2013 was a pretty fantastic year for television, and it was an interesting year for my personal television habits. I've expanded my taste a lot this past year - previously I had mostly contained myself to the comedy genre, but that wasn't the case this year. There are plenty of shows on this list that I would've never dreamed could be on there in previous years. Why did I decide to finally expand my TV mind? Maybe it was because this was the year we lost 30 Rock and I needed something to vill the void. Maybe it's because Community was off and I needed something to fullfill THAT void. Maybe it's just because I was bored. I don't know! But I'm glad it happened. It lets me see TV in a broader and more interesting light.
Alright! Let's get down to it. But before we get there, I wanted to give a shout-out to....
30 Rock
30 Rock aired only four episodes in 2013, so it wasn't eligible for my list. But if it was? It would be a strong contender for the #1 slot. There wasn't a single episode of TV this year I enjoyed more than the final 3 episodes of the shows' run, which brought each of its characters to a perfect, well-earned conclusion. And all the while, it never stopped being the funniest show on TV. Farewell, sweet 30 Rock. We'll miss you. Well, we'll miss making new episodes. We're still going to watch you obsessively on Netflix, obviously.
Alright! And now for the...
Honorable Mentions
These shows didn't quite make my top 10, but they came very close. Therefore, they deserve mentions!
Parks and Recreation
2013 saw Parks & Rec comfortably settling into its middle age. Many times, the show felt like it was running around in circles, rehashing plots it had done better in its peak years. It also lost its usuallysharp focus, often seeming unsure of what left it could do with its characters (and particularly its protagonist, who seemed halted in her growth). But even though the storytelling left something to be desired, Parks remained a show that I was happy to spend a half-hour with every week. And at the end of the year, the show made the curious decision to recall Leslie from her City Council position and send her off on an unknown path. It was the most interesting narrative choice the show made in several seasons, and it provides some hope that Parks can re-emerge as a vibrant and compelling show once again. But even if it doesn't, spending time in Pawnee is sure to remain a simple pleasure for as long as the show airs.
Highlight Episodes: "Leslie and Ben", "London", "Recall Vote"
Archer
Archer remained an incredibly funny show in its fourth season. The cast was still aces, and the writing was still sharper than just about every other comedy on TV. But one important competent was missing - the element of surprise that always drove the show at its best. This is pretty natural - as a show ages, there's no way it can continue to bring the same thrills it did at its peak. But it was still incredibly funny and entertaining, which likely would've been enough to give the show a long and fulfilling future - even if it meant a little bit of coasting. Of course, as we all know now, that wasn't enough for Archer. They hit the reset button this year, sending us on an insane journey that recalls the fast-and-loose experimentation that drives the show at its best. I'm glad Archer wasn't content to settle into a groove, but Season 4 proves that Archer coasting still made for a pretty great time.
Highlight Episodes: "Live and Let Dine", "The Papal Chase", "Sea Tunt"
Happy Endings
Happy Endings spent most of 2013 in burn-off mode on ABC, which caused many people - including myself - to sort of forget about it come the end of the year. But when VH1 marathoned all of Happy Endings on New Years' Day, it reminded me how much of a perfectly crafted joke machine it was. Few shows on TV make me laugh as loudly and consistently as this one did, and I'm going to miss its delightfully insane characters and jokes that are fucking poetic in how perfectly hilarious they are. The marathon also reminded that Happy Endings closed out with a fairly strong set of episodes. They were just as hilarious as the show had always been, and for the first time, they successful rang some pathos out of situations like the end of Penny's engagement with Piece and Alex and Dave deciding to call it quits. I'll really miss Happy Endings, but at least it went out on a high note.
Highlight Episodes: "The Ex Factor", "The Marry Prankster", "She Got Game Night"
Arrested Development
Arrested Development's long-awaited fourth season was sort of a beautiful mess. On one hand, the excitement of seeing the Bluths back in action was matched by very little else on TV this year. On the other hand, the confusion of the shows' downright strange narrative style was also matched by anything on TV this year. Since the original recipe of Arrested Development was heralded for its innovation to the TV sitcom, the Netflix revival seemed to feel like it had to follow in its footsteps - but that caused the show to often forget about what made it work so well in the first place. Luckily, this wasn't always the case. Even though the narrative was convulted, the humor on AD remained mostly sharp, and the fourth season succeeded in providing a new wave of classic Arrested Development quotes. It may not have completely lived up to the shows' original run, but what could? At its best, AD Season 4 was still an incredibly funny and entertaining show, with some intriguing character work. That's more than enough to keep me hoping we don't have to wait another seven years to see the Bluths again.
Highlight Episodes: "Colony Collapse", "Senioritis", "Off the Hook"
Alright. That's that. Now let's get on to the Top 10!
10. Veep
Veep is one of those shows that could've simply repeated its first season for its entire run, and a good portion of its audience (possibly including me) would've been content. I mean, it's a bunch of hilarious people dressing up as politicians and cursing, and that's awesome. But I was impressed by the narrative choices the show made in its second season - rather than continuing to hammer the "Selina is useless" shtick, Veep made her an integral part of her administration in Season 2 after her nameless party received a particularly harsh setback in the midterm elections. This raised the dramatic stakes in ways that helped keep the show fresh and interesting. The season ended with an even more intriguing twist, suggesting that POTUS will not be seeking re-election and that Selena will attempt to fill his seat. That paves the way for a third season that could be quite interesting indeed, and will certainly continue to give us the classic, profanity-laced exchanges we've all come to crave.
Highlight Episodes: "Hostages", "First Response", "D.C"
9. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the most promising new network comedy in several seasons (perhaps since Community?), and the reason why it's been so delightful can be boiled down to a few simple components: it has a killer ensemble cast, it has top-notch talent behind it, and it has an interesting set of characters that it's willing to dig into. Oh, and it's really, really funny - far funnier than any sitcom halfway through its first season has any right to be. The shows' only real blind spot is its protagonist - Andy Samburg does a fine job with Jake Peralta, but the show has yet to give us a reason why we should be rooting for such a self-absorbed, obnoxious character. But other than that? Just about everything on this show is fire right now, and I'm incredibly excited to see where it's going to go.
Highlight Episodes: "The Vulture", "Halloween", "Thanksgiving"
8. The Middle
It's rare that I get overly excited about a family sitcom, but The Middle is just that good. And unlike most aging comedies, it's only getting better. As the Heck kids grow up and begin dealing with things like graduation, college, and part-time jobs, The Middle is able to renew its comic energy by digging into these rites of passages and putting its own unique spin on them. But change isn't limited to the kids - the show made the wise decision to give matriarch Frankie a career change last year, and it's resulted in a surprisingly interesting story about people trying to re-invent themselves in their middle age. The way The Middle manages to consistently find fresh new challenges for the Heck clan is the key to its success, and it's what makes it continue to be the quietest great show on television.
Highlight Episodes: "Wheel of Pain", "Change is in the Air", "The Potato"
7. Mad Men
After a dynamic 5th season that experimented with the shows' form in incredibly interesting ways, Mad Men's 6th season first appeared to be a bit of a cooldown. It was still thought-provoking and genre-pushing, sure, but it didn't quite have the spark of the 5th season. And then, about halfway through, everything changed, and the season arc became clear: this is the beginning of the end for Don Draper. The season suddenly became the story of a broken mans' downfall, as we saw Don sink to depths we had never seen him reach before. Add this to a sudden status quo change that merged Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce with one of its rival firms, and you have another great, intriguing season of television.
Highlight Episodes: "For Immediate Release", "The Crash", "In Care Of"
6. Orange is the New Black
The most surprising new show of the season may have been Orange is the New Black, a Netflix original series that came seemingly out of nowhere and blew us all away with its intriguing premise, refreshing characters, intricate character work, and unique storytelling structure. Of all of the things to love about the show - from all of the reasons I just listed along with its amazingly diverse cast and subtly effective social commentary - the single element that made the show work may be the way it challenged the way we view characters on television. The way it was able to take characters that started off looking like villians - such as Alex or Red - and turn them into truly sympathetic individuals was an amazing feat, as was their ability to do the opposite with a character like Healy. Of course, the best example of this may be Crazy Eyes (or Suzanne), who starts off the series as a terrifying wildcard and ends it as perhaps the most lovable character on the entire show. The show even achieves this goal with its protagonist, who goes from poor, helpless soul to dangerous anti-hero in a surprisingly natural way. After a year where it made such a splash, there's few shows I'm looking forward to in 2014 more than Orange is the New Black.
Highlight Episodes: "Lesbian Request Denied", "Fucksgiving", "Tall Men With Feelings"
5. New Girl
New Girl continued its momentum in 2013 by giving us one of the most compelling will they/won't they arcs on TV in a long time - the epic romance of Jessica Day and Nick Miller. I was originally completely against a Jess/Nick pairing, but the show did an excellent job turning me by basically just forcing me to accept it. In "Cooler" - quite possibly the shows' best episode to date - the series simply throws the characters together for a passionate kiss and refuses to give the audience time to process it all. And it worked! That episode kicked off New Girl's best run of episodes yet, fueled by the perfectly constructed Jess/Nick romance. But Jess and Nick aren't the only factors that made New Girl so compelling in 2013 - the show continued to dig deep into its characters and ask them tough questions about who they really were and what they wanted. This was perhaps most obvious with Schmidt, who was forced to hold a bit of a mirror up to himself and question how good of a person he really was. It didn't always work, and the show had a few rocky episodes this fall, but when it did, there wasn't much else on TV that could match its mix of top-notch humor and deep-rooted characterization.
Highlight Episodes: "Cooler", "Parking Spot", "Menus"
4. Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad's final eight episodes were some of the most upsetting and emotionally disturbing things to air on TV this year, but that only cemented just how fantastic the story they were closing out was. All of the characters we've grown to care about (except Walt, because he's a terrible, terrible human being) were put in the desperate, grim situations we've known were coming for them since Season 1 - and it was every bit as terrifying and emotionally draining as we knew it would be. The best example of the beautiful misery of Breaking Bad's final stretch episodes was the breathtaking "Ozymandias", a nauseatingly tense episode of television in which everything we spent the past five seasons fearing was going to happen, happened - in the span of about 10 minutes. While the finale was a mild disappointment that never engaged with the psychological questions that the show was able to at its best, the build-up to it was perfect enough that Breaking Bad's curtain call will certainly be remembered for years to come.
Highlight Episodes: "Blood Money", "Confessions", "Ozymandias"
3. Enlightened
(The picture represents Amy and Tyler's reactions to ranking above Breaking Bad).
Enlightened is gone too soon, but what a beautiful story it told while it was here. After a strong first season that created a compelling protagonist in Amy Jellicoe, the second season of Enlightened put things into the highest gear possible and told a no-frills story about realizing what you're capable of. It was one of the most powerful shows on TV, and it was also one of the most unique - very few shows ever wear their heart on their sleeves as much as Enlightened did, which is perhaps why it wasn't a show for everyone. But if you could get on the shows' wavelength, you were lucky enough to experience some truly powerful messages about human connection, all done with some of the most lovable misfits this side of Community. It's a shame that we aren't getting anymore Enlightened, but part of me thinks we don't even need any more. What we got is such a beautiful, self-contained story that articulated its message so well, I'm just glad it existed in the first place.
Highlight Episodes: "Higher Power", "Follow Me", "The Ghost is Seen"
2. Doctor Who
On a purely subjective level, Doctor Who is probably not the #2 show of 2013. The second half of the shows' seventh season wasn't its all-time best, hurt a bit by the decision to split the season into two separate parts (although the two specials - the 50th anniversary and the Christmas special - were fantastic). But damn it, I'm putting it here anyway, because I don't know if there's a show that aired on TV this year that made me as purely happy as this one. 2013 was the first time I watched Doctor Who, and I binged through all seven seasons of the modern incarnation of the show pretty fast. What I love about Doctor Who is how, despite its seemingly complex nature, its really incredibly simple: it's about a time traveler and his companion, traveling all through space and time. Sure, there's plenty of other mythology to it, but that one sentiment sums up the child-like glee that you get when you immerse yourself in the shows' world. It's fun. It's campy. It's often funny, it's often heartbreaking. It's Doctor Who, and while it sometimes slips up a bit, there's nothing remotely like it on television.
Highlight Episodes: "The Rings of Akhaten", "The Day of the Doctor", "The Time of the Doctor"
1. Bob's Burgers
Oh, Bob's Burgers. Is there any show on TV that accepts people from all corners of the Earth as much as this one does? Is there any show with characters as downright lovable as the Belchers? Is there any show that could come up with a line as brilliant as "they'll say aw, topsy at my autopsy?". No. No, there is not. Bob's Burgers has such a refreshingly warm comic tone that brings a much-needed change of pace not just to the Fox animation family, but to television comedy in general. The way it manages to take characters that would easily be the butt of the joke on any other show and turn them into sympathetic and beloved figures is what truly sets it apart. That and its wonderfully weird and consistently hilarious sense of humor, of course. Sure, other shows might have kept me on my toes more, but no show made me as excited to spend time in its universe this year than Bob's Burgers. The way it accepts its completely weird, off-beat characters with such open arms is the kind of thing that really melts the heart of internet losers like me all over the world. Here's to another great year with the Belchers.
Highlight Episodes: "Mother Daughter Laser Razor", "Topsy", "Christmas in the Car"
So there's 2013. It was a great year, but with the re-emergence of Community and Archer, the return of Louie, and a whole slew of promising new shows, I wonder if 2014 could somehow be even better. I guess we'll just have to wait and see! How FUN!
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