Best & Worst New TV Shows of 2014

It's that time of the year again! Time to chart the Toppers and the Floppers of the television newbies!


Best NEW TV Shows of 2014:


1) Young & Hungry (ABC Family, Premiered in June)

 Emily Osment shines as Gabi in the lead role in Young & Hungry. She's related able, believable and her comedic timing couldn't be better. The show is funny without being over-the-top and it really shows how this generation of 20 somethings get by. 

PS: Check out my full Season One review here.

2) Cristela (ABC, Premiered in October)

I think one of the reasons this show was such a hit for me was because I went into it with the preconceived notion that it wasn't going to be for me. The trailer doesn't do it justice and the early reviews were less than favorable so I was very surprised to have really enjoyed the series so far. The family dynamic is what gets me. They are dysfunctional and use sarcasm to relate to one another, which I can relate to personally. Anybody who has heard the story "Back in my day" from their parents, had to start their career with a non-paid internship or who longs to teach the younger generation not to be so materialistic, this show is for you. Cristela Alonzo's humor is right on point and I really hope that this show get's picked up for a second season.

3) Growing Up Fisher (NBC, Premiered in February)

Even just thinking of this underrated and cancelled-WAY-TO-EARLY show warms my heart. This is the first family sitcom to pull on my heart strings since the good ol' sitcom days of the 80s/90s. Growing Up Fisher had it all; humor, originality and morals. There are a lot of comedies that I like these days but none that teach morals. Growing up with all the moral-teaching sitcoms always made me realize things about myself that I may not have seen before. I will forever be a better person for having watched Growing Up Fisher. 

PS: If I was giving out awards for Best New Theme Song, this would be #1. If you've never heard it, check out Eric Hutchinson's "Tell The World"

4) Rising Star (ABC, Premiered in June)

As a big fan of reality shows I appreciate when something new is brought to the table. Rising Star brought the singing that I love, with the human emotion and added the instant factor. No longer having to wait until the next day to find out results is the best thing about this show. People vote using the Rising Star app during the performance and on the side of the screen it calculates so when the person/group is done performing, the viewers and the contestants know what the result is. Every Sunday night I was glued to both my TV and my iPhone to vote for my favorites, making me feel like my vote made a difference. I hope ABC brings it back for a second season!

PS: Check out my full Season One review here!

5) Red Band Society (Fox, Premiered in September)

If you've read my pilot review for this show you would know how skeptical I was going into the episode. People tend to hear about a show based on sick kids in the hospital and pass on it because of how depressing it sounds. This show had a Breakfast Club feel for a younger generation. Sure, it had it's sad moments but it also had it's-a-good-day-to-be-alive moments. It took a difficult premise and made it work by using relate able characters and having a cast that really clicked. I firmly believe that had this show aired on a different network (say CW or MTV, something with a younger audience who enjoys things like The Fault In Our Stars) it may have lasted longer than it did.

6) Legends (TNT, Premiered in August)

I was excited to see Sean Bean back on television again after his untimely demise on his previous series, and he nailed the main role in this series. He is such a talented actor that I completely forget every other role he's ever played and I am convinced that he really is this character. In this series he plays several characters and is just such a pro at switching between them. The rest of the cast is stellar and the season ended on a cliffhanger and so I was finally able to breath a sigh of relief when it got renewed for season 2.

PS: Check out my pilot episode review here.

7) Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge (Syfy, Premiered in March)

Once again, I am a huge fan of original reality (watching everything from Top Model to Face Off) so I was psyched to try Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, which I'm very pleased to say, didn't disappoint. Having grown up in the animatronics era (as opposed to the CG era), I found this show fascinating on so many levels. Most of these contestants need so many skills to work at the level of the Jim Henson company. They need to be make-up artists, fabricators, engineers, creators and puppeteers. Plus it's always so nice to see a family-run company where you can clearly see that Brian Henson (the Head Judge) loves what he does just as much as his dad (Jim Henson) did.  

Worst NEW TV Shows of 2014:


1) Selfie (ABC, Premiered in September)

Without a doubt this deserves the number 1 spot on my WORST new TV shows chart. The concept was bad and the execution was worse. This show is an example of what would happen if one of the girls from Mean Girls graduated high school and went on to the real world. Turns out, she's still an unlikable mean girl. At the end of my pilot review I predicted a cancellation, and I reveled in the glory when it came. 

2) Mulaney (Fox, Premiered in October)

Right from the beginning of the pilot episode it felt like a rip-off of Seinfeld. John Mulaney might be a funny comedian (although there was no sign of that in the show) but one thing he certainly is not, is an actor. Instead of writing his comedy into a script he just awkwardly talks to every character like he's standing on stage with a mic. He comes across as stiff as a board both in his acting and his delivery of the jokes. If he was attempting an updated version of Seinfeld there was one big difference, Seinfeld was funny and successful, and this show was just painful and ended up cancelled.

3) Bad Teacher (CBS, Premiered in April)

The title of the series says it all, "Bad". It gave us an unlikable main character with a bad story line and even worse writing. I spent more time rolling my eyes and getting mad at my TV than I did enjoying the pilot episode. I predicted cancellation, and I was right on the money. 

4) Mystery Girls (ABC Family, Premiered in June)

I was super excited to see the Beverly Hills besties back together on the small screen in their own TV series. Sadly, I was less excited after watching the pilot episode. Although I had previously seen Jennie Garth in a more comedic role (What I Like About You), I had never seen Tori Spelling take on something more light hearted. Unfortunately Tori doesn't have the same acting ability with the right comedic timing for this show as Jennie does. I know the show was more spoofy but after watching the pilot episode I just couldn't take it seriously at all and it got the boot from my PVR. 

5) Famous In 12 (CW, Premiered in June)

First of all let me state that I thought the concept for this show was beyond strange. Harvey Levin (from TMZ) took a regular family who wanted to be famous and over 12 weeks would find themselves in situations that could help them obtain their goal. Needless to say, nobody was interested in the family or their quest for fame and the show was cancelled in week 5.

6) Bad Judge (NBC, Premiered in October)

Networks really have to stop using the name "Bad" in their titles. Though it's once again an appropriate adjective to describe the show. The writing was bad, it was very unbelievable and lacked any connection with the audience which was proved by it's cancellation. 

PS: Check out the pilot episode review here!

7) Mysteries of Laura (NBC, Premiered in September)

Having watched the full series of Will & Grace back in the day, this was the series I was most looking forward to this year. Until I saw the pilot episode. This series suffered from an identity crisis. It couldn't tell if it was trying to be a family sitcom or a cop drama and the back and forth between the two worlds was jarring. The child actors were badly cast and Debra Messing just gets lost in the mystery of how this show made it on TV in the first place.

PS: Check out my pilot episode review here!

8) Utopia (Fox, Premiered in September)

Whoever came up with the concept of a reality show that has no challenges, evicts no people and has no identifiable end goal should lose their job. People (including myself) don't care to watch people for an entire year create their own society. Plain and simple, it's boring. If you read my review of the pilot episode, I predicted cancellation. I was right.

9) Lindsay (OWN, Premiered in March)

My goal here is not to pass judgement on Lindsay herself. She is her own person who is battling and trying to overcome her demons. What I will say is that you should never agree to do a television show (or anything for that matter) if you have a hard time committing after you agree to commit to it. The fact that Lindsay was always late, wouldn't agree to have the film crew film certain things and the drama that unfolded between her and her assistants overshadowed what the show was supposed to be about, a modern day woman in the public eye who took the wrong path and was trying to find her way back.

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