The Top 15 Shows of 2012

I usually do end of the year lists at the end of the year ( Ha! Imagine that!)  Circumstances beyond my control delayed my end of year columns this time around but have no fear, they are here. While this was a very down year for brand new shows, many returning shows had very strong seasons, and for this reason i have decided to make this a top 15 list as opposed to my usual top 10.  Without further ado, the top 15 shows of 2012.

15.  THE L.A COMPLEX-  Oh, you don't know what this show is?  Well that is your loss.  This little Canadian darling was imported to us by the CW this past summer, and almost no one watched it.  The show, dealing with a bunch of young people who live in rundown hotel rooms trying to make it in L.A, featured a fantastic cast of unknowns and perhaps the best portrayal of a closeted homosexual alpha male that i have ever seen on television.  While the ratings are low, it is very cheap for the CW to air it, so we still may see the show return this summer.  And if it does, i suggest you watch.

14. 30 ROCK- I normally like my comedies to have a little soul and emotion in them, which is why it is usually very hard for 30 Rock to crack my list. Tina Fey and company took the funny to a new level this past season, and so far the beginning of the last season has been spot on, even including a few emotional moments such as the wedding of Liz Lemon.

13. THE LEAGUE- You know what you are getting from The League year in and year out now and that is: A bunch of funny improv, and interesting look at the dynamics of the male friendship, and some questionable at best knowledge about fantasy football.  The show has gotten so good at what it does that it has attracted guest stars from everywhere, be it comedy veterans like Sarah Silverman or bigger names such as Ray Liotta and Jeff Goldblum.

12. COUGARTOWN- Cougartown ended its run on ABC (new episodes begin on TBS on January 8) with perhaps its most consistent season, and definitely its most romantic, as Jules and Grayson marched towards a goofy and beautiful wedding, the Cul De Sac Crew helped Bobby land what seemed to be his dream girl, and Travis continued to wrestle with his feelings for Laurie. This is an incredibly sweet, ridiculous, warm show whose continued existence, even in a new home, makes me very much look forward to the start of the new year.

11. PARENTHOOD- Parenthood is a show i have always enjoyed a lot, but before this season, viewed it as more of a guilty pleasure than an actual great show.  That idea is no more.  With the cancer storyline bringing into focus so much of what the show does great, Parenthood has reached a new level.  The cries are still there, as they always have been, but now they feel much more earned from a character perspective rather than just relying on the strengths of its amazing ensemble cast.

10. NEW GIRL- One of only 2 "new" shows to crack my top 10.  New girl started its first fall season a little rough but really came into its own with the episodes aired in 2012.  The show made Dermot Mulrony likable for crying out loud!  The show steered the focus from just Jess to more of an ensemble comedy and has become much better for it.  Both Nick and Schmidt are amazing characters, and while Winston hasn't found the same identity as them, the writers learned to use him much better as well.  This show would have cracked the top 15 for "You got me cookie, i gave you cookie" line delivery alone.

9. HAPPY ENDINGS-  What i wrote for 30 Rock goes double for Happy Endings.  The laughs are a mile a minute and the cast just clicks so well.  The show has gotten much better it seems with every episode and has turned what was once the shows anchors, Alex and Dave, in to 2 genuinely hilarious characters.

8. HOMELAND- Here's a show that would have been in the top 5 if i was just going off the first half of this last season.  The scenes between Carrie and Brodie before he turns informant are some of the best of the series, and i was really curious to see where they would go with it.  Unfortunately they chose to go in a direction that focused on a romance i didn't believe in and a direction that turned their central terrorist villain into an Al-Qaeda Freddy Kruger.  However, the performances are too strong to ignore and the finale did help salvage some of the story.  We will see what season 3 has in store for this show, and if it can recapture the magic of the first season.

7. SONS OF ANARCHY- The difference between this show and my number 8 show?  I've come to expect soapy and ridiculous stories from this show.  SOA had its strongest season since season 2.  The show was strong for the entire season for the first time in 2 years and set a new standard for violence, blood, and gore.  The addition of Jimmy Smits to the cast was a revelation and Donal Logue was the same in his brief stint that should carry over to next season.  Sure the season still had some bumps in the road (I for instance think Opie's death was dealt with too quickly)  but Kurt Sutter and the gang left me on the edge of my seat every week and I can't see what else they have in store.

6. COMMUNITY-  The best installment of Community season 3, “Remedial Chaos Theory,” aired in 2011, but the 2012 episodes were frequently splendid in their own right, whether they featured Troy and Abed being normal, Jeff turning into the Incredible Hulk, Abed and Annie digging deep in the Dreamatorium, or the entire cast turning into 8-bit video game avatars of themselves. There were some missteps along the way (Chang turning into the dictator of Greendale), and the show wasn’t quite as consistent at blending dark psychological material with laugh-out-loud comedy as it was in previous seasons, but the Dan Harmon era of “Community” still concluded in a way that reminded me of how special this show has been.

5. GIRLS- In all fairness, i hated the pilot for this show when i watched.  Just found every person on it unlikable and found the humor to be rather dull.  Watching the pilot again now, i can see so much charm in it that i didn't see before.  Girls ran the gauntlet of emotions before it even premiered, but by the time the season ended most people would agree that HBO had a genuine fantastic show on their hands.I loved the distinctive voice of creator, director and star Lena Dunham, and the way that she and her collaborators were unafraid to make their four young heroines come across as selfish, naive, foolish, and/or simply unlikable.

 

4. PARKS AND RECREATION- Parks and Recreation was my third favorite show on television a year ago. It was pretty darned terrific in 2012, as well, wrapping up a lengthy arc about Leslie’s campaign for city council in warm and funny fashion, then transitioning into a new season that saw every character struggling to adapt to new roles. Leslie shifted into politics, Tom attempted to become a legitimate businessman, and Ron Effing Swanson even dated a sane single mom. With Amy Poehler, Adam Scott, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt and company on hand, “Parks and Recreation” rarely does anything fancy — other than perhaps this season’s cameo by Vice-President Biden — but simply executes better than any other comedy in the business.

3. LOUIE-  The third season of FX’s "comedy" was less consistently great than its all-time classic second season. Yet it was a season that gave us Parker Posey on the most unsettling, memorable date of Louie’s life. It gave us terrific guest turns from Oscar winners Melissa Leo, F. Murray Abraham and Robin Williams. And it gave us the surprisingly moving three-episode arc where Louie auditioned to succeed David Letterman. Louis C.K. has decided to take an entire year off from the show to avoid feeling burned out, and it’ll be a long wait for more installments of this deeply personal, funny, touching series.

2. BREAKING BAD- The number 1 show on my list from last year moves down 1 spot, though its really no fault of its own.  Last season of Breaking Bad would have been nearly impossible to match even if they had a full 13 episodes to do it, but in 8 episodes? The show fell a little short of the amazing stories they were able to tell before.  Yet this half-season still astounded as it chronicled Walter White’s ascent to the throne of a drug empire, even as he systematically pushed away everyone who cared about him. We got the usual great work from Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Jonathan Banks and all the rest, the usual gorgeous cinematography and smart storytelling.  With one season left, we are buckled in for a riveting, probably gruesome end to the Walter White Story.

1. MAD MEN- Mad Men was off the air for almost a year and a half.  It's hard to tell if my immense enjoyment of this seasons was really due to this season truly being the shows best or if it was a case of absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Whatever it was, i found myself watching Mad Men episodes with the excitement usually reserved for Breaking Bad or LOST.  It was a dark year for Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce that included betrayal, infighting, humiliation, boxing, drug use, prostitution and even suicide taking place in and around the office. But even as Don Draper wasn’t acting anything like himself, week after week, “Mad Men” reminded us of its artistry, its intelligence and its depth. I questioned a character choice here and there, but overall, “Mad Men” was the best TV show I watched in 2012.