There have been three seasons of Game of Thrones thus far. We have voted the show in the top five in the category all three years. The latest vote marks the second time that the uber-violent series has finished in our top three. As our staff anxiously awaits the April return of Game of Thrones, we strongly suggest that you take the first available opportunity to catch up on the 30 episodes that have aired to date. Any show that spawns a term like sexposition is worth your time.

Speaking of consistent nominees, Justified finishes in third place in the category this year. All four seasons to date have been deemed worthy of entry on our list of Best Television Show. Judging by its placement on the list, the most recent season of Justified is our second favorite. Only season two, the Mags Bennett era, finished in a higher location, second place. After debuting in eighth place in 2011, Justified has finished in the top four of our voting three straight times. If you have not given it a shot right now, you must not trust us as a people.

Rounding out the top five are a perennial favorite and a first time nominee. The world has caught up with us on the genius of Archer. Our selection for the fourth Best TV Show of the year is among the most popular cable programs in the coveted 18-29 demographic. And if you doubt that for even a moment, simply say something vaguely euphemistic in a large crowd. Complete strangers will yell “Phrasing!” Archer has also somehow revised 1980s history such that Danger Zone was the song of the decade. It has that type of power.

Person of Interest, our fifth selection, elevated during its second season from a series of intriguing one-off episodes into a robust program with a mythology that rivals anything currently airing on network television. Person of Interest heightened the presence of Amy Acker’s amoral hacker, Root, while introducing Sarah Shahi’s badass soldier, Samantha Shaw. By adding some much needed estrogen to balance an existing overrun of testosterone, Person of Interest became one of the most inventive procedurals on television.

Person of Interest also delivers dramatic action sequences worthy of the Nolan name, which is crucial because Jonathan Nolan is the executive producer of the show. In fact, an argument can and has been made at BOP that Nolan has embraced his brother’s depiction of Batman to the point that Person of Interest is a reconstruction of that character in three forms. There is the brilliant billionaire, the war machine and the master detective. Coincidentally or not (and our vote is squarely in the not category), those three people happen to be the three lead characters on Person of Interest.

When our staff originally voted for The Calvins in 2006, eight network programs comprised the body of our list, joined by a single HBO offering and a Comedy Central program called The Daily Show. Only eight years later, the nature of television has fundamentally changed. To wit, only two network programs are nominated this year. Netflix, a streaming service that did not exist until 2007, matches that total on its own. The first of their selections is Orange Is the New Black, our sixth favorite program of the year. It features a women-in-prison premise that is less Caged Heat exploitation than dramatic depiction of how a non-violent inmate survives behind bars. But let’s be honest here. There is some Caged Heat stuff in it, and we like that part too.

Continued:       1       2       3