“Excuse me, is this a glory hole?” http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2015/07/31/review-season-2-episode-1-recap-brawl-
The 10 Best TV Shows of 2014 Thus Far
June 4, 2014
Billy on the Street, Broad City, Community, Fargo (TV Series), Hannibal, Louie, Mad Men, Review (TV Series), Rick and Morty, Television, True Detective Leave a comment
It doesn’t take much time for the calendar to elapse for me to start putting together lists of the best television of the year in my head, and apparently I’m not the only one. So I now feel compelled to unspool from my brain a preliminary list of the best of 2014. There are plenty of shows not on this list because they have yet to debut or have just barely debuted, or because they were not quite as good as those that I selected. It’s looking like, when all is said and done, this could be the most difficult year ever for putting together a definitive ranking. It has been a strong year for new shows, with half of my selections having debuted in 2014 (or late 2013).
Here are my top 2, listed in alphabetical order:
Hannibal – Unbearable in the best way possible.
Rick and Morty – More inventive than I thought was possible.
And now here’s numbers 3-10, also in alphabetical order:
Billy on the Street – There’s a lot of hilarious New Yorkers out there.
Broad City – Just the right amount of wild and zany.
Community – An excitable comeback.
Fargo – It’s got a lot of character.
Louie – I’m not sure if I would prefer to live in the dream world of Hannibal, or the dream world of Louie, and that’s a compliment to both.
Mad Men – Great job tying it all together.
Review – What is this thing we call life?
True Detective – Mystical, but also personal.
Best Episode of the Season: Review Season 1
June 2, 2014
Best Episodes of the 2013-2014 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Review (TV Series), Television Leave a comment
Season Analysis: A critical analysis of “life itself” may sound like the most simplistic and gimmicky concept ever, but the first season of Review examined this idea to its furthest absurd and logical conclusions, making it a genuine examination of what it means to live. The unbridled curiosity of Andy Daly’s performance made for a star-making turn.
“Pancakes; Divorce; Pancakes”
Is it the mark of a truly classic episode of television that it is an incredible viewing experience no matter how you watch it? I initially missed about the first 10 minutes of “Pancakes; Divorce; Pancakes.” My first taste of it was Forrest telling his wife Suzanne that he wanted a divorce. After two episodes had made me think Review would be a mildly diverting (but totally worthwhile) pleasure, this moment suddenly had me thinking, “What is this show?” This was the point at which it became 100 percent clear that the experiences Forrest reviewed would have legitimate real-life ramifications. Actually committing to the experience of divorce just for the sake of the experience, and thus having to separate from a woman he loved deeply and had no desire to leave, made Forrest MacNeil a sort of mythic hero – the personification of commitment. What made this experience all the more poignant was bookending it with the seeming banality of overindulging in breakfast food. It was an ingenious move to have Forrest’s producer Grant (a perfectly cast James Urbaniak) remind him, for both the 15 Pancakes and Divorce segments, that he never wanted to be allowed to back out of any segment no matter how much he begged. The twin crises of those first two segments would have been enough to drive any normal human being to abandon the whole endeavor of Review. Moreover, the absurdity of a completely separate person requesting that Forrest eat 30 pancakes should have been pointless enough to drive him over the edge. Forrest did succumb to nihilism, but somehow that became the motivation that allowed him to continue this masterpiece, as he remarked, “These pancakes couldn’t kill me, because I was already dead.” Ultimately, this was an all-time classic half hour of television, a singular mix of insanity and inspiration.
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