What’s the next “Breaking Bad”?
That’s the question I was asked most often in 2014, as viewers found themselves longing for the transcendent excellence of Walter White’s last episodes.
There was no next “Breaking Bad,” though. No show that could make a case for setting out the best season in television history.
But there was a surplus of excellent television this year, particularly for dramas. There was so much good stuff, in fact, that when it came time to name my 10 favorite series of 2014, I couldn’t do it. There were simply too many strong shows.
So here are the top 10. No, make that 13:
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“The Walking Dead” (AMC): There are so many factors to consider when assessing a show: acting, writing, cinematography, originality, intellectual and emotional impact. But in selecting my top series of the year, it came down to one rather basic question: Which was the hardest to wait a whole week to see again?
“The Missing” (Starz): The mystery of a boy’s disappearance is told in two time frames: his 2006 disappearance and the reopening of the case in 2014. The taut and surprising story rides on a current of dark emotional turmoil and regret.
“The Roosevelts” (PBS): What TV will always have over movies is time — in this case 14 hours to tell the life stories of three of the most influential Americans of the first half of the 20th century: Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Ken Burns’ documentary was exhaustive and engrossing.
“The Honorable Woman” (Sundance): Or “Honourable” as it read in its British airing. The miniseries starred Maggie Gyllenhaal as a British-Israeli woman who becomes entangled in a murder/kidnap mystery so convoluted it makes the politics of the Middle East seem simple. Demanding, but worth it.
“Legit” (FXX): Jim Jefferies writes comedy so outrageous that it would make Lenny Bruce blush, but his bits have a way of making us laugh in spite of our better judgment. For all its inappropriateness, “Legit” celebrates friendship and the importance of human connection. Or rather it did, as it was, sadly, canceled.
And that doesn’t even include: “Homeland,” “Justified,” “Nurse Jackie,” “Bates Motel,” “The Knick,” “Peaky Blinders,” “Orphan Black,” “Black Mirror,” “House of Cards,” “Sherlock,” “Episodes,” “Broad City,” “Silicon Valley,” “The Game” ….