Game Of Thrones (newbies)

Television has shifted focus to the big picture, and that’s not always a good thing. 

FX just had what its executives call its “best year ever,” with the launch of their top first-season comedy (Wilfred) and top first-season drama (American Horror Story) in 2011.

Sure, the year we just left behind always gets a lot of attention in entertainment circles. But what about all the great stuff from every year before that?

The A.V. Club's weekly list.

We pick the best shows of an extremely good year in television. 

Who voted for which series? Which shows barely made the cut? And which less-heralded shows do you need to start DVRing? Read on.

We single out television’s most remarkable/strangest/curious accomplishments.

The best The A.V. Club had to offer in 2011.

What is a hang-out drama and why are they often compelling and frustrating at the same time? 

The A.V. Club’s weekly list. 

April is coming.

In the first week of its third season—and its first airing on a Monday, without a cushy lead-in—HBO’s Bored To Death pulled in 240,000 viewers.

His stature is unassuming, and his voice is a little high in register. His knowledge of science fiction and classic horror films is unmatched.

Never one to mince words or shy away from criticizing other people’s devotions, author Salman Rushdie came out swinging in a recent interview with Israeli website Haaretz, discussing the upcoming series he’s scripting for Showtime by putting ...

The cartoonist behind Hark! A Vagrant talks about merging history and comics, and why happy people and punctuation aren’t funny.

A new look at Freakonomics Radio, Biff Tannen shows up on Nerdist, Bootsy Collins opens up on Sound Opinions, and more.

His stature is unassuming, and his voice is a little high in register. His knowledge of science fiction and classic horror films is unmatched.

His stature is unassuming, and his voice is a little high in register. His knowledge of science fiction and classic horror films is unmatched.

His stature is unassuming, and his voice is a little high in register. His knowledge of science fiction and classic horror films is unmatched.

His stature is unassuming, and his voice is a little high in register. His knowledge of science fiction and classic horror films is unmatched.

His stature is unassuming, and his voice is a little high in register. His knowledge of science fiction and classic horror films is unmatched.

What a romantic fantasy that looked at New York from the bottom up says about the way we tell stories, and the way we perceive the stories we tell. 

A despicable protagonist kicks off a fantasy series by raping and killing his way across a contested country.

A classic, sex-filled comic raises some questions about how we treat the erotic in comics, and elsewhere, today. 

The latest attempt to revive Robert E. Howard’s Cimmerian warrior seems destined to hear the lamentations of the audience.