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My Top 5 shows of 2013

Here are my 5 (+1) best new shows of 2013.

2013-12-07_1601Well here we are again…

It’s that time of year when media begin ranking their best and worst of the year.

In this supposedly “golden age of television” (and I don’t necessarily disagree with that), it’s very hard to choose the best of the best. So I’ll stick with my tradition of choosing from the best new shows of the year.

In no particular order I am giving honourable mentions to: Wentworth, Orange is the New Black, A Place to Call Home,
The Time of our Lives, Borgen and Please Like Me.

But my Top 5 (+1) are as follows:

5. Top of the Lake (UKTV) / The Returned (STUDIO) tie
4. Better Man SBS
3. Broadchurch ABC
2. Ray Donovan Showcase
1. House of Cards Showcase

2013-04-04_1047

For my money House of Cards was the most powerful mix of story, performance and direction, but being produced by Netflix it also represents 2013’s legacy -the growing shift to binge television. Hence its top place. Broadcast television is now on notice to find ways of dealing with it.

That said, if I was to award a prize for the best single episode of television this year it would go to Breaking Bad‘s “Ozymandias” S5E14.

Tomorrow voting will open in the annual TV Tonight Awards -your chance to choose the best and worst on screen in 2013.

30 Responses

  1. In no particular order my top 5 are

    House of Cards
    Game of Thrones
    Ray Donovan
    Better Man
    Breaking Bad

    Other great shows were Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, Girls, Homeland, Masters of Sex and The Americans

    1. Running shows on time in a consistent timeslot would be a bloody good start. Viewers are tired of networks stuffing them around, so they record them then watch in their own time, sometimes as binge, and skipping ads as a result. Foxtel and SBS already offered binge experiments this year and ABC is set to do the same. Monetising it is a big challenge for commercial networks. I look to the music industry which answered Napster with iTunes. People will pay for good content that’s readily accessible.

  2. My 5 for 2013.

    1: Broadchurch
    2: Les Revenants
    3: Breaking Bad
    4: Southcliffe
    5: Orphan Black

    Best episode of the year was either ‘Ozymandias’ (Breaking Bad) or ‘The Rains of Castamere’ (Game of Thrones)

  3. David’s list is about new shows this year, not just shows that have aired this year.

    My new shows list would be

    1. House of Cards
    2. Ray Donovan
    3. The Americans
    4. The Returned (would be third if only counting the first half of the season)
    5. Mmmmm nothing else stands out

  4. In no particular order my favourites for 2013 are The Blacklist, The X Factor, A Place to Call Home, Sleepy Hollow, Downton Abbey and Scandal.

    Honourable mentions goes to The Newsroom, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Packed to the Rafters, Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, Continuum and American Horror Story. Personally i think this year has produced some great shows and has had a lot of standouts but as always there have been a lot of disasters too.

  5. 1. The Fall (it’s all about the procedure)
    2. Vikings
    3. Orange Is The New Black
    4. Les Revenants
    5. Masters Of Sex

    My +1 would be A Place To Call Home, set a new standard for local productions.

    My favourite episode was the pilot for The Americans.

  6. My top 5 for this year are

    A Place to Call Home
    Vikings
    Time of our Lives
    Arrow
    Please Like Me.

    With special mentions to Young James Herriott,
    (from way back at the start of the year), Wonderland and Masters of Sex.

  7. You see, I’m not sure how this is a ‘golden age of television’ (in fact, I didn’t know anyone was claiming that) when the best program in 2013 is a copy of something that was made in 1990.

  8. I’d have to say my 5 favourite new shows from this year would be Elementary, The Blacklist, The Following, Hostages & A Place To Call Home. It is too hard to just pick 5 though. I also loved Time Of Our Lives, Wonderland & Mr & Mrs Murder. Yeah I know a lot of people slagged off at Wonderland & Mr & Mrs Murder & they didn’t rate very well but I enjoyed them. I’ve probably forgotten a few too.

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