"Louie" is still TV's best comedy. The final season of "30 Rock" is filled with everything we love about the show. "Homeland" has some magnificent acting, and who are we to argue with all those Emmy wins?
But none of them made our list of the five best shows of 2012. Neither did very good shows like "Girls," "Modern Family," "Veep" or "Justified."
"Nashville" is our favorite new drama -- and maybe the best network drama overall -- but it didn't make the list either, despite an engaging mix of soapy stories, engaging stories and gorgeous songs.
Maybe next year.
The word "best" is subjective. But these are the five shows I never, ever miss. I didn't choose them for the list. They chose me. I can't miss them. I can't go to sleep without thinking about them. I can't believe the time is near that one of them will end.
Here they are.
5. "The Walking Dead"
We hear a lot about mindless hordes making hits of terrible shows. But maybe the masses aren't so mindless after all.
"The Walking Dead" began its best season this year even as millions of new viewers discovered the show, making it television's top-rated drama. (The AMC series also has a legitimate shot at becoming the top-rated scripted show.)The show has finally lived up to the compulsively readable comics that inspired it -- and it hasn't hurt that their writer, Robert Kirkman, is one of its executive producers.
Everything about "The Walking Dead" came together in season 3: The acting is top-notch. The pacing is ferocious. And the zombies have never looked so revolting. Of course, nothing good ever lasts forever. Showrunner Glen Mazzara, who has worked hard to achieve the show's fast pace, is leaving at the end of the season. Whoever takes over will have a very hard act to follow.
Also read: 4 Things Networks Can Learn From 'The Walking Dead'
4. "Mad Men"
We're grateful that the show's fifth season even happened.
Creator Matthew Weiner threatened to walk in a contract dispute with AMC, leading to a 17-month break between seasons. But Weiner and his team seem to have used every spare second coming up with mesmerizing moments, from Jessica Pare's performance of "Zou Bisou Bisou" to the British-to-the-end tragedy of Lane Pryce (Jared Harris.) "Mad Men" was exquisite this season.
Even the rare missteps (we still don't believe Joan would sleep with a client like that) were welcome, because they helped us recognize the perfection of nearly every other scene.
Why is an almost-perfect show only at No. 4? Because we're spoiled by four past brilliant seasons of "Mad Men." The wow factor has worn off, and now "Mad Men" is only coasting on its excellence.
3. "Game of Thrones"
No show does better spectacles. Actually, no anything does better spectacles. This was the year "Game of Thrones" sank an armada with green fire. But the show has also created a new world that feels vivid, fantastical and authentic enough to be terrifying.
It's a great series if you like dragons and swordplay, but an even better one if you like cutting dialogue and politics. Every second Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) appears on screen feels like a gift. Novelist George R.R. Martin's thousands of pages gave showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff plenty to work with, but also handed the show scads of information to convey. The writers have made a wonderful game of it, giving us backstory through sex scenes, sword fights -- anything but voice-overs.
Also read: 'Game of Thrones' Gets Expanded Episodes for Season 3
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