The 20 Best TV Shows Of The 2013/2014 Season

19. "Bob's Burgers"

I'm glad this made the list, but I would have had it higher. Also, 'Archer' not making the list except as an honorable mention is flawed.

Penny Dreadful making the list is f***ing dreadful. I almost wanna stop reading but I'll continue to see what else surprises me. lol

"phinsational wrote:

Penny Dreadful making the list is f***ing dreadful. I almost wanna stop reading but I'll continue to see what else surprises me. lol

Agreed.

I actually picked up a couple of new shows from this. And, I have S1E1 of 'Suits'...it gets one ep to grab me, otherwise, I've got a lot of stuff to watch already.

Damn, you'd think there are no other good dramas on TV, and all that exists are half hour cartoons/comedies. Definite pattern here. How many goddam shows of similar style need to be on a Top 20 list? At some point you have to ask yourself what the best four are and then move on to something else for diversity. Such a flawed article it's not funny. A better title would've been, "The Favorite Shows of a Bunch of Idiots".

1. Penny Dreadful makes the list.... yet House of Cards is the Dishonorable Mention that went wildly off the rails? LMAO. GTFO here.
2. Masters of Sex at #7 after just one season.... yet Rectify is "too early in its run to make a grade"? Way to be consistent, dipsh*ts. :glare:

3. A redundancy of half hour chick shows at 14 & 15? Gimme a fuggin break. Meanwhile, the twice-as-fun Banshee gets left off completely, as does House of Lies? I hope you die. painfully.

4. If Archer and It's Always Sunny are omitted then the same needs to be done with the similar but lesser Bob's Burgers, Review, Louis, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It's just that simple.

5. The brilliant season 3 of The Killing was nowhere to be mentioned, nor was The Newsroom or season 1 of The Bridge? They should be raped in a dark alley and left to bleed out.

Last Week Tonight is under rated.

"NaboCane wrote:

Agreed.

I actually picked up a couple of new shows from this. And, I have S1E1 of 'Suits'...it gets one ep to grab me, otherwise, I've got a lot of stuff to watch already.

Having Suits one foot out the door before watching it is like being pessimistic about starting Fargo. If you gave Penny Dreadful a chance you should be wanting to give Suits a leash of at least 2 episodes b/c of the character development involved . I keep waiting for the seasons to dull but it doesn't happen. The writing, wit, style, and charm of characters reminds me of Deadwood. There've been only a handful of shows that really left me emotionally bummed when they ended: Deadwood, Misfits, Breaking Bad, Weeds, and The Wire. I'll be suffering from withdrawals when Suits is gone.
It's a top 20 all-time American drama per IMDb user ratings.

Here's the list:
1. Breaking Bad, 9.6
2. Game of Thrones, 9.5
3. The Wire, 9.4
4. True Detective, 9.4
5. The Sopranos, 9.3
6. Fargo, 9.1
7. House of Cards, 9.1
8. Dexter, 9.0
9. Rome, 9.0
10. Twin Peaks, 9.0
11. Oz, 8.9
12. 24: Live Another Day, 8.9
13. House MD, 8.9
14. Deadwood, 8.9
15. Six Feet Under, 8.9
16. Suits, 8.8
17. The Shield, 8.8
18. Downton Abby, 8.8
19. The West Wing, 8.8
20. The X Files, 8.8
21. Sons of Anarchy, 8.7
22. The Walking Dead, 8.7
23. Justified, 8.7
24. Boardwalk Empire, 8.7
25. Madmen, 8.7

BTW, I forgot, I did watch Shadow Line. Outstanding mini-series. Always a fan of Chiwetel Ejiofor.

"phinsational wrote:

Damn, you'd think there are no other good dramas on TV, and all that exists are half hour cartoons/comedies. Definite pattern here. How many goddam shows of similar style need to be on a Top 20 list? At some point you have to ask yourself what the best four are and then move on to something else for diversity. Such a flawed article it's not funny. A better title would've been, "The Favorite Shows of a Bunch of Idiots".

1. Penny Dreadful makes the list.... yet House of Cards is the Dishonorable Mention that went wildly off the rails? LMAO. GTFO here.
2. Masters of Sex at #7 after just one season.... yet Rectify is "too early in its run to make a grade"? Way to be consistent, dipsh*ts. :glare:

3. A redundancy of half hour chick shows at 14 & 15? Gimme a fuggin break. Meanwhile, the twice-as-fun Banshee gets left off completely, as does House of Lies? I hope you die. painfully.

4. If Archer and It's Always Sunny are omitted then the same needs to be done with the similar but lesser Bob's Burgers, Review, Louis, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It's just that simple.

5. The brilliant season 3 of The Killing was nowhere to be mentioned, nor was The Newsroom or season 1 of The Bridge? They should be raped in a dark alley and left to bleed out.

C'mon; I hate it when you hold back, Todd. :chuckle:

It's obvious that this was a collaborative effort among staff; the discrepancies are glaring. I agree with you re: 'Penny,' 'Killing,' and 'House of Cards;' but TBH, while Archer is one of my favorite shows on TV, it had an odd, off-putting non sequitur of a season. With so much great TV, I agree that it can't make the cut this time. Same with 'The Newsroom,' which had an absolutely brilliant first season, yet fell off a cliff conceptually and directionally in S2.

The Bridge is kind of a cult thing for now, kind of like 'Hannibal;' I've heard about 2:1 negative-to-positive reviews on it; it needs to be brilliant in this new season, or it probably gets axed.

And 'Masters of Sex;' dude, if you're not watching it, you should be. It is, week-in and week-out, excellent filmmaking.

"phinsational wrote:

BTW, I forgot, I did watch Shadow Line. Outstanding mini-series. Always a fan of Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Wasn't that just magnificent television? Absolutely unlike anything else.

Here are some lesser-known notables on IMDb's list that I found highly entertaining that deserve to be put on most peoples' "must watch" list.

Misfits, 8.4................. raunchy comedy/drama/fantasy; 9 awards & 28 nominations
The Inbetweeners, 8.5.. raunchy comedy; 13 awards & 13 nominations
Utopia, 8.4................. mystery/drama/thriller/sci-fi; 3 awards first year
Party Down, 8.3.......... comedy by Paul Rudd; stellar cast; won AFI for TV Program of Year; nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy by TV Critics Association.
Rake , 8.5.. dramedy; 5 awards & 6 nominations
The Fall, 8.1............... drama/thriller; 4 wins & 4 nominations first year
The Bridge, 7.7........... drama/crime/mystery/thriller; 3 wins & 4 nominations first year
Broadchurch, 8.4..........crime/drama/mystery; 11 wins & 10 nominations first year

"NaboCane wrote:

Wasn't that just magnificent television?

Don't have to tell me twice. :ffic:
There are some things that I think British television does better than anyone as a whole and that American tv could really learn from.... and this is one prime example of such IMO.... but I think America has rebounded quickly the past couple years. On a handful of occasions I found myself bored and deciding to watch a few British shows I had saved on IMDb watch list but kept putting off, and each time I was both thrilled to find the show and disappointed it took me so long to watch it. Misfits, The Fall, Sherlock, Broadchurch, Inbetweeners, Life on Mars, and Shadow Line.

"NaboCane wrote:

C'mon; I hate it when you hold back, Todd. :chuckle:

It's obvious that this was a collaborative effort among staff; the discrepancies are glaring. I agree with you re: 'Penny,' 'Killing,' and 'House of Cards;' but TBH, while Archer is one of my favorite shows on TV, it had an odd, off-putting non sequitur of a season. With so much great TV, I agree that it can't make the cut this time. Same with 'The Newsroom,' which had an absolutely brilliant first season, yet fell off a cliff conceptually and directionally in S2.

The Bridge is kind of a cult thing for now, kind of like 'Hannibal;' I've heard about 2:1 negative-to-positive reviews on it; it needs to be brilliant in this new season, or it probably gets axed.

And 'Masters of Sex;' dude, if you're not watching it, you should be. It is, week-in and week-out, excellent filmmaking.

Season 2 of The Bridge has started out well IMO. I think it's one of the few American shows that rival British crime/drama. It has that type of feel to me. Then again it is a remake of a Swedish series (Bron), so perhaps that's why it's a cultish show with mixed reviews- because it's roots are European.

I personally didn't mind any conceptual or directional cliff-falling from The Newsroom b/c of Jeff Daniels, Olivia Mumm, and the rest of the wonderful cast.

I started on Masters of Sex but it didn't pull me away from whatever useless crap I was doing online at the time to gain my undivided attention, so the show kinda fizzled for me. I'll probably pick it up again, but I've found a lot of stuff that I rank higher than it so it's lower on my priority list unless I catch it live..... but I'll have to catch up on season 1 first.

There are a lot of really good shows currently running so it's tough to narrow it to 20.. Everyone has their faves, which is exactly what that list is.