Let me start by saying that I am really fired up for this post. This is the third edition of the top 10 television series of the year and the enjoyment I get from writing it increases each time. Better yet, 2013 was a mammoth year in television. It may have been a little too good in some respects as I missed out on several shows due to the fact that there was too much content and not enough time for consumption. A small list of shows I feel may have been up for consideration for this list that I couldn’t get around to are “Orange is the New Black,” “Masters of Sex,” “Bob’s Burgers,” and “The Returned.” Missing out on these shows is unfortunate, but it didn’t make narrowing this list down to a top 10 a simple task. I watched most or all of 39 television series in 2013 and it’s not like I could afford to stay at home and watch TV all day. I do have a full-time job after all. But back to this year in television. There are more networks entering the field than ever before with Netflix, Hulu, and Sundance channel among others becoming destinations for new original programming. There is going to be more and more content available as we head to the future. Something I attempted to consider more this year was the degree of difficulty when it comes to the overall development of a series. For example there’s a lot more freedom in developing six episodes for a cable channel (fewer creative restrictions and smaller episode orders) than a show on network television (20+ episodes and tons of content restrictions). Putting together 20+ episodes of network television seems much tougher to do and often the quality suffers. In 2012 the top 10 was evenly divided between comedy and drama; the 2013 list, as you will see, is dominated by dramas. Lastly, the annual explanation of what “top” means. Instead of doing a “best” list which would take an objective look at everything or a “favorite” list which would look at things subjectively I attempt to combine the two and create one list that I refer to as “top.”

Now, let’s take a look back at the best television of 2013!

WARNING: SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):

• “Girls” (HBO) – The second season of this divisive HBO series was high on memorable moments, but maybe wasn’t as sharp when it came to arcing out a full season.

• “Veep” (HBO) – The season started out on the slow side, but really got rolling in the second half. By the end of the season it became one of the funniest shows on television in 2013. I have high hopes for season three.

• “House of Cards” (Netflix) – Netflix’s first major hope in original programming was strong and featured perhaps my single favorite performance of the year in Corey Stoll’s damaged Peter Russo. I guess I wish there was more variance in tone.

• “Justified” (FX) – Last year’s number nine show misses the cut this year in large part because the mystery surrounding the identity of Drew Thompson didn’t connect with me enough and was a little too convoluted. This is still one of the shows I look forward to most each year and its fourth season ended effectively.

• “New Girl” (Fox) – This is one of the most enjoyable shows on television. It may be starting to lose a little bit in terms of laughs per minute, but just seeing the ensemble cast interact on a weekly basis makes for one of the best comedies on television.

• “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (Fox) – Having come from “Parks and Recreation” vets Michael Schur and Dan Goor I had big expectations for this series and it hasn’t disappointed through its first 11 episodes. It may be because it’s fresh, but I find myself laughing and genuinely enjoying this show as much as any comedy out there.

10. “Rectify” (Sundance) – Have you ever thought about what it would be like to spend 19 years on death row and then get released? What would life be like after spending that much time “on the inside”? That’s what “Rectify” investigates after Daniel Holden (Aden Young) is released from prison after new DNA evidence clouds the conviction of the rape/murder of his high school girlfriend. The fact that this story takes place in one of those small towns where everyone knows everyone makes the transition to the outside even more difficult. There isn’t a person in town who doesn’t know who Daniel is and why he was in prison. The six episode first season was slowly paced, but that is partly what made it so good. It allowed for moments of stillness and the showcasing of atmosphere that isn’t permitted on most other television shows. The character work on “Rectify” is its strongest suit. Seeing Daniel adjust to his new-found freedom including the range of emotions and the interactions that came with it made for really interesting viewing. His sister Amantha’s (Abigail Spencer) allegiance to him was another really engaging part of this series’ first season.

• “The Episode” – Drip, Drip
• MVP – Abigail Spencer (Amantha Holden) – So much commitment shown by this character and performance.

9. “Orphan Black” (BBC America) – In its most basic terms “Orphan Black” is a show about human cloning. A sort of familiar sci-fi story in a sense but this series has more to offer than a cookie cutter version of the genre. We start with Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) seeing someone who looks exactly like her step off a train platform and commit suicide. Sarah quickly gets clued in on the fact that she is one of a group of clones and that some of those clones have been trying to find answers about their origin. Eventually we get to the rather inevitable reveal that these clones were part of a corporate scheme. The story moves briskly and naturally. Just when the story needs to give you a new clue or needs to raise the stakes it does so effectively. This was one of the best parts about the show in its first season. The best part though was the performance by Tatiana Maslany who I had never seen in anything previously. Here she plays each clone with a level of distinctness that is masterful. Her performance gets even more impressive in the situations where she is playing one of the clones impersonating one of the other ones. That can be really tricky, but it comes off the screen so naturally. “Orphan Black” turned out to be one of the funnest watches in 2013. It was wildly entertaining.

• “The Episode” – Variations Under Domestication
• MVP – Tatiana Maslany (Sarah Manning/Helena/Alison Hendrix/Cosima Niehaus…) – There is no other option to consider. On the shortlist for favorite performance in 2013.

8. “Hannibal” (NBC) – I’ve never been too into the Hannibal Lecter story, but when I heard some good buzz on the NBC television series I thought I’d give it a shot. “Hannibal” turned out to be the biggest surprise of the year for me. For a show on network television it delivered more disturbing moments than any show I watched this year. Each week it seemed like the writers must have thought, “how can we top ourselves in creating elaborate deaths and death scenes?” My favorite part of this show has got to be the visuals it delivers. It’s really the show’s signature, both stylistic and specific to it while mixing in reality and imagination. The first season did a fine job of balancing the big story of the season involving the Hobbs family and the killer of the week standalone elements. Mads Mikkelsen was great at underplaying Hannibal and Hugh Dancy was up to the task of playing unstable FBI agent Will Graham. As the story unfolded it just got better. I’m happy to be pleasantly surprised with this series.

• “The Episode” – Sorbet
• MVP – Hugh Dancy (Will Graham) – Could have easily gone with Mads Mikkelsen, but I’ll go with Dancy’s Graham in the showier role.
  

7. “Enlightened” (HBO) – The first season of “Enlightened” was something I would characterize as fine, but just that. The second season took a jump up in quality that I wasn’t expecting and was delighted to see. Amy Jellicoe (Laura Dern) is an easy character to dislike. She’s overbearing with a tendency to self-destruct which made the show, particularly in its first season, difficult to watch. Season two expanded the roles of several of the supporting performers – especially put on display in the episodes that had Levi (Luke Wilson) and Tyler (Mike White) as the main characters of the episode. The focus on taking down Abaddon (I suppose if you are into corporate take downs, 99%/1%, etc. this is probably a show for you) worked in the show’s advantage as there was a clearer sense of direction. But what was most impressive in the second season, and really the series as a whole, is how satisfying everything came together in the end. The ending was true to the series and fit perfectly.

• “The Episode” – Higher Power
• MVP – Laura Dern (Amy Jellicoe) – She was so much the center of the show it’s difficult to look elsewhere. That’s not meant to downplay how good Dern was in this role or how complicated it was.
  

6. “Parks and Recreation” (NBC) – My top show of 2012 drops down to number six in 2013. It is sort of inevitable with a network sitcom, but some of the stories have hit redundancy. Still “Parks and Recreation,” almost 100 episodes in, is finding ways to keep things fresh whether it be the recall story line or Pawnee absorbing Eagleton. What I love so much about this show is its positive outlook and general warmth. It’s still reliable in delivering the goods each week and has episodes that match up with any of the best in the series run. At this point there is such a good grasp of the characters and the world that has been built that it might be easy to take this show for granted. This is one of the shows where I really care about what happens to the characters. This series as a whole is really quite an achievement.

• “The Episode” – London
• MVP – Adam Scott (Ben Wyatt) – I could go in a number of directions here, but Scott is so good at getting laughs as the straight man I went with him. He can convey a lot with a little look and has the nerd thing down pat.

5. “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO) – The more I think about it the fourth season of “Boardwalk Empire” is probably top to bottom the best season in the series’ run thus far. And I think the big reason why is because there was less reliance on Steve Buscemi’s Nucky Thompson than ever before. I’m a big fan of Buscemi’s work, but Nucky has never been a compelling character. With Nucky as the main dominating focus and drive of the show it tends to drag. Season four saw more characters previously on the side come to the center particularly Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams) and Eli Thompson (Shea Whigham). They seemed to have more importance and screen time than in previous seasons. I really liked what the show did with Al Capone (Stephen Graham) this season as well. The time spent in Chicago was well worth it and felt like its own piece of the story in a good way. I can watch Michael Stuhlbarg’s Arnold Rothstein or Jack Huston’s Richard Harrow do just about anything on screen and be totally captivated. For two characters that spend a lot of time on the outside of the main story those actors are major assets. The season long battle between Chalky and Dr. Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright) was executed so much better than last season’s battle between Nucky and Gyp Rosetti (Bobby Canavale) it is really not measurable. Something else I appreciated in this season of ‘Boardwalk’ is that while the story lines all met up towards the end of the season as they usually do, it didn’t end with Nucky having a clear victory. It was much messier which was a necessary change at this point in the show’s life.

• “The Episode” – White Horse Pike
• MVP – Michael Kenneth Williams (Chalky White) – He didn’t disappoint in his biggest showcase season.

4. “Mad Men” (AMC) – This is a tough one for me. As is pretty much always the case I enjoyed watching “Mad Men,” but this season didn’t work as well for me as past ones did. I think my big issue with it was what happened with Don (Jon Hamm). It seemed a little too familiar if not unfaithful to the character. Do I believe Don would cheat on his wife? Well, of course. Was that something I am really all that interested in watching yet again? Not really. That’s not to say the story wasn’t developed well. I just wasn’t all that captivated by Don’s affair with Sylvia (Linda Cardellini), him becoming more of an asshole in general, or him getting worse at his job. It’s hard to get past all of this because the show largely revolves around its main character, but while I have my issues with Don I really enjoyed a lot of what happened with the rest of the show and the characters. This was a great season for Pete (Vincent Kartheiser), Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) and even (surprisingly) Stan (Jay R. Ferguson). I am almost stunned at how good of a rehabilitation job the show did with Betty (January Jones) as well. Pretty much anything involving Betty in season five was dreadful, but in season six there was better material and I actually found myself feeling bad for the character which I didn’t think was possible. Then there’s Bob Benson (James Wolk) who was really one of my favorite television creations in all of 2013. The mystery of who Bob was was not the most interesting thing in the world, but I loved how the show inserted him into the office and how he maneuvered his way around and climbed the ladder. The smarmier he came off the more entertaining. The performances and the writing on this show are still incredibly strong. Last year the show had a three-to-four episode stretch that was probably the best of any show on television. It didn’t come close to matching that this year, but the season finale was one of the very best episodes of television the whole year. It elevated the season and may have prevented the show from dropping a spot or two on this list.

• “The Episode” – In Care Of
• MVP – Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olson) – Another great season for Elisabeth Moss and Peggy Olson.

3. “The Americans” (FX) – My favorite new show of 2013. In its freshman season what “The Americans” delivered was tremendously satisfying. The two leads played by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are well drawn and the two actors have great chemistry. There is a bit of a role reversal here from what you typically see on television as Russell’s Elizabeth is more fiercely loyal to the motherland and strong minded than Rhys’ Phillip. Their relationship was one of the most engaging on television this year. The series introduced fine supporting characters, most notably being Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich). You know from the premise, KGB agents posing as Americans during 1980s Cold War, what the show is about but early on the setting and the stakes are well established. The spy stuff, the moles, loyalties, all of those types of things you see out of this type of genre are on full display in “The Americans.” Perhaps the thing that works best for me on this show is its measured pace. It didn’t do anything hastily and let things build over the course of the season. Even in the finale there wasn’t a big cliffhanger or anything. It just continued to setup the next move for the series. This show was one I was interested in when I first heard about it and it followed through with a great first season thanks to the performances and the care taken to deliver the story. I’m highly anticipating season two.

• “The Episode” – Gregory
• MVP – Keri Russell (Elizabeth Jennings) – Matthew Rhys came out of nowhere to me and gave a fantastic charismatic performance, but Keri Russell had more heavy lifting playing the hard-nosed Elizabeth.

2. “Game of Thrones” (HBO) – Season three of “Game of Thrones” for me was the series’ strongest so far. There was more plot than in past seasons and the action was stupendous. This series has a wealth of great characters and performances to draw from. It can almost become too much because one of your favorite characters can go on a multi-episode absence out of nowhere. Even when that happens there are more than enough characters that come in and keep things compelling. Perhaps the thing that elevated this season of Thrones was that it felt less meandering – beside everything that had to do with the Theon (Alfie Allen). There were stretches in season two where Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) or Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) in particular had little to do, but were seemingly featured in every episode. One of my favorite aspects of the series is that truly no one is safe. Any character can go at any time. That is part of what made Rains of Castamere AKA “The Red Wedding” so brilliant. Once the wedding reception began the dread crept in and slowly built to the shocking massacre. That build up (the doors closing, the change in tone, etc.) and execution was well done. For a show that derives from a popular book series I’m surprised nothing has been spoiled for me yet (though I do everything in my power to avoid spoilers). The fantasy elements and the scheming for power are incredibly engaging. In virtually any other year this would have come in at the number one spot.

• “The Episode” – The Rains of Castamere
• MVP – Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) – What a season for the “Kingslayer.” The third season spent more time with Jaime and did a good job of digging deeper into the character. Pretty much everyone on this show is doing exceptional work, but Coster-Waldau takes it this year.

1. “Breaking Bad” (AMC) – There can only be one. This year the top choice was obvious (especially if you know me or read this site) and relatively easy to make. Breaking Bad’s sprint home exceeded my expectations in so many ways. And it really was an eight episode sprint as plot was burned up quicker and with more ferocity than ever before on the series. When we left Hank on the toilet after he figured out who Heisenberg was in season five part one you knew everything was going to ramp up with only eight hours left. Still, I didn’t expect the inevitable Hank-Walt confrontation to take place in the first episode of the final eight. There was no treading lightly in this stretch and what resulted were tons of memorable moments including Skyler, Marie, and crying Holly at the White’s house, Hank/Marie and Walt/Skyler meeting at the restaurant, the fake confession video, Jesse’s realization of who poisoned Brock, the shootout in the desert, the murder of Andrea and everything in Ozymandias – in my opinion the best episode of the entire series and who knows maybe the best television episode I’ve ever seen. There were times where it felt like I almost couldn’t breathe due to the tension. There was little waste in “Breaking Bad” as a series really. Just about anything that was introduced in the series was brought back and mattered on some level. In that respect that’s what made the finale appropriate. It perfectly closed up the loose ends in the series in ways that felt satisfying to what had come before. But while it was appropriate it may have been a little too perfect. The more I think about the finale the more I feel something was missing. There was a lack of tension, something that popped. Having discussed “Breaking Bad” with several people the finale feels, and I wouldn’t have thought it was much of a possibility before it aired, a bit forgettable. That’s not to say it was a bad episode or that it diminished the series in a significant way. It just didn’t finish at full speed. Still, the final eight episodes of “Breaking Bad” made up one of the best stretches of television I’ve ever watched. The series goes on the shortlist of best and favorite I have ever viewed. I’m really going to miss watching and discussing it.

• “The Episode” – Ozymandias
• MVP – Bryan Cranston (Walter White) – Cranston is rarely not excellent and the final eight episodes were so much about Walt it’s difficult to go elsewhere. This is one of the best characters/performances of all time.