Did the right thing and waited until Finales of Homeland and Dexter – need not have bothered
There were 5 shows that stood out for me this year and they are in no particular order but will state quite clearly that Boardwalk Empire Episode 11 was the pick of the year for me. Mad Men was the best show consistently throughout its season. There are another half dozen shows that had good but not stellar seasons
Boardwalk Empire
BE has always oozed class but like Treme never fully engaged me. I would watch it but many times in first 2 seasons it would be a few days after the release. That all changed in Season 3 especially towards the end. The emergence of Capone and reappearance of Chalky towards the end elevated the show to must watch category. It helps that there are real characters like Capone in there that you know. Mrs T was still a pain most of the time but the introduction of Gyp et al more than made up for it and the evolution of the relationship of the Thompson brothers was well handled.
Mad Men
Superb season and while most episodes were strong the best for me was The Other Woman – followed closely both in quality, plot and time by Commissions and Fees. Mrs Draper 2 was loopy at times and Roger entertaining as always but the strong showing by Pete and Lane really stood out this season. This show could go on forever really
Louie
Bit slow getting on board with this guy but thought this season really stood out and the Late Show arc of 3 episodes with Lynch front and centre was the standout for me. It is a unique comedy with no 2 episodes the same – unless as part of an arc of course:) The Miami episode was a fave of many and once again shows the diversity of the guy
Breaking Bad
Strong short season – but then this show is never bad. The final 8 episodes will complete this season and build on some interesting developments and the solid ground work laid down this year. Not its best season but still better than most and how they tie it all up will be the tester
Misfits
Tried to describe this in other media commitments and closest I came was Skins meets Fantastic 4 with Walking Dead thrown in and all written by someone on an acid trip It is a totally unique viewing experience and unlike most shows the new seasons often go off in total new direction. Never afraid to kill characters off but it is likely many could enjoy the earlier more plot driven seasons rather than the later more humorous seasons – or vice versa. Do yourself a favour and then thank me later – weirdly wonderful.
So to the rest. Comedy wise, 30 Rock was uneven but still very funny at times no doubt helped by my love/lust of Tina Fey. Modern Family was solid as well and particularly liked the garage sale episode. New Girl and Happy Endings were suitably quirky but lacking originality now.
Drama wise, Justified was solid but not as good as previous season. Spartacus pipped GOT in the costume drama saga category but both were uneven and never rose to any consistent great heights although there were glimpses at times. Honourable mention for Elementary as well – most cream their jeans for Sherlock (which is great but short on numbers) but this one is very enjoyable and fills the void nicely
And then to the big 2 disappointments – Dexter and Homeland. Both started of gangbusters with the first 5 episodes of Homeland amongst the best TV all year – then they got the meth head down the road to write a few episodes and it all went pear shaped. Solid but not spectacular finale gave some hope for next season but really Brooding Brody (sometimes referred to as Nick by those not close to him) or Catatonic Carrie have to bite the bullet next season. Dexter remained solid for many episodes especially while the Roaming Russkie was on board and Deb deserves an award for her work this season but it was a ridiculous finale once again that let down an otherwise almost believable season
And in between all the big guns, it was great to sit down and laugh at A Moody Christmas for a short 6 weeks.
flashman181 