If you couldn't find something to watch on TV in 2014, then you really just weren't trying hard enough. This easily the deepest year in television programming in my memory, and this list could have easily been a top 50. With new entries from the likes of Amazon, Netflix and Comedy Central, 2014 was not only the deepest year of programming, but perhaps the most diverse as well. Without further ado...
25. True Detective (HBO)
Before this show actually aired, I thought it was a lock for my top 10. And right out the gate it did not disappoint. Both McConaughey and Harrleson put on an acting tour de force. At the end of the day however, 2 characters are not enough to carry an entire show, and once the interrogation style of story telling ended, the show lost a lot of its momentum and what resulted was a show that could have been amazing, but ended up just being great.
24. The Mindy Project (Fox)
The Mindy Project has not only surpassed New Girl in terms of quality, it has left it in the dust. The Fox comedy has done a marvelous job in putting its male and female leads into a relationship, an area where 95% of most shows fail. The show also does a tremendous job of utilizing guest actors that range from Glenn Howerton and Seth Rogan to Allison Tolman and Anna Gunn. Chris Messina is fantastic as Danny and really should get some awards recognition, even though that will never happen.
23. The Leftovers (HBO)
With the negative reaction Damon Lindelof recieved at the end of LOST (undeservingly so, by the way) he would have to be crazy to take on a show like The Leftovers. HBO's show about life three years after 2% of the world disappeared into thin air is so very dark and has so little commercial appeal. Not only did Lindelof accept the challenge; he also knocked it out of the park for the most part. The show is never going to be one of my very best shows due to it's sheer depressing nature, but the characters on it are so good and so deep, that its tough to not appreciate the beauty of this show, even if it may be hard to get true entertainment from it.
22. Veep (HBO)
Recency bias may have caused me to put this show lower than I normally would. Airing in the first portion of the year, its easy to forget just how damn FUNNY this show is. Julia Louis Dreyfuss continues to be one of the funniest women on TV but it really is the ensemble that makes this comedy special. I was ready to call it a down year for Gary (Tony Hale) but then he had the bathroom scene and all was right in the world.
21. Community (NBC/ now Yahoo!)
How did we get here? There really should be a documentary on the run of Community. For 3 seasons it was a critical darling with a very passionate, albeit very very small fan base. Showrunner Dan Harmon was fired before season 4 and replaced, which resulted in a toothless version of a once beloved sitcom. Harmon was then brought back to run season 5. While season 5 did not live up to the amazing first 3 seasons, it was still quite great, and much better than season 4. Losing Chevy Chase and Donald Glover should have been enough to put this show to sleep, but Harmon, along with the addition of the apparently very versatile Jonathan Banks (Mike from Breaking Bad) helped reinvigorate the show. To add to the Community lore, it was cancelled after season 5, but picked up by Yahoo for a season 6 that will be delivered all at once, ala Netflix shows.
20. Key and Peele (Comedy Central)
I love sketch comedy shows but for them to break my top 20, they need to be really special. Key and Peele went dark in
season 4 and may have had their funniest season because of it. These aren't just sketches, but fully formed mini-movies. Stand out sketches such as "Gay Wedding Advice" "Urkel Interrogation" and "Aerobics Meltdown" were easily some of the funniest things I watched all year.
19. Kroll Show (Comedy Central)
Comedy Central was on absolute fire this year. Inside Amy Schumer just missed my top 25, this is the 2nd show listed already and spoiler alert, there are 2 more shows coming. Kroll Show like Key and Peele is a very funny sketch comedy show, focused mostly on skewering reality television. The thing that makes it unique is the sketches that air are all part of a bigger serialized story. So we get the story of a pet plastic surgeon trying to beat a murder rap throughout the entire season. We get the story of an inbred degenerate trying to become a father. Oh and the mother of that child? Shes a shallow vapid public relations specialist with HER own reality TV show. Throw in standalone gags like The Legend of Young Larry Bird and Oh, Hello and you are left with a non-stop riot. P.S I would watch the shit out of Wheels, Ontario.
18. Parenthood
The final season of Parenthood has been far from perfect. Adam and Christina starting a Charter school just as Adams business seems to be tanking seems one step too far fetched. The writers have made me absolutely not care about Joel and Julia. And you know what? None of this bothers me, because all the feels and cries are still there. No show taps into a persons emotions better than Parenthood. Ray Romano has been a perfect addition to the cast. I have an industrial sized box of tissues ready for the final 4 episodes.
17. BoJack Horseman (Netflix)
Bojack Horseman is a primary example where the Netflix strategy of dumping episodes is a major positive. After the first couple episodes i was amused, but if more was not avalable to me, I probably would have given up on the show. I'm so glad i stuck around though because what came next was not only a funny animated sitcom, but actually a fascinating exploration of celebrity life, drug culture and friendship. With first class vocal talent, Bojack Horseman was such a delight to watch that i found myself begging for more after the final episode. Oh, and Vincent Adultman is the best running gag on any show, period.
16. Rectify (IFC)
Rectify is not a show for everyone. I am going to say that upfront. It is slow moving. Not many major things happen. It focuses a bit on religion and Christianity. But damn is it a beautiful show. The exploration of Daniel Holden after being released from prison for the murder of his girlfriend (which we don't know if he did or not) is storytelling at its finest. The 2nd season jumped from 6 episodes to ten but the story did not suffer one bit at all. With everyone's current obsession with Serial (I am included in that everyone), this is a great, albeit very different companion piece.
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