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Thursday 31 December 2015

Best & Worst New TV Shows Of 2015

It's that time of the year again! Time to chart the Toppers and the Floppers of the television newbies for 2015!


Best



1) iZombie (CW)

I watched season one back in the spring when it aired and now I'm halfway through season two and this show never gets boring. Rose McIver is magnificent episode after episode playing herself as a zombie playing other random (and sometimes quite out there) characters. I love that this series does such a good job of mixing it's episodic elements with it's overall story so that you get a good dose of both in every episode. Rob Thomas is a genius and I'm so blessed to have iZombie filling the hole that Veronica Mars left me. 

For the pilot episode review, click here.


2) Jessica Jones (Netflix)

I honestly had no idea going into this series how much I would end up LOVING it. I was really skeptical of this series because I wasn't sure Krysten Ritter could pull off the extremely flawed P.I. main character persona but I was dead wrong. I've watched the first few episodes of Daredevil where the darkness, tone and grittiness are equivalent but nothing is more important to me then a strong and kick-ass woman character. David Tennant is fantastically terrifying as the villain (Kilgrave) and I can't wait to see what season two will bring!


3) Bloodline (Netflix)
I was hooked on this series from the end of the first episode which features a major plot twist I hadn't seen coming. The last few episodes of the first season are addictive and I was actually on the edge of my seat for the last 20 minutes of episode 10. Fantastic first season and I can't wait to see where the story goes in season two.

4) Scream (MTV)
After the terrifying disaster that was Scream Queens, Scream was a welcome addition to my Netflix collection. I was hooked within the first 10 minutes of the pilot and binged watched all the way through to the finale. This series was funny, scary, self-aware and spoke in pop culture references. 

For the Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Be Watching Scream, click here.


5) Flesh & Bone (Starz)
Flesh & Bone was a mini-series on the Starz network that I had been excited for as soon as I heard about it. In fact, it's one of the reasons we decided to get Superchannel. For me, Center Stage was the last dance centered feature that got me excited and I was thrilled to have this series be much more gritty. I binged watched the whole series in a weekend and it was wonderful. From the multi-faceted characters, to the dynamic dancing, this series had me yelling at the TV, dancing around the TV and crying in front of the TV. I was devastated to learn that after the shooting completed for season one, they announced it wouldn't get picked up for another season which meant that many story lines would never get to play out. I know this series will develop a cult following and I hope it gets picked up by another network because I would love to see how the amazing story would unfold.


6) Empire (FOX)

All the original songs that are performed on this show are amazing and had me singing them for days. The risk of having the main star be such an unlikable character is such a gamble but for this series, it paid off big time. This show really brings the drama and keeps me entertained episode after episode.


7) Younger (TVLand)
Younger which I thought would just be another throw-away comedy really used it debut season to impress me. Although the concept is kinda unbelievable, the characters and the writing make the series fantastic. 


8) Christmas Through The Decades (History)
This series was based on what Christmas's were like throughout the decades and I loved it. The 4 week series covered Christmas in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Having been born very late in the 80s, it was fantastic reminiscing about old toys and fashions and watching and learning new things about Christmas in the years before me. Who new that in the 70s, hot Dr. Pepper was the drink of choice?! My only complaint about this series is that 4 episodes (and decades) just wasn't enough. I would have loved to have seen Christmas in the 50s and the 2000s.


9) Togetherness (HBO)
This series gave a fresh take on the stale concept of a marriage in trouble. With a great cast, and it's subtle style of humor, it produced a great season one. Can't wait to see season two!


Worst


1) Mr. Robinson (NBC)
This series centers on a former musician Craig Robinson who has to adjust to life as a music teacher in the big city and is almost an exact rip-off of the much funnier series The Steve Harvey Show. I actually had some deja vu watching the pilot episode and had to kick this one off my PVR for being a copy-cat and a terrible one at that.



2) Scream Queens (FOX)

I heard so many fantastic things about this series that I couldn't wait to try it. Apparently I am the only person in the world who thought it was a disaster. It claims to be a "horror comedy" but the only horror I found in it was that someone actually gave this series a green light. I am a fan of both horror and comedy genres from the classics right through to current series however this series isn't funny nor is it scary. Another thing to consider is the fact that they picked the WRONG network for their target demographic. They should have either went with MTV or CW or ABCFamily, any network that targets teenagers and young adults. The other Scream series (Scream) which aired on the MTV network ran for a successful first season and has already been renewed BECAUSE they used a network that targeted their demographic audience. If doesn't matter that Scream Queens has a ton of talented and well known actors/actresses because it's on the WRONG network. Not even Jamie Lee Curtis can save this doomed series.


3) Life In Pieces (CBS)

This whole pilot episode was a bunch of real life situations pushed so far to the extreme that I started to wonder if the world had lost it's mind. I'm not a prude by any means but talking about sticking a cold frozen glove finger up a ripped vagina after birth and a father telling his college-bound son a story about losing his virginity when his penis ended up between two couch cushions instead of in a girl were just uncomfortable and awkward to watch.



4) The Island (NBC)

This "Survivor" style reality show features 14 men (yes, only men) living on an island for a month with no food, no water and no shelter. It's actually an American version of a show that already exists in the UK with the same host called "The Island with Bear Grylls".
It's no surprise that I will not be continuing on with the remaining five episodes of this series. If NBC was paying any attention to the disaster that was Utopia last fall on FOX they might have learned a thing or two. Like we are not interested in watching grown men argue as they try and come together to see if they can survive for a month. Of course they will survive. You think NBC wants a death on their hands played out on national television? I think not. One thing about this series that I can guarantee, the men will survive and the show will not.

5) Bullseye (FOX)
Hhhmmm. A show that involves new contestants every week, facing their fears in extreme stunts for $50,000. Does Fear Factor ring a bell to anyone? Clearly not to anybody working at FOX. Joe Rogan hosted Fear Factor on NBC which ran from 2001-2006 and was revived in 2011 but only for a short period. Although this show wasn't terrible, it wasn't original either. It pretty much just feels like a "been there and done that" situation. Even having two hosts can't compare to the awesomeness that was Joe Rogan. No one could get more excited to blend up bugs into nasty smoothies or more pumped up to watch the contestants compete than Joe did. This show clearly missed the bullseye.


6) Blood & Oil (ABC)
I don't really know where to start with this series and clearly they didn't either. It's pretty much a mishmash of so many different themes that every scene feels different then the last. A young couple want to start up a laundry mat (by the way, LAMEST concept ever, what young person has ever dreamed of owning and running a laundrymat?!). Anyway, they get in an accident and lose their washing machines so he takes a job shoveling mud meanwhile a father/son are constantly getting into disagreements about the family reputation and business and a local oil company is looking to expand their land. It's like ABC couldn't figure out if they wanted this to be a drama or a soap opera or a small town western. In this end, this series was clearly confused and once again, it's clear that ABC needs to start replacing the people that make their greenlight decisions. 



7) Dr. Ken (ABC)

This series wasn't a total loss if only because of the amazing supporting cast members. Ken (who this series is clearly featured around) was all over the place, and I mean literally. He couldn't sit still for five seconds, was constantly flailing around all over the place and spoke faster then the Gilmore Girls on speed. I was less then impressed and booted this one off my PVR after the pilot.


**What was your favorite and least favorite new TV series of 2015? Tweet me @popculturedlife**

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