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Before we make the perilous journey into the top 20 TV shows of the year, here are 5 which sadly did not make the cut:

 

Orange Is The New Black

Revenge

Body Of Proof

The Blacklist

Once Upon A Time

 

For various reasons, in the case of Revenge the middle of the second season was some of the most sluggish and misguided TV I have ever seen, for Body Of Proof is actually became a good TV show and lost about 80% of it's appeal (which was the utterly ridiculous and frankly amateur way in which it painted in the lives of the characters as if they were trying to fill in some kind of stereotype quota) and in the case of Once Upon A Time nothing really changed, it's equally as inept as it always was.

This shall be amazing *.* Looking forward to your top tunes of '13 ('What About Love' to be UP THERE pls :wub:), but TV shows too, yay :cheer:

#20 - Suburgatory

 

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This time last year Suburgatory was in my top 3, but what a difference a year makes. Or, more importantly, what a difference a misguided and frankly not very funny second season makes. The first season revelled in the ridiculous land of Chatswin, the fish out of water type stories weren't that different, but the jokes, the observational humour and the characters felt well thought out and if not original, well homed homages. However with much of the second season, and certainly every episode aired in 2013, the show attempted to change everyone and everything and as a result it totally lost it's footing and any sense of direction and character. The Dallas/George relationship for example was always on the cards, but week in week out it became a battle between the 2 to see which one would have to change who they were to keep the other. In the end, they broke up, which was for the best of the show. However, it made me think, WHY have we sat through 10 or so episode of this SHIT if this was always the endgame? Season 3 is yet to begin airing, but it seems that with ratings and critical appeal at an all time low, it's probably curtains for the show. Such a shame, but really, much of the potential was squandered with the second season, something true of ALL the 2011/12 season ABC shows on this list, bar one.

#19 - American Horror Story: Coven

 

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Quite probably the biggest ensemble cast of Queens of Life to ever be assembled for a TV show. As you would expect, therefore, the camp quotient has gone through the roof this season, but the actual story and plot development seem to have been left in a pile of rotting zombie corpses. I'm still very much enjoying the show as a series of ludicrous occurrences strung together by a group of fabulous women, but it also feels rather lacking, compared with both previous season's. I know S1 came in for a lot of flack, especially after Asylum, but for me it got the balance between ludicrous and compelling just right, S2 did too, but this, this is just a directionless mess right now. Perhaps most worryingly is the fact that DEATH is a seemingly meaningless concept within this world. Fair enough in S1 they came back, but as GHOSTS (or something), but in this case they can come back. Full stop.

 

Anyway, onto the positives, Jessica Lange is, as ever, just incredible. I will be sad to see her go after S4, but with Angela Bassette and Kathy Bates (plus the usual recurring characters from Frances Conroy) it's still sure to be filled with fabulous old women doing little more than reveling in how wonderful they are.

Not seen any of 'Suburgatory' and not really inclined to watch it at all. :lol: Neither have I seen 'American Horror Story: Coven', but Kathy Bates is a wonderful actress; love most of her work. Possibly worth giving a try? hmm

#18 NTSF:SD::SUV

 

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I doubt many of you have even heard of this before. It's a 15 minute show that runs on Adult Swim and the only reason I know about it is because of Kate Mulgrew. I'm very glad I stumbled upon it though, because in terms of parody shows, this is one of the best. It's essentially a meta-parody, with basically anything and everything being lampooned at one point or another. The MAIN crux behind the show is an NCIS/CSI type dynamic, with the National Terrorist Strike Fore:San Diego:Sports Utility Vehicle team solving crimes, or rather attempting to solve crimes but more often than not simply stumbling into the right place at the right time. It's well written and well paced, which is very important for a show which half the time of a normal comedy to pack in the beginning, middle and end of a story. Karen Gillan joined this series and was a very welcome addition, bringing a very odd and very geeky sensibility to the already odd and geeky show.

Not seen any of 'Suburgatory' and not really inclined to watch it at all. :lol: Neither have I seen 'American Horror Story: Coven', but Kathy Bates is a wonderful actress; love most of her work. Possibly worth giving a try? hmm

 

 

Oh definitely. She's not a MAIN player (it's very much an ensemble cast, but Jennifer Lange is the lead) but because it's an anthology show you only need to watch about 7 episode to be caught up with this season.

#17 - Major Crimes

 

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The spin-off to one of my all time favourite shows, The Closer. Major Crimes began in 2012, directly after that show finished, and really IS a continuation by another name. That's not a bad thing though as what lifts this above virtually every other procedural for me is the incredibly strong character dynamics. They've been together for over 8 years now, everyone knows what works and how to make the show work. There's not a lot else to say really, other than it's great and long may it continue.

Oh definitely. She's not a MAIN player (it's very much an ensemble cast, but Jennifer Lange is the lead) but because it's an anthology show you only need to watch about 7 episode to be caught up with this season.

I'll add it to my list then (aka will watch it sometime in the VERY distant future - still need to watch more 'Person of Interest' :lol:)

 

OH SO THAT'S WHERE EYE-PATCH WOMAN COMES FROM.

#16 - The Fall

 

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One of the main advantages of BBC drama is the quality, but this quality is also assisted greatly by the fact each season (bar a handful of shows) is around 4-6 episodes long. It means stories don't get diluted across twice as many episodes as they ought to be as they do with some US dramas. The Fall was incredibly compelling TV, not least because Gillian and Jamie are both on fine form (and both very attractive and very watchable). It follows the story of a rapist/murdered in Belfast, played by Jamie, and the police officer, played by Gillian, brought in at first to investigate the case but then to head up the task force trying to catch him. It's a tightly woven plot, which ends with the police working out who he is, but just AFTER he works out they are onto him and does a runner with his family. It's been commissioned for a second season and thus the final scene is his chatting to Gillian on the phone and tasking her with catching him, despite the fact she'll never be able to find him (or so he thinks).

#15 - Doctor Who

 

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Also taking a tumble this year is Doctor Who, which has just celebrated 50 years (minus 16) on our screens. The Day Of The Doctor is a large part of the reason the show is this high, coupled with the brilliant series ending episode The Name of The Doctor. S7.5 was a rather lacklustre affair, sadly. Much has been said and will continue to be said about the job Moffat has done/is doing as showrunner and head writer, but for me he's not done a very good job. The issue I have isn't with HIS writing, his is brilliant and the high point of this past series. It's that he has allowed 3/4 rubbish scripts through and then allowed them to be made into poor episodes. It saddens me to see a show with so much potential flail around making silly and often stupid episode such as The Rings of Akhaten. The overuse of Deus Ex Machina has also been a concern. If you're going to create a villain as a rival for The Doctor, at least TRY and make them seem like a real threat. We KNOW he will triumph, but if all he has to do is re-tune the sonic and wave it about a bit then it feels insulting to the intelligence of the fans and also shows a lack of confidence in the idea and story too. I'm sorry that this seems to be all doom and gloom, it's not. Matt Smith has acted the shit out of every scene this year basically and now ranks as my favourite Doctor, so I shall be especially sad to see him go. Capaldi is a bold choice for his replacement, but I think the show needs a direction change, so hopefully this will be the impetus it needs to do just that.

OMG YAY :cheer:

 

NOT HERE for this 'The Rings of Akhaten' shade though. Fabulous episode that gets far too much hate. :( (ALSO NOT HERE FOR THE MOFFAT SHADE. He is the best writer/executive the show has ever had. literally. I am his only defendant among fans though :cry:)

#14 - American Dad

 

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Family Guy has gone largely to shit, The Simpsons hasn't been good in over a decade and South Park is sporadic at best. That leaves one of the 'big' animated comedies standing, American Dad. It really is going from strength to strength right now. Obviously characters like Roger are easy to write for, they do whatever and don't really give a f***, but the show wins, for me, with the sheer level of detail is puts into each story and the pay offs within. Unlike Family Guy which treats the audience as idiots who need the joke spelling out to them, American Dad is more subtle. Obviously it can be pretty simple at times too, but it's the layers of comedy and levels of jokes which raise it to the level of 'great' for me. It's moving to TBS next year, which hopefully means it won't have too many network bigwigs leaning in and trying to change it, when it works just fine as is.

OMG YAY :cheer:

 

NOT HERE for this 'The Rings of Akhaten' shade though. Fabulous episode that gets far too much hate. :( (ALSO NOT HERE FOR THE MOFFAT SHADE. He is the best writer/executive the show has ever had. literally. I am his only defendant among fans though :cry:)

 

Oh Calum, it feels like we've had this discussion a thousand times! Lets just agree to disagree, I HOPE than Moffat can bring it back next series, I really do.

Oh Calum, it feels like we've had this discussion a thousand times! Lets just agree to disagree, I HOPE than Moffat can bring it back next series, I really do.

:lol:

 

I think he will get back to being fab with Peter. Change of face will come with a change of scripts (and hopefully they'll be more mature!). I think it was a bit of a challenge (or became a bit of a bore) him writing for Matt in the end, as well as with other writers too.

#13 - Masters Of Sex

 

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A period sex drama. Well, not really. It's about the experiments in the 1960's by William Masters and Virginia Johnson to understand human sexuality. Really though, that's just the backdrop for some wonderful characters and relationships. The main relationship is Bill and Virginia. We know they got married in real life eventually, but the show isn't rushing things and that makes the slow revelation that they have more than friend feelings for each other feel quite natural to the viewer. There are also issues dealing with homosexuality, feminism and a whole host of other very interesting and thought provoking topics. The show deals with them all in a mostly clever way too, though at times does feel the need to spell things out just a little too much, which is why it isn't higher on this list.

:lol:

 

I think he will get back to being fab with Peter. Change of face will come with a change of scripts (and hopefully they'll be more mature!). I think it was a bit of a challenge (or became a bit of a bore) him writing for Matt in the end, as well as with other writers too.

 

Hmm, if it became a chore to write those episodes I can only feel that would be because they wrote themselves into a corner with the stories that came before.

American Dad *.*

 

Roger is easily one of my favourite cartoon characters. Hilarious.

#12 - Parks And Recreation

 

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I must STRESS that this is only based on 2013 episodes! Overall the show, which I marthoned this summer, is probably in my top 20 of all time now. The real issue here isn't with the back half of S5, but rather with S6. The dynamic is missing, which can't be helped as Chris Pratt is off filming a movie, Rashida is hardly every there and Aubrey Plaza seems to be phoning it in (which might sound alright, but it takes a lot of skill to act THAT disinterested in life/everything going on around you!). Amy Poehler is as glorious as always, but the show does seem to have run out of steam a little.

 

Anyway onto the good stuff. It's still very funny, yay. Ron Swanson is just a truly glorious comic creation, as is Donna and Councilman Jam too, even though they might want to lay off using him a BIT given he's been in basically every episode this season.