A Top 6 entirely made up of shows from SoHo and Four? Now we’ve seen everything! Game Of Thrones keeps the top spot, while everything else moves up after the exit of The Almighty Johnsons and Sherlock, both of which will be back next year – all of which means that three new shows, including a new Kiwi comedy, enter the Top 12. Agree? Disagree? Post your thoughts below …
| # | LW | SHOW | CH | COMMENT |
| 1 | 1 | Game Of Thrones | SoHo | An interesting meme popped up this week: “that awkward moment when you start to like the bad guys more than the good guys”. I’ve always thought Benioff and Weiss have done a good job of scrambling the morality of our main characters. Tyrion Lannister, for example. |
| 2 | 3 | Breaking Bad | Four | The family waits for Hank in the wake of last weeks shoot-out in the car park, giving Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn and even Betsy Brandt a chance to shine with some riveting writing from series newcomer Gennifer Hutchison. |
| 3 | 5 | Mad Men | SoHo | Complimenting the use of The Beatles seems like an easy way out, but the song choice (Tomorrow Never Knows) and the timing in the episode, as well as that montage, might have been the best few minutes of an already great season. |
| 4 | 4 | Parks & Recreation | Four | My favourite part of April & Andy’s Fancy Party is that one of the best couples on TV are hitched now; they balance each other out in such perfect ways – evidenced by the serious reason but the chaotic way they were married. |
| 5 | 7 | Girls | SoHo | The only mis-step in a brilliant episode was that Hannah was so quick to dismiss Adam’s “sorry, that wasn’t meant for you” text message. Is there actually a single girl in the world who would dismiss that so quickly? I say no. |
| 6 | 8 | Community | Four | While last weeks Critical Film Studies was a truly brilliant episode, I thought this week went back to what the show does best: straight comedy with plenty of references (especially Who’s The Boss) sprinkled in. Funny, funny, funny. |
| 7 | 9 | Fringe | TV2 | Okay, so Peter Bishop is back – thanks to the power of Olivia and Walter, and some pretty nifty visual effects (even by Fringe standards) – but no-one knows who he is?! It’s setting up to be a fairly frustrating season for poor Peter. |
| 8 | 10 | Veep | SoHo | It only jumps up the rankings because of a couple of exits, but it also didn’t deserve to go down: it might be a bit hit-miss right now, but moments like Selena’s appearance on Meet The Press are comedy gold. |
| 9 | - | Hounds | TV3 | The new Kiwi scripted comedy – fronted by Toby Sharpe, perfectly cast as the smarmy but likeable big city lawyer who inherits a racing greyhound and a sister – is nuanced but funny, a very modern-style comedy. It’s a winner. |
| 10 | 12 | The Killing | SoHo | I’ve been asking it all season: is a conspiracy theory involving the mob really better than the red herrings of S1? Its a moot point right now – Linden/Holder might be the best 1-2 on TV, and Richmond’s story is simply engrossing. |
| 11 | - | Modern Family | TV3 | Perhaps the best thing about Virgin Territory wasn’t the terrific interplay between the family trio of Phil, Alex and Hayley, but the touching story between Jay and Mitchell – a pairing which always succeeds, despite scarce use. |
| 12 | - | Castle | One | I told you Castle would get back here one day! The chemistry between Fillion and Katic is in full swing, the cases are as interesting as ever, Esposito and Ryan are in support … and Fillion dressed up as Elvis Presley. Nice! |
Dropping Out:
The Almighty Johnsons (TV3) and Sherlock (One) drop out of the Top 12 after the end of their respective second seasons, while Magic City (SoHo) fails to capitalise on a decent pilot and drops out based on quality.
Making Noise:
Every week that The Simpsons and Family Guy (Four) don’t appear on this list is a surprise to me, because I feel like both shows are having their best seasons in the last few years (as much as 10-12 years, in the case of The Simpsons).
Coming Soon:
Nothing major starting this week – at least, nothing that should affect the rankings – but Louie (Comedy Central) and Hawaii Five-O (TV3) are both back on June 12.
Post your thoughts in the comments section!
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(The rankings are put together using an average rating for each show over its past five episodes: every episode is rated out of 10, then the average rating across all episodes is worked out – the shows are then ranked according to their average to date. The episode rating is purely the opinion of Chris Philpott – no input from other critics is used, and information like ratings is not considered. Shows will be considered for the rankings only when they are on the air. Also, non-fiction shows – panel, current affairs and reality shows, for example – are not considered.)
