EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2012: The Results

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

And of course...LOUIE ISN'T FUCKING NUMBER ONE! Thank fuck, what a pile of steaming shit that is.

This is an example of a hilariously bad comment.

JohnnyPerfect, you are officially deemed as the poster with the worst taste on this board or... anywhere really.

As bad as my taste is, that's not going to change how shit Louie is LL

[GoGo Yubari]

Your disliking it gives it more credibility as a good show, actually.

[LittleDaniel]

To me, that's akin to saying, "hey, go hang out with people you really don't like just so you can laugh at how terrible they are." I'm not going to waste my time with that!

Surely that's the point of television drama and comedy? Most of the greatest TV comedy characters of all time are people you would never dream of inviting into your living room.

But generally there's at least one person who want to succeed. In the shows I mentioned, I don't care about the characters to the point of not caring whether they succeed or not.

[OctoberRaven]

Sons is one of my must-watch-every-week shows and one of the very few shows I buy the Blu-Rays of. I get that not everyone can enjoy it because just about everyone in the show has blood on their hands, but really, that's kind of the point of the series for me. I also enjoy it because it's got parallels to Hamlet. I thought Season Five was fantastic myself. Lots of "Oh shit" moment and moments of Glorious Bastardity. Also while they do quite a lot of "people reacting to the aftermath of shit that just went down set to classic rock or an original cast recording" montages in the show, it's never annoying when they do it and more often than not also includes a revelation in of itself.

[Josh]

Louie: Wanting to watch this but I can't find season 1 anywhere without having to buy it and I dont want to do that

The first 2 seasons are on Netflix, if you have that.

[zero]

All of these shows are magnificent, Justified being my personal favorite of the bunch. Seeing a few of you say you've only seen the first season, catch up! Season 2 is especially great thanks to Margo Martindale.

Sons of Anarchy bounced back in a big way after an embarrassingly bad finale last season, but this year was really good. Not season 2 good, but it didn't have creepy as fuck Henry Rollins, so it's understandable.

Mad Men was just superb this year, doubly impressive due to all the bullshit with AMC, but the extra time must have helped.

And what else can you say about Louie that hasn't already been said? Unlike anything ever before on TV and when it's all said and done, will probably revolutionize the half-hour comedy in a way similar to Seinfeld. And kudos to Louis/FX for taking some time off for quality control, more shows should do that, even if it sucks to wait.

[GoGo Yubari]

Meant to get this up earlier today but real life got in the way. Alas! I'll try and post the final update on the train tomorrow.

6. Dexter (163 pts, appeared on twenty-one ballots) (Last Year: #9)

5. Parks and Recreation (290 pts, appeared on twenty-six ballots) (Last Year: #2)

4. The Walking Dead (323 pts, appeared on twenty-five ballots) (Last Year: #3)

Next Time, on EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2012: Just because you killed Jesse James don't make you Jesse James.

[Josh]

- Never been able to watch Dexter, but given the scuttlebutt around here, that placement seems dubious.

- Parks and Rec just makes the Top 5. It should be higher, especially as it managed #2 last time. Season 4 was its best season yet, with several landmark episodes. Every episode was at least very good, and the season as a whole tells a very compelling story.

- I will likely never watch Walking Dead because I'm very much done with the zombie obsession and have been for ages. From the varying opinions I've heard on the show, it doesn't seem like it brings anything new to that genre. That tired-ass genre.

[C-MIL]

- Parks and Rec just makes the Top 5. It should be higher, especially as it managed #2 last time. Season 4 was its best season yet, with several landmark episodes. Every episode was at least very good, and the season as a whole tells a very compelling story.

- I will likely never watch Walking Dead because I'm very much done with the zombie obsession and have been for ages. From the varying opinions I've heard on the show, it doesn't seem like it brings anything new to that genre. That tired-ass genre.

Agreed on this.

I've seen Dexter though. It had a strong year and could be ratcheting up for a really cool ending. It tends not to do that though.

[Your Mom]

- Never been able to watch Dexter, but given the scuttlebutt around here, that placement seems dubious.- Parks and Rec just makes the Top 5. It should be higher, especially as it managed #2 last time. Season 4 was its best season yet, with several landmark episodes. Every episode was at least very good, and the season as a whole tells a very compelling story.- I will likely never watch Walking Dead because I'm very much done with the zombie obsession and have been for ages. From the varying opinions I've heard on the show, it doesn't seem like it brings anything new to that genre. That tired-ass genre.

You suck too. Why does everyone suck so much?

[Lint]

All of these shows are magnificent, Justified being my personal favorite of the bunch. Seeing a few of you say you've only seen the first season, catch up! Season 2 is especially great thanks to Margo Martindale.

Sons of Anarchy bounced back in a big way after an embarrassingly bad finale last season, but this year was really good. Not season 2 good, but it didn't have creepy awesome as fuck Henry Rollins, so it's understandable.

Mad Men was just superb this year, doubly impressive due to all the bullshit with AMC, but the extra time must have helped.

And what else can you say about Louie that hasn't already been said? Unlike anything ever before on TV and when it's all said and done, will probably revolutionize the half-hour comedy in a way similar to Seinfeld. And kudos to Louis/FX for taking some time off for quality control, more shows should do that, even if it sucks to wait.

Fixed that for ya Zero

[Ruki]

That means a top 3 of Community, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones? I can deal with that

[Josh]

- Never been able to watch Dexter, but given the scuttlebutt around here, that placement seems dubious.- Parks and Rec just makes the Top 5. It should be higher, especially as it managed #2 last time. Season 4 was its best season yet, with several landmark episodes. Every episode was at least very good, and the season as a whole tells a very compelling story.- I will likely never watch Walking Dead because I'm very much done with the zombie obsession and have been for ages. From the varying opinions I've heard on the show, it doesn't seem like it brings anything new to that genre. That tired-ass genre.

You suck too. Why does everyone suck so much?

Mom?

[Skummy]

I don't like Dexter at all. It's a silly premise, and it got old for me very quickly. It baffles me that people sometimes talk about it as some high drama, or that it's somehow realistic.

Never seen Parks & Rec.

Never seen Walking Dead.

[Pizza]

I figured Walking Dead would be ahead of Game of Thrones and maybe even Community because it aired in the fall as opposed to spring, and is still fresh in people's minds. Very curious about the top 3's order now.

I dropped Dexter after last years terrible season, but at some point, I'm probably going to watch Season 7 over the course of a weekend. Season 6 was really bad though, in a 'was this show ever really that good in the first place?' way.

[Walker]

Dexter has had such a slip in quality. There was some good stuff this season, but it was always the stuff at the beginning of a new plot and it would always be fucked up by the middle or end. I suspect some people voted for it the same reason I did - I couldn't think of anything else.

Parks & Rec has been itself. I've enjoyed it a lot.

The Walking Dead has been really good this year. The prison is a really good setting, it was the gamechanger for me who edges on boredom at the midway point of the season usually.

[Benjamin]

Great that Parks & Rec was above Dexter, as Dexter is really boring nowadays. Thought with Debra finding out it'd freshen the show up, but no, still boring.

Never got the appeal of The Walking Dead.

Game Of Thrones and Community in the top three is brilliant, hoping for one of them to be number 1.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Brilliant season of Dexter, happy with that placement. Even on it's worst days it's still one of the best shows on television.

Still need to start watching Parks and Rec. After that and Community got rave reviews on here a while back, I decided to try them both out and ultimatley I only ended up watching one episode of Parks and instead watched every episode of Community, which was glorious. Now I've done that, I need to try to do the same with Parks and Rec.

The Walking Dead is fantastic and coming off a pretty outstanding season so far.

Top three placements should be interesting. I've got all of season 1 of BB yet still haven't got round to starting on it. Community is the funniest show on television and GOT is in a league of it's own and is hopefully number one.

Edited January 9, 2013 by JohnnyPerfect

[MalaCloudy Black]

Even on it's worst days it's still one of the best shows on television.

Maybe prior to season 5. Honestly, Dexter's had one standout season (4), and the rest have ranged from "solid TV" to "bafflingly awful".

I like The Walking Dead. Slow in the beginning, but it's really picked up the pace in season 3 and seems to have found its footing.

Parks & Recreation is one of my favorite shows on TV right now. I think I've said that about, like, three or four shows now, haven't I? But it's really magnificent. Hasn't missed a beat since season 2, and even as weak as season 1 was compared to the rest season 1 was still good.

[Jimmy]

I've loved Walking Dead this season. The quality of some of the episodes, especially compared to some of the fodder in season two, has been outstanding. The cliffhangers leave me begging for more and the characters have all moved on a considerable deal. I've always enjoyed it, but this season just feels like a huge leap in quality.

Started catching up with Parks & Rec season 5 yesterday and it's as great as ever. Everyone's just so likeable, and it's rare that it makes my heart warm as much as it makes me laugh. Just truly a fantastic little show. Maybe it's popularity on the list is a consequence of no Community, so people haven't been watching the Thursday night slot like they used to? Or maybe just the increase in popularity of shows like Breaking Bad. 4th is still a great placement for it, though - and I hope to finish the rest of what there is of Season 5 on thursday.

Never watched Dexter. Always thought about trying it cos it's meant to be great early on, but there's other shows I need to watch more.