The Best TV of 2015

It used to be when I had an opinion about the best comedy or best drama of a given TV season, it meant something.  Of course I didn’t watch EVERY television program, because even in a three network universe that was impossible, but I watched most of the major shows, the ones who might get Emmy nominations.  Then it became more and more difficult to keep up.  New networks and weblets arose, pay cable stations made some shows inaccessible, and then the cable landscape exploded.  Now, not only are there shows I haven’t heard of, there are cable channels I have no idea how to find on my system, if they are even there.  There’s even more stuff not to be found on my favorite channels list, as you must subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or God help us even Yahoo in order to watch.

Also, with the Balkanization of channels, everyone is now a niche provider.  There used to be some common ground where everyone could come together and pronounce LA Law or Picket Fences as the finest example of television available.  But the need to reach a mass audience is over.  You can tailor your show to reach a core audience of around a million, and your fans will find it.  A show like The Sopranos could not have existed on network TV as advertisers would have been too afraid of offending someone, somewhere.  But on cable it could reach a smaller cadre of fans eager to see Italian stereotypes whack each other incessantly.

Technically the last broadcast show to win the Emmy for Best Drama was 24 in 2006, but I think the 2005 winner Lost was the last show that was designed to appeal to a mass audience.  Since then the Best Drama Emmy winners have been cable shows that could not have succeeded in a mass marketplace like network television.

So when I pick a show as the best drama or the best comedy of the year, it means nothing.  I am going by my own ascetic tastes, which now can be catered to by small niche TV shows of no interest to 98% of the viewing population.  But still, it must be done.  Mustn't it?

My pick for the best drama on television in 2015 is USA’s surprise breakout hit, Mr. Robot.  How good was Mr. Robot?  Everyone who ever watched Fight Club, or knew of Fight Club, or who had been told a synopsis of Fight Club by a friend, could see the big twist reveal in the final episode coming, and yet it STILL pack a punch.  I haven’t felt such urgency watching a show since the early days of Lost, when all of America demanded answers to questions like who was in the Hatch, and where did The Others come from?  After each episode of Mr. Robot it was intolerable to wait a week to see what would happen next.

Maybe one reason for Mr. Robot’s success (USA announced its renewal for season two before the first episode of season one had aired) was shock at the prospect that a TV series starring Christian Slater could, you know, not suck.  Yes, Slater did his best work in years, suppressing his “Christian Slater” persona most of the time then letting it out for maximum effect.  But the show was much more than rising above diminished expectations.

What distinguishes Mr. Robot from the (literally) hundreds of other TV shows out there?  Chutzpah.  Like another great show this year, Fargo season 2, Mr. Robot is not afraid to take on outrageous, mind-bending plot twists while still presenting human beings dealing with relatable issues.  Mr. Robot was not timid, announcing the title of the series in HUGE red letters and distinctive font at the start of every episode.  Because they weren’t playing it safe, the audience had no idea what was off limits (spoiler: when dealing with a show about a conspiracy to destroy the world’s economy, the one thing you know won’t happen is the destruction of the world’s economy; except, that’s what happened).

Of course the show benefited greatly from a star making performance by its lead, Rami Malek.  The show’s poster, with Malek’s face, hollow-eyed, staring out from beneath a black hoodie behind the words “Our democracy has been hacked” was a brilliant announcement of everything you needed to know about the series; this was not your usual protagonist but a character on the fringes, controlling the center despite not wanting to engage with society.

My pick for best comedy shares Mr. Robot’s flair for the unconventional.  To coin a phrase, You’re The Worst is the best.  The series’ first season, about two narcissistic, hedonistic jerks who somehow form a “relationship,” (they would roll their eyes at the term) defied everything we’ve come to know about romantic comedies.  It became even more daring in its second season, presenting one of the most accurate depictions of chronic depression ever done on a screen, big or small.  As Gretchen (Aya Cash) increasingly withdrew into herself, her befuddled “boyfriend” Jimmy (Chris Geere) assumed that if she was depressed then the answer was to force her to have fun.  This spectacularly didn’t work, with Gretchen yelling at him that she was broken and he couldn’t fix her.  The show, by making a dysfunctional relationship even more dysfunctional, somehow humanized both its lead characters, creating a “gift of the Magi” like resolution where she pushed him away to spare him having to deal with her mental illness, and he chose to stay with her even though she made it clear his presence wasn’t helping.  But it did help (Gretchen’s plaintive wail, “You stayed!” and the end of the last episode is one of the sweetest things ever filmed).

Oh, did I mention this is one of the funniest comedies on TV?  Aside from Gretchen and Jimmy’s issues, both have a dysfunctional best friend (his has PTSD, hers is just a pampered idiot) and a circle of messed up acquaintances who can always be counted on to do something astonishingly stupid, which will then be mocked by Gretchen and Jimmy.

I have to mention my runner up here, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  You wouldn’t think that a comedy about the survivor of an underground apocalypse cult would work, but with Ellie Kemper’s infectious performance (how was this woman not even nominated for an Emmy?), an excellent supporting cast (including Emmy-nominated turns by Jane Krakowski  and Don Draper himself, Jon Hamm), and clever writing make the show as sunny as You’re the Worst is dark.  Both are excellent.