EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2014: The Results

[GoGo Yubari]

I don't know why I'm doing these at 3am every single time but that trend's not going away for a while

15. Silicon Valley (75 points, appeared on eleven ballots) (Last Year: NR)

14. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (79 points, appeared on ten ballots) (Last Year: NR)

13. Hannibal (87 points, appeared on eight ballots) (Last Year: #13)

12. Parks and Recreation (97 points, appeared on eleven ballots) (Last Year: #4)

11. South Park (98 points, appeared on eleven ballots) (Last Year: #20)

Next Time, on EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2014: No, highly irregular is the time I found a human foot in a toaster oven. This is just odd.

[Benjamin]

Fucking awesome set! Silicon Valley is the second best comedy to debut last year; Last Week Tonight is great, became one of my favorite talk shows instantly; Hannibal is like the second best show of 2014, and an absolute must-watch for me; and Parks and Rec had a marvelous season after a bit of a boring season preceeding it.

South Park. People still watch that? Is it better?

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Silicon Valley and Hannibal are on my 'Need to watch but probably won't in a hurry' list. Talk shows aren't really my thing, so I'll passover John Oliver.

Parks and Rec is something I probably need to give more time to. I watched the first season and got so sick of Amy Poelher I had to stop watching, but I'll power through because I've been told it gets better.

Why is South Park still a thing?

[Colly]

That's the first batch where I actually watch all of them, even if I am well behind on Parks and Rec. Woo.

South Park is still a thing because it's reight good.

[Benji]

Yeah, South Park has been inconsistent over the years, but it always has some solid episodes a season, and this season in particular was largely on point.

First full batch for me too.

Americans - start watching Hannibal. It's great and yet struggles in the ratings

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

If the quality has improved, then fair enough. Last I remember watching it I found myself hating it, so I must have caught it in a slump.

[Walker]

That there is a good batch of shows, love them all.

[zero]

This season of South Park was really, really solid. One of the best in recent years.

Parks & Rec is always superb, gonna be so sad to see it go.

Hannibal is the best show on TV right now and it blows my mind it's on network TV. If it were on HBO, it'd win every Golden Globe tonight... even the ones for movies. Seriously, if you don't watch Hannibal, we're not friends and I hope you get crabs.

Last Week Tonight came out of nowhere and out-Daily Showed the Daily Show. While not the biting satire of Colbert, John Oliver has put together the best comedy news show and I'll go ahead and say best American news show, period. He talks about real issues in clear language, doesn't bow to the false god of objectivity, and is fucking funny. It couldn't have come at a better time either as Bill Maher is losing his fucking mind.

[TKz]

I don't know that South Park needed to be THAT high, but it definitely deserves a place high up this year. They've really gone all out to evolve the show and do something new, interesting and funny. It's almost a different show in some ways now.

Parks and Rec was great and will continue to have a place until it ends.

Last Week Tonight is the first of these shows that I"ve ever watched, missed out on Colbert and never bothered trying to jump in. But man, it's fantastic. Some of the most consistently entertaining and informative content on TV.

And Hannibal gets a massive "meh" from me. I struggled to bother with Season 1, couldn't keep myself interested past the first episode of Season 2.

And Silicon Valley is probably the best new comedy in a while, outside of Brooklyn. Not that there's much competiton...

[RoyWill Rumble]

Now taking bets on which EWB favorite show Will is going to shit on next!

Okay, who had Community? Someone had to have had Community.

To be fair, Community was incredible, then got reaaaaaaaaallllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy bad. Maybe it's picked back up again? I don't tend to stick with TV shows. Same thing happened to Walking Dead. I've heard its found its footing again, but I just don't really care/can't force myself to slog through the bad to get to the goood.

[zero]

Community never got that bad. Season 4 is overbashed... except the finale which really is terrible.

[Walker]

Bill Maher is losing his fucking mind.

I've loved Oliver for a while, his work on Daily Show and The Bugle left no doubt he'd be able to carry a TV show of his own, but this helped a lot in making Last Week Tonight a must watch for me. I need my hard-hitting satire and with Maher going off the rails this came at the perfect time.

I wish the UK had a spot for this sort of show. The closest we seem to get is Charlie Brooker's yearly reviews, everything else gets bogged down with the latest trendy comedian or Jimmy Carr.

[apsham]

Community never got that bad. Season 4 is overbashed... except the finale which really is terrible.

Thank you! Perfectly fine television - after his amazing season three was, I think the best thing that happened for Harmon was getting let go for that one season because I don't think there was any way that it would live up to what everyone thought it would be even with him at the helm.

I couldn't get into Hannibal at all and Bojack.. I am so happy to see it do so well because Will Arnett deserves some non Arrested Development success, and the guy who created it is from an old comedy troupe I adore, but I can't watch cheerfully depressing tv without feeling weird.

Rest of it is pretty much awesome to see, even if I think the end of Parks and Rec is coming in just in time.

[Bobfoc]

It gets bashed at almost every opportunity by the usual suspects here, but South Park is always must-see television for me. It's a nice weekly half-hour of zany fun that is, at times, some of the sharpest satire out there, and it's just really nice to be able to lose myself in an anything-goes romp of silliness that doesn't take itself too seriously. I find plenty of things sad and disturbing in real life, but comedy like South Park and that of certain stand-up comedians gives me a rare opportunity to laugh at something rather than be morose about it, and for me, that's something that's extremely valuable. It doesn't mean that I don't consider the issues covered to be serious or that they should be dismissed and mocked at every turn, but it does mean that I'm happy for a more light-hearted take on matters every now and then as a form of escapism.

I know not everyone will agree with me, and that's perfectly reasonable. I suppose that while I don't care at all if others don't like South Park as much as me, it gets a little irritating that some people always have to be such dicks about it.

[GoGo Yubari]

The stars in the sky, the moon on high/They're great for you and me, because they're free...

10. Mad Men (107, appeared on seven ballots) (Last Year: #6)

9. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (142 points, appeared on 14 ballots) (Last Year: #32)

8. Orange is the New Black (143 points, appeared on fourteen ballots) (Last Year: #11)

7. Fargo (154 points, appeared on twelve ballots) (Last Year: NR)

Next Time, on EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2014: Oh god. I have a type.

[Benji]

At some point I really need to watch OITNB, I don't know what it is but something puts me off the show.

[Ant]

I watched the first season and i wasn't really impressed to be honest. It felt a bit like Bad Girls but without the "grittiness"

[Benji]

Oh man, I loved Bad Girls. The day they killed off Fenner it went downhill though.

[GoGo Yubari]

At some point I really need to watch OITNB, I don't know what it is but something puts me off the show.

For me it was traumatic memories of how completely fucking awful Weeds got. It took me about half a year to get over it.

[9 to 5]

Or when that slut from Footballer's Wives did a cross-over. It was dead.