2014 - The Ten Shows I Most Regret Watching

It's the end of another year and, despite not comfortably matching up with the TV calendar, I again feel compelled to offer my thoughts on the best of 2014 on TV. My giant ass list of movies is a little intimidating, so I like to break up the TV shows into more digestible parts.

Now, I want to make something clear. This is the list of my favorite shows of the past year. It's not the shows that I objectively think were the best made. It's not the shows I'm most likely to watch again or buy on DVD. It's not even the shows that I'm most likely to recommend to other people. I made the list almost entirely by asking one question: What would I regret not seeing the most? I have them ranked or ordered, but trust me, it's a fluid list.

Here's a tough list to do. These are all shows that I watched a lot of, if not every episode. So, I liked them enough to watch. There's something to them that made them better than, say, Two Broke Girls, in my mind for one reason or another. You'll notice that the majority of these either ended this spring or started this fall. In other words, there's a reason they're at the bottom.

Top 10
Next Top 10
Everything in Between
Bottom 10
10 I Didn't See

[Going from Least to less Least Enjoyed]

Mulaney

The only show I've admitted to hate-watching. It's like it's a show that was designed to make me dislike it. There's the live studio audience, the broad physical comedy, actors saying lines to one another rather than playing out a scene, and countless other touches that rub me the wrong way. I'm desperately looking for things to appreciate about it but coming up short in every way.

The Michael J Fox Show

I got four episodes into the 2014 slate for the show and happily dropped it when they announced it was cancelled. IMDB lists air dates for the rest of the season, but I don't even remember it being on the air after the Olympics.

Selfie

Dead show walking. Happy feelings for Karen Gillan, John Cho, and creator Emily Kapnek can only carry it so far. At some point, it has to be funny and have a lead that is remotely likable.

A to Z

(500) Days of Summer the TV Series offers another reason why shows shouldn't be sold on a high concept alone. Then again, after nearly salvaging the last season of How I Met Your Mother, I wasn't the only person who believed Cristin Milioti had superhuman show-saving powers.

Cougar Town

I wish I could explain what happened, but at some point this season, it all started to rub me the wrong way. It was in my top 20 last year, then I had to power through the last few episodes this past season. Perhaps it's just aging poorly.

Trophy Wife

Not entirely the show's fault. My DVR screwed up a couple times and then I just fell behind, knowing that it wasn't coming back. It was a charming show, but not one that I ever saw having a high ceiling.

Married

Not quite a comedy but certainly sold as one. I could never come to terms with the tone of this despite really, really rooting for it because I like Judy Greer and Nat Faxon so much.

The Crazy Ones

RIP Robin Williams. It was an ok show but it never took off with audiences, even on CBS. It would certainly rank higher if it had continued, but by the looks of it, it probably wouldn't've had a second season anyway.

Gotham

It's still growing. Only in its first season, there's still too many groan-worthy references to who characters will become to rate it any higher.

Scorpion

You know, I still am convinced that I could drop this show at any second and not miss it at all, yet I keep watching. We'll see where I am with it in May. It's not like it's going to jump or dip tremendously in quality.