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The Top 10 Television Series of 2014

30 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by Wesley Robinson in Television

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2014, broad city, fargo, game of thrones, hannibal, louie, mad men, review, the americans, the leftovers, true detective, veep

I guess I’m still capable of sitting down at the keyboard to carve out one new piece of writing a year because, well, here we are. I felt it was my duty to put one on the board in 2014 and additionally touch on the best in television this year so I’m really happy to put this one together. I wish I could produce more writing, be more active on this site, and I’ll strive to do just that in 2015. But back to television which seemingly each year puts out more quality programming than the previous year; 2014 continued that trend. There’s really too much good television available these days. This year was rough too in that I didn’t have as much free time (and didn’t make as much time) for television as 2013. I still watched over 400 episodes of television and most or all of 36 series. That’s not to brag (how could it possibly be), but to give context. Several sacrifices had to be made. The biggest one was “Rectify,” a top 10 show in 2013, which I simply couldn’t get to this year (it also hurts that I don’t get the Sundance channel in HD). A couple other shows I couldn’t get around to this year that I feel could have cracked the top 10 are “Transparent” and “Orange is the New Black.” I’ve only heard good things. There’s just no way to watch everything and I do have obligations in life, you know. That didn’t make narrowing the list down to 10 much easier. When putting this piece together I always try to throw in a new wrinkle. This year, with time constraints on the mind, I tried to factor in how easy or hard it was for me to sit down and consume an episode of a series. The shows I really wanted to make time for had an edge. Some shows are well put together, but difficult to sit through. Others are easy to put on, but don’t have the quality. That partly comes through in the annual explanation of exactly what “top” means. Instead of doing a “best” list which would take a more objective look at everything or a “favorite” list which would look at things more subjectively I attempt to combine the two and create one list that I refer to as “top.”

And now, my fourth annual top 10 television series of the year.

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The Top 10 Television Series of 2013

27 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by Wesley Robinson in Television

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2013, boardwalk empire, breaking bad, enlightened, game of thrones, hannibal, mad men, orphan black, parks and rec, rectify, review, the americans, tv

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!

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Bullet Points: Breaking Down Breaking Bad – “Rabid Dog”

02 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Wesley Robinson in Television

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amc, breaking bad, hank schrader, jesse pinkman, kuby, marie schrader, rapid dog, review, saul goodman, skyler white, steve gomez, tv, walter white

Before the house burns down. Some bullet points on the newest “Breaking Bad” titled “Rabid Dog”… Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Season 3 of ‘Justified’

11 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by Wesley Robinson in Television

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fx, justified, review, season 3, tv

***WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND***

When season three of FX’s “Justified” premiered this January it had some big shoes to fill – both in the cast and story – after the series’ tremendous breakout second season. What I am referring to here is the absence of Margo Martindale and her portrayal of Mags Bennett, a role that won Martindale an Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. With Mags and the rest of the Bennett family dead or incarcerated, “Justified” had a void needing to be filled.  Continue reading →

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Reviewing Season 2 of ‘The Walking Dead’

21 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by Wesley Robinson in Television

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amc, review, season 2, the walking dead, tv

***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***

If I had to use one word to describe my feelings on season 2 of AMC’s massively popular series “The Walking Dead,” that word would be: frustrated. Through 19 episodes “The Walking Dead” has been more bad than good. Like the characters on the show holding out hope for a life rid of fear of getting eaten alive, I hold out hope the writers will figure it out. It’s not that I’m on the verge of dropping the show (*). There’s enough to like. But I have big issues with season two. There was the slogging plot, but by far the most critical problem is the characters. By and large, they’re idiots. By and large, I don’t really care about their survival. By and large, they’re inconsistent. Continue reading →

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In Review: February 2012

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Wesley Robinson in Review

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2012, 30 rock, afghanistan, angry boys, braun, cfb, contraception, debate, economy, egypt, election, entertainment, february, gas prices, giants, gingrich, gop, grammys, iran, justified, knicks, linsanity, luck, mad men, manningham, middle east, mlb, modern family, nba, new girl, news, obama, oscars, parenthood, parks and rec, patriots, republicans, review, romney, ron paul, santorum, sports, super bowl, syria, the office, the walking dead, tv

February 2012 is at its end and I have a review of the month coming right up.

The review covers a range of topics that were in the spotlight during the month. The three overarching topics are news, sports and entertainment. The news section is mostly centered on current events and politics. The sports section touches on the biggest sports stories from the month. There is a brief section on entertainment and a longer section on television specifically.

Please discuss any of the topics in the review or anything else from the month you feel deserves attention. Hope you enjoy. Continue reading →

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Thoughts on “Parenthood” Season 3

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Wesley Robinson in Television

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Tags

nbc, parenthood, review, season 3, tv

The members of the Braverman family on “Parenthood” have nice lives for the most part. Sure, they have their struggles, but things usually work out one way or another in the end. It’s a positive, feel-good show. When “Parenthood” is at its best, the paths the characters take to get to that “good” place are compelling and realistic (enough). Where the show falters sometimes is when the characters go through unnatural paths – not true to the character or story. Furthermore, things can turn out a little too good for too many characters. As a viewer, I feel connected to the Bravermans, but I also want a sense of realism. As viewers, we’re supposed to root for the family to succeed – and because the family is made up of good/decent people I, for one, usually do. With that said I feel the last stretch of episodes this season, the last four specifically, had too many “things work out in the end” moments. In addition, those moments weren’t developed convincingly or authentically (in some cases) and I found myself not necessarily rooting for the Bravermans in certain instances.

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