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

[TCO]

I was given the first 4 series of NCIS to watch by a friend who said it was the best thing ever. I watched them all and it really is fucking terrible. It's cliched, over-convoluted, poorly written and most of the time the resulting plot makes little to no sense. It baffles me how it's still going, it really does.

[livid]

That's easy: old people

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

NCIS is fine. It's formulaic through the roof and hasn't really evolved at all over the years but it's ok. I AM older than most of you lot though so it's probably more in my field of vision than all your trendy young shows (I've seen one episode of Apartment 23 and not even heard of the others AGAIN).

[PatDaMan]

I should come into the TV/Movie section more often. Then I would've gotten to vote, and all of the shows that I watch would be higher.

Suits is an awesome show. The endings almost every week this past season have left me absolutely pining for the next episode. I can't wait till it comes back. Someone mentioned earlier that it's not as "cookie cutter" as other USA shows, or something to that effect. Completely agree. Anyone who hasn't given this show a shot yet should immediately.

Shameless might be my favorite show on TV. It's funny as hell, but can also get reeeeal heavy at times. Macy is excellent as Frank Gallagher. Every week you think he can't get lower, and somehow he does. It's odd because you kind of feel yourself starting to root for his character, and really believe he can turn things around, then he just does something even more depraved. Also, Emmy Rossum

Love Workaholics, perfect dumb humor, and Adam DeVine might be the funniest person on TV right now just because of his facial expressions.

Haven't really seen any of the other shows listed on here, but these three shows are awesome, and should definitely be higher. I haven't seen the voting thread, but I'm hoping The League gets some love up high on the list. I don't know if I've ever laughed at a show so consistently hard. Archer is great too, I'd love to see that on here.

[Your Mom]

Oh yeah,I forgot to mention in my original rundown that a friend of mine recently pointed out that Revolution is also a pretty blatant rip-off of this S. M. Stirling series.

Cool! New books to read (Y) Although it sounds like this book doesnt give a reason for the loss of power where Revolution does.

[gunnar hendershow]

Of the shows listed so far I only have an interest in possibly picking up Suits or Girls. Sway me either way EWB!

[GoGo Yubari]

I know a couple people who will be delighted with something to come in this five!

40. Burn Notice (43 pts, appeared on 7 ballots) (Last Year: #26)

39. The Office (43 pts, appeared on eleven ballots) (Last Year: #13)

38. Happy Endings (44 pts, appeared on five ballots) (Last Year: #36)

37. Treme (45 pts, appeared on four ballots) (Last Year: N/A)

36. The Thick of It (48 pts, appeared on five ballots) (Last Year: N/A)

Next Time, on EWB's Top 50 Shows of 2012: Fiddlesticks! Humbugs! It’s a total kerfuffle! What a hullaballoo!

[MalaCloudy Black]

Treme, more like Trem-YAY. Get it? Because.. nevermind.

I'm pretty sure I voted for Burn Notice, but man, has this past season been lackluster. Spinning its wheels a lot lately, though it's still a fun little popcorn action show at its worst.

Happy Endings & The Thick of It I'm unfamiliar with.

I haven't watched The Office in years. Has it gotten any better?

[GoGo Yubari]

The season before this one was the absolute worst the show has ever been. The current (and final) season is pretty watchable. It's probably worth noting that not only did The Office drop 26 spots, it's also the only show to appear on more than ten ballots and not make the top thirty. Ouch!

Happy Endings and The Thick of It are both shows I really want to get into. Burn Notice I've seen the first two seasons of. They were decent and someday the third will appear on my Netflix queue.

Treme, of course, is great. I'm very happy that it finally made the top fifty after missing it the past two years.

[Walker]

Burn Notice - Know of it. I've seen a few episodes here or there. Nothing really memorable.

The Office - Meh

Happy Endings - Not heard of this one. Any good?

Treme - On my "To Watch" list due to the EWB love it gets (well, 3 people on EWB). I'll get around to it soon.

The Thick of It - AH! There it is! Fantastic stuff. I have one episode to watch of the most recent series though. Will do tonight!

[LittleDaniel]

I actually saw an episode of The Office this year after giving up somewhere in season three or four. I didn't hate it!

[apsham]

I don't know how anyone watches The Office anymore, and it's not even about Carrell leaving the show.. I was fine with that because I loved Andy and wanted to see him used in awesome ways.

Then I realized it was The Office.

[fr34k]

Burn Notice: N/A

The Office: On my to do list.

Happy Endings: Heard good things, heard bad things. Will probably watch it at some point.

Treme: One of the best shows on televsion. I think it will get even better with rewatching and I'm sad the next mini-season is the last one.

The Thick of It: Heard good things, will probably watch.

EDIT: Also, who voted for Treme? GoGo, Cloudy, Josh and me? Club of Awesomeness.

Edited December 26, 2012 by fr34k

[Josh]

Burn Notice and Happy Endings hold no interest for me.

The Thick of It somewhat interests me on reputation alone.

Man, The Office. I debated including it my list. I only made 11 picks and I do watch it still, so it could have been on there. But ultimately, I'm only still watching in the hopes that it will get a respectable finale.

DOWN IN THE TREME

JUST ME AND MY BABY

WE'RE ALL GOIN' CRAZY

BUG JUMPIN' AND HAVIN' FUN (WOO)

(I can never quite tell what that last line is.)

Seriously, Treme deserves to a Top 5 show, at least. That said, it is painful how few people are watching it. Other shows on HBO get plenty of viewers, so that's not an excuse. Ultimately, it's just a far less sensationalistic show (i.e. a lot less wall-to-wall tits and/or bloody deaths), so the ADD public won't give it a chance. But goddamn is it ever tremendous. My favorite drama on television.

Also, who voted for Treme? GoGo, Cloudy, Josh and me? Club of Awesomeness.

We are EWB's Second Line.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I really like Burn Notice, or, as I said in the nomination thread, I really LIKED Burn Notice...until it kept breaking its own rules.

[livid]

I'm burnt () out on Burn Notice. It was good for awhile but like I said in the General TV thread, it's just overstayed it's welcome and is nowhere near the show it once was. It suffers from a lot of what How I Met Your Mother has suffered from and that's the fact that the overarching storyline shouldn't still be going on this long into the show.

I gave up on The Office a couple years ago, even before Carell left. I just don't like it as much as I used to and even then, it was never one of my favorite shows.

Happy Endings is tremendous. You won't find much plot advancement in the series but it's a great "people hanging out" show and has some of the best dialogue of any comedy going. It's easily the best network comedy not named Parks & Rec or Community. Not that that's necessarily saying much but it's just a fun show.

I've obviously heard a lot of good things about Treme but it will have to wait until after I actually watch The Wire. I know they're not connected but I think I would have to understand Simon's work before to properly get excited to see it.

Never seen The Thick of It so I can't comment.

[Benjamin]

First off, Don't Trust the Bitch being this fucking low, lower than goddamn NCIS and Burn Notice is criminal.

I want to watch more Happy Endings, but it's really hard to find here. I like The Office, but it's not brilliant.

Also, Treme might be a good show, but the first 10 minutes of the pilot is SO boring that I gave up.

[Josh]

Also, Treme might be a good show, but the first 10 minutes of the pilot is SO boring that I gave up.

I gave up on you, and it didn't even take me 10 minutes.

[Lint]

I voted for Burn Notice...think I had it pretty high too...bu as others have said, its been kinda weak lately. This season was the worst its had so far, the storyline for the show should've wrapped up awhile ago and gone out strong.

[ROC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oar4Zr5q5XM

Don't Trust the B gave us the above clip that is single handedly made by the expressions on the two characters' faces and so it deserves all the praise it gets on here and elsewhere.