TV editor Todd VanDerWerff posed this question to the TV Club writers, and we were so fascinated by the diversity of the answers that we decided to throw it your way as well: If you could make a New Year’s resolution for other people to check out one show or one type of show in 2013—ideally, a currently airing one—what would it be?
Todd VanDerWerff: I’m incredibly proud of our top 30 list for 2012. I dare say it’s the best list out there, with a great mix of just about everything TV has to offer. But the way we vote means that the shows everybody watches rise to the top, then the bottom half is dominated by cult favorites that a handful of our writers are passionate about. For me, that cult favorite is NBC’s family drama Parenthood, a show that should be far, far more popular than it is. It has a bad reputation as a schlocky melodrama based on a Steve Martin movie, but it made my top 10 for 2012 for a damn good reason, and I’m guessing it didn’t make a lot of my colleagues’ top 10 lists simply because they don’t watch it. It’s finishing out its fourth season in the next few weeks, but it’s the kind of show you can dive into whenever you want. (Anyone with a family will probably immediately grasp what’s going on, and it’s not hyper-serialized, beyond character relationships.) If you do want to dive into the deep end, there’s rewarding stuff in all four seasons of the show, but particularly in the third and fourth years, when showrunner Jason Katims and his team really nailed down the precise mixture of comedy and pathos they pursue every week. (Katims also ran Friday Night Lights, and this show captures a lot of that series’ spirit, while being looser and more immediately funny.) There’s plenty of time to get caught up before fall—hopefully!—brings a fifth season.
Rowan Kaiser: In the email thread in which we were asked to send in our nominees for the best-episodes list, the first responders often had something in common: They nominated episodes from shows like Rev., Misfits, Sherlock, Downton Abbey, The Thick Of It, Doctor Who, and The Line Of Duty. Abbey and Who aside (two cultural phenomena having off years), the immediate response suggests two things to me: First, that we may not have had have enough voters watching and rating these shows, and second, that those of us who do watch these shows really like them. Thus my suggestion is that everyone try to catch more British shows on Hulu, which has done a great job of acquiring the rights to a variety of non-American series. In addition to the shows’ own charms, the shorter British seasons make them easier to catch up on, as well as giving them refreshingly different paces and structures. Me, I’m leaning toward trying out Fresh Meat, a comedy about arriving at university, from the creators of Peep Show. Hulu will begin airing the second season on January 13.
Brandon Nowalk: I recommend sampling the weird experiments on Adult Swim, America’s riskiest, freest, best network. When I watch Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole, a stop-motion puppet sex farce inspired by Gothic literature, or Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule, a cable-access parody turned surreal late-night pastiche, there’s an intoxicating sense of getting away with something. I can hardly believe the absurdist, Mary Hartman-inspired Southern soap The Heart, She Holler actually aired last year. Childrens Hospital is especially sharp in its attacks on narrative, but NTSF:SD:SUV:: and Eagleheart are also plenty funny. Better yet are the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it specials like the three-part infomercial parody You’re Whole and the title-credits reenactment turned celebration of television and fandom The Greatest Event In Television History. And I can’t wait to catch up on The Venture Bros. in time for its return this year. Adult Swim is full of true originals challenging television norms one non sequitur at a time. Plus: 11-minute episodes!
Phil Dyess-Nugent: My first thought was Peep Show, which is currently in the middle of its eighth season on Hulu, with the promise of another to come later this year. It’s a major comedy, and its low visibility in this country bewilders me and pisses me off. (Only the first season is available on Region 1 DVD, and it’s so much weaker than the later seasons that this amounts to misrepresentation.) But it’s technically covered by Rowan’s recommendation. So instead, I’ll risk appearing to be passing out homework assignments by urging people to keep up with the documentary-series trifecta on PBS: Frontline, P.O.V., and Independent Lens. I don’t think these shows are obscure, but I do suspect that a lot of TV-literate people take them for granted, “respecting” them more than they actually watch them. Frontline is the last outpost of a great tradition in TV journalism, and it really puts out a number of exciting episodes, often dealing with issues viewers might not have even known were issues, such as the high cost of dentistry and the fact that there are parts of this country where, apparently, any doorknob who’s watched half a CSI and can sit in a courtroom witness chair without falling off can get a job as Chief Medical Examiner. The other two series don’t produce original work, and they both have the deplorable habit of chopping up feature films to fit an hourlong slot, but they still provide exposure to some excellent films that otherwise would never get seen outside the festival circuit. If an upcoming title sounds like it might be your thing, I recommend taking a few seconds to look it up on IMDB and checking the original running time.
Zack Handlen: While we missed it in our inventory of 2013’s most anticipated entertainments, it’s safe to say we here at TV Club are looking forward to the return of Venture Bros. later this year. I know I am, and after watching (and reviewing) the series’ Halloween special last fall, I’d say there’s ample reason to get excited about the show’s return. The voice cast is as lively as ever, the animation is a pleasure, and while mixing pathos and pop-culture riffs certainly isn’t anything new in animation, show creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer have hit on a particular balance of both that remains unique. Mentioning it here is probably the resolution equivalent of a coals-to-Newcastle moment, but if any of you are still on the fence about giving Venture Bros. a try, I recommend it. You should have just enough time to get caught up by the time the new season debuts.
Molly Eichel: The Hour, which just wrapped up its second season on BBC America, is one of those shows that’s frustrating because I just want more of it. Going behind the scenes of a news-magazine show in late-’50s England, the 12-episode (six per season) series is exactly what The Newsroom should be, but isn’t. The writers pack in the plot, but even a tertiary plot thread about parents searching for a daughter they gave up for adoption was more compelling than the full-blown premise of other dramas. The depictions of the inner workings of a newsroom are frighteningly spot-on, and the writing weaves in history without making it seem like the characters were the catalyst for a changing Britain. That’s not to mention, an all-around stellar cast, including Romola Garai (who should be so much more famous), Ben Whishaw (who might be too famous for a third season), and Dominic West (who is always welcome on my TV screen). This season featured the addition of Peter Capaldi, and I hope he sticks around if there’s a third season. Take a weekend and mainline this.
Donna Bowman: Don’t automatically dismiss the venerable reality category. Over the holidays, I’ve gotten obsessed with Shark Tank, which brings a sort of financial realism to the gimmicky American Inventor setup, but also lays bare the role of emotion and gut feeling in business decisions without gamifying them too much. And if you were surprised by the enthusiasm for the last two seasons of Survivor (and, I would argue, the last two seasons of Amazing Race as well), then it might be time to add it back into your queue. Sure, Sturgeon’s Law still applies, but there’s so dang much reality TV that the 10 percent that’s worthwhile adds up to quite a few shows.
Carrie Raisler: It seems as if it’s time to start placing more of a critical eye on USA programming. Between Political Animals and the increased (and very successful) serialization of Suits and Covert Affairs during their summer seasons, it feels like the network is slowly edging away from its “sunny day” edict and into something more interesting. Even the failed pilot Over/Under, which recently aired as a standalone movie, showed a willingness to stretch the USA brand in a way that’s promising—even though it was ultimately a failure. All of this could be a giant coincidence, and the network could devolve right back into meaningless light drama with its next development cycle, but it feels like something potentially very good is happening here. My personal goal is to give all new USA shows a fair shake in 2013, even if they start out a little shaky. After all, Suits’ great season two wouldn’t exist without its (decidedly less interesting) first season to build upon.