As we approach the halfway mark of 2015 -- and as Emmy nominations voting winds down -- some prominent TV critics have been releasing their respective lists of the Best Shows of 2015 (so far).
We took a look at the the four main ones circulating right now; they’ve come from Time (James Poniewozik), Rolling Stone (Rob Sheffield), David’s colleagues at Indiewire (Ben Travers & Liz Shannon Miller) and the staff at The Playlist.
We also came together for our combined first-half-of-2015 Top 10, which you can access here. We liked the idea of a “What the Critics Are Saying” as a comparison, to offer some alternate opinions and to see where we might differ with other TV critics, and how/why. It’s a nice way to open up the dialogue.
There are few footnotes worth mentioning here. First, all of these lists are formatted slightly differently (one is unranked; all vary in size), so we whittled them down in the following way: in the case of The Playlist, we included all 20 shows from 2015 mentioned (it’s technically a 2014-15 list) to stand, since the rankings come from a consensus vote. (In other words, any show that placed with them earned multiple votes and/or high rankings, whereas a 20th place ranking in Rob Sheffield’s Rolling Stone list doesn’t indicate as much.) With Rolling Stone, we took the Top 10 out of 20, and with Time we took all of Poniewozik’s 15 since the shows were left unranked. (Indiewire only published 10.) Finally, in the case of the publications who ranked, we give special mention to shows ranked first through fourth.
Featured below (alphabetically), along with excerpts from one of the publications, are the 16 shows named among the best by at least two publications. Given the proliferation of great TV out there, albeit with the caveat that this is a relatively small sample size, you could reasonably use this to gauge the cream of the expansive first-half-of-2015 crop. (Of course, in a few cases we take exception.)
Also note that you can click on the name of the show to read our own thoughts. But anyway...
The Americans (Critics in College agrees!)
Ranked by all publications, including 3rd by Rolling Stone and 4th by Indiewire and The Playlist
Rolling Stone: “The best drama on TV right now — I mean, what's close? Whatever it is, it's probably not that close ... It uses Eighties period detail (from EST sessions to Love's Baby Soft to the fact that we once had a Christian Left in this country) to flesh out an elemental tale of family life as one long exercise in deception and espionage.”
Ranked by all publications, including 3rd by Indiewire
Indiewire: “Saul eventually managed to shift out of Breaking Bad's shadow by the end of its first season. By choosing to make Jimmy McGill's journey toward becoming the best "criminal" lawyer in Albuquerque a quieter, more contemplative ride, Saul quickly found its own voice … Shows run for years without ever being so good.”
Bloodline (Critics in College agrees!)
Ranked by The Playlist and Rolling Stone
Playlist: “It makes indelible use of an electric ensemble cast, feeding off the chemistry that percolates between all six members of the Rayburn clan … The more typical turns the show takes are easily forgiven thanks to the thematic heft the creators rely on as a way of tapping into sensitive familial bonds, turning out a unique and fascinating thriller in the process.”
Broad City (Critics in College agrees!)
Named BEST SHOW of 2015 so far by The Playlist and Rolling Stone, and ranked by Time
The Playlist: “Abbi and Ilana's THC-soaked antics throughout the streets of the New York continued to get wilder, but never strayed from what made the first season (and the web series) so great … The show is constantly playing with the push/pull between the two, so you never know just who the wilder one might be. The series was an instant classic when it debuted and the second season only serves to cement that.”
Empire (Critics in College agrees!)
Ranked by Time and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone: “Nobody can rock a leopardskin-print minidress and matching fedora like Taraji P. Henson, or deliver bits of wisdom like, "You want Cookie's nookie? Then ditch the bitch." Empire was a surprise ratings blockbuster, getting bigger every week, because it deserved no less — an old-school pulp-TV melodrama with a terrific flair for pop.”
Game of Thrones
Ranked by The Playlist and Time
The Playlist: “There's a tinge of desperation in the way Benioff and Weiss push the buttons this time around, and the sense of too-much-too-quickly is stronger than ever. (So much death in that last episode!) Still, the acting is stellar as always, and the technical achievement of bringing it all to life is as awe-inspiring for TV standards as ever.”
Jane the Virgin
Ranked by The Playlist and Time
Time: “The series began with Jane (Gina Rodriguez) pregnant, but it was born fully formed: playful, big-hearted and refreshing. Unlike some soaps, this comic telenovela never let its plot twists overwhelm its characters and their distinctive voices (not least among them the most delightful narrator in TV).”
The Jinx
Ranked by Time and Rolling Stone
Time: “You really couldn’t make this up: an artful, insightful documentary series, investigating an accused multiple murderer, that drew a character portrait rivaling TV’s best dramas and created actual news, as Robert Durst spilled his own beans on camera and was arrested in real life in time for the finale.”
Justified (Critics in College agrees!)
Ranked 3rd by The Playlist and ranked by Time
The Playlist: “The sixth and final season of the show will help it reach the level to which it deserves to sit, because it was a gratifying reminder (particularly after the misfire of the fifth season) of the greatness of FX’s Elmore Leonard adaptation … Ultimately, it continued to show all the things that “Justified” had always done well: labyrinthine-but-legible plotting, the most quotable dialogue on television ... and an outstanding sense of place.”
Louie
Ranked by The Playlist and Time
Time: “The biggest flaw of Louis CK’s slice-of-his-life series was that there wasn’t more of it. But even a half-sized season -- pulling back from last year’s formal experiments to deliver more flat-out laughs -- was painfully funny and hilariously real enough to last us another year.”
Mad Men (Critics in College agrees!)
Ranked by all publications, including BEST SHOW of 2015 so far by Indiewire and 4th by Rolling Stone
Indiewire: “Many people wondered how Matthew Weiner's compassionate period drama would end, but the journey to that end was just as significant. The final half-season of "Mad Men" carried itself with an aptly casual assuredness, leading to more speculation on the finale and the occasional impatient stirring of criticism. Still, each episode when examined with hindsight holds up even better than it did on first airing.”
Orange Is the New Black (Critics in College agrees!)
Ranked 2nd by The Playlist and ranked by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone: “Orange Is the New Black remains a marvel: so many stories to tell, and so many unstoppable actresses to tell them. Characters we thought we already knew and loved take on new dimensions, as in Poussey's deeply moving response to Crazy Eyes' erotic saga, The Time Hump Chronicles.”
Parks and Recreation
Ranked by Indiewire and The Playlist
Indiewire: “In its final season, the charming NBC drama took some chances with a big leap forward into the future. Not everyone loved it, but Parks never stopped having one of the biggest hearts on television, as well as one of the best ensemble casts. And the series finale was one of the most solid in recent memory.”
Silicon Valley (Critics in College agrees!)
Ranked by The Playlist and Time
Time: “This sophomore comedy built out of its satire of tech culture, the egos it feeds with cash and the wired culture it enables. Exquisitely cast (T.J. Miller weaves obscenity into gold like an R-rated Rumplestiltskin), it’s a consistently hilarious picture of the coders who carry the modern world on their scrawny shoulders.”
Ranked by Indiewire, The Playlist and Time
Indiewire: “Season 1 of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's latest creation paired an empowering spirit with jab after jab at its central character — much like they did with Liz Lemon on 30 Rock — but the speed at which jokes were flung at the audience made for a sensory overload (in a good way). 30 Rock grew into its rapid-fire rhythms, but Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt started there.”
Veep (Critics in College agrees!)
Ranked 2nd by Indiewire and ranked 2nd by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone: “The further Veep ventures from mere political satire, the funnier it gets — at this point, it's only about D.C. insofar as D.C. is where the horriblest of horrible people happen to work. Profoundly nihilistic, spewing venom so fast it makes other comedies look a little snoozy, constantly throwing more characters into the mix yet always raising its game as a result, the show keeps buzzing with betrayals … and inventive profanity.”
Outliers
The following shows were cited by a single publication:
Archer (Indiewire)
Babylon (The Playlist)
The Comedians (Indiewire)
Fortitude (The Playlist)
Fresh Off the Boat (Indiewire)
Girls (The Playlist)
The Good Wife (The Playlist)
House of Cards (The Playlist)
Inside Amy Schumer (Indiewire)
The Late Show with David Letterman (Rolling Stone)
Togetherness (The Playlist)