2013 was a groundbreaking year for television. It was a year filled with zombies, dragons, prisoners, streaming, meth, and of course, binge watching. Find out what 5 hourlongs were my favorites of the year below!
1. BREAKING BAD - Seasons 1-5.1 streaming on Netflix
Honestly, no other show even came close to the dramatic levels this show hit in it's final half season. It was so good that it actually made all of the other shows airing during the same time useless to watch for me. As an example, I was super into the FX show The Bridge for it's first 5 episodes, and then Breaking Bad started and I stopped watching The Bridge altogether. Critical reception for that show took a dive around that point as well, which I do not feel was a coincidence.
Do I wish that a few of the plot choices had been slightly different? Yes. In retrospect, did the flash forwards take away some of the tension from the final couple episodes? You bet. In the end though, it was probably the greatest final season of any show of all time, and gave us one of the best hours of television with the episode, "Ozymandias" an hour of television that I may never forget.
2. HANNIBAL - Season 2 debuts February 28th on NBC
What seemed on the outset as being an unnecessary, lame attempt at cashing in on an overused film series, quickly became the best new show of 2013. The performances from the entire cast, especially the three leads, Mikkelsen, Dancy, and Fishburne, make each hour of this series memorable. The striking visuals make each hour unforgettable, and unlike anything else on network television. For every poor choice NBC has made with it's lineup the past decade, keeping this show around for an upcoming second season was a wonderful, delicious surprise.
3. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK - Streaming on Netflix
Netflix had two extremely high profile "original" shows in 2013, and this was not either of them, but damn was it better than Spacey and the Bluths. I am not sure what about this show made me hit play so early on, it came out of nowhere and I assumed it would be a fake show. Then I hear that Jenji Kohan, creator of Weeds was behind it, and I wanted to watch it even less. For some reason I did, and what I was treated to was what almost instantly became one of my favorite ensembles of characters in the history of the medium.
4. ARROW - Wednesdays on The CW, Season 1 streaming on Netflix
If you're like me, you probably blew this show off as being just another bit of CW tween-trash. That's what I thought, and why I never got into this show during it's first season, but a lot of the buzz about the show was that it was actually pretty great. So starting with season 2 I decided to jump on board and see what the hype was about, and man am I happy I did. Arrow is consistently the most entertaining hour of my week. They simply nail everything you would hope a live action superhero TV show could be. From exciting action, to fantastic cameos, and layered easter eggs for DC fans. The show occasionally takes a little bit to much "inspiration" from the Nolan Dark Knight trilogy, and has a the occasional bit of shoddy CW acting, but overall it is a great time, that just keeps improving.
5. HOUSE OF CARDS - Streaming on Netflix
The second Netflix original to crack my top 5, was also the first ever non-televised television show to be up for the best drama Emmy. A lot of people had some problems with this show, mostly with the breaking of the fourth wall from the Spacey character, but I actually loved that aspect of the show. My one major issue with House of Cards actually had nothing to do with the physical content of the show, but with the drawbacks of binge watching an entire season in a weekend. On one hand it lent itself well to binge watching, but I hated how the conversation died out after a week or two. It is the main thing that separates this from some of the major players of HBO or AMC. Can't wait for season 2.
HONORABLE MENTION:
Game of Thrones
Almost Human
Sleepy Hollow
The Walking Dead
Best Sitcoms of 2013 (no order):
Parks and Recreation
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
The New Girl
How I Met Your Mother
The Crazy Ones
