Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #2 Parks and Recreation

© Chris Haston/NBC

I did not like the first season of this show to a point that I don't believe I watched it all. Being a fan of The Office and Amy Poehler I of course had to check out Parks and Recreation. Right away I didn't enjoy it that much. Poehler's character was more annoying than entertaining, the premise of the show seemed boring, and it felt all over the place. What really was going on had to with the writers and actors clearly trying to figure out what they wanted make out of this show. Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, who had developed and written for the US remake of The Office, brought too much of that show into this one. It originally aired before The Office, which seemed silly to begin with, and I honestly got tired of the format each week by the time the show I really enjoyed started. For example, the mockumentary style of having sit down interviewed sound bits that made The Office work so well seemed so out of place on Parks and Rec. It was if they put that in there because they had to, or felt it was one of the ways they could be funny.

The first episode of the second season I watched was titled "Greg Piktis". It was the seventh episode of the season. I took a look at it for two reasons: 1) Critics I follow on Twitter kept raving about how this is the funniest show on television and how it had changed drastically from season one. And 2) It was the Halloween episode and TV always does Halloween well. The differences were drastic. They no longer seemed to be relying on Poehler and were giving true voices to every character within the show's world (and process that also took The Office some time but made it what it is today). The show also had figured out that they didn't need to force the taped sit down interviews; they would come when they would make sense whether it was to segway from one scene to the next or to explain something that had happened in the past. After that one episode I went online that weekend and watched the first six episodes I had missed of the season and was HOOKED.

The show works best because the actors and the characters know their place within Pawnee, IN and the story of each week. Poehler gets to shine and use everyone to play off of while turning her character Leslie into a real person rather than just a workaholic. Nick Offerman, as alpha-male Ron Swanson, is used just the right amount to maximize his awesomeness without overdoing it. A nice surprise is the chemistry and friendship that has organically been created with Ron and Leslie. It adds a really nice dynamic that you can look back on week to week that was missing in its first season.

I'm sure everyone has their own favorite characters that make them laugh the most. I love each character a lot but my favorite that gets me the most is the friendship between Chris Pratt and Aubrey Plaza. Their reactions and polar opposite attitudes always adds a laugh to any scene. And I know a lot of people clearly love Aziz Ansari who has finally gotten a place to shine (and had my favorite moment of the season, DJ Roomba). The late additions of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott to the cast at the end of season two has only added more dynamics to the show without messing anything up, and that has to be hard to do. So if you haven't yet, please check out the next episode of Parks and Recreation now airing Thursdays after The Office where it was always meant to be. The second season is also available on Netflix Streaming to help you get caught up if you need to as well.

Now for you viewing pleasure here is a very random video using the Parks and Recreation opening credits called "Hutts and Recreation". Cracks me up every time:




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Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #3 Community

© NBC

If you don't like Community then I feel sorry for you, and you're probably really really old. When this show got started it was marketed as bringing Joel McHale of The Soup to network television and bringing Chevy Chase back to TV. That potentially is a vast difference in the type of viewer that follows those two stars (although I think Chevy Chase is for everyone). It quickly became apparent that McHale wasn't the star of this show and Chase was being used just the right amount to maximize his craziness. It turns out that Community is one of the best (if not THE best) ensembles of actors/characters on television.

Abed, played by Chicago native Danny Pudi, is the best original characters on television. How he interacts with his friends can only be described as the way a baby alien would try to understand the simple things every person does throughout their day. He's like an encyclopedia of useless movie and TV knowledge that makes even the largest nerd have to check Wikipedia after an episode. If Jim Parsons can win awards for The Big Bang Theory, then certainly Pudi deserves at least a nomination at some point.

What's your favorite episode? If you said Modern Warfare (shown above) then congratulations, you're in the majority! Needless to say, I'm in the majority too! Its just such an amazing episode. What other show can you remember putting normalcy aside randomly throughout the weekly episodes to bring you something so creative and inventive like a school-wide paintball battle in the style of classic action movies? Most likely never because who would dare attempt something like that? On top of that it has really found its own voice by being able to make sure the human side and friendships still find their way into each episode while still being surrounded by the pop culture references and silly gags. All of this combines together for a one of a kind show that is just a breathe of fresh ideas and random enjoyment.

Now here is a Behind the Scenes clip from the Modern Warfare episode, enjoy:






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Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #4 The Walking Dead

© TWD Productions/Courtesy AMC

The Walking Dead seems to be just the right amount of everything. That may include some over the top grotesque moments that may turn some people off of the show, but to me that is the right amount. I'll admit I don't read the comic book series by Robert Kirkman. I'm sure I would enjoy it, but I just have never gotten into comic books or graphic novels. Although I do always enjoy it when they are adapted for the screen so I found myself getting really excited when this show was announced. The amazing work AMC did promoting the show combined with the excellent teaser promos (see below) that were put together helped make this show the big hit it quickly became. How big of a hit? It was the most watched Drama Series among Adults 18-49 in Basic Cable history. That is the important data that advertisers look at, and what networks primarily use to help decide what shows stay on the air or get cancelled. Pretty impressive.

A zombie movie can be destroyed very quickly by its makeup effects. It can also be carried very strongly because of the care put into it. This show hits that extra level of realism with how these zombies look, react, and move around. By putting a backstory at times with some of these dead "walkers" you start to reach more into the main character's developments. It is done in such a way that at times you really start to view this show as how it would really be, how people would have to live, and how you would most likely deal with the situations at hand.

What separates this show from zombie movies is how many issues are dusted throughout the episodes. Human issues, like the morality on when to kill someone who has become infected. Emotional issues, like the main character Rick Grimes' (did you know he's British?) search for his family. And relationship issues, specifically the unknown love triangle between best friends and the jealous that comes with it. It was amazing how at times throughout the first season I almost saw the human drama to be a bigger issue for certain characters than "walkers" eating them alive while they sleep. These kinds of issues combined with a few unfinished storylines from the first six episodes (what happened to Merle?) that gets me excited for next season. Luckily this upcoming season will be the full thirteen episodes, which depending on when the premiere is could have us watching heads explode on Christmas (it falls on a Sunday!).

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Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #5 Modern Family

© Danny Feld/ABC

What is there to say about Modern Family that hasn't already been said? Some critics tend to hold this show too high and often expect too much out of it each week. I understand that because most episodes are consistently laugh out loud funny and rarely has jokes or gags that don't payoff the right way. I can understand if some people don't find it funny as most of the plots and characters are very relate-able and if you can't relate with the premise of the show then you may not find as funny as others. I, luckily, relate a lot to this show. I spend a lot of time with my family and this is the one show we'll make sure we watch together each week even though there are several shows we watch that overlap our DVRs. If you really think about it, when was the last time there was a family comedy that the majority agreed upon and watched? Everybody Loves Raymond? Family Matters? Full House?

Everyone knows that this show succeeds for two reasons: the writing and the cast. This show is the definition of ensemble. Each actor shares the duties week to week, and no one (other than maybe Lily, the baby) seems to ever be left behind or forgotten. It just seems to be the right mixture of people that have a realistic chemistry to them. I once said to my parents, "How much less funny would this show be if it had a laugh-track like all the CBS comedies?" Seriously, if you think about it this is the first comedy on network TV that has really mastered the single camera family comedy since Arrested Development left the air.

I was so extremely happy and relieved when Eric Stonestreet won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy last year. He was my pick and I still thought it was a long shot at best that he would win. He clearly carried the best episode of the series so far, Fizbo, where he dresses up as his clown character for Luke's birthday party and accidents happen EVERYWHERE; I could watch that episode everyday and still be laughing about it. You rarely see newcomers do as well as Modern Family did, especially at the Emmy's. The reality is almost anyone has a strong shot at winning awards on this show. Every episode I laugh uncontrollably at how dumb but honest Ty Burrell's character can be, the random stupid thing they give Luke (played by real-life genius Nolan Gould), and how much more suave of a man Rico Rodriguez is than myself.

This season its obvious that Sofia Vergara has been given more to do and has really come into her own on the show as a comedic force. The Emmy this year has to be her's to lose for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Can you think of anyone funnier on television right now, because I can't. My Dad still laughs randomly thinking of their neighbors who think the have a loud-mouthed parrot at home when in reality its just her shouting her husbands name in her think Colombian accent, "JAY!"

If you haven't given this show a shot, watch the pilot and see what you think. If it doesn't instantly make you laugh consistently I won't blame you, I'll just be enjoying myself while also knowing what your missing out on... Underneath the moonlight, moonlight.

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Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #6 Terriers

How many good shows did people not watch last year? Here's one more: Terriers. There has been discussions among the show's producers and critics that the name wasn't the best fit for the show. If you watch a few episodes you'll understand that its about two scrappy private investigators who do whatever they need to get things done. What probably didn't help it the most were the promos that ran before the show premiered of a terrier running around a beach. THAT definitely could have (and I'm sure did) confuse some and turned them off from watching the show. I mean who wants to watch a show about a dog (Lassie)?

Through the first few episodes I didn't think I liked this show that much. I really kept watching it for the character dynamic between Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James who hands down had the best relationship on screen last year. I've never seen a show that could go from dead serious (literally) to funny with a random conversation about nothing. Sometimes I wished the show could spend more than half the time in their truck just chilling and talking, it was that good.

Before I knew it the show had become a lot more. It suddenly wasn't a serial case-of-the-week kind of show. There was a bigger picture, a much bigger picture, that put our two heroes more over their head than they could ever admit. Pieces from previous episodes that the viewer had written off as nothing that would be brought up again were coming back and fitting into this ultimate story arc. I didn't know what I was getting into but about half-way through the season Terriers went from two or three episodes sitting on my DVR to not being able to wait for it to record to watch it. Out of nowhere Terriers became the intense mystery that was missing from my TV schedule.

The critics all loved this show and I learned to as well. This show wasn't watched by many and won't be returning for a second season, but don't use that as an excuse not to watch it. If you have some time in between seasons of other shows pick this one up. It is 13 great episodes that has charcaters that you'll learn to love.

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Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #7 Justified

America needed a Western. I personally had no idea how much I would enjoy a Western. I have never been one of those people who list it off at the top of my favorite movie genres. But as Justified was getting close to premiering I remember every time I saw a commercial I got more and more excited; then my brain could help but force to tell more and more people. Before I knew it this became one of my favorite, have-to-watch-the-night-of, shows.

Timothy Olyphant, who stars as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, should have recently been nominated for a Golden Globe. I know he won't be nominated for an Emmy as they often stick with the status quo and rarely think outside of the box. The Golden Globes on the other hand tend to at least nominate and notice great performances wherever they come from. The Raylan character is a bad ass Marshal whose methods are transported from a Wild West Sheriff. Throughout the first season he is being questioned and investigated for what appears to be his style of "shoot now, ask questions later". Even though he's killing people left and right, you can't help but love this character. Olyphant will be nominated someday for this role, he just has to be. Until then he'll just be one of those TV treasures you yell at your friends about for not watching.

What isn't there to like about this show. It has everything: shootouts, standoffs, romantic drama, family problems, and comedy that I definitely laughed out loud at least once every episode. Remember how excited I was with the previews and commercials leading up to this show? Well it pays off quickly in every way when the premiere climaxes with a bazooka explosion. You gotta love it.

*Justified Season 2 Premieres Wednesday, February 9th on FX*

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Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #8 Louie

Similar to my number nine show, there's a really good chance you didn't watch this. Unlike other shows though, it fits this comedy well. Louis C.K. stars as a version of himself who is a comedian and a divorced father of two in the dating world. He also directs, writes, produces,and if I've been told correctly he even owns the cameras they use to shoot the show. C.K. has been one of my favorite (top three easily) stand-up comedians for as long as I have known his existence. Seeing him have his own show again (Lucky Louie), combined with the creative freedom he's been given by FX makes this show hilarious and extremely refreshing.

The show is built in a way that really no show has been structured before, most certainly never a 30-minute comedy. Each episode has two or three vignettes (or small, unrelated stories) with C.K.'s stand-up placed between, and sometimes during, each of these stories. What I like most about this show is how at one point it will be placed in the very normal, very real world and then suddenly it will enter a fantasy version of that world or go to the edges of C.K.'s surreal mind. For example, I knew I loved this show when in the first episode our hero was on a first date with a woman. The date was going horribly, which in itself combined with C.K.'s deadpan humor and facial expressions was funny enough. Suddenly as the two characters sit down at a park bench with the women still going on and on a helicopter lands behind them; Louie runs to it, jumps in, and flies away from the awful woman.

This show goes anywhere from a lazy day in the apartment, walking around New York, his childhood battles with nuns, and conversations with God himself. Even though all these things occur I always found myself laughing hardest at his stand-up, the thing that I've loved and enjoyed for a long while now. I can safely say I didn't laugh harder in the first season than when C.K. verbally assaults a heckler (who is sitting at a booth literally on stage with him) during one of his stand-up sets. It was relentless, unforgiving, and frickin' funny.

If you like humor, and I'm not talking about the kind assisted with laugh tracks, real humor, then please check out this show. It will go places that may make you uncomfortable, but that's the point. No other comedy does that on television and if you've ever found yourself laughing at darker comedy before then you need to at least take a look at Louie.

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Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #9 Rubicon

The average viewer probably doesn't know what this show is about, or that it even exists. I must admit I was on the verge of complete boredom through the first three episodes of Rubicon but then something happened: Three people sat in a room looking at papers for an hour. No joke, that's what got me hooked on this show. Sure when its put that way it sounds horrible, but it quickly became a fascinating, intense thriller.

I agree with critics that say some parts of this show didn't work right. The B-Story with Katherine Rhumor, the widower whose husband commits suicide in the opening sequence of the series premiere, never seemed to figure itself out. It was too confusing and tedious throughout the 13 episodes that the pay off in the end from it was nowhere near worth it. Towards the end of the season (series) at one episode I even forgot who she was because of a combination of too much going on and just not caring about her.

What always worked for the show was when the team of analysts were racking their brains for days on end stuck in a worn down generic office conference room. The three characters dynamic with one another and how they each looked at the problem at hand differently was always riveting. This all combined with a short time line, knowing they need to make the toughest decisions made this an overnight thriller.

And I know I should mention James Badge Dale, the star of the show, but frankly there I don't know what to say. I think he was great and I am definitely going to be looking for him in whatever his next project ends up being. The reality is that most of his time on the show was spent secretly running around from building to building (and parks), reading different clues, and sitting paranoid in his apartment. This once again sounds boring but I'm telling you that once this show found its real voice it was a non-stop intense mystery.

Rubicon was canceled after its first season by AMC.  The network said it loved the show, but with the ratings as low as they were even a cable network couldn't bring it back. I'm not bothered by the ending because it did leave the possibility for a second season while still satisfying this season's storyline. Really that's all you could ask for in a show like this. If you have some time, like when TV is on Summer vacation, I highly recommend checking out this show. I can best describe it as the thinking man's James Bond or Jason Bourne. Its the untold stories of the people behind the scenes of spies and military operations that get things done.

Ru·bi·con [roo-bi-kon] — Idiom

cross / pass the Rubicon, to take a decisive, irrevocable step: Our entry into the war made us cross the Rubicon and abandon isolationism forever.

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Top 10 TV Shows of 2010: #10 The League

I'm going to start things off with my Top 10 TV Shows of last year. Each day I'll post one of my favorite shows with my reasoning. After that I will do a recap and then move on to the Top 10 Movies of last year. Sound good? No?! Well too bad.

When The League started last season I was unsure how much I would enjoy it. I know just enough about Fantasy Football to do well, but not enough to understand why I do well. FX had been trying for years to find a show to fill the slot after It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and half way through the first season it was obvious that The League had won out.

In it's second season the show has found its grove and was finally hitting everything right with very few misfires. It was obvious the cast had figured out what was best for the show and made it more about the dynamic between each of the friends, which were the funniest parts of the first season as well. I must admit for as much as I have loved Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia over the years, this season I can easily say I enjoyed The League more. They found ways to take each episode right to the edge of what you are willing to see and laugh at, and then go past it just for the hell of it. All of that combined with using just the right amount of Taco (the absent-minded pothead who just appears at random EVERYWHERE) in every episode had me laughing non-stop.

Tomorrow, #9 - A Show that almost no one watched, and never will get the chance to again.