Best of '15: The TV Experience
Monday, December 28, 2015 at 4:40PM Dancin' Dan here to take a look at 2015 on the small screen. When I moved to NYC late last year I thought that I would be going to the movies all the time. After all, so many more movies play here than my previous home in the middle of Connecticut! But the sheer glut of movies to see, both old and new, caused a lot of second-guessing and a bit of paralysis, leading to a less robust slate than I had imagined.
But the plentiful offerings of television were there for me in my indecisive, paralyzed state. I didn't watch everything, but I did watch a lot. And these are...
15 Favorite Things About TV in '15
after the jump...
15. The dragons of Game of Thrones
Say what you will about Game of Thrones, and people have (especially in its fifth season), but I don’t think anyone can deny the simple fact that Dany’s dragons are AWESOME. And this season had the most dragon action yet as they grew up, flew, and set fire to an entire gladiatorial arena’s worth of enemies. Plus, they’re PRETTY.
14. The end of Documentary Now's "Sandy Passage"
IFC’s Documentary Now is probably the weirdest, most esoteric show on TV. Creators Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers lampoon nearly every major documentary style of film history, from ‘20s silent Nanook of the North to HBO’s Vice series. The premiere episode, a spoof of gay classic Grey Gardens named “Sandy Passage” provides hilarious, dead-on performances from Armisen and Hader as Big and Little “Vivvy”, but then in the last few minutes, the parody switches gears and starts spoofing something else entirely, ending on a sublime, nearly surreal note that made me eager to see what else this seemingly one-trick pony of a show had up its sleeve.
13. The genderqueer mindfuck of Sense8
The Wachowskis’ reach may exceed their grasp, but not when it comes to identity and sexuality, and in its best moments, Sense8 makes magic where most other TV shows struggle to even form words. It’s difficult to describe anything that happens on Sense8 without a too-lengthy explanation, but the show makes hands-down the sexiest scene of the year one in which every gender/sexual identity gets theirs, and then some; it’s a much stronger example of the fluidity of sexual attraction than Empire’s mess with Jamal and Alicia Keys.
12. Black Cindy’s relationship with Judaism on Orange is the New Black
No storyline on TV this year made me laugh as much AND touched me as much as Black Cindy’s conversion to Judaism on OITNB’s third season. Besides being completely hilarious (all Cindy knows about Judaism comes from pop culture, Fiddler on the Roof and Woody Allen), the scripts actually find a touching backbone and purpose for the storyline, and when Cindy finally gets “reborn” in the mikvah in the season finale, Adrienne C. Moore finds a joy that goes much deeper than the longing for a Kosher meal she had when she first started. And on top of that, it feels entirely true to my own experience of being Jewish: It’s a religion of acceptance. And food.
11. Constance Wu's reaction shots on Fresh Off the Boat
If I’m being completely honest, I don’t love Fresh Off the Boat, but I still watch it just for Constance Wu’s Jessica Huang, as funny and singular a comic creation as has graced a network sitcom in many years. From every priceless line reading and bit of physical comedy (“No means no! Respect girls!") to every sideways glance, everything she does keeps me in stitches.
10. THAT song from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Was there anything more giggle-inducing on TV this year than Titus Andromedon's "Peeno Noir"? Tituss Burgess had so many wonderful moments on Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's 30 Rock follow-up on Netflix ("Black, gay, and old? I'm not even gonna know which box to check on the hate crime form."), but the one thing that encapsulates what made Titus(s) a breakout star this year was this wonderfully named "ode to black penis", which is much tamer and far funnier than what it sounds like. Caviar, Myanmar, mid-size car, indeed.
9. Allison Janney on Mom
It’s the oldest story in the world: Great actress slums it in a broadcast sitcom, elevating bad material and making it look easy along the way, then wins an Emmy for her efforts. We all know that Allison Janney is funny, and a brilliant actress, but Mom’s second season took her character, Bonnie Plunkett, on quite a rollercoaster ride. How Janney manages to elicit laughter, and tears, and a feeling of fear, when Bonnie ends up on the top of a children’s jungle gym after falling off the wagon and running away from her daughter's intervention is, simply put, miraculous.
8. The design of Hannibal
RIP Bryan Fuller’s totally singular series (I'm so tired of having to say that. Wonderfalls, Pushing Daises...). But frankly, the fact that NBC aired TV’s weirdest, most violent, most surreal show for three seasons was far more than we could ever have hoped for. The show always looked great, but when Mads Mikkelsen's dapper Hannibal Lecter escaped to Italy this year, the show’s costume designers and set decorators ran with the opportunity to dial everything up to eleven. Sumptuous, palatial interiors. Luxe, swoon-worthy clothes. And of course, decadent, (literally) to-die-for food. Hannibal was a feast for the eyes unparalleled by any other show perhaps since the birth of television.
7. Anna Chlumsky's big scene on Veep
Long one of Veep’s most stable characters, Anna Chlumsky’s Amy was promoted to Selina’s campaign manager this year, and finally had a meltdown of truly epic proportions. But Chlumsky didn’t just play the (ample) comedy of the scene. The way she seethes with anger and disappointment when she tells now-President Meyer that the only thing she has achieved is that after her, the country would never again have a female president cuts straight to the heart of Amy and Selina’s long, close working relationship, and cuts deep. It's the gigantic middle finger we all wish we could give to our worst boss.
6. The hastags of Jane the Virgin
Jane the Virgin’s pleasures are many, but my favorite thing about the show is probably its usage of hashtags. Hashtag-TV may very well be the death of TV, but Jane uses half-silly, half-serious hashtags that pop up as part of the narration and plot, so they don’t feel added on by some faceless network executive or showrunner after the fact. And while the silly ones are wonderfully silly, it’s when the show uses them seriously - as it memorably did to highlight the plight of undocumented immigrants this year - that Jane the Virgin turned into one of TV’s most necessary shows, especially in this political climate.
5. The period trappings of Marvel's Agent Carter
After the mess Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. turned into, I wasn't exactly eagerly awaiting it's sister/spin-off/prequel series. But in less than five minutes, Agent Carter had me hooked. The Old Hollywood backlot-style sets, the gorgeous period costumes, the radio show... it hit my sweet spot well and good. And the design of the sets (the Automat!) and costumes (Peggy's red hat!) influenced the style of the scripts, as well, making the whole thing feel like it was brought directly from the '40s to our television screens. It wll worked so well that right now, I'm more excited about Agent Carter's second season than I am about any of Marvel's upcoming film projects.
4. Hannah on Please Like Me
Comedienne Hannah Gadsby isn’t that well-known in the US, but she’s been a highlight on Australian import Please Like Me (the best TV show you probably aren’t watching) this season. As a woman suffering from severe depression, Gadsby makes you feel deeply for the character while still finding a strong, sardonic, funny voice for her. But she’s best in the background of scenes, always eliciting laughs by how she reacts - or even better, doesn’t react - to the main action.
3. The ensemble cast of The Leftovers
Go ahead. Pick an episode, any episode, of The Leftovers’ stunning second season, and show me a single episode of any other TV show on the air with as uniformly great performances. I would say I’d wait, but I know I’d be waiting a LONG time. It’s not just that the cast is uniformly strong, it’s that Tom Perotta and Damon Lindelof keep giving them the most incredible showcase material: The questionnaire scene from Episode 6 for Regina King and Carrie Coon, the entirety of Episode 3 for Amy Brenneman, Episode 5 for Christopher Eccleston, Episode 8 for Justin Theroux, and Episode 9 for Liv Tyler (lest you think the show forgot all about her). Even small scenes like the reunion between Brenneman’s Laurie and her daughter Jill in Episode 7 sing in a way no other show can match right now. It may be a difficult watch, but The Leftovers is breathtaking TV and the cast is a large part of that.
2. The feminist rage of Penny Dreadful
Penny Dreadful had a slightly uneven second season, constantly withholding the character pairings/confrontations that would be most exciting, but when it tapped into its latent feminist streak, it really became something special. Yes, there was Patti LuPone’s cut-wife and the coven of "Nightcomers" led by Helen McCrory's Evelyn Poole, striking back at a patriarchal society with the only weapons they had, but the show pulled out all the stops when Billie Piper’s “Lily”, meant to be Frankenstein’s creature’s bride, finally revealed her innermost thoughts to the creature in episode 8. Unleashing a tirade of the most purple prose heard on TV in many moons, cleverly lapsing into a hint of her character’s first season Irish brogue as she rages against what men do to women in bed (she was a prostitute before Frankenstein brought her back) before lashing out at the world and declaring her dominance…. this was the most riveting, exhilirating eight minutes of television in 2015.
1. The musical numbers of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Yes, yes, I’ve gushed about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on this very site before. But really, nothing else this year has brought me as much endless pleasure as Rachel Bloom & Co.’s musical numbers, from the pilot’s table-setting “West Covina” (which has a bridge of Sondheim-ian proportions) to the winter finale’s Tova Feldshuh-starring “Where’s The Bathroom?” each number has been executed with near-perfection. Bloom, in the most fearless performance of the year, sells every one like a Broadway vet, and when she yields the spotlight to actual Broadway vets Santino Fontana and Donna Lynne Champlin, they respond in kind. Whether singing about how she's a better person than you, how she DEFINITELY has friends, likening her depression to a sexy old French film, hoping her one-night-stand doesn't kill her, detailing (with disgusting accuracy) how girls get ready for a date, or how good she is at impressing a crush's parents, Bloom's Rebecca Bunch feels things in bigger ways than other people, so in true musical comedy fashion, she sings her feelings. And her neuroses. And every time she does, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend comes up gold.
What's been the best part of your TV experience in 2015? Tell us in the comments!
Reader Comments (22)
This is a great list and all, but I can't help but linger on ... another Wonderfalls fan! Squee!
Great work and I agree with most of them, especially Tituss Burgess & Anna Chlumsky.
May I add my personal faves:
Miranda Otto's hair in Homeland.
Cush Jumbo in The Good Wife.
Chanel #2's Death Scene in Scream Queens.
Sheldon and Amy FINALLY having coitus in The Big Bang Theory.
BILLY EICHNER.
No "Mad Men" finale???? The coke commercial was genius!
Brezz -- i second that. Mad Men finale was my peak TV experience this year.
Mad Men forever and ever
Maura Tierney in The Affair
Transparent S2 (Bravo! Love you Amy Landecker)
Everything about The Leftovers specially the songs (Magic from Xanadu? Yes!)
Getting On (I'll miss you girls!)
The Knick's finale (and that genius score)
and Girls + The Good Wife as good as new
I can't think about "riveting minutes" on Penny Dreadful without mentioning a) Eva Green every episode and b) that smokin' love scene in the sixth episode between Reeve Carney and Jonny Beauchamp (which I have as one continuous scene instead of the intercut snippets of the episode broadcast...).
Kirsten Dunst's performance in "Fargo", specifically in "Loplop"
"You're the Worst" tackling depression head-on and very effectively (Aya Cash is spectacular this season)
Mad Men's finale and the Coke commercial
Making a Murderer and The Jinx hopefully spurring on a slew of thought-provoking investigative series
The episodes "Nashville" and "Mornings" of "Master of None", which far surpassed any expectations I'd ever had of Aziz Ansari
Anna Chlumsky's meltdown scene in "Veep" (on the list above, but still is spectacular)
Anytime Oscar Isaac is onscreen in "Show Me a Hero"
Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime continuing to force revolution in the television industry
Michaela Watkins laughing (and then crying) in the elevator on "Casual"
Joshua Brand for writing "The Americans" episode "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?"
Jack Fallahee for making me continue to tune into a sub-par series just to look at him
1. The ensemble to "The Americans." They delivered week after week and with "Stingers" gave us an episode of such corkscrew power I thought I would pass out.
2. The duet of Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkleson in "Hannibal." The amount I love this show is frankly disquieting and they're the reason why. The scene in the art gallery....
3. "Hardhome" from Game of Thrones. Holy. Fucking. Shit. I had far fewer issues with season five than most, but even if I did, this was one of the greatest hours of television I have ever seen. Right up there with "Long Term Parking" and "The Body."
4. "Vision Quest" from Archer.
5. The number of really great composers doing peerless work: Brian Retzell, Max Richter, Abel Korzeniowski
6. "London Spy"
7. The stunt work in "Daredevil"
8. The niche networks have really stepped it up. There really is more great television now than at any other time and because it can be accessed by a broad swath of audiences, the way niche networks have actually monitized it is fascinating and is probably the single biggest contributing factor to the idea of the Golden Age of Television.
Billie Piper was glorious this season
I would add the scene where Robin Wright gets blood drawn on House of Cards. Whatever you thought of this season, that was one of the richest visuals the creators have given us.
#2 here is actually a brilliant choice and gets at why this season of Penny Dreadful was miles and miles above season 1. an actual identity and purpose. not just borrowed myths.
My top 5 would be Mad Men only:
5 - Don abandons that meeting
4 - Joan quits McCann
3 - Don hugs that guy
2 - Don and Betty in Person to Person
And 1 Peggy rollerskating
That said, I was thrilled and cried like a baby in that episode of The Americans with Lois Smith. Just riveting.
Holy crap, you watch 'Please Like Me'? YES! I absolutely adore this show.
Yeah, The Americans and Fargo are the undeniable snubs of this listing.
james14 -- Show Me a Hero was so good.
There's so much great TV right now!
1. Mad Men finale - All of the lonely characters end the series taking a few steps toward better relationships with people, perhaps.
2. The great actresses of Fargo and Rectify (why don't people watch Rectify?) - and Maura Tierney, too. Her show isn't as good as Dunst's or J. Smith-Cameron's, but her performance is more than worthy of their shows.
3. The lovely earnestness of The Americans, where the entire weight of death and betrayal is actually felt.
4. As Parks and Rec left the air, several new comedies debuted or came into their own with Parks's same sense of lightness and positivity. Jane the Virgin, Fresh Off the Boat, Master of None, Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt. I'm so tired of cynicism for cynicism's sake!
5. Steven Soderbergh's camera. I've never before seen anything as beautiful as The Knick on TV.
Shaw kissing Root on Person Of Interest.
What this list confirms, and the comments, is that there's so much on TV it's almost overwhelming to keep up with everything. If you don't watch the shows when they air, you fall helplessly behind. I don't know about others, but I feel anxiety about it all, and binge-watching to catch up only makes it worse.
This is why, for me, I didn't get to experience all the great TV out there, and continue to stick with films because you can finish it in one sitting and then move on to the next one. One season of a great drama series, on the other hand, sucks up so much time.
With the exception of 'Mad Men,' 'Jane the Virgin,' "Rectify,' and 'The Americans,' all of which I've been watching from the beginning and still love, the stand-out shows for me are the half-hour shows, probably because they're easier to get through. 'You're the Worst,' 'Fresh of the Boat,' 'Master of None,' 'Inside Amy Schumer,' 'Girls,' 'Veep,' and 'Louie' were all highlights. I didn't love 'Man Seeking Woman' or 'Broad City' always, but they had enough interest moments to keep me watching.
I'm still watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (I thought the back half of Season 2 was pretty much the show peaking, but it's still not as bad as the first two thirds of Season 1. The concept at the beginning had something (Marvel Cinematic Universe variant of The X-Files), but the almost 100% serialized approach (meaning: Actually nothing like The X-Files) they took after the twist two thirds through Season 1 meant that there was no way to get new viewers in or old viewers back in the way that the X-Files could get new viewers in the fold with a really good self-contained episode or two.) If it gets cancelled? I'll feel disappointed but will understand it as kind of justified. It's been bleeding viewers since it's beginning, after all.
What Joseph said. There is SO much TV out there to watch. Not having FX meant that I wasn't able to watch Fargo or the third season of The Americans (or AHS: Hotel) when they aired. Same goes for BBC America and Doctor Who. And I know I'll get flack for this, but I was just never able to get into Mad Men. I tried the first season but it just wasn't giving me what I wanted. I appreciated that it was well done, but I never got really interested or invested.
james14 - LOVE the shoutout to Michaela Watkins on Casual. I only just started watching it, but she's really wonderful in it.
So much yes to "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"'s musical numbers, and you highlighted my favorite - "Feeling Kinda Naughty Tonight." The lyrics to that - about the love/hate relationship between frenemies - are just so brilliant.
Another TV hightlight this year? "The Wiz." They got it so right when it could've gone so wrong.
Also: the pegging episode on "Broad City." I loved that it didn't turn into some cheap gay panic/ewww-straight-men-want-it-up-the-butt humor. And the ending to their fight, when Abbi is trying to leave but gets..."stuck"...in the door, was hilarious.
And based on one episode I've seen, I'm pretty sure "Telenovela" is maybe not so great a show (but also maybe not terrible?), but goddamn if they don't cast a bunch of beautiful men and then make them take their (very tight) shirts off every 5 minutes.
I really can't with "Please Like Me". The acting is, for the most part, painfully amateurish. I find Josh Thomas super unlikable, too. That voice! When people tell me they like it, I feel like I must be looking at them like their brain is hanging out their ear or something.
Some entries I would include:
1) Katya Zamolodchikova and Kennedy Davenport lip sync for their lives in Rupaul's Drag Race.
2) Claire Foy in Wolf Hall, serving period bitch realness.
3) 12 Angry Men, Inside Amy Schumer (I'm really surprised this wasn't included).