Best TV of 2015

Hi everyone! I know I've done a really shitty job of updating this blog recently. I'm going to try to fix that this year, for real. It's part of my *~New Years Resolution~*. So that means I'm definitely going to stick with it. Maybe. Probably. Maybe. (No, for real, I'm going to try really hard.) And maybe I'll try to use this blog for more than just television reviews, like it was before. It'll probably still be mostly for television, let's be real, because that's like, 95% of what I think about at all times. But maybe I'll talk more about how TV shows impact my life! Or what they mean to me! And maybe I'll talk a little bit about music and movies, too! Who knows what the future has in store?! But, for this post: who cares what the future has in store? Let's talk about my favorite TV of 2015!

I've been making "best of TV" lists for a few years now, and every year it becomes harder and harder to narrow my list down. Part of that is because my tastes have broadened past the "silly sitcoms only" territory that they once stuck to, but a larger part of that is that the amount of TV has absolutely exploded in the past few years. Yeah, you've heard about it, you know we're living in Peak TV, you don't need me to lecture you about it. But while Peak TV might be a nightmare for executives trying to counter-program against a mass glut of exceptionally unique television shows, it's a dream for people like me, who just love television so much and often like shows that didn't stand much of a chance in the old, mass appeal mandated system. So just know that this list leaves off plenty of shows that I really did love. I extended the list to 25 this year, and I feel these 25 shows do a fairly good job of representing both what I personally dug this year as well as the true diversity of programming available to us today. So let's go!

25. The Middle



It's not easy for a sitcom to stay fresh for so long, nevertheless a family sitcom with children who age and, as we've been taught to think, become less funny. But The Middle has become the rare show that's becoming more mature, more thoughtful and more poignant as it grows up around its characters. In 2015, we saw Sue Heck graduate high school and discover the world outside of the bubble she's been living with. We saw Mike deal with the fact that he's not going to be around forever and how to cope with that slowly growing realization. We saw Axl realize that his high school glory days are over and that he's going to have to start to forge his own path in life rather than relying on everyone else to figure it out for him. And we saw one of the most subtle yet effective coming out scenes I've ever seen on television. These are all heavy topics that would've seemed impossible when The Middle started and seemed like another run-of-the-mill family sitcom, and the fact that it's consistently knocking them out of the park while still remaining light and funny shows just how much the show has grown over the years.

Standout Episodes: "The Graduate", "Risky Business", "Halloween VI: Tick Tock Death"

24. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia



Another long-running sitcom that has remained fresh but for entirely different reasons, Always Sunny continues to be a deranged delight ten years into its run. Season 10 was somehow one of the show's tightest and funniest seasons, with nearly every episode clocking in as a near-classic. The show continues to subtlety experiment with its form, with a series best episode mimicking True Detective's famed one-shot sequence and another hilarious episode playing entirely as an episode of Family Feud with the Reynolds family. There's not many sitcoms that I would eagerly be awaiting an 11th season of, but Always Sunny is a proud member of that short list.

Standout Episodes: "Charlie Work", "The Gang Misses the Boat", "The Gang Goes on Family Fight"

23. Parks and Recreation



Parks and Recreation remained a delight through-out its entire run, but it sometimes felt as if it was struggling to find a purpose in its later seasons after it pretty much gave all of its characters an endless supply of everything they had ever wanted. That all changed in its 7th and final season, which made the bold move of jumping three years into the future and exploring how everyone had grown and changed, then showed us where they all ultimately ended up. This season almost felt removed from the rest of the series, which allowed it to function less as your typical season of the show and more as an intricate character study of each member of the ensemble. That's pretty much the best kind of victory lap any fan could ask for, and it led to Parks & Rec going out on a really lovely note.

Standout Episodes: "Leslie & Ron", "The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show", "One Last Ride"

22. Brooklyn Nine-Nine



Brooklyn Nine-Nine might be the most quietly consistent show on television. It rarely makes a big splash, but week in and week out it makes me laugh more than most other shows on TV, and it has the biggest, best and most lovable sitcom ensemble this side of NBC Thursdays. The show had a particularly strong run of episodes this past fall as it experimented with its dynamics a bit, finally pushing together its two romantic leads and actually managing to pull it off. It's also the only place you can go to find truly unique characters like Captain Holt and Gina Linetti, characters that make me laugh with pretty much every word that comes out of their mouth in a way that very few characters can. Maybe it's not quite a game changer, but there are few places on television I'm more eager to return to each week than the 99.

Standout Episodes: "Captain Peralta", "Ava", "Yippie Kayak"

21. Orange is the New Black



Orange is the New Black's third season was more understated than its first two installments, trading in some of the high-stakes drama for more of a laidback, hangout vibe. There were times when the show seemed to be hugging the "comedy" side of its comedy-drama hybrid surprisingly hard, almost as if it had forgotten that it was show about, well, prison. And yet in the back half of its season, that laidback vibe came crashing down in a very classic OITNB fashion, bringing us some of the most heart-wrenching plot developments the show has ever attempted. It all led us to a finale that stands as one of the show's very best episodes, one that had the show's full armory of grounded comedy, heart-pounding drama, and bittersweet undertones proudly on display.

Standout Episodes: "Empathy is a Boner Killer", "A Tittin' and a Hairin'", "Trust No Bitch"

20. Community



Community's sixth season shouldn't have happened. It only existed thanks to a last-minute save from Yahoo, of all places, and it did so with nearly half of its original cast having departed. And yet, the show managed to put together a sixth (and final) season that struck the right balance of humor, warmth, and experimentation that made so many of us fall in love with the show in the first place. It was a season that fully addressed the show's changed dynamic by centering itself around the idea of Jeff slowly watching his fellow study group members figure out their leaves and move past Greendale, as he's stuck repeating the same notes over and over again. In typical Community fashion, this was explored through an endless parade of winky sitcom tropes and genre parodies, albeit ones that seemed rather grounded and toned down compared to previous seasons. It all ended in a series finale that was an absolutely perfect way to send off these characters, one that makes me feel at peace that it's probably the end of the road for a show that's grown to mean a lot to me. (I still need that movie, though.)

Standout Episodes: "Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing", "Modern Espionage", "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television"


19. Inside Amy Schumer



Amy Schumer had a big year in 2015, with her new HBO special (at the Apollo!) and her massive comedy hit Trainwreck and her budding friendship with Jennifer Lawrence. But it was the third season of her weird little sketch show Inside Amy Schumer that had her best work of the year, churning out sketch after sketch of insightful, funny commentary on what it's like to be a woman in the entertainment industry and, more broadly, the world. Schumer comes from that dying '90s/00s brand of "mean is better" comedy that sometimes gets a little too cruel, but she's managed to outlast most of her other contemporaries from that time by making her comic targets big, powerful ideas in need of derision - things like sexism, patriarchy and unrealistic expectations for women in the media. As Schumer makes her way towards the A-list, here's to hoping she continues doing great, gutsy things like 12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer. 

Standout Episodes: "Last Fuckable Day", "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer", "80s Ladies"

18. Transparent




Transparent didn't have the tight narrative arc of Maura's coming out to rely on this year, which made the show's focus a bit more generalized and less specific to Maura herself. That could've been a death knell for the show, but instead if allowed it to double down on the deeply flawed Pfefferman clan and constantly tested them and analyzed how exactly they came to be the way they are. Additionally, the show's widened scope allowed it to speak out on plenty of real-world issues facing the trans and LGBT community, such as the exclusion of trans rights from certain aspects of feminism, the concept of privilege, and a handful of other topics that made Transparent feel like a show very much rooted in our current real-world discourse on these issues. Oh, and also, it was pretty damn funny! The first season of the show often felt like a half-hour drama, but the show seemingly discovered its comic side this year, all while nailing some pretty heavy subjects. It's not always perfect, but Transparent is a show that I'm very glad exists.

Standout Episodes: "Kina Hora", "Mee-Maw", "Man on the Land"

17. Black-ish



Black-ish really came onto its own in 2015, combining super-smart and fast-paced writing, subtly strong character work, and a deft handle on real-world issues to become one of the sharpest network comedies in recent memory. Not only is pretty much every cast member, from toddlers to grandparents, giving it their all, and not only are the Johnsons one of the most lovable and relatable families on TV, but the show has gotten surprisingly excellent at handling seemingly taboo topics. One episodes features an in-depth analysis around the N-word debate, while another episode dealt with gun control in a surprisingly level-headed manner. It's the first show in quite a while to emulate the Norman Lear method of combining great, memorable characters with sharp takes on social issues, and it's made it a true standout in this vast television landscape.

Standout Episodes: "Elephant in the Room", "The Word", "Charlie in Charge"


16. Fargo



Fargo's first season was one of the most unexpected delights of 2014, taking what seemed like a highly questionable revival of a beloved Coen Brothers' film and turning it into one of the most thrilling new dramas of the year. The second season of Fargo took what made Season 1 so great and improved on it, creating a highly memorable cast of characters and getting them involved in a tightly-written conspiracy bigger than each and every one of them, then sat back and let all of the pieces fall. This created one of the most genuinely entertaining shows of the year, utilizing its knockout ensemble to its full potential each and every week. And whenever Fargo seems like it's about to skirt off the rocks (remember when they brought in aliens?), it manages to make a hard right turn and ground everything in genuine emotional groundwork. Fargo won't be back on our screens until 2017, but it sure made every moment it was here worth the while.

Standout Episodes: "The Myth of Sisyphus", "Rhinoceros", "Loplop"

15. Veep



One of the most consistently hilarious comedies on television continued to swing big in 2015, as Selena Meyer unprecedentedly rose to the position of president. Luckily for us, Selena is just as incompetent of a president as she was a veep, and her disastrous reign led to an unraveling of her entire staff that somehow ended up in all of them having to testify before Congress in a series-best, form-breaking episode that doubled as CSPAN congressional hearing. Veep ended in a cliffhanger this season as Selena remains unsure of whether she's been re-elected to the presidency, and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for her and her increasingly ridiculous political career.

Standout Episodes: "East Wing", "Convention", "Testimony"


14. Fresh Off the Boat



Fresh Off the Boat was one of my favorite new shows of the year and the funniest new network comedy by a comfortable landslide. The show manages to combine the sweetness of a family sitcom with gutsy plotlines dealing with racial stereotypes and prejudices, all while tossing in some of the most jokes-per-minute since 30 Rock. Both Fresh and its ABC counterpart Black-ish feel a bit like a "next generation" of family comedies, allowing voices to be expressed that previously were being ignored on network television, all while having the lightning speed, live action cartoon tendencies of shows like Community and Happy Endings. It's been a while since a network comedy was on as much of a hot streak as this show is right now, thanks both to its extremely strong writing and top-notch performances from its dynamic leads, Constance Wu and Randall Park.

Standout Episodes: "Fajita Man", "Boy II Man", "The Real Santa"

13. Master of None



It's easy to compare Master of None to Louie - both shows take high-profile comedians into a short-story format and let them ruminate on particular topics that pique their interest. But by the end of its excellent first season, Master of None felt like something wholly unique - a show that was sometimes funny, sometimes sad, often beautiful and always offering a fresh perspective on topics that aren't always front and center on television. Whether it was the meaning of family, the struggle of immigrants, the hardships of getting old or the idea of what it means to live a "normal" life, Aziz and his writers were constantly exploring questions that they didn't quite have the answer to but were always pushing towards some kind of understanding of. Topped off with a surprise breakout performance from Noel Wells as Aziz's love interest, Master of None was one of the most fully formed and genuinely enjoyable shows of the year.

Standout Episodes: "Parents", "Indians on TV", "Mornings"

12. The Americans



The Americans continues to get more gripping every season, with the show's third season being its darkest and best season yet. This was a season that dealt with Paige's gradual realization that her entire life is a lie, leading into one of the tensest and most explosive scenes of television this year. It was also a season that found Phillip and Elizabeth being forced to go into darker and darker places, as the show continued to make its protagonists question themselves and the integrity of what they do. As always, I'm incredibly excited to see how this show manages to answer the various questions it continues to pose for itself, and I have total confidence that it's going to do so in a satisfying way while keeping me at the edge of my seat the entire time.

Standout Episodes: "Dimebag", "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sleep?", "Stingers"

11. Bob's Burgers



After so many years of being the warmest, funniest show on TV, you would figure that Bob's Burgers has to decline in quality at some point, right? Nope. Bob's Burgers continues to be one of my absolute favorite ways to spend a half-hour, and there's few things that brighten up my day more than a Netflix marathon with the Belchers. In terms of the show's 2015 output, it continued to be just as strong and funny as ever, continuing to explore the sweet, off-the-wall dynamics of our beloved Belcher clan while continuing to explore the show's ever-expanding universe of well-rounded and off-beat characters. Bob's Burgers has been renewed for several more seasons already, so here's to spending a whole bunch more time with the best family on TV.

Standout Episodes: "Housetrap", "The Oeder Games", "The Nice-capades"

10. Review



Review's first season was already one of the best dark comedies I've ever seen, but the second season took things to new, glorious heights. With his life already completely destroyed, Forrest returned to the show that stole his entire world from him with a sort of cautious optimism that was completely destroyed time and time again. From blackmail to violent cults to assault to flat-out murder, there was nothing too far for Review Season 2, and the show once again drove its deranged lead character completely insane by the end of the year. I've seen some call Review the Breaking Bad of comedy, and after finding myself just as nervous to get through an episode as I was with that show, I'm inclined to agree.

Standout Episodes: "Brawl; Blackmail; Glory Hole", "William Tell; Grant a Wish; Rowboat", "Murder; Magic 8 Ball; Procrastination"

9. Doctor Who



Peter Capaldi has been nothing short of a force as The Doctor. He's possibly the best actor to ever land the role, and he's been doing a banner job of bringing all of the warmth, terror, anger, and power required of it. Capaldi's Doctor wears his frustration and his pain on his sleeve. So when the show itself is as good as it was this year - the best season since Matt Smith's debut season five years ago - it all adds up to Doctor Who operating at the very top of its game, and when it's capable of doing that, there's not much like it on TV. This year, the show experimented with longer stories, with most episodes spawning two episodes instead of wrapping up in a neat 44 minutes. That gave the show time to breathe and fully develop each of its ideas, whether it be a Zygon invasion that stands in for current world issues, or a woman who the Doctor accidentally makes immortal, or a brutal companion death that the Doctor does everything in his power to try to reverse. Doctor Who will always be one of my favorite shows on TV, but that doesn't mean it's always one of the best shows on TV, so when it actually does earn that distinction, it makes it all the better.

Standout Episodes: "The Girl Who Died", "The Zygon Invasion", "Heaven Sent"


8. Jessica Jones



Jessica Jones felt like a new kind of superhero show. There was no spandex, no flawless, powerful heroes representing what we all aspire to be, no deus ex machinas swooping in at the last minute to help the good guys win. Instead, Jessica Jones was a dark, grounded superhero drama set in something vaguely resembling our reality, where everyone's a little complex, even the heroes make some questionable decisions, and the issues the characters face mirror issues in our own lives - misogyny, sexism, PTSD. Combine all of that with some total dynamite performances (Krysten Ritter is a force as the titular Jessica Jones, but David Tennant's performance made Kilgrave one of the best, most chilling villains of all-time) and a slick film noir aesthetic, and you have one of the most unique, interesting and exciting shows of 2015.

Standout Episodes: "AKA Ladies Night", "AKA WWJD?", "AKA Smile"

7. Mr. Robot



Mr. Robot was one of the strangest, most interesting, and overall best viewing experiences I had in 2015. Held together by its main character, the highly unreliable, drug addicted, mentally ill narrator Eliott, the show constantly brought you to a place where you thought you knew what was going on, until completely shattering all of your expectations at the last moment. In addition to a poignant narrative that gets a lot right about the highly digital world we live in, Mr. Robot's core strengths lie in both its complex plotting and unique cast of characters, all of which added up to make this paranoid tech drama one of the biggest surprises and one of the most exciting new shows of the year.

Standout Episodes: "ps1.3_da3m0ns.mp4", "eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v", "eps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt"


6. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt



From 30 Rock co-creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, Kimmy Schmidt borrows a lot of its comic sensibility from its esteemed and beloved predecessor, with a wonderfully loopy cartoon universe and some of the most finely crafted gags you'll ever see in your entire life. But while 30 Rock was a sardonic satire of the entertainment industry, Kimmy Schmidt is a darkly funny and oddly uplifting tale of human survival and connection, one that never forgets the dark roots of its premise (a woman trapped in an underground cult is finally released and gets to explore the 'real world') but also continues to push her forward into her sunnier future. Ellie Kemper was a revelation as the hopelessly optimistic Kimmy Schmidt, constantly putting on a happy face even as the world was telling her not to, but the rest of the cast was also up to task, from breakout star Tituss Burgess to Fey/Carlock staple Jane Krakowski. There are few shows I'm looking forward to more in 2016, as Kimmy Schmidt (which was originally produced for NBC but was thankfully swapped to Netflix) can finally loosen its reigns and operate within the freedom of Netflix.

Standout Episodes: "Kimmy Goes to a Party!", "Kimmy's in a Love Triangle!", "Kimmy Rides a Bike!"

5. Mad Men



Mad Men finally came to a close in 2015, and what a close it was. The final seven episodes reminded us of everything we loved about the show as it tore down the foundation as we knew it, folding the beloved Sterling Cooper & Partners and sending its workers off on their own journeys, whether that was an upward track at McCann (for Peggy), their own independent company (Joan), or happily married with children (Pete). The show's finale, in particular, was a revelation, giving us yet another question we can all chew on for years (did Don write that Coke commercial?) while offering perfect closure for every single character we've grown to live. (Also, Don totally wrote the Coke commercial, c'mon guys.)

Standout Episodes: "Time & Life", "Lost Horizon", "Person to Person"

4. Rick & Morty



Rick and Morty's second season doubled down on the extreme creativity demonstrated by its transcendent debut year, topping itself with endless creative concepts and even more cutting emotional depth. The show succeeded by bringing the entire family in on the action, as Summer became a regular traveler on Rick & Morty's trips through time and space, and the show tied the sometimes rote Beth & Jerry "marriage in crisis" plots into the bigger sci-fi concepts, with great results. Rick & Morty ended this year with an extreme emotional wallup and a giant cliffhanger that puts the entire fabric of the show into question, and I am already clawing for more episodes ASAP to see where the show goes from here.

Standout Episodes: "Total Rickall", "The Ricks Must Be Crazy", "The Wedding Squanchers"

3. Bojack Horseman



Bojack Horseman was one of the year's best slow burns in its first season, going from a funny but (seemingly) not particularly deep showbiz satire to one of TV's greatest ruminations on depression, self-improvement and what it means to be a good person over the course of just 12 episodes. The second season took this to an entirely new level, giving Bojack everything he could ever want - his dream job, a great girlfriend, some upward trajectory in his life - and watching him slowly destroy all of it, even as hard as he tried not to. There were few shows that gutted me this year as much as this one did, and it managed to do so while remaining a hysterical cartoon about a Hollywood where humans and talking animals co-exist in total harmony. Not many shows reach that level of creativity, but Bojack Horseman does it with ease.

Standout Episodes: "Hank After Dark", "Let's Find Out", "Escape from L.A."

2. Broad City



2014's biggest breakout comedy somehow got even better in 2015, taking Abbi and Ilana's ridiculous antics to even greater heights while exploring their unique dynamic in even more interesting and in-depth ways. Broad City remains one of the most positive, life-affirming shows on television - it casually drops references to its characters taking anti-depressants, does a plotline about pegging like it's hardly a big deal, and has its characters trip out in Whole Foods on weed and Vicodin with zero judgement. With endless acceptance combined with a well-drawn haunted house-esque comic universe where you never know what the girls are going to encounter next, Broad City continues to be the show that puts me in the best mood after watching an episode (or five).

Standout Episodes: "Wisdom Teeth", "Knockoffs", "Coat Check"

1. You're the Worst



You're the Worst's dark, realistic and surprisingly sweet take on romantic comedy made it an immediate standout in Season 1. In Season 2, the show built on the goodwill it had slowly accumulated over its first season by dealing with an altered dynamic (Jimmy and Gretchen are now living together) with aplomb, using its central couple's resistance against settling down as a way to more closely analyze their own faults and insecurities. That led to the show's slow and perfect reveal that Gretchen suffers from clinical depression, and the show's handling of the topic was perhaps the most honest and upfront portrayal of mental illness I've ever seen on television. It perfectly understood the issue from all sides - we sympathized with Gretchen while rooting for Jimmy to do the right thing, even though we weren't even sure what the right thing was ourselves. It was complex, heavy stuff, but it never felt overbearing as the show remained funnier than ever, honing and strengthening its sense of humor while continuing to expand its comic universe. It all ended in a genuinely heartwarming finale that left the characters exactly where you'd want them to be, leaving me incredibly eager to see what the show has in store for the future. There was nothing quite like You're the Worst this year, and I have total faith that it's going to continue being one of the best, funniest and most interesting shows on TV.

Standout Episodes: "There is Not Currently a Problem", "LCD Soundsystem", "Other Things You Could Be Doing"

There you have it, guys. 2015 was a seriously great year for TV, and I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store for us. Hopefully whatever it is, I'll be writing about it it right here on this very blog! PEACE OUT.

Best TV of 2014

With a vast array of television shows to choose from each year, it seems a little bit redundant to declare each year the "best one" for the medium. And yet, every year it's hard not to do that, as the huge amount of content available to us produces so much amazing material that you have to get excited about it. The past few years of television have felt especially vital, too - they've been years of change, both in the television shows we consume with old stalwarts like Mad Men, 30 Rock, Breaking Bad, and Parks and Rec either ended or ending soon, to the way that the consumption of television is rapidly reinventing itself. This list features shows from network television, cable, and streaming services - a variety that would've been unthinkable even five or six years ago. So here I break down the top 20 shows that best captivated my interest this year. I went with 20 because there was so much good stuff on this year that I felt too bad leaving anything out. I know I'm indecisive, okay?! LEAVE ME ALONE.

ONE NOTE: I didn't put Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on this list because I always forget to categorize it as a TV show and not just, like, a way of life. But rest assured I love it. It's the best news-comedy hybrid on television right now, which is not nothing in a world with The Daily Show and the swan song of The Colbert Report. SORRY, JOHN OLIVER, but I love you anyway. Oh, and the same can be said of The Chris Gethard Show, which I also love but forget it's a television show and not just a hangout with some old, weird friends. I LOVE YOU TOO, CHRIS GETHARD. I LOVE EVERYTHING. Actually, I'm hoping to do an individual piece on The Chris Gehtard Show sooner rather than later so I'll give it the love it's due then. Until then, enjoy this list, if you want to!

20. Parks & Recreation

Now in its sixth season, it's only natural that Parks & Rec has lost some of the element of surprise from the time when it was a transcendent and refreshing spin on the old workplace comedy chestnut. But although this past season was probably the show's weakest, it still managed to be a funny, entertaining and consistently delightful half-hour, and considering the amount of affection we've stacked up for these characters over the years, that's enough to keep enjoying our time in Pawnee. Especially impressive was the shows' finale, which changed up its game quite considerably for its upcoming final season and proved that maybe it did have a few more tricks left in its bag after all.

Standout Episodes: "Ann and Chris", "Galentines' Day II", "Moving Up"

19. Black-ish

In a season that has made a strong case for the idea that cable has completely replaced network as the go-to for good comedy on TV, Black-ish has remained an important "except for...", as it's the only new network comedy this season that shows any sort of promise for the future of the medium. But Black-ish didn't earn the distinction of the seasons' best new comedy by default - it's a hilarious and creative family sitcom, one that balances social issues and family hijinks better than any show has managed to do in probably decades. Not only that, but the Johnsons are just a genuinely awesome family, the kind of TV family that you look forward to spending some time with every week. Shows like Black-ish are perhaps the last remaining argument for the worth of the network sitcom. Also, it's just really funny.

Standout Episodes: "Crazy Mom", "The Prank King", "Black Santa/White Christmas"

18. Archer

At the beginning of its fifth season, Archer unexpectedly blew the lid off of its entire premise, ditching the spy agency that had been so kind to it in the past four years and sending its characters on a crazy quest as newfound cocaine dealers. While the season didn't quite live up to the tall order that its premiere set up, it was still a reinvigorated season for the show, with a lot of interesting twists on character dynamics that were beginning to feel a little bit stale. As it heads into its sixth season with a return to the status quo mixed with some new surprises,  Archer feels like it's in solid hands, and it can thank some of the experimental done by Archer Vice for it.

Standout Episodes: "White Elephant", "Baby Shower", "Arrival/Departure"

17. New Girl

In the second half of its third season, New Girl showed some signs of losing its way. The Jess/Nick relationship, while entertaining, was beginning to push the other members of its ensemble out of the picture, and the show seemed to be struggling to balancing it with all of the other changes it integrated in the third season, such as the addition of Coach and new endeavors for Winston. Luckily, the show seemed to realize this and quickly course corrected in its fourth season, which might just be the most consistent season of the show yet, even if it doesn't reach the heights of the all-timer that was Season 2. Still, Season 4 of New Girl has managed to be a reliable dose of well-executed farce week after week, with a sprinkle of the characterization that made the show jump out in its early seasons. It may not be the world beater it once seemed to be, but damn if it isn't still one of the funniest shows on TV.

Standout Episodes: "Basketball", "The Last Wedding", "Background Check"

16. Community

With Dan Harmon back at the helm, 2014 was a comeback year for Community after the deep trenches of the gas leak year. While the show has definitely begun to feel like a late-in-life sitcom at times (see also: my Parks & Rec write-up) it still manages to pump out episodes that rank among the most daring things I've seen a half-hour sitcom attempted, and given how much experimentation the form recieved this year, that's actually a pretty big statement. The 5th season also turned out to be the final one of the show's run on NBC, as it moves to its new home on the internet next year, where it has always seemed destined to be. As long as it continue to pump out ideas as fresh and hilarious as commemorative sperm jars and MeowMeowBeenz, I'll support it wherever it goes.

Standout Episodes: "Cooperative Polygraphy", "Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality", "App Development and Condiments"

15. The Middle

Year after year, everyone forgets about The Middle when it comes time to do year-end lists, despite the fact that it has been one of the most consistently great network sitcoms for at least four seasons now. The show continuously manages to breath new life into the family sitcom format, portraying characters who are unique both for the form and for television in general, and by not pulling any punches when it comes to its honesty about the Hecks' financial situation and almost constant sense of conflict. As its characters age, The Middle is finding more and more ways to dig comic honesty out of the world of small-town America characters its created, and it's only continuing to be an absolute joy to watch.

Standout Episodes: "Major Anxiety", "The Sink Hole", "The Christmas Wall"

14. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

After a strong start last fall, Brooklyn Nine-Nine solidified its place this year as one of the best ensemble shows on all of television, with a cast that completely pulls its weight in every direction and an array of characters that are diverse not just in their ethnicity but in their approaches to the world in general. The second season of the show has done a great job of deepening the roots between these characters and examining their bonds while beginning to experiment a bit with longer-term plotting, even successfully toying around with the idea of romantic arcs (though not going too far in that direction yet, thankfully). Like Black-ish, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is proving the strength of a show with a great group of characters that you look forward to spending 22+ weeks a year with.

Standout Episodes: "The Bet", "The Road Trip", "The Pontiac Bandit Returns"

13. Louie 

After a too-long hiatus, Louie returned this year with its more ambitious season yet, a season that almost completely abandoned the shows' previous structure of short, contained stories and instead focused on developing longer and even feature-length arcs. Still, the shows' sense of hard truth and deep-rooted emotional turmoil continued as Louie explored his relationship with the various women in his life, from his daughters to longtime companion (and new girlfriend?) Pamela to his past relationship with his own mother. While this was arguably Louie's most inconsistent season yet, what it lacked in consistency it made up for in sheer ambition. 

Standout Episodes: "Model", "So Did the Fat Lady", "Into the Woods" 

12. Transparent

The first great show to be produced by Amazon Prime, Transparent - not unlike fellow streaming exclusive Orange is the New Black  - uses its niche delivery method to tell a story that would struggle to get attention from a major television network. In this case, it's the story of Maura Pfefferman, a transgender woman who has recently settled upon officially making the transition late in her life. Transparent's groundbreaking story of Maura alone was enough to make it one of the most captivating shows of the year, but the way it used Maura's revelation to deconstruct the rest of the Pfefferman clan's assumed gender and sexuality roles only added to the fact that this was one of the most intriguing new shows of the year.

Standout Episodes: "The Wilderness", "Symbolic Exempar", "Best New Girl"

11. Nathan for You

Nathan for You was one of the strangest and most delightful pieces of pop culture I consumed this year, constantly keeping me on the edge of my feet more than most drama series are capable of doing. The shows' unique mix of cringe comedy, mockumentary, and reality show spoof continuously come together to produce some of the most hilarious television I've ever seen. In Season 2, the show began to hit on points of genuine pathos, as it gradually turned into the story of desperate inclusion for its lonely host. There's absolutely nothing on television like Nathan for You, which is what makes it something you absolutely need to watch.

Standout Episodes: "Souvenir Shop/E.L.A.I.F.F", "Dumb Starbucks", "Daddy's Watching/Party Planner"

10. Doctor Who

It's hard for me to remain unbiased with a show like Doctor Who, a show that appeals so directly to each and every one of my personal preferences, but I don't think it's my bias speaking when I say that this season was one of the very best seasons the show has done to date. Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor has brought a new energy to the character, one that gets down to the anger and ache that always exists under the surface but is finally being brought out to the light. And also adding to a great season was Jenna Coleman, whose character Clara rebounded from some spotty characterization last season to become a really great antidote to the smarmy darkness that Capaldi brought to the table. The show used this perfect pairing to create a season that constantly put the very fabric of the show into question and reinvigorated the series to heights I wasn't even sure if it was still possible to reach. Capaldi is thankfully signed on for another season, and hopefully he can keep pushing the show into uncharted and exciting territory. 

Standout Episodes: "Listen", "Kill the Moon", "Flatline"

9. Review

2014 was full of great, alternative comedies that ripped apart the sitcom structure and created something new and meaningful out of it. Out of all of the shows, the one that went to the most delightfully weird places was Review, a show about star reviewer Forrest MacNeil and his quest to review everything that his shows' viewers throw at him. Review would be great even if it was just the satire of critics that it appeared to be on the surface, but it soon became a dark, morbid tale of a man destroying his entire life for the sake of a silly television show, become one of the funniest shows of the year, as well as one of the saddest, darkest, and most disturbing. If 2014 is remembered as the year alternative comedy came to dominate the cable airwaves, Review will be a proud, strange and beautiful artifact of that movement.

Standout Episodes: "Pancake, Divorce, Pancakes", "Best Friend/Space, "Road Rage/Orgy"

8. Veep

After two seasons of portraying Selena Meyer as a comically inept narcissist, Veep took it to the next level this year by portraying her as something truly disturbing: a possible presidential candidate. This gave the show an added levity to its already near-constantly firing machine of beautifully crafted insults and nihilistic political humor, as all of the massive and terrifying fuck-ups Selena and her team encountered now actually mattered. It also allowed the show to cover some heated topics like abortion and equality with its trademark dark humor that doesn't even try to fix anything but instead points out just how massively screwed up it all is. With a surprise twist at the end of the season, the next season of Veep proves to be even more of a depressing, hilarious and painful journey to political turmoil for Selena Meyer. 

Standout Episodes: "The Choice", "Alicia", "Debate"

7. The Americans

In Season 1, The Americans was a gripping spy thriller, an unprecented role reversal that took a deeper look into what we always perceived were the "bad guys" in the Cold War. In Season 2, the show took a leap and became not just a spy thriller (though it was still very good at being that) but an analysis of what its characters value, how much they value it, and a test of how far they were willing to go to preserve it. Kicking off with a gruesome murder in the season premiere, constant fear crept around the surface of The Americans this year as Phillip and Elizabeth began to wonder whether their career was putting their childrens' wellbeing at stake. It all cultivated in a huge, unprecedented twist in its season finale that will make the shows' third season answer some very, very tough questions.

Standout Episodes: "Comrades", "Behind the Red Door", "Martial Eagle"

6. Orange is the New Black

It was going to be nearly impossible for Orange is the New Black to top its first season, a total surprise that burst onto the scene and practically made us rethink the way we all watched television. And yet...Season 2 somehow managed to, or at the very least, managed to match it. The second season expanded upon the shows' already giant universe, filling in the backstories for beloved characters like Taystee and Suzanne while simultaneously giving shades to characters that fell under the radar in the first season but came into prominent fruition in Season 2, such as cancer patient Rosa - nearly an afterthought in Season 1 that wound up being one of the key heroes this year. Between the addition of Vee and the divide she placed in the prison to the continuing saga of Piper and Alex to the isolation of Red from her prison family to the shocking dismantling of our perceptions of Morello to the strange friendship of Healy and Pennssatucky, Season 2 continued to do its job of making each and every inmate at Litchfield feel like a fully-rounded person that truly matters, and that mindset is what separates Orange from nearly anything else on TV.

Standout Episodes: "A Whole Other Hole", "You Also Have a Pizza", "We Have Manners, We're Polite"

5. Rick and Morty

In a year of amazing comedy, Rick and Morty was a true highlight, a show bursting at the seams with creativity. Centered around the Back to the Future-esque adventures of grandfather Rick and his grandson Morty as they travel through time, space, and reality, Rick and Morty blended comedy and hard science fiction more successfully than any show this side of Futurama. Week after week, Rick and Morty took us to heights that seemed more ridiculous, more exciting and more amazing than anything we'd seen before, all while grounding itself in some genuinely moving family drama. That kind of balance is so incredibly hard to pull off, but Rick and Morty did it with aplomb, making me extremely eager to see what the show can come up with next.

Standout Episodes: "Lawnmower Dog", "Rixty Minutes", "Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind"

4. Mad Men

Thanks to AMC scheduling tomfoolery, Mad Men only aired seven episodes in 2014, but those seven episodes were something of a revelation. After the turmoil of last years' finale, Season 7 dealt with an exploded status quo - one that spelled out a dark end for our "hero" Don Draper. And yet, these seven episodes turned out to be more than just Don's death knell. They were the start of what I'm sure will be a doozy of an ending, a collection of episodes that brought together seven seasons worth of relationships and put a magnifying glass to them, showing which relationships were true and once were sprinkled with the artificiality that the characters of Mad Men treat as a second language at this point. The final absurdist scene, featuring a dead Bert Cooper singing to Don about how "the best things in life are free", brought everything this season was to a close: strange, surprising, a little disturbing... and yet somehow making perfect sense.

Standout Episodes: "A Days' Work", "The Strategy", "Waterloo"

3. You're the Worst

Romantic comedy is an old chestnut at this point, so that only makes it even more surprising just how excellent You're the Worst turned out to be. By putting its leads together in the pilot and slowly deconstructing all of the expected romcom tropes, the show was able to focus in on its characters and create two people that we didn't just want to see get together, but that we just wanted to see, because they were both relatable, funny, and well-drawn characters. You're the Worst also benefited from being more than just Jimmy and Gretchen's story - Lindsay and Edgar served as supporting characters that gawk at the idea of just being supporting characters, demanding that Jimmy and Gretchen treat them on their own accord. Additionally, characters like Becca & Todd, Allan, and a special bookstore cat added to the mix to prove that You're the Worst wasn't just about Jimmy and Gretchen's relationship, it was also about the comical, screwed up world that they both inhabit, which only added to the richness of their compelling hook-up. Renewed for a second season, I'm really excited to see where You're the Worst will take that world when it returns next year.

Standout Episodes: "Sunday Funday", "Finish Your Milk", "Fists and Feet and Stuff"

2. Bob's Burgers

Another year, another string of amazing episodes with the Belchers, my favorite TV family with some of my absolute favorite TV characters. Bob's Burgers continued to deliver total acceptance in form of warm, weird, occasionally gross but always hysterical comedy, and this season saw the show produce some of its strongest and most creative ideas yet, from the My Little Pony spoof The Equestranauts that had some interesting things to say about cartoon fanbases, to a Working Girl/Die Hard musical entitled Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl, to a new and improved(?) use for baked beans. As you can see, I love a lot of television shows, so it means something when I say there's no show whose world I look forward to joining more than the loving and twisted world of Bob's Burgers.

Standout Episodes: "Mazel-tina", "The Equestranauts", "Dawn of the Peck"

1. Broad City

I've mentioned several times what an amazing year this was for comedy, and I don't think there's a show that represents that better than Broad City, which was the show I laughed at the most in 2014 and also introduced me and the rest of the world to the comic stylings of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, whose humor offers a worldview that differs from anyone else's making television - both in terms of how upfront and honest it is about the struggles of young women in a big city (what other show would coin the phrase 'pussy weed'?) and in terms of just how beautifully, amazingly strange it is at every turn. The humor of Broad City is unlike any other - it's surreal yet grounded in some deep-rooted truth, it's smart and yet unafraid to appeal to its dirtiest impulses, and most importantly, it's just so fucking funny. This year in TV will be remembered as the year so many unique comic voices received a platform to share their stories, and the year that television proved there wasn't one specific way to tell a comedy story. And there's no better show that exemplified all of that than the fearless breath of fresh air that was Broad City.

Standout Episodes: "Working Girls", "Destination Wedding", "The Last Supper".

THERE'S MY LIST. Have a wonderful holiday season and watch all of these shows if you haven't. DO IT NOW.

The 12 Best Comedies of 2012 (if you have the exact same taste as me)

Hello, everyone/no one! I haven't posted in a while, because holidays I'm lazy/was busy with finals then got lazy. But I decided, on this wonderful New Years' Eve, that while everyone else is getting drunk, I'd intoxicate myself with television feelings, like I do most other nights. So, I'll be posting my top 12 TV shows of 2012 and my top 20 TV episodes of 2012.

Here are some disclaimers: I pretty much only watch comedies, so you can consider this a list of the best comedies of 2012. I do watch some dramas (okay, mostly just Mad Men), but I'm not as well-versed in them as I am in comedies. Also, I chose 12 because...I felt like it. Besides, 2012! Get it? Okay.

Anyway, here are the 12 comedies you should've been watching in 2012, according to me.

12. South Park 

2012 wasn't really South Park's strongest year, but it still managed to churn out a ton of pretty damn fantastic episodes that easily rank among the show's best. For a show that just ended its 16th season, that's no small feat, and when you compare to other aging cartoons like The Simpsons and Family Guy, the show's continued strength becomes even more impressive. There are probably dozens of factors as to why South Park remains a viable entertainment option while other cartoons have fallen prey to the DVR delete button, but I'd attribute it to the fact that the show is still interested in pushing itself and its characters to places they haven't been before. In this year alone, the show turned itself into an action reality show for half an episode, put its own spin on "shipping", and even questioned its own influence on morality. As long as the show can keep churning out similarly fresh ideas, it should have no problem remaining the reigning champ of long-running animation on TV.

Highlight Episodes: "Cash for Gold", "Cartman Finds Love", "Raising the Bar"

11. Suburgatory

Suburgatory was a show that I was pretty torn on last year. I loved so much of the cast and felt it had tons of potential, but the whole "city dad moves his troubled daughter to the SUBURBS!!!!" angle seemed so trite, and the show wasn't really putting any new spins on it. Luckily, the show downplayed that aspect of it this year, turned its homebase Chatswin into less of a demonic Stepford Wives-esque world and more of a lovingly bizarre Pawnee/Springfield type setting. But what really made the show stand out - aside from America's favorite family, the Shays - was the way it was able to take Tessa's maturation into adulthood and relationship with her father seriously. The show was by far at its best when it was dealing with Tessa trying to reconnect with her long-lost mother and figure out just where exactly she came from, and how that affected who she is today. Suburgatory still stumbles into over-the-top territory a bit too often, but when it's at its best, mixing its off-beat humor with serious emotional depth, it's easily one of the most compelling shows on television.

Highlight Episodes: "The Motherload", "The Wishbone", "Krampus"

10. Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23

Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 was easily one of the year's most surprising new shows. Its high level of quality wasn't necessarily what was surprising, but rather the fact that an ABC sitcom was allowed to go to places as dark, disgusting, and downright weird as Apartment 23 - or, more affectionately, Bitch 23 - went over the course of the year. The fact that a network that refuses to even air the show's actual title somehow gave the green light to a scene that prominently featured a main character blatantly masturbating in a bathtub is a television miracle in and of itself. Unlike some other shows that highlight their raunchiness, though, there's a lot of talent that goes into Apartment 23, and what makes the show as great as it is is not necessarily its raunchiness, but its excellent performances (especially by surprising comic genius Krysten Ritter), truly unique style of humor, and its way of taking old sitcom plot points and turning them in completely bizarre directions that somehow make total sense in its world. There's nothing else quite like it on TV, especially live-action TV. Unfortunately, that very well might lead it to an early demise, but even if Bitch 23's reign is a short one, the fact that it even happened at all is a pretty amazing achievement.

Highlight Episodes: "It's Just Sex", "A Reunion", "Love and Monsters"

9. Ben and Kate

Few shows have developed an online following as quickly as Ben and Kate, and with good reason - in the time where most sitcoms are figuring out just what the hell they're trying to say, Ben and Kate had already established one of the best comic ensembles on TV, with each character bringing something truly unique to the show's warm, pleasant rhythm. Ben and Kate's strength lies in its authenticity - the show's stakes aren't that high and it never digs all that deep, but it's formed a bunch of misfit characters whose problems and personalities feel real, down-to-earth, and extremely relatable. That's probably why its small but dedicated audience clung onto it so quickly, other than the fact that it's boasting some seriously excellent comic performances from just about every member of its cast. Unfortunately, as dedicated as they are, Ben and Kate's audience does remain very small. Here's to hoping 2013 brings around some kind of turn in fate for the show, because its created such a pleasant world that would be a lot of fun to hang out in for a few more years.

Highlight Episodes: "Kate's Birthday", "Scaredy Kate", "Reunion"

8. The Middle

If there was one comedy underdog in 2012, it was The Middle. Sure, the show's ratings are higher than any other show on this list. But in terms of acclaim and general fanfare, The Middle has slipped quietly under the radar - and that's a bit of a shame, as it's slowly turned into one of the most realistic family comedies in several years, and just a really great sitcom on the whole. It's understandable that the young folks of the internet wouldn't be interested in a family show that airs on ABC and stars Patricia Heaton, but the show has done an excellent job of painting an accurate picture of what it's like to be a family on the brink of economic turmoil - and considering the age we live in, the one where everyone is running around yelling things like "DEBT CEILING!" and "FISCAL CLIFF!" all the time, its message has become incredibly poignant. Still, the show's slow but steady march to greatness needs to be partially chalked up to the Hecks themselves - a flawed but endearing bunch who all have pretty big problems but are able to get past them and become a functional and even loving family unit anyway. With the show going into syndication next year, let's hope people who wrote it off as family-fluff will catch an episode in between Seinfeld re-runs and discover one of the strongest, funniest family sitcoms of our time.

Highlight Episodes: "The Guidance Counselor", "The Second Act", "Christmas Help"

7. Veep

Veep is one of those shows where there was basically no way it could have gone wrong. The Thick of It creator Armando Ianucci creating an American political satire with Julia-Louis Dreyfus playing a frazzled vice president? With Buster Bluth and the girl from My Girl playing her cronies? That sentence alone would be enough to make my "best of 2012" list. The best thing about Veep, though, was its ability to mix razor-sharp satire with extremely strong comic characters. The fun of Veep lied not nesseccarily in its big statements about American politics - truth be told, there weren't really many of those - but in the way it took seemingly powerful, all-important people and brought them to human levels, having them nonchalantly toss around phrases like "fuckload of bread" and...well, various other spins on the F word. It brought a weirdly human level to the annoyingly un-human world of politics, even as it was having its characters make some classically despicable political moves. And of course, so much of Veep's magic comes simply from having a bunch of talented people working in a room together. Sometimes, that's really all you need.

Highlight Episodes: "Frozen Yoghurt", "Catherine", "Tears"

6. Parks and Recreation

2012 was a big year for Leslie Knope. Not only did she embark her on one of the most extensive fictional political campaigns in TV history, she got engaged to her Game of Thrones-loving boyfriend Ben Wyatt and was awarded with the seat of City Council. But if I'm being completely honest, I enjoyed Parks and Recreation the most this year not when it was telling big, grand stories of triumph and victory, but when it was telling smaller, more intimate stories, like Leslie learning she'll have to compromise a bit to be successful in politics, but can still stick to her roots - or April subtly showing she's grown to care about her job and the people in it. Not all of the beats the show hit during the campaign arc worked for me, and there were times where I felt like the story was taking the show off the rails a little bit. But the show always brought itself back around with the small, subtle character details that made it stand out in the first place. Parks is an aging show now, but it's built enough love and respect for its world and the people ingrained in it that it'll have us following them no matter where the show takes them. And that's pretty much exactly the place a veteran comedy show should be. No matter what happens, we'll always treasure the time we get to spend hanging out with the Parks Department in Pawnee.

Highlight Episodes: "The Comeback Kid", "Win, Lose or Draw", "How a Bill Becomes a Law"

5. Louie

I almost think Louie can't be ranked against the other comedies on this list, because what it's trying to do is so radically different from what any show on TV is trying to do. Louie has absolutely no concern with story, or character, or really anything that usually makes TV what it is. Instead, Louie is simply 22 minutes of Louis CK telling amazingly crafted short stories where he lets us in on his view of the world. The show doesn't just disregard continuity - it snarls in the face of it. Character development, storytelling - none of that has any place on Louie. It's a little jarring the first time you sit down to watch it - but it eventually reaches a point where everything is just so damn beautifully crafted that you stop caring about any of those things. And then it gets to a point where you actively enjoy the fact that you can sit down, watch an episode, and have no idea where it's going, because any sort of storytelling convention is completely out the window. You like that you're actually caught by surprise when the end credits pop up. It's a really unique and interesting new spin on the television format, and it'll be interesting to see if it winds up being a trendsetter or an outlier. Either way, Louie is something that's incredibly rare in pop culture - something that's never been done before.

Highlight Episodes: "Miami", "Daddy's Girlfriend (Part 2)", "New Year's Eve"

4. Community

Community had a turbulent 2012. It started the year on a forced hiatus with no announced end date. Then, its creator, the beloved Dan Harmon, was fired right after NBC announced the show would return for a shortened fourth season that would be buried on Friday nights. Right before its planned return date, NBC delayed the premiere until early 2013 - and if that wasn't enough, the troublesome Chevy Chase quit the show just before production on Season 4 ended. All of this turmoil seemed to cause a lot of people to forget that Community actually produced a fairly great run of episodes in 2012. Despite a few missteps, the show carefully put together an emotionally satisfying arc that dug deeper into its misfit study group than ever before, using Ken Burns-style documentaries, 8-bit video game spoofs, and Law & Order homages to tell a really excellent story about how far these people have come since we first met them, how much they've had an affect on each other, and how the influence they've had on one another will stay with them forever. Community's future may be uncertain, but its fans can at least take comfort in the fact that the three excellent seasons it did air were able to build to such an excellent, moving character study. Hopefully Season 4 will continue down that path- but even if it doesn't, and even if 2012 will go down as the end of an era for the show, it'll be an era that ended on a high note.

Highlight Episodes: "Pillows and Blankets", "Digital Estate Planning", "Introduction to Finality"

3. Happy Endings

Happy Endings was the true underdog of 2011, starting off as a generic mid-season replacement that no one cared about only to rapidly and unexpectedly develop into one of the fastest, funniest shows on the air. In 2012, Happy Endings cemented itself into the hearts of comedy lovers everywhere, continuing its delightfully wacky antics and joke-a-minute dialogue while simultaneously adding new comic layers to its dizzying array of hysterical characters. The show has little goal other than to make you laugh and smile for 22 minutes, and it hits the mark perfectly every single time. As the show continues on, though, it's begun to develop its own distinct personality - a perfect example is the fact that it has practically invented its own language through the weird iterations and shortenings of words that its characters use. Watching an episode of episode of Happy Endings is almost like entertaining another universe - a universe where just the way everyone talks is hilarious, and where you're constantly surrounded by people who would be the  "funny one" in any other group of friends. Other shows may make you think more or have better developed character arcs, but there's no show on TV right now you're going to have more fun watching than Happy Endings.

Highlight Episodes: "The Butterfly Effect Effect", "Cocktails & Dreams", "No Ho Ho"

2. 30 Rock

Most sitcoms limp their way to the finish line. Truth be told, trying to mine comedy out of the same characters for years upon years gets to be pretty difficult. But the very best comedies figure out a way to keep the momentum going despite their age, to keep you laughing and loving their characters right up until the end. 2012 was 30 Rock's last full calender year, but it can sit proudly up with the show's prime years as a fine example of the show at its very best. So how? How does a show keep such a high standard of quality after having so many episodes behind it? In 30 Rock's case, the answer came from two different factors - a willingness to go deeper and darker with its humor than it ever had before, and carefully plotted character arcs that brought its characters to their crescendo as 30 Rock neared its sunset. The best example is Liz Lemon, who the show has put through hell on her quest to "have it all" - which only made her first stable relationship, the first time she found someone who actually accepted her, her decision to finally fulfill her dream of having a baby, and her long-awaited marriage even more satisfying. There's still a few more episodes of 30 Rock left, so it remains to be seen if the rest of the show will wrap up as nicely. But either way, 30 Rock is going out with one of its best seasons and one of the strongest final seasons of a sitcom I can remember - and one of the best comedies of our times deserves nothing less.

Highlight Episodes: "Leap Day", "Stride of Pride", "Mazel Tov, Dummies"

1. New Girl

No comedy had a more exciting 2012 than New Girl. The show debuted last fall to huge numbers, but most critics wrote it off due to its obnoxious advertising campaign and middle-of-the-road pilot as a soulless Zooey Deschanel star vehicle. Most comedies likely would've been completely fine with this, ranking in their huge numbers and carrying on. But despite its rocky beginnings, it was always clear that New Girl wanted to be something more than that. And in 2012, the show rapidly turned the corner - it brought out the talented members of its comic ensemble, toned down Deschanel's performance while simultaneously bringing out the best in her, and started working its way toward being a comic character study of a bunch of weird, lost 30-somethings who have nothing to rely on but each other. The show slowly started to earn back all of the people it had lost by churning out strings of excellent episodes that no one would've ever believed the show was capable of when it first started. This can be attributed to many things - creator Liz Meriweather's dedication, some truly excellent writing, but perhaps most important is the the chemistry between the show's ensemble, who - much like their characters - each have their own unique vibe and personality that they add to the show's whole. Watching New Girl grow from a troubled young show with a lot of potential into a legitimately excellent comedy has been pretty incredible, and while maybe the show isn't technically the very best comedy on TV right now, the journey it took me on this year was more rewarding than any other show this year, and that's why it's getting top honors on my list.

Highlight Episodes: "Normal", "Fluffer", "Eggs"

Notable mentions:

• Archer - Admittedly, I've just started watching this and haven't made it to the show's 2012 offerings yet. But considering I assume I'll be all caught up by the time next year rolls around, I would be pretty surprised if it didn't end up high on my list in 2013, unless it has a terrible year or something. Because man, I am loving the shit out of it.
• Saturday Night Live - SNL is like a totally different TV experience for me, so I didn't rank it among the other comedy shows on my list, because it'd be a weird comparison. The show's quality fluctuates so much from week-to-week and operates on such a different standard that I think it'd be difficult to really rank on a list like this. But don't worry, I still love it.
• Raising Hope - Poor Raising Hope suffers with me because there's just too much good TV on Tuesdays, but when I do happen to watch it, I usually really like it. Hopefully I will discover it on TBS in like 2 years and fully appreciate it or something.
• The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Soup - Again, like SNL, these shows are kind of a different type of TV viewing for me, but I enjoy them all very much.
• Mad Men - I'm not nearly caught up on all of my Mad Men, but I really enjoy what I what I do see of it, and it's a show I'm planning on sitting down and watching from start to finish sometime hopefully soon. It's definitely a landmark TV show and one that is doing some pretty amazing things.

Well, there we have it. This was a pretty incredible year for TV, honestly - lots of amazing stuff all-around. I feel like 2013 is going to bring a lot of change, but hopefully things remain just as good, because having TV be so great is pretty fun, right?