Taking On 2014 - Top TV Shows (Q2 Quarterly Review)

Okay, so we've gotten through music by looking at the best songs of the year and the best albums, which means it's now time for films, right? Usually, yes! However, this time I'm going to try something a little different. I've been watching a lot more TV this year, and with last year marking my first TV round up, I figured it's worth it to at least look at all the series I have watched so far and start at least considering them. Not really a full on Quarterly Review, since I won't do this again until January, but probably worth checking in simply because with the fall approaching a few of the shows towards the bottom are likely to get bumped by Boardwalk Empire or that new Soderbergh show or other things. Not to mention the time I have to catch up on this season of Oranges: The New Black, Fargo, and Penny Dreadful. Plus Gravity Falls is coming back. This list could end up being the hardest to make by year's end.

Taking On 2013: Top TV Shows

It's been a while, but I have a brand new keyboard and we are back in action. So how about starting off 2014 right? Well, I guess we can do that in any number of ways, but once the alcohol is gone and the sun has risen we are really only left with one option: Best Of Lists. There were (and may still be) plans to pair these lists with the launch of a very special Processed Grass podcast (a ProdGrast, if you will), but we shall see because despite this being a new keyboard I am now having some audio problems on my end. We'll see! I should say that all the shows on this list are the seasons that ended in 2014, not the ones that started. That mostly means network shows like Parks and Recreation, Bob's Burgers, etc. are being judged for their 2012-13 seasons, not their current 2013-14 seasons. Either way, on to TV!

Taking On 2012: Top Films (Q2 Quarterly Review)

It's fairly easy to be critical of 2012 as a year in film thus far, I was earlier this year, mostly because many of the more exciting releases are so insanely back loaded that it seems like nothing has come out. And you know what? That's partially correct, but not entirely true. Sure in order to round out a complete list (mostly because so many foreign films I want to see haven't gotten releases in my neck of the woods yet) I needed to stretch some dates, but the end result I find to be fairly strong. Equally worthy of standing alongside the great year for songs and albums, at the very least.

Perhaps the most surprising development for 2012 in relation to the last few years is the presence of engaging comedies. There have been bad ones that were supposedly great while others that had every right to be terrible were surprisingly funny. It's been a long time since Superbad or Scott Pilgrim, and even if I've seen all the great comedy movies of the year (unlikely since Judd Apatow is holding off his latest for Christmas day) 2012 has been stronger than most years in recent memory. Yeah that's at the expense of drama, but the greats are yet to come.

So what did make the cut? Let us find out.