can't be proud - but he should be.


7. TRUE DETECTIVE

- I know that S2 of True Detective lost a lot of people (me included), but I'm glad I gave S3 a shot at the beginning of the year. The show got its groove back, delivering a gritty American Gothic mystery that harkened back to the superlative first season. S3 was brimming with atmosphere, danger, suspense - and anchored by two incredible lead performances from leads Mahershala Ali and (in what has to be his best turn ever) Stephen Dorff. The show used the first season's time-jumping conceit to great effect, creating an epic, decade-spanning mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.


8. BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

-Don't call it a comeback. Saved from cancellation hell by a last-minute NBC pick-up, B99 was back and better than ever in 2019. Somehow, the show seems to improve with age - the writing just keeps getting sharper, the cast's chemistry keeps getting better, and the show, somehow, was totally hitting its stride in Season 6. It's seriously a national travesty that the great Andre Braugher has not yet won an Emmy for his work on this show. He's made Captain Holt into one of the greatest and funniest sitcom characters of all time.


9. CHERNOBYL

- Well, I was late to the game on this one ... but, no question, Chernobyl is just a masterful piece of storytelling. It's also one of the scariest and most disturbing piece of content I consumed in 2019 - painting a downright nightmarish picture of one of the most dangerous man-made disasters in history. The cast is excellent. The writing is really smart. And it speaks a lot to modern day issues -  showing how denial of the truth in the name of pride and politics can lead to catastrophic disaster.


10. THE SOCIETY

- An underrated gem of 2019, The Society may have come off like just another YA sci-fi series, but it had - seriously! - some of the best and craziest and most jaw-dropping storytelling of any TV show this year. The Society was Lord of the Flies meets Lost meets The West Wing - a teen drama that dared to go dark, to get political, to give us some of the best and most binge-worthy cliffhangers of any show I've seen in years. Netflix is churning out so many series these days that it's hard to keep track - too many get lost in the shuffle. But don't let that happen with The Society. This is one of Netflix's best.


The Next Best:


11. BARRY

-  Barry is a show about an assassin who just wants to be an actor ... and somehow, it works. It's funny and also intense and also often just insanely entertaining. When I think about Season 2 of Barry, I mostly keep coming back to its fifth episode ... aka one of the craziest episodes of TV I've ever seen. In it, Barry runs afoul of a seemingly ordinary suburban dad, who turns out to be a low-key Taekwondo master. The two proceed to have an episode-length battle across town that just escalates and escalates and produces insane moment after insane moment. It's a perfect encapsulation as to why Barry is the bomb.


12. GAME OF THRONES

- I could write pages upon pages about Game of Thrones' epic, flawed, controversial final season. But I'll say this: while I didn't love how it ended, I great enjoyed the journey to get there. I don't know ... this show became so big and had so many moving parts that it was hard for me to look at with too over-critical of an eye. What I mean is: it was clear going into the final season that the show had *a lot* of ground to cover in a very short time, and that we were going to be getting the big story beats - one after another - rather than the deep dives and methodical plotting we'd at times gotten from the show previously. And those big story beats gave us, I think, some all-timer moments. I mean ... Arya by-god Stark and The Night King. Classic. Epic. Applause-worthy. The final season gave us a couple more of those big moments that no show did better than this show.


13. THE MANDALORIAN

- The Mandalorian just really, really works for me. If Star Wars (especially the OG trilogy) is in many ways a space-western, then The Mandalorian doubles down - giving us a classic stoic cowboy hero who rides into town after town, reluctantly serving up some old-fashioned justice. Except this cowboy wears space-armor, travels from planet to planet, and protects Baby by-god Yoda from all manner of scum and villainy. The series has had some flat episodes, but man, when it works it works - and it delivers some endearingly old-fashioned one-and-done storytelling with a Star Wars tinge. And also: that score! Amazing.


14. BROAD CITY

-  What a great final season Broad City had - including but not limited to one of the best final episodes of a TV comedy I've ever seen. Funny and heartwarming and with a lot to say about growing up and adulting and the entire Millennial experience, Broad City went out on a high note that cemented it as one of the defining comedies of this decade.


15. BIG MOUTH

- Big Mouth takes perverse glee in being as filthy as any show has ever been, ever. But what makes this lovingly gross look at the trials and tribulations of puberty so good is that: a.) it's really really smart, b.) it's really really funny, and c.) at it's core, it's one of the most painfully truthful looks at adolescence ever put to screen. Some of the show's biggest laughs come from its most absurd and out-there moments, but what keeps me binge-ing is what lies beneath (cue the Hormone Monster making a snappy joke at my expense).


16. THE HANDMAID'S TALE

-  Season 3 of Hulu's signature series started out, well, pretty slow. But in its second half, it got really really good and took the series into some very dramatic places. June is now a full-blown freedom fighter, and her underground railroad of sorts leading kids out of Gilead led to an emotionally-packed season. Similarly, the rising tensions between Serena and Fred reaches a boiling point - and it's fascinating to see the two at odds. I definitely wouldn't mind if the overall pace of the show picks up in S4 - but there's no doubt it delivered some scary-good drama in S3.


17. THE GOOD PLACE

- At some point, the weighty plot of The Good Place became, perhaps, a bit overwhelming - and the jokes suffered for it. But even so, The Good Place remained (and remains, until its series finale in early 2020!) one of the best overall comedies of the last ten years. There were meditations about morality, incredibly-quotable dialogue, and a killer cast. It's going to feel like we're all in The Bad Place when this one is gone.


18. CRASHING

- An underrated series through and through, HBO's Crashing channeled the humor of comedian Pete Holmes into a very funny, surprisingly deep series about one man's journey through the wild and crazy world of stand-up comedy. Crashing was up and down in S2, but 2019's third and final season was consistently great - bringing the fictionalized Pete's story to a messy yet satisfying end.


19. THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE

- This unlikely prequel to the 80's Jim Henson kid-movie classic was a visually-stunning, unabashedly geeky, whimsical adventure that was a delight to watch through and through. The show picked up as it went - once a lot of the complex world-building was out of the way, it could focus on just being a good, old-fashioned bit of epic fantasy fun. And again, the visuals were flat-out eye-popping - the combination of muppetry and CGI creating a world unlike any other we've seen on TV.


20. THE BOYS

- The Boys took one of the most insane, darkly-satirical comic books I've ever read and, amazingly, gave us one hell of an adaptation. This look at superheroes-gone-wrong maintained the in-your-face tone of the original Garth Ennis comics, while also updating the characters a bit to be relevant for 2019. The result was one of the best Amazon series to date.


21. DEADLY CLASS

- Let me pour one out for this sadly cut-short series that, had it not been prematurely cancelled, could have become one of the all-time greats. This stylish adaptation of the Rick Remender comic book series - about a school for young assassins - did a fantastic job of bringing the book's punk-rock sensibilities to the screen. The cast was uber-talented, the storytelling was compelling, and the soundtrack rocked and rocked hard. Oh what might have been.


22. RICK & MORTY

- This would probably be higher on the list if we'd gotten more than the handful of episodes we got in 2019, but I will say that this pop-cult phenom came out firing on all cylinders at the end of 2019 - with a string of amazing episodes that showcased the series' spot-on humor and intense commitment to never skimping on the sci-fi. The hype for this show can sometimes get out of control, but in many ways it's well-deserved. There's nothing else on TV like Rick & Morty.


TIE: 23. STRANGER THINGS

- I had mixed feelings about Season 3 of Stranger Things, but ultimately, it comes down to that final big moment where the theme song of The Neverending Story saves the day. I mean, that alone ... that's the kind of thing that Stranger Things does so well. It's nostalgia, it's childhood wonder, it's fan-service, it's ridiculous - it's the kind of stuff that, when done right, I'm a huge sucker for. And there was enough done right in S3 that I couldn't help but continue to geek out for Stranger Things.

TIE: 23. BLACK MIRROR

- The abridged Season 5 of Black Mirror didn't quite live up to the series at its best, but it still delivered some pretty cool, thought-provoking installments. I thought "Striking Vipers," the episode about two men who find companionship via a VR videogame, was really well done. It smartly examined modern masculinity, and intriguingly explored the possibilities of reinventing and finding oneself in a virtual world. I also really liked "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" - the Miley Cyrus episode about a pop star replaced by an AI designed to approximate her. This was a fun and surprisingly poignant episode. Black Mirror has raised the bar so high - but it's still an absolute must-watch.


24. SILICON VALLEY

- The final season of Mike Judge's tech-world satire was, IMO, a return to form for a series that, at times, seemed to go to the same wells over and over again. But with the end of the series' run in sight, Judge and co. delivered a tighter, higher-stakes, and more consequential narrative than we've seen from SV in a while - including a fantastic final episode that picked up ten years later with an Office-style mockumentary. Overall, the final season just felt funnier and more energized - and it served as a reminder that, when on its game, Silicon Valley was one of the best comedies of the decade.


25. THE GOLDBERGS

- You know what? Give it up for the Goldbergs. The show had one of its funniest seasons ever with Season 6, with some truly on-point joke-writing and some deceptively emotional moments. The Goldbergs might be a little old-fashioned in its sensibilities, but it's old-fashioned in the best way possible - it's sitcom comfort food that mixes spot-on pop-culture references with very good joke writing and the occasional, sneakily-heartwarming moment to boot. 


Just Missed the Cut:

- Russian Doll
- G.L.O.W.
- Doom Patrol
- Swamp Thing
- His Dark Materials
- Good Omens
- The Umbrella Academy
- The Other Two
- Riverdale
- American Horror Story: 1984
- Documentary Now


INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:


The Best TV Heroes of 2019:


1.) Elliot and Darlene Alderson -Mr. Robot

2.) Arya Stark - Game of Thrones

3.) Sister Night - Watchmen

4.) The Mandalorian - The Mandalorian

5.) Veronica Mars - Veronica Mars



The Best TV Villains of 2019:


1.) The Homelander - The Boys

2.) Whiterose - Mr. Robot

3.) Aunt Lydia -The Handmaid's Tale

4.) Campbel -The Society

5.) Ms. Coulter - His Dark Materials



The Best TV Anti-Heroes of 2018:


1.) Barry Berkman - Barry

2.) Billy the Butcher -The Boys

3.) Saya - Deadly Class

4.) Crowley - Good Omens

5.) Adrien Veidt - Watchmen

THE BEST OF 2015 - The Best TV Of The Year

THE BEST OF 2015 - The Best TV Shows of The Year

- Others have said it, but it bears repeating: 2015 was the year of Peak TV. Seriously, every network has good shows now. Really good shows. At least it feels that way. Even if you watched nothing but Netflix in 2015, you still had a potentially full plate. I still have to finish Daredevil. I haven't even started Jessica Jones yet. Or Narcos. Or F is For Family. Or W/Bob & David. Or, probably, the other metric ton of quality TV that Netflix seems to be churning out on a bi-weekly basis. I haven't even mentioned Amazon. Man in the High Castle is supposed to be good. Or how about Casual on Hulu? That's supposed to be good too. It's too much. DVR's across the country are near-capacity. Dinner-table conversations are stuck in an endless loop of "have you seen--?" that usually ends with a round of "nope, but hear it's great!" I routinely see my social media feeds filled with tales of weekend binge-watching in which the watcher has plowed through a solid 13 hours of television over the course of two days. Fear of Missing Out is now the Inevitability of Missing Out. I guess the fun of it is that there's always new stuff to discover. The bad of it is that it never ends.

But really, can one complain about too much of a good thing? A glut of bad TV - that you can complain about. But the stuff that's coming out now is often great. In coming up with my Best of the Year list below, I realized that there are shows that I love - say, Brooklyn Nine-Nine - that despite it being a really solid, really funny show that I look forward to each week - it still couldn't quite make my Top 25 because there was just too much stuff this year that was flat-out awesome. It pained me relegate Children's Hospital - one of the funniest shows ever - to mere honorable mention status (the most recent season was really funny, but not quite up to the standards of previous runs).

What's really encouraging though is how diverse all of these shows are. Not just in terms of casting and points of view (though that's also really great!), but in terms of style, narrative, and genre. I mean, I've watched a lot of TV, and I've *never* seen anything quite like Mr. Robot. The Last Man on Earth is a high concept comedy that, upon its debut, felt completely fresh and different. Nathan For You is just mind-blowingly unique - it wows me and shocks me with each new episode. Rick and Morty is like a direct injection of pure imagination and weirdness and hilarity. How the show even exists I don't know, but man am I glad it does. The risks that cable channels and streaming services are now taking is pretty remarkable. And it's great to see a TV landscape where originality is, increasingly, paying off in terms of ratings and viewer engagement. Where once out-of-the-box series like Pushing Daisies or Veronica Mars struggled to stay on the air thanks to low Nielsen ratings, now they seem like ahead-of-their time forebears of the current Peak TV revolution.

In any case, here are my picks for the Best TV of 2015. Clearly, even though I watched a lot, there's also a lot I didn't watch. So feel free to recommend me your favorites. Just be mindful that my DVR is almost full and I've still got, like, all of Jessica Jones to watch.


DANNY'S TOP TV SHOWS OF 2015:


1. PARKS AND RECREATION

- The final season of Parks and Rec was, quite possibly, the best-ever final season for a TV comedy. Every. Single. Episode was a winning mix of hilarity and heart. And what's crazy is that it made Season 7 of the beloved series the best overall season of the show. When does that happen? I am pretty confident that, years from now, we'll look back on Parks and Rec and think, constantly, "wow, all of *them* were on the same show?" I sort of already do that. Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Aziz Ansari, Chris Pratt, Rob Lowe, Adam Scott, Aubrey Plaza, and the list goes on. An all-star comedy cast if ever there was one. The final season of Parks was great even if only viewed as an extended farewell. We got amazing send-offs for Ron Swanson (that Leslie/Ron locked-in-an-office-together episode was an all-timer) and Andy (the Johnny Karate episode was another classic) and the rest of the cast. Additionally though, the final season was the smartest and funniest-ever extrapolation of the show's core theme - diverse people with different views and philosophies coming together to do positive things for each other and for their community. It's this simple message - a vital one in 2015 - that made this little-comedy-that-could the absolute greatest TV series of the year.

2. JUSTIFIED

- Man, am I going to miss Justified. This was another all-time-great series that came to an end in 2015, but it's a show that absolutely went out with a bang. Season 6 of Justified was just plain badass - it featured a fantastically sinister big bad in Sam Elliott's Avery Markham and an equally great turn from Garrett Dillahunt's as Markham's cold-blooded right-hand-man. But more than that, Season 6 was a great distillation of the themes that have permeated the show from its inception. This season finally brought the contentious relationship of Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder to a head, and their final scenes together - with stars Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins in top form - are already the stuff of legend. Boyd's final comment to Raylan, "we dug coal together ...", made for one of the greatest endings to a TV series ever. You might never leave Harlan alive, but hot-damn did we leave it satisfied.

3. FARGO

- The second season of Fargo had a lot to live up to. Coming on the heels of one of the greatest TV seasons in recent memory, how could S2 possibly be as good as Season 1? I was skeptical at first, but as Season 2 wore on I began to realize I was witnessing something truly special. No other show this year did serialized drama with the same kind heady mix of style and substance. Once again, Fargo gave us an unforgettable tale about good people trying to cope with a world in which evil seems to be gaining the upper hand. And once again, the show nailed it - giving us multiple memorable villains (Hanzee! The Gerhardts! Mike Milligan!), fantastically-textured heroes (how good were Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson, and Cristin Milioti?), and lovably in-over-their-head newbie criminals (Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons - both amazing) who fail to realize that, in the world of Fargo, fate is cruel to all but a select few. I watch Fargo and am basically in awe of what creator Noah Hawley does with the show. To do a series based on an all-time classic Coen Bros. movie takes some real chutzpah. But to make a Fargo series that is every bit as good as the film on which it is based, and one of the TV's greatest modern dramas? That takes an enviable amount of talent.

4. NATHAN FOR YOU

- Once again, Nathan For You provided some of TV's most "what-the-hell-did-I-just-witness?" moments of the year. There are so many great comedies on TV at the moment, but Nathan Fielder's boundary-breaking series stands out from the pack because it's so different, so strange, and so consistently shocking and hilarious. In the tradition of Da Ali G Show, Nathan interacts with regular people in a way that exposes them - and in turn all of us - in ways that never fail to be utterly cringe-worthy yet utterly unforgettable. Watching Nathan For You is like witnessing the ultimate life hack in action - a guy who takes ideas to their most extreme in the name of one giant and insane social experiment. Witness the time Nathan makes an entire bar full of people into an avant garde theatrical production. Or the time he literally takes over another person's life, with the guarantee that by the time he's done he will have turned a socially-awkward loser into a local hero. There's nothing else like Nathan on TV. And that's probably a good thing, for the sake of all humanity.

5. GAME OF THRONES

- I think Season 5 of Game of Thrones inspired more think-pieces than any season of any show ever. But if you get past all the somewhat-manufactured controversy, what you're left with is one of the most flat-out epic seasons of TV I've ever seen. It's crazy that a fifth season of a show can provide so many iconic moments and surprises, but they came fast and furious here. The dramatic re-appearance of Daenerys' lost dragon in the fighting pit battle. Circe's already-legendary walk of shame through King's Landing. The beyond-huge Battle of Hardhome - aka the most metal thing to ever appear on TV. Some quit the show this year in frustration, but I found myself more enraptured than ever with it, and can't wait to see what happens next. If nothing else, Season 5 made it clear that this is not fairy-tale fantasy. The world of Game of Thrones is dark, getting darker, and even more bad things are likely on their way. But as long as the show keeps delivering such captivating moments, fantastic characters, and high drama on a scale never seen before on television - then hell yeah, I'm in for the long haul.

6. THE AMERICANS

- Season 3 of The Americans was totally and uncompromisingly brutal. As the focus shifted to the Jennings' daughter Paige, and her growing suspicions about her parent's true identities - the show so easily could have gone off the rails. Instead, the evolution of Paige's relationship with her parents made for extremely compelling viewing. Give credit to this show's incredible cast. I don't know how Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell continue to get snubbed in terms of Emmys - but they are so, so good on this show. Rhys in particular tends to wow me with the multiple identities that his Philip Jennings regularly assumes. Rhys-as-Philip-as-Clark is always fascinating to watch (and Clark's strange and potentially-dangerous relationship with Martha is consistently one of the show's best storylines). Season 3 took the show to often-uncomfortable extremes. We saw the Jennings become increasingly violent, assume increasingly disturbing aliases (Philip forming a relationship with a teenage girl being the most disturbing of them all), and in general cross a lot of lines that I wasn't sure they'd ever cross. Through it all, The Americans remained must-watch, can't-take-your-eyes-off-it TV.

7. RICK AND MORTY

- I was a latecomer to Rick and Morty, so this year I binge-watched through all of Season 1, prior to the start of the newly-launched Season 2. Now, I'm a full-fledged member of the Rick and Morty cult. Somehow, this show feels like the heir apparent to both Community and Futurama. Think on that, for a second, and you get a sense of just how funny, creative, and genuinely imaginative the show is. Anything can and does happen on Rick and Morty, and the show tackles its sci-fi plotlines with a mix of insane absurdist humor, self-referential cleverness, and legitimately interesting science-fiction that would probably be great even if just played straight and not for laughs. The show probably shouldn't work, but it's such an explosion of imagination and creativity and anything-goes humor that it sort of blows my mind in terms of how good it really is. It's also one of the most quotable comedies ever, and it's only on Season 2. I seriously can't wait for more.

8. MR. ROBOT

- I had fallen behind on Mr. Robot, and one day, while stuck at home feeling sick, I decided to binge. Maybe my sickly state added to the show's fever-dream effect. Like some hallucinogenic drug that seeped into my brain, Mr. Robot seemed to take over my entire state of being. I found myself completely immersed in its trippy, mind-bending, reality-is-fluid world, and endlessly obsessed with its many mysteries. Creator Sam Esmail has crafted something really special here - a hacker drama that isn't just about hacking, but about the unreal reality of the way we live today, and the way that our lives can be manipulated - just like computer code - by unseen forces lurking both in the shadows and in the recesses of our own minds. Rami Malek was a revelation here, and the rest of the cast was similarly awesome (and hey, bonus, Christian Slater is back, and he's great!). And what's crazy is that this is only the beginning. Where does Mr. Robot go from here? I have no idea - but it's one head-trip that you won't want to miss.

9. REVIEW

- Review didn't 100% grab me when I first watched the pilot episode last year, but I gave the series another shot ... and holy lord I'm glad I did. The show is pure comedic genius. Andy Daly, it's creator and star, is a genius. This is one of the most gloriously strange, shockingly dark, and laugh-out-loud funny shows I've ever seen. You probably aren't watching Review - but just trust me, you should be. The premise sounds simple: Andy Daly plays an overeager "life reviewer" who hosts a show-within-the-show, where he's tasked with trying out various life experiences as sent in to him by curious viewers. The catch here is that Daly's experiences tend to make *his* life a living hell. So why does he keep reviewing? It's an existential question that the show gamely teases us with. Is Daly *in* hell? Is he trapped in some kind of weird TV show purgatory? Is his character just naive, or is he a complete sociopath and psycho? Review takes you down a rabbit hole, and oh boy does it go deep. Watching Andy Daly completely ruin his life is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I don't know what that makes me, but I do know that it makes Review one of the greatest TV shows of 2015.

10. PENNY DREADFUL

-  Penny Dreadful in Season 1 was one of those shows whose flaws I was sort of willing to forgive because it was so flippin' cool. A go-for-broke Victorian London-set show about all your favorite gothic-horror literary characters co-mingling? Yes please. But Penny Dreadful went from really cool in Season 1 to legitimately awesome in Season 2. The overarching plot - about a vengeful witch, Evelyn Poole (Helen McRory in top form), plotting revenge on Eva Green's Ms. Ives - was better. And the talented supporting cast - including Billie Piper and Josh Hartnett - got a lot more to do and much more compelling storylines to call their own. But it was Green who once again stole the show - as Vanessa Ives, she's pure pulp-fiction perfection. Case in point: the standout episode of S2, a flashback in which we learn of the period where Ives was mentored by an outcast witch (the "Cut-Wife") who makes a mortal enemy in Poole. It was one of the best episodes of a TV drama this year - overflowing with moody gothic atmosphere, filled with wonderfully intense and creepy performances (Green is absolutely killer), and a definitive sign that Penny Dreadful had made it to the big leagues of great TV.


The Next Best:

11. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

- Season 2 of The Last Man on Earth has lost a bit of luster vs. Season 1. But when the show premiered back in March, it really knocked it out of the park. Episode after episode delivered huge laughs and shocking twists (how many comedies have shocking twists?!), and Will Forte was just on fire - completely hilarious as the last man alive who maybe isn't quite the last. Season 2 became a little too overcrowded and watered down, but I was encouraged by its top-notch finale. When this show is on top of its game, it's one of the best and funniest shows on the air.

12. SILICON VALLEY

- All hail Silicon Valley, which in its second season continued to be both laugh-out-loud hilarious and a scathing satire of the real Silicon Valley. The show is such a spot-on commentary on corporate America and the tech industry that it can be almost painful at times, but just when things get too serious, the show hits you with some incredible line of instantly-quotable dialogue ("this guy - he #%$&'s!") that reminds you how well the show works as pure comedy. My admiration for Mike Judge continues to grow. He just gets it.

13. BETTER CALL SAUL

-  Could Better Call Saul be as good as Breaking Bad? The question sort of hurt my head. Breaking Bad was so singularly amazing that I almost didn't want more. Leave it be. At the same time, Bob Odenkirk is so great that I welcomed the idea of him getting the spotlight. As it turns out, Better Call Saul isn't Breaking Bad, but it is damn good TV. And as Season 1 progressed, you could really sense the show's creative team figuring out how to make Saul its own thing. It's still sort of a work in progress, but when the show is firing on all cylinders - as it did in the already-classic, BB-level, Mike-centric episode "Five-O" it is sheer brilliance. Also: Michael McKean got progressively more great as Saul's older brother. What an amazing comedic actor.

14. THE FLASH

-  The Flash = the most purely fun action/adventure series on TV. I mean, I'm a longtime DC Comics obsessive and grew up reading Mark Waid's legendary run on the Flash comics. And this show makes me completely geek-out with each new reveal of a character or concept that I *never* thought I'd see on TV. Gorilla Grodd, Earth 2, Jay Garrick - what bit of DC Comics insanity won't this show bring to life? The possibilities are endless on The Flash, and it's that sense of anything-can-happen imagination, and total embrace of the fun and sense of wonder of its comic book roots, that makes The Flash so endlessly endearing. Match that with a great, uber-likable cast, and you've got a recipe for success that makes this one of my must-watch weekly series.

15. MASTER OF NONE

- Aziz Ansari's sharply-written, keenly observational Netflix comedy is the rare show that seems to completely capture experience both specific and universal. All of my late 20's/early 30's friends who have watched the show have had multiple moments of "yes, exactly!" - because Master of None is such a funny and painfully truthful look at what it's like to be a young adult in America in 2015. Master of None is like the TV version of a great conversation with friends - silly, reassuring, eye-opening, and cause for some self-reflection. And that "Parents" episode - one of the best episodes of a comedy this year.

16. WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: FIRST DAY OF CAMP

- Wet Hot American Summer is one of my favorite comedy movies ever. To me, it's absurdist comedy perfection - the funniest thing that the collective members of The State ever made. So yeah, I was both excited and nervous about the Netflix prequel series. I mean, as awesome as it was that we were getting more Wet Hot - was this a possible legacy-tarnisher? The answer was, thankfully, that while not quite reaching the blissful comedic highs of the film, this series was, to put it simply, funny as hell. There was so much going on here that it was often hard to keep track of it all, but Showalter, Rudd, Banks, Marino, Lo Truglio, Poehler, Meloni, Ian Black, Wain, Cooper, Bell, and the rest of the all-star ensemble delivered a ridiculous number of laughs - so many that this practically demands a re-watch, Many re-watches. Hell, I want to go watch it right now.

17. COMMUNITY

- Six seasons! Yes! Dream achieved, achievement unlocked. Community's final season ended up on Yahoo, of all places. Truly a symptom of too many places trying to distribute too much TV. But also, truly, a gift for fans who have stuck with this underdog cult comedy through thick and thin. The show's new home let it be whatever it wanted to be. That meant that creator Dan Harmon could go hog-wild, crafting extra-long episodes with wildly-random tangents and extreme levels of anything-goes absurdity. Sometimes, it came off as a bit indulgent. But most times, Community's sixth season was a very welcome, very awesome return to form - with some great new cast members (Keith David!), many memorable plotlines (Garrett's wedding was a gut-bustingly hilarious classic), and several classically quotable bits that must take their place in the Community cannon ("you bet your ass I've seen The Lawnmower Man!"). If you somehow missed Community's for-real-this-time finale, track it down asap. We'll not see a comedy as good as this one for a long while. Now bring on the movie!

18. MAN SEEKING WOMAN

- Here's one that many people missed out on, but this was one of the best new series of 2015 - a very creative, super spot-on comedy about dating in the digital age. The twist here is that all of the misadventures of nerdy single guy Josh (well-played by Jay Baruchel) manifest as crazy sci-fi and fantasy flights of fancy. So when a party that Josh is forced to attend feels like hell-on-earth, it turns out that he really is in hell. When a group of girls feels like they might as well be alien beings, it turns out they *are* aliens. It could be gimmicky if done poorly, but Man Seeking Woman does an amazing job of bringing the real sorts of awkward moments and social dilemmas we all face to life in crazy and unexpected ways. And by the way - there's a brilliant episode of the show, "Woman Seeking Man," that totally flips around the formula and gives us all of this from a woman's perspective. If you've yet to get onboard, highly recommended to catch up before Season 2 starts in early 2016.

19. THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT

- "Unbreakable!" The series' theme song is a joyously pop-y tune that, immediately gets you in the right mindset for this fun and often hilarious comedy from the creators of 30 Rock. But wait, this fun and hilarious comedy is about ... a woman who'd been kidnapped and held in an underground bunker as part of a religious cult - who now, at 29, has finally been freed and released back into the world? Dude. That's dark. And so it is that Kimmy Schmidt balances upbeat comedy with a real streak of darkness and pain that's often there between the lines of the show. But the brilliance of it is that the smart writing (which churns out 30 Rock-levels of quotable dialogue) works in tandem with star Ellie Kemper (and the fantastic supporting cast) to make Kimmy a unique comedy about emerging from darkness and living life to the fullest. Kimmy is indeed unbreakable, and so too, seemingly, is this show.

20. KEY & PEELE

- And another one bites the dust. Key & Peele was the gold-standard for TV sketch comedy for the last couple of years - bringing social relevance, cinematic production value, and an endless stream of memorable comedy bits and recurring characters to the TV comedy landscape. The show ended right as it was at the height of its powers, as its two stars are off to make movies. But Key & Peele ended with a great final season. Not every sketch hit, but every episode had at least one or two instant-classics. MC Mom? the Gremlins 2 pitch? Just two of the many great sketches from this season. So yeah, Key & Peele was my jaaaam ... and I'm sad to see it go.

21. DOCUMENTARY NOW

- In which Bill Hader and Fred Armisen hilariously skew documentaries. Need I say more? This show is so dryly funny that, at first glance, you might think you're watching an actual documentary. But man, some of the episodes of this show were just instant classics. My favorite? "The Eye Doesn't Lie," a drop-dead hilarious true crime parody where Fred Armisen plays a falsely-convicted man who is so irritating that nobody cares to see him exonerated. Oh, and how about the two-part "Blue Jeans Committee" finale - an amazing homage to / parody of various "whatever happened to that band?" docs. Can't wait for more.

22. iZOMBIE

- I'm still sort of in catch-up mode on iZombie, but this is one of those shows that I'm glad exists. It's the spiritual successor to the likes of Veronica Mars - a noir mystery series with a strong female protagonist, tons of great hard-boiled dialogue, a meaty ongoing plotline combined with tightly-written cases of the week, great characters, and witty pop-culture references a-plenty. Oh, and zombies. Rob Thomas made Veronica Mars into one of the all-time great cult TV series, and he's making iZombie into a more-than-worthy follow-up. It's a show with bite, badassery, and yes ... brains.

23. BROAD CITY

- You've got to love Broad City, Okay, maybe the show's sophomore season was a bit same-y at times in comparison to the breakthrough Season 1. But still, the comedic chemistry between Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer is unmatched, and I could watch these two get into big-city misadventures all day. Hannibal Buress also continues to be a really funny supporting character on the show as well. I can't wait to see where Season 3 takes us. Broad City has a crazy comic energy to it that makes it one of the most refreshingly funny series out there - with a unique voice that is wholly and completely its own.

24. CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND

- Rachel Bloom became a viral video sensation for combining smart ideas with anything-goes, surprisingly subversive comedy. She brings that same sort of killer comedy combo to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a show that's got a lot more going on than you might think at first glance. The show has an authenticity to it that keeps the comedy real, even as it goes crazy (no pun intended) with elaborate musical numbers that make it stand out from the rest of the comedy competition. The songs aren't just catchy though - they're hilarious, smart, and bitingly-satirical - with Rachel riffing on everything from Christmas in California to unrealistic beauty standards for women. So please don't assume that this show is fluff - it's anything but. In a short time, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has become a truly standout series - and Bloom has become one of the freshest voices in TV comedy.

25. MASTERS OF SEX

- Some derided S3 of Masters of Sex as a step-down in quality. I can see where some of the criticisms have validity - overall, the show lacked the sustained narrative drive of Seasons 1 and 2, and suffered a bit through plotlines that felt meandering or disposable (yes yes, we all know about the gorilla episode and how bad it was). But with that said, I still think this is one of the best overall dramas on TV, and even in a weaker season, it's got moments of true gravitas that are high-water marks of serialized storytelling. I mean, Michael Sheen continues to kill it on this show. He makes Dr. Masters a tragic hero, filled with hubris and epically poor judgement, but always charging forward with a determination to prove the world wrong. That determination and drive is what makes him such a great companion and foil for Lizzy Caplan's Virgina Johnson. The two have a captivating on-screen relationship that, for me, continues to make Masters of Sex a must-watch.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

- Children's Hospital
- Inside Amy Schumer
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- The Grinder
- The Goldbergs
- American Horror Story: Hotel
- Maron
- Portlandia
- Agent Carter
- Supergirl
- Orphan Black
- Scream Queens

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

a.) INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer"

- Inside Amy Schumer didn't quite crack my top 25 series list. But this one episode, "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer," was one of the best episodes of anything in 2015. Instead of the usual format of a few sketches mixed with interview segments, this one gave us one, episode-length short-film about a jury weighing in on Schumer's viability as a Hollywood actress. Absolutely scathing, incredibly funny, and completely on-point, the episode (filled with an all-star cast of comedy-royalty guest stars) is the best thing I've ever seen from Schumer and an all-time great episode of TV.

b.) THE GRINDER

- This one also didn't make my Top 25, but I have a strong feeling it will be there next year. The show is just getting started, but it's already one of the funniest comedies on the air. Rob Lowe continues his post-Parks and Rec momentum here, just spot-on hilarious as a former TV actor who played a lawyer now trying to be an actual lawyer. A great cast, sharp writing, lots of laughs - this is one to watch in 2016 and beyond.

c.) SUPERGIRL

- I wanted to mention Supergirl because it's still finding its legs, but it's got a ton of upside. Melissa Benoist is fantastic in the lead role, and as long as she's anchoring the show it's got all the potential in the world to be great. Recent episodes have begun to really capture the same sort of heart and comic book-inspired fun that makes The Flash work so well, so I think this is another show to really keep an eye on.

d.) BLACK MIRROR - "White Christmas"

- Black Mirror became a viral sensation in the US last year, when the British series was released on Netflix. Finally, just as 2015 is coming to a close, the series' Christmas special was made available in the US, and it's a hell of a holiday treat. A dark and disturbing Twilight Zone journey into a future-gone-wrong, this series of three interlocking holiday stories - featuring Jon Hamm - is another seminal installment of Black Mirror. This show is so good - I can't wait for the new episodes that Netflix is producing.


INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:


The Best TV Heroes of 2015:

1.) Raylan Givens - Justified
2.) Vanessa Ives - Penny Dreadful
3.) Lou Solverson and Hank Larrson - Fargo
4.) Liv Moore - iZombie
5.) Barry Allen and Kara Danvers - The Flash / Supergirl


The Best TV Villains of 2015:

1.) Boyd Crowder - Justified
2.) Avery Markham - Justified
3.) Hanzee and Mike Milliagan - Fargo
4.) Olivia Poole - Penny Dreadful
5.) Dr. Harrison Wells - Flash


The Best TV Anti-Heroes of 2015:

1.) Philip and Elizabeth Jennings - The Americans
2.) Saul Goodman and Mike Ehrmantraut  - Better Call Saul
3.) The Creature and Lily Frankenstein - Penny Dreadful
4.) The Countess, Liz Taylor, and James Patrick March - American Horror Story: Hotel
5.) Captain Cold - The Flash


Best Actress in a Comedy:

1.)  - Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation

Runners Up: Ellie Kemper - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Rachel Bloom - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend


Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy:

1.) Noel Wells - Master of None

Runners Up: Aubrey Plaza - Parks and Recreation, Gillian Jacobs - Community, Alison Brie - Community, Kristen Schaal - Last Man on Earth, Elizabeth Banks - Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp


Best Actor in a Comedy:

1.) Andy Daly - Review

Runners Up: Will Forte - The Last Man on Earth, Aziz Ansari - Master of None, Nathan Fielder - Nathan For You, Rob Lowe - The Grinder, Michael Showalter - Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp


Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy:

1.) Nick Offerman - Parks and Recreation

Runners Up: T.J. Miller - Silicon Valley, Chris Pratt - Parks and Recreation, Andre Braugher - Brooklyn Nine Nine, Christopher Maloney - Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp


Best Actress in a Drama:

1.) Eva Green - Penny Dreadful

Runners Up: Keri Russell - The Americans, Lizzy Caplan - Masters of Sex


Best Supporting Actress in a Drama:

1.)  Cristin Milioti - Fargo

Runners Up: Emilia Clarke - Game of Thrones, Lena Heady - Game of Thrones, Carly Chaikin - Mr. Robot, Portia Doubleday - Mr. Robot, Kirsten Dunst - Fargo


Best Actor in a Drama:

1.) Matthew Rhys - The Americans

Runners Up: Rami Malek - Mr. Robot, Patrick Wilson - Fargo, Michael Sheen - Masters of Sex, Bob Odenkirk - Better Call Saul, Timothy Olyphant - Justified


Best Supporting Actor in a Drama:

1.) Walton Goggins -  Justified

Runners Up:  Ted Danson - Fargo, Jesse Plemons - Fargo,  Evan Peters - American Horror Story: Hotel, Jonathan Banks - Better Call Saul, Martin Wallström - Mr. Robot


And there you have it, folks - my picks for the best TV of 2015.