Too Long for a Tumbl, but What the Hell...
The Best Shows on Television (of the past 3 years)
Okay. Ready for some controversy? Good.
10 - Community/The Office (tie between the up-n-coming new kid and the declining veteran)
7 - Masterpiece Mystery!: Sherlock
2 - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
(Remember this is limited to the shows that I've watched enough to judge so some ones that maybe could make this list, barring lack of exposure include Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, Dexter, Doctor Who, and [especially] Curb Your Enthusiasm. All others that have been omitted that probably should be there, aren't there on purpose, either because they're too young, i.e. Boardwalk Empire, or I think they're overrated, *cough* Breaking Bad *coughity cough,* or I discounted the genre for being so beyond the realm of most television, e.i. certain miniseries and Florentine documentaries. Others might have just missed the cut [it was really painful to not put Sunny and Parks & Rec on here]. Enough with parenthetical thoughts, let's get on the the non-parenthetical thoughts.)
Notice something? Yeah, I did too. Allow me to question myself for you:More than 70% of the entries are comedies. And not just 2006-era-Weeds-groundbreaking-dramedy, I mean like sitcom comedies. The fuck?
Things like Louie and The Daily Show I can see as making the list because they both regularly do things that aren't done by anyone else or have never been done before. But Better Off Ted? How could a 23 minute work-related sitcom rank higher than Mad Men, and keep something like The Good Wife off the list entirely (especially when another 23 minute work-related sitcom was already on the list)? Well to me it boils down to one large/short thought:
Television is medium better suited for semi-selfcontained vignettes, more than complex serials. Yes, I believe that. Yes, you disagree. But I will go on anyway.No matter how great the writing, how deep the problems go, how complex the narrative is woven, or what twists the writers come up with- the show ends at the end of the hour. As the producer or director or writer of a TV show, you get one show per week, 20 weeks of the year and you get either 23 or 47 minutes to tell a story. Between episodes your viewers will experience (minimum) one week of life to distract them, allow them to forget details and generally move on with their lives (even the most hardcore Breaking Bad fans can't literally hold every thought until 10 pm the next Sunday.) This doesn't mean that every show should keep story arcs to one episode and end every episode with nothing changed, but it means that until the whole season is available to view in its entirety, the medium of broadcast television has an effect on the stories being told. This is why gives me pause to when a show that is completely dependent on the development of characters in extraordinary circumstances is written on the fly, Twin Peaks style. It's easy for viewers to become lost when they miss an episode or two and easy for the writers to get lost in arcs or characters that don't gel with the reality of the show. (Also: Fuck Twin Peaks.)
Now don't get me wrong; I'm not saying I dislike TV dramas. All I'm saying is that given that TV as a medium works best for more self-contained stories and shorter story arcs, comedies have more appeal to me. Two shows that seem to rise above the medium itself are Mad Men and Friday Night Lights (Sherlock would be listed as well, given that it's not truly a comedy, but its format is nothing like American TV dramas and is often just as funny as some of the comedies on my list).
Mad Men is great because, well, it doesn't really do anything wrong. It's beautiful. I mean really beautiful to watch, extremely well acted, the writing is sharp and the characters are iconic. Many of the episodes and scenes that are most fascinating are ones that involve nothing out of the ordinary- like the building of a playhouse or a little boy spying on a female neighbor. It just does everything right. Now: many real fans of the show might have noticed that I only listed scenes from season 1 here, and that's because I've only seen season 1 and part of season 2, meaning that it might get better/worse once I catch up. (I'm also really curious to see how Don Draper's past life comes to light - this seems like it could trip up future seasons, given how improbable and (seemingly) unnecessary it is.)
Friday Night Lights makes the list for two reasons:
1) Tami and Coach Taylor. (Note: calling him Eric Taylor would be like calling the President by his first name or calling a doctor "Mrs. _____." Just liked they earned that title, Coach Taylor EARNED THAT TITLE. YOU SHOW RESPECT. YOU SHOW RESPECT FOR COACH TAYLOR!) Those two are the perfect couple. I mean it. I watch them and can't believe they're not actually soulmates. Their chemistry is so effortless and quick and natural that nothing on television compares. They are so great together that I can't give credit to the creator of the show, any writers or even the casting director. This is just one of the rare occurrences where all the elements are perfectly in order and something really special plays out. Lucy and Ricky, Archie and Edith, Sam and Diane- Eric and Tami.
2) I had the opportunity to watch all of the series without interruption. Through Netflix, Hulu and an For-Your-Emmy-Consideration package falling into my lap, I can watch any episode of the entire show I want immediately without even getting up. This helps negate the negative effects of interrupted viewing. Despite the show's availability, its total length if watch back-to-back (80 or so hours) makes it impossible to view in one sitting and this means that I can still say with confidence that Friday Night Lights defies the pitfalls of other TV dramas. This was done mostly though the show's large ensemble of reliably real characters who allowed for multiple stories per show to come together and disperse at will - a feature that kept the show always interesting and engaging without resorting to cheap plot twists or overly complicated arcs. All in all, I really just felt like a Taylor when Coach, or Tami or Julie was on screen and a Riggins when Tim was on screen and a Saracen when Matt (or even Gramma) was on screen. The show was always so real that feels like an injustice to put it so low on the list.
Speaking of that list, let's return to the defense of my top 10 (11).
Louie - I don't need to say anything.
Just watch it. Go out and buy the first season and watch "Bully" and "God," and click this and don't come back to this blog until you watch it. Yes, all of it.
Nope, seriously click it. Want another chance? Here you go.
Great. Now wasn't that life changing? For you horrible human beings who didn't click the link, it's an episode of Louie wherein Louis CK sits down with Dane Cook after years of tension which began after Cook was accused of plagiarism. The scene is scripted and the story is fiction, but the emotions being released and the grievances, defenses and accusations aired are honest. UPDATE: I changed the link to a newer episode of Louis from season 2. The first episode was amazing and changed the way I view television and all, but the new one in the link differs in that it is literally the funniest thing I can remember seeing on tv. This will sound improbable until you watch it yourself and hear the ending of Louis' argument with a Fox News analyst over masturbation. Enough with the italicized update, back to regular blag, already in progress. And that's what separates Louie from any other show I've ever seen on television. It is absolutely honest.
What's next? The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Great, this one is simple- by beginning as a comedy only show and slowly integrating more and more real news in, while (at least in recent years) taking a "nonsense is nonsense, despite party lines" approach to who feels the sting of his writers' wit, Stewart has turned his show into one of the only news programs that does report on current events while more importantly calling out political figures for hypocrisies that other news overlooks in search of more profitable headlines. (Recent years have also seen him adopt an strong anti-extremism platform in American politics, which has to be the most detrimental issue in American media today. He also brilliantly showed this stance in his Rally to Restore Sanity, which also demonstrated the power that his show now wields to do social good. (Even if it's somewhat-silly social good.))
Aight, on to 30 Rock. This one is a little harder (or actually easier if you think about it) to write about because it's won every comedy Emmy (approx) ever for the past four years; it's been written about a lot. So I'm going to focus on one of my favorite parts of the show that may seem at odds with some of my other beliefs about tv: the fantastic nature of the show. When I say fantastic, I mean literally fantasy-like. The universe in which Liz Lemon lives is not the same one in which you are reading this. This isn't always readily apparent when watching the show. No one has super powers, there are no "others," and no one randomly breaks out into song. But every once in a while, Tina Fey and the other writers slip in a pieces of dialogue or plot device that is so outlandish that it seems out of place in any context. But these moments are made sane(ish) by the fact that they are tied to two things that most Americans instinctively assume are magic: money and Hollywood. These two things, no matter how glamorous, do not make anything possible. And the show cleverly satirizes this belief by essentially looking the viewer in the eye and nodding "Oh you're right, we can totally do anything. Seriously, it's like magic."
FNL we already covered, so on to Better Off Ted.
Critically the lowest ranked show on the list, but finding itself in the top half, this short-lived ABC was wholly unappreciated. The ensemble cast was picked perfectly. In every episode, Phil, Lem, Veronica, Linda and (of course) Ted had such impeccable timing that they seemed to be musicians hitting every note in the script beautifully. The premise of a satiric office comedy has been done to death, but the premise of the show found originality and creative veins in the same notion that 30 Rock subtly uses now and again: Money is magic. And the fictional Veridian Dynamics Corp. has plenty of money. This idea gives the show a brilliant sci-fi feel to many episodes and allows it to satirize more serious ideas like defense spending, controversial science and foreign wars without getting bogged down in politics. The "will they, won't they?" office romance trope is cleverly subverted (and eventually organically succumbed to) by being addressed head on with more office satire. (Corporate policy mandates only 1 office affair.)
The whole show is on Netflix in HD. It's 26 episodes, quick and really smart. Think of it as an unfinished miniseries and spend a week finishing it. You'll seriously be glad you did. As an added kicker, Ted's daughter in the show is phenomenal. She provides the dry one liners and cuteness that would later be emulated by Luke Dunfey and the old soul/naive wisdom that can be seen in Manny Pritchett (both of Modern Family.)
Speaking of which, Modern Family is the only show that I can comfortably say lives up to ABC's missed opportunity of Better Off Ted. Like 30 Rock, this is another critical darling that is in the spotlight enough to get analyzed without me adding another voice reiterating what Entertainment Weekly and Emmy blogs have already said again and again. So instead I'll just say this: If Arrested Development is the dark roast, double shot, whole milk, light foam, extra hot latte made by the barista exactly the way you love it, then Modern Family is the same drink with a lighter roast and a little more foam. It doesn't quite have the same national commentary (and the inside jokes usually stop after the third reference) so it's not quite as rich as you like - but the show carries Arrested's legacy like nothing I thought would.
