It’s another clean sweep for cable and streaming outlets for our annual list of the best shows on television. Netflix alone has four shows on our list, despite “House of Cards” dropping off. With so many outlets battling to create original content, the old TV networks just can’t compete when it comes to producing the best of the best.

Fortunately, in today’s world, if you’ve been missing out on some of the best shows, you can always find a way to binge watch and catch up.

We’ve kept the spoilers to a minimum, but you might want to skip over some of the write-ups if you’re behind on a particular series, as we naturally refer to recent events.

1. “The Walking Dead”

After the gruesome confrontation with the Terminus cannibals, Rick and the gang were tired and ragged without an obvious destination, so the introduction of the Alexandria safe zone offered an interesting twist to the story. Here the group suddenly found some much-needed normalcy in terms of their surroundings, while it was just a matter of time before the awkward interaction between Rick’s battle-tested crew and the clueless and sheltered inhabitants of Alexandria would lead to real conflicts. This year offered some interesting character developments as they got a much-needed though temporary reprieve from the daily battles with the walkers. “The Walking Dead” seems to get more interesting each year as the writers explore how humans deal with a post-apocalyptic world both on an individual and tribal level, so it remains our choice as the best show on television for 2015.

2. “Making a Murderer”

Imagine spending 18 years in prison for rape, and then finally getting released after DNA testing proves you’re innocent. And imagine a scenario where it appears the local sheriff’s department had it in for you, and the prosecutor ignored a more probable suspect that ended up being the real killer. That “true crime” story alone could fill a 10-episode series explaining the problems with our justice system, but it’s only the beginning of the story involving Steven Avery. The story gets even more bizarre when Avery sues the sheriff’s department two years later, only to then be charged with a murder by those same officers and ultimately convicted. This Netflix series has quickly become a phenomenon as viewers, journalists and many involved with the case debate the question of whether an injustice occurred again. Watch the first episode and you’ll likely be hooked!

3. “The Americans”

After a solid second season, “The Americans” came back stronger than ever this year as it became more and more difficult for Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) to hide their true identities from their teenage daughter, all while trying to help the Soviets battle the Washington-funded mujahedeen. This led to an expected but still powerful cliffhanger as their daughter Paige understandably had no idea how to process what she’s learned about her parents. Phillip and Elizabeth are two of the most interesting characters on television, and it’s fascinating to see how their marriage evolves in the context of their high-stakes missions. It’s a shame that one of the best shows on television hasn’t found a larger audience. This is a perfect binge-watching option if you’re looking for a new show to follow.

4. “Game of Thrones”

Fans of this show learned pretty quickly that no character is safe, and many popular characters (along with some hated characters) have been killed off in spectacular fashion on “Game of Thrones” over the years. That trend certainly continued in Season Five, though we’re happy to report that Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) is still alive and kicking. Season Five also featured some epic battle scenes as the threat of the White Walkers finally emerged in full force, and it will be interesting to see how this threat affects the battle for the Iron Throne as the story progresses.

5. “Narcos”

Pablo Escobar was a legendary figure in the Colombian drug trade of the late 1970s and 1980s as the head of the infamous Medellin drug cartel, and “Narcos” tells his story from his perspective as well and that of the DEA agents assigned to take him down. Brazilian actor Wagner Moura is brilliant as Escobar; his performance carries this show, but he’s also supported by a solid cast that includes Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal and Joanna Christie.

6. “Mr. Robot”

Computer hacking has become a huge issue for all of us, whether it’s simple identity theft or massive security breaches at big companies, government agencies or dating sites for people cheating on their spouses. With that backdrop, a show about a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with serious social anxiety issues seems rather timely. “Mr. Robot” stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a young hacker who gets recruited by a mysterious organization of hacktivists led by “Mr. Robot” (Christian Slater.) Malek gives a brilliant performance as Elliot struggles with the implications of what he’s asked to do, making “Mr. Robot” one of the best new shows of 2015.

7. “Jessica Jones”

With the movie industry suffering from superhero overload, it’s hard to get very excited about the superhero genre getting even more exposure on television. But with the sassy and lovely Krysten Ritter starring in the lead role, this series deserved a look. With its film noir tone and willingness to address more adult themes, this isn’t your kid brother’s superhero show. Jessica Jones had a brief career as a superhero that ended tragically, and now she’s trying to rebuild her life as a private investigator. Early in Season One, she comes across Luke Cage, a man with superhuman strength who is unsure about how to handle his abilities. The interaction between them drives this compelling series.

8. “Fargo”

Unlike “True Detective,” which fell victim to the all-too-familiar sophomore slump, “Fargo” positively thrived in Season Two, perfectly towing the line between black comedy and crime thriller. Part of what makes the show so successful is just how well cast it is from the top down, and although Patrick Wilson, Kirsten Dunst and Jeffrey Donovan are among the standouts, there’s not a single weak link in the entire ensemble. The writing also continues to be top-notch, while the show’s absurdist tone works even better in a period setting. Creator Noah Hawley is in high demand these days, and for good reason, because he’s once again crafted an engaging crime saga that works both as a prequel to the previous season as well as its own entity. (Jason Zingale)

9. “Homeland”

One of the most ambitious shows in recent memory has settled into just being an excellent spy drama, which still makes it one of the best shows out there. The gripping yet over-the-top storylines for the first two seasons led to a disappointing Season 3, as the writers had to wrap up the Brody/Carrie relationship, but then the show rebounded with a solid Season 4. This was a pleasant surprise, as it would have been a share to waste such a great lead character in Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes). Season 5 was set in Germany and built around Carrie, Saul and Quinn and some interesting new characters as they explored issues around the need for surveillance to combat terrorism in the modern world.

10. “Daredevil”

Our second superhero series from Marvel rounds out the top ten. “Daredevil” is also darker than your typical superhero feature, as the story follows Matt Murdock, a blind attorney who fights crime at night. Blinded as a boy, he uses his heightened senses to his advantage. You might remember Charlie Cox as the tough, Irish bodyguard to Nucky Thompson in “Boardwalk Empire,” and he gives an excellent performance in the lead role. Deborah Ann Woll from “True Blood” stars as Karen Page, who is introduced in the first episode. Like “Jessica Jones,” this series will lead to a “Defenders” crossover miniseries, but you don’t have to be a comic book fan to appreciate it.

Random Observations:

“True Detective”

Was there a bigger disappointment this past year than Season 2 of True Detective? Despite its bizarre and incomprehensible ending, the first season became the talk of 2014 with powerful performances from Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. And while Colin Farrell was excellent as the tortured detective in the second season, it’s hard to imagine Vince Vaughn getting another dramatic role again after his strained performance as a criminal in way over his head. The convoluted storyline just might have worked with a great actor taking Vaughn’s pivotal character, but this is an unfortunate example of the importance of casting decisions.

“Fear the Walking Dead”

Like many, we had high hopes for this “Walking Dead” spinoff set in Los Angeles just as the virus was spreading. The prospect of watching civilization crumble as the walkers emerged seemed like the perfect setup for another hot series. And while there were some interesting twists and cool zombie scenes, the characters just weren’t interesting enough for this version to rival the original. We’ll keep watching, however, as the writers will have plenty of opportunities to introduce more interesting characters and storylines.

“Mad Men”

Even as it slipped out of our top ten for its final season, “Mad Men” maintained its excellence as it wrapped up the story of Don Draper and the rest of the gang. While I found the ending to be unsatisfying and a little bizarre, we’ve all come to expect the unexpected from this unpredictable series. I like how they wrapped up Betty’s story, as the sexy but pouty housewife from the early seasons grew into a wise mother and wife as she faced her unfortunate fate, while Peggy’s happy ending seemed a bit forced. If you’ve never watched the show, it belongs on your streaming list. Binge-watch the first season and you’ll be hooked.

“House of Cards”

This show became a Netflix sensation several years ago and helped usher in the streaming revolution, but unfortunately, it has slipped each of the past two seasons. As the storylines become darker and more ridiculous, it’s that much harder for Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) to keep our attention. I can’t even recommend Season One any more unless the writers find a way to breathe new life into this series.

With “Breaking Bad” wrapping up after five brilliant seasons, the top spot in our annual TV Power Tankings has finally opened up for the rest of the field. But AMC gets the nod for the best television show again this year as “The Walking Dead” edges out HBO’s “True Detective” on our list.

The list is dominated again by cable TV dramas, which seem to have surpassed movies in popularity. Streaming and binge watching have contributed to this trend, but it all starts with the quality of the programming. You’ll find some of the best writing, directing and acting talent on television these days, and often the quality of the storytelling surpasses the best that a film industry obsessed with blockbusters, superheroes and sequels can muster.

We’ve kept the spoilers to a minimum, but you might want to skip over some of the write-ups if you’re behind on a particular series, as we naturally refer to recent events.

1. “The Walking Dead”

Some fans have complained about the deliberate pace of “The Walking Dead” when the gang sought temporary refuge at the farm and prison, but the tension built during these lulls always led to a bigger payoff when all hell inevitably broke loose. In the current fifth season, that payoff came quickly with jarring episodes that kicked off with the battle at Terminus and the confrontation with the hunters. The end of the world offers countless opportunities to explore how survivors might deal with a zombie apocalypse, and the writers have done a great job telling this story over the first five seasons. It’s currently the best and most consistent show on television.

2. “True Detective”

This was by far the most intriguing and talked about show of 2014, featuring epic performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. It also didn’t hurt to have sexy and provocative turns by beautiful actresses such as Alexandra Daddario, Lili Simmons and Michelle Monaghan. The dark tone was set in part through the use of flashbacks to a 1995 serial killer investigation framed in the context of interviews with the two primary detectives, with McConaughey’s intense Rust Cohle looking and acting like a burned out alcoholic as he told his part of the story. Yet after so much tension and anticipation was built up through the season, the ending was surprisingly predictable in some ways and incomprehensible in others. Still, the letdown at the end didn’t diminish the creepy and fascinating ride along the way.

3. “Game of Thrones”

This show pretty much has everything, including great action, intrigue, sex and dragons. Our only quibble is the sheer number of characters and storylines, leaving less screen time for favorite characters like Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Arya. Bran’s character, for example, went from fascinating to boring pretty quickly. All the supernatural stuff surrounding his character will no doubt be important in the long run, but the road to wherever he’s going has been a snoozer of late. Fortunately, there are reports we won’t be seeing him in the upcoming Season Five, though we’ll get a heavy dose of Cersei instead.

4. “Masters of Sex”

Sex sells, particularly on cable TV, and period shows have also become very popular, so everyone at Showtime who contributed to getting this show on the schedule deserves a pat on the back. How can a drama about the most significant sex study of all time set in the stylish 1950s not succeed? It helps that the show has been executed beautifully, from the performances of the cast led by Lizzy Caplan and Michael Sheen, to the costume design and the writing. Season Two wasn’t quite as good as the first, and the jumps in time seemed very forced, but it’s still one of the better shows out there.

5. “House of Cards”

Just how dark can this show get? After a fabulous first season, Frank Underwood ratchets things up immediately at the beginning of Season Two. Losing Zoe Barnes so early took away one of the more interesting characters, though we were happy to see more screen time for lovely Rachel Brosnahan as troubled Rachel. Also, the Raymond Tusk storyline became boring at times. Still, Kevin Spacey is brilliant in the lead role, and you can’t help but binge-watch this show as soon as it hits Netflix.

6. “The Americans”

The tensions between Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) that dominated Season One were put on pause for the most part in Season Two, as they were confronted with the death of another KGB couple and began to grapple with the reality of protecting their own family. Meanwhile, FBI agent Beeman gets in way too deep with Nina. With only two seasons in the books, it isn’t too late to get caught up on this excellent spy drama before the third season kicks off in early 2015.

7. “Homeland”

The explosive Brody/Carrie story was must-see TV for the first two seasons, but something that burned that hot proved to be hard to sustain over the long haul. Season Three was a mess as they tried to wrap up that relationship in a way that made sense, and this fall, they pretty much started over in Season Four. Now “Homeland” is just an intense show about the CIA fighting the war against global terrorism, but with Carrie (Claire Danes), Quinn and Saul leading the charge, it’s still one of the best shows out there.

8. “Mad Men”

The novelty has worn off with “Mad Men,” but it’s still one of the top dramas on television. Things got pretty tough for Don in the first half of the final season, but at least we can all move on now from Megan (that was getting old), and Jim Cutler’s power play blew up in his face. The final seven episodes should be worth the wait.

9. “Fargo”

The bar was set very high with the 1996 classic from the Coen brothers, but this reimagined version starring Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman and Allison Tolman was worthy of the title. Here’s Ross Ruediger’s take from his DVD review: “On paper, ‘Fargo’ sounds dreadfully pedestrian: A 10-episode reimagining of the iconography and ideas laid down by the Coen brothers nearly 20 years ago in their Academy Award-winning film of the same name. This is the sort of thing that just shouldn’t be tampered with, right? Apparently not, as in practice this TV version is so smart, so tight and so engaging that it all but makes one forget the movie entirely, and to be sure, that’s not a statement that was typed lightly.”

10. “Episodes”

This show doesn’t get a ton of buzz, but it’s one of the few shows that will make you laugh out loud on a regular basis. Matt LeBlanc is hilarious playing a cartoonish version of himself as a selfish prick, and that alone makes this a show worth watching. It’s set in Hollywood with two relatively sane British writers dealing with the insanity of the television business. The rest of the wacky cast offers up some laughs, but none of this would work without LeBlanc’s smartass character carrying the show.

There are plenty of great shows that didn’t crack the top ten, and we can enthusiastically recommend shows like “Shameless,” “Justified,” “Derek,” “Downton Abbey” and “Vikings.”

Meanwhile, some old favorites dropped off our list…

“Sons of Anarchy“

How much melodrama can you cram into one show about outlaw bikers? Quite a bit, it turns out. The frenetic twists and turns and countless “shocking” developments grabbed our attention in the early seasons, but now we’re just numb to it all. The Sons can still be very entertaining at times, and we still care about most of the characters, but we stuck around through the last season just to see how it all ends. Unfortunately, the ending was a mess with all the tortured symbolism around Jax’s bizarre farewell.

“The Newsroom”

We loved this show when it first came out. It had everything (good and bad) you would expect from an Aaron Sorkin drama, while offering an idealistic take on what we should expect from a cable news channel. He gave us some great characters, starting with Will McAvoy and MacKenzie McHale, who Sorkin used to explain everything that was wrong with cable news today using his signature fast-paced dialogue. But the show slipped quite a bit in its second season as Sorkin let go of his entire writing team and then constructed an entire season around a botched, fictional news story. The contrived “Genoa” fiasco was a poor substitute for using real news stories as a backdrop. Sorkin then wrapped up the show this fall in a brief third season, as he tried to take on clickbait journalism in a clumsy attempt to turn the traditional cable news gang into heroes. In interviews, Sorkin said he was just learning how to write this show and wishes he could go back and redo the whole series. Unfortunately, he’d probably screw up season Season One, so we’re happy to have him leave it alone. At least the last episode wrapped things up nicely.

Bullz-Eye: So you’re in a dog movie, but are you a dog guy by nature?

James Brolin: Yeah, but guess what? I don’t have a dog right now. But I’m kind of shopping! The thing is, I’m not sure where I’m going to be next, and I kind of hate to go off and leave a dog once I have it. I’ve found that didn’t work well in the past. But I got my wife a dog. And the dog is… I can’t believe she’s had it 10 years now. And it sleeps right here. [Points to his head.] It likes the top of the couch or the head pillow. So usually, if you roll over it or around it, it gets out of your way and just goes down to the other end. Anyway, I’ve been moved to the back seat of the car now. [Laughs.] Those two run things.

BE: Yeah, we just got a dog a few months ago, so I know what you mean.

JB: Oh, yeah. If it ain’t a baby, it’s a dog. [Laughs.]

BE: How was this dog, Tucker, to work with?

JB: Fine! Really good natured. He would do all the things, and then when you’d go to shoot, sometimes the dog would have a little brain fade or confusion, but it’s not unusual. You just keep going. You have the trainer keep going, you run the camera, and now with digital, you can just turn the camera on and let it run for two hours, and then you go in there, wade through it, and pick out just what you need. But that’s Filmmaking 101, in a way. If you have time for that, you do that. And if you’re doing a dog picture, you make time. And the kids… Anyone youthful who was involved was just right on. Gage (Munroe) is just like a honed pro, so that wasn’t an issue. Kids weren’t an issue. But animals are always an issue, and you just need to schedule the time to shoot and shoot and shoot a little bit.

We also had such a tight schedule that we had a second unit going all the time, picking up this and that, things that would be time lapses or meanwhile-back-on-the-farms. [Laughs.] You know, or now-it’s-getting-dusk shots. All of those. And the town we were in… I don’t know if you read anything about this, but sometimes the snow would be quite different than it was in the morning or yesterday, so they would go to the airport, clear the runways, and bring in the fresh snow and dump it there. And if was brown snow, then they’d have to freshen it on the top. But it was the last chance of the season – I think it was February – to make it look like Christmas and get it in the can, because now you’ve got to wait two seasons for the airing, so you’ve got to shoot it the year before, which means that you’ve got to pay interest on the loans over that period of time.

BE: How was the experience of working with Hallmark?

JB: Best experience I’ve had in many years. They’re getting pretty sloppy and starting to forget how to treat people who are either used to having been treated well or are testy, let’s say, and react, and…it doesn’t end up doing the company any good when these people kind of slow down to a shuffle in response, in payback. And I think this was the best run organization. From the time I had a meeting with Joel Rice, I had a schedule and a plane ticket in hand, it was just pure heaven. And they were on a tight budget. There’s a guy named Steve Solomos who was the line producer. He’s the guy that, when you get down there, he’s the producer that stands around close by. He’s not back in his office in a big chair. He knows how to make money work and make everybody happy. Consequently, I called him about another job. I hadn’t seen anybody this good in a long time. And Hallmark must know it, because he doesn’t work for them. He’s hired by them per picture.

And then when I got down there, I said, “I don’t like drivers. Give me a car.” They said, “Yeah, but we need to get you to work on time.” I said, “I’ll be at work on time!” [Laughs.] “You just give me my work tools, and you’ll never have to deal with me!” I don’t know if they believed me, but they did it, and it worked out perfectly. And then… [Hesitates.] I know I’m going on and on about Hallmark, but I haven’t seen it like this since ABC days in the mid-‘70s. Everyone shorts you somehow, everyone forgets something, everybody gives you a lot and then tries to save a nickel to piss you off. Not these guys.

BE: I wanted to ask you about some stuff from your back catalog, as it were, but I have to ask about working on “Von Ryan’s Express.”

JB: Yeah?

BE: I know that’s going way back…

JB: Oh, but it was amazing. I actually brought it up earlier today when I was talking to some people.

BE: If IMDb is correct, it seems to have been the first credited role that you had in a film. Not your first film, but your first credit.

JB: Yeah. I’m trying to think… I did “Fantastic Voyage” and was cut out of it, but I was credited, anyway, and very nicely. [Laughs.] But “Von Ryan’s Express” we made in 1964, and I think it was probably the first and last of my really big location things, where they said, “Kid, we’re not gonna need you for a couple of weeks. Here’s a thousand bucks, have a good time, and I’ll call you when I need you.” So I walked around Rome and took trains out and back, and, I mean, it was just fantastic.

BE: How did you come to be in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure?”

JB: I was working on the lot on “Hotel,” and I got a call from Bob Evans, saying, “We’d be very happy if you came over and did a few days on ‘Pee-wee.’” And I went… [Grimaces.] “Uh, I don’t know…” But it was Bob, y’know? [Laughs.] So do you say “no” to the head of Warners? We’re just renting a couple of stages on the lot, but still, here he is running a major studio…

So I got a call two days later, after reading it, still wondering, “Uh, is this gonna look good?” And I got the call, it was Bob again, saying, “What are you gonna do?” I said, “Well, you want me to do this, there’s no money in it…” He said, “Where would you like to go in the world? Some trip.” I said, “Uh…” I hadn’t a clue where I wanted to go! But the Sunday Times was there, and I’m talking, bullshitting with him, and I grab the travel section, and I’m quickly turning pages, looking for the name of a country, and…I forget what I said. I think it was Hong Kong. I said, “I wanna go to Hong Kong and stay there a couple of weeks.” “All right!” [Snaps his fingers.] “You got it!” So that was the deal…and I probably wouldn’t have done it had the travel section not been there! I might’ve said, “Listen, get somebody else to do your dirty work!” [Laughs.]

But it actually turned out to be really fun, and, of course, who knew that the director was gonna be such a big deal? It was quite a cute day. I made friends with Paul (Reubens), Pee-wee, that day, and he still sends me a Christmas card every year. And I must say, every year there’s a new five-year-old where the parent goes, “You know, my kid thinks you’re the greatest. You’re P.W.! Oh, my God!” [Laughs.] For three days of work! But every year you’ve got this whole new audience. You do it, and it kind of sticks with you from then on. “That’s the guy who was P.W.? Whoa!”

BE: Shout Factory finally released “Marcus Welby, M.D.” on DVD a few years ago…

JB: Who did?

BE: The company’s called Shout Factory.

JB: Oh! I didn’t know that. Is it all seven years and, what was it, 170 shows?

BE: I don’t think they’ve made it beyond the first couple seasons so far.

JB: Well, that’s interesting, because I saw one not too long ago, and…I don’t think it was one of the better ones. And I went, “Ugh, God, I hope they don’t put this on DVD…” [Laughs.] But that’s life. I’m of an age where I’ve got to face it: all this stuff’s gonna show up. That was actually a wonderful opportunity, though. It wasn’t glitzy, it wasn’t a thriller, it was kind of the same thing every week, but having left seven years at Fox with not a lot happening, actually asking out of my last year and going over to Universal, and three weeks later I’m making some kind of a contractual deal with them, not knowing if I was just getting into the same boat.

But within two to three weeks, I did a test with Robert Young with Robert Surtees, one of the great directors of photography, shooting it, and the next thing I knew, they said, “Okay, this is the guy!” And we started shooting. I won the Emmy for the pilot, and then went on to do 170 shows. And we were number one for a good amount of time. And then, at the end of the show, when it was starting to weaken, they said, “Oh, we’ve gotta get Brolin a dame.” [Laughs.] “We’ve gotta marry him off!”

So I said, “There’s this girl, Farrah Fawcett, who I want to play the wife.” And they said, “Who? Oh, I know her. The blonde, right? She can’t act!” So I kind of fought with them about it, and they ended up bringing in Pamela Hensley. The night of the wedding, we were number one again. And the following week or the second week, we were #73. They saw it, they gave it no respect, and it was over. And then Farrah, of course, went right on to become a star. It was funny: a couple of years later we were talking, and I said, “You know, you’re tossing your hair, you’re beautiful, we’ve seen it, but as soon as you play something dowdy, you’re gonna get such respect, and maybe an award.” And then she did “The Burning Bed” right afterwards. I guess she believed me! [Laughs.]

Sadly, at this point in our conversation, I got the high sign from the Hallmark Move Channel publicist, who apologetically told me that it was time to wrap up. Knowing that the air date of the film was still months away at that point, I asked Brolin if he’d be up for continuing our conversation by phone at some future juncture. He said, “Sure!” And, lo and behold, a week or two ago, he did indeed call my house to finish our chat. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the day and time had been confirmed and reconfirmed by the publicist, I somehow managed to enter the time incorrectly in my calendar, so I, uh, wasn’t actually home the first time he called.

Mind you, I would’ve been home, but I’d had to run an unexpected errand, and I got caught in traffic on the drive back. Thankfully, I’d already prepared my questions, so when he decided to try me back, I’d managed to make it home and, once I muddled through my surprise that I’d gotten the time wrong (I had three other interviews that day, and I apparently just tripped up while typing in the information for what time he and I were supposed to chat), we quickly settled into a pleasant, low-key chat, one which ultimately veered into an incredibly fun discussion of his TV viewing habits – and those of his wife – and got his picks for his favorite movies of 2013 as well as some comments on a few of his more obscure projects to have turned up on Netflix.

Just as a caveat, I did actually post one anecdote from the interview in a piece on AntennaFree.TV right after he gave it to me, but it had to be done: it was a scoop, and I never get those things. The other caveat is that you’ll see a tiny bit of crossover between the previous conversation and this one, but that’s what happens when neither of you remember precisely what you talked about three months ago. (All things considered, I think we both did pretty well at not duplicating already-covered material.)

BE: You and I chatted a bit during the TCA tour. I don’t know if you recall.

JB: I do remember! Because you have that great name. It’s a movie star name. It’s a top-notch novel character name. [Laughs.]

BE: Well, thank you. Most people tend to remember me because I ask them about really obscure things from their back catalog.

JB: Oh, good! I like that! I got two pages of questions last week because… I did a little video piece for my wife, who won the Legend Award at Glamour Magazine, and I got two pages of questions that were from, like, an old interview from Screen Magazine in the ‘50s. Just… [Snorts.] Just the worst questions. You know what I mean. Grammar-school questions. Anyway, I showed them. I said, “You’ve got three minutes to shoot, and I’m leaving.” So we finished, and they said, “We’d like to do it again.” I said, “No, your three minutes are up. Goodbye!” And then it played at the Awards…and everybody said, “That was the best thing!” [Laughs.] So it all turned out well. I love doing things in a pinch. I do my best work when I’m not ready for it.

BE: Same here. I do a feature called Random Roles for the Onion A.V. Club, and the best of that for me is that, although I do the research in advance as far as picking out the roles, I really don’t have questions, per se. I just roll with whatever the person’s memory of the project is and build on that. As a result, it’s amazing how many times someone will offer up an anecdote and then say something like, “You know, I don’t think I’ve told that story in 20 years.”

JB: [Laughs.] That’s good! I like that.

BE: We talked a fair amount about “Christmas with Tucker” during the TCA tour, but I do still find it impressive that, despite the fact that the rule of thumb is that you never want to work with children or dogs, you seem to have had a good experience with both on this film.

JB: Yeah! Now, one reason for that is…well, you’re probably not old enough to remember my first wife (Jane Cameron Agee), who had a wildlife way station, and consequently I was stuck with getting truckloads of chicken necks in Bakersfield and dragging them back to the ranch. We had three mountain lions, one female African lion, three or four wolves, a harpy eagle…all kinds of things would come in over the years. And then having raised children and being a pretty good father… I just like the whole mix, y’know? [Laughs.] The children I would’ve done, the animals I probably wouldn’t have done, but as long as I got into the middle of it, I was pretty good at it.

BE: Well, once you’ve worked with mountain lions, I guess working with a dog…

JB: A dog’s an easy deal, yeah! [Laughs.]

BE: As of the summer, I hadn’t had a chance to watch the film, but now I have, and it’s very sweet. In fact, I have an eight-year-old daughter, and to my surprise, she had the attention span to sit and watch the entire thing and enjoy it with us.

JB: Oh, great! I’ve heard… I’ve been looking for somebody that didn’t like it, because I wanted to know why. Because, you know, when you’re right, you haven’t learned a thing. When somebody tells you where you’re wrong or why something was wrong for them, you go, “Oh, okay,” and you’ve finally learned something. Your thoughts go in new directions. So I’m waiting for somebody to say, “I hated it because…” [Laughs.] But everybody seems to like this little film!

BE: I thought it was very enjoyable. Between their two channels (The Hallmark Channel and The Hallmark Movie Channel), Hallmark has carved out a nice little niche for themselves that isn’t really being offered anywhere else.

JB: Yeah, I had heard… Well, actually, I’m doing Larry King tomorrow in L.A., along with a few other things, and then Monday I go to New York and do a whole week of stuff, but…I’m not sure what they’re doing with this, because I haven’t grilled anybody on it. But they say that every year they show all the great Christmas films, and I don’t know what they did last year, but this year they said they’re leading them off with this film that they made.

BE: Yeah, this is the first original film they’ve done for the Hallmark Movie Channel.

JB: Oh, it is? See, you know more about this than I do. [Laughs.] But I’ll get brushed up on it before I jump into these interviews tomorrow.

BE: Oh, I see how it is. I’m your testing ground.

JB: Yeah! [Laughs.] But, you know, I must say – and I may have said this to you when we talked last time, but I think it bears repeating – I was ready to… [Sighs.] To not be treated well, with fast shooting, low budget, all of these things…  But it was just the opposite. I was treated so well by these people, and I have been ever since. And even my trip to New York next week is so well done.

And, you know, I’m spoiled! [Laughs.] 15 years in prime-time with the networks spoils you. You’re treated pretty darned well, because they want you to bust your ass, y’know? But in many aspects of the picture business, those days are gone…except this experience with Hallmark. They were just great! And Steve Solomos is just one of the best producers I’ve ever been around in my life.  He was always in earshot of the camera, always helped prep for the next setup and shot, always approving of everybody, and yet he was getting all of this done in a very, very tight budget. All of these problems that Murphy’s Law allows were there, and he was so good with them that I said, “If I get a production financed, I’m calling Solomos out from Toronto to work out here in California for a while!”

BE: All right, time to dive back into your back catalog. I always look for interesting character names, and I couldn’t help but laugh at one where you’re credited – sort of – as Man Doing Twist on Yacht in “Goodbye Charlie.” I say “sort of” because you’re apparently uncredited, really, but that’s how you’re described on IMDb, anyway.

JB: Geez, I wish I remembered that for sure. [Laughs.] We never actually went out on a boat, I know that. But maybe there was a yacht set. That’s very, very possible, because…let’s see, “Goodbye Charlie,” what year was that?

BE: That was 1964.

JB: ’64! I was well into… That was the same year I was with Sinatra and went on the best of all locations for three months in Europe, in “Von Ryan’s Express.”

BE: Absolutely. We talked about that a bit last time.

JB: Oh, okay. Yeah, you know, I went in to Fox as a young actor in 1960, and for 40 weeks out of 52 or however many weeks it was per year, I was paid to do whatever they told me to do. And, actually, I started out the first day in ADR, dubbing another guy’s voice that was too high to be a Marine. [Laughs.] I was 20 years old, fresh back from a year in Tahiti and parking cars in La Cienega when I got the job, and I was there at Fox for six and a half years. I guess the biggest thing I ever did there was starring in a movie, a remake of “Pickup on South Street” called “The Cape Town Affair,” with Jacqueline Bisset as the leading lady.

BE: Not bad as leading ladies go.

JB: No, it was a good time! [Laughs.] But it wasn’t until I finally told them, “Look here, I want to do more movies more often.” And they let me out, and three weeks later I was at Universal, and three weeks after that I was shooting the pilot for “Marcus Welby.”

BE: That worked out well.

JB: Yeah, it did. I had some good luck early on. So all I’m saying is that, in 1964, I had done some things that I was kind of proud of, and the fact that I was doing the Twist on a boat somewhere in the background was just another assignment. Again, I was just glad to be there and be in any movie. Who was in that one? (Walter) Matthau?

BE: Walter Matthau, Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds…

JB: Yeah, a whole group of people who were just a lot of fun to be around for a few days. I also did “Morituri” with Marlon Brando. I did “John Goldfarb, Please Come Home” with Shirley MacLaine, who I actually just did “Elsa & Fred” with. I was a real lucky boy early on.

BE: Was there anyone in particular that you felt like you learned the most from, or did you try to pick up whatever you could from whoever you were around?

JB: I don’t know. I was too scared to death! [Laughs.] All I knew was that I wasn’t very good at it – I couldn’t even give a book report in high school! – but once I got my pay from Fox every week, which was $93 net the first year, I spent every nickel of it I could to be in a different workshop every night of the week. So I had lots of rehearsal time to get ready for the following week. I mean, I was a guy who said, “I’m either gonna get washed out of this and never be able to get inside these gates again, or I’m gonna learn to be good at it.” Because I’m not a natural, but I love the movies, and…I love being part of the crew, y’know? Actually, at 15 I set out to be a cinematographer and a director. I bought my first movie camera at 15, but I had a darkroom at 10 and was doing still shots and even making my own pinhole cameras. At 10 years old! I was doing some interesting stuff.

So, anyway, I got screwed out of being a cinematographer and a director… [Laughs.] Well, no, that’s not true. I’ve been a director for 30 years. I’ve directed a movie, and I’ve directed 25 hours of television.

BE: You directed your son (Josh) in something, didn’t you?

JB: Yeah, in an episode of “The Young Riders,” in Arizona.

BE: You know, I mentioned that we talked a bit about “Von Ryan’s Express” last time, but I don’t think you ever actually talked about the experience of working with Frank Sinatra.  

JB: Um…I found him very likeable. He liked to be very friendly, but aloof at the same time. In other words, he’d be very close and call you by first name, and then the next time you came in, you’d say, ‘Hi, Frank,’ and he’d look over and give you a look like, “How dare you call me Frank! It’s Mister Sinatra!” [Laughs.] He was an interesting star. Some of these stars are so nice and so available. But, you know, in those days, they made up names, they played lots of games, they did a lot of promotional stunts… Now you don’t have to do a promotional stunt. You get your name on the front of the rags anyway!

BE: What were the challenges of playing Clark Gable in “Gable and Lombard”?

JB: Well, I’ll tell you, that was my favorite time in front of the camera.

BE: Oh, really?

JB: Yeah. I was at Universal, in my last…well, let me see. I was in my fifth year of “Marcus Welby,” and I had done two movies for MGM that did quite well – “Westworld” and “Skyjacked” – and I was saying, “Hey, guys, listen, I’m in the movies somewhere else, and that’s what I want to do here,” which…I had never changed my tune about that. With television, if you have a big hit, you get to do the same thing 200 more times. I found that a form of punishment, in a way. I’d rather do…I mean, ideally, I’d rather do three movies a year. Josh is in such a delicious position right now, and I hope it lasts a long time for him.

So for some reason, at the same time, the studio was going, “We want to do ‘Gable and Lombard,’ and we think Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw are perfect for it.” And Sidney Furie, who developed it and who had done “The Ipcress File” and won the British Academy Award and everything, said, “No, no, you have a guy under contract who’s the only guy I know who can play Gable.” And they said, “Well, no, he’s just a kid in one of our shows.” And he said, “Well, I’m pulling the movie, then, and going somewhere else with it where they’ll talk to me.” Next thing I know, I’m going to Sidney, saying, “Sidney, I can’t do this. My mother identified with this guy, but I don’t even identify with this guy with the bad breath and the wooden teeth and the big ears…” And he said, “No, I want you to do this. I want you to start looking at his movies.”

So he would set up four movies a day in a screening room, and I would sit there – it was during hiatus – and look at four movies a day. They kept bringing ‘em in. It was Thursday, I think, when he came in and asked, “What do you think?” And I said, “You know, I just got the most incredible feeling, this twinge, on these last two movies I saw, because Gable was so bad…and I’m bad, too!” [Laughs.] I identified with his discomfort in both of these movies, and I knew why he was uncomfortable: because they were making him do roles that he was not comfortable in. They had him dancing in one (“Idiot’s Delight”). Do you remember? It’s in “That’s Entertainment!” Oh, God, I think he just hated it. He used to say, “They made me wear this monkey suit.” People would actually see him out in the parking lot with his trunk open, taking off his suit and putting on jeans to go out to Encino…where nobody lived in those years! Why would you go over a two-lane road, into the valley, where there’s just horses, chickens, and orange trees? A 45-minute or hour drive! But that was his life with Carole Lombard.

So, anyway, I finally said, “Okay, Sid, I think I can play this.” And I started rehearsing in the closet, of course, where nobody could see or hear me. [Laughs.] And I found it the most enjoyable, fun time I’ve ever had around this business…and I do love every day working in this business. Everybody’s hand-picked, very rarely are you ever forced to work with anybody who’s really negative. Most people just love to please, so talented, never talk about overtime or this or that. They don’t ask what else they can do for you, they just do it. The thing is, the motion picture business is tougher today because of the lack of continuity of work, and how it’s spread out all across the United States and the world. But from the perspective that I mentioned, it’s a joy. Everybody is just so fun, and I very rarely have somebody I just don’t get along with. Usually it’s people I can’t wait to see the next morning.

BE: That’s pretty great.

JB: It is great. And it’s rare. What a bit of luck on my part! [Laughs.] I really am so lucky. And now Josh, who said [Growling.] “I would never be in your business for anything!” One day he took a class and got his first “A” in the entire history of his high school education, then he was starring as Stanley Kowalski in the school play and went on to say, “This is what I’m doing!” I said, “I don’t know, the business is changing…” He said, “Sorry, Pop, this is what I’m doing!” So he teaches me now!

BE: How’d you enjoy the experience of doing “Community”

JB: I did “Community” because my daughter heard about it, and she said, “Dad, you have to do ‘Community.’” I’ve only done, like, five episodics in the last seven or eight years, and usually either the character intrigued me or they offered me more money than I’d heard of for an episodic and it intrigued me. [Laughs.] Of course, I’m not going to do anything that I just think is awful. But “Community,” you know, I looked at it, and I thought, “You know, it’s kind of funny.” And all the kids are going, “That is the greatest show on television!” And then my daughter heard. Someone said, “They’re talking about your dad being on ‘Community’!” And she called me – she was 23 at the time – and she said, “You’ve got to do this show!” So I did the show.

But more fun, and more in my taste, was when I did the episode of Castle for a friend of mine who produces the show, Armyan Bernstein. He said, “Please come and do this one shot,” this other father, who they’ve been talking about for five years and who was an assassin who never knew his son. So I read it, and we discussed how we might make the role more interesting, and we were very successful at that. And now I’ve just gotten a call saying, “Could we do it again?” And I said, “Well, there’s no reason for me to do another episodic show unless I can show you the complete other side of this character, the one you might be afraid of. Rather than you finding out he’s a good guy, you find out he’s good in front, but…

There’s this book I just started reading called…The Use of Psychosis? That’s not the exact name, but that’s basically what it’s about. It’s about psychotics, and what makes them tick, and how they’re usually wonderful, wonderful people, except that, on the weekends, they cut up a body and put it in trash bags. [Laughs.] And how, no matter how much they charm you, underneath they have absolutely no feelings whatsoever. They’re just born that way. And, actually, “Dexter” is like that. Did you ever see the first episode, where his dad is saying, “Listen, you killed the dog, and…you’ve got to channel that!” So, anyway, I said, “If I’m gonna do another one, I’d like to have it as talked-about as the first one.” So I start the “Castle” again on… I go to New York next week, and then I start “Castle” the following Monday.

BE: My wife will be ecstatic. I watch “Castle,” but she’s obsessed with it, so I’m sure she’ll be beside herself.

JB: Oh, really? That’s great! It’s just nice to be able to get to do something that’s fun, y’know? And then in January, I’m going to do… If you know about the driller that came from Afghanistan and drilled the big hole to get the 33 miners out in Chile, I’m doing a movie about that. There are a couple of Hispanic stars who are coming in to lead that off, but I’m the driller guy who comes in and saves the day. [Laughs.] So that’ll be fun, too, going to Santiago finally, where I’ve always wanted to go but I’ve never done it.

BE: So would you go back to doing a full-time episodic gig if it was offered to you, or are you just not interested?

JB: If I was going to take on a full-time gig… [Starts to laugh.] You know, it’s so funny, because just this morning I was talking about how much I loved the idea of the series “The Equalizer” and how I wish it had gone on and on. You know, somebody who comes in and helps people out of impossible situations? Well, I think that if I was really an established billionaire who wasn’t interested, like a lot of these guys I know, in spending all his time gathering more and being the richest billionaire… [Sighs.] I talked to a guy with $26 billion the other day, and he was talking to me about this apartment he was in once upon a time that was $500 a month, he had $25 in his pocket, and he didn’t know how he was going to pay the next month’s rent. “And now I have $26 billion,” he said.

But, anyway, I think that if I had that kind of money, I would be an Equalizer. That’s what I’d do for a living, for an avocation. I like the idea of going downtown, finding someone who’s just absolutely getting screw in court, bringing in my set of attorneys, and just wiping out the offensive assholes. That’s what I’d do with my time, I believe. And I’d really enjoy it. But your question was whether I’d do another episodic series. [Laughs.] You know, the last time I said “no,” all of a sudden somebody brought me this Marine fighter-pilot show, and the next thing I know, I’m living between Malibu and San Diego for three years doing 66 episodes of “Pensacola: Wings of Gold,” starring and producing and directing, too. And it was pretty great.

BE: So what you’re saying is “never say never.”

JB: Yeah, you never say never. Just throw me an idea, y’know? Just like going back to “Castle.” If it was just a case of them saying, “Oh, we’ve got another episode for you,” I wouldn’t be interested, but if we can do something with it, then what the heck. By the way, did you see “Homeland” this week?

BE: No spoilers, please!

JB: [Laughs.] Well, it got kinda nasty last week, didn’t it? Where the Iran guy took and broke the bottle against the wall… That was pretty rough stuff, wasn’t it?

BE: So are you happy with this season?

JB: This season? Not as, no. But then I thought, “Well, if you’re gonna wake people up…” That was pretty vicious. And when you see this week and you see them sort of accept him because they need him for something, it’s… I hope that turns into something, because it wasn’t satisfying to me. Not as much. But it’s like when…well, you remember how so many of the Breaking Bads kind of marched in place, getting you ready for the one to follow. [Laughs.]

BE: Absolutely. You remember the episode where Walt chased the fly around the lab?

JB: Oh, yeah!

BE: One of my friends said, “That was the most boring episode!” And I said, “Look, just because they didn’t leave the lab doesn’t mean that it was boring.”

JB: Well, many times I’ll be doing two things at once while I’m watching these things, and I always find that listening to dialogue… Because, you know, I’ve heard every kind of scene probably every which way, and it takes something original to make me look up. Or, you know, I’ll just look up every once in a while and go, “Oh, okay, they’re in the kitchen,” and then I go back to what I’m doing and just keep listening. So I kind of judge things now when we’re watching television. My wife gets glued to “Revenge” and all these things. Like your wife, it sounds like. [Laughs.] They get glued to their shows.

But I’ll kind of wait until it’s really something worth watching. Like, last night, I forget what we were watching, but I found myself saying, “Wow, that was a great scene!” Because this particular scene was so well-written and so well-played and so well-directed that it pulled my eyes up off of what I was doing. The paperwork or whatever. I was on my computer, and I just closed it and said, “Wow, let me actually watch this for awhile…” Because, you know, everything seems to be recycled at this point, so to have something actually touch you in some way is tough. But it’s really neat when it happens.

BE: Okay, I wasn’t going to go down this road, but since you kind of opened the door… You mentioned that you watch “Breaking Bad” and “Homeland,” and you said that your wife watches “Revenge.” Do you guys meet in the middle on anything, TV-wise?

JB: How do you mean?

BE: In other words, do you guys watch stuff together?

JB: Oh, yeah! Oh, no, we can’t wait to get to “Homeland,” and we watched “Breaking Bad,” and…you know, the first time this really ever happened to us was when some friends of ours said, “Listen, we’ve got this new series, and here, we’ve got the first 10 shows on this disc, and we think it’s really neat. You ought to watch it.” So it was late one night, and evidently the waiter had poured me coffee rather than decaf… [Laughs.] Both of us! And we’re just wide awake at 1 AM, and she said, “Why don’t you put that disc on, and we’ll see if that puts us to sleep.” Well, we saw all 10 episodes. It was, like, 10 AM when we finally stopped watching. And that was the first 10 episodes of “24.” So, yeah, we have many things that pull us together. Even “Hostages” is getting kind of…interesting.

BE: I’m behind on “Hostages,” but my wife and I have been sticking with “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

JB: Yeah, I’ve got to get back to that myself!

BE: If I wasn’t a big comic book geek, I might’ve given up on it by now, but I feel like it’s building, albeit slowly, and getting better.

JB: I’m up to Season 3 of “Dexter” on Netflix, trying to get caught up on that. Netflix is great. I only have one problem with it. I had said, “Look, we’re in the business, we’ve got to spend some money on displaying these films.” So we have one…oh, it’s actually moderate in cost. We have one 10-foot screen. And then we have an 18-foot screen which we set up for film. But now everything is delivered digitally, you know, so the two film projectors are somewhat useless at this point. [Laughs.] But with this great projector, we’re still doing video on an 18-foot screen, and I can pull up Netflix and watch “Dexter” on that, and it’s crystal clear. It’s an amazing time in history, technologically, and I can’t imagine, for what I’ve got installed right now, that in 10 years it’s going to get any better.

BE: You know, the funny thing about Netflix, I’ve found, is that it’s great for viewers, but it can be horrifying for actors, particularly if they think they’ve buried some particularly awful project and suddenly find out that it’s streaming online to millions of people.

JB: Yeah, that’s true. Me included. [Laughs.] As you probably know, I have a couple on there. Let’s see, one is called…oh, it’s called “Bad Girl Island” now.

BE: Nice.

JB: I said, “How about ‘Bad Girl’? That one hasn’t been used since 1934.” And they said, “Oh, that’s a great idea!” So I look later…? “Bad Girl Island.” It’s just so corny and bad. And the film…well, it actually has a great look and some very interesting things. We shot it in Eleuthera. You know, in the Caribbean. But, you know, I don’t know about my performance down there. I, uh, might’ve had too much wine each night before work. [Laughs.] Let’s see, there’s another one on there that I also produced, and for absolutely no money, but I’m trying to think of the name of it.

BE: Aside from “Von Ryan’s Express,” the oldest thing I see on there for you is “The Ambush Murders.”

JB: Yeah! Now that… Do you remember Roy Thinnes?

BE: I do. From “The Invaders.”

JB: Roy Thinnes was hired for the lead in that, and…one day on the job, he got sick and was taken to UCLA with a very rare disease. They never found out what it was. But I think it was I-Can’t-Remember-My-Lines Disease. [Laughs.] But they called me at nine at night and said, “We want you for this, we’ll pay you for this, but we start shooting and need you at 6 AM.” I said, “Well, let me… I’ll call you back by 1 AM.” And so I called ‘em back – we were starting with a courtroom scene – and I said, “I want an agreement which says that, when we get to the courtroom, there’ll be three teleprompters set up. I’ll tell you how to run ‘em, I’ll get ‘em set up.” They said, “Fine! Fine! Whatever!” ‘Cause they were seriously up a creek. So that’s on there, huh?

BE: It sure is.

JB: Wow. Well, it’s not a bad performance when you think about the fact that I was reading so much of it. [Laughs.] I felt like a newscaster!

BE: When I did a Random Roles interview with Sam Elliott, I said, “I don’t know if you knew that ‘Frogs’ was on Netflix.” He said, “I did not. That’s a scary thought.”

JB: [Laughs.] I wonder if “Lies & Alibis” is on there. He and I did “Lies & Alibis” together…with Steve Coogan, by the way. Steve Coogan’s new movie, “Philomena,” is fantastic. It could win Best Screenplay. He wrote it, and he produced it, too. It’s so wonderful. And the other great film of the year is “Dallas Buyers Club.”

BE: I definitely plan to see that. Also, in addition to “Castle,” my wife also loves her some Matthew McConaughey.

JB: Oh, wow, is it… I mean, it’s so depressing, the subject and everything, and yet you don’t want it to end. It is so good. So I hope you agree with me. Or you can say, “He doesn’t know shit.”

BE: Oh, if I don’t like it, I’m telling everyone that James Brolin steered me wrong.

JB: [Laughs.] Yeah, if you don’t love it, just call me, tell me how much it cost you, and I’ll send you the money back.

BE: So how did you first find your way onto “Breaking Bad”?

LF: Just a regular audition. I got sent a scene that wasn’t from the show, but it was, like, similar to the scene in the diner with Mike in the episode “Magical.” I had to make a tape, which I did, and I sent it to the casting director, who sent it to Vince Gilligan, who said it was great. And then Vince gave us a note and a real scene from episode 2 of Season 5. So I did that, and I got it from that. And I never met anyone! It was all on tape. So it was as if by magic. [Laughs.]

BE: What was your familiarity with the show up to that point? Had you been a fan?

LF: I wasn’t a fan, ‘cause I’d never seen it. I’d heard of it, and obviously I knew that it was critically acclaimed and had wanted to see it at some point. It’s one of those shows that you put on your list, y’know? And then when I got it, I was too scared to watch it! [Laughs.] I was afraid I’d be, like, “This is really intimidating,” and I wouldn’t want to go on the set! So I didn’t watch it. Also, I kind of just wanted the actors’ face to be, like, normal faces, not famous faces that would throw me for a second. I was trying to stay in the world that I was reading from the script.

So when I went there, to Albuquerque, I had my first scenes with Jonathan Banks, who played Mike, and I was asking him all the questions about the characters and the histories and the relationships and Gus Fring and whatnot. And finally he said, “Have you not seen the show?” And I said, “No, I haven’t.” And he went, “Oh, for God’s sake…Go and watch it and come back to me, and then we can have a conversation!” He was getting impatient with me. He was, like, “Go and watch it! You’ll like it! It’s good!” So I went and watched it with my husband, and we watched the whole thing in, like, four days. We were, like, meth-head binge watchers. [Laughs.]

BE: Jonathan Banks is someone you really shouldn’t trifle with. If he asks you to do something, you just need to go and do it.

LF: Yeah. You don’t fuck around with Jonathan Banks!

BE: So who was Lydia when you got that first script? Has she evolved since you got that first script?

LF: Well, she’s certainly surprised me, to put it mildly. [Laughs.] Yeah, she’s sort of gone from cold to glacial. I mean, I thought she was a wee bit demented, but she’s positively deranged. I feel like she’s a clean-cut bonkers sociopath. Initially, I thought, “Oh, this is a woman who’s got into this, she’s stumbled into this meth world and is trying to get out of it, to do the best deal and then get out, and she’s always trying to protect her life and her daughter’s life. But now she’s choosing to be there. She does not need to be there, and all her sensible choices are in her blind spot, and she’s got an extremely zany take on rational behavior. She’s gone a little bit nuts. She’s a nutcase, yeah.

BE: When the show came back for these final episodes, I was, like, “Isn’t that storyline over?” But then I realized, “Oh, it’s a means to an end, to keep coming back to the meth manufacturing.”

LF: Um… [A very long pause.] Yeah, uh, there is an end. [Another very long pause, followed by laughter.]

BE: I understand. You can say no more.

LF: Well, there will, uh, continue to be developments. [Hesitates.] Do you know when this interview will run?

BE: After the episode on September 8^th.

LF: In that case, I can say that she’s rather underwhelmed by the efforts of her new neo-Nazi pals, but she’s taken some steps to protect her investment and…there’s some interesting developments on Sunday, so…uh, yeah. [Laughs.]

BE: I don’t need spoilers. I can’t wait to see how it’ll unfold.

LF: Neither can I!

BE: Without speaking to specifics, what was your reaction as you continued to read these scripts? Were you aghast at the developments, or were you just, like, “This is awesome”?

LF: I ended up laughing most of the time. It was, like, that kind of shock, where you’re get those hysterical giggles, and you’re going. “Oh, my God!” And you just want to tell people, but I knew that I couldn’t tell anybody. I wanted to go, “Oh, my God, you won’t believe what I’m doing,” but then I realized, “Oh, yeah, I can’t tell you.” I’m kind of blown away, though. The quality is just outstanding. It’s just unbelievable.

BE: Lydia had an encounter with Skyler a few episodes ago where the mood was about as icy as I’ve seen it get on the show, which is really saying something.

LF: Yeah, I think Lydia’s got a little bit of an issue with women. She was, like, supernaturally scared of Skyler. She high-tailed it out of there way faster than she would have if it had been a guy. Lydia’s   certainly not comfortable about anyone, but especially not women. I think she’s got a mother issue or something.

BE: It’s funny that every time she does anything outside of her comfort zone – like, say, when she meets with Mike at the diner – it seems like she’s pretending she’s in a movie. Put on sunglasses? Check. Sitting in the other booth, facing the opposite direction? Check.

LF: [Starts to laugh.] I know! And she thinks she’s being very subtle as well, which is why it’s so funny. She thinks, “Yeah, I got this, here’s what I’m gonna do for this one,” and most of the time nobody lets her do it. They’re, like, “What the fuck are you doing? What are you playing at?” And I think she gets really annoyed. Yeah, she takes herself extremely seriously.

BE: You’ve got some great moments with Jesse Plemons, who plays Todd.

LF: Oh, yes, he’s been wonderful to work with. Our characters’ relationship, as it’s developed, is a very unusual one, and it’s made us both laugh. Yeah, he’s a sweetheart. And a really, really talented actor. I’ve just watched him in “Friday Night Lights,” toward the end of shooting “Breaking Bad.” Did you watch that show?

BE: I did, yes.  

LF: Oh, he’s amazing on that! I just love that show. Being the Scottish woman I am, I can’t believe how much I got into American football, how much it really mattered. I thought, “God, I’m really into this game now!” [Laughs.] And it’s because of “Friday Night Lights”!

BE: Out of curiosity, when you started exploring “Breaking Bad,” did you have a favorite episode, or was there a particular moment where you realize, “Oh, my God, this is the greatest show”?

LF: There were a few episodes that did that for me, but I liked the episode with the toddler. I can’t remember what season it was, but there was the ATM in the house? Oh, my God, that episode is amazing. Oh, God, there’s so many of them. Gus Fring and the shoot-out at the pool in Mexico? Oh, my God, that was amazing as well! Yeah, I love so many episodes. If I start listing them, I’d list all of them, going, “Oh, that one! And that one! And that one!”

BE: It’s a shame you didn’t actually get to spend any time with Giancarlo Esposito.

LF: Yeah, I never even got to meet him! But I’ve heard all about what a lovely guy he was. Ah, maybe one day I’ll get to meet him…

BE: I wanted to ask you about just a few other things from your back catalog, and I have to admit something that’s a little embarrassing: until literally yesterday, I did not realize that the actress who played Lydia on “Breaking Bad” was the same actress who played Door in “Neverwhere.”

LF: No way! [Laughs.]

BE: And the reason it’s embarrassing is that I’ve been a massive fan of that miniseries since I first discovered that it existed, which was, like, 1999. It was long enough ago that I had to go to our local indie video store and rent a VHS copy that they’d dubbed from the UK because it wasn’t yet available in the States.

LF: Oh, my God. That’s… [Starts to laugh.] That’s really funny. Yeah, that was me. I saw a picture from it recently, just some stills from it, and I just thought, “Jesus Christ” It was just freaky. I was, like, “God, I’m old! I’m from another era!” And it’s so funny that Neil Gaiman is so huge now! I mean, he’s absolutely huge!

BE: Certainly much bigger than he was then, that’s for sure. Where you familiar with him when you got the gig?

LF: Well, I am now, of course, but, no, I wasn’t when I got the show. I’d just moved to London, and I met Neil and his daughter and went over to their house a few times, and he was just such a gorgeous human being. It was really interesting doing that show, because I’d just moved to London, but we filmed in all of these abandoned underground stations, and you felt like you were in the second World War, because underground London…nothing had changed since then. And at the end of each day, you’d blow your nose, and this black soot would come out!

BE: It sounds like the experience was a unique one, if nothing else.

LF: It was unique, and it was so interesting. We filmed on…I think it was the H.M.S. Belfast. One of those old warships, anyway. And there were just so many interesting characters. I just loved all of the names Neil Gaiman gave to the characters. He’s just brilliant. I mean, what an imagination. The man is like a portal to himself.

BE: Do you have a favorite project that you’ve worked on over the years that didn’t get the love you thought it deserved?

LF: Oh, gosh. There’s so many of them. Most of them. [Laughs.] But then maybe if they didn’t get the love, that was a good thing in the end. [Long pause.] I don’t know. I can’t think of one specifically. I’m sorry!

BE: That’s quite all right. Of the work you’ve done, do you have a preference between TV and film? Or does it feel nowadays like there’s much of a difference, anyway?

LF: It feels the same to me to shoot film and TV. I mean, “Breaking Bad” is shot on film, anyway, so it felt very similar, like doing a film but just a wee bit TV’ed up. That’s the only difference. I guess I like doing TV because then you can relax and know that you’ve got a job for a long time and you don’t have to be unemployed for ages. [Laughs.] TV lasts for awhile…as long as you don’t killed, which happens a lot in “Breaking Bad”!

BE: Do you have a preference between comedy and drama?

LF: Oh, I like ‘em both. But I suppose I’d be 60/40 in preference of drama.

BE: So what was it like working with Cameron Crowe on “Vanilla Sky”?

LF: Well, on “Vanilla Sky,” I’m credited, but I’m just a voice. I’ve got just a little voiceover at the end of the film, because I met Cameron Crowe for a different film, which I didn’t eventually end up doing, but he wanted my Scottish accent for “Vanilla Sky,” so I just did a voiceover for that. I mean, I spent the day with Cameron Crowe, and he’s a great guy and I really enjoyed hanging out with him. But, nope, didn’t get to do much in “Vanilla Sky.” [Laughs.] Everyone goes, “Oh, what were you in ‘Vanilla Sky’? Are you sure you’re in that?”

BE: Well, your credit for the film on IMDb is that you’re The Future, but I admit that I also couldn’t quite place you having been in it. This would explain it.

LF: Yeah, that’s true, my character was called The Future. But it was just a voiceover.

BE: You had a bit more to do in “A Knight’s Tale,” thankfully.

LF: Oh, yeah, and that was great. It was nearly half a year! We were there five and a half months in Prague, and it was most people’s first time in the Czech Republic, and there were all these castles, and it was summer, and we were all in our twenties. It was kind of brilliant. And Heath Ledger was just kind of at the brink of being extremely famous, and he was a sweetheart. He had a lot of innocence about him. He was a lovely guy. So many fun people, and loads of interesting stunts. I used to love watching the stunts with the horses, although… [Starts to laugh.] Even though I was playing a blacksmith, I was terrified of horses, because I’d been thrown by one, and one of them backed me into a fence and I got a little bit crushed. So I was having all of these bad horse experiences, so I was a little bit scared. The only blacksmith who’s scared of horses! But it was a really brilliant job, yeah. I loved it.

BE: So what’s on your plate for the future?

LF: I’ve got a couple of little indie films coming out, but I’m not working just now. I’m totally slacking here in Scotland. [Laughs.] I’m just hanging with my friends and family. My husband (Karl Geary) is over in Ireland doing a Ken Loach movie, so I’ve sort of based myself here nearby – well, with just a little bit between us – and we visit every other weekend. But we go back to upstate New York in October, and then I’ll hopefully get a job when I get back.

BE: Vince was just up in Scotland last month, wasn’t he?

LF: Yeah, I saw him! He was speaking in Edinburgh, so I went to his talk and saw him and his girlfriend. They’re such a great couple. But they were on this lightning fast trip – they were going to Vienna next – so it was really just a case of going, “Hi! Bye!”

BE: Well, to close on a bit of a sidebar, I do a feature for the website AntennaFree.TV called “Pilot Error,” where I talk to people about pilots they’ve done that didn’t get picked up. I know most of your TV work has been in the UK, where the business model is a bit different, but have you ever gone through that experience?

LF: I haven’t, actually! But I’ve done a pilot and then got kicked off it. [Laughs.] I got replaced! But, no, I haven’t been on one that didn’t get picked up…though I’m sure I will!

BE: Should I ask what that pilot was?

LF: I was on “Homeland,” and then they replaced me. But I’ve heard that’s just a thing that happens sometimes, so…um, yeah,

BE: Well, it’s a pretty short list of shows that you could’ve ended up on instead where you can say that it was actually better that you didn’t end up on “Homeland,” but “Breaking Bad” is sure as hell on it.

LF: I know! [Laughs.] Yeah, I feel like if I hadn’t lost that part… I was really sad at the time, but I lost it, and then I got “Breaking Bad,” and I would never have been able to do them both, so, yeah, I feel like it kind of ended up successfully. So I’m happy.

When we published our first TV Power Rankings in 2005 listing the best shows on television, the revolution in TV viewing habits was well underway with cable shows like “The Sopranos” raising the bar for TV dramas. Meanwhile, DVDs and on-demand viewing started to change the way we watched our favorite programs and discovered new ones. Since then, the changes have only accelerated, and now many teenagers and people of all ages are addicted to streaming TV, watching everything by their own schedules. Many have even “cut the cord” and eliminated their cable TV subscriptions altogether. Water-cooler discussions about “must-see TV” have given way to shows aimed at niche audiences.

With these developments, the quality of the shows has improved dramatically. That may not be true for sitcoms and most of the stuff on network TV, but many have called this the new “golden era of television,” as the cable networks in particular have given talented writers and directors the freedom to create masterpieces like “The Wire” and “Breaking Bad.” Now with Netflix triumphantly entering the fray with the excellent “House of Cards,” the bar keeps getting raised even higher. I watch fewer movies these days as the quality rarely matches that of the best TV shows, which also have the advantage of developing characters over a much longer time period.

“Breaking Bad” has been one of our favorites for years, and it tops our list again as it completes its final season. When it’s all said and done, it will be part of every conversation of the best TV shows ever. Our list is dominated by cable TV dramas and we’ve left off reality shows. Some are entertaining, but none match the quality of the programs on our list.

We’ve kept spoilers to a minimum, but you might want to avoid some of the write-ups if you want to avoid learning about plot developments.

1. Breaking Bad

Expectations for the fifth season of Vince Gilligan’s “Breaking Bad” would’ve been running high anyway, given that Season 4 concluded with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) bringing an explosive end to Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) while also revealing just how far he was willing to sink to get things his way. It doesn’t get much lower than poisoning a child to trick your former partner into working for you again, but the knowledge that it truly was the beginning of the end (i.e. the final season) really amped up the adrenaline. With posters for Season 5 showing Walt surrounded by stacks of cash and emblazoned with the tagline “Hail to the King,” the question at hand was whether or not Mr. White would be able to keep his ego in check successfully enough to take over Gus’s meth empire. The answer: not entirely. Although Mike (Jonathan Banks) agreed to join the operation more out of an attempt to help keep Jesse (Aaron Paul) safe, he quickly grew frustrated and tried to bail out, only to end up in a terminal tussle with Walt. Meanwhile, the domestic situation in the White house has reached all new levels of tension, thanks to a power struggle of sorts between Walt and Skyler (Anna Gunn). As the first half of Season 5 wrapped up, however, the biggest reveal of all took place, with Walt’s DEA-agent brother-in-law, Hank Schrader (Dean Norris), finally discovering that he’s the infamous Heisenberg. This show has yet to disappoint, and there’s no reason to think it’s going to start now. – Will Harris. Check out our “Breaking Bad” blog here and our Fan Hub page here.

2. Homeland

I’ve had my share of “binge TV” watching with all the new platforms at our disposal, and so I wasn’t surprised when I blew through the first season and a half of “Homeland” over a long weekend. I’d heard all the buzz but had missed out on Season 1, but like most viewers, I was hooked after the first episode. The power of the cliffhanger at the end of the first season was blunted a bit, however, as I quickly hit the button to start the first episode of Season 2. When you power your way through a series like this, sometimes the impact of a single episode isn’t felt as deeply, as you quickly move on to the resolution. On the other hand, immersing yourself in a show over a short period of time also has its rewards. With Season 2, we’re left with another mind-blowing finale after more twists and turns for Carrie’s unlikely relationship with Brodie. Some have argued that the events have gotten too unbelievable, but given the topic of terrorism and the CIA, little seems too far-fetched these days. With Carrie, Claire Danes has created a character that we’ll remember for a long time, and I suspect this show will be near the top of our list for years to come.

3. The Walking Dead

Fans of Robert Kirkman’s comic book series have been patiently awaiting the arrival of The Governor ever since it was announced that AMC was adapting “The Walking Dead” for TV, and if you were unfamiliar with the source material prior to Season Three, then you probably know by now why it was such a big deal. Though the new season has been plagued by many of the same problems as previous years (namely, dragging out subplots longer than necessary), the addition of David Morrissey as The Governor has made for some great television. And while you can’t say the same about Rick and Andrea’s respective character arcs, others have stepped up in their place, including Norman Reedus as fan favorite Daryl and Chandler Riggs as the rapidly maturing Carl. The zombie quota has also been increased exponentially, which is never a bad thing, and now that Danai Gurira has joined the cast as sword-carrying Michonne, the zombie kills have become more inventive by the week. It hasn’t quite lived up to its excellent debut season, but “The Walking Dead” is still one of the best things on TV. – Jason Zingale

4. Game of Thrones

Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom” may have been HBO’s best freshman series of last year, but “Game of Thrones” is still king of the premium channel. There’s nothing else quite like it on television, and though Season Two wasn’t as good as its debut season on a purely episode-to-episode basis, the payoff was arguably better, showing the full complexity and richness of the universe that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss inherited from George R.R. Martin. The third season expanded that scope even further, with several new characters quickly making their mark, and old ones (like Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s Jamie Lannister) continuing to evolve within that moral gray area where “Game of Thrones” thrives. It also featured some of the most shocking story developments to date, perhaps none more so than Episode 9’s infamous Red Wedding, which made Ned Stark’s beheading look like child’s play in comparison and will likely go down as one of the biggest television events of the year. The audience reaction to that episode is very telling of the show’s pop cultural footprint, and when the writing and acting is this good, it’s no surprise why its popularity continues to grow. – JZ. Check out our “Games of Thrones” blog here.

5. The Newsroom

Along with “Girls,” this HBO drama probably received more negative criticism and mockery that any other show on our list. Anything produced by Aaron Sorkin will bring out plenty of haters given the political topics he often chooses, but many journalists weren’t too happy to have Sorkin shine a critical light on their industry. But we all know that cable news sucks with its emphasis on ratings and manufactured controversy, so Sorkin had a target worthy of his scorn. Anyone who is tired of the dumbing down of debate and those who make money exploiting the divisions in our country in the name of delivering the “news” will love the tone of “The Newsroom.” Yes, it’s preachy at times and many of the characters are oh so earnest, but you’ll find yourself rooting for them. Sorkin has created another set of fascinating but flawed characters, with Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) as the perfect vehicle to shake up the cable news business after his epic rant that goes viral, and MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer) as his ex-girlfriend and producer who pushes him to take a stand. The romantic tension between them is very intense and it seems Sorkin will milk that for all its worth. The lovely Olivia Munn also shows she has some serious acting chops as the brilliant but socially awkward Sloan Sabbith.

6. House of Cards

Regardless of how you feel about Netflix’s decision to release the entire 13-episode first season of “House of Cards” all at once, it’s hard to deny that the company’s first real attempt at original programming (not counting the Norwegian co-production of “Lilyhammer”) has been nothing short of a homerun. Based on the 1990 BBC miniseries of the same name, “House of Cards” boasts the kind of top-shelf quality we’ve come to expect from networks like HBO and AMC, and in addition to being produced by David Fincher (who also directed the first two episodes), there’s not a single weak link in the cast. Kevin Spacey delivers his best performance since “American Beauty” as the calculating Democratic congressman and House Majority Whip, while Robin Wright is the perfect complement as his stone-cold marriage partner in crime. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the series is partly based on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “Richard III,” because there are so many political power plays in each episode that it has the Bard’s fingerprints all over it. If you still don’t have Netflix, it’s worth subscribing to for this enthralling and immensely addicting series alone. – JZ

7. Mad Men

As Season 6 wrapped up, Don Draper seemed to be ready to finally confront his past. He was up to his old tricks again with other women, but everything came crashing down at the end of the season. Whether he follows through in the seventh and final season is anyone’s guess. We were happy to see skinny Betty return this season, and the writers have smoothed some of the edges off this lovely ice queen. Her scene in the motel with Don was pretty revealing, and we’ll see if Don learns anything from it. Meanwhile, the smartly packaged and manicured world of the late ‘50s/early ‘60s from the early seasons of “Mad Men” has given way to the chaos of 1968, with growing menace of violence seeping into their lives along with groovier haircuts and funkier clothes for many of the characters. Of course, that doesn’t apply to Don, who seems as stuck on the more classic styles as his destructive behavior. “Mad Men” remains one of the best character dramas on television, so get your hands on Season 1 if you haven’t jumped on board yet.

8. The Americans

You know you’re getting older when a new period drama comes out and all of the music, clothes and cars seem familiar because you were 16 at that time. “The Americans” is set in 1981, just after Ronald Reagan is elected, and Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” is in the background during the first action sequence in the pilot. The show follows two KGB spies living in Washington D.C. as sleeper agents for the Soviet Union. They’ve trained for years for this mission and speak perfect English. But their arranged marriage is very complicated as Philip (Matthew Rhys) flirts with the idea of defecting, while Elizabeth (Keri Russell) remains blindly loyal to the homeland. They also have two kids who have been born in America, and an FBI counter-intelligence agent has just moved across the street. The stories are intense and the acting is brilliant, with everything revolving around the intense relationship between the two agents. If you haven’t seen it, catch up on Season 1 before it returns for a second season.

9. Justified

“Justified” is one of those shows that you wish more people watched; it’s that good. Though it started out as a more formulaic crime of the week-type drama, the series has evolved into something much more substantial over the years, and this season, creator Graham Yost has really turned it on its head. That’s not to say that U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens (a role Timothy Olyphant was born to play) still hasn’t had his hands full with the usual rotating platter of backcountry criminals, but there’s been more of a noir-like detective feel to Season Four’s story as Givens worked to uncover the secret behind a decades-old mystery involving a man named Drew Thompson. Unfortunately, that’s resulted in less face time between Givens and his nemesis Boyd Crowder (an outstanding Walton Goggins), but the two men have been on similar paths all season, finally converging in the February 19th episode “Decoy,” which was not only one of the finest hours of “Justified” to date, but one of the best episodes of TV in recent memory. – JZ

10. The Big Bang Theory

With its seventh season about to begin, “The Big Bang Theory” continues to grow in popularity with the reruns on TBS introducing million of new viewers to Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, Raj, Penny, Bernadette, and Amy. Howard is now married to Bernadette, and he began the latest season on the International Space Station, while Stuart joined the gang as a regular character and Raj’s new sidekick. This show has always been hilarious, and it stands out in an era where most sitcoms are terrible.

11. New Girl

If you like Zooey Deschanel, chances are you’ll love “New Girl.” The comedy series is so perfectly suited to the adorkable actress’ eccentric personality that it’s really fun watching her let loose with some of the zany stuff she’s asked to do. No matter how you feel about the recent will-they-won’t-they plotline between Jess and Nick, it’s hard to deny the fantastic chemistry between Deschanel and standout Jake Johnson, although all five main cast members form a pretty great team. Though the show hasn’t been quite as consistent in its sophomore season, it’s still one of the funniest comedies on TV, thanks to memorable bits like “Gave me cookie, got you cookie” and the return of the hilariously indecipherable True American drinking game. The show’s success relies more on these smaller moments than the episodes as a whole, and while that’s a dangerous tightrope to walk, there’s no point in changing a winning formula. – JZ

12. Parks and Recreation

There are a number of reasons why “Parks and Recreation” belongs on the Power Rankings, but at the top of that list is the cast, which is arguably the best comedy ensemble on TV. Amy Poehler has transformed Leslie Knope from a Michael Scott wannabe into an incredibly loveable and realistic character capable of making us laugh and breaking out hearts in the same episode, and the actress has delivered such consistently great work that it’s hard to believe she still hasn’t won an Emmy for the role. It’s also no surprise that the show started to really hit its groove once Adam Scott and Rob Lowe joined the cast, although the latter hasn’t been quite as entertaining this season. Chris Pratt and Aubrey Plaza’s quirky relationship continues to earn big laughs, and in Ron Swanson, Nick Offerman has created a truly hilarious, one-of-a-kind TV personality. Even glorified background players Retta and Jim O’Heir have been upping their game this year, and with this much talent at their disposal, the writers have been having an absolute field day. – JZ

13. Arrested Development

Throughout its all-too-brief three-season run on FOX, “Arrested Development” received more critical acclaim than any sitcom ought to be allowed to earn, but after sadly proving the theorem that rave reviews don’t always equal huge ratings, the series was given the heave-ho into oblivion. Except it wasn’t, as it turned out, since the show’s cast and creators desperately wanted to revisit the exceptionally dysfunctional Bluth family so badly that they managed to broker a deal with Netflix to produce a fourth season. While opinions have varied wildly between “it’s even better than before” and “it should’ve stayed dead,” we’re of the mind that, just as long as you keep your expectations realistic and remember that the only way to bring back the series was to adapt the show’s structure to accommodate the lower budget and insane scheduling of the different cast members, Season Four of “Arrested Development” has proven to be well worth the wait. There are countless callbacks to past episodes, lots of well-utilized guest stars, and at least as many laughs as before. Is it the same “Arrested Development” that you remember from FOX? Not completely. But it’s still pretty darned funny, and that’s all we really wanted, anyway. – WH

14. Sons of Anarchy

The fifth season of FX’s insanely popular motorcycle drama wasn’t the show’s best year, but it did deliver some of the most harrowing and gut-wrenching moments to date, including the fiery death of Tig’s youngest daughter, and of course, the death-by-pipe sacrifice of fan favorite Opie. We’d be lying if we said that Ryan Hurst’s absence didn’t leave a gaping hole for the remainder of the season, but that was sort of the point, as it played a pivotal role in the way that Charlie Hunnam’s Jax evolved in his new position as club president. The addition of Jimmy Smits to the cast also added a nice dynamic to the Teller-Morrow family drama, and though Damon Pope didn’t prove to be nearly as menacing as expected, it was interesting watching SAMCRO deal with a different kind of threat for once. We still can’t believe that Ron Perlman’s Clay managed to make it out of yet another season alive, but let’s be honest, “Sons of Anarchy” wouldn’t be nearly as captivating without him. – JZ

15. Dexter

Now in its eighth and final season, this unlikely drama about a “sympathetic” serial killer has been able to maintain its status as one of the best shows on television. Dexter (Michael C. Hall) has always tried to channel his impulse to kill towards “deserving” victims, but now things are much more complicated, as people close to him learned about his secret, leading to real collateral damage. Fans will soon find out who survives the final season. This is a great example of a show that never would have seen the light of day on network television. If you haven’t given it a try yet, put it in your queue and you won’t be disappointed.

16. Californication

Hank Moody is the man. Sure, he’s an irresponsible drunk with a knack for finding trouble in crazy LA, but he knows how to enjoy himself, and it’s fun as hell going along for the ride. Every season brings another sexy love interest and a slew of hookups. This season featured Maggie Grace, while recent seasons featured Meagan Goode, Addison Timlin and Carla Cugino. Unfortunately, characters like wild rocker Atticus Fetch in Season 6 and rapper Samurai Apocalypse in Season 5 aren’t nearly as fun or interesting. After six seasons, the drama with Karen and his daughter is getting a little old, though in Season 6, we finally saw Becca becoming a little more interesting and a less annoying as she experimented with booze, drugs and a new, goofy boyfriend who looks like a troll. The storylines push the envelope of absurdity each year, but there are enough wildly entertaining scenes to keep us coming back for more.

17. Family Guy

We’ll never get tired of the Griffins or the sick and twisted humor of Seth MacFarlane as he continues to push the envelope of good taste. Like “The Simpsons” and “South Park,” “Family Guy” has had a great run, and it’s still one of the funniest shows on television. This past season included a spoof of “Twelve Angry Men” as Mayor West goes on trial for a murder that takes place in the mayor’s mansion.

18. The Daily Show/The Colbert Report

With the election over, many of us are sick of politics these days, yet there’s plenty of stupidity coming from politicians and the cable news outlets to keep Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert at the top of their games.

“The Daily Show” hasn’t missed a beat, even with John Oliver subbing in for Jon Stewart in recent months.

19. Shameless

When you give a brilliant character actor like William H. Macy a role as rich as that of drunkard Frank Gallagher, you’re definitely off to a good start in putting together a new TV show. Add in the beautiful and talented Emmy Rossum as his eldest daughter Fiona, and some impressive younger actors to play his children, and now you’re onto something. With the Gallaghers, we get a hilarious peek into the lives of Americans struggling at the lower rungs of the economic ladder in the poor areas of Chicago. I’m tempted to call them a dysfunctional family, but the resourceful kids function pretty well considering they were stuck with a drunk like Frank as their father.

20. Key and Peele

When done well, the sketch comedy format can be a real winner, as we’ve seen from the best years on “SNL” and shows like “In Living Color.” Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele combine filmed sketches and live stage segments on “Key & Peele.” The duo offers up an interesting perspective on many issues given their biracial heritage, which seems to give them license to make fun of everybody.

21. Hannibal

It’s always challenging to build a television show around an iconic movie character, but the creators of “Hannibal” seem to have succeeded. Gifted criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) enlists the help of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) to help him catch a twisted serial killer. Of course, he has no clue that Lecter is much more than just a brilliant psychiatrist, and that sets the stage for this psychological thriller.

22. Veep

It’s easy to make fun of politicians these days, but the writers and stars of this show are particularly good at it. The show captures the futility of the office of the Vice President with the nakedly ambitious and utterly incompetent Selina Meyer as the VP. She’s played brilliantly by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who easily belongs in the sitcom Hall of Fame (does one exist?). Selina is surrounded by an equally ambitious and incompetent staff that will do almost anything to curry favor and further their own careers.

23. Louie

Stand-up comedian Louis C.K.’s second stab at a television series has been more successful, with “Louie” receiving rave reviews from numerous critics. He stars as a fictionalized version of himself as a divorcee raising two daughters in New York City. The show isn’t very structured, consisting of short scenes and standup bits thrown together. Some are hilarious, while others will just make you feel uncomfortable.

24. Magic City

With the popularity of “Mad Men,” it was only a matter of time before we saw more shows set in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. “Magic City” is set in Miami Beach starting on the eve of 1959 and centers around Ike Evans and his Miramar Playa Hotel. There’s plenty of drama involving the mob and the local D.A., and there’s also plenty of eye candy (including Bond babe Olga Kurylenko) to go along with the great clothes and beautiful cars of the era, as well as the South Beach locations.

25. The League

Guys love mercilessly abusing their friends, and that’s all you need to know if you’ve ever pondered the popularity of fantasy football. For some guys, fantasy football also offers an outlet from a life filled with work, wives and kids, while for many, it’s a way to keep in touch with old friends. Many women don’t get it, as the fun goes well beyond the game itself. Now, ratchet up all the fun, competition, idiocy and juvenile behavior you’ve experienced in your own league and you have “The League” on FX. The show has been described as a “semi-improvised” comedy, and it follows a group of six goofball friends as they battle from draft day throughout the season and deal with their everyday lives. No topic is taboo on this show, so the audience gets an endless stream of silly but hilarious situations.

RANDOM NOTES

Orange is the New Black

Netflix has another hit with this new original series, and Taylor Schilling is excellent in the lead role as Taylor Schilling, a pretty New England blonde who finds herself going off to federal prison. The rest of the cast is excellent as well, with Jason Biggs and Laura Prepon in supporting roles. The show has some promise, but we’ll see if it’s ever good enough to crack the Power Rankings.

Girls

Opinions vary wildly on this show, but Jason Zingale’s recent review sums up our thoughts: “I had a very love-hate relationship with the first season of “Girls,” but Season Two is such a complete train wreck that it made me want to stop watching the show altogether. Dunham has created one of the most unlikable protagonists on TV (between her coke-fueled meltdown and the Patrick Wilson episode, she hits an all-time low), and Williams’ laughably insecure Marnie isn’t too far behind. In fact, the female characters have so few redeeming qualities – even Mamet’s lively Shoshanna resorts to some bad behavior this season – that it’s a wonder how the audience is supposed to keep rooting for them.”

Boardwalk Empire

This show began with so much promise, but everything stated to go downhill once they killed off Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) near the end of Season 2. Season 3 was a mess with new villain Gyp Rosetti, who comes across a clumsy caricature of a violent Italian mobster. Some characters, like the young Al Capone, are worth watching (can we get a spinoff?), and the show is still beautifully produced with the period costumes and music, but it no longer deserves to be on our list.

True Blood

The bar has been set very high for cable TV shows, and in its first several seasons, “True Blood” easily met that standard. Yet it’s hard to keep things compelling as the years go by, and “True Blood” has slipped a bit over the years as practically every kind of creature from werewolves, to shape shifters, to fairies and more have been introduced with every kind of magic imaginable. Viewers can’t be surprised anymore as something strange and bizarre emerges with every character. Some storylines are great, while others just take up time and keep some of the characters occupied. Fortunately, many of the characters remain compelling, and the show hasn’t lost its sense of humor or sex appeal.

The Killing

We jumped the gun several years ago when we put “The Killing” at the top of our Spring 2011 power rankings. By the end of Season 1, we were disappointed like everyone else when the killer wasn’t revealed as promised. Even worse, an annoying pattern had developed during that season with each episode implying that a different killer could have been responsible for Rosie Larson’s death. Still, Mireille Enos was brilliant as Detective Sarah Lindon, though the storyline about her son was a useless distraction. Season 2 played out the string on the Rosie Larson murder with mediocre results, and it looked like we’d seen the end of this show. But surprisingly, AMC brought it back with a new case for Lindon and her partner Stephen Holder. Season 3 was much better, but unfortunately, the ending wasn’t worth all the trouble.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

We’re hoping Larry David comes back for another season, and if he does, this show will easily make our list again.

So…where were we?

Oh, fine, let’s go ahead and deal with the elephant in the room: it’s been nine months since Bullz-Eye doled out our most recent version of our TV Power Rankings. What can we say? There were a lot of good shows on the air between May 2011 and February 2012, and somewhere around late October, it just kind of reached a point where we said, “You know what? It’s way more fun to watch TV than it is to write about it.” Eventually, though, the powers that be pried us off the couch (there’s still an indentation where we were sitting), set us back in front of the computer, and said, “Look, the readers demand to know Bullz-Eye’s take on the best shows of the past year* and, frankly, they’re starting to get a little belligerent about it.”

(*Rounded up for statistical purposes.)

So here we are, ready to offer up our list of the 25 best shows on television** as well as several shows bubbling just under our list, plus a new section called “Still Too New to Call,” where we praise shows that seem pretty damned good after their first few episodes but simply haven’t been around long enough for us to feel comfortable including them in the other two lists.

(**Okay, technically, it’s the 24 best shows on television plus one show that hasn’t been on since 2010, but we’re so excited about that particular show coming back that we included it, anyway.)

All told, we hope you’ll walk away from this piece either nodding your head in agreement or wondering why you haven’t been watching some of these shows. If not, however, there’s a perfectly good Comments section that’s just waiting for your opinions about what’s good on TV.

Everybody ready? Then let’s get this thing started…

1. Breaking Bad (AMC)

Fact: if you believe that there is any show on television that’s better than “Breaking Bad,” you are wrong. Period. End of story. Although the show began with a concept that spoke to many a family man – if you knew you were going to die, to what lengths would you go to make sure that your family was provided for? – it has since evolved into so much more. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul continue to startle with the depth of their performances, but Giancarlo Esposito‘s work as the chillingly efficient Gus Fring was the kind of work that makes an actor’s career. With an end date now in sight, the series has grown more gripping than ever, and there’s little doubt that we’ll see Hank (Dean Norris) figure out what Walt (Cranston) has been doing behind the back of him and his fellow DEA agents. In other words, folks, for all the shit we’ve seen hit the fan so far, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

2. Mad Men (AMC)

Yes, we know it hasn’t been on the air since 2010 (we covered that in the intro, you may remember), and, no, we don’t know any more about what to expect from the new season – which premieres on March 25 – than you do (series creator Matthew Weiner is notoriously tight-lipped, and we’re pretty sure he threatens to do terrible things to his cast’s pets if they leak anything to the press), but if we’re going to be doing these TV Power Rankings on an annual basis, then we’re forced to go with our instincts here and presume that “Mad Men” will continue to be as awesome in the future as it has been up to this point.

3. Modern Family (ABC)

It’s a little hard to take the cynics seriously when they say that “Modern Family” isn’t as funny as it used to be when we continue to laugh so hard at each and every episodes. Admittedly, the storyline about Cam and Mitchell trying to adopt another baby has been a little hit-and-miss, and the idea of Claire running for public office seemed a lot funnier in concept than it has in execution, even with David Cross in tow. But the heart of the show continues to be the relationships between the three distinct family units – Cam and Mitchell, the Dunphys, and Jay and Gloria – and their respective kids. If things haven’t been quite as funny this year, so be it: it’s still funny, and we’re still watching.

4. Game of Thrones (HBO)

It’s funny how the success of Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy suddenly made it viable to take a shot at countless sword-and-sorcery, medieval-type tales that had previously been deemed more or less unfilmable. Rather than try to condense George R.R. Martin’s epic “Game of Thrones” into movie form, however, HBO kindly green-lit a television series based on the property, and with the help of executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the transition from print to small screen has been remarkably successful. With masterful performances by Sean Bean, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and – perhaps most impressively – Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones” is, in a word, epic. Shame about poor ol’ Ned Stark, though. Sure didn’t see that coming…

5. Sons of Anarchy (FX)

It’s been a long, hard road that “Sons of Anarchy” has ridden to get to this point on the Power Rankings, having spent its earlier seasons in far lower spots due to the fact that not enough of us were watching it. Eventually, however, more of us came around, and it’s finally begun to get its proper due. Better late than never, right? Season 4 saw Jax, Clay, and the rest of the guys emerging from their 14-month stay behind bars and returning to Charming, only to meet a couple of new “friends” who’ve come to town: Sheriff Eli Roosevelt (Rockmond Dunbar) and Asst. U.S. Attorney Linc Potter (Ray McKinnon). One could argue that this was a transitional season for “Sons,” or, at the very least, certainly a transitional season for Clay, whose presidency of the organization came to a conclusion in suitably dramatic fashion. Where things go in Season 5 is anyone’s guess.

6. The Walking Dead (AMC)

Some critics, like our own Jeff Morgan, questioned whether “The Walking Dead” was losing its way in Season 2. The rest of us, however, were more than happy with the pacing – you can’t be fighting off packs of zombies every week.

Also, Shane’s killing of Otis and the tragic climax involving the search for Sophia gave us bone-chilling moments that we’ll remember for years.

7. Community (NBC)

Oh, “Community,” you do so like to tempt fate, don’t you? We’ve watched you religiously since your inception, when we picked you as the must-watch sitcom of the 2009 fall season, and you’ve gone out of your way to make sure that you didn’t let us down, offering up some of the most creative comedy on television: turning a game of Dungeons & Dragons into an oddly emotional episode, dedicating installments to everything from parallel realities to paintball, having Jeff and Shirley bond over foosball…you guys were fearless. Unfortunately, fearlessness and creativity don’t tend to play well with a mass audience, which is probably why “Community” is, as of the writing, sitting in limbo without confirmation as to when the remainder of its third season will continue to air, let alone if a fourth is in the cards. But we’re guessing you have no regrets when it comes to your steadfast refusal to avoid dumbing it down for the average viewer, which is why we’re trying to have none as well. But it’s hard. It’s very, very hard. Dammit, we just want “Community” back! Is that so much to ask?

8. The Killing (AMC)

We ranked “The Killing” as our top show in the last Power Rankings as we got hooked on this AMC murder/mystery along with millions of other fans. But promises that the killer would be revealed at the end of Season 1 weren’t kept as we were left with a cliffhanger ending, so the haters came out in full force against the show. Bill Simmons was particularly harsh in his criticism. We felt the criticisms were overblown and we’re looking forward to Season 2. Mireille Enos is a real talent as the drab and dour Sarah Lindon, which completely hides the beauty and bubbly character of this actress. Search her on YouTube and you’ll see what we mean. Joel Kinneman is also excellent as her partner, even if he often seems to be doing his best Jesse Pinkman imitation.

9. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Given that we never know for sure if the latest season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is going to be the last season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” it’s possible that we may grade the series on a little bit of a curve. Coming on the heels of the much-vaunted “Seinfeld” reunion, we knew we might not be quite as blown away by Season 8 of “Curb,” but leave it to Larry David to mix things up enough to keep things interesting. As Larry attempted to enjoy life as a single man (inasmuch as Larry can enjoy anything), we got to see him both at home in L.A. and in NYC with Jeff and Susie, and having interactions with celebs like Ricky Gervais, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheyenne Jackson, and, most hilariously, Michael J. Fox. Will there be a Season 9? HBO is optimistic, something which Larry David has never been. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

10. Justified (FX)

To our way of thinking, there wasn’t much chance that a series based on an Elmore Leonard character and featuring Leonard himself as an executive producer could possibly go wrong, so it’s been nice to see “Justified” prove us right. Season 1 was the series was good stuff, thanks to the outstanding onscreen chemistry between Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins, but by bringing Margo Martindale into the mix for Season 2, the show leapt to new levels of greatness. With Season 3 introducing Carla Gugino as a character who – for legal reasons – isn’t actually Karen Sisco (even though she so clearly is) and bringing back Stephen Root as everyone’s favorite red-thong-wearing judge, The Hammer, the ongoing adventures of Raylan Givens continue to deliver.

11. Parks and Recreation (NBC)

Bullz-Eye doesn’t actually have an official spokesperson, but if we were hiring, you can damned well bet that Ron Swanson would be in the running. “Parks and Recreation” continues to get better and better with each season, and while all it takes is a quick trip back to Season 1 to remember why we first wrote it off as a pale imitation of “The Office,” we’ve forgiven it for those transgressions several times over by this point. The relationship between Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) has been great fun to watch unfold, as has the unexpectedly successful marriage of Andy (Chris Pratt) and April (Aubrey Plaza), and watching Tom (Aziz Anzari) and Jean-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) work together has been comedy gold. Although we’re still in mourning for Li’l Sebastian even now, the laughs we get out of Pawnee each week has been invaluable in our emotional recovery.

12. Hell on Wheels (AMC)

We won’t deny that there are comparisons to be made between this series and “Deadwood,” but, hell, they’re both westerns, so what did you expect? That’s like bitching that “Gunsmoke” and “The Rifleman” are too damned similar. No, “Hell on Wheels” hasn’t yet hit the heights of its AMC brethren, but as businessman Thomas “Doc” Durant, Colm Meaney’s performance alone is just about enough reason to start watching the show, and as it progresses, the diversity of the characters certainly keeps viewers from ever getting bored.

13. American Horror Story (FX)

The partnership of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk has given us great things in their time, including “Nip/Tuck” and “Glee,” so there was every reason to expect that their latest endeavor, “American Horror Story” would, if nothing else, be fascinating to watch unfold. And so it has been, although your mileage may vary as far as whether or not you actually think it’s any good. Sometimes it’s disconcerting, other times it’s darkly hilarious, and, more often than not, it’s just plain batshit crazy, but in addition to two well-seasoned leads holding the insanity together (thank you, Dylan McDermott and Connie Britton), it also features fantastic supporting performances by Jessica Lange and Denis O’Hare. God only knows where Murphy and Falchuk are going to take this thing when it comes back for its second season, but whether it slumps or succeeds, we can still probably count on not being able to take our eyes off the screen.

14. The Daily Show / The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)

Sometimes it feels like a little bit of a cop-out to combine these two Comedy Central staples, since they’re very different shows with their own distinct comedic identities, but if that’s what it takes to make sure they’re still flying high in the ratings (and to allow us to slip another program into the list somewhere), then so be it. Both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert continue to deliver incisive political commentary couched (or sometimes not) in comedy. Long may they reign.

15. Dexter (Showtime)

Those of you who tuned in to Season 6 of “Dexter” looking for parenting tips may not have reacted to Showtime’s advertising campaign in quite the fashion the network had intended. Rest assured, fatherhood has not done anything to stem Dexter’s tendencies toward killing, but as good as the series continues to be, it’s still a little hard to think that it’ll ever reach the same heights again that it did when John Lithgow did his arc. Still, in fairness, however, Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks proved to be sufficiently satisfying as the Doomsday Killers.

16. Homeland (Showtime)

There are some who say that “Homeland,” a series about a CIA officer (Claire Danes) who believes that a Marine war hero and former POW (Damian Lewis) has been turned to the side of Al-Qaeda, is head and shoulders in quality above any other series on Showtime. Clearly, our Power Rankings suggest otherwise. Once Season 1 of the shows hits Blu-ray and DVD, however, don’t be surprised if more than a few people – including members of our own staff – suddenly realize that, yeah, actually, those other people are right. Full of nail-biting tension, remarkable writing, and wonderful performances by Danes, Lewis, Mandy Patinkin, and Morena Baccarin, “Homeland” is one of those rare series that virtually every critic can agree upon…but only if they’ve actually seen it. So what are you waiting for? Go subscribe to Showtime already: the whole thing’s available via On Demand!

17. The Office (NBC)

Of all the shows on the TV Power Rankings, “The Office” is the one which had the biggest issue to overcome this season. With the departure of Steve Carell from its ranks, everyone wondered what new blood would be brought in to freshen things up. The first answer was Will Ferrell, who, quite frankly, was a huge disappointment. When Season 8 premiered, however, we were fortunate enough to have James Spader reprising his role from the season finale as Robert California, now promoted to CEO of Sabre. There have also been other guests popping up here and there, from Catherine Tate to Maura Tierney to Stephen Collins. We’ve even seen David Koechner clear his schedule in order to bring Todd Packer back into the picture. Some say “The Office” should just be put out of its misery, and if that happens, we’d understand, but at the moment we’re still finding it pretty funny.

18. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

What? We still don’t know who the mother is…? Sorry, had to be done. (At this point, it’s kind of a TV Power Rankings tradition to make that joke.) The status quo on “HIMYM” has changed a fair amount of late, with Marshall and Lily having moved to the suburbs in advance of the birth of their child, Robin entering into her version of a serious relationship with her former therapist (played by Kal Penn), and even Barney occasionally stepping outside his uber-bro self to show signs of emotional growth. But Ted…? That guy’s still hopeless. Looks like we’ve still got awhile ahead of us before the series wraps, based on recent conversations in the press, but there’s still enough life left in the series to keep us coming back.

19. Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

When “Boardwalk Empire” first premiered, many viewers were, like, “Oh, sure, it looks awesome, and you can’t help but like Steve Buscemi, but it’s just not grabbing me.” As its freshman season progressed, however, things really began to pop deeper into the ensemble, with Michael Shannon portraying Agent Van Alden as an increasingly disturbed – and disturbing – individual, Michael Kenneth Williams made Chalky White a force to be reckoned with, and Jack Huston offered an air of mystery as Richard Harrow, the man behind the mask. When the series returned for its second year, the ante was upped even further, taking several major characters out of commission permanently by season’s end. If you aren’t grabbed now, you probably never will be, but we’re sure on board with “Boardwalk.”

20. Californication (Showtime)

It’s not that the basic theme of “Californication” has ever really changed over the course of its run – at its heart, it’s about Hank Moody (David Duchovny) trying to see how many times he can fuck, get fucked up, and completely fuck up his life and still end up with his beloved Karen (Natascha McElhone) – but as writers, we love it because it’s a chance to see how debauchery-filled we always figured our lives were going to be when we started doing this gig. Also, it continues to be highly enjoyable to see what guest stars are going to be brought into the mix, and Season 4 gave us some good ones, including Rob Lowe and Carla Gugino. It’s still early days in Season 5 as of this writing, but executive producer Tom Kapanos’ decision to jump ahead almost three years (which, by coincidence, is basically what “Weeds” did, too) seems to have been a positive move creatively.

21. Tosh.0 (Comedy Central)

As long as the beautiful ménage à trois between stupid people, video cameras, and the internet continues to flourish, Daniel Tosh’s career will stay in full bloom.

Now in its fourth season, “Tosh.0” may not be the most highbrow series on the air, but it’s never at a loss for material and still offers a solid number of laughs per episode.

22. Archer (FX)

Some shows are perfect fare for guys and gals to kick back and enjoy together, but, guys, unless you have one of the most awesome girlfriends ever, then “Archer” probably doesn’t quality as one of those shows. Sterling Archer has the libido of James Bond and Austin Powers put together but without any of the charm, and not only is he unfailingly uncouth, but he’s a mama’s boy to boot. Damned if he isn’t funny, though, and Season 3 has started off just as funny as its predecessors…but, then, what would you expect when you’ve got Burt Reynolds playing himself?

23. New Girl (Fox)

When it comes to watching “New Girl,” one’s level of appreciation is directly proportionate to how one feels about the concept of “adorkability,” which Zooey Deschanel brings to the small screen in seemingly limitless quantities as Jess, a too-cute twentysomething who moves in with a trio of guys on the heels of an excruciatingly bad breakup. As with most ensemble comedies, it’s taken time for the chemistry of the cast to find its feet, but it’s coming along nicely.

24. Weeds (Showtime)

When we first picked back up with Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) for the seventh season of “Weeds,” she’d spent three years cooling her heels in the clink while the rest of the Botwin clan had been chillin’ in Copenhagen, but with Nancy being shifted to a halfway house in New York City, a family reunion was only inevitable. Big shock: Nancy started selling pot again. Possibly bigger shock: even going into its eighth season, “Weeds” is still reliably entertaining.

25. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

No, it’s not quite the same show it used to be, owing to the fact that the cast now consists of almost as many women as it does men, but with the series now in its fifth season, the trio of Kaley Cuoco, Melissa Rauch, and Mayim Bialik have probably infused “The Big Bang Theory” with more laughs than the it would’ve had at this point if it had stuck strictly to the original four geeks. The only question now is how much longer we’ll have to wait for Raj to come out of the closet…because, seriously, you don’t need to possess gay-dar to see that that’s what they’re leading up to.

Bubbling Under

Boss (Starz): No one blames you for being hesitant about the idea of longtime sitcom star Kelsey Grammer starring in a premium-cable drama about a Chicago mayor who’s slowly but surely losing his mental faculties, but the first season of “Boss” turned out to be a really strong piece of work. Here’s hoping more viewers give it a go when it returns for its sophomore year.

Cougar Town (ABC): Yes, the title sucks. We know it, you know it, and series creators Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel know it, so just get over it already. It’s not like it’s relevant anymore, anyway, since not only is Jules (Courtney Cox) not out bedding hot young studs, but as of the Season 3 premiere, she’s actually engaged to her beau, Grayson (Josh Hopkins). Call it whatever you want, it’s still a great ensemble comedy about a bunch of fun folks who like to hang out, drink a lot of wine, and, uh, not much else. You know, kinda like you and your friends.

Fringe (Fox): We weren’t sure what to make of the observer’s announcement in last season’s “Fringe” finale that Peter Bishop never really existed. Um…huh? Surely they wouldn’t just eliminate Peter from the storyline — the show wouldn’t be the same without any of its three leads — but how would this all play out? In typical “Fringe” fashion, they added even more layers to the show, with Peter now stuck in an alternate timeline (not to be confused with the parallel universe from which Peter was abducted as a kid) and working with the “alternate” versions of Olivia, Walter and Walternate to get back to his timeline and his people. We repeat: um…huh?

How to Make It in America / Hung (HBO): We’ve combined these two shows into one write-up not because they’re particularly similar (although they both speak to our nation’s economic struggles in their own way) but, rather, because when both series got their walking papers from HBO a few months ago, we couldn’t decide which cancellation depressed us more. “How to Make It in America” wasn’t a fast-moving series, but it was one which paid off handsomely over time as a study of its characters, and while “Hung” had a pretty deplorable second season, it really turned things around in Season 3. Sorry to see you go, Ray. We’d tell you to keep your pecker up, but given what you’re packing, we wouldn’t want you to pass out.

The League (FX): It took longer than we’d hoped, but “The League” finally found its groove last season. The show was more consistently funny in its third season, with the writers solidifying the foundation by finding the right balance between the fantasy football angle and more traditional storylines, and we loved watching the season-long “draft cheat” arc play out in the hilarious two-part finale. These characters finally have some depth, giving us hope that Season 4 will be even better.

The Middle (ABC): The biggest hurdle that “The Middle” has to cross before it earns the respect of a larger audience is that viewers have to learn to appreciate that, no, it isn’t “Modern Family,” but it is just as funny. Granted, the humor’s often coming from a slightly different place, putting a great deal of focus on the economic struggles of a family in the Midwest, one that just barely gets the bills paid, hardly even tries to keep their house clean, doesn’t interact well with others, and, ultimately, comes across more real than any other sitcom family on TV.

Parenthood (NBC): We’ve been bracing for the cancellation of “Parenthood” since it first debuted, and yet the show is in the midst of a typically fantastic third season. Hopefully, it keeps defying the odds because we really want to see Adam and Crosby turn their recording studio into a smashing success. (And their assistant is pretty easy on the eyes, to boot!)

Shameless (Showtime): We wouldn’t want to suggest that this show might not be nearly as much of a must-see if William H. Macy wasn’t playing Frank, the perpetually-drunk patriarch of the Gallagher family, but…we don’t know how else to finish that sentence. That’s not to say that Emmy Rossum isn’t great to look at, and it’s pretty cool having Joan Cusack as part of the proceedings as well. But, c’mon, let’s face it: when you get right down to it, it’s all about what Bill Macy brings to the table.

Suburgatory (ABC): The new kid in ABC’s Wednesday night comedy line-up is, as it happens, actually about a new kid. Tessa (Jane Levy) is less than thrilled when her father (Jeremy Sisto) decides that the best thing for his daughter and their relationship is to move from New York City to the suburbs, but the resulting culture clash has proven pretty funny, thanks to an ensemble cast drawn from alumni of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (Cheryl Hines), “Entourage” (Rex Lee), “Saturday Night Live” (Ana Gasteyer, Chris Parnell, and Jay Mohr), and even the Whedon-verse (Alan Tudyk, late of “Firefly). With Alicia Silverstone reuniting with Sisto (they were both in “Clueless,” remember?) for a several-episode plot arc, the future’s looking pretty bright for this show.

Still Too New to Call

Alcatraz (Fox): The last time J.J. Abrams brought us a series that blended sci-fi elements with a procedural format – this would be “Fringe” we’re talking about – it soon evolved into an incredibly mythology-heavy show that inspired obsessive fandom but limited viewership. Maybe that’s why his latest endeavor is several episodes in and still seems very cemented in the world of procedurals. Mind you, it’s a series about Alcatraz inmates and guards who mysteriously disappeared from the prison in 1963 and are now suddenly beginning to reappear, so it’s clearly got plenty of sci-fi shenanigans going on, and it is indeed building on its mythology right on, which means that it could well turn out just as awesome as “Fringe.” Let’s all keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

Awake (NBC): As of this writing, you probably haven’t seen “Awake” yet, since it’s not set to premiere until March 1, and given that A) it’s on NBC, B) it’s a serialized drama, and C) it’s got a premise that will probably blow the minds of way more viewers than it will intrigue, there’s a pretty good chance that it will be gone by the time the next TV Power Rankings roll around. But, damn, is the pilot good. Brought to you by Kyle Killen, whose last series, “Lone Star,” looked great but was gone after only two episodes, “Awake” is about a police detective (Jason Isaacs) who, after a car accident, finds himself living in two realities: one where his wife died in the crash but his son lived, the other where his son died in the crash but his wife lived. Also, he has different partners in each reality. And different therapists. (Like you’re surprised he’s in therapy.) See what we mean? It’s crazy stuff. But the pilot delivers in a big way. It’s all down to how many people will give it a chance.

Don’t Trust The B—- In Apt. 23 (ABC): Nope, you haven’t seen this one, either – it won’t hit ’til April 11 – but it’s another case where the pilot is so good that it warrants mention. Krysten Ritter, who you may remember as the dearly-departed Jane on “Breaking Bad,” plays the titular character here, a total con artist whose new roommate (Dreama Walker) refuses to be taken advantage of. It’s a really quirky piece of work, aided in no small part by the inclusion of James van der Beek playing a highly exaggerated (hopefully) version of himself, and it’s more than a little bit dark at times, too. As such, it’s hard to say if the average viewer will embrace it. But if you’re a fan of series like “30 Rock,” “Community,” and the late, great “Better Off Ted,” you owe it to yourself to check it out when it premieres.

Key & Peele (Comedy Central): It’s been awhile since Comedy Central had a proper sketch comedy series that really delivered, but these “Mad TV” alumni have put together something that’s a little bit “Chappelle’s Show,” a little bit “Mr. Show,” and probably some “SNL” and “In Living Color,” too, covering a lot of different bases with the topics they’re mining for comedy. Since it’s only a few weeks into its run and has already earned a pick-up for a second season, “Key & Peele” probably have a better chance than any other series in this bunch to make it onto the next Power Rankings, and based on how much we’ve laughed so far, they might just be near the top. Time will tell…

Luck (HBO): All things being equal, we probably could’ve slipped this series into the top 25 without seeing a single moment of it, since the people both in front of and behind the camera are so amazing. Created by David Milch, directed by Michael Mann, starring Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina, Michael Gambon, Jill Hennessey, Jason Gedrick, Richard Kind, Ian Hart, Kevin Dunn…man, we’re exhausted just trying to comprehend how much awesomeness is in this thing. Of course, as a David Milch show, it could be the next “Deadwood” or it could be the next “John from Cincinnati,” so rather than guess how good it’s going to get, we’re leaving it here for the moment. But suffice it to say that we have nothing but the highest of hopes for how it’ll pan out.

The River (ABC): It’s all too easy to dismiss a potentially fascinating show with the words, “Ah, they’re just trying to be the next ‘Lost,'” so try to keep that phrase out of your mind when watching this series, which involves the host of a nature documentary series (Bruce Greenwood) going missing in the Amazon while on a mysterious quest, leading his wife, son, and the crew of his series to search for him. Not only has Steven Spielberg affixed his name to the show, but the folks behind “Paranormal Event” have so far infused the show with a seriously off-putting vibe…but, y’know, the good kind, like you find in horror movies.

Smash (NBC): Given that the ad campaign makes it look like the sort of thing that would appeal strictly to “Glee” fans, a show which longtime TV Power Rankings readers will note has fallen so far out of favor that it doesn’t even rate Bubbling Under status, we can appreciate your skepticism about this series, especially since it revolves around the not-exactly-testosterone-heavy concept of the making of a Broadway musical. But it’s a Steven Spielberg production, it’s got a cast peppered with some serious street cred (two words: Anjelica Huston), and the occasional singing and dancing segments have thus far featured some damned sexy women. It’s cool to pretend you don’t want to watch, but the reality is that it’s been pretty damned watchable thus far.

Touch (Fox): At the moment, all we’ve seen of Kiefer Sutherland‘s new series is the pilot episode, which Fox sneak-previewed on Jan. 25 in an effort to get the buzz building in earnest, but we really dug what we saw. The premise revolves partially around widower and single father Martin Bohm (Sutherland) as he comes to grips with the realization that his autistic-ish son Jake ((David Mazouz) is tapped into the numeric inter-connectivity of everything in the universe. Or something like that. Anyway, the show comes courtesy of Tim Kring, who proved with “Heroes” that, if nothing else, he’s really good at setting up a cool premise. Let’s just hope that experience has taught him a few things about how to keep a cool premise going.