Top 8 shows on TV

FX is on a serious roll. The Americans is a rookie offering, telling the story of two KGB agents living in the United States during the nuclear heights of the Cold War. Elizabeth and Philip Jennings try to pass themselves off as a normal, married, American couple. On occasion, they put on a wig, gather some intelligence and do a little wet work. The primary source of tension in the show comes from the burgeoning romantic relationship between Elizabeth and Philip, Philips growing affection for America - or at least the American way of life, and Noah Emmerich, who plays their FBI agent neighbor: Stan Beeman.

Keri Russell is a firecracker as Elizabeth, good job Felicity and I like the much lesser known Matthew Rhys as Phillip. The first season, which is already over, is taut and mean - relationships and missions move at a pace that is, certainly, fast. The pace, elements of espionage and acting all lend itself to a very understandable Homeland comparison.

I would say that Season 1 of The Americans is worse than the 1st season of Homeland, but substantially better than the 2nd. But the "burning" of plot does lead to questions, can this show maintain the speed without becoming ridiculous? Can it give us satisfying conclusions without just shocking us? And, ultimately, like Homeland, I wonder if the creator of the show thinks that the love story, the romance is the engine of the show - I think he does but I don't think it's great for the show. Still, very excited for season 2.

Yeah, two FX shows in a row. Justified is not going to ever hit number 1 on anyone's list. At least, I don't think it ever should. No, it doesn't really want to be that show, I think. And for that, I applaud it. There's something very charming about a show that knows exactly what it is and what it wants to do. In this case, This show wants Timothy Olyphant walking around with a hat and a decent drawl. It wants Walter Goggins putting up an Emmy-Nominating worthy performance every season. And it wants it's viewers to know its world and all of the wonderfully sassy, interesting and gun-toting(-y?) characters that live in it.

Justified is the story of Raylan Givens - basically the fastest gun in the West. Except he's in Kentucky. He's hot of temper, sharp of tongue and quick of draw (this mellows out through the seasons.) Forced to move back to his home state of Kentucky, Raylan is drawn into the life of his criminal father, his old class mate turned criminal mastermind: Boyd Crowder and a few lovely Southern Belles who can't resist his goatee and tight jeans.

This show is very pleasurable to watch, there's not too many thematic elements - you don't have to dig too deep or try to see what poster is on the wall to catch the drift. This is a tightly plotted show, some episodes are more or less stand-alone. I can't recommend it enough, though the first season is definitely the weakest - season 2 is something amazing due to the performance by Olyphant, Margo Martindale and Walter Goggins.

AUGH YOU'RE SO FUCKING STUPID HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT THIS IS ONLY 6 THIS IS THE BEST SHOW EVER AND ITS AMAZING YOU ARE A STUPID CUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next to leaving off The Walking Dead, this will earn me the most scorn. I could spend ounce of digital ink in my body telling you why this show is worse than the 4 coming shows. But I won't because I don't want to. I'll say what I like about the show. It is close to perfectly cast - it's a massive MASSIVE cast but they've done a really good job. From Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon to Rose Leslie as Ygritte, their casting and make up department are to be most commended. Even the smaller roles are done so well - Davos Seaworth, Roose Bolton, Walder Frey. My only complaint is Kit Harrington as John Snow, man, he is not a great actor, clearly got bad marks at the Keanu Reeve's school of acting with your face in that Keanu Reeve's way. But he's not the worst.

Yes, so the acting is superb. In the actual thread, I've fellated Charles Dance innumerable times. Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams are so good for such young actresses and every single Lannister child is perfect. Lena Headey plays Cersei Lannister with this hateful grace and this horrible evil smirk. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has made the most hateable man in Westeros into a genuinely sympathetic character and Peter Dinklage is obviously good.

The problems. Ah, they are many. I think Benioff and Weiss have done a beautiful job adapting the books(I have read them all.) Blackwater made me rethink what TV could do - it was almost Michael Bay-ish - this is a compliment. Even though I knew what was coming at The Sept of Baelor, the staging and filming was riveting and it honestly made me sad. But I would say that the problems of the book are the problems of the show magnified.

The plot is so diffuse and so meandering, it's occasionally masturbatory (like this blog post, the reader thinks to himself.) The characters develop, don't get me wrong, but they don't all develop - and how could they? They only have 50 freaking minutes of television. Frankly, I can not express how little I care about Bran's spirit guide (yes I know his name,) or how much the torture-porn of Theon Greyjoy is utterly meaningless (yes I've read the books,) or that Roose Bolton is concerned that some old guy called the Blackfish got away (yes I know he gets away again.) Why don't I care? Because the show doesn't care. It has given these characters a total of maybe 20 minutes of screen time. It's a logistical impossibility to do it the way readers want to do it (and I suspect the way that Benioff and Weiss want to do it.)

Look, ultimately, Game of Thrones is a slave to George Martin's books. It is a faithful slave that has performed its job well. But this show needs its own Daenerys Targaryen, Breaker of Chains, someone who realizes that an army of slaves is no match for an army of the free. Frankly, I'm of the opinion that they need to break from the storyline. Something radical has to happen here - Game of Thrones is a child of the summer, it has feasted on the ripe harvest of 2 jaw dropping moments, some brilliant performances and a gigantic budget. It is an unmitigated success with gigantic unprecedented viewership. But the Starks are always right - even if they're seemingly all dead - Winter is Coming in the form of some very lame source material.

Could be higher, could be lower. This season has been a bit of a failure in my opinion. Unquestionably the standard bearer for the "Golden Age" of television, Mad Men is the exploration into the life of Don Draper and his career as an advertising man in New York during the 1960's. The show explores themes of change, manhood, love, family and identity. But more than anything, I think this is a show about satisfaction. As in, I can't get no.

Responsible for some of the best episodes of TV in the last 10 years, Mad Men is one of two shows on this list that I would consider "can't miss" television. There's just nothing else like it. I should warn those who haven't seen it, that this show might be the polar opposite of Justified. It can be quite slow, its movement very deliberate - to the point that I sometimes have to rewind to see if I missed the point. Also, of all the shows except maybe one, it has the single bleakest view on happiness I have ever experienced.

There's not much else to say about it, the performances and writing remain the best on TV but season 6 has just done some things very poorly. I think the shows coverage of race can be described as miserable - which is fine, but when it tries, it can be quite annoying.

Shut up. No seriously, shut up. Yes this is higher than Game of Thrones, I said shut up!

In the way that David Chase is clearly the speaker of The Sopranos and that Matthew Weiner is clearly the speaker of Mad Men - Lena Dunham is clearly the speaker in Girls. To possess a voice is a rare thing and to possess a voice worth listening to is even rarer. Girls explores the lives of four young women in New York. It is not really what you think it is - I would say that it is about as close to Mad Men as you can get. If Weiner and Dunham traded life experiences, they would probably switch roles. You see, Girls is a thirty minute comedy on HBO that addresses some of the most interesting issues in American Modernity for 20-somethings.

Our desire to be accepted but to also be recognized as authentic. To what and to whom we tie our self-worth. Being alone and isolated in a thickly populated environment like New York. Sex. Life is hard when you're twenty something and Girls knows it. The funny thing is that it would likely resonate with many readers of this site who will never give it a chance because it looks the way it does and has the title that it has.

It is not perfect, however, there are some flaws in the first season - it felt like it had a bit of an identity crisis midway through. The mono-racial component (white, I know shocking,) is another thing. But this is the only show on this list that I think people will instantly reject out of bias - thus I don't want to say too much more about its problems.

The best thing on network television. Hands down. No other comedy manages to keep such a delightful tone and yet get so many laughs - not Archer, not Community, not New Girl, not Modern Family and not even #2 on this list. There isn't a mean bone in Parks and Recreation and that is expressed through the wonderful Leslie Knope. When every other show on this list takes things to a grimy, dark, unpleasant place, Parks and Recreation knows that that only happens when we don't have waffles and friends.

Sure, Pawnee, Indiana is one of the fattest cities in the nation. Sure, the characters in the show work in a menial civic capacity - but the genuine fondness that this show treats all of its characters is something to behold. I don't think many people watch this show, even on TL where the taste seems to lean towards Community, but I have no doubt you will love it................................as long as you start on season 2. Yes, season 1 of this show was a massive disaster - like a dissonant version of the show you see now. But from about episode 15 of Season 2, the show goes on a hitting streak that is amazing - not a single dud among them.

The shining gem of Parks and Recreation is, of course, Ron Swanson. Behold his Pyramid of Greatness! It is a massive embarrassment that Nick Offerman has not even been nominated for an Emmy.

Actually, not my cup of tea. If Girls was overranked due to my fondness, Louie might be underranked, there is a serious argument that this is the best show on television by a mile. And while it doesn't suit my sensibilities perfectly, I'd like to think that I know genius when I see it. Louie is genius. Sometimes the acting is imperfect, the stories fall flat but when this show hits, the poignancy and potency is unlike any other show I've ever seen. It can actually hurt you. Oh, this is a comedy.

This is the show I was talking about when I said "bleakest," in the Mad Men section. Life is brutal and when you approach it with the hangdog irony and humor of Louis CK, it only gets more brutal. It's like laughing at reality while reality punches you with its meaty hamfists, only to make reality mad and punch you harder. This makes you laugh harder and the cycle repeats.

Every season has been excellent. I think there is an evolution there, though if he stayed exactly as season 1 Louis CK, I would hardly have cared. But "The Late Show" trilogy of season three is amazing in a truly agonizing way. I suggest you watch this in small doses, perhaps with a bottle of red wine and a hand gun when you decide that it might be better to just let it end tonight.

Could there be any other? Even though I said Louie might be the best show on TV on the basis of brilliance, nothing beats Breaking Bad in its utter perfection. Season one of this show was not perfect, nor was season two, though I have rewatched them with great fondness. But somewhere in the middle of season 2 or start of season 3, this show became must watch television. Breaking Bad explores the life of Walter White, an unassuming high school chemistry teacher who develops lung cancer. As a final parting gift, he decides to "cook" methamphetamines to provide for his wife and children.

What follows is chilling. It is emotionally devastating. You can't take your eyes off the audacity of this show - to give you a hero so horrible, so vicious and evil, that you are forced to examine yourself for having ever cheered for him. "YES! Walter killed Crazy 8 by strangling him!" "YES! Walter melted his body in acid!" YES! Walter watched a man get beat to death!" "YES! Walter watched a woman die on her own vomit!" "YES! Walter ran over two drug dealers and shot them!" "YES! Walter orchestrated the death of a harmless scientist!" "YES! Walter blew up a old folks home!" "YES! Walter melted the body of a young boy in a barrel of acid!"

At some point, you have to stop cheering. You have to realize that what Vince Gilligan has done. He has given you a hero that is the most detestable person on TV. NO IT'S NOT SKYLAR GODDAMMIT. It's truly a magnificent show, and its examination of a descent into evil is amazing. I will be so sorry to see it conclude. Bryan Cranston wins all the Emmys.