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[RatskyWatsky]

Top Ten

Fargo

When they first announced a TV series for Fargo, I was skeptical, but was willing to give it a shot. It blew away my expectations. This season, I didn't have the same skeptical thoughts, but it definitely managed to blow away my expectations yet again. Perfect casting, great humor, frequent bizarreness, lots of tension, solid cinematography, solid emotional payoffs, awesome use of the score, and a large amount of visual and narrative style made this season something I looked forward to every week.

Miles ahead of the rest. S1 was already great, but this was an extraordinary season of tv. The show managed to impress every week. I thought Hawley couldn't keep this streak of perfection til the end, but he did. There's the 4th season of The Wire, final season of The Shield, 4th season of BrBa, and now... second season of Fargo. One of my favorite tv seasons full stop.

Mr. Robot

Stupid, predictable and childisly anarchic but hell Mr Robot is such well realised TV. Lurches about like a drunk on skates but held together by Rami Malek's central performances and what appears to be an understanding of hacking. Don't know if it can sustain any more seasons, but man what a gloriously fun ride the first was.

Caught by surprise show. Unbelievable cinematography, they took a creative leap in the filming style and it succeeded. Pair this with the writing and score among other great aspects and you have the show of the year.

Daredevil

The fight coreography is really good. The main characters are expectedly bland but the villains are actually interesting and funny. I'm glad they give the bad guys more time and human characteristics to breathe into their characters - to have a bad guy who is afraid for his life longevity is really refreshing!

Everything I could ask for in a super hero show. Exciting without following entirely into the pitfalls of its source material.

Better Call Saul

There's something to be said about how prequels are processed or interpreted, and that's the fact that they are inherently tied to the original material and sometimes only exist in the shadow of something else. And in the case of Better Call Saul, that shadow is Breaking Bad. I think credit is due for what at first seems like a cheap prequel-spinoff-keep-the-lights-on move by AMC but rises above that. There is almost nothing important or critical that ties back to Breaking Bad in Better Call Saul without it being it's own thing, and this show almost entirely lives as its own entity. It's entirely possible to recommend Better Call Saul without having to add a caveat that you must watch Breaking Bad prior to it. The show also finds a way to divorce itself further away by being a slower, more deliberate show than the phrenetic tale of Walter White. If Breaking Bad was a tale of a man's descent into his madness and self-aggrandizement, then Better Call Saul does much of the opposite, and places Jimmy McGill in the position of someone who wants to build himself up, but has to do it despite his instincts and what people in his life expect him to be.

it fades away as it becomes too much like breaking bad 2.0, but it regularly showcases just the most fantastic confidence in the power of pure storytelling. this prequel divorces the tiresome grandiose character arc of breaking bad from it's pure stylistic genius and storytelling verve and applies that style to a more subdued, sadder, less comic booky character story.

Hannibal

Season 3 achieves even greater heights of invention in its depiction of the relationships and inner lives of its characters through the sensuous heightened reality of the world around them. This is television at its very finest, a radical proof of concept which demonstrates that the medium's storytelling possibilities are rarely exercised to anything near their full potential. But then, Hannibal is a show of rare quality and artistic boldness. The time afforded by full seasons allows for a dense lattice of gradually developed and carefully drawn themes, thoroughly interconnected, keyed to visual and audio notes that recur throughout the series. The often subtle points of symmetry in events and relationships stretch all the way back to the first episode, lending serious heft and an almost mythical quality to the latter half of the season. Season 3 concludes at the top of its game, at the top of the medium. A fitting end to the series, if it really is the end. Hannibal is a masterpiece.

Truly a shame that this show was forced into an early retirement. Yet, Bryan Fuller was able to provide us with an outstanding final season separated into two halves. A lot of people had problems with the slow moving first half, but I appreciated it for the rich dialogue and beautiful setpieces I’ve come to cherish from Hannibal. Then, in the second half, things ratcheted up into full gear with the Red Dragon storyline that totally delivered, providing some of the most memorable moments of the series. This show had no business being on NBC, and I can’t help but think what it could have been were it given proper treatment, but yet still stands as one of my favorite series of all time.

Mad Men

Mad Men was consistently great, and I think it's often overlooked because of that. Not much left to say about Don Draper and the gang, but I'll miss this show a lot and look forward to rewatching as the years go by. I get the feeling Mad Men is going to hold up as well as anything else out there.

I'd like to talk about a show
And shower it with love
Praise actors swell who did so well
And those who wrote it too

The final season of Mad Men cemented it's position as the greatest show ever for me, Matthew Weiner et al. did a fantastic job. I'm going to miss it so.

The Flash

This show hit the ground running at the beginning of the year with the second half of S1, and it just didn’t stop even through the first half of S2. Whatever issues I may have with the show the show makes up for in pure fun. I still can’t believe we got Grodd done competently on a network television show.

Pure comicbook fun. I'M A FUCKING SHARK.

Fun, heart warming, and mind blowing. A comic book show that isn't afraid to be what it is. Takes the good and bad in full stride. Great dynamic between the cast, and the crossovers are a treat.

The Leftovers

A huge turnaround from a so-so first season. The setting change and the introduction of new characters made a huge difference and the way each episode would zero in on a certain character kept me riveted the whole time, leading up to one of the most interesting episodes of TV I've seen in a long time.

A colossal emotional achievement. I was one of the few that thought Season 1 was a masterpiece. While Season 2 is messier, sacrificing a more coherent season for several short stories, it's as mesmerizing, fascinating, brilliant as ever. It shot straight up into my Top 10 of Alltime, maybe Top 3, slowly but surely aproaching the number one spot, the one and only The Wire. It's not technically the best piece of television, devisive, weird, but - oh my god - it's the most personal and impactful show I might have ever seen in my entire life. I am in love.

The Americans

An incredibly smart and gripping show that continues to do a great job balancing the spy aspects with the familial ones. This show continues to get better each season, which is amazing considering the quality. Credit to Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, who continue to effortless and masterfully embody their roles with the perfect amount of resolve, care, anger, and sadness. They also do a great job of feeling relatable even when you have to reconcile that with the fact that they're committing terrible and uncomfortable acts. Really, it's just an amazing show that more people should watch.

Another brilliant year, as the pressures ratchet up in both professional and personal ways for nearly everyone. Also, there was a mail robot.

Jessica Jones

America isn't ready for a mainstream television show about rape, and I doubt it'd ever be, so they sneaked one in using the Trojan horse of superheroes. My main problem with Daredevil is that it became increasingly Comics™ as the show went on, and JJ didn't, so that makes it the superior Netflix Marvel show and probably the best and most worthwhile thing to come out of this whole superhero craze. I vomited in my mouth a little when I went through the threads and saw that people actually wanted more Comics™ in JJ. There's going to be enough film and television for half a decade of Comics™, we don't need another.

This ranked on my list for several reasons. It is nice seeing an original super heroine actually get some credit and have such a strong message throughout the show. It also had one of the most notable Marvel Villains in ages. Overall the strong message is what edges it out over other shows like Daredevil but the multiple plot threads do get fumbled from time to time making great television fumble from time to time. Overall its finale leaves me excited to see what is in store for the future of Jessica Jones.

11-20

Justified

What a return to greatness. After a subpar (by Justified standards) fifth season, the sixth (and final) season knocked it out of the park. The main cast was as good as ever, if not better. This season also added some wonderful characters, none of which felt out of place in the show's universe. Not only that, but they managed to bring back old favorites and do it in a way that didn't feel forced in the slightest. Really, the biggest losses with the end of this show are its incredible cast of characters and its world-class dialogue. I earnestly believe that this show has some of the best dialogue that's ever been on television. It flows freely and is always believable, smart, and often hilarious.

I will miss this show, and I hope down the road that more people will watch and enjoy it. Graham Yost really did a great job of doing Elmore Leonard proud.

It was wonderful to see this show end on a high note. Olyphant and Goggins proved once again to be one of the best duos on television, and the smart, snappy dialogue remained the tops on TV.

The 100

Some of the best written female characters on tv, and an actually engaging sci-fi show. Even though the premise is teen centered, all the adults are reasonable and useful. Very surprising, especially coming from The CW. SyFy wishes they had something like this.

I mainlined all of this show over the course of a few months. My wife is now doing the same. We had tried the pilot when it originally aired and found it not just dumb but particularly just...bad. Every character seemed really annoying and the premise felt hard to buy even in a genre setting. All the GAF fandom for the show got me to give it another shot and I'm so glad it did. The show is an excellent meld of genre and suspense with some shades of BSG and Lost. It's also better in a lot of ways than Lost ever was, with characters who react to situation in thoughtful and real-seeming ways, and share information with each other as people would in real life and as Lost tried to avoid people doing for maximum unnecessary conflict and suspense. So that is very welcome. S2 was just a massive step up from an already very compelling first season. Best show GAF recommended to me this year, thank you to all who talked it up!

Rectify

I overlooked this show for the two first seasons and because of that I missed what is the finest character study on TV. Ray McKinnon has created something truly magnificent in his low-key drama about life after imprisonment.

It's hard for me to articulate what I love most about this show-and I do really recommend it but I completely understand why some people might not get into it. This is really a show where there isn't much forward-moving plot. It's completely character studies, and that's fine. It blows my mind that Aden Young isn't the biggest actor in Hollywood right now.

This is quite possibly the most emotional, yet wonderfully understated, show I've seen in some time. As a show that is accentuated primarily by its character interactions, the entire cast, especially Aden Young, is superb. The subtlety that is woven into the development of nearly every character, as we glimpse the minutiae of their lives, is enormously effective.

Person of Interest

Absolutely stellar season. It was definitely one hell of a ride from start to finish. On a random note, this is one of those shows that would greatly benefit from a Netflix like release. It was made to be binge watched IMO.

I bought the first season of this show on bluray back in August on GAF recommendations and started the series. I thought the first season was really solid, with it getting really good in season two and jumping to amazing in season three. Just finished the fourth season yesterday, and now that I’m all caught up I am uncertain about where the series stands. Impatiently waiting for the fifth season, I worry for my POI Team.

Rick and Morty

It's really damn funny and uses it's science fiction tropes and various scifi concepts in new, unique ways.

If you haven't seen this yet I'm going to need you to get your shit together. Get it all together and put it in a backpack, all your shit, so it's together. ...and if you gotta take it somewhere, take it somewhere ya know? Take it to the shit store and sell it, or put it in a shit museum. I don't care what you do, you just gotta get it together... Get your shit together.

The Knick

Still the most exciting and expertly made thing on TV.

Though not quite as refined in its storytelling as the first, this season was simply riveting. Soderbergh’s direction and Cliff Martinez’s pulsating score continued to instill certain stylistic flourishes that were altogether unique in television and, more often than not, wonderfully creative. This season, as previously mentioned, was a bit less thematically focused than the first, but its characters and the perpetually compelling manner in which the story was told allowed it to elevate beyond its flaws. Clive Owen’s performance was fantastic throughout, particularly in the haunting finale, proving that he is one of the more under-appreciated actors currently working.

Master of None

Aziz Ansari finally finds the right way to express his unique comedic worldview with this show. It's got a wonderfully empathetic view of the world as he looks as at everything with an honest curiosity that's all too rare. Brilliantly funny but also quietly profound.

Netflix wanted an Aziz Ansari vehicle, perhaps because of how popular his comedy specials are. This is a loose adaptation of his book Modern Romance. I haven't read the book yet, but I admire that Ansari could have done the very easy very stupid celebrity auto-bio bullshit, and he chose a much more ambitious, interesting, and less commercially viable project. Good for him.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Ellie Kemper is adorable, and Titus Burgess puts out one of the funniest performances on television. A perfect show for scratching that 30 Rock itch.

In a world with so many mean spirited comedies it is nice to have a show like this with a main character that is always cheerful and looks on the bright side. The show is filled with fantastic zingers and lovable characters. Watching this show would put me in a good mood, and I had to force myself not to burn through every episode all at once because I wanted stretch my time out with this show as long as possible.

iZombie

Wasn't a fan of the Graphic Novel the show is based on so I went in simply because Rob Thomas was attached to it. Veronica Mars is still one of my all time favorite shows and this is essentially Veronica Mars with zombies. That's not a bad thing.

My favorite comic book show on TV, which says a lot since it doesn't have that much action. What makes the show are the awesome characters and the amazing acting of Rose McIver especially though the brain personality process. It makes up for the lack of action with the comedy moments in every episode.

Black Sails

Season 2 was a big improvement over season 1. And it was amazing. Great characters and acting. Interesting story with lots of intrigue and pirate politics. Big budget, beautiful landscapes. And it all ends in an amazing, spectacular finale.

In Season 2, Black Sails become the pirate show I hoped it would be from the beginning. Rollicking on seas action? It has that. Fun treasure-hunting adventure? It’s got that too. It also packs plenty of scheming, treachery, and shifting allegiances to make the behind the scenes politicking as exciting as the explosive action sequences. Oh and I love the pirates. From the ruthlessness of Captain Flint to the hilarity of Jack Rackham, from the brutality of Charles Vane to the slipperiness of John Silver, this group delivers. Great acting and costuming help bring these characters and their cohorts to life. And Black Sails really knows how to keep you on your toes delivering plenty of unexpected turns along the way including one of 2015’s most well executed and memorable twists. It all comes together to deliver a non-stop thrill-ride of a television season. It was one of the best and most improved shows of 2015.

Next post: #

FORMAT: Rank, Name, # of points, # of votes


1. Fargo - 558 - 69
2. Mr. Robot - 479 - 65
3. Daredevil - 455 - 74
4. Better Call Saul - 446 - 72
5. Hannibal - 319 - 45
6. Mad Men - 306 - 42
7. The Flash - 272 - 43
8. The Leftovers - 241 - 29
9. The Americans - 202 - 29
10. Jessica Jones - 195 - 39

11. Justified - 182 - 28
12. The 100 - 142 - 21
13. Rectify - 139 - 21
14. Person of Interest - 134 - 19
15. Rick and Morty - 133 - 24
16. The Knick - 126 - 18
17. Master of None - 120 - 25
18. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - 119 - 27
19. iZombie - 117 - 23
20. Black Sails - 116 - 19

21. Game of Thrones - 99 - 23
22. Penny Dreadful - 96 - 18
23. Bojack Horseman - 94 - 14
24. Sense8 - 86 - 17
25. Ash vs Evil Dead - 83 - 15
26. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - 82 - 18
27. Sillicon Valley - 79 - 19
28. South Park - 77 - 18
29. Narcos - 77 - 14
30. Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver - 74 - 16

31. Nathan For You - 73 - 11
32. Veep - 72 - 14
33. Arrow - 65 - 16
34. Broad City - 65 - 11
35. The Jinx - 62 - 13
36. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - 62 - 10
37. Review - 54 - 9
38. You're the Worst - 52 - 11
39. Show Me a Hero - 52 - 11
40. Parks and Recreation - 50 - 10

41. Gotham - 48 - 9
42. Halt and Catch Fire - 44 - 7
43. The Affair - 43 - 10
44. House of Cards - 42 - 10
45. Bloodline - 42 - 7
46. Orange is the New Black - 39 - 12
47. Banshee - 39 - 6
48. Brooklyn Nine-Nine - 37 - 8
49. Jane the Virgin - 36 - 7
50. Making a Murderer - 36 - 6

51. Limitless - 35 - 7
52. Steven Universe - 35 - 4
53. One Punch Man - 34 - 6
54. Man in the High Castle - 32 - 7
55. Catastrophe - 32 - 6
56. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - 32 - 5
57. The Last Man on Earth - 30 - 6
58. UnREAL - 27 - 4
59. American Crime - 27 - 3
60. It's Always Sunny in Philadelpha - 26 - 6

61. Doctor Who - 25 - 5
62. Marvel's Agent Carter - 25 - 5
63. This is England '90 - 25 - 3
64. The Walking Dead - 23 - 7
65. Homeland - 22 - 5
66. Manhattan - 22 - 3
67. Deutschland 83 - 20 - 5
68. Gravity Falls - 20 - 3
69. Scream Queens - 19 - 5
70. Humans - 19 - 4

71. Into the Badlands - 19 - 4
72. Man Seeking Woman - 19 - 4
73. The Blacklist - 18 - 3
74. London Spy - 17 - 4
75. Casual - 17 - 3
76. Bob's Burgers - 16 - 3
77. The Good Wife - 16 - 3
78. Orphan Black - 16 - 3
79. Louie - 15 - 4
80. Transparent - 15 - 2

81. The Middle - 15 - 2
82. Community - 14 - 3
83. Teen Wolf - 14 - 2
84. The Vampire Diaries - 14 - 2
85. Wolf Hall - 14 - 2
86. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - 14 - 2
87. With Bob and David - 14 - 2
88. Supergirl - 12 - 3
89. Shameless - 11 - 3
90. Survivor - 11 - 3

91. Detectorists - 10 - 3
92. The Last Panthers - 10 - 2
93. Parenthood - 10 - 2
94. 1864 - 10 - 1
95. Diamond no Ace - 10 - 1
96. The Goldbergs - 9 - 4
97. Archer - 9 - 3
98. Togetherness - 9 - 3
99. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp - 9 - 2
100. Prison School - 9 - 1

101. Supernatural - 8 - 3
102. Okitegami Kyoko no Bobiroku - 8 - 2
103. Vikings - 8 - 2
104. Outlander - 8 - 2
105. Club de Cuervos - 8 - 1
106. Galavant - 8 - 1
107. 12 Monkeys - 8 - 1
108. I'm Home - 8 - 1
109. Inside Amy Schumer - 7 - 2
110. Scandal - 7 - 1

111. Hell on Wheels - 7 - 1
112. The Soup - 7 - 1
113. Schitt's Creek - 7 - 1
114. Fresh Off the Boat - 6 - 3
115. Empire - 6 - 2
116. Lucha Underground - 6 - 1
117. Red Oaks - 6 - 1
118. El Ministerio del Tiempo - 6 - 1
119. The Grinder - 5 - 2
120. Modern Family - 5 - 2

121. Grey's Anatomy - 5 - 1
122. Star Wars Rebels - 5 - 1
123. RuPaul's Drag Race - 5 - 1
124. Please Like Me - 5 - 1
125. The Librarians - 5 - 1
126. Masterchef Jr. - 5 - 1
127. Undateable - 4 - 2
128. How to Get Away With Murder - 4 - 2
129. Wayward Pines - 4 - 2
130. Sword Art Online II - 4 - 1

131. Life in Pieces - 4 - 1
132. Bron/Broen - 4 - 1
133. Last Man Standing - 4 - 1
134. Peep Show - 4 - 1
135. Indian Summers - 4 - 1
136. Blindspot - 4 - 1
137. Comedy Bang! Bang! - 4 - 1
138. Beautiful Bones -Sakurako's Investigation - 4 - 1
139. Les Revenants - 4 - 1
140. Other Space - 4 - 1

141. Marco Polo: One Hundred Eyes - 3 - 2
142. Z Nation - 3 - 1
143. Jordskott - 3 - 1
144. Chef's Table - 3 - 1
145. Downton Abbey - 3 - 1
146. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - 3 - 1
147. New Girl - 2 - 1
148. Killjoys - 2 - 1
149. Bates Motel - 2 - 1
150. The Muppets - 2 - 1

151. Allegiance - 2 - 1
152. F is for Family - 2 - 1
153. The Big Bang Theory - 1 - 1
154. Reign - 1 - 1
155. The Saboteurs - 1 - 1
156. PBS News Hour - 1 - 1
157. Fear the Walking Dead - 1 - 1
158. Pretty Little Liars - 1 - 1
159. Longmire - 1 - 1
160. Suits - 1 - 1

161. The Great British Bake Off - 1 - 1
162. 19-2 - 1 - 1
163. River - 1 -1
164. Documentary Now! - 1 - 1
165. Scream - 1 - 1
166. Happyish - 1 - 1

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Top Five



True Detective

Taught me the meaning of the word "hate watching". I kept hanging in there hoping that this was going to get better, but it never did.

Sometimes you watch bad entertainment for the shits and giggles. I wouldn't even watch this season for that.

I really just did not enjoy any minute with the second season, which obviously, after the first was a huge let down. The setting was boring, the characters were corny (really just Vince's) or not developed enough, and the story didn't make sense to me in a way that was entertaining.

Game of Thrones

A show that constantly squanders its potential, substituting its source material's grand tragedy for petty cruelty. Season 5 has a miserable total of two good and one great episode. Its appearance on many best-shows-of-the-year lists represents a major critical failure, where true gems like Hannibal are overlooked as critics abandon themselves to the milky oblivion of popular consensus, lavishing praise on the husk of a once great series that lost its mojo two seasons ago. GoT is mediocrity in a premium package. If only the plot still did justice to the cast and production quality... I'm holding on to a shred of hope for Season 6, but my expectations are lodged safely underneath a flaming dumpster.

I shouldn't feel obliged to turn off my brain when I watch an HBO show especially one involving my favorite book series.

Always a shaky-at-best adaptation, this was the year that 'Game of Thrones' dropped more balls than it had in the air. Nonsensical plot contrivances, egregious characterization, poor world building, meandering storylines, the dialog - oh my god, the dialog! Fans always wondered what would become of the show once the writers decided to do their own thing and this season provided us with the answer that we had all feared.

House of Cards

Season 3 was a mess. The complete character assassination of Claire was offensively stupid.

Jesus, what a let down. HoC is what got me into the new era of television, but this was dull, featured no character development, and was just nonstop boredom.

still entertaining for ludicrousness, but now essentially a caricature of a caricature

The Walking Dead

Dropped it. No way I keep watching that live. The episodes are just a slog.

I recently jumped back on the TWD bandwagon having jumped off it at season four (I enjoyed season five). The point is, I watched these character do stupid things, get their shit together, and then sat through a whole new community of people doing stupid shit with the writers floundering every week to make the same damned points the show's been making since season one.

Just pisses me off most of the time. Terrible final Ep.

Minority Report

Minority Report was such a failure that no one even bothered to comment on it.

FORMAT: Rank, Name, # of points, # of votes


1. True Detective - 91 - 32
2. Game of Thrones - 43 - 17
3. House of Cards - 11 - 6
4. The Walking Dead - 11 - 6
5. Minority Report - 8 - 3
6. Heroes Reborn - 6 - 3
7. American Horror Story: Hotel - 6 - 2
8. Hannibal - 6 - 2
9. Between - 5 - 2
10. Fear the Walking Dead - 5 - 2

11. Homeland - 5 - 2
12. Jessica Jones - 4 - 2
13. Orange is the New Black - 4 - 2
14. Community - 3 - 2
15. 12 Monkeys - 3 - 1
16. Spoiler Culture - 3 - 1
17. Mr. Robot - 3 - 1
18. HBO's drama development - 3 - 1
19. Lifetime's "Unauthorized" Movies - 3 - 1
20. Gangsta - 3 - 1

21. Arrow - 3 - 1
22. The Strain - 3 - 1
23. Sleepy Hollow - 3 - 1
24. Peak TV - 3 - 1
25. The decline of nuance in discussion and analysis online - 3 - 1
26. Gotham - 2 - 2
27. Scream Queens - 2 - 1
28. The Amazing Race - 2 - 1
29. Broadchurch - 2 - 1
30. Agent X - 2 - 1

31. AMC's zombie dramas - 2 - 1
32. The Masters of Sex Season 3 finale - 2 - 1
33. The Muppets - 2 - 1
34. Sense8 - 1 - 1
35. Quanitco - 1 - 1
36. Wayward Pines - 1 - 1
37. The Great British Bake Off - 1 - 1
38. Marvel's Agent Carter - 1 - 1
39. The Bastard Executioner - 1 - 1

40. Flesh and Bone - 1 - 1
41. TV Viewers not watching Forever - 1 - 1

 

[Sober]

Overlay top voted shows of the year with fails of the year and you have thisisneogaf.gif

Thanks for all of your hard work Ratsky!

 

[hateradio]

Wow, The Knick got a place above the top 20.

 

[Bigfoot]

Game of Thrones barely misses the top 20 (#21) yet also manages to make the Fail Top 5 list!?!?

 

[March of the Crabs]

Fargo was so good. Glad the GAF consensus is a good one. Clearly I have a ton of shows I need to watch.

 

[Hatchtag]

wait, wait, wait.
On Daredevil:

The main characters are expectedly bland but the villains are actually interesting and funny.

What? This is the opposite of what I expect from anything in the MCU. With the exception of maybe Loki, the movies generally have fairly interesting main characters, but noticeably bland villains.

Anyways, good on GAF for choosing Fargo as a winner. HOC Season 3 is a drop off, but it isn't that bad. Front half of the season is pretty bad. Back half feels like someone else came in, saw a mess that was made, and tried their best to revert it by

Spoiler

bringing Doug and Frank's collab back, having Frank in a power struggle that he reasonably should be in, having writers that hate Frank after Frank again, bringing Freddy back, and having Claire against Frank again.

On one hand, it completely undos much of the ending season 2 gave us, but if they wanted to keep the series going, this is a better way of doing it than just having Frank be completely powerless for no damn reason like it did in the first half. I'm looking forward to season 4.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Daredevil #3 but Justified misses the top 10.

Somehow this miscarriage of both common sense and basic justice doesn't rate a mention in the Fails of the Year.

 

[duckroll]

The "fail of the year" results show very clearly why it is a stupid idea to vote for something like this. Those shows represent the worst that TV has to offer, it just represents the most popular shows which people watched and got mad at. Outside of Minority Report which was a legit failure that got canned, the rest are all super popular shows which remain popular and will continue to air. This would be like Call of Duty winning "Worst Game of the Year" on a community vote. Just pointless. It proves that people in general do not go out of their way to look for bad shit to watch, so therefore it is not useful to seek their opinion on what is truly bad!

 

[Joni]

I forgot to vote for Scream. Would have liked some of my picks to be higher like The Flash.

What? This is the opposite of what I expect from anything in the MCU. With the exception of maybe Loki, the movies generally have fairly interesting main characters, but noticeably bland villains.

The television stuff is the other way around. Wesley dominates Daredevil, Killgrave Jessica Jones and

Spoiler

I shouldn't tell this because it is a huge spoiler Ward

Agents of SHIELD. Agent Carter is the only show where the main is the interesting one.

The "fail of the year" results show very clearly why it is a stupid idea to vote for something like this. Those shows represent the worst that TV has to offer, it just represents the most popular shows which people watched and got mad at. Outside of Minority Report which was a legit failure that got canned, the rest are all super popular shows which remain popular and will continue to air. This would be like Call of Duty winning "Worst Game of the Year" on a community vote. Just pointless. It proves that people in general do not go out of their way to look for bad shit to watch, so therefore it is not useful to seek their opinion on what is truly bad!

Why does a failure need to be the worst show of the year? It is the one that failed you the most. It is not a coincidence that is all follow-ups to popular very well liked stuff. Yes, you could vote for a bad show, but would you really have expectations for it? A Walking Dead/GoT/HoC is like a FF13. It is not the worst game by far, but it is such failure for the franchise.

 

[Haly]

Hannibal was robbed

Spoiler

of first place.

EDIT: Wow someone else voted for Okitegami Kyoko.

 

[Hatchtag]

The "fail of the year" results show very clearly why it is a stupid idea to vote for something like this. Those shows represent the worst that TV has to offer, it just represents the most popular shows which people watched and got mad at. Outside of Minority Report which was a legit failure that got canned, the rest are all super popular shows which remain popular and will continue to air. This would be like Call of Duty winning "Worst Game of the Year" on a community vote. Just pointless. It proves that people in general do not go out of their way to look for bad shit to watch, so therefore it is not useful to seek their opinion on what is truly bad!

If there was a truly bad vote, it'd be a bunch of shitty NBC/ABC/CBS sitcoms, reality tv, and children's shows. To truly piss people off, you have to gain an audience in the first place. All the top 5 had audiences to piss people off with by having been good in the past or being spin-offs of things that were good. It's not called Worst TV of the Year, it's called Fail of the Year. Likewise, if COD received Worst Game of the Year, it probably wouldn't deserve it. But Fail of the Year? Sure, it could've.

 

[LaNaranja]

Sense8 making the top 25 makes me very happy. Can't wait for season 2.

I have been meaning to give The 100 a shot for a while now but just haven't been able to find the time. I probably won't get the chance until summer when everything goes on break.

 

[timetokill]

There's a lot of stuff I need to catch up on. Especially Justified.

:lol at "Fails" basically being a list of Incredibly Popular Shows, and also Minority Report

 

[Raxus]

The "fail of the year" results show very clearly why it is a stupid idea to vote for something like this. Those shows represent the worst that TV has to offer, it just represents the most popular shows which people watched and got mad at. Outside of Minority Report which was a legit failure that got canned, the rest are all super popular shows which remain popular and will continue to air. This would be like Call of Duty winning "Worst Game of the Year" on a community vote. Just pointless. It proves that people in general do not go out of their way to look for bad shit to watch, so therefore it is not useful to seek their opinion on what is truly bad!

To be fair. You are proposing we go and watch REALLY awful television. Most of which is dropped after 1 episode. If an offensively bad show comes along I'll try and make note of it this year.

Also, YAY! I got mentioned!

Spoiler

shame I couldn't have edited my comments more.

Also, BOO! you get mad at people not watching bad television, duckroll. Nobody watches animated television with a few exceptions despite it being a stellar year for animation all around.

One more, thing. I caught up with Crazy Ex-girlfriend and although it wasn't strong enough to make my list it might make it next year.

I think that is all. Thanks Hunky Nostradamus!

 

[Lonestar]

Didn't even see where FAILS were voted on. Missed that, I guess. Would vote for CBS's Scheduling department.

 

[Not]

Everything's great and then-- The Flash

 

[Stumpokapow]

The "fail of the year" results show very clearly why it is a stupid idea to vote for something like this. Those shows represent the worst that TV has to offer, it just represents the most popular shows which people watched and got mad at. Outside of Minority Report which was a legit failure that got canned, the rest are all super popular shows which remain popular and will continue to air. This would be like Call of Duty winning "Worst Game of the Year" on a community vote. Just pointless. It proves that people in general do not go out of their way to look for bad shit to watch, so therefore it is not useful to seek their opinion on what is truly bad!

But, I mean, no one is going to watch Swamp People of Southern Florida Pawn Shop and Jesus Emporium because no one expects it to be good. It's not shocking when I put on a pilot for the Lifetime Original Series I Was A Happily Married Woman And Then My Husband Ended Up Being A Sex Criminal and then fifteen minutes later I spam you with turd emojis. Who wants to hear about that?

The more surprising thing is when something from a prestigious author fails (like the Newsroom, say) or a show abruptly tanks (see Downton Abbey, True Detective) or when a massive project projected to be a smash hit ends up being turdly (Terra Nova).

Some of the actual worst new shows this year:
Dig
Olympus
The Messengers
Clipped
Some would say The Brink
Mr. Robinson
The Bastard Executioner
Heroes Reborn

 

[Haly]

Can we talk about the injustice that is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell's placement?

I mean, it has the same ranking as Man in the High Castle and that was a legit turd.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Straight up lollin' that I voted for the show that literally got last place in the rankings because I was one of the last votes.

Can we talk about the injustice that is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell's placement?

Not a lot of Brits here, no one watches BBC America, so mostly it's just the pirate vote, hahaha

 

[Haly]

pirate vote

I'm certain we have more than 5 Brits though. Is there a BritGAF? Maybe I should've campaigned for it.

 

[Dan]

Not too bad overall. Generally good showing looking at the top 10, top 20, top 30, etc.

People sure are crazy about them comic book shows. Three of them in the top 10, mostly through sheer number of votes than good averages.

I think "Fail of the Year" was mostly read as most disappointing or most precipitous drop in quality.

I wonder what'll take number one this year... I guess Mr. Robot will be the incumbent frontrunner.

Previous years for reference:
NeoGAF 2014 TV Show of the Year ~Results!~
NeoGAF 2013 TV Show of the Year ~Results!~
NeoGAF 2012 TV Show of the Year ~Results!~
NeoGAF 2011 TV Show of the Year ~Results!~

Props to Ratsky for tabulating the results!

 

[duckroll]

To be fair. You are proposing we go and watch REALLY awful television. Most of which is dropped after 1 episode. If an offensively bad show comes along I'll try and make note of it this year.

Lol, I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying that no one really wants to do that, so what we get are basically minority voices raging against popular but possibly banal shows. True Detective probably qualifies as a legit disappointment because of the drop in quality, so I guess that's well earned. I just think it's silly seeing stuff like GoT, HoC, and Walking Dead up there. If you think the latest season was bad, you probably thought the previous season was bad tbh! Anyone still watching GoT regularly and finding it "disappointing" is laughable to me. The only "fail" there is the failure to drop the show if you think you're wasting time on it!

 

[KevinCow]

Thanks for the thread. Some of the shows I voted for were actually in the top 20, hooray!

 

[Dalek]

I didn't even get one blurb posted. 😩

 

[Stumpokapow]

Anyone still watching GoT regularly and finding it "disappointing" is laughable to me. The only "fail" there is the failure to drop the show if you think you're wasting time on it!

Previous seasons didn't have Dorne. Previous seasons didn't have good girls and bad pussies. I feel disgusted I even typed that, that's how bad the line is.

Walking Dead, though, that show's been a pile of shit from day one.

 

[Dan]

Previous seasons didn't have Dorne. Previous seasons didn't have good girls and bad pussies. I feel disgusted I even typed that, that's how bad the line is.

Yeah, seriously, Dorne was dreadful, especially with the buildup.

Considering the show took the #2 slot here for seasons one through four and then dropped to #21, it seems most people thought it was a disappointing season.

Walking Dead, though, that show's been a pile of shit from day one.

Eh, I'd say day two, the pilot was good.

Spoiler

I suffered up through the S2 premiere.

 

[duckroll]

Previous seasons didn't have Dorne. Previous seasons didn't have good girls and bad pussies. I feel disgusted I even typed that, that's how bad the line is.

Walking Dead, though, that show's been a pile of shit from day one.

That's true, but previous seasons had other outstanding scenes like CG zombies vs Jogen's magic missile, and Karl "fooking legend" Tanner! Dorne is honestly just an end result of what we deserve for supporting the show all these years.

I hope House of Cards S4 has a lookalike character representing Trump. I'm sure they'll handle it really well!

Considering the show took the #2 slot here for seasons one through four and then dropped to #21, it seems most people thought it was a disappointing season.

Marvel probably took all those votes this year. Lol.

 

[dead souls]

Previous seasons didn't have Dorne. Previous seasons didn't have good girls and bad pussies. I feel disgusted I even typed that, that's how bad the line is.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. I don't see how anyone can deny that season five was a precipitous drop in quality no matter what they think of the previous ones. It completely deserves to be a fail of the year.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I didn't even get one blurb posted. 😩

check again broski

 

[Monocle]

Go Hannibal go! Glad to see that it placed in the top five.

If you're remotely interested in character driven drama, layered storytelling, or gorgeous cinematography, you truly can't do better.

(Thanks to Ratsky for using those blurbs, BTW!)

 

[Joni]

Lol, I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying that no one really wants to do that, so what we get are basically minority voices raging against popular but possibly banal shows. True Detective probably qualifies as a legit disappointment because of the drop in quality, so I guess that's well earned. I just think it's silly seeing stuff like GoT, HoC, and Walking Dead up there. If you think the latest season was bad, you probably thought the previous season was bad tbh! Anyone still watching GoT regularly and finding it "disappointing" is laughable to me. The only "fail" there is the failure to drop the show if you think you're wasting time on it!

I dropped Walking Dead. Because there are differences in quality, like the villains, the storylines that are starting to fall into repetition, the entire 'peaceful' Morgan, ... As for Game of Thrones, there is a clear reason why people aren't dropping it.

 

[Ikuu]

Jessica Jones in the Top 10, I see GAFs questionable taste is not confined to just games.

 

[Monocle]

Lol, I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying that no one really wants to do that, so what we get are basically minority voices raging against popular but possibly banal shows. True Detective probably qualifies as a legit disappointment because of the drop in quality, so I guess that's well earned. I just think it's silly seeing stuff like GoT, HoC, and Walking Dead up there. If you think the latest season was bad, you probably thought the previous season was bad tbh! Anyone still watching GoT regularly and finding it "disappointing" is laughable to me. The only "fail" there is the failure to drop the show if you think you're wasting time on it!

Nah man, there are good and solid reasons to say GoT has declined. Out of character swerves for Sansa and Stannis, among others. A vulgar and mean-spirited excess of sexual abuse. Certain plodding storylines. Very uneven pacing. The embarrassing flop that was the Sand Snakes. A general absence of standout moments, interesting confrontations, and genuinely shocking (but not contrived) twists.

This isn't a GoT thread so I'll leave it at that!

 

[Calabria]

yay. Daredevil #3!!

can't wait for S2

 

[Siegcram]

Mr. Robot top 2. I'm proud of GAF. Well deserved.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Jessica Jones in the Top 10, I see GAFs questionable taste is not confined to just games.

Yeah, shouldn't be up there.

Glad The Leftovers charted. So good. Need to watch Mr Robot, the series kinda lost me at episode 5.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Man I am so glad I dropped GoT after S4. Seems like I would have been fuming with impotent rage.

Sad to see they ruined Dorne and the Sand Snakes. How the hell do you make such a cool setting and a cool ensemble of characters so bad? (Don't tell me, I don't actually want to know.)

Sad to see no one voted for Hell on Wheels except me. Did people not like S5? I thought it was one of the better seasons. Even if it suffered from the AMC final-season-splitting crap they pulled with Breaking Bad. :\

I guess my tastes in TV don't align with GAF much. Among my votes, literally only Better Call Saul shows up in the top 10.

The "fail of the year" results show very clearly why it is a stupid idea to vote for something like this. Those shows represent the worst that TV has to offer, it just represents the most popular shows which people watched and got mad at. Outside of Minority Report which was a legit failure that got canned, the rest are all super popular shows which remain popular and will continue to air. This would be like Call of Duty winning "Worst Game of the Year" on a community vote. Just pointless. It proves that people in general do not go out of their way to look for bad shit to watch, so therefore it is not useful to seek their opinion on what is truly bad!

I disagree, I always saw the "Fail of the Year" as "Biggest disappointment", not "Worst TV show ever that played this year".

Previous seasons didn't have Dorne. Previous seasons didn't have good girls and bad pussies. I feel disgusted I even typed that, that's how bad the line is.

omg, that's (part of) an actual line? Bahahahah >_<

Walking Dead, though, that show's been a pile of shit from day one.

Yup, wanted to like it real bad and lasted about 3 seasons, then gave up. Then a friend told me the seasons after that "got better". I never believed him.

 

[Spikematic]

Very solid list. Seen everything in the top 10 except The Leftovers and The Americans, guess I should sort that out!

 

[Violet_0]

Penny Dreadful almost managed to overtake GoT despite not having a stellar season either

 

[maxcriden]

Mostly unsurprising results. Very flattered to have my blurb used, thank you Rastky! Glad to see iZombie charted esp. Since I embarrassingly forgot it in my ballot. It probably would have taken the slot I gave to Masterchef Jr.

 

[SpideySenses]

Switch Hannibal out for South Park and I have the exact same top 11 shows as GAF, didn't vote for Fargo because I'm only half way through even now but it would have made my list.

 

[berzeli]

Only 3 out of the top 10 shows are comic book shows, I almost have a tear in my eye. But that may have something to do with Jessica Jones beating out actually good shows. We nearly did it gaf.

.

Nice work. <3

The "fail of the year" results show very clearly why it is a stupid idea to vote for something like this. Those shows represent the worst that TV has to offer, it just represents the most popular shows which people watched and got mad at. Outside of Minority Report which was a legit failure that got canned, the rest are all super popular shows which remain popular and will continue to air. This would be like Call of Duty winning "Worst Game of the Year" on a community vote. Just pointless. It proves that people in general do not go out of their way to look for bad shit to watch, so therefore it is not useful to seek their opinion on what is truly bad!

Enough people have badgered you about this but still; it's "fail of the year", not "worst TV show of the year". Is Between a (much, much, much) worse show than True Dick season 2 or House of Cards season 3? Yeah, undoubtedly. But I never had any expectations for Between unlike the other two. So for me the bigger "fail" are those two.

Can we talk about the injustice that is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell's placement?

I mean, it has the same ranking as Man in the High Castle and that was a legit turd.

I nearly had it on my top ten. Sorry, but there's just too much good tv so something's gotta give. #peaktv

 

[Blader]

Fargo would've been much higher up on my list if the endings of its last two episodes were completely different. Didn't ruin the season for me as a whole, but

Spoiler

the UFO intervention and Hanzee pointlessly set up to become a different character

kicked it several notches down for me.

Good list. Really don't see the big deal about Game of Thrones or House of Cards' last seasons, but whatever.

 

[Frost_Ace]

Wasn't expecting justified to be that high, great!

 

[bjaelke]

Only 3 out of the top 10 shows are comic book shows, I almost have a tear in my eye. But that may have something to do with Jessica Jones beating out actually good shows. We nearly did it gaf.

POI should replace one of them and the other 2 should just be discarded.

 

[Langdon Alger]

I don't understand Fargo. Is it supposed to be melodrama? Ironic? Sarcastic? A joke? A half-joke? Is it supposed to be cartoonish? How cartoonish am I supposed to take it? How seriously am I supposed to take it? I don't like it's vibe at all. People don't act like that. But they aren't pushing it far enough for it to actually be humorous. Everything about it is in a weird purgatory.

 

[Saty]

Fargo, The Leftovers and Jessica Jones being in the Top 10 say everything needs to be said about this list. With my experience with the other comics shows i take it that Daredevil and The Flash also have no right to be in it. At least the top Fails is pretty much spot on, just replace Minority Report with Homeland.

 

[Htown]

Jessica Jones in the Top 10, I see GAFs questionable taste is not confined to just games.

Yeah, shouldn't be up there.

Only 3 out of the top 10 shows are comic book shows, I almost have a tear in my eye. But that may have something to do with Jessica Jones beating out actually good shows.

Fargo, The Leftovers and Jessica Jones being in the Top 10 say everything needs to be said about this list.

GAF's ongoing hatred for Jessica Jones is baffling to me. I don't see it anywhere else.

But I guess its placement on the list means it's not actually a majority of GAF, so it has that going for it.

 

[backflip10019]

Glad Fargo won this. Just had the chance to binge the season over the weekend and it was the best show of the year (even better than The Leftovers in my book).