It was a great year for Television Were did True Detective stand at the end of all of it?
Photo Credit: HBO
It’s that time of year again! It’s time to look back at the
year and all that has transpired in the world of television. 2014 was another
great year for television, and one that many have actually had the problem of
having “too much good TV” (as ludicrous as that statement may sound). There was
just so much in so many different place it was insane and it made it even
harder for me than usual to even watch all of the “noteworthy” TV that hit the
airwaves in the year 2014. That leaves me to the disclaimer that comes before
every single top 10 list that I make which is that I have absolutely not seen
everything that Television has to offer this year most notably Comedy Central’s
Review and Amazon Prime’s Transparent (both of which were hard to access in
Canada). That being said there still was a lot of great Television and this
list is packed. Here are my picks for this year’s top 10…
Honorable Mentions:
Girls (HBO), Game of Thrones (HBO), Bojack Horseman
(Netflix), Parks and Recreation (NBC), Louie (FX), The Knick (Cinemax/HBO
Canada), Boardwalk Empire (HBO), You’re the Worst (FX)
10. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
John Oliver may be the revelation of 2014. It’s not that
most didn’t know he was good nor did most not think he could be the host of his
own show, but I don’t think anyone ever imagined that Last Week Tonight would
be this great. Oliver took a format that worked and reinvigorating it by
focusing on long and detailed pieces instead of just the usual short and
snappy segments that the Daily Show provides. Heck it made long form
investigative journalism cool to the common public eye! Who can say that?
9. True Detective
(HBO)
No show has gone through as much of a swing in popular
opinion this year as True Detective. At the beginning and even all the way
through its first season run True Detective was said to be the greatest thing to
hit TV, and post run it was almost completely turned on. I really like this
show for the most part, from the great performances from both Matthew
McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, to the beautiful direction from Cary Fukunaga,
to the wonderful and ambitious ideas that filled its mere eight episode run.
Did it fall under the weight of its own ambition near the end, yes but the sum
of True Detective managed to overcome its few flaws and make it one of the most
intriguing shows of 2014.
8. Happy Valley (Netflix/BBC)
I caught onto Happy Valley almost by accident near the later
part of 2014 and boy was I glad I did. Happy Valley was one of the most
harrowing and powerful television shows that 2014 at the same time being a
great slow burn crime drama and a fascinating look at the effects of a
kidnapping. And then there is that scene at the end of episode four that will
forever be burned into my consciousness and is one of the single best sequences
in all of 2014. I’m glad that every once and a while Netflix will bring over
some foreign television gems, a trend that I hope continues into 2015 and
beyond.
7. Fargo (FX)
When FX announced that it would be doing a television show
version of the Choen Brother’s classic (and one of my favorite films of all
time) Fargo my initial thought was that this is a bad idea, a really bad idea.
On paper it still is a really bad idea but somehow, someway Noah Holley and
crew managed to make it work extraordinarily well. This is a show that tried to
capture the spirit of Fargo but never tried to dwarf it nor did it try to be a
television remake of the film itself. Fargo the television show is not only a
perfect companion piece to the film but a great season of television filled
with phenomenal acting, a twisty plot, and fantastic since of mood and
atmosphere. The idea of taking a film and creating a television show based
around it is still an idea that should not be replicated, but Fargo made it
work and that’s an amazing achievement.
6. Rectify (Sundance/Netflix Canada)
The second season of Rectify continued and expanded the
strange fish out of water story of Daniel Holden.
With the expansion of season two to 10 episodes the show was allowed to explore
characters that had previously not received their due (who knew I could get invested in Ted Jr. as much as I did) allowing the show
to expand its universe in the most fascinating ways. Rectify remains a one of a
kind show one that explores mood, character, and faith in a way that no other
show even attempts. This is art TV at its finest.
5. Mad Men (AMC)
No matter how much the backlash piles on Mad Men
remains the same great show it has always been. Sure the seven episode split
was admittedly not all that kind to the show providing us with a bit of an
uneven start to this half season, but when the show is in peak form as it was
for the last three episodes it is better than anything on television…. Period.
Even in the short and at times uneven season we got Ginsberg vs the computers,
Don’s worst threesome ever, a little bit of closure to the best relationship
that the series has done, and Bert freaking Cooper singing and dancing from
beyond the grave. This show remains as great as it has been since day one and
while it had some trouble with the half season format (which is AMC’s fault) by
the end of the season it felt like the show never missed a beat.
4. The Americans (FX)
No show made a bigger leap in 2014 then FX’s The Americans.
Ramping up the tension for the characters by having some fellow agents go down
and adding the kids into the main fray spiced up the proceedings considerably.
Gone was the strange break up and get back together fu of the first season and
in its place came some great drama with Elizabeth and Phillip’s failings as
parents which made for a season that felt much more fluid and interesting from
both a plot and character perspective. Let’s hope that unlike recent FX dramas
(ie Justify and Sons of Anarchy) that season two is not the peak of the show
and instead continue on this great path it laid for itself in season two.
3. The Leftovers (HBO)
2014’s award for TV’s most depressing hour goes to the polarizing
new HBO drama The Leftovers. No other show made for as much of a sustained
punch to the stomach as The Leftovers providing some of the most disturbing and
truly emotionally damaging material of the year. This may sound awful at first
glance but while no other show punched like The Leftovers few if any rewarded the viewer more. The payoff to the emotional punches were always
perfectly executed through great acting (especially Carrie Coon another big
revelation in the year 2014), a haunting score, and beautiful direction
established early on by Peter Berg. The Leftovers may be a depressing show to
sit through but the power of the show makes it all worth it and more.
2. Hannibal (NBC)
The winner of the how the heck is this show still airing on
television let alone network freaking television is Hannibal, the show that
continues to surprise around every corner. This is a show that pulls no punches
with its gruesome violence and genuine creep factor, but at the same time
manages to be a big beautiful piece of operatic cinema. Hannibal is high art TV at
its most strange and fascinating, each week challenging the viewer in so many different
ways. The season went from being a great game of cat and mouse between Hannibal
and his imprisoned patsy Will throughout its first half to becoming one giant
inescapable nightmare as Will got closer to Hannibal in its second and seamlessly
transitioned between the two. It all led to one of the most stunning and
disturbing finales ever put on television, one that haunts me to this very
moment. But the show’s biggest achievement is that, while it is a show that
focused on a serial killer, never for a second became exploitative like so many
serial killer shows tend to. Hannibal remains the most fascinating show on
television and I can’t wait to see what strange and messed up directions season
three takes us (yes this show has now somehow been renewed twice).
1 Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
No season of television felt as complete and as close to
perfection in 2014 as the second season Orange is the New Black. This is a show
that has continued to expand its world and breadth of characters and at the
same time give us such a tight almost Wire esque plot thread. This show somehow
managed to hit all the emotions, it made me laugh, cry, and made me feel for
characters that at the end of last season I could have never imagined I would
feel for on such a deep level. Everything that the first season did so well the second did better, we got deeper back stories, more complicated situations, and the best cast of characters on television. By the time Don’t Fear the Reaper played at the
end of the season there was no show that achieved the level of power and depth
on television in 2014. A stunning achievement to say the least.
That's just me though. What did everyone else think?
