Yesterday, I tackled the new comedies of the season. Today it is onto the dramas. While I liked some of the comedies a lot, I feel like this was perhaps the best year for new dramas since 2011-12. There were three that came out of the season as regular viewing options for me and a handful more that were pretty good. Plus there was nothing dreadfully horrible. Not a bad year for the dramas.
Check back tomorrow for my final season in review post!
Past Years:
2013-14 2012-13 2011-12 2010-11
BEST NEW DRAMA
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) - I went back and forth between this and
Gotham for the Best New Drama but I ultimately chose
Murder because I was always more excited to watch it each week. It wasn't perfect, but it was fun. The academic setting added a lot to the feel of the show and it stayed twisty and suspenseful right up to the end. With a strong ensemble led by a star turn from Viola Davis, I'm curious to see where the show goes next. It certainly added to the Shonda's night of thrill rides.
The Runners-Up
Gotham (FOX) - I thought
Gotham was very strong during the first half of the season but it got a little bogged down in the second half of the season as it delved into the mob bosses story and lost its way. However, there are a lot of great performances and the second half of the season centered on Penguin in control and the rise of the Joker sounds awfully promising to me.
Madam Secretary (CBS) - This show isn't as thrilling as
How to Get Away with Murder or
Gotham and it's not as classy as
The West Wing, but it's comfort food for a Sunday night. The two leads (Tea Leoni and Tim Daly) are very strong and the show was capable of finding good world stories to tell that are relevant for now. My biggest complaint is the sometimes forced inclusion of family storylines with the kids.
Worth Mentioning: Empire (FOX), Red Band Society (FOX)
BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A NEW DRAMA
Ben McKenzie, Gotham (FOX) - As a young James Gordon in a world that's falling apart, Ben McKenzie does a good job at playing the stoic hero. He's a do-gooder but not infallible and that's important for the show because if he was perfect, there would be no need for Batman and this show is all about how Batman came to be. Ben McKenzie could stand to loosen up just a bit but he was a strong force in season one of
Gotham.
The Runners-Up
Tim Daly, Madam Secretary (CBS) - Tim Daly has had several successful turns on TV from
Wings to
Private Practice. As Henry McCord, he plays an interesting role in the power couple on
Madam Secretary. Though he is extremely accomplished, he seems secondary to his brilliant, globe-trotting wife. It's an interesting play on traditional structures and Daly never seems inferior or superior to his on-screen wife (and now real life girlfriend). They are partners.
Timothy Hutton, American Crime (ABC) - I didn't stick with
American Crime all the way through season one even though I enjoyed the episodes I watched. Timothy Hutton was very strong as the father of the murdered victim at the center of the crime. It was a slow-burn drama that I didn't quite have the patience for but Hutton was so believable in his role.
Worth Mentioning: Terrance Howard, Empire (FOX), Scott Bakula, NCIS: New Orleans (CBS)
BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A NEW DRAMA
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) - The star turn of the season belonged to Viola Davis and her dynamic portrayal of Annalise Keating. While critics have been mixed on the show itself, Davis has received near universal praise and deservedly so. Her character has required her to jump between completely in charge and completely vulnerable and she did it with amazing ease. I can't think of another show on TV that is so reliant on its star, that would be nothing without them. Kerry Washington on
Scandal comes close but her ensemble is better. Viola Davis makes this show.
The Runners-Up
Taraji P. Henson, Empire (FOX) - If it wasn't for Davis, Taraji P. Henson would be very deserving of this distinction and she has already captured the public even more thanks to
Empire's mega-hit status. As the fast-talking, scheming, manipulative Cookie, Henson had a year's worth of great quotes and moments in an abbreviated first season for FOX's hit drama. Her character has been compared as a modern day version of Joan Collins from
Dynasty and though I haven't seen much of
Dynasty, that seems quite fitting.
Tea Leoni, Madam Secretary (CBS) - In a weaker year, Tea Leoni (or even the actresses "Worth Mentioning" below) would be worthy winners. But this was such a phenomenal year for drama actresses. Tea Leoni was very strong as Elizabeth McCord, a strong but often stressed Secretary of State. In a more passive way than Viola Davis' character, she still got exactly what she wanted and didn't give up until she did.
Worth Mentioning: Octavia Spencer, Red Band Society (FOX), Felicity Huffman, American Crime (ABC)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A NEW DRAMA
Robin Lord Taylor, Gotham (FOX) - Even as
Gotham went through some growing pains in season one, there was no denying that Robin Lord Taylor's performance as a young Penguin was perfect. He has the mannerisms, the awkwardness, and the evilness down pat. It's very easy to see the type of criminal he will become and the show is wisely letting him have the run of the crime in the city next season where I'm sure he will shine. What an excellent casting choice.
The Runners-Up
Donal Logue, Gotham (FOX) - Another strong supporting actor in
Gotham is Donal Logue's Harvey Bullock. A much more gruff and seasoned counterpart to Jim Gordon, Donal Logue brings a lot of humor to an othewise pretty dark show. He is needed to balance out both the villains and the stoic Gordon.
Alfred Enoch, How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) - As Wes Gibbins, Alfred Enoch was the most prominent of the "Keating Five" in season one of
How to Get Away with Murder. He seemed so earnest yet he made some decisions that made you question if he really was any better than the other schemers on the show. Time will tell, I guess!
Worth Mentioning: Jussie Smollett, Empire (FOX), Charlie Rowe, Red Band Society (FOX)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A NEW DRAMA
Liza Weil, How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) - While the Lead Actress in a Drama category was exceptionally strong this year, I thought the Supporting Actress category wasn't nearly as strong. My top three choices are all from
How to Get Away with Murder, but none of them blew me away. The strongest of the three was Liza Weil as Bonnie Winterbottom. Weil was not very memorable at first but became increasingly important and layered as the season went on. I think she'll figure prominently next season.
The Runners-Up
Katie Findlay, How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) - At the center of the murder all season, Katie Findlay also became an increasingly important part of the show as the accused Rebecca Sutter. It wasn't clear until the very end of the season whether she was innocent or not and I went back and forth all year on whether I believed she was or not.
Karla Souza, How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) - I didn't really have a great third person to put here so I went with Karla Souza as Laurel, perhaps the most mysterious and reserved of the "Keating Five." As I said before, this show was all about Viola Davis but Souza was solid and I hope they give her more to do next year.
Worth Mentioning: Jada Pinkett Smith, Gotham (FOX), Bebe Neuwirth, Madam Secretary (CBS)
WORST NEW DRAMA
Constantine (NBC) - There wasn't a new drama that I thought was just horribly bad this season although there were plenty that weren't any good. I went with the show that was least appealing to me and that was
Constantine. This is as much about me not caring about this type of show at all as it is about anything else. But a good show can transcend its genre and
Constantine certainly didn't do that. It was dark and depressing and I just didn't even get it.
The Runners-Up
The Slap (NBC) - NBC's "mini-series" about a child getting slapped has to be one of the dumbest premises for a show. I'm not suggesting that it isn't an important topic but it just struck me as gimmicky how they approached the topic. It didn't come up organically in a well-written drama, it was the premise. That didn't work.
State of Affairs (NBC) - I was hopeful for
State of Affairs but that quickly evaporated when I realized Katherine Heigl couldn't act and the show couldn't deliver the thrills of
The Blacklist or the insider-DC feel of
Madam Secretary. The pilot was just so boring and it should have been packed with intensity.
Worth Mentioning: Gracepoint (FOX), Secrets and Lies (ABC)
I don't typically write about late night TV but I'm a regular watcher of it so I wanted to say a few things that have been on my mind with the retirement of David Letterman this week.
The Goldbergs (ABC) - After a very promising first season that did have some growing pains, The Goldbergs moved to Wednesday nights and hit its stride in a big way from the very beginning. The characters are becoming less caricatures and more real solid performances. The show is both funnier and sweeter than it was in season one. It is a truly great family comedy that has allowed the 80s to be so integral to the show without defining it. It's a gem.
Blue Bloods (CBS) - It may not be as thrilling as Scandal or How to Get Away with Murder or even Chicago Fire can be, but no show is consistently high quality like Blue Bloods. In many ways, it's comfort food. But a show that is often made fun of for being so old-skewing actually seemed awfully relevant in a year where tensions with police were all over the news. If only every city had a Police Commissioner like Frank Reagan. Blue Bloods is to police what The West Wing was to politics - it shows the best a world can be and a world we wish we lived in.
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) - I went back and forth between this and Gotham for the Best New Drama but I ultimately chose Murder because I was always more excited to watch it each week. It wasn't perfect, but it was fun. The academic setting added a lot to the feel of the show and it stayed twisty and suspenseful right up to the end. With a strong ensemble led by a star turn from Viola Davis, I'm curious to see where the show goes next. It certainly added to the Shonda's night of thrill rides.
Black-ish (ABC) - It was one of the most anticipated comedies of the new season and it didn't disappoint. In some ways, Black-ish is a modern day Cosby Show because it centers on an affluent black family. What sets it apart and makes it unique is it deals with the black culture directly and often hits controversial topics head-on: specifically, a black family's struggle to keep their identity in the more affluent, white world. It's a sitcom that has something to say about society, but it's never done in a preachy way. It's done in a very funny way. With a top-notch cast including an excellent group of child actors and tons of stories to tell, I expect Black-ish to be around for a long time.
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth (FOX) - Audiences have been very opinionated on season one of The Last Man on Earth and specifically regarding Will Forte's character, Phil Miller. He started out as a lovable loser when he was all by himself and then turned into somewhat of a jerk as people started to populate his world. I think that's reflecting the show still working out where it wants to go but Forte's performance was magnificent. He was at his very best in the pilot when everything rested squarely on him and there were no other characters. It was a fascinating half hour. Since then, his character has been both funny and pathetic, but he's made the show.
Constance Wu, Fresh Off the Boat (ABC) - Easily the breakout sitcom star of a new comedy this season, Constance Wu stole every scene she was in as Jessica Huang. A no-nonsense woman who is not quite understanding or appreciative of white culture, she delivers each line with sass and often bewilderment. Every great moment in this show so far has been connected to Wu and I'm excited to see what she does next season.
Josh Gemberling, Marry Me (NBC) - I watched Marry Me for several episodes, but ultimately didn't stick with it even through its shortened first season. One of my favorite parts was Josh Gemberling's Gil, the pathetic, divorced best friend of Ken Marino's Jake. He got off quite a few funny one-liners and was a bit of a Zach Galifianakis type in the role and he has the same comedic timing.
Kristen Schaal, The Last Man on Earth (FOX) - One of the most bizarre characters of the new season, Kristen Schaal's Carol initially annoyed me, but she became one of my favorite characters on the show. A perpetually sunny yet delightfully weird optimist, she's a bit of a blend of Sue Heck and Leslie Knope. While you can understand how other characters might be annoyed by her, you can't help but root for her because she's so well-meaning.
Manhattan Love Story (ABC) - There was plenty of competition for worst new show as a couple were instantly forgettable. The most annoying was Manhattan Love Story. What was conceived to be (and could have been) a mini Woody Allen movie set in a great city turned into a disastrous show with obnoxious voice-overs saying what was going on in the main character's heads. It was so gimmicky and stupid. It was like the writing and acting was capable of conveying inside thoughts any other way. A waste of a decent idea.
