The Top 10 Best Television Shows of 2018

Needless to say, this tweet did not age well:

While I easily could have written about an additional 8 shows, I realized the back half of my list just consisted of the shows I always watch and love and recommend. Shows like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Superstore, and Bob's Burgers are shows I absolutely love and adore, but don't particularly like putting on lists anymore. A lot of that comes down to the fact that I don't have a lot of say about these shows that I haven't already said before outside of "It's still really good you guys", but I also don't want my work to feel repetitive. Additionally, there were so many new and great shows in 2018 that I didn't want to feel like I was cheapening my final list.

What you will not see on this list is a lot of HBO. I found their dramas and limited series this year to be downright boring or not worth watching. I know people seemed to have loved Succession, but after watching the entire first season and consuming all I could about the content after the show aired, I still don't particularly like or respect the project. I respected a lot of the first season of Westworld, but the show failed to solve any of its problems from it's rookie to sophomore season. In fact, they doubled down on the aspects of the show I never particularly cared for that it just became an expensive mystery box for Reddit to solve. And Sharp Objects was just plain boring. When your show is compelling, a slow pace is considered "deliberate". When your show isn't, it's just considered "boring.".

Netflix also took a hit on my list this year. For my 2017 list, five out of my top 10 shows came from Netflix. For my 2016 list, 4 out of my top 10 shows came from Netflix. For this list? Only 2. In the era of peak television, different channels and mediums are finally producing great content as opposing just just producing content to produce content. I have two shows from Amazon (and I haven't even seen The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel yet) and a show from YouTube. Showtime also managed to crack my list which I don't think it's managed to do since season one of Homeland. During a year where you could watch great television basically anywhere, I think my lists accurately reflects the great diversity of programs that we're living in. So without further ado, here is my list of the Top 10 Best Television Shows of 2018:


10) Homecoming (Amazon)
Season: 1
Created By: Micah Bloomberg and Eli Horowitz & Sam Esmail
Starring: Julia Roberts & Bobby Cannavale

Brief Description: Based upon the popular podcast of the same name, Homecoming is paranoid thrilled ripped straight from the 1970's. Micah Bloomberg and Eli Horowitz created an extremely compelling story for the audio medium and Sam Esmail works his usual magic to bring that storytelling to life. Of course, having Julia Roberts in peak form and Boardwalk Empire alums Bobby Cannavale and Shea Whigham who always elevate their projects. (My theory of having Boardwalk Empire alums as the third though fifth lead will always be good for your program or film remains in tact). I knew exactly how this story would end, and yet Esmail and crew kept me entertained throughout.

9) Better Call Saul (AMC)
Season: 4
Created By: Peter Gould & Vince Gilligan
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn & Jonathan Banks

Brief Description: Not all of the fourth season of Better Call Saul worked. The show was slow to pick up steam after it's strongest piece, the relationship between brothers Jimmy and Chuck McGill, ceased to exist, and the Mike (Banks) subplot of helping Gus Fringe build his Super Lab felt like the show was spinning its wheels. But once the show found its footing by deepening the relationship between Jimmy (Odenkirk) and Kim (Seehorn) and focusing on Jimmy's stalled career, Better Call Saul really started to sing.

8) Killing Eve (BBC America)
Season: 1
Created By: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Starring: Sandra Oh & Jodie Comer

Brief Description: I don't much care for classic spy stories and John La Carre novels/adaptations, but I loved the twist that creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge have managed to put on the genre. Sandra Oh playing the titular Eve as a low level British intelligence officer trying to hunt wickedly brilliant Villanelle played spectacularly by Jodie Comer. Comer's performance really made this season for me. It was over-the-top crazy in the most delightful way. As much fun as the spy stuff was, it was the characters of Eve and Villanelle and the relationship they ended up having together that really made for one of the best surprises of 2018.

The Silver Age of Television and The Shows That Defined It

TV critic Alan Sepinwall wrote elegantly about The Golden Age of Television in his book The Revolution Was Televised. It’s a phenomenal read for any television junkie, and while it doesn’t explicitly detail The Golden Age (the book purposefully leaves out comedies), it’s a great overview of the era.

I would recommend reading the nuances and specifics about the era in Mr. Sepinwall’s book, but the basic tenants of the revolution were an increase in prestige programming (which in turn led to more serialized series) which also led to an increase in networks. At the very beginning you had the three basics, ABC, CBS, and NBC. Over time the number of networks grew. The Golden Age saw an expansion of networks and having those networks get into the original programming game. HBO started to produce great original television content which led other networks like FX, AMC, and Showtime to do the same. That in turn led to great dramas such as The Shield, Dexter, and the aforementioned Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

I know many people would argue that we are still in The Golden Era of Television. We still have amazing television programming and television has become more serialized over the procedural nature that it used to be for decades. The Golden Era has changed things in television and that change is moving at a rapid pace. Further, what we used to know as television has almost disappeared.

How Orange Is The New Black Became The Best Show On Television

Last year I posted an article about the four contenders to replace Breaking Bad as the unequivocal best show on television. There were four main contenders: Parks and Recreation, Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and Orange Is The New Black. Since Vince Gilligan’s epic went off the air in the fall of 2013, three of those shows have made strong cases to be the champ. Mad Men ended up being the weakest out of the four, but it has helped define the standard for prestige television and is part of the reason any great non-super hero story isn't shown in movie theaters but rather on the small screen. Game of Thrones is the most watched show out of these four (most likely, since Netflix doesn’t release its viewing numbers) and has transcended the fantasy genre into something incredible, but it’s uneven-ness in storytelling and reliance on its source material ultimately forces the show to play second fiddle. Parks and Recreation is brilliant in every way, but the fact that it’s a sitcom first and foremost lowered its ceiling.

On the other hand, Orange Is The New Black managed to take the best parts of these shows and rise above them to become the best show out there. Orange has the storytelling skills of Mad Men, the grandeur of scope a la Game of Thrones, and the heart of Parks and Recreation while still telling its own stories. There are most certainly faults with the Netflix dramedy, and truthfully it probably has more faults than any of its competitors, but the fact that it’s still so damn good proves why it deserves to be the champion.

The Greatest Show You're Not Watching: Black Mirror

Black Mirror is a television program that originally aired in England. Late in 2011, it aired its first season. Being British, that first season was only three episodes long. In 2013, Black Mirror aired another three episodes. For the longest time, Black Mirror was just this underground greatness that TV critics flew to England in order to get a glimpse of it. Recently, the States have received it as the DirecTV channel aired it. Luckily for us normal television watchers, Black Mirror's six episodes recently came to Netflix. Having just heard of this show on the periphery of the zeitgeist, I wasn't all that thrilled in checking it out. However, after the American fall TV period ended, I needed a show to fill the void. The first show that popped up to me was Netflix's Marco Polo, but after three plus episodes of that pile of garbage, I picked another show. That show just so happened to be Black Mirror. Boy howdy am I glad I stumbled upon this pile of greatness.

Black Mirror is an anthology series that shows the dark side of technology. Charlie Booker, the show's creator, stated, "If technology is a drug- and it does feel like a drug- then what, precisely, are the side-effects?" The elevator pitch you hear about this show is that it's the modern day Twilight Zone. While that's a pretty good comparison, it's somewhat of a misnomer. The Twilight Zone was genuinely freaky and scary and when you think of The Twilight Zone you think horror and suspense. That's the wrong way to think about Black Mirror. While both are works of science fiction, Black Mirror steers very much towards drama and many of its stories seem like they could happen in the very near future, There's no flying cars or hover boards, but Black Mirror is science fiction in the truest sense of the genre- it shines a mirror on society and shows us the ugly sides to life.

Every single episode of Black Mirror is its own isolated story. There's nothing that connects the characters in episode 1 to the characters in episode 6. This allows for each individual episode to tell a brilliant 45 minute story about one particular topic. In an era where mini-series are becoming the new king of television; where programs like Fargo and True Detective dominate Best Of lists, Black Mirror's finite-ness is the perfect treat to modern day television watchers.

At the end of the day, whether I'm watching a TV show or a film, all I want is a good and compelling story. I know that seems really dumb and obvious for me to say, but so many filmmakers seem to stray from this course. It's why shows like Mad Men can fall down the drain into oblivion and why we allow films like Foxcatcher to exist. Black Mirror gives me a new story every episode that leaves me both satisfied and makes me think. It's a series that I cannot recommend enough.

Despite how awesome Black Mirror is, I can't fully describe it without going into detail about each particular episode. So that's what I'm going to do, I'm going to describe in detail the entire series episode by episode. It's OK, You can go watch the entire series. I'll wait. You watched it? All of it? Good. Let's begin. Spoilers ahead (duh!).

The 14 Best TV Shows of 2014

Television programs and programming is in a weird place right now. The Golden Age of Television is long gone (although its official death came when Breaking Bad ended last year) and in its wake we're seeing a huge crop of quality TV shows from a variety of different sources. Yet despite the gross number of quality programming, there isn't a show like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad anymore. Hell, there isn't even a Lost anymore. You'd think with more traditional and non-traditional service providers cropping up that at least one of them would give us The Next Big Thing, but it hasn't happened yet. Instead, what we're left with is a shit ton of really-good-but-not-Holy-Shit-amazing shows. While the "Top 14 of 14" sounds like a gimmick, it's sort of not. There's just that much good television shows to talk about that I need to expand my list beyond a Top 10, but I had a difficult time going past 14. So without further ado, here is my list of The 14 Best TV Shows of 2014:

The Best Television Shows of 2013

10) Boardwalk Empire (HBO)- Season 4
Created by: Terrence Winter

I'm a huge supporter of Boardwalk Empire, and was screaming until I was blue in the face about how excellent Season 3 of the show was. Since its inception, Boardwalk Empire has just gotten better and better. At least for the first 3 seasons. I thought Season 4 was a huge step back for the show. For starters, there was no big bad for the show's "lead" Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi). Sure, Dr. Valentin Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright) was a great big bad for the show in general, however he mainly was the villain for Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams). And as much as I love Chalky (aka Omar from The Wire), I realized this season that I really enjoy him as a supporting player to Nucky, and I'm not a huge fan of him as a co-lead.

Boardwalk Empire has always been a show that was carried not by its lead, but by its more entertaining co-stars. And there's nothing wrong with that. Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother made excellent careers out of that dynamic. But now that many of the sub-players are in different states with little to no connection to Nucky Thompson, this show felt like more of a jumbled mess than Game of Thrones. Nucky Thompson is a pretty boring character by himself (as Season 4 has really brought to our attention), but the plot still needs to run through him for the show to work. It's still really good, but it didn't live up to its full potential in 2013.

2013 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Outstanding Drama Series

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Breaking Bad (AMC)

- Downton Abbey (PBS)

- Game of Thrones (HBO)

- Homeland (Showtime)

- House of Cards (Netflix)

- Mad Men (AMC)

2013 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Outstanding Comedy Series

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Arrested Development (Netflix)

- 30 Rock (NBC)

- The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

- Girls (HBO)

- Modern Family (ABC)

- Veep (HBO)

The Best Episodes Of Television in 2012

10) On My Way- Glee (FOX)
Season 3 / Episode 14
Directed By: Bradley Buecker / Written By: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Brief Description: As bad as Glee is, it is great at bringing to light social issues that high schoolers and today's youth struggle with. Glee is especially great at dealing with homosexuality in today's landscape. "On My Way" focused on the Karofsky story line to help bring awareness to the struggle that young gay kids unfortunately have to face with on an every day basis. Plus, the story line at the end dealing with texting while driving was very powerful as well.


9) Q&A- Homeland (Showtime)
Season 2 / Episode 5
Directed By: Lesli Linka Glatter / Written By: Henry Bromell

Brief Description: As crazy and out-of-control as Homeland got in 2012, it still stopped to take moments to highlight its best feature- Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody and all of their great chemistry together. Nothing was better this this year than having Carrie and Brody alone together in an interrogation room. Grantland's Andy Greenwald called that interrogation the Best 15 Minutes Of Television This Year.

8) Louie C.K. / fun.- Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Season 38 / Episode 6
Head Writer: Seth Meyers

Brief Description: Despite SNL not being any good since Tina Fey left the show, I still continue to watch it on a weekly basis for some unknown reason. It's probably because you get amazing gems like this episode. When you get the best comedian on the planet to host your show, great things ensue. His Lincoln sketch is one of the funniest things you'll ever see.

7) Far Away Places- Mad Men (AMC)
Season 5 / Episode 6
Directed By: Scott Hornbacher / Written By: Semi Chellas

Brief Description: Despite my constant public bashing of Mad Men, it did have some incredible moments. I saw TIME choose "At The Codfish Ball" as the best Mad Men episode in 2012 and it's hard to argue with that selection. I chose "Far Away Places" because it had Roger Sterling's (the show's most charismatic character) take an incredible LSD trip. It just seemed for fitting for this season of Mad Men because the entire season felt like an acid trip.



6)  Win, Lose, or Draw- Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Season 4 / Episode 22
Written and Directed By: Michael Schur

Brief Description: For four long seasons we have sat beside and cared for Leslie Knope. We knew it was a huge dream of hers to become a city counsel woman (as a stepping stone to eventually becoming President) and in the Season 4 finale "Win, Lose, or Draw" we finally got to see if Leslie's dream came true or not.

5) Two Imposters- Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Season 3 / Episode 11
Directed By: Allen Coulter / Written By: Howard Korder

Brief Description: The last three episodes of Boardwalk Empire were incredible. B.E. took a giant leap this year to become one of TV's elite and best dramas. If I could choose all three I would. While the finale had the incredible rampaging of Richard Harrow, I ultimately chose the show's penultimate episode because the episode narrowed in on two of its most amazing characters (Nucky Thompson and Chalky White) and that was it. Despite the big cast, it is nice to settle down and focus on the show's best characters.

4) Pillows and Blankets- Community (NBC)
Season 3 / Episode 14
Directed By: Tristham Shapeero / Written By: Andy Bobrow

Brief Description: I am a Community fan but I hated Season 3 and thought the show imploded on itself. I was glad to see Dan Harmon leave. But during this implosion, we did get greatness like "Pillows and Blankets"- an episode mocking War documentaries such as the ones Ken Burns makes. Community was always at its best when it was doing parodies or poking fun at pop culture and "Pillows and Blankets" was the perfect representation of that in 2012.

3) Eggs- New Girl (FOX)
Season 2 / Episode 9
Directed By: Neal Brennan / Written By: Kay Cannon

Brief Description: "Eggs" was probably THE funniest episode that aired this year. I was literally laughing out loud and Schmidt's scene describing his sexual moves was incredible. Despite the amazing laughs and the frequency of them, the show never lost its heart and still had its characters at the core of the episode. Plus, writer Kay Cannon (30 Rock, Pitch Perfect) makes a wonderful cameo at the beginning. Great all around.

2) Dead Freight- Breaking Bad (AMC)
Season 5 / Episode 5
Written and Directed By: George Mastras

Brief Description: The beginning of the episode was just a kid on a dirt bike riding around in the desert and you think, "That was weird". And then the very last moment of the episode brings everything full circle and makes you scream, "Oh, Shit!" at the top of lungs and you can't wait for more. The Great Train Robbery was one of the best scenes Breaking Bad has ever done. And that's saying something considering this is Breaking freaking Bad.


1) Blackwater- Game of Thrones (HBO)
Season 2 / Episode 9
Directed By: Neil Marshall / Written By: George R.R. Martin

Brief Description: Even though I thought GOT was only the fourth best show in 2012, it without a doubt, aired the single greatest episode of 2012. This episode was solely about the Battle of Blackwater- when Stannis Baratheon finally comes to King's Landing and the great Tyrion Lannister attempts to fight him off. Because Game of Thrones has the biggest freaking cast in the world, we normally see about 10 different scenes with about 20 different characters on any given week. But the show's penultimate episode was solely about this one battle with the vast majority of the cast never to be seen. The limited storytelling made for the best episode Game of Thrones has ever aired and made for the best episode during this great and deep year that was 2012.
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The Best Television Shows Of 2012

10) Key and Peele (Comedy Central) Season 1
Created By: Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele

Brief Description: It's easy to call this show the 2012 reincarnation of Chapelle's Show, but please do not. While there are many similarities, Key and Peele's humor is smarter and their skits are more well crafted. This is one of the smartest and funniest shows on television right now.

9) Suits (USA) Season 2
Created By: Aaron Korsh

Brief Description: The show started off amazing as a brewing war in the Pearson Mardman law firm between current firm partner/creator Jessica Pearson and the main character Harvey versus absent firm partner/creator Daniel Hardman but ended sourly because it ended up being the predictable USA show that it is.

8) Homeland (Showtime) Season 2
Created By: Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa

Brief Description: What made Season 1 of Homeland great was that it was 24 except character driven instead of plot driven. However, Season 2 (especially the latter half of it) is now full on 24 with glaring plot holes which diminishes what was an incredible rookie season for Gordon and Gansa.

7) Justified (FX) Season 3
Created By: Graham Yost

Brief Description: The show was not going to live up to its incredible second season but it sure came close. They added two new villains in Season 3 (Quarles and Limehouse) and I thought that muddled the plot because there were too many moving pieces at once. Hopefully, they'll simplify that for Season 4

6) Mad Men (AMC) Season 5
Created By: Matthew Weiner

Brief Description: Despite Season 5 being extremely boring for the vast majority of it and is easily the worst Mad Men series to date, it's still Mad Men. It's still doing things other shows wouldn't dare to do and pulling them off. Despite my constant knocking of the show, there were still many amazing moments like Roger's LSD trip and the Lane Pryce story line during the second half of the season.

5) New Girl (FOX) Seasons 1/2
Created By: Elizabeth Meriwether

Brief Description: While the show took a few episodes in 2011 to figure out its characters and where they wanted to take everybody and everything, by 2012 the show was rocking on all cylinders. The show started focusing more or Schmidt and Nick which made Meriwether's good idea great.

4) Game Of Thrones (HBO) Season 2
Created By: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

Brief Description: The show aired the best episodes of the year ("Blackwater") and found a way to not only be completely fascinating and mesmerizing but also found a way to focus on character development this season. The one problem I had with Season 2 is that there are so many characters all over this world and some sub-points are getting tiresome (mainly Dany and Jon Snow). I know everyone will converge eventually but right now it feels like the show is dragging its feet at times.

3) Boardwalk Empire (HBO) Season 3
Created By: Terence Winter

Brief Description: "You Can't Be Half A Gangster". Words uttered by the immortal Jimmy Darmody in the show's pilot. Nucky Thompson becomes a full gangster in Season 3 which in turn causes Boardwalk Empire to turn a corner into greatness. The show found a damn good balance between character arcs versus plot points to make this season of Boardwalk the best one to date.

2) Parks and Recreation (NBC) Seasons 4/5
Created By: Michael Schur and Greg Daniels

Brief Description: Parks and Recreation is simply the best comedy on television right now. I think it's surpassing The Office for one of the greatest and recent NBC comedies. Parks and Rec have been on an amazing roll since Season 3 and have not let up on the gas pedal since.

1) Breaking Bad (AMC) Season 5.1
Created By: Vince Gilligan

Brief Description: While normally a Breaking Bad season is 13 episodes long, this "half" season of Breaking Bad was only 8. That in turn affected the storytelling. Gilligan and company are amazing at spending time articulating every detail of everything but they were forced to cut corners with 5 less episodes. That in turn created the worst Breaking Bad season to date since it's first season (which was shortened by the writer's strike). That being said, it's still the greatest show ever and the best show of the year. Even a "bad" season of Breaking Bad is better than anything currently on television.



Shows That Missed The Cut

- Archer (FX): A show that just missed the cut and is 11th on my list. I probably enjoy Archer more than I do Key and Peele but Archer will go through slumps (both mid episode and mid season) and has done so throughout its three year run. I'd like to see Archer be at a higher level more consistently before I throw it on a top ten list.

- 30 Rock (NBC): I have come to grips that 30 Rock will never be as good as it was in Seasons 1-3 but it's sixth season in 2012 was excellent and easily made an argument that it deserved to make my top 10.

- Modern Family (ABC): I know I'm alone on an island on this one but I don't like Modern Family anymore. The characters and the beats of the show have become repetitive and I feel like I'm watching the same episode over and over again.

- The League (FX): Holy cow is Season 4 of The League bad. It was never a great show because it sacrificed both plot and characters for a laugh (which used to work) but now it's not even generating laughs.

- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (FX): It's still great but the season is too young for me to properly judge it.

- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) / The Office (NBC): One of my favorite comedies of all time and now have become completely unwatchable (I have stopped watching). Please die already.

- Glee (FOX): it was never that good of a show to begin with but with more worse plot lines (which I didn't think were possible), crappier songs, and poor handling of important teen issues, the bloom is officially off of the Glee rose.
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