Let’s take a look at some of the best television has had to offer.
Parks and Recreation: A shaky first season led most people to write off Parks and Rec as a lazy Office spinoff. But head writer and producer Michael Schur (aka Mose aka Ken Tremendous) helped the show pull a 180 in the second season, turning the ensemble cast into one of the best on television. The addition of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe helped the show find a better comedic pace. Also, with Amy Poehler as the heart of the show there is genuine warmth to every relationship. Without banging the audience on the head with overt sentimentality or moralizing (cough, cough, Modern Family) each episode manages to end on a sweet note.
Best Episode: “Lil’ Sebastian”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZO-hZjrCAE&feature=related
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Fat Mac, does anything else need to be said? Aside from Rob Mcelhenney gaining a bunch of weight just for the fun of it, the show’s seventh season was a nice return to form after a subpar year. The gang continues to offend every sensible human emotion, hopefully with no signs of slowing down.
Best episode: “Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7u8hbd6sOA
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Larry David has spent fourteen seasons (six on Seinfeld, eight with Curb) dissecting and overanalyzing the mindless minutiae of our lives. Yet with the eighth season of Curb, he’s done some of his best work ever. A midseason move to New York City gave a nice change of pace to the show. At this point Larry David can pretty much do what he wants with an episode and this season went to some ridiculous places, like redemption for Bill Buckner involving catching a baby from a burning building, competing with Rosie O’ Donnell for a bisexual woman, making an enemy out of Michael J. Fox and so on.
Best Episode: “Palestinian Chicken”
Archer: The secret agent genre has been done to death, but it’s never been funnier or more ridiculous than FX’s Archer. The second season and three part miniseries that aired this fall was a work of art. From the great animation (those familiar with creator Adam Reed’s shows on Adult Swim will recognize the style) to the absolutely fantastic voice acting the show hit its stride. H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Chris Parnell, Amber Nash and Judy Greer have such an amazing chemistry together it comes as a shock that the actors don’t even record their scenes in the same studio. Interesting plots provided more backstory to the supporting characters and prevented the show from relying too heavily on sharp one-liners.
Best Episode: “El Secuestro”
Community: Confession, I haven’t watched a single minute of season 3. Not for lack of desire but for some reason the show just didn’t have that pull. Now that it’s been put on indefinite hiatus I feel somewhat responsible. But season 2, while uneven at times, showcased the brilliance of show creator Dan Harmon and allowed each cast member to become fully fleshed humans instead of one-note stock characters. Community takes more risks than any sitcom I can think of and while every episode may not hit its mark exactly, there’s a certain level of admiration for the writers.
Best Episode: “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRpXJiCQqT4&feature=related
