What are your Favorite New TV shows, 2011-2012?

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Beergut

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2011 and 2012 have seen the debuts of a number of excellent new TV shows. What are your favorites? What has become "can't miss" television for you? Also, which show would you consider an underrated gem?

I've included a list below, ranked by IMDB's user ratings, of shows that premiered in 2011 or 2012. (I tried to be exhaustive but I'm sure I've missed a few)


Game of Thrones 9.4
Suits 8.7
Homeland 8.6
Shameless 8.6
Touch 8.3
American Horror Story 8.3
Awake 8.3
Once Upon a Time 8.3
Person of Interest 8.2
Revenge 8.2
Wilfred 8.1
Hell on Wheels 8.1
Boss 8.1
Awkward 8.0
Strike Back: Project Dawn 8.0
The Killing 7.9
The Borgias 7.9
New Girl 7.8
Luck 7.8
Smash 7.7
Happy Endings 7.7
Suburgatory 7.6
Hart of Dixie 7.6
Grimm 7.5
The Secret Circle 7.5
Alcatraz 7.4
Bob's Burgers 7.3
The Finder 7.3
House of Lies 7.2
Alphas 7.2
Teen Wolf 7.1
Last Man Standing 7.1
Prime Suspect 7.1
Ringer 7.0
2 Broke Girls 7.0
Falling Skies 6.9
Don't Trust the B____ in Apartment 23 6.9
Missing 6.9
Bent 6.9
Pan Am 6.9
The River 6.8
Terra Nova 6.7
A Gifted Man 6.7
Bomb Girls 6.7
The Firm 6.6
Up All Night 6.6
Camelot 6.5
GCB 6.5
Scandal 6.3
Unforgettable 6.3
Girls 6.2
Man Up 6.1
The Playboy Club 6.0
Napoleon Dynamite 5.9
NYC 22 5.4
Free Agents 5.4
Rob 5.2
Whitney 4.9
Veep 4.9
I Hate my Teenage Daughter4.9
Are you there, Chelsea? 4.8
Best Friends Forever 4.7
Allen Gregory 4.3
How to be a Gentleman 4.3
Charlie’s Angels 4.1
Work It 3.1
 
Game of Thrones, New Girl. I really don't watch much TV, but the former is too much of an event to ignore (and too good to not stick with), and the latter, well, I like Zooey, OK? It being a solid sitcom is the real reason I'm still watching, of course- I'm still astonished it got good considering how pathetic the pilot was.
 
I don't watch many of the "cool" shows, I guess, but the show's I've enjoyed the most this year and last are:

Homeland - gripping, even if I didn't like the end of the first season that much.
Once Upon a Time - mmm, delicious campy fairytale cheese.
Revenge - I've fallen behind on this, but it's more delicious camp.
New Girl - grew from awkward beginnings into being consistently very funny. Jake Johnson always sounds like he's about to lose his voice, though.
Smash - kind of awful, and watching this for me is like watching Grey's Anatomy for doctors, but the musical numbers are great even if they are sometimes completely inappropriate (I LOVED last night's Bollywood number, for instance)
Happy Endings - my favourite current comedy. The gags fly thick and fast.
The B____ in Apartment 23 - this is how you do slightly-near-the-knuckle comedy. Take note, Two Broke Girls!
 
Only one I watch on that list is Game of Thrones. Though I guess Veep now too. Gonna bail on Girls soon I think.

Wife loves Grimm and American Horror Story.
 
Even though I love Game of Thrones, Homeland absolutely crushes the competition. Been a lot of good TV though in the past 2 years. We're definitely in an ongoing golden age.

OP left out Bob's Burgers (7.3) and Raising Hope (8.2)! They're both in the "must see TV" camp.
 
Game of Thrones
New Girl
Strike back: Project Dawn (the british strike back is a 2010 series, but I consider project dawn a separate series, given that it is a completely new cast and plot)
 
Serious:
Game of Thrones 9.5
Person of Interest 9.5

lighthearted:
Once Upon a Time 9
Touch 8-8.5

Comedy:
The Finder 7-8.5

Misc
American Horror Story 8

Alcatraz would have made my list but cancelation chances and ending killed my opinion of it.
 
I'll rate each which I've seen enough of to judge (i.e., more than one episode):
Suits - It's not the best series in ages, but it's surprisingly well written and acted for a USA Network show. 7.5
Homeland - Fantastic series, with incredible performances by Lewis and Danes in particular. The only thing I would say is that the show would have been better as a miniseries. That said, I still look forward to seeing where they go from here in season 2. 9
Shameless - I haven't seen the original, but this is a pretty great show. Well cast, well written. I'm a bit behind though, haven't seen all of season 2 yet. 8
Awake - I really like this show a lot, and it's definitely a shame it's getting canned. I especially like the conversations with the psychiatrists. 7.5
Person of Interest - It's a pretty good show, I've started liking it more recently. Ben Linus and Jesus make a pretty good team, and the show works well as a procedural. 7
Revenge - Bit behind, but a fairly good show. I've become a bit annoyed with everything not moving fast enough for my taste, and I definitely feel this would have been much better as a miniseries. It works well enough though, and I enjoy watching it. 6
Alcatraz - A bit too slow moving at first, and the lead could have been better cast. That said, it's pretty decent TV, and they scored massive points with me by quite faithfully recreating part of the chase from Bullitt in the season (series) finale. 7
House of Lies - Honestly not sure why I watch this, it's not very good. I stick with half length shows a lot longer than with full length one I guess. Doubt I'll be back for season 2. 4.5
Alphas - Was entertaining enough at first, but got tired of the concept after not too long. Noah Vosen is good in it though. 5
Ringer - How I stuck with this for a season is beyond me. Almost every character is annoying, the plot moves far too slowly, it's just not very interesting. Avoid. 3
2 Broke Girls - Kat Dennings has an amazing rack, but that's about all that's good about this show. 2
Falling Skies - I suspect I enjoyed this more than most, but even then it was only okay. Again, I felt the plot didn't move fast enough. There was also way too much that didn't make (much) sense. I really hope they do more with it in season 2, because I love the premise. 5.5
Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 - Of course it's only had two episodes, but it's a pretty good show. Ritter and Van Der Beek make it better than any other new sitcom. 6.5
Missing - Feels like a straight to DVD action/thriller stretched out unnecessarily into a TV series. It's entertaining enough, but I only 'watch' it when I'm actually playing a video game at the same time. 5
Terra Nova - God, what a great premise. And wow, how do you do so little with it? I don't want to see family crises, I want to see adventure, the building of a new society and so on. I didn't hate this show like some, but I was so disappointed. 4
Up All Night - Love the cast, but it's not as funny as it should be I feel. Script writing needs to improve. Watched the entire first season, will give the second season a chance, but if it's not better after the first few episodes, I'm out. 6
Girls - It's not as good as I was hoping, but it's still a really good show so far. Very well written and acted. 7.5

So yeah, favourites: Homeland, Shameless

Still have to watch: The Borgias, Boss, The Killing (though I'll probably watch the Danish version instead)
 
I'm liking Touch a lot at the moment. The question is where it goes with the idea, but for now it's interesting and the interlinked stories have been very well done in some of the episodes.

Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil just started showing in the UK as well, and that's my favourite comedy in a while.
 
My favourites:


Person of Interest - My favourite new show
Suits - Second favourite new show.
Homeland - Best drama for sure.

Veep only aired one episode, so I'm gonna keep watching and see how it goes. I enjoyed Ringer, Teen Wolf, and 2 Broke Girls (Beth, I love youuuu).
 
Meier said:
Even though I love Game of Thrones, Homeland absolutely crushes the competition. Been a lot of good TV though in the past 2 years. We're definitely in an ongoing golden age.

OP left out Bob's Burgers (7.3) and Raising Hope (8.2)! They're both in the "must see TV" camp.
Click to expand...

Thanks Meier! I have added Bob's Burgers to the OP. Raising Hope (which I love) is listed on IMDB as debuting in 2010.
 
Enosh said:
Game of Thrones
New Girl
Strike back: Project Dawn (the british strike back is a 2010 series, but I consider project dawn a separate series, given that it is a completely new cast and plot)
Click to expand...

added Strike back: Project Dawn to the OP. Thanks!
 
Homeland (best show of 2011) and 2 Broke Girls (just started here) are the only shows on that list that I've seen. D: I like both as well.
 
I like Hell on Wheels even though it has room to improve. I'd like to see Game of Throne but don't have the channel it is on. Of course, there are alternative ways to watch. May have to check it out and see why it's so well received. Homeland, huh ? May also have to look into that one too. I'm tired of all the detective/lawyer wannabe shows anyway. Hate em all.
 
I haven't seen most of them but so far Bob's Burgers is my favorite, I hope it keeps airing for a long time.

2 Broke Girls has to be among the worse new shows. "I say something and then you make naughty joke about what I just said" (#SeeWhatIDidThere) - type of humor just don't do it for me at least when there is nothing else in dialogue.
 
I thought "Suits" is underrated until now. If you like "good wife", chances are you might like this one too. Both are legal drama and benefit from a great ensemble cast.
 
Overall it's been a lackluster year, but HBO and Showtime have pulled through for me.

Game of Thrones
Luck
Veep
Homeland
 
Homeland
Awake
Suburgatory
New Girl

Been a pretty lackluster year. Jury is still out on Girls, Veep, and Don't Trust the Bitch.
 
Homeland, American Horror Story and Happy Endings.

Im sure Game of Thrones will be in there but i've only watched the first episode so far so can't say yet.
 
Kabouter said:
I think it's been pretty decent tbh, how many pilots did you watch?
Click to expand...

Everything. Apparently Person of Interest is good. Revenge is good for what it is, not my thing. Up All Night was a big disappointment. And nothing new seemed worth it on the cable, event Falling Skies or the abysmal American Horror Story. That could change this year, there are some good projects coming up.

Also, I marathoned The LA Complex tonight (Canadian import on the CW). What a fun, well-made soap.

EDIT: Some of these shows don't count, guys. Game of Thrones is in its second season. Same with Happy Endings.
 
Touch: A
Once Upon A Time: A-
Awake: B+

watched the first couple eps of Person Of Interest...was a C- at best. No idea how it got popular.

Everything else new this season doesn't appeal to me.
 
Just Game of Thrones and Homeland. Though I also watched Strike Back and enjoyed it I don't think it is as high quality as those other two and I don't feel it is "can't miss".
 
Obvious choice in Game of Thrones, but I expected that to be awesome.

Biggest surprise was New Girl. Was not expecting the show to be that good, but it is the thing I look forward to watching more than anything else each week.
 
Homeland and Game of Thrones are probably in a different league than the rest of the list. Out of the remainder, I enjoy(ed) Alcatraz, Touch, and Once Upon a Time quite a bit. I watched the first dozen or so episodes of Person of Interest as well but it was becoming way too formulaic so I bailed. Not much of a fan of comedies, so that's all for me.
 
2011: Game of Thrones, Homeland
2012: Luck, Awake


Both 2012 shows won't be getting a second season. I won't be too sad about Awake's cancellation. I really miss Luck though. Luck's series finale is probably the best episode of TV I've seen in 2012 so far.
 
Eh I think Borgias is just as good as Game of Thrones right now.

edit: seriously, Gus and Ace in just one short season of Luck cemented themselves as one of the best pairings on TV.
 
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