Reload Replay's Best TV of 2011

 

This wasn't a year for many new faces in television. Some familiar faces return from last year with one notable new one. Unfortunately I was not able to watch Homeland, the new drama from Showtime. It could have been a contender but hey, there's always next year.

My picks for my top 5 video games of the year are coming this Friday and my film picks are coming the following Monday, enjoy! And without further ado, here are my top 5 television shows from 2011.

#5 Parks and Recreation

 

Parks and Recreation has some of the most honest and hilarious characters on TV. Some of the best characters at that, drama or otherwise.

#4 Boardwalk Empire

 

Boardwalk Empire moved up a spot from last year because it delivered on what an HBO crime show should be. The first season delivered deep characters and well written episodes. Season 2 proved itself again and brought some gripping tension, great action and a shocking finale.

#3 Community

 

Community continues to be the best and certainly bravest comedy on television. It is not hyperbole when I say this show is genius. Even the worst episode stands head and shoulders over the rest as the smartest comedy on television. Season 3 is only half over but brought two of the best shows of the series, an Apocalypse Now spoof and an episode titled Remedial Chaos Theory that effectively splits the series into six parallel realities.

#2 Breaking Bad

 

Breaking Bad had a pretty slow season overall. But the payoff at the end was more than worth it. In fact the payoff retroactively made all previous episodes that much more compelling. Delivering on one of the best TV villains of all time is not easy for any show but Vince Gilligan and company were more than up to the task. There are few things on television as daring as Breaking Bad, it truly deserves this spot.

#1 Game of Thrones

 

Is there really any other choice for best show of the year? The incredible scope, rich characters, engaging story oh yeah guys, and dragons. Game of Thrones delivered something never seen on TV before. The expansive and big budget view on the world really set this show over the top and made new shows that tried to deliver something similar look foolish. George R.R. Martin's books are a bit polarizing but the writers delivered a faithful and arguably better experience than the source.

HBO has a knack for finding relatively unknown actors and giving them center stage to shine. And shine they did. Sean Bean and Peter Dinklage aside, this cast is relatively unknown and did a outstanding job. Never has an epic fantasy world felt more real.

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There were some other shows that just missed the list. How to Make it in America just barely didn't make the list. Recently canceled by HBO, this was a fun show, easily compared to Entourage but far less lazy. It's too bad this one got canceled because I would have really liked to see where Ben and Cam end up on their way to the top as opposed to watching Vince and the boys just stay on a plateau of easy living.

Justified turned in a solid season but that show just doesn't gel well with me. It has great characters that are often tragically over written. Louie was back with another subversive season and New Girl proved to be a interesting new comedy on Fox. As a fan of Zooey Deschanel, I was really turned off to hear the premise of her new comedy. Much to my surprise it turned out to be a really well writted and thoughtful comedy, inconsistant at times.

Even though Breaking Bad made it high on my list, things at AMC are looking weak. Both Hell on Wheels and The Walking Dead turning in really thin seasons. The former much more so than the latter.