2014 Honorable Mentions

Since we are living in an era of so much superb television, I decided to once again make a companion post to my Best Of list. Some of the following shows didn't make the Best Of cut for various reasons, but if you ask me, they are all worth checking out:

Boardwalk Empire- A shortened final season of this show brought most of the characters' stories to a satisfying close without sacrificing quality or craft. The use of flashbacks could be tiresome, but were also powerful and crucial to the show's thematic finale. The quality of Boardwalk Empire got much better towards the end of its run and I for one will miss its impeccably tailored costumes and send up to Prohibition Era accents and culture.

The Comeback- Oh my goodness this season of The Comeback was so darn good that if I hadn't made my Best Of list before the final episode aired, it certainly would have been included. I loved everything about this nine-years-later second season. Like its first season, The Comeback manages to capture the television landscape of its time while commenting on the price of fame and the treatment of women in Hollywood in often poignant and distressing ways. The meta-ness of the show never ceases to surprise me and Lisa Kudrow is doing amazing work. Lisa Kudrow for all the awards!

Fargo- Fargo was all at once an homage to the Coen Brothers' filmography and something of its own entirely, toeing that line expertly with craft and quirk. And it did it all with a smirk on its face. I think what held it back was it's pacing as it took me a few episodes to actually get into the story. But once I did, I enjoyed it as much as the best shows on TV. A time-jump mid way through the season helped on every level. And the characters kept you guessing as they embraced the sometimes heightened reality of the world they lived in. I need someone to give Allison Tolman a new role ASAP.

Homeland- Oh, what to say about the see-saw that is Showtime's Homeland? It will never live up to its zany first season, but the reset of this most recent season was the best the show has been in a very long time (since the second season episode, "Q & A" if you ask me). Yes the show remains uneven: One second I'm thrilled to the edge of my seat and the next rolling my eyes at the improbability and 24-tinted plot points. But I very much enjoyed these most recent episodes, finger-guns and all.

The Mindy Project- The Mindy Project tends to get a lot of hate, especially from the males of the world (which I guess I can understand, although I do believe there's humor for everyone). The first season and a half of the show was okay, yet always comedic. But the later half of its second season and the first half of its third have been firing on all cylinders. The ensemble work is spot on while the one-liners and wordplay keep me laughing for days.

Orange is the New Black- I didn't love OITNB's second season as much as its first and I think it came down to the season's villain. Vee was just such a cartoon villain with no real motivation behind her lust for power/control and her subsequent manipulation over the entire social system. I guess later episodes made her out to simply be a psychopathic egomaniac, but that felt like a disservice to a show that normally has fantastic character work. Aside from Vee, I have no complaints about the season (except for Larry continuing to be The Worst).

Orphan Black- Orphan Black keeps so many balls in the air and while it could be more successful at it, its impressive all the same. But I'm just waiting for it all to fall apart. Tatiana Maslany carries the show on her shoulders by playing all the major characters with such nuance that you can always tell who she is (even when she's one character pretending to be another character). The science of the show can be wonky, but that is what sci-fi is all about. And the end of one episode in particular was so beautifully thrilling that I think I stopped breathing.

Parks and Recreation- Parks and Rec is a forever favorite of mine. The show hasn't gotten stale per say, but it has definitely plateaued in its humor, momentum, and general story. However, the final minutes of this year's season finale was a much needed shot of adrenaline and humor. Jumping ahead three years avoids bogging the show down with pregnancy (again) and other story lines the show has already explored. For the first time in a while, I'm very much looking forward to next season. Filling in the gaps between timelines will hopefully be hilariously fruitful.

Silicon Valley- I found the pilot of this new HBO comedy lukewarm, but as the show found its characters and general story, the show gained a lot of comedic momentum. It all lead to a season finale that happened to be one of the funniest episodes of television I've seen in a while. The show is smart, silly, and cutting. One character in particular, Peter Gregory, was a standout of amusing eccentricity, which only makes the passing of actor Christopher Evan Welch, that more tragic.

Veep- I simply love Veep. I think Julia Louis Dreyfus, Matt Walsh, Tony Hale, and Timothy Simons are all hilarious people. I'm a fan of politics. I'm a big fan of creative cursing. As long as this show is on, I'll be watching it. And like Parks and Rec, I suspect it will be a forever favorite.

Top TV: Honorable Mentions

Yesterday I offered just the tip of my Top TV of the year, but because there was so much fantastic programming, I will now present you with my... Honorable Mentions!
(Believe me, these are all worth mentioning).

Veep- The second season of Veep was a hoot and it might just be my favorite comedy currently on television. Julia Louis-Dreyfus deserves all the recognition she gets for this show as she hilariously leads a superb comedic cast. (HBO)

The Returned- When I was discussing Sundance Channel in my Top TV post, I quickly mentioned that I am currently engrossed in this French show. If it wasn't for the fact that we're mid-season, there was a very good chance this would have made the list. I love the concept of this program and the melancholy feel it evokes. I went into it expecting a horror show, but got so much more than I could have bargained for. (Sundance)

Girls- We all know how much I love Girls. I had some issues with this past season, but there were also some inspired stand outs. "Bad Friend" in which Hannah raves in a mesh top was a delight. And "One Man's Trash" would easily be in my top five episodes of the past year. (HBO)

Orphan Black- Orphan Black is sci-fi in spades. And Tatiana Maslany IS Orphan Black. If it wasn't for her I don't know if this show would be nearly as good as it is. Playing up to four different characters in one episode (including characters impersonating other characters) is impressive enough, but doing it so convincingly that I straight up forget that it's the same actress and actually believe that these characters are all different people is a feat worthy of all the awards television has to offer. And lets not forget to mention the comedic beats, shocking turns, fun accents, and scientific mysteries we get along the way. (BBC America)

New Girl- If I had to give out a Most Improved Show Award I'd give it to New Girl. It found its groove in its second season and it was fun to see it work through the kinks, figure out its characters, and deliver a very funny program with its own brand of humor. Plus Coach is back! (Fox)

Broadchurch- I thoroughly enjoyed this British drama starring David Tennant in another series that does The Killing better than The Killing (the other being Top of the Lake). Broadchurch was beautifully shot, tragically plotted, truly engrossing, and expertly acted. Word on the street is that we will be getting an American version soon--also starring David Tennant (but with an American accent which will be bloody strange if you ask me)--and I fully intend on watching even if I already know who did it. (BBC America)

House of Cards- I may have had a lot of issues with the writing on House of Cards--which really is a deal breaker for me--but everything else about this show deserves a mention. The directing and acting are undeniable. David Fincher set an exquisite tone for the show and Kevin Spacey was amazing, as always. But the breakthrough performance from Corey Stoll was probably my favorite thing about the series (you could say he stoll the show). And I have to admit, the promos for the upcoming second season have me pretty pumped for a continuation of the story. Lets just hope they don't do anything stupid. Again. (Netflix)

Parks and Recreation- Do you guys seriously think I'd leave the most consistent comedy on television out of my year end recap? I love Parks and Rec. Yes it may be getting stale in its later seasons, but it still manages to move me and make me laugh. And for that, it will always get a shout out. (NBC)

Arrested Development- AD gets a nod for pure ambition alone. Overall I didn't love the season, but it sure had a lot of fun with its structure. (Netflix)

A Quick Post About Veep

NOTE: I know I have been neglecting this blog lately. I am still going to blame it on the fact that I am reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series (I'm about 300 pages into A Feast for Crows). But there are still several topics I am going to try to blog about in the near future. For now, I just wanted to express some thoughts on the current season of HBO's Veep. They're not very well articulated and for that I apologize.

There's not much to say about Veep aside from the fact that I think it has been hilarious from the start. And in it's second season Veep not only continues to be hilarious, but it's hitting its stride so strongly that it is very quickly becoming one of my favorite comedies. A lot of shows take some time to find themselves and figure out the type of show they want to be. And it's usually in the latter half of the first season that things typically come together for the whole production. But seeing as that Veep, being on HBO, had a shorter first season it seems that we're now at the point where it's found its sweet spot. And it's truly glorious to behold. I'm having nothing but an amazing time watching this season's episodes these past three weeks.

No one makes cursing sound as poetically hilarious as the show's creator, Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, In The Loop) and I have had high hopes for the show and its humour from the start. But now Veep is really beginning to lean into its talent, writing for the actors, highlighting their strengths, and settling in comfortably to world it has created for itself. And I honestly can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store.

The latest episode, "Hostages" had me laughing so hard and so often that I honestly couldn't remember the last time a comedy was landing so well with me. I love a good comedy. I love shows like Community (which is having a disappointing fourth season) and Parks and Recreation (a show I have long considered to be the most consistent comedy currently on television), but neither of them have had me laughing the way Veep had me laughing on Sunday night in quite some time.

I feel like it's easy to compare Parks and Recreation and Veep seeing as that they both have female leads and are set in the world of politics. But for all the optimism and hope and genuine heart Parks and Recreation has, Veep answers back with equal amounts cynicism, pessimism, and bluntness. They are total opposites of each other yet I still love both for not only their humor, but their respective political lenses. And I love that both manage to even surprise me. This past Sunday's Veep ended with a moment in which Julia Louis Dreyfus's Selina Meyers actually showed some concern (and dare I say, remorse?) for another human being and it actually felt deserved. It didn't feel cheap or random at all, which somehow managed to surprised me even more. When I realized she was showing hints of a genuine emotion it made the episode stand out even more strongly.

Lastly, a quick side note: I was reading the AV Club's recap of "Hostages" earlier this week and the recapper, Robert David Sullivan, brought up this one stray observation regarding the gender politics of the show. And not only do I wish I had noticed this myself, but it actually makes me admire the show even more.

Gender politics: Amy and Sue are the most level-headed people on Selina’s staff, and the males all bring to mind female stereotypes. Gary is emotionally fragile, Mike is a ditz, and Dan is a gossipy social climber. At the climax of “Hostages,” Selina goes into a national-security meeting with Amy and barks, “No, no, you’re not needed here, Gary. This is man’s work. Same goes for you, Dan.”

It's a great point that I could honestly break down in a whole new post. But I won't. Instead I'm just going to gush over this and say that I love the show even more for flipping gender stereotypes on their head. It is only going to enhance my enjoyment of future episodes. And it adds a whole other amazing layer to the comedy of this program.