[collin]

Watched all that's out of Parks & Rec this semester Love it and can't wait for season 7.

[Pedro]

Sadly I am not familiar with any of those tv shows I should start watch more though

[AshleeSimpsonFan]

I need to check out those TV Shows!

[Bloomers]

Community and Parks And Rec are two of my favorite TV shows. I'm like a season behind on each though. ANd seeing those shows together makes me miss 30 Rock too

I kind of want to watch Jane The Virgin.

[Allstar]

#10 - Utopia

No, this is not about that stupid American reality show. This is about that cool, stylish, ****ing amazing show no one cares about that won this year's Best International Drama and rightfully so.
'Utopia' is about a group of people who find themselves in possession of a manuscript of a cult graphic novel called “The Utopia Experiments”, which is rumored to have predicted the worst disasters of the last century. Subsequently, social commentary and criticism of every negative aspect that defines our modern world always accompany this show wherever it goes. The first season had problems being comfortable in the niche it single-handedly tried to create for itself but once it settled down it picked up so much steam that the second season had no choice but to be even better. And it was.

As the showrunners said themselves while picking up their bittersweet win on that victorious night Utopia is 'dirty, nasty, dark and twisted'. No other British show can compete with it when it comes to balancing style and substance, eerie and creeping suspension with intense climaxes or ingenious, dark and horrible characters whose fate you still root for. In fact, even all American shows can hardly compete with such a show-off of trademarks. Of course, the premise's straight-forward criticism on society, business or environmental issues gives 'Utopia' an advantage to other shows as there's no need for forced or lazy writing for the sake of substance anymore.

However, you would be completely wrong to think that's what makes Utopia so ****ing great. It's only one ingredient out of so many to make it this delicious and spicy tv dish it is. Whether you're looking for a brave show to break down narrative norms with one of the best and most effective flashback episodes of a show ever or for something outlandish and incredibly stylish by using its gritty color filters to underline moods, emphasize on actions and events or hint towards future happenings. Utopia is just that well-thought out.
And still, only during very few moments does this show's complexity and structure feel calculated or prevent its audience from getting heavily invested into it. You could rid this cult phenomenon off of all its subtext and messages and would still be left with some of the most intense and riveting moments to leave you breathless and one of the coolest, craziest character palettes to have been used to color a show with.

So it didn't get picked up for a final season. It was never really about not knowing whether our gang could stop the comics from turning into reality or not and save the world from creating a 'Utopia'. It was always completely aware of that and thus, only wanted to take the viewers on a ride as to how these things were going to happen. The American HBO remake lies in masterful hands being controlled by power-duo Fincher (who was already involved in the first season) and Gilian Flynn. Will it be as stylish or cool or outlandish as its British version? Certainly not but I have no doubt it's going to tell us the story in just another gritty, twisted way.

Best Episodes: "Episode 1"; "Episode 4"; "Episode 5"; "Episode 6"

[Allstar]

#9 - Hannibal

We've gotten many Hannibal stories ever since the immense popular and critical success the classic 'Silence of the Lambs' has enjoyed. Spin-offs, prequels, sequels or entire re-boots. All of them had one thing in common, however - they were on film.

As a direct result out of the latest crime show wave we've had in the last two years every single tv channel tried to ride on one of NBC's responses was to create its own version of one of the most memorable and iconic fictional villains of all time. Surely a bold move as there was no network crime show in recent years to be of significant quality many - me included - were skeptical about yet another one trying to tell their story of Hannibal. For a decade now the darkest stories and antiheroes have been much more embraced by the tv community than by film so it didn't seem too out of place to bring Hannibal into this landscape.

Its first season proved that doubts were unfounded as the show worked on an extremely solid weekly procedural level. Solid because 'Hannibal' stuck to its formula of psychologically profiling a new serial murder every week while digging deeper into our the cannibal's own sinister mind. It worked on a slow pace never trying to progress with haste successfully avoiding sudden decline. Yet, surprisingly at the very end of its debut season 'Hannibal' tore down the comfortable walls of formula and structure it functioned in weekly and set up the next season so strongly the sky should become the show's limit in telling its story.

And so it was. 'Hannibal' turned into something so extremely psychologically twisted - more than anything else you would imagine a network to be -, something so grotesque, dark yet somehow beautiful and well-crafted once the show freed itself from its network flavour and just did whatever it wanted to do. The studies between the show's two leads Hannibal and Graham became even more complex and richer and turned into a kind of relationship that had yet to be seen on tv. A vision of dark and evil things men will do to each other and a vision of the love that can trigger it and linger inside the shadows.

It wasn't a perfect season as it unfortunately had a few episodes return to its procedural storytelling. However, its two final episodes contained the most graphic scenes I haven't just seen on a network channel but ever. The glorious finale is undeniably one of 2014's best episodes - fierce, masterfully crafted and a proud show-off of all the great traits this show is now defined by.

Get your utensils and napkins ready because there is no reason the third dish of 'Hannibal' is going to be less tasty or less bloody.

Best Episodes: "Takiawase"; "Mukozuke"; "Su-zakana"; "Tome-wan"; "Mizumono"

[Allstar]

#8 - Rectify

Last year, Sundance became a serious competitor having aired three incredibly high-profile shows - Les Revenants, Top of the Lake and its own production 'Rectify', the only one not a miniseries. While they didn't have any new show to brag about in 2014 at least they could use 'Rectify's second season to show off. Its first one was good by all means but nowhere as profound or ambitious as this second one has been as stakes have risen and thematics became even more meaningful.

'Rectify' is about a man who was convicted for murder as a teenage boy and spends decades in the death row. As the series sets up he's being released due to new evidence thanks to modern DNA technology. At first, the show dealt with small-town dynamics and seeing our protagonist thrown into this modern world whose progress he hasn't been able to experience ever since he was 18. Through the first season's very minimalistic approach and tackling of the questions of what a person with a lack of practical life experience feels and refused to take a stand on whether or not this character we were analysing weekly was guilty or not and by that they practically dared us in the bravest way to question our own views on guilt, justice and prejudice.

'Rectify's second season aimed higher and didn't just focus on what it's like to re-enter the 20th century but wanted to find a place for Daniel in this judgmental and prejudicial world as absurd and surreal that one may be. Yet, it reached even further as the show focused on the directions, motivations and needs of all the seemingly southern stereotypes it had shored up in the past and started on forming its entire cast into real human beings instead of just tools being used to tell Daniel's story. The questionmark of uncertainty grew bigger as the show's blurred lines of morals and complexity moved into the center.

Both dream-like and quite experimential, 'Rectify' embraced a strange and new way of storytelling in 2014 that made the show less coherent and more cohesive at the same time which proved to be surprisingly efficient and perfect. More deeply felt and thought-out and more ambitious than its first season 'Rectify' became more than just a character study. It's become a tale about a second chance at life.

Best Episodes: “Donald The Normal”; “Act As If”; “Weird As You”; “The Great Destroyer”; “Unhinged”

[Allstar]

#7 - Game of Thrones

HBO's 'Game of Thrones' has long become a definite tv classic and a staple for every tv fan of this world. A show bolstering one of the biggest tv productions ever, having one of the most well-rounded ensemble casts and thoroughly long streaks of great episodes it has also secured itself a place as one of the best shows of all-time. Whether its three last seasons are going to change that or not doesn't matter now.

This fantasy medieval-epic is one of the very few shows that have been able to not only constantly deliver a weekly high-level foundation of quality but also has the ability to surprise, shock and grip its viewers at the end of every episode in a new way and thus has given us not one or two but several of the most memorable moments of tv. Almost every character has become a fully fleshed out person with one redeeming or at least relatable character trait. The different parties partaking in its current war are full of people we root for and full of the ones we despise and by that 'Game of Thrones' has blurred the moral lines better than most fictional or non-fictional stories ever have. Its production value, super atmospheric score and top-notch acting add even more to this show's weekly foundation.

So, enough with the good things as everybody knows what makes 'Game of Thrones' so great. After four seasons the show's flaws just start sticking out stronger than ever. Daenerys has transformed into the show's weakest and less interesting character as her development for not only this year but the last two years has almost been non-existent. Yes, we've finally seen her in an extremely interesting angle that could have turned her character into the majestic and fierce woman it wants to be but unfortunately the writers gave her a lazy opt-out and refrained from anything that could alienate the audience and turn them away from her. For a show so morally complex with an aim on wanting to depict complex people with flaws and weaknesses and one that puts such a heavy emphasis on wanting to be unpredictable it's never good to make people root for one specific character.
It doesn't stop here, though. Over the course of the last four years 'Game of Thrones' unpredictability has somehow turned into... predictabilty. Not so much in us being able to guess what's going to happen rather than just always expecting something to happen. Granted, there are only few times the show didn't deliver what we wanted but every now and then a calm ending does come by and by setting up a false notion about its own show the writers might have harmed themselves more than done good. The series is almost single-handedly known for its shocking twists which is sad considering that every other strong quality this show does have in its bag is being put in the background - and all for this one moment to please a big demographic.

I for one have started welcoming a melancholic ending more and more. I am glad to have read in recent interviews that even the two showrunners are completely aware of said problem and have already started working on it shown by the fourth season's hopeful and heroic final scene. The fact that 'Game of Thrones' lies in such self-critical and self-aware hands makes me confident it might really be able to deliver until its very end even once the writers start reaching the point of having no source material to draw from anymore. Those are worrisome prospects but so far 'Game of Thrones' team has proven itself to be worthy of telling such a grand and epic tale in a profound way.

Best Episodes: "Breaker of Chains"; “First Of His Name”; “The Laws Of Gods And Men”; "Mockingbird"; “The Mountain And The Viper”

[Allstar]

#6 - Fargo

'Fargo' shouldn't have worked and should have utterly failed. Who the hell has the nerve to adapt one of modern cinema's most acclaimed pieces over a 10-episode-long miniseries? Treading into almost uncharted territory so far and having to work on a high level of difficulty Noah Hawley and his writers somehow still managed to pull this series off . And boy did they pull it off.

Taking out pivotal elements that made the film so memorable 'Fargo' told us a story about good versus evil in one of the most profound ways to have ever seen on tv. Week after week it delivered all around top-notch quality, suspense and found their own sense of dark humour that used to define the movie.

The show's strongest aspect is by far its versatile set of characters. Martin Freeman's Lester Nygaard who goes through a strange and twisted transformation into a cowardly anti-hero and thus delivering one of the most interesting character developments all year. The show's clear heroine and feminist by defaul Molly Solverson who is so impeccably acted by Alison Tolman giving her debut in this show was easily one of last year's best characters and it became clear that one of the show's biggest problems was to not pay her enough respect and justice. And then there's the show's representation of evil - Billy Bob Thornton's strong character portrayal as Lorne Malvo - a though, immoral and incredibly clever villain with no sense for guilt at all.

There were frustrating things about 'Fargo', though. In full awareness the writers set up its entire season trying to tell a huge and cinematic-scaled story about the fight between good and bad yet it couldn't deliver at the very end when it should have done. We never got our promised hero-villain showdown and were left with an extremely anti-climactic resolution that didn't fit the tone nor the message of the show's otherwise cohesive message. However, despite the show's permanent depressing, gritty and lonely vibes it had a refreshing hopeful final notion that served as a great contrast to other series' finales.

'Fargo' was a grand and epic story that was done justice on all scales previously mentioned as well as its atmospheric, frory score and its beautiful snowy landscape ambience. It might have aimed lower than other shows but in doing so achieved so much more. A second series with Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons sounds just as promising and I have no doubt that even if it might not be as great it will deliver yet another superb addition to the fictional universe of 'Fargo'.

Best Episodes: “The Crocodile's Dilemma”; "The Six Ungraspables"; "Buridan's Ass"; “A Fox, A Rabbit, And A Cabbage”

[K$Ellie]

TBBT
It's not as funny as it used to be but I still love it

[Bloomers]

I love Game of Thrones, I just need to catch up on the books before I watch the series further

I've been meaning to watch Hannibal, I'm convinced and going to watch now.

Get your utensils and napkins ready because there is no reason the third dish of 'Hannibal' is going to be less tasty or less bloody.

This line was amazing

[katyperryismylife]

You still have the chance to put The Leftovers in your #1 spot. Think wisely!

[Superiore]

I watched some episodes of Hannibal. I found it cute but not great

Game of Thrones is on its way to be a classic tho

[Allstar]

Originally posted by Superiore

I watched some episodes of Hannibal. I found it cute but not great

Must have been the first season as I stated!

[Superiore]

Originally posted by Allstar

Must have been the first season as I stated!

Yeah, that was it. The second season still hasn't been aired here so I don't know about it

[Elusive Chanteuse]

YAS Allstar.

[AshleeSimpsonFan]

All my friends are obsessed with Game of Thrones, I need to check out that show!

[Allstar]

Top TV Comedies

#5 - You're The Worst

This is about the two worst people on earth you can think of. The most narcissistic, self-centered and egoistic man and woman who find each other and then go on to have the best worst relationship ever.
'You're the Worst' needed a little time to really get going where it wanted to, setting up its characters at all the right places, but once this FX comedy got to those places it wasn't just a comedy anymore. It became something to be interpreted and viewed in various ways. A simplistic rom-com show about these two awful protagonists falling in love with each other and finding a way to redemption. Or is it a cynical & satirical view on two people so horrible they should be locked away together and we should be happy about them resorting to themselves other than bringing bad things to the world?

It doesn't really matter how you decide to view it or if you care about interpreting it at all. 'You're The Worst' is more than anything still a comedy and as a representation of that genre it delivers on all accounts. The two leads give great performances and are backed up by two yet another great supporting actors. The show has episodes branching out of the usual tv storytelling-formula, some nice comedian cameos and is just all-around a darkly funny, narcissistic series that should please everyone. It's truly amazing how 'You're The Worst' has transformed into one of the best and most interesting shows of the year.

Best Episodes: “Sunday Funday”; “PTSD”; "Finish Your Milk"; "Constant Horror and Bone-Deep Dissatisfaction"; “Fists And Feet And Stuff”

#4 - Girls

Yes, you're seeing it right. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I just put HBO's 'Girls' on the fourth spot on my best of. Most of you have never given this series a chance and more than likely the other half of you has already stopped watching it because either

a) you were biased from the beginning due to your unfounded hate towards Lena Dunham.
b) you can't deal with the "mumblecore"-generation, can't appreciate other people not drawing life as filled with happy endings and full of daisys.
or c) the second season was incohesive and inconsistent you were so impatient that you gave up immediately.

Lucky me, I stayed loyal to the show, never hopped onto ATRL's very transparent love-to-hate bandwagon this show's had in a fickle short span of less than a year and was able to experience one of the best dramedy seasons of 2014.
'Girls' always had a lot of flaws, a lot! Its major eyesore for me has always been that after two years it amounted to almost nothing. While the characters' lives did somehow move forward or shatter in pieces (mostly shattered in pieces) they still didn't get any personal development. This had gotten to the point I even asked myself why the hell I was still watching it.

This year, however, all four of these girls were confronted with life and each other in ways that had been mostly undiscovered territory for the show at that point and out of nowhere 'Girls' suddenly built itself a strong foundation week after week. Its protagonist Hannah actually saw professional and creative success. Shoshanna was confronted with the fact that things rarely play out the way you want to and no carefully organized life-plan is going to change that. Marnie finally got confronted with the fact that the world does not revolve around her and Jessa's ark consisted of more than a clichéd artistic free ~hipster/indie lifestyle but finally had to encounter some of its very harsh consequences.
In this year's best moments the show was full of interesting relationship and friendship dynamics (one of the best depictions of decaying friendships there was, actually) and not only approached its flaws but tried to tackle them in a very effective way. Instead of pushing us away from the so self-obsessed Hannah, they made us understand her and gave back her relatability. Instead of continuously setting everyone up to fail we got a depiction of life that is still dark but also hopeful for the audience to not only be frustrated anymore after every single week.

For me, it's been a strong season that successfully blended comedy and drama like only very few shows have done this year and I am glad it returned to form like this. Its finale set up the next season in a strong direction so 'Girls' could potentially still stay as great.
Many still won't like it and this season more than likely isn't going to change their minds but I dare ask you the question: Do you actually not like it, or maybe do you not want to like it?

Best Episodes: "Beach House"; "Flo"; "Two Plane Rides"

#3 - Broad City

We've had a lot of new hilarious comedies in 2014, many thanks to Comedy Central's bold decisions of giving not yet famous comedians a platform to speak on. None, however, was as downright funny or out there as 'Broad City'. Both Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson who have an astonishing dynamic found their comedic voice so quickly and that despite branching out into very experimential storytelling at times.
It's easy to compare this show to HBO's peer 'Girls' as both are centered around female characters in New York but Glazer's and Jacobson's show doesn't want to be any more than it is. 'Broad City's focus is much more fortrightly comedic than the latter and probably anything else on tv right now, as well. These two wonderful women successfully expanded from a web series onto the tv platform without losting any of their distinctive qualities - in fact they even perfectly embraced them as a lot of the show's moments feel like the internet is speaking right to us. The girls' openness to try things out and see where it leads them shouldn't always work but for most of the time it actually does and that is to a huge extent thanks to their confidence and wacky performances. Throughout almost all of their debut season both were in total command of their comedic (and at times dramatic) vision and thus delivered not only a refreshing and interesting addition to tv but also crafted the best new comedy of the year.

It's very likely that 'Broad City' is going to keep on growing, maybe even maturing, and subsequently possibly also help Comedy Central to mature simultaneously. For now it's a lightly funny and experimantial, wacky show carried by two strong women who make all that trying-but-failing in life we're so used to actually fun. 'Broad City' wasn't just one of the best comedies in 2014 but one of the best shows period. It's so good because in a time where most comedies have started including more and more dramatic elements this show just wants to be purely funny and nothing else.

Best Episodes: "Fattest Asses"; "Destination Wedding"; "Apartment Hunters"; "Last Supper"

#2 - Veep

'Veep' has been called the best and most accurate depiction of how politics works behind-the-scenes by many famous politicians, though it's hard for me to believe that any of them share the same charm and humour as Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Its first two seasons were very strong but with the third season 'Veep' took out the big guns and reached full potential finally showing what this political comedy was truly capable of. Armando Iannucci has already proved himself before with 'In the Loop' and 'The Thick of It', however, never had he reached this kind of poignancy and insiciveness ever before.

He uses Dreyfus as his tool to make fun of the vice president's office - one that seems to be incredibly overlooked and underappreciated. Aware of that the show comes up with many hilarious moments of our own Veep, Selina Meyer, that are full of narcissism and over-the-top ridiculousness she seems to suffer from. Yet, she's ambitious and tries to stand up for her own views even if at times she's not quite sure which one she shares as shown in one of the show's best hours about the US' hot topic of abortion. A primary example of how the show even works as a satire softly but still sharply poking fun at how women's bodies and problems have become politicalized to a point where it's not about the topic itself anymore but moreso about approval or validation.

'The Choice' was just one of many smart, funny and satirical episodes of its kind 'Veep's third season delivered. This comedy was better and more profound than it had been before and as a result Selina Meyer's attempts at making the world a better place and trying to be rightly acknowledged have become more interesting than ever. Sue, did the president call?

Best Episodes: "The Choice"; "Alicia"; "Clovis"; "Debate"; "Crate"

#1 - The Comeback

Wow. Just wow. After a good first season with some nice criticism on the tv business world our most favorite sassy, spicy and emotional ginger was back after 9 years. And damn was The Comeback's comeback big. This show was always meta and incredibly insightful considering how very accurately it's prophecied the rise of reality tv shows almost a decade ago and was one of the forerunners to combine comedy with dramatic elements so sharply on tv.

Yet no one was prepared for how the show's second season would has given a much more raw and honest insight on how tv production works and how cruel the business can be than the first one has ever even dared to. Valerie Cherish is an upright person who not only needs but desperately seeks out attention and validation from everyone. She has serious self-confidence issues and just wants everybody to get along. So basically she's someone who simply doesn't have the guts to stand foot in the gruesome world of television. However, she's also ambitious, stubborn and passionate about her work so amidst all the evil caricatures she's able to draw herself a path and always find a way back to success as in this season. It's heartbreaking to see Valerie being confronted with the disparity between the reality and the false notions of herself and her environment she's created to hide and protect herself - whether it comes to the discontinuity and lack of love, understanding and communication that's making her once functionable relationship miserably fail or her frequent disability to understand other people's dislike towards her.
However, Valerie's false view on things is also the reason for her genuinity, sincerity and humbleness which is why rare moments when people in the show are complimenting and applauding her are so precious.
Kudrow's immaculate performance and messages are being perfectly underlined by the show's mockumentary-style of direction always able to capture her genuine emotions while establishing a distressing feeling in the audience who can't help but feel they're imposing thanks to every little and embarassing moment of her life being documented.

'The Comeback's finale wrapped the show up better than any other show has been closed all year. It was a season brave enough to depict cringeworthy delusions, that didn't shy away from exploring the darkest of all corners and even turn its so sympathetic protagonist into someone who's being sucked up by the industry's horrible standards. Yet, its final message was a positive one. One that fit the series' and most importantly Valerie Cherish's character better than anything else could have done. Maybe good things happen to good people after all. And maybe there are still happy endings if we're aware enough that we can be responsible for our own fates.

Best Episodes: ALL of them. Deal with it.

[Subomie]

stan for lisa

[Kang.]

LOVE all these shows, I wanna start watching Veep tbh.