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[RatskyWatsky]

all these edgy critics trying to look cool with their cable shows when we all know their true favorites air on the cw monday - thursday

 

[Gnome]

Nobody cares about Black Sails. What a bummer. I only started watching the show cause of GAF recommendations. It's pretty great.

STARZ itself might as well not exist among critics.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

STARZ itself might as well not exist among critics.

True, although judging by theses lists, The Girlfriend Experience has become the dark horse of this TV season.

 

[vinnygambini]

My top 8 (couldn't think of 10):

1. The Crown
2. Black Sails
3. Stranger Things
4. American Crime: O.J.
5. House of Cards
6. Game of Thrones
7. Marco Polo
8. Shannara Chronicles

 

[RatskyWatsky]

once ratsky does the GAF voting thread.

Next week!

Don't forget everybody! Voting for GAF's 6th Annual TV Show of the Year begins next Thursday, Dec. 15th!

(participation has been down every single year, so let's buck the trend!)

 

[LotusHD]

I'm proud to say that I've kept up with the majority of these shows. (The Americans also needs awards like yesterday, I'm still pissed off concerning the Emmys) Best new show of the year for me is definitely Atlanta though. At first it was like the best comedy, but the show deserves far more praise than that.

As for Insecure, I'll have to find the time to watch the rest of the episodes, but admittedly I haven't been very captivated by the first 3 episodes I watched. Like I fully grasp the aspects of it that are relatable to me, and yet I feel pretty underwhelmed by it nonetheless, especially concerning its humor. But if the remaining episodes are in fact much better, I guess I'll catch up with it sooner rather than later.

Rectify and The Americans are 1a and 1b

Mr. Robot, Better Call Saul and Game of Thrones are 2a, 2b and 2c.

Luke Cage best superhero show.

Edit: For those asking, I would say that yes, The Americans has found ways to come back even stronger every season. It's a character study, like all my favorite dramas (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Rectify) and they have done a superb job of building on the drama within their circle of characters. Not to mention, Keri Russell and Matthew Rhyys absolutely murder their roles. Where the fuck are their Emmys???

Luke Cage is not the best superhero show, unfortunately.

 

[Dalek]

Next week!

Don't forget everybody! Voting for GAF's 6th Annual TV Show of the Year begins next Thursday, Dec. 15th!

Damn. I need to catch up on my shows.

 

[lightskintwin]

At least queen sugar got one mention.

Hi five. Queen Sugar was really enjoyable.

 

[Sloane]

I don't get what people see in Stranger Things but I'm happy about all the mentions of The Americans, OJ, Saul, Veep, and Atlanta. Not enough Night Manager though. Guess I'll have to check out BoJack Horseman? Always looked so unappealing to me.

 

[LotusHD]

I don't get what people see in Stranger Things but I'm happy about all the mentions of The Americans, OJ, Saul, Veep, and Atlanta. Not enough Night Manager though. Guess I'll have to check out BoJack Horseman? Always looked so unappealing to me.

The designs were unappealing to me initially (assuming that's what you mean), but I stopped caring, got used to it, and even ended up liking it a lot. The dark humor, character development, and the conversations and topics discussed is on another level on this show.

 

[lightskintwin]

I don't get what people see in Stranger Things but I'm happy about all the mentions of The Americans, OJ, Saul, Veep, and Atlanta. Not enough Night Manager though. Guess I'll have to check out BoJack Horseman? Always looked so unappealing to me.

Stranger Things is 80's Nostalgia done right.

 

[mariachi507]

Guess I'm going to get started on Atlanta right away.

I can confirm the love for The American's though, it's the best thing on TV.

 

[Sloane]

The designs were unappealing to me initially (assuming that's what you mean), but I stopped caring, got used to it, and even ended up liking it a lot. The dark humor, character development, and the conversations and topics discussed is on another level on this show.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Sounds good though, I guess I'll check it out over the holidays!

Stranger Things is 80's Nostalgia done right.

Yeah, sure, I got what it was trying to do and I loved its production values but other than that it was such a snoozefest, felt like a two-hour movie stretched to 8 hours or so to me. It didn't really try to improve on what it was mimicking or add something new to the formula -- in other words, what did it have going for it other than nostalgia?

 

[crazy monkey]

My favorite of the year was stranger things. I have not seen any other once. I tried horseman i could not watch it.

 

[Decado]

So glad to see The Walking Dud and Game of Thrones not making most of these lists. Both of which have been absolutely terrible this year. Granted The Walking Dead was always terrible but it hit new lows this year.

Wut? GoT had a good season. Much better than s5.

Walking has been terrible for years, though.

This was another great year for TV. Next year looks to start off with a bang.

 

[Decado]

Nobody cares about Black Sails. What a bummer. I only started watching the show cause of GAF recommendations. It's pretty great.

I wonder if it is because the first two seasons were a bit uneven?

From what I see shows don't get a lot of credit for improving.

 

[scoobs]

I guess I have to give Atlanta a try at this point, don't I? The critical reception is almost unprecedented

 

[dead souls]

Wut? GoT had a good season. Much better than s5.

There's a huge gulf between "better than season 5 of GoT" and "deserves to be on a top 10 list."

 

[LotusHD]

I guess I have to give Atlanta a try at this point, don't I? The critical reception is almost unprecedented

You certainly do. Episode 7 in particular was one of, if not the funniest TV episode I've watched all year, and it still had biting social commentary to go along with it.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

ctrl + f "mr robot", two mentions.

...wow. I honestly expected more mentions, this season blew my mind several times. Intruiging story and characters, shocking twists, visually striking and an incredible soundtrack and score to boot.
.

Mr Robot and Westworld were doing the same thing for me. Creating rather empty stories that are built entirely around confusing and shocking the viewer. I found Westworld a lot more enjoyable than Season 2 of Mr Robot though.

 

[Monocle]

Hilarious trying to see these lists play the "too cool" thing by not mentioning Game of Thrones more.

Especially now that it's actually worth mentioning again, lol. Season 6 is easily the strongest season since the first.

Or maybe - stick with me here this is high concept stuff im about to share - maybe there was a ton of great tv this year and these individuals believe other shows more deserved a place on their lists. Perhaps you could even say it was their genuine opinion!

Possibly, but then why did so many critics list GoT's wretched fifth season last year? That smacked of uncritical bandwagoning to me.

 

[FantasyFreak07]

I'm very happy to see Crazy Ex Girlfriend on so many of these lists. The show is very charming with its lovable and zany characters. The songs, for the most part, are also very fun to listen to.

 

[Saty]

I was going to say i'm delighted not to see Fargo S2 on those lists but i guess it counts as a 2015 entry. Well, we have Stranger Things to fill the 'overrated' spot. And while i haven't watched quite a few of the shows on these lists, i doubt they justify Quarry being absent.

 

[Azzanadra]

Only really watched Westworld, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things and Better Call Saul this year so I guess my tastes are somewhat decent considering all of these shows are up there in some capacity (except TWD).

How do y'all have so much time for TV shows though? I can't imagine watching more than say 10, and even then I'd be really fucking up my work-school balance.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

F is for Family got screwed here. It came out so late last year that it missed most 2015 lists and it's not represented on any 2016 lists either.

 

[sohois]

Seems to me that the real shockl exclusion is Planet Earth 2

I know it hasn't finished yet but I don't think you'll need to see the final episodes to declare it the best show of the year.

Maybe they put documentaries separate but I don't see why when other factual programs are listed.

 

[Dereck]

Search Party needs more love

Oh fuck, I almost forgot about this

 

[hateradio]

OJ getting so many nominations. :lol


Search Party was like a creme brulee that just imploded. Still good, but not perfect.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

How do y'all have so much time for TV shows though?

No other hobbies, no job, no life, no friends - one, or a combination, of these things~

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

How do y'all have so much time for TV shows though? I can't imagine watching more than say 10, and even then I'd be really fucking up my work-school balance.

TV is one of our "hobbies". You can easily keep on top of 4-5 shows a season without much thought.

 

[ryseing]

Next week!

Don't forget everybody! Voting for GAF's 6th Annual TV Show of the Year begins next Thursday, Dec. 15th!

(participation has been down every single year, so let's buck the trend!)

Is it OK that I participate even though I don't watch nearly everything that comes on? I have a few favorites that I'd like to give some recognition to.

 

[hydruxo]

Not enough Westworld and Stranger Things on those lists. Glad to see Atlanta getting recognition though, I didn't really expect it to be that high on so many lists.

 

[SchrodingerC]

Seeing Halt and Catch Fire getting recognition warms the tv watcher heart.

 

[T.O.P]

Wasn't

a 2016 show?

It was so fuckin good it's a shame it's so overlooked

 

[dead souls]

No other hobbies, no job, no life, no friends - one, or a combination, of these things~

It's like you're describing me.

Just kidding--I have other hobbies.

 

[Daria Morgendorffer]

Good to see quite a few mentions of Bojack and Better Call Saul

 

[HF2014]

Happy to see Rectify nominated so offen! This show is amazing! Most underated Netflix show imo.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Happy to see Rectify nominated so offen! This show is amazing! Most underated Sundance show imo.

FTFY

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

Huh, guess Westworld isn't as good as I was told by people.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Huh, guess Westworld isn't as good as I was told by people.

It's a good show, but a lot of people champion it as some masterpiece of story telling when it really did a poor job with character development. It kind of saved all of it for the final two episodes and it's big reveal was figured out by fans within the first two episodes.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Is it OK that I participate even though I don't watch nearly everything that comes on? I have a few favorites that I'd like to give some recognition to.

Absolutely! Voting is open to all!

 

[Lothar]

Huh, guess Westworld isn't as good as I was told by people.

According to these people, GoT isn't that good either.

 

[Rygar 8 Bit]

lack of west world is baffling show is amazing and stranger things needs to be on way more lists and higher up

 

[ArkkAngel007]

I've always wanted to watch the Americans since it was announced, but it just didn't happen. At this point, it'll probably lyrics be best to wait to watch the complete series in one go.

Mr. Robot is another one I want to make a priority. Better Call Saul will hopefully be another to watch, but I just can't seem to watch more than one show on a regular basis (currently The Walking Dead).

 

[jetjevons]

Don't get the lack of Westworld. I had none of the common complaints.

I sort of just put Bojack Horseman on because people say they love it while working and after a few episodes it just clicked. Binged like 2 seasons!

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

lack of west world is baffling show is amazing and stranger things needs to be on way more lists and higher up

Stranger Things, for as much as I loved it, was not better than some of the shows on that list.

 

[lamaroo]

So happy to see Rectify making these lists finally, and I'm pretty sure most of these lists were done without seeing the final two episodes, with the penultimate episode that just aired being one of the shows best.

Glad for The Americans, probably best show on television. You guys should give The Crown a chance, I know the premise seems meh but it really surprised me, great production.

I watched the Rectify pilot today and it was...okay. I'm gonna try and finish season 1 asap. But out of curiosity, does it get better in the later seasons?

If you didn't like the first episode you probably won't like the rest of it, but finish season 1 at least because the finale is one of the best episodes of TV ever imo. It's a character study though, it's slow and melodic, but one of the most touching series ever created.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

If you didn't like the first episode you probably won't like the rest of it, but finish season 1 at least because the finale is one of the best episodes of TV ever imo. It's a character study though, it's slow and melodic, but one of the most touching series ever created.

I found Rectify a lot more enjoyable being able to watch the season in chunks versus every week. Like you said, it's a character study and I think being able to do 2-3 episodes in a row really helps with the story. It's like closing a book when you finish a chapter. Once the series is done I want to revisit it b/c I really enjoyed Season 1 but had trouble getting through Season 2 b/c of what I described.

 

[CoolOff]

Finally some serious broad exposure for The Americans.

I expect to see many of you in the S5 thread. You got enough time to make it.

 

[BlackNMild2k1]

I have yet to check out the OJ trail thing, but I love how that and Atlanta made and nearly topped most of the list... except for the 2 list where neither of them made the list at all.

But these list remind me to also go back and watch Better Call Saul and a few other shows that were on my "ooops forgot to watch that... now it's seasons deep, but I already have too many shows I'm watching right now, but I'll still try to fit it in later" list.