Top Ten TV Time!

More than any other entertainment medium,* the way we interact with television has changed the most in my lifetime. It used to be that our lives were structured around the TV. If you cared about a show enough to keep up with it, you had three options.

*A good argument could be made for video games. I might respond that even as the games themselves have taken massive leaps, the way we orient ourselves to video games has stayed much the same, with the clear exception of online gaming. Not being an online gamer, I'm not in a position to compare. Though it's interesting that in both cases (online games and streaming television) the new factor is the internet.

1. Make sure your schedule was clear every ___________ night at __ o'clock.
2. Finagle with your VCR with the hopes of recording the episode on a VHS.
3. Hope like hell you could catch the missed episode in a re-run.

Television lent itself to tradition. Families like mine set aside sacred time every week to watch the new episode of Survivor or CSI. People squirreled away tapes of their favorite shows collected over the course of months, like I did with The Simpsons and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Folks surrendered their fates to unpredictable re-runs, maybe a previously unexperienced morsel of entertainment, maybe a purgatory of that one episode you've seen half a dozen times and then some.

The Netflix model changed everything. Of course it had its precursors in TiVo and other digital recording services, but the sea change happened with Netflix. It killed the video stores.

Netflix, and streaming television in general, gave television viewers what filmgoers had for years: agency. No longer do we have to respect the sacred space-time of a regularly scheduled program. Instead, television bends to our individual humanistic whims. Sneaking bits and pieces of TV on public transportation or binging a show in the middle of the night, we have profaned television with our vulgar desires.

I like it a lot better that way.


I have a hard time caring about a show enough to orient my schedule around it, but I enjoy experiencing TV at my own pace, when the time is right, when I am ready for it. We have lost the collective cultural moments of everybody watching everything simultaneously, which makes for awkward spoiler-phobic conversations ("Ohh, I love Breaking Thrones!" "Yeah, the part where he exploded the guy's wedding?" "...I'm only on season seven..." "...Sorry..."). But we now have power over our own entertainment destinies!

All that is to say that I am now watching more and better television than I ever have before. Obviously I'm a movie guy first and foremost (this blog isn't called Post-Credit Another Show Happens). But with (mostly non-network) TV becoming increasingly cinematic, the differences are eroding.

I'll say this for TV: when it is done right, no other medium can match the organic growth that a cast of diverse characters can experience together.

With that, I want to give you my ten favorite TV shows that are happening right now! Otherwise entries 1-7 would all be Breaking Bad, 8-9 would be LOST, and 10 would probably be that old Batman cartoon.

The great thing about recommending currently-airing shows is that they're not artifacts yet; you can catch up at your leisure, and engage in a bit of that communal/social aspect of television I was referring to earlier.

Let's get to it. If you watch an amazing, mind-blowing show that isn't mentioned anywhere here (cf. Mad Men, Game of Thrones), just assume I haven't seen it. Feel free to comment about it!

Honorable Mentions

American Horror Story - I haven't been excited about Ryan Murphy's freaky brainchild in several years. AHS is gearing up for its circus-centric fourth season, and I still haven't watched a single minute of Coven. Hell, I haven't even managed to finish the bizarre clustermuck that was Asylum. This show makes the honorable mentions list solely for its first season, a Gothic minor-masterpiece the likes of which I never expected to see on television. Good horror is ridiculously hard to sustain for the 90 minutes a film requires. I'm impressed that AHS managed to sustain it for one whole season of television.

It also has the most compelling television advertising campaign I have ever seen.

Seasons 1-2 are available for instant streaming on Netflix. Season 4, Freak Show, premieres October 8 on FX.

The Walking Dead - There's little of interest left to say about one of the most overtalked shows on television. Sometimes it's good, and when it's good, it's good. Sometimes it's bad, and when it's bad, it's boring. That being said, a full-out zombie show that is competent at worst and gripping at best will always be on my radar.

Seasons 1-4 are available for instant streaming on Netflix. Season 5 premieres October 12 on AMC.

Futurama - It's like The Simpsons, but sci-fi. How could that not be appealing? I'll never love this show as much as Matt Groening's yellow opus, but Futurama does not drag its feet. Most of these episodes are more original than the sci-fi TV shows that take themselves seriously. Thank goodness Futurama rarely does.

Seasons 1-10 are available for instant streaming on Netflix. The show is not currently renewed for another season, although it has a good possibility of turning up on a new network. The only certain future Futurama episode will be the upcoming crossover with The Simpsons November 9 on Fox.

The Simpsons - A few days ago, the twenty-sixth season of The Simpsons premiered on Fox. That's five more years than I have been alive. It's far from perfect, but The Simpsons has managed to remain relevant for more pop culture eras than I have personally been witness to. What other show can claim to have remained funny for two and a half decades? It's one of the most impressive achievements television has ever witnessed. This point was hammered home recently when new cable channel FXX aired every episode consecutively, and grabbed higher ratings than anyone had thought possible. This show still resonates.

Of course, nothing beats the early episodes. Seasons 4-8 or so are the sweet spot. You would be hard-pressed to find better half hours of television than The Simpsons had to offer in its heyday. Its wild inconsistency over the years bars it from my top ten list, but more than any other show The Simpsons made me who I am today in ways that run deeper than I will probably ever realize.

The Simpsons has been notoriously absent from the internet, with the exception of a handful of episodes at a time on Hulu. That is about to change with FXX's upcoming launch of "Simpsons World", which will allow "authenticated subscribers" of FXX to watch any Simpsons episode, any time, from their various devices. It will even include neat features like the ability to search for specific quotes, something that will come in handy for families like mine, who often throw around Simpsons quotes with little memory of their context.

Season 26 (!) premiered on September 28 on Fox.

The Venture Bros. / Archer - I can't help but pair these shows in my mind, which isn't exactly fair because they're very different. They're both parodies of genre fiction that also enact their genres in interesting ways, but the tones are so different. Archer is a rhythmic dialogue-driven spyfest with a massive backlog of constantly recurring in-jokes, and The Venture Bros. is a perverse action-adventure tale that makes relatable (and vulgarizes) cliched tropes that we are all familiar with. Unfortunately they both peaked years ago, but it's nice to have a pair of action-comedy shows that postmodern irreverence enhanced rather than ruined.

(It may be telling that showrunners Jackson Publick/Doc Hammer and Adam Reed basically write every episode themselves.)

Seasons 1-2 of The Venture Bros. are available for instant streaming on Netflix, and the most recent five episodes are available on Adult Swim's website. Season 5 began airing on June 2 on Adult Swim, and a sixth season has been ordered.

Seasons 1-4 of Archer are available for instant streaming on Netflix. Seasons 6 and 7 have been ordered, the former expected to air in early 2015.

Young Justice - I shouldn't be talking about this show. It's cheating. Young Justice was cancelled a few years back to pave the way for some insipid crap cartoon that I don't care about. Although there are petitions to bring the show back, it only produced two seasons and will probably stay that way.

Shame. With the exception of the infamous Batman: The Animated Series cartoon, Young Justice is far and above the best superhero animation I have ever encountered. It's better than 95% of the superhero live action movies. If you had explained to me the premise of the show, I doubt I would have been interested--the Justice League's sidekicks banding together to go off on adventures of their own? Robin...Kid Flash...Superboy? Dumb. But I saw the near perfect ratings it received on Netflix, so I gave it a whirl. What a discovery. These adolescent characters go through more growth than we can reasonably expect from most "adult" dramas over the course of one season.

One episode about halfway through the first season is also one of the most shocking and unsettling half hours of television I have ever experienced. So much so that the characters spend the majority of the next episode receiving psychiatric counseling.

Young Justice will probably never return.

Top Ten Time.

10. House of Cards

I kind of disdained House of Cards for a while. I have this theory that Netflix Original Series are people-pleasing to a fault. They look at what shows are popular, use this to extrapolate "what people like," and try to approximate it. It's unhealthy studio-driven entertainment, and I saw it in Netflix shows like House of Cards, the new season of Arrested Development, the first episode of Bojack Horseman, and the first two minutes of Hemlock Grove (after which I stopped watching). Even worse, I heard that the concept for House of Cards was generated by some algorithm parsing through all the data from Netflix's most popular shows and determining what elements a popular show should have. All this made me feel that the first season of House of Cards was trying too hard to be Breaking Bad.

I'll be damned if the show isn't gripping though. I'm most of the way through season 2, which has pretty much converted me. The show is doing a better job of mixing its (sometimes delightfully) pandering theatrics with moments of real weight and thematic resonance.

There are many reasons this larger-than-life show about death, betrayal, and the most powerful people on the planet feels smaller than Walter White's New Mexico meth operation. I'm fine with giving House of Cards the benefit of the doubt by calling that an unfair comparison.

Seasons 1-2 were released via Netflix instant streaming. The season 3 release is targeted for early 2015.

9. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

In my experience, if you release a Sunny quote into a group of people, there will be one person who will enthusiastically complete the quote for you. They will then trade favorite Sunny moments with you for the next half hour as the other people in the group mutter about having seen a few episodes, and not really liking it all that much.

I get that. People cite the vulgarity, the misanthropy, the constant screaming as reasons not to enjoy the show. For me, it's an acquired taste. I say that because I didn't start loving Sunny until season 6.

That's right, it took six seasons for the show to hit its stride, and if that sounds appalling to you then go rewatch some early Seinfeld episodes. Once Sunny hit season six, they had already perfected their own unique formula, but something truly special began to happen. Once every episode or so, the Sunny folks started to slip in brief, real moments of unsettling pathos, emotional honesty, or sad vulnerability. Instead of just tearing these characters down for a laugh, they started exploring the depths of their psyches, getting to the heart of why people are so terrible to each other. It's so subtle, and I'm honestly not sure how many other people are noticing. But I love it. It makes the show 100 times better.

Here's the closest thing I have to proof. Dennis has been trying to get Frank to give him an official title in his racketeering operation, but without the power or responsibility that goes along with titles. And this happens:

When I started watching this show I would have never expected a moment so sort-of-ironically poignant.

Seasons 1-8 are available for instant streaming on Netflix. The tenth season will debut in January 2015 on FXX. An eleventh and twelfth season have been ordered.

8. Gravity Falls

This is the show that I am by far least qualified to comment on, having watched fewer than one season's worth of episodes. Shame that, because I've rarely been so excited about discovering a show.

Gravity Falls is an animated show about two children who move to the town of Gravity Falls to live with their great-uncle Stan, only to discover all manner of weird occult-y supernatural occurrences that may or may not be connected. Gravity Falls is an exciting and exquisitely-crafted show, also known as the only show I have ever cared about that aired on the Disney channel.

Each show provides a fresh twist on a staid sci-fi/horror trope, and fills its imaginative concept with daring jokes and moments of emotional resonance. In many ways, Gravity Falls manages to surpass the beloved shows and stories to which it pays homage. This show may be for children, but it's about as high concept as mainstream television gets.

The Twin Peaks/X-Files vibe also funnels into an overarching narrative that actually feels like it's going somewhere big. I love it when serialized shows go somewhere big. That's my fave.

You can't find season 1 legally online. I don't even think a full season DVD has been released. So...reruns? Season 2 will premiere on August 1 on the Disney Channel, the rest of the season airing first on Disney XD.

7. Sherlock

We've all heard people squee over Sherlock. It joins the ranks of The Walking Dead in the most overtalked shows on television. To be fair, it earned that right. I'm not sure anyone a few years back could have predicted that yet another Sherlock Holmes adaptation, and on BBC no less, could achieve such cultural penetration in America. Yet here we are, and it is kind of annoying.

As much as its superfans drive me up a wall, I can't not praise the show. Its shtick never again felt as fresh as it did in the fantastic series premier, but it remains a strong shtick. Sherlock Holmes as super smart modern cyber detective with a serious affective disorder is compelling, and it is made relatable through the crucial performance of Martin Freeman as Watson. Watson has always been the one to make or break a Holmes adaptation; Jude Law coasting did no favors to the Robert Downey Jr. films. But here, Freeman is the beating heart of the series, and then some.

Above all, there is the style. Sherlock is slick as hell. Even when the plot can't carry it, the film-caliber cinematography can. Well-timed banter, quick cuts, and engaging infographics make the 90 minute episodes fly by as if they were... well... sixty minutes.

Series 1-3 are available for instant streaming on Netflix. The next episode will be a 2015 full-length Christmas special. Series 4 is expected to air in early 2016 on BBC.

6. China, IL

Wait no, I forgot. This is the show I'm least qualified to comment on. I've only seen a handful of episodes. Which makes it all the more impressive that this weird show about the University of China, IL ("Worst College in America") has climbed to number 6 on my list already. Much of my esteem for China, IL comes from a brilliant half hour episode in which God comes back to earth in the form of a surfer dude and issues a new set of commandments to the people of China, IL including: Chill, Experience the Magic, I'm Lovin' It, Don't Rape, and Kill Your Parents.

It's pretty irreverent. But the rampant weirdness never distracts from the scathing commentary at the center of each episode, usually having to do with the culture or politics of college life. This show was actually spawned from a series of youtube videos that were just so damned good that Adult Swim gave the guy his own show. I wish more TV worked like that.

Seasons 1-2 are available for streaming on Adult Swim's website. Season 3 has been ordered.

5. Louie

Has television ever witnessed a sadder sack than Louis CK? This man is milquetoast in every sense of the word... except that he also writes, directs, edits, produces, and stars in one of the most fearlessly brilliant shows on television.

Any description of Louie would be reductive. Over the three seasons that I have seen, Louie has proven to be one of the most chameleonic TV shows out there. You never know what to expect from an episode--a few zany vignettes, a long involved emotional arc, a black and white piece with Robin Williams, a three-episode arc about the life-changing opportunity of hosting The Late Show, a story about oral sex and the reciprocation thereof, a narrative about the impending suicide of a friend, a subdued dinner table banter between Louie and his children... all these and more are possible, all radically different but all filtered through the lens of this one sad, weird, pathetic, observant, middle aged man. Louie is as auteuristic of a masterpiece as we will ever see on television.

Seasons 1-3 are available for instant streaming on Netflix. A fourth season premiered on May 5 on FX. A shortened fifth season will premiere in spring 2015.

4. Adventure Time

A recurring topic of this post has been overtalked television shows and how they generally get my goat. This is the exception. I will never begrudge anybody talking about Adventure Time no matter how much everybody talks about Adventure Time.

Part of that is the show's sheer inventive imagination, part of it is the whip-smart, off-the-wall writing. Part of it is how relentlessly joyful the show manages to be, despite tackling heavy topics (such as race, gender, puberty, genocide, and the near-complete annihilation of the human race) on a regular basis. But the main reason I will never tire of an Adventure Time conversation is that it is good for us. Past all of its eccentricity, every episode of this show has a beating heart, and every episode has something to tell us about the expectations of growing up and how we enculturate our children (and ourselves). What more valuable thing can a show directed at children say?

Not that only children watch it either. Adventure Time is one of those rare shows that spans generational gaps, uniting people of all ages in common fandom. I was travelling back to college with a friend a few years back and we were at a rest stop. My friend was waiting in line for coffee, so I was just milling about. A grown man turned to me out of nowhere and pointed at the cartoon images of Finn and Jake on my t-shirt.

"Hey, that's a great show. I watch it with my dog!" is what I thought he said.

"Oh yeah," I replied, "I guess this would be a great show for a dog to watch!"

He became visibly uncomfortable for a few moments before saying, "Um, I don't have a dog. I watch it with my daughter."

"Oh. Well that's even better."

Like I said, this show unites the generations.

Seasons 1-2 are available for instant streaming on Netflix. Season 6 is currently airing on Cartoon Network and the show has been renewed for a seventh season.

3. Les Revenants (The Returned)

Oooh, look at me, I'm being all sophisticated, putting a French TV show in my top three. Much international. So culture. Wow.

Honestly, I didn't seek out The Returned, The Returned came to me. I started watching it with John because it popped up on Netflix as a highly-rated thriller/mystery. It became a nightly ritual for us until all the episodes of the only season were spent.

That's because, without hyperbole, this is the single most beautiful television show I have ever seen. I find myself doubting that something this gorgeous shot-for-shot could ever possibly come out of America. It has to be something about the French. You will never see cinematography as consistently eye-opening as you see in this show.

Add on top of that a large cast of amply-developed characters, fantastic drama, and a central mystery more juicy than anything since the first season of LOST, and you get my third favorite currently-airing television show.

Please just ignore the impending American remake. I have no doubt that it won't deserve to bask in one of the many supple shadows of Les Revenants.

Season 1 is available for instant streaming on Netflix. A second season is expected to air on Canal+ sometime in 2015, which basically means they'll get around to it when they feel like it.

2. Attack on Titan

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Attack on Titan will wreck you.

An anime about the destitute remnant of humanity, pushed to the brink of nonexistence by a grotesque force they do not understand. No episode has a mediocre ending. The mystery of the Titans unravels with excruciating pace, every new bit of information earned at the cost of many lives. Every time you let yourself believe in a spark of hope, it is brutally extinguished... only to be rekindled, maybe, in a perverted Frankenstein monster sort of way.

Season 1 is available (subbed not dubbed) for instant streaming on Netflix. The anime will apparently be compiled into two theatrical length animated films with new voice acting from the same cast. The first film will consist of the already released 13 episodes, and the second film will finish out the series, and is expected to release in 2015. If that makes sense.

1. Rick and Morty

Every so often I love a piece of art or entertainment so much that I begin to question my own bias. It's certainly happened before that I love something far more than can be justified, often to my growing shame as I approach the next stage of critical maturity.

I am convinced Rick and Morty is not that. I am convinced Rick and Morty may be the best show on television.

Only one season exists so far, and I have watched the episodes anywhere from 2-6 times each. I can think of two or three instances when I have ever rewatched a television show that compulsively. I just can't stop showing Rick and Morty to the important people in my life.

Rick and Morty is the show that Dan Harmon co-created with Justin Roiland when he got kicked off of Community. Community was known for playing fast and loose with genre conventions, and that tendency is found here, raised several powers.

At its baseline, Rick and Morty is, as the show itself puts it at the beginning of the first episode, "high concept sci-fi rigamarole." Awkward high schooler Morty gets dragged along on crazy interdimensional adventures by his alcoholic nihilistic scientific grandfather, Rick. It's the central dynamic of Back to the Future seen through several fun house mirrors--while waking up still drunk after an all-night bender.

The best thing about my favorite show on television isn't the sheer imagination of the other worlds explored, or the jubilant creativity of the characters, or the ten-jokes-a-minute dialogue, or even the absolutely unique voice acting by Roiland (who voices both Rick and Morty, as well as countless side characters)--it's the way the show takes genre conventions, bends them, turns them on their head, and makes them feel more lived-in and expanded than you would have thought possible. It takes cliches, breaks them into little pieces, and manages to glue them back together into something much more meaningful than before. Bad shows deal in cliches, good shows break them (Archer, Venture Bros.), but it takes a truly magnificent show to reach that third stage of thematic reconstruction, especially immersed as we are in the pervasive rubble of postmodernism.

Not to mention that I have never laughed so hard at a TV screen. Rick and Morty may be my ideal show.

Season 1 is available for streaming on Adult Swim's website. Season 2 was set to air sometime in March, but now looks like it has been pushed back to summer 2015. Wubba lubba dub dub, am I right?