SPOILERS
Veep
berselius: I enjoyed the show in its first season, but it somehow found an even higher gear in its second season as it sanded off its few rough edges. Gary is pretty much never not hilarious, and the way everyone despises Jonah is made even more hilarious by just how despicable he really is. Pretty much the only complaint I have at this point is that they don't use Anna Chulmsky enough.
Best episode: Helsinki, and not just for the rare Dave Foley appearance.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
berselius: I was pretty excited about this Ken Tremendous run show, and haven't been disappointed. It definitely has more laugh out loud moments than any comedies I've watched in a while, save for possibly the 30 Rock joke machine. Inevitably it is going to be compared to Parks and Rec, and you can see a lot of the same elements in both. The show has an incredible ensemble cast, and managed to flesh everyone out very quickly. Even Scully and Hitchcock, the Jerrys of this universe, have had plenty of things to do. Unfortunately, much like early Parks and Rec the main problem with the show is its main character. Season one Leslie Knope was kind of annoying, even without the lazy Michael Scott comparison, but in season two they managed to turn the annoying parts of her personality into her strengths, and now she's easily one of my favorite characters on TV. I'm not nearly as frustrated with Andy Samberg's Jake Peralta on 99 as many of the TV critics, but it's safe to say that I've enjoyed everyone else in the cast more than him. I'm not really sure what the show can do to tone him down though. Leslie's weirdness comes from her insanely high confidence and belief in government, but Peralta is just kind of a clown. The writing and the rest of the cast are more than enough to carry his weight until they get it figured out.
sitrick: I don't think Samberg's character is really that annoying, and I've been extremely pleased with the way the show has started off. MY WIFE WAS KILLED BY A MAN IN A YELLOW SWEATER. Please sign this.
berselius: I guess I should say I don't really find him annoying, but just find him to be the least interesting of all the characters in the cast. This is definitely my favorite comedy on TV right now.
Best episode so far: Halloween. Which is not that surprising as my favorite P&R episode is probably Pikitis.
Trophy Wife
berselius: Great show, awful title, though not quite as bad as Cougar Town's. The critics had good things to say about this show before it started, but the main reason I was interested in watching it was that Sarah Haskins is one of the creators, she of the hilarious Target Women sketches from a few years ago. The adults are great, but where the show really shines are the kids. Bert especially steals pretty much any scene he's in, and Warren and Hillary are delightfully weird in their own ways. Diane could have been pretty one note, but they've done a good job writing her and she has great chemistry with everyone on the cast. Jackie can be kind of tedious in her zaniness at times, but they still manage to get a lot out of it (best example – having her take care of Pete while Kate is off chaperoning).
Best episode so far: the recent Christmas episode, where the adults attempt to reconstruct their absinthe-fueled Christmas Eve, Hangover-style.
30 Rock
berselius: I've been going back and forth over the past few years as to what was my favorite of the NBC Thursday comedy block over the last decade or so. Early Office was great and set the stage for the rest of these shows, and Parks and Rec and Community both had the lead for a while, but I loved 30 Rock's entire run, including the relatively critically panned fourth season. Obviously Liz, Jack, and Tracy are the main characters of the show but what really helped the run of the show as it went on was their fleshing out of Jenna, who was always an underrated character on the show. What other show could have a more out there capstone for a main character than Jenna crashing a funeral to marry a drag queen that impersonates her, and have their relationship actually feel earned. They ran out of stuff to do with Kenneth and the writers as the show went on (we needed more Yes! Hornberger!) but still managed to keep things fairly fresh, and experimented with live shows and a full-on Bravo reality show spoof.
The final season pulled out all the stops, bringing back all their best guest stars and recurring characters. Including Leo Spaceman, Devon Banks, Haley Hooper, Colleen Donaghy, Paul, Cooter Burger, and the always hilarious Dennis Duffy. The only black mark on the season was the unfunny craziness of Hazel, which is too bad as I like Kristen Schaal.
Best episode: Hard to pick, but probably Game Over. You have to love a good quintuple-cross, and this one managed to include both Jack's great rivalry with Devon and his 16-year old nemesis.
Game of Thrones
sitrick: The show that launched a thousand YouTube clips. Everyone is going to remember the Red Wedding from this season (don't google that if you aren't caught up), but in my mind the most impressive thing about this season was the humanizing of Jaime Lannister, a seemingly irredeemable character that might now be my favorite on the show. Season 3 at times felt aimless — too much attention for my tastes was focused on Ramsey Bolton's torture of Theon Greyjoy, and I hope next season Jon Snow gets more to do than looking pained and conflicted — but the show pulled everything together well enough by the season's end that I'm more than excited to see where the second half of A Storm of Swords takes us.
berselius: I've had my quibbles with the adaptation along the way, most notably how badly they whiffed on Littlefinger's characterization. But they hit a home run and then some this season on what was one of the biggest surprises of the third book, namely, Jaime Lannister becoming a far more sympathetic character (you thought I'd say something else? 😉 ). I'm happy with the adaptation overall and badly wish HBO would break its custom and give the show an extra two or three episodes to breathe per season.
Being Human (UK)
berselius: I binged on the whole run of this show earlier this year, and finished just in time to catch the final, lame duck season. The short description of the show is basically that there is a werewolf, vampire, and ghost living together in the same flat. While the main story arcs deal with supernatural-y things, the series really is mostly about simply getting by and found families, always some of my favorite subject matter. The final season began with yet another partial cast turnover, and the new cast member (Kate Bracken) quickly found her way into the main ensemble. It very strange to look at the episode list and see that she was a main cast member in just the six episodes of season 5. It felt like we had been watching her for years.
Best episode: The finale – should have kept them together. Though my favorite episode from the season was Pie and Prejudice.
The Walking Dead
berselius: This has been the trendy show for critics to piss on for the past few years. If I have any beef with modern tv criticism, it is the over emphasis on character. Yes, great characters are awesome and it's what made Breaking Bad and half a hundred other shows as good. But critics seem to be baffled as to why TWD is the highest rated cable show of all time (ZOMG, why aren't they watching BB or Mad Men on the same channel?!!!). Plot gets short shrift these days, and (generall) plot is still what drives the ratings. Just look at all the CBS procedurals, which are about as plot-heavy as you can get. But they're also (mostly) restricted to being episodic. There are very few serial dramas that focus on plot over character – off the top of my head I think of TWD, 24, Game of Thrones (more below), and the ever-ridiculous True Blood. If there's enough action/danger/weird shit going on then I don't care how two dimensional the characters are.
The main character of The Walking Dead is the danger of zombies and the setting, and what drives the show is the sense that anything can happen. We're watching for cool shit, not because we care particularly much about Rick, or Carl, or creepy rat mutilating girl, or whoever. Game of Thrones picks up a lot of this too, and I think the sheer number of characters on the show has given the writers a pass on not characterizing everyone as much as critics 'expect' a Respected Drama to do, not to mention the implicit Genre Show bias.
sitrick: I understand why it's a popular show, but I've always found its pacing to be problematic and its character motivations to be inexplicable. I don't necessarily need three-dimensional characters (see: Archer) but I do need to understand why characters are doing what they're doing. Much of the time The Walking Dead seems to reverse engineer character motivations to fit where the story needs to go, and that causes problems (at least for me). I don't begrudge anyone their love of the show, but it's definitely not for me.
dmick89: I keep hearing how I need to watch this show and would gladly accept it's good tv based on what I've read, but it's not for me either.
Orphan Black
berselius: Just a fantastic show from start to finish. Tatiana Maslany has obviously gotten all the accolades and deservedly so for playing four+ distinct characters. But the rest of the cast was great too – especially Felix, who is never not funny, and Art, who always cracks me up because he seems to think that he's the hero in a cop movie in every scene. The only real misstep in the season was the weird sideplot with Olivier and this weird Neolutionist shit, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me even within the context of the show. I can get the business with the cloning experiments that are the central conceit of the show, but the actual weird cultish thing just rubs me the wrong way. This show has been great but walks a razor's edge. I could see half a hundred ways it could take a nosedive so the second season should be a good barometer going forward. Are we going to see other clones (and not just of Sarah, maybe of someone else)?
dmick89: I'm worried about season 2. As you say, it could take a dive quickly, but there's probably no show I'm more looking forward to. I fear the Neolutionist shit is the angle that they go forward with at which point I'll have zero interest in the plot. I'm usually not a fan of sci-fi, but the plot and character development in season 1 was so good that I barely noticed the sci-fi elements. A ton of ink has been spilled about just how great Maslany was, but there should be even more. It was, maybe, the most impressive acting performance I'd seen before. After watching Bryan Cranston's near perfection in Breaking Bad, that's difficult to imagine, but Maslany easily had him or anyone else beat. Just tremendous. If she's even half as good in season 2, I'll be watching.
Justified
berselius: Weirdly enough, while I think Breaking Bad's final season (fuck that half-season shit) was the best thing on TV this year somehow Justified moved ahead of it in my overall series rankings. Raylan and Boyd are great, and everything that's gone down between them (and Arlo) over the past four seasons has been fantastic. The series has been hitting on all cylinders for four years and I can't wait for the new episodes next month. One of my favorite little things this season was Raylan's interactions with Wynona. I had not been her biggest fan early in the run, mostly because season one Ava was so awesome and I wanted her and Raylan to get back together, but Raylan and Wynona's relationship never really clicked until this year for me. They're soulmates and it's also impossible for them to ever stay together. I've been slowly rewatching the series over the past few months and it's added to my enjoyment of what is already a great show.
dmick89: most interesting characters on tv since Deadwood IMO. They can introduce a character and three weeks later you've developed an attachment and don't want to see anything bad happen to him.
Breaking Bad
berselius: I don't even know what to say, what a perfect final season. It's tough to say what was the best scene, either the showdown with Hank and the neo-Nazis or Walt's frantic attempts to get his family out following it resulting in Skyler and Jr.'s rejection of him. Breaking Bad was a show I soured on a bit, especially in retrospect, given how much I came to hate Walt/Heisenberg. But there was still enough interesting plot (and Jesse) to keep me going until I realized how much I enjoyed rooting against him. Look upon my works ye mighty and despair, indeed.
dmick89: people will be debating whether this or The Wire and maybe even The Sopranos was the best thing ever on tv for a long time. Why rank them? Unlike berselius, I didn't sour on the show. I didn't like Walt. We weren't supposed to even though some fans still did and the hatred of Skyler by many of them was kind of sickening, but I loved this show. It's one of the few shows to get better as it goes on. It was very good in its early run, but later on it was a fun ride. I've yet to watch Mad Men, but other than those two shows, AMC really hasn't done much. I liked Rubicon, but it was destined to fail. The Walking Dead isn't for me. The Killing had a strong premise and might have been interesting if the showrunner wasn't blind. Low Winter Sun? Never bothered. The Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul will start on AMC sometime in late 2014 and it's tough to imagine it being anywhere near the show BrBa was.
Orange is the New Black
dmick89: I'm not going to add anything to GW's review of the show.
Rectify
dmick89: Sundance's second entrant into the tv business in 2013 wasn't as fast-paced as the producer's show on sister-channel AMC. I imagine one of its early draws was that it was produced by some of the people on Breaking Bad. This was not that. This was more slow-paced than the Cubs rebuild. Created by Deadwood alum Ray McKinnon, Rectify aired its six-episode order in the spring and while not a commercial hit, the critics adored it. Sundance picked it up to season two based entirely on that response and it was a very wise decision.
This is arguably the best new show on television in a year in which great new shows weren't uncommon. It starts right as Daniel Holden (played by Aden Young in brilliant fashion) is being released from death row after 19 years in prison. He was imprisoned for the rape and murder of his 16-year old girlfriend and was released because DNA evidence contradicted the state's claim that he was the sole person involved. We didn't know if he was guilty of the crime; only that the courts overthrew his verdict. Many in the small town in which he lived, and returned upon release, believed strongly in his guilt.
To say that Rectify moved at a slow pace is an understatement. It turned off many viewers, but there was so much to see in this drama. A scene showed him laying on the floor and tossing feathers from a pillow in the air. Another showed him in the attic going through things that were his and his father's. Yet another showed him wandering through a Wal-Mart in amazement at the store's bright colors. And yet others showed him laying on a baseball field, telling his mother he needed glasses (his vision was impaired due to all the years looking no further than a few yards), and the uncomfortableness with which he hugged his half-sister-in-law (is that a thing?) because she showed him some affection. Watching Daniel Holden become reacquainted with the world was mesmerizing and one of the most enjoyable things on tv this year.
There's a mystery at the heart of the show. Who raped and murdered Holden's high school girlfriend? Did they have the right guy? Could it be that Daniel Holden is the most sympathetic murderer on tv? Will they try him again? Will he even be alive to someday leave the small Georgia town in which he lived?
The Good Wife
dmick89: The Good Wife learned it could create controvery from within the Lockhart/Gardner firm in a more interesting, entertaining and intense way than they could do so externally. At the end of season 4, a mock trial pitted Lockhart/Gardner attorneys against one another and it was a brilliant episode. At season's end, we learned that the show's main star, Julianna Margulies who plays the ex-con governor's wife, Alicia Florrick, would be leaving Lockhart/Gardner with others from the firm.
The show had always been good, but the controvery from within was the best, even better than the all-star cast of guest actors the series used. Season 5 began this fall in high gear as the fourth-years were planning to leave and wanted as many Lockhart/Gardner clients as possible. The intensity of the series best episode, Hitting the Fan, match Breaking Bad's Ozymandias in many ways without a hint of violence. It was a fascinating episode that kept you on the edge of your seat.
The new firm, and the old one, now lock heads as often as they can and what the show started in the spring has carried over to the fall and The Good Wife has become network tv's best drama. A show that was once best binge-watched, has now become appointment tv.
Shameless
dmick89: The critics didn't like this show too much early on because Frank was too unlikable. I loved it from the start because Frank was unlikable. Frank, played by the talented William H Macy, is a drunk and Showtime doesn't hesitate to show us what other shows have refused to for a long time. He's a despicable person. Macy, though, is likable in that role because, well, he's William H Macy and if you're William H Macy, you're just likable. He's (Frank) a horrible father and that cannot be stressed enough. Take what other horrible fathers have done in shows that you've watched and they're saints compared to Frank. He's a sick, disgusting, alcoholic who lives off the taxpayer and misery of his children because he can.
Unfortunately, Frank's unlikableness got too much of the spotlight early on. This show is really about the children. It's about the six times this piece of shit impregnated another woman.
The kids are poor and Frank is living off of them. They live in a shitty house, live day to day and the main character, Fiona, cares for her five siblings. She's not exactly someone you'd want in charge of your kids even though the younger girl in the family sometimes runs a day care out of the house. She's not even really good at it, but she tries and she loves them as Frank and the mother should have. The oldest brother, Lip, is a genius who refuses to take advantage of it.
It's not the family you want next door and you don't want the neighbors next door to them, but you care for the characters (except for Frank). It's not a pretty picture, but it's well acted, well written and has been a favorite of mine for awhile.
The Americans
dmick89: 1980s spy shit with tremendous performances from the leads and supporting characters. Excellently written. If the spy shit alone doesn't get you, this may not be for you, but who doesn't like some good ol' Reagan era spy shit? Fucking Commies. That's who!
The Bletchley Circle
dmick89: It was a great year for television and a better year for new shows, but it was perhaps best at elevating female characters into strong leads. The leads of most of the good shows we discuss have been male, but in 2013 we saw Orange is the New Black, Orphan Black, The Good Wife, The Blechley Circle, The Fall and others have strong female leads. It was fun to watch.
During World War II, British women got to prove they could be more than housewives, taking orders from their husbands, by doing many things traditionally left to males at that time. This show takes place in 1952 and involves four former women who worked at Bletchley Park as codebreakers. They played a significant role in helping the Allies win the war. After the war they went back to being housewives.
One of the former codebreakers believes she sees a pattern in some local homicides and recruits the other three to help her solve it. The police, dominated by males, won't take her serious so the four work in private to track down the serial killer. What else I could say here was already said better by Maureen Ryan.
If you've ever said to yourself, "I never need to see another woman in a dank basement being menaced by a killer ever again" — I'm right there with you. But part of the reason "The Bletchley Circle" (10 p.m. ET Sunday, PBS) works so well is because, in its own efficient, British way, it's about the idea of violence against women. This three-part miniseries manages to be not just a well-wrought, well-paced murder mystery but also an unsentimental look at how sexism operated back in the day and how casually condescending attitudes toward women can actually allow violence against them to occur.
If "Bletchley Circle" has one flaw, it's that it's almost too dedicated to showing how shabbily women were treated in post-war Britain: The core quartet of female characters encounters mostly boorish and one-dimensional men. The drama might have had more depth and texture if more time had been spent contextualizing their relationships instead of just showing the ladies putting up with a series of oafs. But there's only so much "Bletchley" can do in three installments, and it has many sustaining qualities to offset the relatively thin supporting characters.
Hannibal
dmick89: Maybe someday someone will convince me that violence in entertainment leads to actual violence, but until then, those crying about it are making shit up as far as I'm concerned. There is lots of violence on tv and at the theaters today, but there always has been. Perhaps it's more graphic, but I refuse to believe that such entertainment leads to real violence. It's not like watching someone get cut up on tv, or shooting a bunch of people in a video game is in anywhere near the same thing. I don't flinch when I see blood on tv, but I can't stand the sight of real blood. It makes me sick to my stomach and it doesn't even have to be much.
Needless to say, there were many who were concerned about this when it was announced that NBC would be airing Hannibal and doing so not long after Adam Lanza's killing spree at Sandy Hook Elementary. In fact, one episode was not aired because of that.
Criminal Minds is not good. The Following is even worse. Network dramas don't have the best track record when dealing with shows about violence, but Hannibal is none of them.
I worried most about whether or not I'd ever stop comparing this version of Hannibal to Anthony Hopkins' portrayal in Silence of the Lambs and future sequels. By the fourth episode I began to realize that Mads Mikkelson was so convincing as Hannibal that I was no longer thinking of Hopkins. I don't know if Mikkelson is better than Hopkins, but he's very good.
Hugh Dancy plays tormented FBI profiler Will Graham. Hannibal begins consulting with the FBI and as Will's therapist, begins fucking with him. Dancy is not the same kind of prifler you see on Criminal Minds. He's actually interesting and unlike CM, he's sickened by the violence that he sees. This is not a show that glorifies violence. It takes itself very seriously.
I worry about the show going forward. Its second season begins at the end of February and it could get old quick, but right now it's just a really good show. It's not for the faint of heart. It may not be the most violent show on tv, but it does not shy away from showing things that other shows have cut away from. More than a couple times I've cringed at what I was watching, but couldn't turn the channel.
berselius: I keep meaning to catch a few episodes of the show, just for the cognative dissonance of seeing Buddy Cole in a serious role. I'm glad that at least one of the Kids In the Hall has a steady gig these days.
Parks And Recreation
sitrick: Somehow I'm still having to tell people about this show despite being the most consistently high quality comedy on television over the past five years. While some of the characters may have run their course (I personally feel like it's a good thing for the health of the series that Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe are leaving the series this year), no show on television has a more complete or funny world to inhabit. When the biggest laughs in an episode can go to a character with thirty seconds of screen time (see: every Harris Wittels appearance), you know you've done a special job of world-building. Add to this that it has more heart than any show currently going (I dare you to watch the series from Adam Scott's first appearance to "Leslie and Ben" and not get misty, it's impossible), and what you have is a show as well-crafted as any hour-long drama on television.
berselius: love the show, but fell off the top of my list this year. It feels like it's been in a rut since Leslie won her council seat and pretty much every member of the cast paired off. It took the edge off Leslie's windmill-tilting Leslie-ness and I've always been less of a fan of Ben and Ben/Leslie-centered stories, save for the wedding and any appearance of Ben's accounting buddies. It's still must-watch TV each week for me but I get much more excited for Tuesday nights these days. It should be interesting to see what happens next with Leslie off the council again, not to mention the cast shakeup (agreed with what sitrick said above). I'd love to see them bring in some new people, but haven't heard anything along those lines. It helps that they've tried to flesh out Donna, but some new actors could help freshen things up a bit.
Archer/Bob's Burgers
sitrick: I'm combining these two because, while they're two very different shows in terms of tone, both depend on the insane genius of Jon Benjamin, the voice of both Sterling Archer and Bob Belcher. Being in on either of these shows requires being in on Benjamin's unique sensibility and delivery. While the writing on both shows can occasionally be hit or miss, Benjamin is that rare talent that can say perfectly innocuous things that make them seem like catchphrases ("Phrasing"). Surrounded by supremely talented supporting cast in both series, each series is a consistent joy to spend twenty minutes (and often longer) with.
The New Girl
sitrick: The world seems to have soured a bit on Zooey Deschanel, which I suppose is a bit understandable; it feels to me like she hit Peak Twee sometime between the release of 500 Days of Summer and the halfway point of New Girl's first season. And Liz Meriwether and the show's writing staff didn't do her any favors by spending the lion's share of the first season making Deschanel's Jess seem like a cartoon princess come to live in the real world.
It didn't take long for the show to course correct, however, thanks in large part to what is television's best ensemble cast this side of Parks & Recreation. Sharp, lightning quick writing and go-for-broke performances from the entire cast (particularly Jake Johnson's Nick Miller and Max Greenfield's Schmidt) briefly elevated the show's Season 2 endrun above my beloved P&R in my book, as New Girl consistently delivered home run episode after home run episode while beautifully handling the awkward flourishing of an inevitable relationship between Jess and Nick. Season 3 has thus far tailed off a bit for me as the show has struggled to find a new direction to go in since putting Nick and Jess together, but the return of Damon Wayans, Jr. as Coach has injected some life into things and I'm optimistic about the episodes we'll be getting for the spring.
Treme
sitrick: I already wrote at decent length about this series in the first installment, so let me just reiterate that this is a show you should be watching.
dmick89: I'm really good at watching the first episode of a show when it airs or shortly thereafter, but never getting back to them. This one, like Mad Men, is one I intend to get back to.
Broadchurch
sitrick: Ostensibly a British murder/mystery drama, Broadchurch is really an examination of small towns and the way their inhabitants can bury dark secrets beneath layers of familiarity and cheeriness. Olivia Colman's Ellie Miller begins the investigation of local boy Danny Latimer's murder believing she knows everything there is to know about the people in her world, and irate at outsider Alec Hardy's (David Tennant) insistance that nothing is what it seems. Things grow more complicated from there. It's a simple premise, and one that would be easy to let devolve into cliche and boring procedural. The writing and acting are so subtle and understated, however, that the series avoids the obvious pitfalls and builds to an ending that is absolutely devastating. Even if you figure out the killer early (which I don't think is particularly difficult to do), the execution is so deft that you'll still find yourself surprised at how invested you are in the pain of this town and the people who inhabit it.
There's an American version coming soon, with Anna Gunn cast in the lead role opposite Tennant. It will probably be terrible, which means the British version should be watched before it gets a bad rep thanks to us fucking it up.
dmick89: I watched this over the New Year’s break and couldn’t stop watching it. It’s fantastic and if it weren’t for Justified’s ridiculously good episode Decoy, I’d have it ahead of that show.
Venture Brothers
sitrick: For my money, this is the best animated series on television right now. Writers Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer are not the most prolific showrunners in television (this year's fifth season aired a full 5 years after season four), but, much like Parks & Recreation, they've created such an intricate world full of unique characters and weird, never-quite-know-where-you're-going-next plotting that fans were as invested in ever despite the lengthy layoff. Beginning as a sendup/homage to Johnny Quest and other sixties adventure cartoons, it's become something completely different, and sort of hard to describe. The show is known for its explosive season finales, full of action and quick-pacing. But one of the series' funniest episodes centers around a yard sale. It's a weird, weird show, and it was a distinct pleasure having it back this year.
Honorable/Dishonorable Mentions
(Pick one)
dmick89: Dexter.
sitrick: The Big Bang Theory (fuck this show)
berselius: Agents of Shield. This show doesn't come close to my top ten, but I've been blown away by the negative reaction to it on multiple fronts. Most baffling of all were all of the "here are 10 ways to fix Agents of Shield" after three fucking episodes. It's like no one has ever watched a Joss Whedon series. Yes, he's not running the show but I'm pretty confident that the showrunners (his brother and his brother's wife) write from the same playbook. It certainly pushes all of the 'comic book' buttons, and I can only think of one episode where I was rolling my eyes at the writing. Give it some time.
dmick89: I have no problem The Big Bang Theory. I don't generally care for sitcoms and this isn't even a good one, but it consistently makes me laugh. There are only two sitcoms I watch: this one and Mom (better than TBBT).
Individual Top Tens (or Eleven for dmick89 because he’s special)
Berselius (In no particular order)
- Breaking Bad
- Orphan Black
- Justified
- The Walking Dead
- Game of Thrones
- Being Human (UK)
- Veep
- 30 Rock
- Trophy Wife
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Dmick89
- Breaking Bad
- Rectify
- Orange is the New Black
- Orphan Black
- The Good Wife
- Justified
- Broadchurch
- Shameless
- The Americans
- The Blechley Circle
- Hannibal
Sitrick (in no order)
- Breaking Bad
- Parks and Recreation
- New Girl
- Broadchurch
- Game of Thrones
- Treme
- Archer
- Bob's Burgers
- Venture Brothers
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Comments
Yea, I still love Justified. Season 4 was good. I even really like Art’s character- he does a great job at playing a boss. I can imagine a dude like that in real life. I loved Treme, but had to stop watching in season 2 because one of the scenes related to rape was too unsettling. Treme is too close to real life, much like the Wire, which is really a strength, but when you have a job working in community mental health like I do, and you hear about that shit really happening in peoples lives every day, it just wasn’t something I could spend my down time watching.
I actually love the idea of Briles on the Redskins, but I think it would be better if he were the OC. That would cause way too much drama for him to be the HC, and unfortunately just like their rivals in Dallas, they are more of a soap opera than a football team. I do love RG3 tho, and I think whoever they get needs to run the uptempo offense. It will really simplify reads for RG3 and let his talent show through more (assuming health).
NateQuote Reply
So remind me again at what point one is allowed to give up on BB? I’m halfway through season 3 and am feeling like the show has gone from tolerable to actively annoying due to Walt’s increasingly two-year-old-like behavior and thirteen-year-old-like decisions. I remember somebody around here saying that shit gets AMAZOMG somewhere around season 3, so I’ve been aiming to slog it out at least till the end of the season…
InB4 WRONG, permab&, worst thing to every happen, etc
fang2415Quote Reply
@ fang2415:
If you don’t like it by season 2, can’t imagine you’d like it. Probably time to give up.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Interesting. ATM what’s keeping me going is basically Hank’s storyline, any of Saul’s screentime, and that PI guy’s lines.
I feel kind of the same about Walt as I do about Draper after season 3 of Mad Men. He started out as a hyper-competent, ultra-rational character faced with extremely challenging circumstances, and then once those circumstances ran their course the writers had to make him start being a dumbshit in order to move the story forward.
OTOH, I am loving Archer, given that being a dumbshit is a core feature of his character from the beginning, dying laughing
fang2415Quote Reply
@ fang2415:
I didn’t think that Walt was a dumbshit, but a rather intelligent person put in awful circumstances making bad decision after bad decision. At every possible turn, even from the beginning, the man made the wrong decision. Smart people make bad decisions all the time for a variety of reasons. Walt convinced himself he was making them because of his family, but ever since his cancer went into recession we’ve known he’s been making them for himself and lying to himself while doing it. A smart man making dumb decisions isn’t uncommon (see most every politician).
dmick89Quote Reply
WaLi wrote:
Me too. The kick went right through House’s arms, but he was offsides anyway.
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@ dmick89:
Walt was an amateur criminal, but I attribute most of Walt’s decisions to hubris.
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Nate wrote:
Unfortunately Briles might be a little too full of himself to take an OC job at the moment.
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@ dmick89:
Yeah, but I think what makes the show’s initial premise compelling is that his first few bad decisions might actually have been the best ones available to him, at least according to one particular set of respectable(ish) rules. He gets fucked by cancer and does a bunch of stuff that’s at least in the neighborhood of rational within the scope of what he thinks is a very short time horizon. Specifically, it’s close enough to being rational to keep us interested in seeing how it pans out amid the ensuing shitstorms.
Later, I feel like he just doesn’t know what he’s doing and decides to break a bunch of people’s toys unnecessarily and then we watch while they get angry with him.
fang2415Quote Reply
The success of the read option (yes, it still works), packaged plays and Chip Kelly will make Gus Malzahn a more attractive coaching candidate than in years past, imo. He’s a name to watch for WAS.
Like You CareQuote Reply
I’ve been re-watching Justified for the past few weeks, currently in the middle of Season 3. It’s hard to top the back half of Justified season 2. Just amazing, amazing writing and acting.
I got The Shield for Xmas, and I watched season one. I like the show so far and am kind of laughing at how obvious they are with pushing the envelope with the crimes they investigate most episodes. It’s like every week is a Very Special Episode of Law and Order (dying laughing).
BerseliusQuote Reply
Sammy Sosa was a guest star on Brooklyn 99?
SVBQuote Reply
@ SVB:
faget point’d
fang2415Quote Reply
@ Like You Care:
You’re not wrong, Walter, you’re just an asshole
fang2415Quote Reply
@ fang2415:
I agree with this. Walt pretty much broke everything he touched despite making the best fake-meth in the known entertainment universe. Thinking of all the lives he screwed up displeases me. It’s still a good show because you go from rooting for the guy to hating his guts and rooting for, say, Jesse instead.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ SVB:
(dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ fang2415:
I really hoped for Jesse to tell Walter to “forget about the fucking marmot” before the show ended.
Like You CareQuote Reply
Have fun: http://fanspeak.com/ontheclock/
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Sammy’s frequent FB postings stopped pretty abruptly after the death of Frank Castillo.
Ah well. Social media. Been there, done that.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
By the end I was rooting for Walt Jr. to get his breakfast and that was about it.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Lives screwed up is bad, but the thing that really gets me is when they were entirely avoidable and brought about only by Walt being an asshole/crybaby.
Mind you, I guess it’s not that different than something like Othello or Macbeth, where level-headed characters take one step off the straight-and-narrow and rapidly end up seeking the absolute maximum of batshit-crazy behavior. But maybe I just feel like too many series are shooting for Full Shakespeare these days.
fang2415Quote Reply
@ Like You Care:
For CHI:
14
DE KONY EALY
MISSOURI
51
DT AARON DONALD
PITTSBURGH
82
S CALVIN PRYOR
LOUISVILLE
113
QB AARON MURRAY
GEORGIA
144
CB KEITH MCGILL
UTAH
Like You CareQuote Reply
Powering through S4 of Justified on amazon prime and my god, even the episode titles this season are fantastic.
sitrickQuote Reply
@ fang2415:
I think I was appalled by the way he treated his allies and then had to run back to them all panicked and whining for help/don’t-kill-me when the shit hit the fan because of him.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
For GB:
21
LB C.J. MOSLEY
ALABAMA
53
TE AUSTIN SEFERIAN-JENKINS
WASHINGTON
85
S DEONE BUCANNON
WASHINGTON STATE
117
OT JAMES HURST
UNC
149
DE JOSH MAURO
STANFORD
Like You CareQuote Reply
So next Sunday is the finale for this series of Sherlock…when are we allowed to talk about it? Haha.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
That’s fine w me. Kelly borrowed concepts from Malzahns book anyway right? I’d like the Skins to do anything uptempo with RG3. Hopefully Malzahn grabs their attention tonight when the Criminoles can’t stop that run game.
NateQuote Reply
@ sitrick:
The back half of that season was so good too.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Yea, Season 2 was the best season of Justified IMO. Just impossible to top how awesome Maggs Bennett was as a character.
NateQuote Reply
@ Nate:
Mags was great, but I like the writing on her character a little less on a rewatch. She’s so in-your-face about giving Dickie and Coover the finger with the Black Pike money (multiple times!) and is somehow shocked when it comes back to bite her. Not to mention how she thought she’d be able keep stringing Loretta along about her father, and we find out in S3 that she’s got millions stashed away with Limehouse. They couldn’t have left and gone legitimate with that?
I think my favorite episode in the entire run of the show is the second to last of season 2 when they deal with the aftermath of Dickie killing Helen, probably my favorite character on the show after Boyd.
BerseliusQuote Reply
OH SHIT, JUSTIFIED.
sitrickQuote Reply
I finally caught a couple episodes of Justified, and I really liked it. I’ll probably start watching the new season, even though I’ll probably be lost for the first couple episodes.
By far my favorite show of 2013 was Hannibal. To me, that’s exactly what a sci-fi/horror show should be. The visuals in that show somehow manage to be breathtaking, beautiful, and terrifying all at the same time. It’s a show that involves death and violence, but not just as a means to try and get shock value, or to artificially heighten the stakes for viewers, but as a serious plot driving device. I also like how the show takes a very deliberate pace. The acting is fantastic, the characters are well drawn out, and the relationship and dynamics between the characters have all been entertaining.
Also, community already feels so much better with Dan Harmon back. I’m really excited for that show.
EdwinQuote Reply
Rice Cube wrote:
No shit.
[img]http://blogs.mcall.com/.a/6a00d8341c4fe353ef01157038ca3e970c-800wi[/img]
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Nate:
Everyone steals from everyone, but Malzahn’s scheme is more in line with what SF does. I think Auburn’s offense is what SF’s would be if Harbaugh said, “Fuck it, we’re going to score 100 points today.”
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
I don’t know why Harbaugh tends to use the “I’m going to needlessly burn timeouts early and play to win by a FG each week” strategy instead most games.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
The FG part kills me. I think anything shorter than a 26-yard FG should be off the table 95 percent of the time.
The timeouts and delay of game part of the offense is just growing pains with Kaepernick. He’s so focused on getting the right play and he hasn’t developed that internal clock yet (same clock as his pocket presence).
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
KC probably wins if they don’t kick that 19 yd FG in the first quarter
BerseliusQuote Reply
For SF:
28 S HA’SEAN CLINTON-DIX ALABAMA
56 DE KONY EALY MISSOURI
60 WR PAUL RICHARDSON COLORADO
77 CB E.J. GAINES MISSOURI
92 DT DOMINIQUE EASLEY FLORIDA
124 QB BRETT SMITH WYOMING
156 WR MIKE DAVIS TEXAS
Would love.
Like You CareQuote Reply
I tend to look more forward to new Justified episodes than any other show. It’s not my favorite, but I love watching that show and feeling like I’ve just spent some time in Harlan.
There’s probably no show I’m looking more forward to this year than Orphan Black’s season 2. After that is True Detective, which starts Sunday.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ Berselius:
That was ridiculous. That was shorter than an extra point. The ONLY way I’d go for a FG from the 2 is if I’m down by 1-2 points and I don’t have time left in the game to run another play.
Like You CareQuote Reply
Walter White is the best. Skyler’s a bitch. Fuck y’all.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Rice Cube wrote:
It’s already ending? Didn’t it just premier a few days ago? Talk about it after it premieres in america (dying laughing)
WaLiQuote Reply
I’m going to try to do a mock draft, but I’ll have to break tradition and include some trades. That’s the only way it’ll make sense.
1. HOU: Bridgewater – I don’t buy the Bortles talk here. Bridgewater is the best QB option to a team that can be competitive next season.
2. MIN (via STL via WAS): Bortles – Physically, he’s Andrew Luck. Not there with his throws, but has a lot of potential.
3. JAX: Clowney – They can get a QB later. Take the best player in the draft and be thankful.
4. CLE: Manziel -This will happen.
5. OAK: Derek Carr – Screams Raiders, imo.
6. ATL: Khalil Mack, OLB, Buffalo – Will create havoc on defense.
7. TB: Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn – Beast.
8. STL (via MIN): Jake Matthews – Get the player they want and a few extra picks.
9. BUF: Cyrus Kouandjio, OT, Alabama – Manuel needs protection.
10. DET: Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson – DET gets so lucky.
14. CHI: Kony Ealy – I’m just going to keep doing this.
21. GB: Clinton-Dix – I think GB needs a DL, ILB and S in this draft. Start with the best S out there.
28. SF: Kelvin Benjamin, WR, FSU – The difference between SF’s “high-powered” offense from last year and this year’s sputtering version is the lack of a deep threat.
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Apparently WAS requested permission to interview SF DC Vic Fangio and OC Greg Roman. MIN request interviews Roman.
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@ Like You Care:
This year’s draft is so weird to me. Five of the top eight teams choosing NEED a QB and one more could reasonably choose one as well. Bridgewater is the top talent, imo, but Bortles might have more potential. After the top two, I don’t like any of the other QBs until the end of the first at the earliest. But the teams at the end of the first don’t need QBs. Add in all the elite defensive talent and this kind of reminds me of the 2011 draft.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
I tried the FanSpeak mock draft for the Bears, doing all 7 rounds. And the simulator let Clowney fall to CHI.
Either that simulator is a little broken or the Bears may get super lucky
AkabariQuote Reply
@ Akabari:
You never know
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Well for example, it has the Bucs taking a different DE (Vic Beasley) over Clowney.
And that just seems insane.
AkabariQuote Reply
@ Akabari:
The database will be updated soon, and I assume they’ll adjust the parameters. I’ve done it about a dozen times and haven’t had anything too out of the ordinary.
Like You CareQuote Reply
I did another Bears mock, but seven rounds this time. The first five picks ended up exactly the same as my previous one:
Like You Care wrote:
I think that might be ideal for them. Then I rounded it out with:
167 DE AARON LYNCH USF
175 CB ROSS COCKRELL DUKE
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
Where (and when) do you think Chris Borland goes, Ryno?
BerseliusQuote Reply
WaLi wrote:
Each series is only three episodes long, I think the cast is usually busy with other crap so that’s really all they can squeeze in. British series are wacky like that, but they’re also done very well so the wait is usually worth it.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/newsstand/discussion/the_2013_hof_ballot_collecting_gizmo
Methinks four get in this year if the numbers hold, Piazza needs a surge though and that’ll make it five.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Man, that’s tough. nfldraftscout has him in the Day 2 range, but I think his options will be more limited. His physical limitations limit him to a 3-4 ILB, imo. There are 5-6 ILBs I’d take over him, so I’d slot him in the fourth round.
That’s just my opinion, though, and I’ll admit to not watching enough Wisconsin football to be more certain.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
I hate calling them seasons, I basically treat them as 3 movies.
BerseliusQuote Reply
I didn’t see the “where” part of the question. I could see a team like ARI taking him. They’re in a division with a lot of teams that have creative running games and could use an instinctive run-lane clogger.
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@ Like You Care:
FWIW, he’s always played like a guy bigger than he is. Not sure how the NFL guys would take that into the equation though. IIRC he’s got pretty good instincts in the passing game too.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
And he might have been the best kicker on Wisconsin’s team. That has to factor into his value too (dying laughing).
BerseliusQuote Reply
Rice Cube wrote:
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@ Berselius:
I’m more concerned about his coverage ability than his ability to play the run. At least in a 3-4, he’d have to worry about that less.
@ Berselius:
That really helps. I tell anyone who listens to have their male children start working on deep snapping. If you can get it down by high school, you’ll find some school willing to give you a free education in exchange.
Like You CareQuote Reply
Edwin wrote:
Like You CareQuote Reply
Bortles and Storm Johnson entering NFL.
Think he’ll get drafted somewhere? He looked good at times, but had a hard time holding onto the ball.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
I thought he looked like an NFL runner, but I admit that I’m not the best at spotting RBs. The elite ones are easy, but after that they all look the same to me. /racist
Like You CareQuote Reply
Just finished Justified S4. God damn.
sitrickQuote Reply
@ sitrick:
Decoy might be the best episode of 2013.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I’ll still take Ozymandias, but it’s top tier.
sitrickQuote Reply
Agreed on the last 8 episodes representing BB’s final season, as opposed to the final season. Drives me nuts.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
Even before his cancer went into remission, he was clearly doing it for himself. In the pilot, He was intrigued by how much money meth dealers make even before he received his diagnosis.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Is anyone else rooting for Auburn tonight? Or am I the only SEC-ite? I just love their run game.
We should have ryno do a nfl draft post. He might be against it, but he seems knowledgable and Im actually interested in nfl draft, even tho Im a Skins fan.
Recalcitrant Blogger NateQuote Reply
They do this to an extent, but they also have built some decent character arcs along the way.
Rick has gone from a leader to a dictator to a broken guy who wants to shed all responsibility and just be a decent father. It will be interesting to see where he goes now. I don’t know much about the comics so I really don’t know what could be next, but the previews make him seem broken and Carl has to step up (which would also be interesting to see as Carl continues to grow).
Daryl has really evolved over the course of the show as well and he wasn’t even in the comics so that is interesting to me as well.
Sadly, we may not get to see Carol develop any further as her whereabouts are unknown and she could be gone for awhile like Morgan was or forever. And SPOILER ALERT, my favorite character in the whole show, Hershel is gone.
So, to me, TWD has a few good characters interspersed with a few with potential: Michonne, Glenn, Maggie (Laura Cohen has nailed a few scenes and I hope they give her more to do), Tyreese and Sasha. Then there is the cannon fodder.
The fun is that you never really know whether they will keep someone around long enough to care about them when they die and I think they’ve leaned towards having most characters’ lives be nasty, brutish and short. I think they wanted to clean up some of the lesser-liked characters like Andrea, Lori and Dale so there was a real bloodbath in the main credits for awhile and that kept it interesting.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
There aren’t too many matchups that I would be less ambivalent about in terms of rooting interest. I just hope the string of good football continues, because after tonight for me, there is only Hot Stove and college hockey til March Madness.
SVBQuote Reply
Rice Cube wrote:
This morning when there were 133 ballots in the gizmo Piazza had 72.9%. Tonight at 145, he dropped to 71%. He’s going to have to have a better day tomorrow to have a great day on Wed.
SVBQuote Reply
Ryno, you really think Donald makes it to the middle of the 2nd? I mean, I hope he does, but the way teams are putting a premium on interior pass rushers……I think he’s gone in the late first, early 2nd.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ SVB:
17 voters from ESPN. Sammy gets exactly 0 votes.
SVBQuote Reply
[img]http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/832194572.gif?1389067927[/img]
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
I’m going to miss the BCS.
SVBQuote Reply
Theriot retires. No info on whether he signed a 2-minute contract with the Thoyer so he could go out a Cub.
SVBQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Has Tebow come out yet?
Recalcitrant Blogger NateQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Theriot was the Beatles, Fontenot the Rolling Stones.
Ryan was the Monkees. Mike was Hendrix.
Dance Fever was MC Hammer while Fonty was Run-DMC.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
SVB wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM42YTY62rA
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
Let me know what you guys want to know. I’m still in the beginning stages of getting to know and slotting the players myself, but I’m obviously happy to share my thoughts any time.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
I’m not really sure. Usually I’d say he’s a lock for the middle of the second, but I think NFL coaches and GMs might be a little more pragmatic than they used to.
Geno Atkins was nearly identical to Donald in college. He was 6’1″, 285 or so and was faster off the snap than anyone else in the draft. He added about 10 pounds and killed it at the combine and still went in the 4th round. He plays at about 305 now.
Donald is 6’0″, 285 and faster off the snap than anyone else in the draft (except maybe Florida’s Dom Easley, who’s 6’2″, 285). If he can add some weight and keep his quickness, there’s not a better 3T available in the draft, imo. If I’m a 4-3 team, I’d consider him in the top 25.
Speaking of Easley… If his knee checks out, he becomes the top 3T, imo.
Like You CareQuote Reply
Did any of you watch the BCS Championship on ESPNews last night? I think they’re on to something. They need to offer that look more often.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
Hard to believe Atkins was a 4th round pick.
I guess it all depends on team needs really. Regarding the Bears, I’m interested to see what type of defense they instill. If they stay with the 4-3 or run a hybrid. I would think versatile players is what they would covet. Is it possible either of those two could play the 5T?
FYI to MB but I can’t get logged in. I don’t get an error but every time I try and log in, I put in my credentials and it loads the page but it just clears out my credentials and shows that I’m not signed in. Any ideas? I only have this probelm at work and I’m running IE 9.
MuckerQuote Reply
Nevermind on the log in. As soon as I posted my previous post, it logged me in. I really hate IE.
MuckerQuote Reply
Mucker wrote:
He obviously isn’t big enough to play DT in the NFL.
Mucker wrote:
I think both COULD play 5T, but it’s kind of a waste of their skills. Neither of them have the strength two-gap and their speed is less effective against more athletic OTs. I want both of them penetrating the A and B gaps. /beavisandbuttheadlaugh
Stephon Tuitt might be the best player for what you want. He can play strong-side DE in the current 4-3 and shade in to 5T in a 3-4. But if CHI brings back Melton, Ealy makes the most sense to me.
Most defenses are hybrid anyway. SF runs a base 4-3, but they seem to be in nickel most of the time.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
I’m really looking forward to this offseason for the Bears. There should be a lot of new faces on this defense next year.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
Yes there should (dying laughing).
Like You CareQuote Reply
Like You Care wrote:
Really? I always thought SF was a base 3-4.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
They do. I had a dyslexic moment.
Usually 3-4, but they replace the NT with a CB in nickel situations…which seems like most of the time.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
Yeah, I’ve noticed a lot of teams do that.
MuckerQuote Reply
Like You Care wrote:
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
Disgusting. This is a family site.
Like You CareQuote Reply
@ Like You Care:
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
Like You Care wrote:
I had Justified on, but heard about this after the game. Sounds like an awesome idea, would love to see it more often. It would be great if FOX did it for the Super Bowl, except we’d probably just get their moron studio guys yukking it up instead.
BerseliusQuote Reply
(dying laughing), some BBWAA asshole voted for Morris and nobody else.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
That’s fucked up
dmick89Quote Reply
@ Berselius:
In a way, it’s more fair than some other voters. If you’re going to exlucde a generation of players for cheating the wrong way, then at least he’s including everyone instead of just singleing out players based on HR totals.
Dude is totally an asshole though.
EdwinQuote Reply
New Shit
http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/ken-gurnick-professional-asshole.html
MylesQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
Started my article before I saw this.
MylesQuote Reply