We continue our look back at ’13 with a list of the people in North Texas arts and culture who helped define the year
NO SURPRISE | ‘Modern Family’ is still TV’s best sitcom. Hurray for the gays — Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson).
TV is one of the few pop culture categories where year in, year out you can — but don’t have to — see the same titles over and over again. As much as there is to enjoy on television — reality competition series, period dramas, premium cable epics — coming up with a definitive list of shows worthy of watching would be herculean. But when it comes down to it, a great show is one you cannot miss … and there are only so many hours in the day/week/ year you “can’t miss” something. You need to pick your battles. And these are the battles I engaged in for 2013.
10 (tie). Archer (FX) and Scandal (ABC). Two very different takes on political intrigue: One a foul-mouthed adult cartoon about a mama’s-boy superspy (one of the gayest shows on TV), the other a juicy nighttime soap about Washington insiders … and perhaps the next gayest show on TV. Scandal really came into its own in 2013, but Archer just kept us laughing for a fourth season. (The fifth starts up soon.)
9. Portlandia (IFC). Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen embody every cliché (and every character) in the crunchy-granola dreamworld of a woozy Pacific Northwest enclave. A friend said she didn’t “get” the series at all. I said, “Pretend it was called Austinia.” She got it.
8. RuPaul’s Drag Race (Logo). Still TV’s best reality show, every episode has wit, drama, high doses of camp and real heart as the queens confront genuine issues in their real lives (HIV, parent-child conflict, even coming out as transgender). You often cry between squeals of delight, and you certainly can’t imagine another show treating gay people with more respect.
7. Downton Abbey (PBS). Last season shocked viewers over and over with unexpected developments including the death of two beloved characters. The upcoming season will be an impossible follow-up.
6. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart with John Oliver (Comedy Central). Who could have predicted that when host JS went away for three months, his replacement — a spastic Brit with a self-deprecating style — would be thrown into the craziest summer news cycle in history, and would emerge as the voice of the frustrated electorate? Oliver has since left The Daily Show for his own gig on HBO; we won’t miss it.
5. Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and Arrested Development (Netflix). The online movie streaming service rocketed its way into TV with its brilliant platforming (all episodes available simultaneously) and judicious artistic choices that included another political potboiler, an off-beat women-in-prison comedy-drama and the return of the greatest sitcom of the millennium.
4. Modern Family (ABC). Week after week, the funniest and most accurate depiction of the way semi-functional families actually operate. At least we like to think so. Even the kids are perfect — and who ever says that about a family comedy?
3. Behind the Candelabra (HBO). Steven Soderbergh’s made-for-cable biopic about Liberace was one of the frankest depictions of gay life in the ’70s anyone could hope to make, with a career-defining performance by Michael Douglas.
2. Key & Peele (Comedy Central). Sketch comedy that deals with race, sexual orientation and relationships with more insight than anything TV has ever seen. Dave Chappelle wishes his show was ever one-tenth as funny.
1. Game of Thrones (HBO). Consistently our most compelling and well-wrought drama is a fantasy period piece with dragons that seems as real and immediate as anything set around a kitchen table. It manages to keep scores of characters in play and developed while demonstrating the highest production values of any show on TV.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 3, 2014.