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2014 GAF TV Show of the Year Voting Thread! Cast your votes!

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1. Person of Interest ;
2. Fargo ;
3. Game of Thrones ;
4. True Detective ;
5. The Flash ;
6. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver ;
7. Sherlock ;
8. Doctor Who ;
9. 24: Live Another Day ;
10. The Walking Dead ;

I might add some thoughts in later, if I get the time. But I just wanted to get my list done before I ended up putting it off for too long.
 

maxcriden

Member
Okay, just talked this over with my wife; we did it from memory so hopefully there's nothing we enjoyed more than these that we're forgetting.

1. Marumo no Okite SP 2014 ; the second SP for one of our favorite J-doramas yet. Lots of character development, the same hilarious and heartfelt hijinks as ever.

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2. The Vampire Diaries ; this is based on Season 5, which finished in May. With The VD and The Originals, we watch seasons all at once as we find them more enjoyable this way. I thought it was a bit of a rockier start to the season but it ended up as terrifically compelling as ever.

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3. The Middle ; Amazing as always. The trip to Disney where they went to the wrong Disney. Bwahahaha. The tiny table. All just so great and friggin' hilarious.

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4. Mr. Selfridge ; I have to say, I think this latest (America-aired) season of Mr. Selfridge was the best yet. Jeremy Piven's performance is extraordinary, as is everyone's. Really lovely and compelling show.

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5. Jane the Virgin ; Just a superb new series. Hilarious, heartfelt, and compelling. I have my theories about Sin Rostro! Also, Rogelio might be my favorite character.

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6. The Goldbergs ; This show is just oozing pure nostalgia and fun. It feels like The Middle in the 80's, and it has a lot of funny truths to share. Really hilarious character work, too. Everything's coming up Barry!

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7. The Originals ; Despite its ranking, the show is actually nearly at VD levels of quality only one season in. I thought the show took several episodes to get going, but once The Reaping plotline was in full swing, it really had made me a fan.

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8. Masterchef Junior ; Devastated that Abby and Oona both lost. They were hilarious. Great, fun season, though, with lots of talent on display.

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9. Black-ish ; Very hilarious new series that I feel like I can relate to well despite my whiteness. I dunno. Lots of truth in this show about people. The episodes The Nod and Corporal Punishment would be my recommendations to those interested in the show.

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10. The Blacklist ; I find this show really dramatic and it keeps me glued to my seat often, but it does get a bit gross for me. Still, I think the way they've been handling the main story of the show has made it feel like they're going through plot at a good clip without giving too much away yet. Solid series and terrific performances all around.

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Honorable mentions: The Tomorrow People, The Flash, Star-Crossed, Parenthood
 

Cartman86

Banned
1. The Legend of Korra
2. The Good Wife
3. True Detective
4. Game of Thrones
5. Orphan Black
6. The Knick
7. Outlander
8. Fargo
9. You're The Worst
10. Mad Men
 

Hamlet

Member
1. Hannibal - Incredible 2nd season for the show.

2. Legend of Korra - Book 3 was fantastic and just the season of Korra we needed after an uneven 2nd season for the show. Fantastic fights,captivating villains with Red Lotus(especially after Unalaq) and Jeremy Zuckerman's score continues to be one of the best things about it. Beautiful stuff.
Book 4 was still very enjoyable even it didn't quite reach the highs of Book 3.
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3. Over The Garden Wall - Such a sweet and charming show with a lot of heart and has some fantastic songs littered throughout it. The background art is also gorgeous.
4. Veep
5. Broad City
6. Rick and Morty
7. Fargo
8. Gravity Falls
9. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
10. Game of Thrones
 
I kind of wish I would have finished The Leftovers before True Detective. Only had time to finish one before the deadline and now watching Leftovers I could see me liking it better than True unless it takes some huge dive in the second half of the season. I liked True Detective a good amount, it just didn't really click with me beyond that.
 

tim.mbp

Member
1. Rectify
2. The Good Wife
3. The Honourable Woman
4. The Americans
5. True Detective
6. Fargo
7. The Missing
8. Orange Is The New Black
9. Happy Valley
10. Agatha Christie's Poirot ; Deserves a special mention. 25 years of David Suchet comes to an end. Really remarkable achievement which will likely never be matched again. Poirot is definitively old fashioned compared to the modern the crime solver shows, but that doesn't take away from his acting. The show has also gotten better produced over the years. The last few seasons have been pretty top notch.
 

Panzon

Member
1) Game of Thrones
2) Mad Men
3) Hannibal
4) Orange is the New Black
5) The Blacklist
6) House of Cards
7) Arrow
8) The Flash
9) American Horror Story

My list ends here since that's all I've watched so far this year (I think) as far as tv shows go. Meant to get into True Detective but didnt have the chance. Also hear great things about other shows like Fargo, etc and will be watching this year.

My list probably sucks to most but hey, I can't help it
 

maeh2k

Member
I watch sooo many tv shows, but somehow I don't have it in me this year to rank them.

... fuck it -- I'll make the list now. Just know that I haven't given this much thought:

1. The Good Wife
2. Person of Interest
3. Game of Thrones
4. Hannibal
5. Outlander
6. Rectify
7. Masters of Sex
8. Mad Men
9. The Flash
10. Manhattan

... yeah, this will do. I've seen a lot more than those and there are still quite a few of the big ones I haven't seen. Could have used my Christmas vacation to catch up on a couple of shows like Transparent or House of Cards, but instead I've started watching gilmore Girls (which I had never seen before; I liked Bunheads). I'm midway through season three by now.
 

Soho

Neo Member
1. Hannibal
2. Penny Dreadful
3. Person of Interest
4. Arrow
5. True Detective
6. The Knick
7. The Americans
8. Game of Thrones
9. Orphan Black
10.House of Cards

With honourable mention to amazing shows that just didn't make my top 10: 24, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Doctor Who, Elementary, Flash, The 100, Walking Dead and newcomer Forever
 

Linius

Member
I watch sooo many tv shows, but somehow I don't have it in me this year to rank them.

... fuck it -- I'll make the list now. Just know that I haven't given this much thought:

1. The Good Wife
2. Person of Interest
3. Game of Thrones
4. Hannibal
5. Outlander
6. Rectify
7. Masters of Sex
8. Mad Men
9. The Flash
10. Manhattan

... yeah, this will do. I've seen a lot more than those and there are still quite a few of the big ones I haven't seen. Could have used my Christmas vacation to catch up on a couple of shows like Transparent or House of Cards, but instead I've started watching gilmore Girls (which I had never seen before; I liked Bunheads). I'm midway through season three by now.

Aw man, Transparent is two days tops. Ten times 30 minutes, and absolutely top.
 

Pluto

Member
10. Agatha Christie's Poirot ; Deserves a special mention. 25 years of David Suchet comes to an end. Really remarkable achievement which will likely never be matched again. Poirot is definitively old fashioned compared to the modern the crime solver shows, but that doesn't take away from his acting. The show has also gotten better produced over the years. The last few seasons have been pretty top notch.
That show ended in 2013, I don't think it's eligible. It was very good though.
 
I wanted to make an awesome list with banners, detailed explanations and everything, but rl got in the way. Well, a super-plain list is still better than no list, right? Here it goes:

1. Hannibal - beautiful, gory, hypnotizing... Will go down in television history as one of the greatest shows ever, mark my words. The wait for Season 3 is an agony.
2. True Detective - I do have big issues with that show, but even I have to admit to watching with my jaw dropped. Very captivating and definitely one of the highlights of the year.
3. Fargo - I've never seen the original movie, but I loved the series! Especially the atmosphere and crazy twist. Simply fun (in a quite dark way)!
4. Jane the Virgin - combining my two favorite things from childhood: funny, self-aware (but not to the point of smugness) comedy and a telenovela with all its craziness and over-the-top melodrama. Rogelio is one of the funniest characters in recent years. And the Narrator is simply a treasure.
5. Selfie - the show that quickly overcame its weaaak pilot and suspiciously-sounding premise to become one of the most adorable rom-coms ever... only to be canceled in its prime (or very close to it). Enormous promise and fantastic, unusual couple of leads... still not over the cancellation, as you can tell.
6. You're the Worst - daring and fresh, this superb show still can be amazingly sweet when it wants to, just like its leads!
7. Brooklyn Nine-Nine - every bit as funny as it was in its first season and maybe even more charming.
8. Outlander - I loved the first half of the season, with gorgeous music, costumes and cinematography. The romance is pretty intriguing, but the most interesting aspect is the political plotline (and the villain). I'm dreading the stuff that's coming in next episodes, but so far it's been much more enjoyable that I was expecting.
9. Sherlock - not as consistently fantastic like the the first two seasons, but still tons of fun. The wedding episode might become my favorite of the whole show!
10. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey - fell in love from the opening minutes. As a science geek, not a lot of new stuff for me there, but still managed to learn a few things! If not for that, I'd still watched it with glee - it's just so damn beautiful.

Honorable mentions: Supernatural, Game of Thrones, My Mad Fat Diary, The 100
Haven't seen yet: Transparent, Rectify, The Leftovers, Enlisted, The Affair
 

Cerberus

Member
1. Rectify ; Perhaps the quietest show on television. The drama unfolds at a meditative pace and steadily moves towards an intense climax.
2. Mad Men ; The end is off to a great start. If the final 7 episodes are of similar quality to what we got in 2014, then Seasons 3 & 4 might finally be topped.
3. Fargo ; I was late to the party, so I’m glad FX had a New Year’s Day marathon for this show. It lives up to the hype and deserves all of its accolades. Molly Solverson is the best.
4. Game of Thrones ; The finest season yet. King’s Landing never fails to entertain me.
5. True Detective ; I wasn’t really interested in the mystery, but I tuned in every week anyway to watch Matthew McConaughey at the top of his game.
6. Hannibal ; Mads Mikkelsen is the main reason I watch this show, but I have to give a shout out to Michael Pitt. He was killing it every week as Mason Verger.
7. Vikings ; The interesting characters, beautiful landscapes, and gritty battles ensure that this show will always hold my attention.
8. Brooklyn Nine-Nine ; The most likeable cast assembled since the Parks and Recreation crew.
9. Review ; I love the overarching plot that happens as a result of the Pancakes episode.
10. The Flash ; A fun show with the charming Grant Gustin as the titular character. I need more crossovers.


I didn't have time for Season 4 of Homeland or the final season of Boardwalk Empire. Season 2 of The Bridge is also in my backlog, but I doubt that would make my top ten.

I also feel bad for not watching The Good Wife. I think I would love it.
 

Zalasta

Member
  1. Person of Interest
  2. Hannibal
  3. The Last Ship
  4. Game of Thrones
  5. Orange in the New Black
  6. Marco Polo
  7. Orphan Black
  8. House of Cards
  9. It Takes a Choir
  10. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I finally saw the first 4 seasons of The Good Wife last week. While I agree it's a solid show, but I also found it overrated and filled with cliches common to courtroom dramas. The whole will they/won't they between Will and Alicia was completely distracting, I guess it didn't help that I don't find their romance compelling. So I guess I don't really understand why it's such a critical darling, it does nothing new from its predecessors like The Practice or even Ally McBeal.
 

Necrovex

Member
I have barely seen anything new this season, but I'll list what I enjoyed:

1. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - I started getting into the show by the turn of the year, and the second season delivered on all fronts.

2. Arrow

3. Game of Thrones

4. True Detective

5. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey - I have to support this show, even though I haven't completed the season yet.
 

berzeli

Banned
Blimey, I hope I'm not too late with my picks (it's still January 7 in some timezones):

1. The Honourable Woman (BBC/Sundance)
Ok so I'm a sucker for spy stories and Hugo Blick so it was kind of inevitable that The Honourable Woman would end up taking the top spot. But what a terrific show, it has the prettiest direction and camera work on TV, Maggie Gyllenhaal just knocks it out of the park and the intrigue is finely put together with nice twists and turns.

2. Mad Men (AMC)
Hey AMC, give me the second half of the season you bastards... (I thought I would use this space productively in case some AMC exec happens accross this thread whilst on a cocaine binge. It doesn't need any motivation, it's Mad Men, it's great and you should watch it.)

3. Hannibal (NBC)
Bryan Fuller does something absolutely magnificent with the second season of Hannibal, expanding the show's mythos, scope and ambition. It is probably the most intense show on TV and has forever ruined horses for me.

4 Turks & Caicos/Salting the Battlefield (BBC/PBS)
Did I mention I really love spy stories? The two sequel films to 2011's Page Eight have some terrific old school intrigue and pretty darn amazing production values. If nothing else they can boast about the greatest cast on TV this year: Bill Nighy, Christopher Walken, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fienns, Winoa Ryder and that is just the big names.

5 Detectorists (BBC)
This year's finest new comedy. A low-key affair, sure. Not laugh-out-loud-funny sure. But it so clever in how it uses its characters and setting. I never thought I would enjoy a show about people using metal detectors as much as I did but the show completely won me over. Also you can never get enough Toby Jones.

6. Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
The best show on Netflix (especially after the season HoC had) keeps playing to its strengths. One of few shows that actually manages to mix humour and drama well and it has some of the most fascinating characters on TV. I just hope that Netflix and Jenji Kohan doesn't do the same mistake as with Weeds and keeps it on forever.

7. Marvellous (BBC)
Do you need to feel good about the world for a bit? Then make sure to watch Marvellous, a film about a very unique man. There is no better phrase to describe this made for TV film than "heart warming" and that it manages to be just that without ever dipping into oversentimentality speaks volumes about its quality. Also you can never get enough Toby Jones.

8. Game of Thrones (HBO)
Game of Thrones keeps alternating between political intrigue, gratuitous boobage, melodrama, fantasy epic and gratuitous violence and I love pretty much every second of it. Just don't kill Arya. Like really. Please? Pretty please?

9. Fargo (FX)
Making a series out of the Coen brothers' film shouldn't have worked as well as it did. Minnesota as envisioned by the Coens really holds up even under new management, keeping what made film great (colourful characters and black humour) and giving it a new, if familiar, coat of paint (new story and characters) made for a great limited series.

10. Doctor Who (BBC)
It is broad, stupid, camp, clever, bonkers, funny, scary, niche, and a bunch more of things. There is no show quite like Doctor Who.


Honourable Mentions:
Bojack Horseman (Netflix), True Detective (HBO), The Normal Heart (HBO), Den Fjärde Mannen|Another Time, Another Life (SVT), Viva Hate (SVT), Uncle (BBC), VEEP (HBO), Black Mirror: White Christmas (Channel 4)
Stuff I haven't watch yet but might have made the list:
Transparent (Amazon), Happy Valley (BBC), The Game (BBCA), Olive Kitteridge (HBO), Glue (Channel 4), Utopia (Channel 4), The Fall (BBC), The Missing (BBC/Starz)
 

berzeli

Banned
Have you watched The Americans? Seems like you would dig it.

People keep telling me that.

I should really give the pilot another spin, it kind of lost me the first time round. But that will have to wait until I'm done with drowning in the eyes of Tom Hughes The Game. It's kind of a shame that the series seems to have slipped by with very little fanfare Toby Whithouse is a damned good writer.
 
1. The Americans - Great cast, intriguing plotting, and a terrific look at marriage and parenting in my favorite show of the year. Russell and Rhys are fantastic and deserve a lot of credit for their work on this show.
2. Fargo - This seemed like a bad idea when it was announced, but ended it up being great. Loved the acting talent, character writing, humor, and inventive production. Allison Tollman was a wonderful discovery.
3. True Detective - Great chemistry between the leads, one amazing tracking shot, and a haunting story spanning decades.
4. Hannibal - Gorgeous, brutal, and sublime. Hannibal is a gift that pushes buttons no other show can find.
5. You're the Worst - I didn’t expect much from this series but it turned out to be one of my favorites. The characters are all flawed but you still end up loving them in the end. If you haven’t checked this out yet, give it a shot.
6. The Knick - Between Soderbergh’s direction, the lighting, the music, and the tremendous production, The Knick took me to a different time and place. Not sure I’d want to live there, but it sure is fascinating.
7. Mad Men - Somewhat overlooked this year due to the truncated season, but Mad Men still operates at a level most other shows can’t touch. Sad to see it finishing up in 2015, but this is one of the greats and deserves our attention.
8. Game of Thrones - It’s hard sometimes to separate this show from the books it's based on and the razor sharp fan scrutiny that dominates internet discussion, but the fact that this show still delivers on a weekly basis is a testament to its strength.
9. Veep - Tight writing and a vast array of comedic talent keep the densely packed jokes flowing. Daniwah!
10. Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Great freshman season that hit stride early and was buoyed by the hilarious deadpan talents of Andre Braugher.

Honorable mention:
Silicon Valley - Great start to the series and one of my favorite comedies at the moment. It was a little uneven at times, as to be expected from a Freshman comedy, but the highs, including a superlative dick joke in the finale, were very high. Lots to come from this series in the future.
Masters of Sex - The acting talent and individual scenes were great, highlighted by “The Fight”, but some messy season-long arcs took some of the shine off of this very good series
Justified - Suffered a bit due to the cast being shuttled off into different story arcs, and the deluge of guest cast, while entertaining, was a little distracting. Still, the main cast is great and the dialogue is fantastic, so I have high hopes for the final season.
Penny Dreadful - Great gothic horror that took a little while to get rolling but ultimately developed into a fine first season. Looking forward to more from Green and Dalton this year.
Orange is the New Black - Followed up the strong work from the first season with a great second season. Perhaps a bit overlooked because it was expected to be good and it delivered.
Louie - You never know what you’re going to get from a particular episode of Louie, and that’s part of its charm. Impressive what he does with the creative control he’s afforded by FX.
Olive Kitteridge - Difficult and depressing, but a nonetheless wonderful show with some great acting talent and serious themes.
Orphan Black - Muddy plotting dropped this down from the highs of S1, but Tatiana Maslany is still doing amazing work and the show remains an entertaining romp.
Outlander - Only a half season in the Fall, but a fun start to the series and an enjoyable change of pace from most shows that I view.
Boardwalk Empire - Good finish to the series with a truncated season that covered most of the bases and brought the central tragedy of the story to the forefront.
Review - I caught up on this late in the year, and it is hilarious. Five stars.
Last Week Tonight - Much like Olive Kitteridge, I kind of consider this show to be in a different category due to the format, so I didn’t place it in the top 10. It still deserves a ton of praise for consistently making me think and laugh.

Blind spots (shows that I haven't watched or I’m behind): Transparent, Good Wife, The Missing, and Rectify.
 

Dalek

Member
I modified my original list to include Happy Valley-the best show I think I've seen in years. Outstanding and a must see.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
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1: Mad Men
2: Transparent
3: Rectify
4: Rick and Morty
5: Broad City
6: Outlander
7: Penny Dreadful
8: Olive Kitteridge
9: The Americans
10: Orange is the New Black

Could a mod please lock the thread so I can begin tallying votes? Thanks! :)
 
1. Rick and Morty
2. Game Of Thrones
3. Shameless
4. Silicon Valley
5. Brooklyn 99
6. Last Week Tonight /w John Oliver
7.Jane the Virgin
8.The Goldbergs
9. Nathan for You
10. Orange is the New Black
Whew.
 
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