EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2015: The Results

[GoGo Yubari]

Last year, the first year I was able to vote for Justified, I declined to because season 5 was actively mediocre. This year, though, it was pretty fantastic start to finish, I think only behind seasons 2 and 3 in terms of overall quality. I wish it had run another year or two but maybe the fact that it was the last season was exactly why it was so good; you couldn't really stretch out Boyd Crowder escaping Raylan's gaze much longer than they managed, and without Boyd there the show would feel like it was missing something. I would be all the fuck in on a movie featuring Timothy Olyphant as Raylan down the line, though.

if it were up to me Arrow would be lower because season 3 was some of the worst TV I watched all year. Might have been the only thing I watched and was actually mad at myself for watching (unless Glee's final season ended last year), but between the previous 1.5 seasons being really good and a feeling of investment in that whole CW DC universe, I slogged through. Luckily, season 4 has course-corrected a lot and it's pretty decent again.

hopelessly behind on Last Week Tonight.

I'm also bummed that Mad Men's streak of just cracking the top 10 finally came to an end, but I'm rationalizing it in my head as being the fault of one of the final episodes of the show being dedicated to the fate of Megan's awful, awful family. And another being about Glenn Bishop. And so much time being wasted on that waitress. Like, respect for not caving to fan-service in theory but come on, just give me Sal Romano and Paul Kinsey. (REMINDER: this is the show I ranked second.)

I'm a little ways into season 1 of BoJack. It's better than I thought it would be! I should get back on it, but it's in my ongoing saga of being awful at committing to Netflix shows (and that's not over yet, stay tuned to the next update).

[Your Mom]

I guess I should try that Bojack show. Seems like a lot of people like it

[GoGo Yubari]

Usually my "will Srar like it" radar is really good but I'm actually not 100% on that one either way. Please report back so I can refine my algorithm.

[Bobfoc]

I keep hearing good things about Bojack, but I'm put off by the trailers, which make it look like something I really wouldn't be interested in. Most people seem to suggest that it starts slowly and gets into a surprisingly decent groove at some stage during the first season, but I'm still not sure whether I'd like it or hate it.

[GoGo Yubari]

should've been up earlier. sorry 'bout that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (132 points, appeared on fifteen ballots) (Last Year: #3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (135 points, appeared on thirteen ballots) (Last Year: #9)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Master of None (142 points, appeared on fifteen ballots) (Last Year: NR)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Parks and Recreation (161 points, appeared on seventeen ballots) (Last Year: #12)

Next Time, on EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2015: Only two things I know about Albuquerque: Bugs Bunny should have taken a left turn there, and give me a hundred tries, I’ll never be able to spell it.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Shows I've watched! A show I haven't! I should really get in to Master of None, but I'm slacking horribly on my Netflix shows. Parks & Rec had what I thought was as close as to a perfect last season for them, B99 has been consistently funny, and Agents of SHIELD had a pretty good season with one of the best episodes they've had in a few seasons ("4,722 Hours"). 

[Benji]

Post updates every day and yet you still apologise for "being late" when half these lists never even get posted by others (myself included). I love you GoGo

[Ruki]

I'm glad Parks and Rec, SHEILD and B99 made the top 10! They deserve it!

[Benjamin]

That is a fucking stellar block of shows. Love them all.

[GoGo Yubari]

Really happy Parks jumped back up into the top 10. Pretty much a near-perfect final season. SHIELD is good enough, Master of None is probably next after Mr. Robot for me to catch up on, watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine right now, or after I get this done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Better Call Saul (165 points, appeared on seventeen ballots) (Last Year: NR)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Game of Thrones (179 points, appeared on sixteen ballots) (Last Year: #1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Jessica Jones (186 points, appeared on nineteen ballots) (Last Year: NR)

Next Time, on EWB's Top 50 TV Shows of 2015: My ponytail is cool. God said so.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Flash, Daredevil and Kimmy Schmidt in some order for top three then? Solid set.

[Ruki]

I liked Kimmy Schmidt....but top 3? Ehh, I dunno. But my money is on Daredevil being #1. Which is awesome! And I'm hyped for season 2 starting in March.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

I think all three of the ones just revealed were better, but UKS has enough charm to rack up the votes around 6th-8th which get decent points when they stack up.

Schmidt for third, Flash second, Daredevil top; I reckon.

[Pizza]

Pretty good year for Netflix.

[Benjamin]

Top 3 are pretty damn good, replace the Flash with Master of None, Jessica Jones or B99 and it would have been perfect, I reckon. Hopefully Daredevil or Kimmy Schmidt is number 1, but I think it's gonna' be the Flash, which is still sweet.

Never watched Better Call Saul since I didn't finish Breaking Bad. 

Game of Thrones isn't in the least bit deserving of top 10 this year, it's dropped so much in terms of quality. Season 5 was by far the worst season its had, with a lot of boring ass holes.

Jessica Jones started off pretty fun, but really ramped up in terms of sheer emotional investment you have to put into it, especially by episode 6 or 7. Crazy good stuff.

[GhostMachine]

55 minutes ago, Benkid Nada said:

Game of Thrones isn't in the least bit deserving of top 10 this year, it's dropped so much in terms of quality. Season 5 was by far the worst season its had, with a lot of boring ass holes.

 

Top 10, yes. Top 5, hell no.

If The Flash isn't top 3, we riot?

[MalaCloudy Black]

I still feel like Better Call Saul was five times the show Game of Thrones was last year, but (GoT spoilers)

 

Spoiler

Jon's stabbing was probably the most shocking moment of the year. 

 

[LL!]

Just finished episode 9 of Fargo Season 2 and boy do I feel like a dummy not having watched it in time. Easily would've broken into my top 3.

[GoGo Yubari]

Better Call Saul was such a pleasant surprise; I was optimistic going in but there are so many ways it could have gone so wrong, and it didn't and felt like an incredibly worthy continuation of the Breaking Bad canon. Can't wait for it to come back next month.

Game of Thrones definitely had its absolute worst season last year. I don't see how you can argue otherwise. The Jaime plotline was basically a disaster from start to finish, they didn't learn their lesson from the rape scene backlash of season 4 (and in fact did an even more pointless one as an episode closer), and there's clearly a degree of waiting for book updates that simply aren't coming. However, even GoT at its weakest provides shit like the Massacre at Hardhome, Olenna Tyrell and the High Sparrow skewering each other with pointed insults, Tyrion and Dany meeting for the first time, and the many cliffhanger endings in the finale. Its characters are too good and its scope is too epic to really fall the fuck apart in the way other shows have around this point.

Jessica Jones was great. Perfect casting, got a little loose/loopy near the end but it pulled it all together for the finale. Hope she at least makes an appearance in Luke Cage, I don't want to wait until 2017 for more Krysten Ritter in the MCU.

and now. FINISH IT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (205 points, appeared on twenty-three ballots) (Last Year: NR)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Flash (211 points, appeared on seventeen ballots) (Last Year: #2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Daredevil (268 points, appeared on twenty-five ballots) (Last Year: NR)

 

 

And there you have it. Big year for superhero shows, big year for debuting shows, really big year for Netflix shows. Thanks so much to everyone who voted, turnout this year was great and the ballots were super-interesting. Pour one out for all the shows in their final year of eligibility (because seriously, there were a lot), and I'll see you this December for...

 

Next Time, on EWB's Favorite TV Show 2016:

 

 

 

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

As I said before, really good top three, but I do think UKS finished too high. Probably because Game of Thrones had such a quality dip on some fronts, but it was great nonetheless. Has there been any news on a UKS season 2 or was it a one-off?

Never watched Flash, at all, which I feel really bad about since it's come second two years in a row now. I know some of it is on at least one region of Netflix, so I'll get to it eventually.

Hooray for Daredevil though! Thoroughly enjoyed it, had my one of my favourite villains of the year (until Kilgrave came along) and really set the bar high for the other Marvel shows.