[tps_title]Maxwell Haddad’s Top 10 TV Shows of 2013[/tps_title]
An incredible year for television, indeed. The networks gave certain shows the freedoms to try new things as cable gets stronger and stronger. Streaming came to the party in a big way with Netflix’s crop of original series. Often overlooked channels like Comedy Central, BBC America, and Sundance took risks and produced great content. This is a great time to be a television fan; one never knows where they’ll have to look next.
10. Key & Peele (Season 3) – Genius sketch comedy that gets better with each season. Highlights include a parody of Les Miserables and a sketch about Continental Breakfasts that might be the best thing I’ve seen all year.
9. The Americans (Season 1) – A terrific, stylish cold war thriller and a brilliant examination of a complex marriage.
8. Hannibal (Season 1) – Shocking and gorgeous dark imagery and brilliant characterizations of these iconic characters. This has no right to be as good as it is, but the cast and creator Bryan Fuller deliver in a big way.
7. Arrested Development (Season 4) – As an experiment in puzzle structure, this took my breath away. As comedy, it was pretty darn good too. What it lacks for in great ensemble moments of the series pasts it makes up for with sheer audacity.
6. Game of Thrones (Season 3) – Consistently great high fantasy that manages to juggle its huge ensemble beautifully. The notorious Red Wedding was one of the moments of the year.
5. Mad Men (Season 6) – Perhaps the darkest, most haunting season yet of this wonderful period drama. Don Draper’s psyche reached sickening new depths as he finally began to come to terms with his past.
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4. Justified (Season 4) – Lovely language and a strong mystery (that eschewed the traditional “big bad” structure) sang high in this fantastically badass southern fried series. Decoy may be the the most awesome episode of the year.
3. Orange is the New Black (Season 1) – I became quickly obsessed with this revelatory ensemble drama with an incredible cast of female actors that bring life and soul to their diverse and rich characters. Amazing.
2. Breaking Bad (Season 5) – What more is there to say that hasn’t already been said? An all time great show nails the landing.
1. The Good Wife (Season 5) – This always excellent, often overlooked series ramped the complex drama and interpersonal politics to extremes. A great series showing off and reinventing itself with intelligence, wit, tears, and classy artfulness.
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Honorable Mentions: Parks and Recreation, Veep, Arrow, Orphan Black, Top of the Lake. (A note: certain shows like 30 Rock and Fringe, that were terrific this year, aired only a few episodes and thus were not considered for the purposes of this list.) I’d also like to give a special shoutout to the phenomenal HBO telefilm Behind the Candelabra, which if it had been released in cinemas might be in contention for my top 10 films of the year.
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