The Matz Brothers Present: The 10 Best Basic Cable Shows of the 2010s

This is the second installment of my brother Sam's & my best TV shows of the decade (You can read the first, which covers network shows, here). This time we're looking at the ten best shows that aired on basic cable, those shows that still had to deal with the burden of commercials but could get away with a little more adult content than their network (NBC, CBS, etc.) brethren.

A brief reminder on how we compiled the lists:

• There will be four top 10 lists (network, basic cable, premium cable, streaming) and then a final, top 50, list that combines the previous four, plus ten shows that didn't quite make the first four. If you want to know more about why we chose to break it down this way read the first installment. 
• Any show that aired in the 2010s is eligible, regardless of when it started, but only seasons that occurred during the decade are considered -- for example The Office could've make the network TV list, but its first five seasons didn't count so it didn't come close. 
• To create the lists Sam & I individually compiled our own top 20 for each category & then combined them, with a first place selection worth 20 points, second worth 19, & so forth. The scores of our top 10 are listed to give you an idea of which shows elevated themselves above the pack & which ones we might order differently on any given day. In the event of a tie I ultimately broke it, though not always in favor of my bracket. 
• We also list each show's best character, season, & episode, as well as where you can stream it, because we're thorough like that. While we discussed these, the person who wrote about a show made the final call on these categories. 

And don't worry, we avoided any major spoilers because if you haven't seen any of these shows we'd love for you to watch them.

Emmy Preview-Drama: Who Got Snubbed, Who Should/Will Win, & When You Should Drink

Let's see if Emmy voters remember.

The Emmys, the preeminent awards in television, air Monday night at 8p ET / 5p PT* on NBC. Seth Meyers figures to be the best host since Jimmy Kimmel** two years ago if not Conan a whopping eight years ago, but I'm more interested in who will/should win, who got snubbed, & how best to work drinking into the ceremony, so that's where my focus will be. You can read my thoughts on the nominations here, now though let me begin our journey by looking at the comedy categories.

*So for any timezone challenged Arizonans that's 5pm here.
**I like NPH plenty but I'll always take an actual comedian over a song & dance guy. 

Before I get to the drama categories I want to give a quick shout out to Fargo in the movie/miniseries categories. As much as I love Luther & Sherlock, & I'm sure The Normal Heart was moving, Fargo towers over its competition. It was a brilliant 10 episodes that was equal to, or better than, many of the Outstanding Drama nominees. I hope it cleans up, & especially that the unknown Allison Tolman beats out Julia Roberts' turn on The Normal Heart for supporting actress.

2014 Emmy Nominations Reaction: They Can't Get Them All Right

All of these people deserved nominations,
 alas only one of the five got one.

Every year I try, & thus far fail, to post all of the people/shows I view as deserving of Emmy nominations. The reason I do this is because I tend to find a fair number of their nominations* lacking. Just a couple of examples being The Wire never landing a major nomination despite being the greatest television show of all time, & I'm hardly the only person with that view, & Nick Offerman not receiving a single nod for his work as Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation. With the Emmy nominations announced this morning you can be sure I'll be posting my own nominees yet again because some of these... Well, you'll see. Now a quick rundown of the major categories. 

*Their inability to correctly reward the right nominees is a whole nother story. Pour one out for Steve Carell & the entire cast of Mad Men. 

The Second Annual Super Way Late 10 Best Shows of Last Year (2012)

Walt, Jesse, & co. continue to cook up the best TV has to offer.

Once again I've managed to finally finish my top 10 shows of the previous year in April. I know, you're impressed, anyway here it is...

There's a prevalent myth in our society that watching television is bad. That it melts the brain. That it's really just a waste of time when you could be working, exercising, sleeping, or reading a book instead. When someone mentions they don't watch much television, or don't even own one, they usually say so with pride. It should come as no surprise I think these people are idiots. Now that's not to say parents should let their kids watch TV for 8 hours a day, that television can't be mind numbingly stupid (see: 96% of reality TV), or a complete waste of time (see: 92% of CBS programming), but that, if one looks in the right places, the medium of television is now providing more emotionally resonant, intelligent, & original stories that its cinema counterpart & much of modern literature. It is for that reason that I proudly say for the 21st consecutive year of my life I watched more television than the year prior &, as always, I'm thankful for that. Now here are the best* programs I watched over the last calendar year.

*"Best" is, of course, a largely subjective word when talking about entertainment. Certainly if one were to claim that "Two and a Half Men" were the best comedy of 2012 we could label that person an idiot but, there are dozens of shows that one could make a legitimate claim. Furthermore for as much TV as a watch I'm still a student who must occasionally study & go to class & not a television critic so there are plenty of shows I missed this year. Some of those shows (e.g. "Luck" & "Treme") I wish I'd at least watched a few episodes of because they might've made this list, others may be shows you love ("30 Rock," "The Walking Dead," "Dexter," "Sons of Anarchy," "Spartacus") that I'm sure I'd have enjoyed but didn't have the time or feel the need to watch, & others ("The Big Bang Theory" & almost everything else on CBS) I just don't want to watch but good for you for enjoying them (Actually that's not good at all. Why weren't you watching "Community" or "Parks and Rec" instead? You suck). My point here is this isn't a definitive top 10, heck I'll probably disagree with some of the shows I chose or at least the order I put them in minutes after I post this, merely my thoughts at the moment & a recommendation for shows you might enjoy if you haven't yet checked them out. 

The Super Way Late 10 Best Shows of 2011

Walt, Jesse, & Gus cooked up a fantastic season of Breaking Bad.

Now that we're entering the fourth month of 2012 I had two options with this:

1. Don't write it. It's not timely & no one cares what I think anyway. Or... 

2. Write it anyway! 

Obviously I opted for #2 because I spent too much time watching TV & thinking about this list last year not to write it & it serves as a good advisory for shows to Netflix. 

Before we get to the list here's a brief summary of shows that didn't make the cut.

Shows I didn't watch that never stood a chance anyway:

1. Anything created by Chuck Lorre (THM, BBT, & "Mike and Molly")-if you like his shows good for you but let's not confuse mediocrity with the best television has to offer.

A look back at "Face Off," & the rest of season 4 of "Breaking Bad."

After over a season of conflict there could only be one.

Breaking Bad just wrapped up its 4^th season &… well… it was freaking amazing!  First a look back on the brilliantly named “Face Off,” what the finale means for the characters going forward, & a look back at season 4 as a whole. Spoilers galore (for The Wire & Lost as well) after the break…

This Week in TV: Sunday & Monday

Barney Stinson, a man of many talents.

This will be a new installment on Joe’s Junk in which, every day or two, I give brief thoughts on the shows I watch during the week. In the past I’ve done in depth recaps of The Office and Community but those tend to be overlong & a number of people (including Alan Sepinwall, James Poniewozik of TIME, & the fine people at the AV Club) do a much better job of it, so now I’m keeping it short & sweet. Now I must warn you my viewing habits are odd. Some of these shows I highly recommend as the best television has to offer (Breaking Bad & Parks and Recreation) & some I would recommend to no one, but watch anyway (Glee). So this will be all over the place in terms of taste, but hopefully that will help keep things interesting. Also the grades I hand out will be somewhat arbitrary in that to some degree I’ll be grading on a curve based on what I expect from each show. A B+ episode of Castle or Glee is not likely to be better than a B- episode of Breaking Bad or Parks & Rec, & an A- episode of The Office would likely be one or two grades lower 3 years ago when it was the best sitcom on TV, so don’t take them too seriously. Enough talk, let’s do this…