Good TV

Summer 2012 update:

  • Cancellations: Are You There, Chelsea?, Desperate Housewives, Chuck, GCB, House, Ringer
  • Good new series: Veep, Don’t Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23, Magic City, The Newsroom, Bunheads, Anger Management, Men at Work

Currently Airing

Add these to your TV calendar.

Excellent:

  • American Horror Story [hour-long supernatural horror, 1 season] (FX)
  • Archer [half-hour animated spy comedy, 3 seasons] (FX; leave your morals at the door)
  • Boss [hour-long political drama, 1 season] (Starz)
  • Breaking Bad [hour-long drama, 5 seasons] (AMC)
  • Damages [hour-long law drama, 5 seasons] (used to be on FX, now on DirecTV’s Audience Network)
  • Dexter [hour-long police thriller, 6 seasons] (Showtime)
  • Downton Abbey [hour-long drama, 2 seasons] (PBS)
  • Game of Thrones [hour-long medieval fantasy, 2 seasons] (HBO)
  • Homeland [hour-long spy thriller, 1 season] (Showtime)
  • Mad Men [hour-long drama, 5 seasons] (AMC)
  • Modern Family [sitcom, 3 seasons] (ABC)
  • The Newsroom [hour-long news drama, 1 season] (HBO)
  • New Girl [sitcom, 1 season] (FOX)
  • Veep [half-hour political comedy, 1 season] (HBO)
  • Web Therapy [half-hour comedy, 1 season] (Showtime)

Very Good:

  • 30 Rock [sitcom, 6 seasons] (NBC)
  • Bunheads [hour-long drama, 1 season] (ABC Family)
  • Don’t Trust The Bitch In Apt 23 [sitcom, 1 season] (ABC)
  • Episodes [half-hour comedy, 2 seasons] (Showtime)
  • Gossip Girl [hour-long drama, 5 seasons] (CW)
  • Happy Endings [sitcom, 2 seasons] (ABC, Hulu)
  • How To Make It In America [half-hour drama, 2 seasons] (HBO)
  • Magic City [hour-long drama, 1 season] (Starz)
  • I Just Want My Pants Back [half-hour dramedy, 1 season] (MTV, mtv.com)
  • It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia [half-hour comedy, 6 seasons] (FX; leave your morals at the door)
  • The League [half-hour comedy, 3 seasons] (FX; leave your morals at the door)
  • The Office [sitcom, 8 seasons] (NBC)
  • Parks And Recreation [sitcom, 4 seasons] (NBC, Hulu)
  • Portlandia [half-hour comedy, 2 seasons] (IFC)
  • The Simpsons [half-hour animated comedy, 23 seasons] (FOX)
  • South Park [half-hour animated comedy, 16 seasons] (Comedy Central)
  • Suburgatory [sitcom, 1 season] (ABC)
  • Up All Night [half-hour comedy, 1 season] (NBC, Hulu)
  • The Walking Dead [hour-long fantasy, 2 seasons] (AMC; slow pace)

Good:

  • 2 Broke Girls (CBS)
  • American Dad (FOX)
  • Anger Management [sitcom, 1 season] (FX)
  • Boardwalk Empire (HBO; slow pace)
  • The Big Bang Theory (CBS; was better earlier seasons)
  • The Big C (Showtime)
  • Californication (Showtime; leave your morals at the door)
  • Community (NBC; it’s really meta)
  • Falling Skies (TNT)
  • Family Guy (FOX; better in early seasons)
  • Franklin and Bash (TNT)
  • Fringe (FOX)
  • Glee (FOX; slow decline after excellent first season)
  • Grey’s Anatomy [hour-long medical drama, 8 seasons] (ABC)
  • House of Lies [half-hour drama, 1 season] (Showtime; leave your morals at the door)
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS; in slow decline)
  • Men At Work [sitcom, 1 season] (TBS)
  • Saturday Night Live (NBC; just for the Weekend Update and the occasional funny skit)
  • Tosh.0 (Comedy Central)
  • Two And A Half Men [sitcom, 9 seasons] (CBS)
  • Weeds (Showtime)
  • Workaholics [half-hour comedy, 3 seasons] (Comedy Central)

Formerly Airing

Get these on Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/iTunes/wherever.

Excellent:

  • Battlestar Galactica (even if you don’t like sci-fi)
  • Bent [half-hour comedy, 1 season]
  • Better Off Ted
  • House [hour-long medical drama, 8 seasons] (slow decline after the 4th season)
  • In Treatment [half-hour drama, 3 seasons] (first season was the best)
  • Northern Exposure
  • The Office (UK)
  • The Sopranos
  • Spartacus: Blood and Sand
  • Twin Peaks [hour-long drama, 2 seasons]
  • West Wing

Very Good:

Good:

1 Comments.

  1. Arbitrary Rankings Of The New 2011 Fall TV Series | Apt46 - pingback on October 8, 2011 at 5:29 am

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