2015's Biggest TV Winners & Losers
What a great, strange and lame year it has been in TV. There were surprise hits, shocking bombs and so many revivals. See who delighted and who failed audiences with this year's winners and losers.
WINNER: Mr. Robot
USA left the sunshine world it's become known for and delivered one of the best shows of year with Mr. Robot, a hacker drama that is so much more than webcams and identity theft. Rami Malek stole the show and now we never want to live in a world where he's not on our TVs.
LOSER: True Detective
Remember True Detective season two? All your memes were for naught. Not even Colin Farrell's mustache could save this season. You don't see people clamoring for #TrueDetectiveSeason3 now, do you?
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WINNER: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (and all of us)
NBC wisely gave Tina Fey's new show over to Netflix, which promptly ordered a second season before it even debuted. With an all-star cast including Ellie Kemper, Jane Krakowski and Tituss Burgess, Kimmy Schmidt is our new happy place.
WINNER: Kirsten Dunst
Welcome back, Kirsten. Well, it's not like she had disappeared, but she's doing some pretty fantastic work on FX's Fargo as the (just a smidgen) sociopathic Peggy Blumquist. Don't be rude, she'll stab you. And soon she'll stab you with her Emmy.
LOSER: Fear The Walking Dead
Sure ratings were very good for The Walking Dead's companion series, but the show's six-episode first season was a snore. On paper this sounded like it had all the makings to be must-see TV, but the execution did not live up to expectations. Not even Kim Dickens could keep us invested in this.
WINNER: Amy Schumer
Do we need to explain? Fine. In short: Inside Amy Schumer was brilliant, Trainwreck rocked the big screen and she won a bunch of Emmys. Then she began advocating for gun control. Go, Amy, go.
WINNER: Marvel TV
Remember when you heard Netflix was going to make a Daredevil TV show and all you did was cringe because the image of Ben Affleck's movie came to mind? And then you watched Daredevil and saw Charlie Cox kick butt (and those abs) and suddenly you were like, "Batfleck who?" Then there's Krysten Ritter's fearless performance in Jessica Jones, Agent Carter and the wonderful Hayley Atwell and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. becoming the show everybody wanted it to be in season one.
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LOSER: Trimming shows (and Wicked City)
In case you didn't know, Networks are just "trimming" shows now instead of canceling them, reducing episode orders in hopes it can be sold elsewhere. The only show to be canceled this season (so far) is ABC's awful Wicked City. Why was it canceled? Because it was awful.
WINNER: You're the Worst
One of TV's little shows that could remained pretty freakin' hilarious while dealing with clinical depression in a very real way: Gretchen (Aya Cash) is not suddenly better and Jimmy (Chris Geere) doesn't know how to deal. And then there's the revelation known as Kether Donohue. Her character, Lindsay, is the wacky best friend you always dreamed about having.
WINNER: Hulu
Once upon a time Hulu was a place where you'd watch your favorite show when your DVR didn't record it properly. Now? It's the home of some of TV's best comedies including Difficult People and Casual and it rescued The Mindy Project, which is doing wonderful stuff without the restraints of a traditional network.
LOSER: Death fakeouts
He's dead. He's so dead. He's hiding under a dumpster. He's spotted filming scenes. He's maybe not dead. His name is out of the credits. He's starring in all the promotional material for the upcoming season—ENOUGH! The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones both tried (and are still trying to) pull one over on fans in a way that's nearly impossible to do thanks to the Internet and an increasingly savvy audience. Just be upfront. These fakeouts are not a good look.
WINNER: Shondaland
Gasp! Grey's Anatomy killed of McDreamy. But it's no surprise here that Shonda Rhimes used that to revitalize Grey's Anatomy and Meredith Grey. Meanwhile, Scandal outed Fitz and Olivia as a couple, gave us a brilliant episode supporting Planned Parenthood and dropped a few more bombshells along the way. How To Get Away With Murder returned for a second season better than ever with more twists and turns than you could ever imagine. Plus, Viola Davis took home the damn Emmy!
WINNER: Niecy Nash and Getting On
Getting On is ending after only 18 episodes. That's fine, only because it never went down in quality and was 18 episodes of a genuinely unique TV show. Plus, the world (well, the TV Academy) finally acknowledged the talent that is Niecy Nash with an Emmy nomination. In addition to Getting On, she stole the show on Scream Queens as Denise Hemphill. In Niecy Nash we trust.
LOSER: Nielsen/TV ratings
Sorry we're not sorry to see you losing relevance, Nielsen. The company behind TV ratings, the thing that used to make and break a show, is quickly losing power as more and more people watch TV via alternative means. Yes, networks still pay attention to ratings, but your favorite show's fate is no longer determined by how many people in the 18-49 demographic happened to watch live.
WINNER: Greg Berlanti
One of the hardest working dudes in TV, Greg Berlanti has crafted a wonderfully entertaining superhero universe with The Flash and Arrow (and soon Legends of Tomorrow) on The CW. On NBC there's sophomore series The Mysteries of Laura and newcomer Blindspot, which has already been renewed. This season the Berlanti-produced Supergirl took flight on CBS. In conclusion, Greg Berlanti: TV superhero.
WINNER: Nostalgia
Hey Arnold! The X-Files! Twin Peaks! Prison Break! Samurai Jack! Full House! Gilmore Girls! Coach! (oops, not Coach). Reboot and revival fever hit Hollywood and it hit Hollywood hard. We're genuinely excited for most of these comebacks…but at the same time we all experienced Arrested Development's fourth season.