EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2011: The Results

[Josh]

Why not use the wish to make Survivor an awesome show? You are so negative!

That wish would basically entail making it a 100% fictional series, as opposed to a partially-scripted reality series, which is kind of a useless wish.

We already have Gilligan's Island, which did that as well as anyone ever will. Alternatively, Lost, which I hear is okay.

And I really do try not to be negative. It's just that I find it's best to limit my TV watching to only the stuff I personally find superb. If I really followed every show that was just decent, I wouldn't make time for many other, more productive things.

[hot rod]

This was the best season of Tosh.0 so glad it got some recognition. Wilfred is just a show that everybody should at least give one watch. Definitely one of the better surprises of 2011.

[TGC]

I haven't cared about The Simpsons in so long.

Wilfred is on my list of shows to watch. I know Hulu has them all, and yet for some reason they only allow you to watch them on the computer, not on another device (like my PS3). I will get around to it.

No interest in Tosh.O

Psych, another silly USA show I tried and hated. Like Almost every silly USA show minus Burn Notice, and even that one I am like 3 seasons behind on.

Survivor this year, as in 2011, was excellent. At one point it was in my list, but I think I removed it.

[LL!]

The Simpsons isn't something I seek out to watch new episodes. If it's on, I watch it, though. So, I'm still a fan.

Wilfred was great. It didn't make my list, but I would put it in my top 20.

Tosh.O might be a little high, but I'm a fan of Tosh and laugh at the show. So there we go.

Psych is a harmless and humorous show that I watch on Netflix or if nothing is on and it happens to be on.

No interest in Survivor at all.

[apsham]

I haven't felt good about a new Simpsons in a while - except for the Christmas special this year, it was actually amazing. And you know why that was?

It wasn't trotting out a guest voice star and basing the episode around that. Hell, the episodes that don't do that recently have been better than the ones that do - the Chalmers episode comes to mind.

[Jimmy]

A little bit late, but while it was very high on my list, I'm not too bothered about Misfits being low. The third season was a massive drop in quality compared to the second, not only with the loss of Robert Sheehan, but because the writing just got lazy. Woody from This Is England did make it a lot of fun, but they just made all of the characters a bit boring and completley ruined all of Simon's momentum.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Happy it made the list...

Amazing Race

Happy Endings

Tosh.0

Survivor

Seen some of it, but need to watch more...

American Horror Story

Archer

Been meaning to watch...

Wilfred

Psych

Once Upon a Time

Haven't seen it forever, not sure I'll ever get around to it...

The Simpsons

[TGC]

A little bit late, but while it was very high on my list, I'm not too bothered about Misfits being low. The third season was a massive drop in quality compared to the second, not only with the loss of Robert Sheehan, but because the writing just got lazy. Woody from This Is England did make it a lot of fun, but they just made all of the characters a bit boring and completley ruined all of Simon's momentum.

I feel the exact opposite on everything you said. My only real complaint is that

Kelly didn't seem the least bit altered by what happened to her, despite the fact that she seemingly remembered both realities.

And Rudy more than made up for Nathan.

[Your Mom]

Your spoiler makes this sounds like something I might want to watch. How do I watch this?

[GoGo Yubari]

http://www.hulu.com/misfits

I might make it my next TV project after I finish season one of Homeland.

[Jimmy]

A little bit late, but while it was very high on my list, I'm not too bothered about Misfits being low. The third season was a massive drop in quality compared to the second, not only with the loss of Robert Sheehan, but because the writing just got lazy. Woody from This Is England did make it a lot of fun, but they just made all of the characters a bit boring and completley ruined all of Simon's momentum.

I feel the exact opposite on everything you said. My only real complaint is that

Kelly didn't seem the least bit altered by what happened to her, despite the fact that she seemingly remembered both realities.

And Rudy more than made up for Nathan.

Really? I thought Rudy was a great addition to the cast, but it still missed Nathan considerably. I also thought they made Alisha really boring this season, it just didn't seem like there was anything to her character after her arc last season, which I found very compelling. I also hated the early part of Curtis' story. I feel they made a mistake by putting them back into community service, because it felt like a cop out instead of really expanding and exploring other possibilities. I just remember loving season 2 so much - this season just never picked up in momentum until the last 15 minutes of the last episode.

Don't get me wrong, I'll watch Season 4 and it was one of my favoured show of the year, but I'm very worried for the next season.

Especially if they stick with Simon dying to save Alisha. Because then, without Nathan or Simon, Rudy's the only character I really like.

[livid]

http://www.hulu.com/misfits

I might make it my next TV project after I finish season one of Homeland.

Yeah I just watched the first episode last night and it was pretty promising.

I've started on Homeland and it's pretty good but it hasn't quite grabbed me yet.

[GoGo Yubari]

Okay! So it wouldn't be this list if I didn't make an error in numbering that meant that we were actually doing more shows than advertised. This time, I forgot that the tie at 30th place meant that Survivor should have been in 32nd place, not 31st, so technically this is a top 51. I'm not going to go and reorder everything because fuck that and besides, it would mean that all our riveting 2 Broke Girls discussion was for nothing. Cue the protests of how this list is invalid in 5... 4... 3... 2...

30. NCIS (63 pts, appeared on six ballots) (Last Year: #35)

30. Curb Your Enthusiasm(63 pts, appeared on six ballots) (Last Year: N/A)

29. Justified (66 pts, appeared on seven ballots) (Last Year: #45)

28. 30 Rock (66 pts, appeared on nine ballots) (Last Year: #15)

27. The Colbert Report (66 pts, appeared on ten ballots) (Last Year: #33)

26. Burn Notice (67 pts, appeared on six ballots) (Last Year: #20)

Next Time, on EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2011: You're awake! And I'm drunk! ... not the most romantic of greetings.

[Ron]

Justified is way way too low.

[Guest mr. potato head]

Cue the protests of how this list is invalid in 5... 4... 3... 2...

30. NCIS (63 pts, appeared on six ballots) (Last Year: #35)

You nailed it.

Rest of that five is awesome though.

[GoGo Yubari]

By and large a really good group. You guys have Molly to thank for NCIS jumping five spots this year, btw.

NCIS; see my thoughts on NCIS LA except my opinion of NCIS is slightly higher because the people on it look quirkier.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is awesome and has done a very good job of not wearing out its welcome despite being, amazingly, eight seasons old now. Part of it is that Larry David takes his time and doesn't just rush into the next season; I imagine season nine will air in 2013 and will be all the better for it. I guess it means that Curb will always be "Last Year: N/A" on these lists, though. If I were to make a six-episode playlist of the best half-hour comedy episodes of 2011, "Palestinian Chicken" would be on it(also on it would be "Duckling" from Louie, "End of the World" from Parks and Recreation, "Goodbye Michael" from The Office, "Remedial Chaos Theory" from Community, and "TGS Hates Women" from 30 Rock).

Justified! Shit. I keep forgetting that I need to watch Justified. I'm not sure if I can follow up Homeland with Justified, though, so season one of Misfits will probably still be my next TV project as a palate cleanser.

I think 30 Rock's drop to #28 this year can be attributed partially to the fact that it's a midseason series this year so there were no fall episodes. It's still very funny, though it's sort of lost some of its potency by being on the same block as Parks and Rec and Community, and always the last show to air of those. Very excited for its return in two weeks.

The Colbert Report is very funny but I rarely watch it. Glad it rose higher this year, though.

Burn Notice I watched season two of over the summer. It's a better-than-average USA series, pretty good formula popcorn TV, much like Leverage is.

[LittleDaniel]

Plus, 30 Rock really wasn't that great when it was on in 2011. I can think of maybe two episodes that I really liked overall from the last season, which is a shame because I love the show.

[GoGo Yubari]

From this year, looking at the episodes that aired, I really liked "TGS Hates Women," "Everything Sunny All the Time Always," "Queen of Jordan," and probably "100." Much of everything else I admittedly don't really remember anymore (and I wasn't feeling the season finale).

[LittleDaniel]

I really only remember "TGS Hates Women" and "Queen of Jordan" from that list, those were the two I meant but I couldn't remember the name of the reality show.

[Josh]

We were this close to a group without a Fuck Right Off show, then NCIS shat on all of our heads.

Burn Notice at least seems like a relatively original series, even if not something I'd actively choose to watch or even leave on in the background.

Justified seems pretty interesting, but it's one of many shows that suffer from "fuck, seems late to start watching now."

30 Rock may not be what it once was, and it's my least favorite of the actually good NBC Thursday Night stuff, but it's still head and shoulders above 95% of television.

COLBERT REPORT. This should have been much, much higher on the list. The continuing developments of the Colbert Super PAC alone should have put this show in the Top 15, if not the Top 10.