Top 10 Best TV Seasons of 2012 And 5 Worst TV Seasons

Alex McCormick ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff

10 Best Television Seasons of 2012

10. Girls – Season 1 (HBO)

Stars: Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, Adam Driver
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: Lena Dunham. Plain and simple. The twenty-six year old woman is a genius and quite the ingénue, starring, writing, directing, and producing her first mega-hit series.

9. Veep – Season 1 (HBO)

Stars: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Reid Scott
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: It has a very strong cast and is so absolutely hysterical that it got Julia Louis-Dreyfus an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

8. The Walking Dead – Season 3 (AMC)

Stars: Andrew Lincoln, David Morrissey, Danai Gurira, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: Absolutely incredible, commanding acting from Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan, combined with the great development and new characters in the form of Michonne (Danai Gurira) and The Governor (David Morrissey).

7. Happy Endings – Season 2 (ABC)

Stars: Eliza Coupe, Elisha Cuthbert, Zachary Knighton, Adam Pally, Damon Wayans Jr., Casey Wilson
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: One of the most under-appreciated comedies on television, this show never fails to be one of the funniest series currently airing.

6. Homeland – Season 1 (Showtime)

Stars: Claire Danes, Damien Lewis, Mandy Patinkin, Morena Baccarin
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: Universal critical acclaim combined with the fact that Claire Danes is one of Hollywood’s best criers.

5. Louie – Season 3 (FX)

Stars: Louis CK
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: Louis CK is one of, if not the, forefathers of contemporary comedy.

4. American Horror Story – Season 1 (FX)

Stars: Connie Britton, Jessica Lange, Dylan McDermott, Frances Conroy
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: Outstanding performances by Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy coupled with the very… unique writing and directing style of Ryan Murphy.

3. Community – Season 3 (NBC)

Stars: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, Jim Rash
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: As a series with perhaps the most dedicated and adoring fanbase, the bubble show always delivers incredible social commentary and really weird, yet absolutely entertaining stories. Plus, Alison Brie and Jim Rash need Emmys, like, yesterday.

2. The Newsroom – Season 1 (HBO)

Stars: Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher Jr., Alison Pill, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: One of the most captivating and well-written — though admittedly very leftist — shows in a long time. Emily Mortimer, Alison Pill, Dev Patel, and Olivia Munn deliver some of the most commanding performances, while still maintaining such a great ensemble-based chemistry with the rest of the cast.

1. Parenthood – Season 4 (NBC)

Stars: Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Erika Christensen, Monica Potter
Why it’s one of the best TV shows of 2012: Parenthood is definitively the most criminally overlooked show in recent memory. It is a really unique and realistic show, which is very rare nowadays. Every episode, WITHOUT FAIL, makes me want to cry, and it is absolutely ridiculous that Monica Potter hasn’t been nominated for an Emmy yet. Let’s hope this is her year.

5 Worst Television Seasons of 2012

5. Chuck – Season 5 (NBC)
Stars: Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin
Why it’s one of the worst TV shows of 2012: One very simple reason. The series finale was one of the worst I’ve ever seen and was UNBELIEVABLY unfitting for such an incredible show. The soundtrack was on par with the rest of the show (Notably, The Head and the Heart’s “Rivers and Roads”), but the story was depressing and annoying and left so many unanswered questions.

4. Dexter – Season 6 (Showtime)
Stars: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Colin Hanks, Mos Def, Edward James Olmos
Why it’s one of the worst TV shows of 2012: Season Six was better than Season Five, there’s no denying that, but the writers took the safe route with an incredibly predictable and trite religion-based season. Plus, the whole Dexter/Debra quasi-incest storyline undid all the good that guest star Mos Def did with his brief recurring role.

3. Whitney – Season 1 (NBC)
Stars: Whitney Cummings, Chris D’Elia
Why it’s one of the worst TV shows of 2012: One of the most critically condemned new shows from last season, Whitney Cummings’ self-titled sitcom was just terrible. I say, ‘was,’ because in reality, the show did get better as the season progressed, thanks in most part to the always hilarious Chris D’Elia, but I still wouldn’t go as far as to say it is ‘good.’

2. The Killing – Season 2 (AMC)
Stars: Mireille Enos, Billy Campbell, Joel Kinnaman, Michelle Forbes
Why it’s one of the worst TV shows of 2012: This show is just awful. The first few episodes of the first season were fantastic. Then everything went to hell.

1. Anger Management – Season 1 (FX)
Stars: Charlie Sheen
Why it’s one of the worst TV shows of 2012: I don’t really think there needs to be a reason other than the fact that it stars Charlie Sheen.