Top 31 Shows of 2015 (Part 1)

2015 ushered in the idea of Peak TV in america.  With 409 scripted shows airing within the year, it was simultaneously impossible to watch everything and to be left with nothing to watch.  I set out to do a top 20, and wasn't able to.  I figured I would compromise and do a top 25, but still could not narrow my list down.  Even when i gave myself 30 as a magic number, I still had to cheat and make it 31.  So here you have it, my top 31 shows of 2015.

(Disclaimer:  There is no way I watched all 409 shows.  There will be shows on here that you like that I don't like or that I haven't seen.  Get over it.  I'm talking to you, Game Of Thrones fans.)

31. Man Seeking Woman 

 FX (new show)

Something about Jay Baruchel has always appealed to me.  The mix of his every-man appearance with his comedic delivery and timing suits the FX brand well.  This show had a decent amount of misses, but when it hit, it was gold.

30.  The Last Man on Earth 

FOX (new show)

The Last Man on Earth aired its entire first season and half of its second season this year.  The first 3 episodes of this show were some of the best on TV last season.  The rest of season 1 really struggled to make us care about anyone on the show.  Season 2 however, was finally able to make us care about various people on the show, which gave it heart in addition to laughs.  The fall finale is one of the most intense half hours you can watch this season, and certainly blurs the lines between drama and comedy.

29. The Grinder 

FOX (new show)

In The Grinder, Fox has itself the most purely funny show on network television.  The laughs are heavy and often and the 2 part fall finale was some of the funniest stuff I have seen from a network in a long time.  While Rob Lowe is predictably fantastic as the titular Grinder (the name Mitchard Grinder will never not be funny) Fred Savage does the real heavy lifting in his very triumphant return to life in front of the camera

28.  Red Oaks 

AMAZON (new show)

Red Oaks was really lost in the streaming shuffle.  This look at life in 80’s at a suburban country club is so earnest and funny that it really deserves to get more eyes on it.  Kudos to David Gordon Green and Amy Heckerling for giving us an amazing tribute to 80's body swapping in the shows 7^th episode.

27. The League 

FXX (not ranked)

Going into its final season, The League was a proven commodity that was always good for a laugh.  The final season saw Nick Kroll return to an almost full schedule and the show was much better off for it.  While never one of the best shows on TV, The League will be missed for its wild jokes and for the chemistry its cast of mostly stand up and improv comedians has.

26. Orange is the New Black

NETFLIX (#3)

I Really didn’t think this show could fall this far on my list, but the 3^rd season just didn’t do it for me as much as the first 2, and during Peak TV in America, that’s enough to drag the show down to 26.  The religious arc of the season was a brave attempt, and while it succeeded on many fronts, it made certain episodes drag, and thus the season did not seem to flow as well as the first two for me.  Nonetheless, it was still a very solid season of TV and I anxiously await the 4^th season.

25. Inside Amy Schumer 

COMEDY CENTRAL (not ranked)

Amy Schumer had one of the best years a comedian has ever had, and her Comedy Central show reached some new heights this year.  12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer was one of the best half hours of TV this season.  Hopefully her new found success does not cut this show short.

24. Brooklyn 99 

FOX (11)

Brooklyn 99 has a very solid formula going for it in its 3^rd season.  The cast, which really is an embarrassment of riches at this point, all do their respective shticks well and the show is always good for at least a couple belly laughs every episode.  Unfortunately, it suffers from being on network TV and having to produce so many episodes every season, thus the slide down my rankings.

23. South Park 

COMEDY CENTRAL (not ranked)

 South Park is one of those shows that I’m always glad is around, but don’t often go out of my way to watch unless I hear about an especially good episode.  In its 19^th (wow!) season though, South Park presented a serialized story of gentrification and PC society, and boy was it fantastic.  The serialized nature  gave new life to the show and hopefully something that Stone and Parker keep doing going forward

22. Wet Hot American Summer: 1^st Day of Camp 

NETFLIX (new show)

With what the cast of the WHAS movie has accomplished since the films released, it is a minor miracle that this was made.  To go along with that, with all the principals returning for this Netflix series, there was really a high floor and an even higher ceiling for this show.  The mini-series, set entirely on the first day of camp, did a great job of servicing its old cast members with the humor we have come to expect from The State and integrating new actors into the world of camp Firewood. If nothing else, at least we finally know how H. Jon Benjamin turned into a can of peas.

21. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver 

HBO (10)

DUDE FLEW TO RUSSIA TO INTERVIEW EDWARD SNOWDEN! Do I need to say more?  That John Oliver has become my go to source for current event commentary and skewering in a mere 2 seasons says enough about how fantastic this show is.  Comedy Central really let a gem get away when they allowed Oliver to sign with HBO, and were probably really kicking themselves when looking for a replacement for Jon Stewart this year.

20. Fresh off The Boat 

ABC (new show)

Diversity in a network comedy?! Who would have thought!  This show, along with Blackish and Empire represented a banner year for diverse programming on network TV and in my opinion; this was the best of the bunch.  The humor is not derived from the fact that these characters are Asian American living in a predominantly white world, but instead is derived from fantastic writing that lends itself well to the fantastic performances.  Constance Wu is the real break out star here.  Shaq-Fu really is the comedic gift that never stops giving.

19. Nathan For You 

COMEDY CENTRAL (not ranked)

Comedy Central’s faux business makeover show hit highs that it had not in the years passed.  As the season went on, the lines between reality and parody were further blurred as we dove deeper inside the psyche of Nathan Fielder the character, and as the season progressed, the work of Nathan Fielder the actor/comedian really took off.

18. UnReal 

LIFETIME (New Show)

A TV show airing on Lifetime has made my rankings.  That is the definition of Peak TV.  This dramatic skewering of the bachelor and reality TV in general was sharp, dramatic, and funny all at once.  The two female leads (Shiri Appleby and Constance Zimmer), both do a fantastic job as producers who not only give up their lives, but their souls in order to put on a successful show

17. Veep 

HBO (22)

Veep, in perhaps its funniest season, really spread the wealth his year.  Aside from being able to service its large cast, the show was able to really provide stand out moments for Anna Chlumsky and integrate new comer Hugh Laurie seamlessly.  The show is just chugging along in its 5^th season and should continue to dominate at the Emmy’s for the duration of its run

16. Louie 

FX (13)

People really take this show for granted at this point.  I’m probably guilty of it too.  But this show in its 5^th season continues to be hilarious and to push the boundaries of what actually qualifies as a comedy.  One week the show can be about a hilarious sexual experience, and the next it can be about horrifying nightmares.  This season also featured the single best guest performance in any show t, giving us a side of Michael Rappaport I did not think existed.

Review: Galavant (ABC)

"Actually, I don't know. I've been thinking a lot about it every since he kidnapped me, and I'm gonna go with the fame and fortune"

Dan Fogelman's last show to air on ABC had one of the worst pilots I had ever seen.  "The Neighbors" was a one joke premise and that joke involved aliens having the same names as famous athletes.  I very quickly dismissed the show as just another piece of pilot season garbage.  The show ended up running for a couple of seasons on ABC Fridays and actually did provide two bright spots in the form of two very entertaining musical episodes.  So when Fogelman's new show, Galavant, was announced as a musical comedy set in the middle ages, I was definitely intrigued enough to give the show a shot.

Galavant tells the story of a knight, the titular Galavant, and his quest to get the woman he loves back from the evil king.  This all sounds like fairly standard stuff until its revealed that the woman he loves actually chose to stay with the king, sacrificing love for a life of riches and fame.  This choice causes Galavant to live in a drunken stupor, until a princess from a land invaded by the evil king comes to ask for his help, and he sees it as a chance to win back the woman he fell in love with.

The meat of Galavant is the musical aspect of it.  The songs are rather catchy, but really that has more to do with their repetitive nature than their cleverness.  Throughout the first episode (ABC will be airing two every night for four weeks) the same song is sang over and over.  The 2nd episode that aired had the better music and on the whole was actually more entertaining than the first.

The real standout performance here is by Timothy Omundson as King Richard.  He seems to be having so much fun as the evil king who really may just be misunderstood.  Vinnie Jones plays his bodyguard Gareth and is also quiet a treat.  The only other performance that stands out so far is Luke Youngblood (who some may know as Magnitude on Community, Pop Pop!) as Galavant's faithful squire and only friend.

All in all Galavant is.... an OK show.  Its fun and harmless without ever actually being all that funny.  The setting and musical aspect has allowed the show to net some interesting guest stars which i will be curious to see over the next few weeks.  By burning out all the episodes in one month, ABC obviously doesn't see Galavant as a match for anything else on the network and probably doesn't see it in it's long term plans (despite debuting to some fairly decent ratings).  I'll stick with it for the time being just for its uniqueness and brevity of its run .

GALAVANT (ABC):  6 OUT OF 10