5. The Americans (FX, January 30th May 1st)
If being
the most nominated new series of the year at the third annual Critics' Choice Television Awards, scooping up a ton of noms at the TCA Awards,
having an impressive Metacritic rating, and receiving widespread critical praise throughout its first season isn't enough to convince you this series is worth checking out, then consider the fact that the show, set in the 1980s, follows two KGB operatives posing as a married couple with kids in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., was created by Joe Weisberg, occasional TV writer (Damages, Falling Skies) and former CIA agent. Yeah, cool resume, bro. Plus, fellow FX showrunner and Justified creator Graham Yost is an executive producer. Considering that the series isn't just a critical darling but a ratings success to boot, I'm assuming that it does a pretty decent job of making the most of its premise, challenging ideas of loyalty to one's ideals and one's self while exploring what constitutes the two.
6. House of Cards (Netflix, February 1st)
That's right Arrested Development's new season isn't the only reason there were upsurges in people abusing Netflix's one month free trials and using their friends' passwords. The streaming service leader actually outbid HBO, Showtime, and AMC for this doosey starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright and directed by some guy named David Fincher, whoever the hell he is (oh yeah Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, The Social Network). Notable for much more than acting as a shining example of television's future, untethered by the archaic notions of commercials, Nielsen ratings, and scheduling conflicts, the series is an adaptation of a BBC series from 1990 based on a novel by Michael Dobbs about the cut-throat business of political ambition. While the series has received mostly positive reviews across the board, with
its own impressive score on Metacritic, citing deliciously vitriolic performances which express the series' cynical disgust for politics and government, I can't help but wonder if the conniving backstabbers of the series more accurately represent the Machiavellian schemers of the old world who attacked one another rather than the sleazy, exploitative liars of today's world who abuse the people more so than their peers.