Check back over the summer on this blog for ratings recaps, pilot reviews of new scripted shows (and there's a lot this year!), and a continuation of the Weekend Rewind from old CBS lineups (before I start with NBC in the fall).
Past Years: 2013 2012 2011
Since it premiered just one week after Modern Family on the same network and night, The Middle has always been considered the "second sitcom." And for a couple years, it deserved that status. While consistently good, it wasn't as witty or as sharp as the acclaimed Modern Family. But in the past two years, that has reversed. While Family is showing signs of age and inconsistency, The Middle is as good as ever, if not better. This season, the show felt fresh with storylines that involved oldest son Axl's college experience. The heart of the show remained the same. It's a show that you always feel good when you've watched it and it deserves more acclaim for five straight seasons of excellent quality. I'm going to give it that love here on the blog even if it doesn't get it elsewhere, but it was the most consistently strong sitcom all season.
The Runner-Up: Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Last year, I gave the Best New Drama accolades to The Following over Chicago Fire and I have regretted it ever since. After an OK beginning, the show has been on the ascent ever since and the stories in season two were captivating from start to finish. The show does a nice job of creating engrossing storylines while never lingering on them too long. Like a fire, they quickly put out one story before a new one starts. And the crossovers with Chicago PD have worked out quite well. One of my biggest reservations going in was how were they going to make fires interesting every week? But here we are two years down and they're still doing it. And what a season finale!
The Runners-Up: Scandal (ABC), Blue Bloods (CBS)
I am nicknaming this award for Revenge, the show that once had so much promise before things fell apart completely. It pains me to give out this year's award because just a year ago, I was singing its praises as the best thing to happen to sitcoms in a long time. But New Girl completely disintegrated in season three. The seemingly appropriate decision to get Nick and Jess together backfired when they couldn't come up with good storylines. They broke them up but it may be too little, too late. The return of Damon Wayans Jr. as Coach brought nothing to the table, and Schmidt has morphed into one of the more annoying caricatures on TV. There were occasional glimpses of the show it used to be but it seems like a shell of what it was. The audience may be gone forever but hopefully season four can get back to basics and return this show to its former glory.
I would put Person of Interest as a runner-up in the disappointment category, but it wasn't always that way this season. The fall was excellent leading up to the death of Taraji P. Henson's character in a shocking and daring twist. It was so excellent, I even put that episode as my #1 episode of any show in 2013. But then the aftermath was a show that couldn't really find its identity. As it got bogged down in the Samaritan storyline and emergence of Shaw, the show lost its original intent which was a mix of procedural and case of the week. Dramas like this are so much better off when they let themselves just be a case of the week show once in awhile. Person of Interest did this flawlessly in seasons one, two, and the beginning of three. But ever since the death of Detective Carter, I feel like the show has become unnecessarily grim and depressing while not having the humor or simplicity it used to have (and sometimes needs).
Parks and Recreation had another great season, it's almost taken for granted at this point. But everything that has made the show so good was included in the season finale. From memorable characters like Perd Hapley, Jean Ralphio and Mona Lisa, Tammy, and a hologram of Lil' Sebastian! The show felt like a series finale in many ways as it looked like Leslie's time in Pawnee was coming to an end. But then in the waning seconds, the show pulled off a surprise time jump of three years and it showed Leslie in her new position but still in Pawnee. The show will pick up there to freshen it up for its final season. It was sentimental but surprising, a perfect season finale. Now if only it gets rid of Billy Eichner in season seven!
The Runners-Up: The Goldbergs (ABC), Chicago Fire (NBC)
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