Your Favorite TV Shows of 2014
Decatur Metro | December 22, 2014 | 9:30 am
Alright, so we’ve had a chance to discuss your favorite books already. Now on to TV shows!
What were your favorite programs this year? Again, they don’t need to have premiered this year. You just had to watch them.
Also as a secondary question – which was specifically requested by readers – what were your favorite shows to binge-watch this year?
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Best Show: True Detective – Not the best from a narrative standpoint, but great characters.
I binged on Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. (How unrecoverably nerdy is that?)
+1 to the Roosevelts.
Olive Kittredge was beautifully written and acted.
Transparent (free streaming using Amazon Prime).
Maybe Jeffrey Tambor will finally get some serious acknowledgement for his great work on Transparent. He’s had a remarkable but easy to overlook television career.
Jane the Virgin is, hands down, the best new show of the season for me.
Selfie was gone too soon. Ridiculous title, very cute show. They’re burning off the rest of the episodes on Hulu, at least.
Sleepy Hollow…well, it was my favorite new show of the *year* but the second season hasn’t been nearly as good as the first.
And I binge-watched/caught up on Hannibal and now I see what all the fuss was about. I can’t wait for that one to come back.
(Special mention goes to Red Band Society (now seemingly cancelled) – not my favorite show, but the scenes filmed in downtown Decatur were fun, and seeing the High Museum as a hospital always made me laugh.)
“seeing the High Museum as a hospital always made me laugh”
The show may not be up your alley, but Rectify has a wonderful sequence shot and set in the High Museum, in episode 4 of ssn. 2. I believe it’s the first time the High has actually been used as a museum in a film or tv show. I recall that it was used as a prison for Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, the first film version of Red Dragon.
Faves of 2014 in rough order of preference, except for the first, which was far and away my favorite:
Rectify
Masters of Sex
Mad Men
Game of Thrones
Transparent
The Walking Dead
Olive Kittredge
Doll and Em
Orphan Black
Portlandia
Blackish
Faves to binge watch: The Americans and Enlightened (no longer on, but watched the series on Amazon Prime).
Haven’t gotten around to season 2 of Orange is the New Black or Ssn 4 of Louie, but will over the holidays.
Shows I quit on this year: New Girl, Nashville, and House of Cards.
I meant to have True Detective 12th on my list, but forgot it. Great atmosphere and acting, but the ending was a huge letdown.
House of Cards
Peaky Blinders (Netflix) was pretty good, but maybe a bit violent for some tastes
I got surprisingly hooked on that.
Girls
Silicon Valley
Portlandia
Also, I can never walk away from a Seinfeld rerun, or 5.
PayTV: Game of Thrones, hands down
Regular TV: Blackish, Sleepy Hollow
I don’t really have time to binge-watch anything, but if I did, it would probably be “Justified”, if for no other reason than because Timothy Olyphant is incredibly easy on the eyes. He could just stand around wearing a pair of faded jeans & nothing else, and I’d still watch. 😀
In addition to several already mentioned, I really enjoyed the new season of Homeland this year. Also, The Affair has been very interesting. Love the 2 different perspectives in each episode.
For fans of the series, or those who never got around to watching it, HBO is releasing The Wire remastered in HD on December 26 to HBOGO and on one of the HBO channels. Would make for some riveting if bleak binge-watching.
I really wish they had been able to finish the last season in the usual 12-13 episodes. If memory serves me right they had to truncate it to 8 because the ratings weren’t great. I loved that show, though.
+1
I can’t believe that nobody has mentioned NCIS or any of it’s spin-offs yet. Aren’t any of you people somebody’s grandma or grandpa?
+1
No one’s owning up to Real Housewives, the Duggers, Sex Sent Me to the ER, etc. either. I know you’re out there. Just admit it. You’ll feel better about yourself.
I had to Google two of those. And I’m proud of it…
It used to be that people liked to boast that they didn’t watch television. But with so much good stuff on now, the new thing to say is “I don’t watch reality television shows”.
House of Cards
The Americans
Masters of Sex
True Detective
How to Get Away with Murder
…and I’m still on the Mad Men wagon
While they aren’t perfect, enjoyed Tyrant and Black List
Overrated IMO:
Ray Donovan
Walking Dead
Outlander on Starz — a wonderful treatment of a much-loved book series by Diana Gabaldon. Worth it just to see the beautiful scenery in the Scottish Highlands (also, men in kilts).
+1
The Strain
Based on what’s available via DTV basic package, Netflix, and Amazon Prime:
Binge/catching up:
Treme – far and away the best thing I watched this year (and one of the best things ever). Caved and paid for the final season.
Bomb Girls
Lillehammer (in waves–prob is that I can’t knit and watch the subtitles, so constantly backing up)
The Top of the Lake
Alpha House
The Fall (is that the right title? the Irish police story w/ Gillian Anderson)
final 2 seasons of Burn Notice
Regular schedule:
The Good Wife
Nashville (although if they continue de-emphasizing the music, they’ll lose me)
Grey’s Anatomy (would stop if I could, but I can’t)
Hell on Wheels
Modern Family
Major Crimes
Eagerly awaiting the return of Justified, Mad Men, Downton Abbey, Foyle’s War
Mysteries of Laura
MMMmm, Treme.
I also love Major Crimes and Modern Family.
I TRIED to watch the Walking Dead, I did. But I found the zombie theme too gross. Mad Men, Downton Abbey.
I’ve been putting off watching the final season of Treme because I don’t want to be done with it. Such an unusual series, and in it’s own way every bit as good as David Simon’s other great achievement, The Wire.
TOTAL THREADJACK. Sorry, I’m out of time.
Seeking feedback on fitness activity trackers. Don’t care about the watch, do care about sleep tracking. Discuss, please.
Why hello there! I just bought a FitBit One. I like that I don’t have to wear it on my wrist like the other FitBit. (I’m a fidgeter.) It does track sleep, yup. Also definitely makes me more interested in getting extra steps in where I can. It’s a fun little gadget and I’d recommend it.
Thanks, Marla!
Have pretty much narrowed my focus to Fitbit and Jawbone Up. Am more than a little worried about sending the clip-on type through the washing machine. But not 100% sure I’ll embrace the wrist form.
Doesn’t anyone else watch Gotham? Wonderful show.
In no certain order:
Call The Midwife (How am I the first to mention)
The Tudors (Yeah, I’m big time late on that one)
House of Cards
Orange is the New Black
Nashville (Agree it’s jumping the shark this season)
The Americans
Call the Midwife is one of my faves. And I like The Bletchley Circle quite a lot.
Currently enjoying NYPD Blue on DTV Audience channel. Loved it the first time around and it’s worn well–good acting and good writing stand the test of time, even when plot lines and pop culture cues become dated.