Medium Mashup’s Best TV of 2015

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Now that 2015 is coming to an end, we can look back on a year of great programming and begin to put it all into perspective! 2015 was a remarkable year not only for the quality of a few stand-out shows, but for the sheer breadth of great television. Unlike the aughts, in which one or two shows tended to dominate the discussion, there are simply too many great shows to simply pick a winner or two.

So instead of choosing the absolute best shows on TV, I’ve split things up into “Network” and “Cable/Streaming” sections and added more categories. In addition to the mandatory comedy/drama, I’m also naming a best animated series, action series, and sci-fi/fantasy series. Finally, while I won’t be rewarding any specific performances or writers/directors, I will be giving a few nods to noteworthy individual episodes.

One last note: Since these are my personal choices, rather than a committee vote, and because there is SO MUCH great TV right now, I obviously have some blind spots. I didn’t have time for some very highly-praised shows, so if you’re lamenting the absence of Mr. Robot, The Flash, You’re The Worst, Jane the Virgin, Transparent, or any number of others, just know that it’s not because they were bad, but because I simply didn’t get around to them.

And with that, we’re off!

The Best of Network Television

Best Animated Network Program – Bob’s Burgers

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I’ll admit up front that I didn’t watch a lot of animated network shows this year. Aside from Fox’s Sunday line-up, there’s just not a lot out there. But just because there weren’t a lot of options doesn’t diminish how great Bob’s Burgers has become, or how consistently smart and funny it remains. Despite entering into its sixth season, the show still feels fresh, and with its ever-expanding cast of endearing characters, Bob’s Burgers has become the truest successor to The Simpsons that Fox has aired. It remains to be seen if Bob’s can keep up its level of quality without tapering off like The Simpsons, but it shows no current signs of losing steam.

Best Network Comedy – Brooklyn Nine-Nine

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Unlike most network comedies, it took no time at all for Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s terrific cast to come into their own. The series has fired on all cylinders since its launch, and season three gives few reasons to doubt its continued success. This year has shown that the writers aren’t opposed to experimenting with new dynamics with both short-lived changes to the formula (such as Holt’s reassignment) and more long-term ones (Peralta and Santiago’s new relationship). With Parks and Recreation finished, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the best workplace sitcom remaining on television, and my favorite network comedy of 2015.

Best Network Sci-fi/Fantasy Program – Sleepy Hollow

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Make no mistake: Sleepy Hollow is getting this nod because I simply didn’t see any other network TV series that fell into the Sci-Fi genre. Sleepy Hollow has recovered slightly from its very rough conclusion last year, but is still treading water and looking for a reason to exist. After the primary antagonist was defeated halfway through season two, the series has never quite managed to introduce an interesting threat. With the original creators gone and so little to keep it going, it seems unlikely that we’ll see another year of Sleepy Hollow after this one, but at least it can go on representing Sci-Fi and fantasy on network television until this summer.

Best Network Action Program – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

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This is where my blind spots really hurt me: I haven’t watched Flash or Arrow, the usual network action favorites, so I’ll have to go with one I did see: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s been a pretty good season so far; perhaps not as strong as the previous one, but still much better than its debut year. There was a terrific episode, 4722 Hours, which broke from the show’s established format to give us one character’s recent history, and lots of seeding for the Inhumans movie a few years down the road to keep us interested. It’s not must-see television, but it’s a solid popcorn series.

Best Network Drama – Hannibal

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Hannibal was hands-down the strongest network drama this year, and honestly the only thing I saw that even deserved consideration. This year the show went even further off the deep end, with a first half that functioned as a continued descent into madness and a second half that served as an excellent (and often surprising) adaptation of the book Red Dragon. It’s a shame that Hannibal had to end, but at least it went out on a great note, providing closure for those who seek it while remaining open-ended for future stories, should Bryan Fuller get the chance to explore them.

The Best of Cable/Streaming Television

Best Animated Cable/Streaming Program – Rick and Morty

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Rick and Morty proved that it’s incredible first season was no fluke with season two, which delved deeper into the characters and brought the rest of Morty’s family into the forefront. While not every episode was a masterpiece (“Get Schwifty,” for instance, is funny but not up to the show’s established level of brilliance), there were some instant-classics as well, such as “Total Rickall” and “The Ricks Must Be Crazy.” Even moreso than in the first season, the series managed to balance its hard-sci-fi plotlines and insane comedy with a real sense of pathos. Somehow a show with a character named “Mr. Poopybutthole” managed to unironically incorporate Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” to successful dramatic effect. Rick and Morty remains one of the most noteworthy shows on television, and I cannot wait to see how they resolve the current plotline next year.

Best Cable/Streaming Sci-fi/Fantasy Program – Game of Thrones

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In all honesty, this was probably the weakest season of Game of Thrones. Despite improving on the source material, series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss still had trouble making a compelling season out of somewhat lackluster material. That being said, Game of Thrones remains one of the most singular, impressive television accomplishments of the last several years. It’s continuing to show that an ongoing blockbuster-level television series is a viable format, and that fantasy can still be successful with a wide audience if the writing and the characters are interesting enough. In terms of spectacle and scope, nothing else on television even compares.

Best Cable/Streaming Action Program – Daredevil

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Daredevil had one of the most assured debuts of the year, immediately rectifying the mistakes of the 2003 films and restoring Daredevil’s place in the public consciousness. A great cast, a compelling villain, and masterful control over structure and tone made the show one of the best streaming offerings of the year, the kind of series that begs you to binge-watch but remains compelling on an episode-to-episode basis. Season 2, featuring Jon Bernthal as The Punisher, cannot come soon enough.

Best Cable/Streaming Comedy – Veep

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The possibilities for this category make up an embarrassment of riches. How can one pick a single favorite when such series as Veep, Silicon Valley, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Master of None all aired terrific seasons this year? But since I’ve forced myself to pick just one, I’m going with Veep. This was the strongest season yet of the show, featuring a re-election campaign for now-president Selina Meyer, the addition of the great Hugh Laurie to the cast, completely new professional roles for a number of characters, and Amy’s incredibly cathartic breakdown. Creator and showrunner Armando Iannucci may be leaving the series, but he went out with a bang, topping one of the best comedy slates in TV history.

Best Cable/Streaming Drama – The Leftovers

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You’re going to see Mad Men and The Americans topping a lot of “Best Drama” lists, and I can’t fault other people’s opinions. The Americans continues to be a solid marital drama/spy thriller, tackling the conflict of family vs country even more directly this year, and Mad Men finished out its run with one of the strongest series finales ever, so there’s certainly an argument to be had for both. But for me, personally, nothing this year comes close to season 2 of The Leftovers. From the very first episode, the show completely  fixes its issues from last year by focusing on one particular character each week. Now creating brand new material rather than adapting a book, Damon Lindelof is off his leash, taking incredible narrative risks that paid off in a historically great run of episodes. It’s a shame that more people didn’t get to experience this landmark season of television, but at least HBO agreed to renew it for one more final season. Do yourself a favor and catch up before then!

Additional Categories

Best Miniseries or TV Movie – Fargo

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True Detective may have destroyed all remaining goodwill for its great first season, but Fargo shattered its sky-high expectations with a remarkably assured follow-up. Set in the same geographic area but roughly 30 years prior to season 1, the series featured a brand new visual aesthetic, a completely different cast, a superb 70s-set soundtrack, and goddamn UFOs while still feeling at one with its predecessor. Noah Hawley has proven that he cannot only imitate the Coen brothers, but internalize their essence and apply it to his own work. I have complete trust in this anthology of mini-series at this point, and am looking forward to its return to the more-recent past in 2017.

Most Insane Episode of Television – Hannibal, “Digestivo”

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What I referred to above as a “descent into madness” had to reach its nadir at some point, and “Digestivo” fits the bill appropriately. In a series of events too long and detailed to repeat here (although you can find a lot of it in my write-up here), Hannibal serves up the the most depraved scenario I’ve ever seen on television, let alone on a network like NBC. That the series has since been cancelled is no wonder, but the fact that this episode exists at all is a miracle.

Episode That Elevated Its Series The Most – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, “4,722 Hours”

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After a soft-reboot in season 2, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D began to settle into a somewhat familiar formula. The show had its moments, and was rarely outright bad, but there no longer seemed to be much of an element of surprise. Fortunately, this year the writers served up “4,722 Hours,” an episode about series regular Simmons being stranded on a distant alien planet for half a year. By breaking form and focusing on one character’s fight for survival, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D gave the impression that it still had a few tricks up its sleeve. So far it’s yet to break from its established format so dramatically a second time, but having done so at all gives hope that the series can be more than just a marketing machine for future Marvel movies.

Best Individual Episode of Television – The Leftovers, “International Assassin”

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No other episode on television this year was as audacious and surprising as The Leftovers’ “International Assassin.” I won’t go into detail about it here (although I did discuss it in the spoiler section of this review), but the episode is arguably Damon Lindelof’s finest work, right up there with Lost’s “The Constant” and “Through the Looking Glass.” It’s brilliant, hilarious, exhilarating, and completely unexpected.

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