In a bow to social media pressure, television producers and writers are always looking to send audiences to Twitter and other sites. So there seem to be more wonderful plot twists in your average series than ever. But not all the excitement was on the page. āThe changing of the guard in late-night talk shows paved the way for the rise of Jimmy Fallon and the swift announcement that Stephen Colbert would replace David Letterman.
Then there were the shows that didnāt work out ā Michael J. Fox bombed in his comeback attempt, with Robin Williams coming in a close second for āThe Crazy Ones.ā And who could have predicted that an actress whose biggest TV credit was playing Kelly Capwell on the NBC soap āSanļ·½ta Barbaraā in the 1980s would return 30 years later in the most talked-about performance of the year ā Roš bin Wright on āHouse of Cards.ā
Here are our picks:
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1. Murder Inc.
ā£ Zoe Barnes, āHouse of CardsāĀ
ā£ Will Gardner, āThe Good WifeāĀ
ā£ Jerry Grant, Jr., āScandalā
On āHouse of Cards,ā Zoe Barnes, the intrepid reporter played by Kate Mara, was beginning to connect the death of congressman Peter Russo to hš§er ex-lover (and now vice president), Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey). Underwood had to act fast to stop her. Luring Zoe to a subway statioš§n with the promise of giving her some information, Underwood first convinced her to delete his contact info from her smartphone. Then he beckoned her behind a partition ā and pushed her into the path of an oncoming train.
On āThe Good Wife,ā the courtroom murder of attorney Will Gardner (Josh Charles) by his own client stunned audiences and exposed the loveless marriage of Alicia and Pā±eter Florrick (Julianna Margulies and Chris Noth). Willās death robbed his business partner, Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), of a trusted associate; his special investigator, Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi), of a friend, and Alicia of a fantasy ā that she might have the guts to leave her husband.
When Jerry Jr. (Dylan Minnette) stood behind his dad, thše president (Tony Goldwyn), on āScandal,ā it seemed like a routine campš³aign appearance. Then the kid started bleeding and collapsed onstage as his mother, Mellie (Bellamy Young), stood by helplessly. The boy died at the hospital, the victim of Rowan Popeās (Joe Morton) insane scheme to become head of black ops again and punish Fitz for robbing his daughter, Olivia (Kerry Washington), of her youth.
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2. 'True Detective'
Who knew HBOās āTrue Detectiveā would be one of the most captivatišng shows of the year?
Credit the sizzling collaboration of writer Nic Pizzolatto and director Cary Fukunaga, who demonstrated conclusively that TV is now surpassiź¦ng movies in creativity and cinematic artistry ā star Matthew McConaughey described the taut thriller as ālike a 450-page film.ā Credit the partnership of McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the former who seemed an entirely different man than the cheeseball we remembered from āHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,ā and the latter pulling off a more restrained but equally haunting performance as the slightly saner of two cops grappling with demons both personal and external.
In doling out existential dread alongside its straight-up serial š²killer chase, this brilliant and confounding show made eager detectives of us all.
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3. Awards shockers
ā£Ā Jeff Daniels
ā£Ā āBrooklyn Nine-Nineā
The nominees for the 20ź¦ 13 Best Actor in a Drama Emmy read like a Muršdererās Row of todayās best TV actors: Bryan Cranston (āBreaking Badā), Damian Lewis (āHomelandā), Jon Hamm (āMad Menā) and Kevin Spacey (āHouse of Cardsā).
For good measure, Hugh Bonneville (āDownton Abbeyā) and Jeff Daniels (āThe Newsroomā) also made the cut. So that sound you heard when Danielsā name was called was every lover of quality television gasping at once. āThe Newsroomā is deeply flawed and hotly debated, and Danielsā performance, while solid, is fairly one-note.
Similarly, wš½hen āBrooklyn Nine-Nineā won a Golden for Best Comedy Seriesź¦, peopleās jaws hit the floor. -
4. Pharrell Williams
AfšØter more than two decades writing and producing megahits for Jay Z, Beyonce, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams is done being second banana ā or what he calls āthe guy standing next to the guy.ā
Two of 2013ās defining hits ā Daft Punkās āGet Luckyā and Robin Thickeās āBlurred Linesā ā were co-written and -performed by the endearingly cocky singer known for his mountie’s hat and light falsetto.
In January, Williams stopped the show at tą“he Grammys, performing with Daft Punk and Stevie Wonder. And he wowed the jaded crowd at the Academy Awards with his Oscar-nominated song for the sequel to āDespicable Me,ā āHappy,ā now sitting atop Billboardās Hot 100 for eight straight weeks.
The performanceā had so much infectious enerš¼gy that front-row nominees Lupita Nyongāo and Meryl Streep just had to shake their booties.
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5. The collapse of 'American Idol'
The 13th season of the once mighty āAmerican Idolā has bį¦een the most unlucļæ½ļæ½ky.
For the third straight year, the show has lost 20 percent or more of its target young adult audience and one of its primary sponsors, AT&T. And this despite the faš¼ct that Fox has thrown an insane amount of cash at the show: Returning superstar judge Jennifer Lopez reportedly makes $15 million. So does host Ryan Seacrest.
And the new set? Cost upward of $5 million. But shining stars and shiny setšs š°canāt camouflage the wrinkles on this aging giant.
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6. Marvelās āAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.ā
Despite Marvelās talent for producing high-energy action-packed films, this show has been bogged down withš sluggish action and tepid story lines.
A recent tie-in with the new āCaptain Americaā film led to some renewed interest, but Marvel canāt release a blockbuster every week, and āa Spider-Man tie-in would seem desperate.
š»From here on, āAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.ā must show that it can offer big action and sizzling story lines without assistance from its big screen big brothers.
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7. 'Broad City'
What began as a Web series by a pair of Upright Citizens Brigade alumni has evolved into a hilarious Comedy Central hit thatās been championed by one of the hottest names in comedy. āBroad City,ā which stars its creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, has been called the anti-āGirlsā for the way its 20-something leads never fail to imbue their predicaments with maximum lauš °ghs.
That the series is executive produced by š¦©Amy Poehler gives it more than just cachet, as the āSNLā and āParks and Recreationā star has directed and appeared on the show as well.
Now renewed for a second season, āBroad Cityā joins Andy Dalyās darkly funny āReview,ā ā@Midnight,ā āInside Amy Schumerā and the canāt-return-soon-enough āKey & Peš °eleā in giving Comedy Central the strongest and smartest roster of series in the networkās history.
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8. The Colbert announcement
We all knew David Letterman would retire one day. And sure, we knew that Comedy Centralās late-night darlingšs ā Jon Stewart and Sš§tephen Colbert ā had been oft-mentioned as likely successors.
But after years of š²NBCās extended Jay Leno drama ā finally resolved this year with the ascension of multitalented YouTube staple Jimmy Fallon to āThe Tonight Showā ā we never expected it to happen like this: Letterman announces his retirement during his own show, aź¦fter the news, of course, first leaks on Twitter. Then, after just one week of wild speculation, Colbert is named to the job. No muss, no fuss. CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, we salute you. Thatās exactly how to handle a late-night transition.
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9. The decline of āDuck Dynasty'
Not so long ago, all anyone in TV could talk about were the sky-high ratiāngs achieved by A&Eās āDuck Dynasty.āĀ
Last fall, the showās Season 4 ratings were second only to AMCās runaway hit āThe Walking Deadā among adults 18-49; it was the most watched reality show in cable history. In less than one year, the seriesā ratings dropped nearly 30 percent to 6 million viewers from 9.63 million after Season 3 and 8.4 ź¦¦million after Season 4.
What went wrong? In December, patriarch Phil Robertson gave an interview to GQ that was perceived to be homophobic, causing A&E to suspendšŖ him for nine days. The show returned for Season 5 on January 15, but the perception stuck, with ratings off steeply. Still, āDuck Dynastyā is headed into production on Season 6.
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10. The rise of Robin Wright
We started watching Netflixās āHouse of Cardsā to see how Rep. Frank Underwood would spin his wild manipulations to get what he wanted. We stucšk around because of Golden Globe-winner Robin Wrightās mesmerizing performance as flinty ice-queen Claire Underwood.
While Frank is certainly scary ā and, oh yeah, a two-time murderer ā Claire is terrifying. Sheās also stunning, with never a hair, an eyelash or a button out of placāe. Tom Broecker ā whoās also costumed āSaturš day Night Liveā and ā30 Rockā ā designs wardrobes for the Netflix drama.
Along the way, Broecker fell in love with dressing Wright, putting her in all the usual sšuspects: Prada, Gucci, Armani, Yves St. Laurent, Ralph Lauren and Narcisco Rodriguez. Itās meant to feel like perfectly tailored armor, and it does, but itās also made us fall in love withš Wright ā the one to beat for this yearās Best Actress Emmy.
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11. Horror is hot
šWho knew we all wanted to be scared out of our minds?
Horror films that explode onto the scene and make tonsš of money are nothing new, from āThe Blair Witch Projectāās $141 million in global box office back in 1999 to Naomi Wattsā āThe Ringā raking in $129 million in 2002, āParanormal Activityā racking up $108 million in 2007, and, more recently, āThe Conjuringā earning $137 million in 2013, according to IMDb.com.
Translating that kind of scary success to TV is tougher, but with the boundaries between film and TV becoming increasingly fuzzy, horror series ą¼ŗhave found a home on many networks. AMCās zombie drama, āThe Walking Dead,ā continues to blow ratings records out of the water. Ryan Murphyās āAmerican Horror Storyā ā which just finished its third season ā remains a draw, and Foxās āSleepy Hollow,ā which is more supernatural than scary, managed to become one of this fallās very few hits. The genre-hour came out of the box so strong that Fox renewed it for Season 2 less than three weeks after it premiered.
Still, including horror elements often isnāt enough. ABCās āThe River,ā from Oren Peli, premiered in spring 2012 and immediately flopšøped. Netflixās werewolf thriller, š§āHemlock Grove,ā is one of the few Netflix originals not to get much traction.
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12. Isaiah Washington
This one qualifies as a big surprise,š and something āGreyās Anatomyā fans thought theyād never, ever š see: the return ā if only for the May 1 episode ā of Dr. Preston Burke, played by Isaiah Washington.
Washington, you may recall, was dropped from the ABCš hospital hit in 2007 over a homosexual slur ā specifically, to castmate T.R. Knight, who is gay.
But now, with the imminent departure of actress Sandra Oh, who plays Dr. Cristina Yang, creator Shonda Rhimes has found the perfect hand grenade to detonate during Yangās exit: Bring back Dr. š²Burke, the brilliant heart surgeon who left her standing at the altar.
Washington says heās been iš¦©nstructed ānot to talkā about the invitation to make this important guest appearance. But he told āAccess Hollywoodā that he was āblown awayā by the script and āsatedā by the story line reuniting the old flames.
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13. 'Game of Thrones'
Could you ever imagine this scene on television: A man rapes his sister next to the body of thāeir son, who has just been killed?
Thš¦©at’s what happened on taboo buster “Game of Thrones,” when Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) forcedā± himself on Cersei (Lena Headey)after the death of Joffrey (Jack Gleeson).
Cšølearly, the Red Wedding and the Purple Wedding were just the beginning of the shocks the writers of this show plan to give its loyal fans.
— Written by Paige Albiniak, Larry Getlen, Deborah Starr Seibel and Sara Stewart