One of the fun things about our Scene N Nerd podcast is we get to discuss our favorite TV shows and films on an “almost” weekly basis. We cram as much opinion and content about a few shows as we can in a short time frame. It’s not easy and if you heard our season finale episode, we did our best to talk more TV and give you what we thought were our favorite shows from the past year. Again, in a short time frame. So, I decided to do something about that. Something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Give my own list of my favorite TV shows of 2014.
I titled this with, “My FAVORITE TV shows of 2014”, quite frankly, because I can’t watch every single TV show out there. Believe me, I wish I could. I truly feel that we’re living in a “Golden Age of Television” with so many great shows available. Streaming has become so huge with Netflix, Amazon and Hulu all providing you with the newest and most popular TV shows, even producing content of their own. No longer are we channel surfing and being stuck with limited options of awful scripted reality TV shows and another rerun of FRIENDS (Editor’s Note: There’s always time for another rerun of FRIENDS, just saying).
With that said, let’s get this party started……
EDITIORS NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD
10. The Flash – CW
As I said earlier, I don’t get to watch all TV shows. Especially, the rookie ones. I really have to pick and choose with them. With that said, The Flash has been nothing short of amazing during the first half of its inaugural season, from bringing in characters from the scarlet speedsters rouge gallery and teaming up with the Arrow a couple times. Every episode has been exciting, hilarious and wonderfully entertaining from start to finish. This show continues to show promise and I look forward to see what the second half of the season holds especially after the winter finale cliffhanger.
9. Veep – HBO
I’ve really enjoyed Veep each season. It’s always funny and entertaining. I’ve thought of it as “The Office” but with cussing. Which makes it that much funnier. Not because of the foul language but because it’s well-written. The writers aren’t just throwing “shit” and “damn” in the dialogue for shock value. It works well with how discombobulated the cast can get. This past season of Veep was my absolute favorite. Watching Selina Meyer become president, her staff scramble as usual and evade hilarious scandalous rumors about her professional relationship with her “personal trainer”. Now, with Selina Meyer becoming President you have to wonder how much crazier the show will get. With her staff operating out of the West Wing, I can only imagine things will get funnier.
8. Silicon Valley – HBO
Another rookie show makes my top 10 list and it can be argued it deserves a higher ranking. Silicon Valley hit the ground running with its pilot and never looked back. It’s smart, funny and filled with hilariously interesting and crazy characters. I’d have no problems sitting down and stating the case that T.J. Miller’s character, Erlich steals almost every scene he is in. If you want to gauge the comedy of this show I would recommend watching the season finale titled “Optimal Tip-To-Tip Efficiency” where you’ll watch one of the funniest dick jokes ever made played out in a mathematical equation. Trust me.
7. Game of Thrones – HBO
I felt Game of Thrones really had a good bounce back season. Show runners said before the season began that every episode would have a season finale feeling to it. I don’t think that necessarily rang true for the most part but there were a few episodes that did leave that feeling. For example, in “The Lion and the Rose” we saw one of the craziest and most unexpected endings of the series, the death of King Joffrey. I remember sitting there and thinking “I’m not prepared for this, I’m not prepared for this.” Believe me, I wanted Joffrey dead just as much as everybody else did, I just didn’t expect it to happen in the SECOND episode of ANY season. But, hey, that’s why we love this show. I look forward to more of this next season, hopefully. Especially, with the way things were left.
6. Homeland – SHOWTIME
This was not a show I expected to have this high on my list. Hell, I didn’t expect to even have it on my list let alone even watch it after last season. I’ll be honest, I got really sick of the Carrie/Brodie storyline to the point of where I sleepwalking through the third season. Seriously, I remember waking up during the season finale, saw Brodie hanging and went back to sleep. It was all “meh” to me. But, I wondered where the show would go from here? How would they move on since their key story revolved around a character who was now dead? Well, I’ll give it to you guys over at the writer’s room, Homeland. You got me. This season has been like an energy shot straight to the arm and never letting up. The characters were great, the intensity and suspense was rock freaking solid and the overall story arc for this season was AMAZING! This show is back to being great again. However, I will say that the season finale was a bit anticlimactic. But, that’s ok. It wasn’t terrible, it just left us with a few cliffhangers that they can certainly build on for next season.
5. The Walking Dead – AMC
So many great things this season, so many. I could devote an entire article to this season, but I’ll keep this short and sweet. Terminus was handled very well. Bringing in the cannibals storyline was a great way to start the season. It built up to a crescendo in the third episode with a showdown that didn’t let anyone down. Rick doesn’t care anymore, he just kills when he needs to and doesn’t give his foe a second chance. I don’t know about you guys, but I love it. The guy is doing what is necessary for the group to survive and if it means being stone cold and killing then so be it. Hey, we’re talking about the zombie apocalypse here. Now, if you don’t mind, let’s take a moment for Beth………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Okay, I wanted to let that out. What a sad death that I didn’t see coming. Did you?! Yea, well, you’re freaking psychic then. Cause, I didn’t think it was something that people saw coming or had any inkling of happening until that moment when she stabbed Dawn. Then all bets were off. Even Dawn’s reaction to blowing Beth’s head off was crazy, she looked shocked beyond words. But, it happened and then Daryl took absolutely no time in offing Dawn for retribution. It was justice, but it didn’t make anyone feel better. We ALL lost Beth, a character who had grown into a strong young women. Such a stark contrast to the young girl we met in season 2. It was great character development and someone the show will truly miss. To put it simply, as said on twitter, “When Daryl cries the world cries”. Yup.
4. The Newsroom – HBO
I’ve enjoyed the few seasons that The Newsroom has been on. It’s had me from day one and never let go. Season 1 was super intense, taking you into the lives of a news room and how crazy it can be to deliver not only the right story but the FACTUAL story. Season 2 stuck to one storyline, a lawsuit played out over an entire season. It was a good follow up. Then, it was announced that season 3 would be the final one. Then it was announced that the final season would run for only six episodes. SIX.EPISODES. Such a bummer especially with how they ended the series. It was a tremendous send off for the series delivering one strong episode after another leading up to the shows series finale. If you didn’t catch feels I’m not sure what to tell you. The dialogue was amazing and Charlie’s funeral brought about even more amazing dialogue from the characters as they reminisced about their former boss. When Charlie’s wife tells Don not blame himself for Charlie’s death, I mean, how could you not get emotional during that scene. I’ll admit it, tears were building up. I’m going to miss this show, it was truly one of the greats that in its short time frame delivered every time it hit the screen.
3. Ray Donovan – SHOWTIME
This is one of my personal favorites. This is a show I was looking forward to when it premiered last year and it fully delivered. So, I wondered, after such a strong start would it maintain its strong presence or fall into a sophomore slump of boring yet staying afloat stories? As it turns out, neither! It was even better than the first season. The characters were all amazing again. Jon Voight was still great as Mickey Donovan, a father who does nothing but think about himself and leaves everyone around him in the dust, even if they’re his own sons. While I enjoyed Voight’s performance again I believe it was Liev Schreiber who truly shined. As he should seeing that he is the main character. He was good during the first season and it lead to many award nominations. But, in season 2 he got even better. Continuing to battle his personal demons, fight through his marriage, fend off a feisty reporter and be a father. The story arcs for each character in the show were handled well and all intertwined in some way that paid off at the end. This show continues to grow in the right ways and can only get better going into season three.
2. House of Cards – NETFLIX
When Walter White went out in grand fashion last year I wondered who would take the mantle as the TV anti-hero you found yourself actually rooting for. Without hesitation Frank Underwood stood up and said “I got this” (he didn’t actually say this). Season 2 of the hit Netflix series provided plenty of bang for your buck as Frank single handedly went to work destroying anyone and everyone in his path as he looked to claim the Presidency. Kevin Spacey once again turned in another amazing performance as Frank Underwood. A man so hell bent on revenge that he’d even go as far as ruining the credibility of The President just to get what he wants. He’ll go toe to toe with the toughest business men and even kill a person to make sure none of the skeletons in his closet make it out into the open. Poor Zoe. With Frank now taking over as The President we can only imagine what he’ll do as the most powerful man in the world. One things certain, if you question him he’ll make it known that you don’t do it again. I don’t know about you guys but I can’t wait till next February.
1. True Detective – HBO
You can’t end a list like this without including the best show on television of 2014. This show was outstanding in every aspect. The acting was stellar (see what I did there), the story was great, the dialogue was sharp and the characters were excellent. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are great as two detectives who are drawn back into a homicide case they originally thought they solved. While the story overall was great, I found the interaction between the two characters equally interesting. From the outset you could see how the two men could work together and use their own tactics to complement each other but at the same time rub each other the wrong way. Often putting the two at odds. This along with back stories of the men were a nice balance that didn’t overtake the key storyline going on throughout the series. By the end I found myself wishing that we were getting more than one season out of these characters. But, if True Detective can find the magic that made it successful this season with its new cast then I think we’re all in store for some more amazing television.
Honorable Mention: Justified (FX), The Mindy Project (FOX), Red Band Society (FOX)
Thanks for reading the list and look for our podcast to return in 2015! Happy New Years everyone!
Scene 'N Nerd 