Personal Top Three New Shows Of The Year?

The NZ Natural, I 2nd your love of...The Human Target, and I also add...Justified!

I haven't checked too many new shows, since we're generally a season or so behind, but of the ones I've seen:

Ugly Americans - how can anyone who comes to CHUD not love this show?

Archer

and Treme, which is shaping up into something special

Isn't "that horrible decade of reality TV" also "that awesome decade where most series worth watching were made"?

Commmunity - An iffy first episode and an iffy season finale, but everything between that was escalating comedy pefection. One of the best first season runs of any show I have seen.

Luther - For the reasons NZ has already stated, plus I have a weird thing for pretty ladies who scare me, and Alice Morgan ticked that box in a big way.

Justified - Just so much goddamn fun. Sharply written and performed, with an impressive bodycount.

I've tried SO SO hard with Community, but so far have been totally unimpressed. Not a fan of the cast, and I find it too much like every other sitcom that teaches you the important lesson of the week. Granted I've only seen up to episode 8.

EDIT: and the guy with aspergers? I want to punch his face every time he's on screen.

1. Luther: As a previous poster said, on paper the show sounds tediously cliche but the strong cast (anchored by Idris Elba at the top of his game and a performance that puts Walker on the list of upcoming english actresses to watch) and some genuinely surprising plot twists pulls it into some the best tv since the new millenium. Can not wait for a second series.

2. Spartacus: Blood and Sand: A show I'd been biased against since I saw the first 300 aping trailers (as well as being on the until recently underdog Starz network) and even after been forced by strong word of mouth of trusted friends to check out the pilot I found it lacking. But after the second episode I became strangely immersed in the world even though the over the top nature of the show could be grating; the lead performance of Whitfield elevates what could be a cliched role and the rest of the cast is also above average (I had a soft spot for the actor who plays Varro). This show has begun to scale the heights that one of my favourite shows, Rome managed so I'm eager to see if a second season can remain as compelling.

3. Caprica: As a big fan of the BSG reboot I'm impressed by how this show pays homage to the themes of that show yet branches out to ask its own questions. This is another show which owes a lot of its quality to the strong cast.

1. Justified.
2. Caprica
3. I'm going to say a slew of half-hour comedies: Community, Parks and Rec, Modern Family and Cougar Town.

I'm gonna echo the love for Human Target, and Ugly Americans. Need to check out Archer and some more Justified, as I've only seen the first episode of it. I've somehow never heard of Luther till now. Good thread, I'll be checking out some of these shows.

Human Target would probably be number 4 on the list or interchangable with 3. It is a very fun show.

Community, Justified, Luther. I was not as crazy about Justified as others here, but it is a superior show.

Anyone who doesn't say Treme isn't watching the right stuff.

1. Treme - Great cast and a terribly compelling watch.

2. Caprica - Not quite as good as BSG, but a nice continuing of themes so far.

3. Human Target - Possibly a fact of not catching too many of the above mentioned shows. It's fun and light.

I'll have to catch Justified sooner or later considering where it came from. Community is a nice little show but I've never been compelled to keep up with it. Special consideration to Check it Out! even thought they only made 6 episodes.

Glee: I'm gonna be the first? Okay. Fuck the haters, this is a great show, worth watching even when its terrible, because when its running on all cylinders its great. Wears its heart on its sleeve while still being cynical(See Dream On which is all about how most of these kids won't make it in show business or even leave Ohio). Killer dialogue, great acting (Dianna Agran is amazing and this show has made Mike O'Malley a good actor!), fantastic numbers, and just a happy show.

Justified: It feels like they made this show for me. Olyphant. Elmore Leonard adaptation and a good imitation of his writing in following episodes. Tight plotting. Funny as hell, great actors, and the best antagonist on TV in Boyd Crowder.

Community: The biggest surprise of the year for me. Joel McHale was great on The Soup, but who knew he could act? Incredibly surreal at times but with enough heart to make it human. The cast has great chemistry with each other, the jokes are smart and I love their use of running gags and how it feels like a world bigger than their group. Its the new Scrubs.

Oh shoot, I agree with Glee. There are too many for just three.

Community
Trauma (it was one giant cliche but I liked it)
Justified

Glee
Community
Parks & Recreation

Thing is, these are probably the only 3 shows I started watching recently. So a default choice.

Though, Parks & Recreation actually just finished its 2nd season. But its first season was only 6 episodes.

Yeah, gotta go Glee here.

I'm calling Community and Parks & Rec a tie for second, or at least for most improved.

And poor Better Off Ted is already canceled but it was amazingly dark for a network show.

Community is extremely over rated, I still can't believe Devin compared it to Arrested Development, thats just flat out wrong. The show has some good laughs but a lot of it is pretty obnoxious and unfunny, and the main actor whatever his name is, can be sooo anoying Luther is stupid and boring, another procedural, how exciting. Tv still mostly sucks. Reality TV reigns both in the states and here. Sure we got the pay channels like HBO that still make great shows, even though they still make shit like True Blood and Entourage. And then there is AMC and FX which also make some good TV. One needs a huge market to be able to make good long hour dramas with the potential of profit. Every single one hour show here in the UK is absolute shit, I felt I needed to point that out for some reason.

Justified
Treme
Parks And Rec

Ask this in a few months and I'm pretty sure all lists will be edited to include Boardwalk Empire.

Thanks to those who mentioned Luther. Despite living in England and being a big The Wire / Columbo fan, I missed this. Kudos for bringing it to my attention!

My three over the last year would probably be:

1. Spartacus: Blood And Sand - Terrible pilot gave way to an amazing show. This was gripping, excellent television filled with great fight scenes.

2. Persons Unknown - Only four episodes in but I'm really loving this show so far.

3. Stargate Universe - Never watched any of the other SG shows but was intrigued by Robert Carlyle's casting here. First half of the season was a bit slow. Second half was fantastic.

For me it's between these three (in random order):

Community: The paintball episode alone makes it worthy of inclusion. Add everything else and it's a lock.

Justified: Olyphant. Goggins. Leonard. Headshots. Some of the best dialog on TV.

Treme: A Simon series through and through. Drops you off in a foreign environment and demands that you do some work if you want to acclimatize yourself. And if you do he rewards you like no on else does. Plus you can't really consider yourself a complete TV viewer unless the words 'Written By George Pelecanos' at the beginning of a season's penultimate episode don't fill you with dread.

Honorable mention for turnaround of the decade: Spartacus:Blood And Sand. From atrocious, over acted, gratuitous 300 knock off to the funnest, nudest, bloodiest soap opera ever.

Modern Family: The most consistently funny show on right now. Superb character work all around.

Caprica: A worthy successor/predecessor to Battlestar Galactica. Even knowing the eventual outcome, the story remains compelling.

Archer: Could have been a train-wreck, but pitch-perfect voice acting really elevates the entire thing (thanks Tati for reminding me of this one)

1. Community - I don't wanna know you if you don't find this funny. It's got laughs and heart, it made me love Chevy Chase again, and the Halloween, Goodfellas, and 80's action movie spoof episodes elevate it to legendary status alone. The comparisons to AD are apt in that the show packs so much into 30 minutes it doesn't seem humanly possible, it continues to reward on rewatch, and it falls under the radar of people who just don't get its type of humor.

2. Modern Family - When I heard the premise I rolled my eyes, but damn if this isn't one of the funniest shows on network TV in a long time. Everything about it shouldn't work, but it does. Between Phil, Manny, and Cameron the laugh quotient is well above average, and Ed O'Neil can finally shakes the stench of Married With Children off him.

3. Jersey Shore - This show is the gift that keeps on giving. I was hooked after Angelina belittled working at the surf shop over the summer by saying, "I'm a bartender. I do great things!" I can't remember a time before Snooki's face punch, The Situation's abs, Pauly D's cock ring, and Ronni and Vinny "beating the beat".

OK, Jersey Shore makes it in because Glee shit the bed in the second half of the season and I stopped watching Flash Forward because it was utterly retarded. I'm ashamed to admit I haven't really seen anything else. My TV viewing habits have dramatically shifted. I'm finishing out older shows and not picking up new ones.

And just because they deserve to be mentioned, the "much improved in their second season" award is a tie for:

1. Fringe
2. Parks and Recreation

He's actually the reason I can't get into this show. He's so beloved to me as Al Bundy that it's just too distracting to watch without thinking "hey it's Al."

I'm gonna go with
1) Justified - Hit the ground running. The cast, the dialogue, everything works.
2) Archer & Modern Family & Community - a trifecta of fantastic comedies.
3) Treme - It's got a fantastic potential. I hope season 2 improves a bit.

Justified, Spartacus and Archer here. It was like they premiered together to fill a gaping void of coolness on TV. Mission: Accomplished! And surprisingly, every show I liked was renewed!

Runner-up is Caprica, which I already find miles better than BSG and is that rare beast of a 'hard sci-fi show'.

Although I'm sure Treme will make the list once I get to it - I have complete faith in the guys behind The Wire.

Yea, verily you speak the truth.

And I'll add "Archer" because it's the only other new show I bothered to watch. Also, because it's very, very funny.

The Wire. The Shield. The Sopranos. Arrested Development. Buffy. Angel. Band Of Brothers. The Office. Spaced. Black Books. The West Wing. Sports Night. Six Feet Under. Curb Your Enthusiasm. NYPD Blue.

As for the OP: Treme, Community, Modern Family.

1. Community
2. White Collar
3. Archer

Treme (David Simon is a God)
Justified (Olyphant)
Human Target (stupid good fun of the week)


And really, Spartacus? I really tried, but it's like Heroes, but with more tits and violence.

1) Justified
2) Community
3) Modern Family

Can only list two, nothing else I gave a shot panned out for me.

1 - Modern Family
2 - Community

This seems like a selling point.

I'm going to have to go with Glee, Community and Treme...having a hard time getting into Archer, but I'll keep trying.

Lovely seeing all the Luther love. Amazing show.

My three have to be

Luther, Community and Justified.

Luther is just fantastic, very short, but lots going on and an amazing central performance from Elba. Community is just the best thing ever, if you can watch the paintball or Goodfellas episodes and not be enthralled I question your humanity. Justified is just good old fashioned violence with some great dialogue.

1. Glee
2. Community
3. Spartacus: Blood & Sand

Also dig Archer, Modern Family, and Caprica, but none are quite as awesome as the shows above just yet.

Community
Justified
Archer

While incredibly funny, the faux-doc gimmick of Modern Family comes off as a giant crutch that the show doesn't need. I tried to get into Glee, but just couldn't.

1. Justified. Being an Eastern Kentucky boy made me give this one a shot and I fell in love with the characters and dialogue. How in the hell isn't Olyphant an A-list star?

2. Modern Family. A great cast gives life to a tired formula.

3. (God forgive me) Blue Mountain State. I fully planned for this to be shit, but I caught an episode at 3am and laughed myself silly. So I watched another. And another. And finally just DVR'ed the whole season. This show takes sophomoric humor and turns it up to 11.

Spartacus also has plenty of toned man-ass and buffalo shots...

(y'know, for the ladies)

It's just an over-the-top blast. It starts off aping 300, and ends up miles better.

1. JUST
2. I
3. FIED

(P.S. COMMUNITY sucks.)

Around here Breaking Bad is a new show so there's my vote. Those who didn't like Community should give it a chance after 6th episodes and ahead.

1. Treme
2. Community
3. Justified

And that's a close race between three very different shows.

Exactly, I actually took a break after the first episode until one of my best friends insisted I give it a second chance. Intrigued to find out where they're planning to take the second season.

Sorry to call you out but that's obviously harsh, I'm from England three of my top shows at the moment are British; Spooks (superior take on the life of a Intelligence Operative to 24), Being Human (I much prefer this shows take on Supernatural soap opera to True Blood) and Luther (a great twist on the Police procedural genre).

Definete thumbs up to this comment; the last third of season has been some of the best TV this year.

Don't get me wrong the show has real flaws but its being quite compelling in a way Heroes rarely ever achieved and plus its characters are constantly making illogical decisions.

Just out of curiousity, what's it like to go through life being dead inside?

I don't think it sucks at all, but I've seen the first 8 or 9 eps and it definitely does not deserve the status bestowed upon it, at least i my eyes. Not a patch on Arrested Development.

Community, Modern Family, Luther, Archer.

Fuck you, I'm having 4.

I need to finish Justified. Like, now.

The second half of the season vastly improves upon the first. But if you've watched 8 episodes and can't find things to like, then you'll never like the show. How anyone can not like the show, however, is beyond me. It's chock full of goodness. Literally every line, glance, action is loaded with text and the call backs both within the episodes and in future ones are great. Also as movie lovers, I don't know how Chewers can't appreciate the homages to our favorite films. Already mentioned were the Goodfellas and Die Hard eps, and I'll throw The Color of Money in there as well. The montage of Jeff's pool game with the Coach is epic. Then there are the TV tropes that they play with. I can see how Abed's personality disorder can be distracting at first, but the show uses it to good effect throughout the season. The Buddy Cop episode was a great example of this, as is the episode where they try to fix Abed up with a girl and his "alternate" ego comes out. Seriously, I think people need to watch each ep and then go into the CHUD Community discussion thread and see what laughs you're missing. Because they are there aplenty.