BEST AND WORST TV OF 2013

It was not a stellar year for TV. Once hot shows like Dexter limped off into the sunset with one of the worst finales ever. Singing shows were everywhere as reality TV started to sink. Media news was one step away from being a parody of itself with the near constant lies they tell us. On the plus side, there were some bright spots and some excellent new shows. Let's start with those.

BEST SHOWS OF 2013

10)Brooklyn 99- Easily the funniest new comedy of the year with Andy Samberg proving to be an excellent addition to an ensemble cast that contains newcomers like Chelsea Peretti and Stephanie Beatriz and seasoned professionals like Terry Crews and Andre Braugher. Reminds me of Barney Miller and that's okay. Samberg doesn't ham it up too much and Braugher is hysterical with his ultra deadpan delivery

9)The Daily Show- As we all know, Jon Stewart rules this show. But when he took off the summer to direct his film Rosewater, John Oliver stepped in and was easily Stewart's equal. Hollywood took notice and offered Oliver his own talk show, ala Real Time with Bill Maher, which will start sometime next year. He will be missed, but the show will still be funny without him. John Oliver interviewing people from the RNC convention in Hawaii is meta comedy at its best.

8)Arrow- I expect shows from the CW to be chick oriented nonsense and was pleasantly surprised to find this new show exciting for anybody. Arrow has been faithfully updated with Stephen Amell providing hunky goodness to the shows female fans while Emily Bett Rickards has geek chic down pat. An excellent action series at a time when there are not that many on any more.

7)Master Of Sex- Who would have thought that a drama about Master and Johnson's work on sex research would be so entertaining? Yes there is plenty of nudity, but even missing that, the story is a fascinating and gripping true story about important work in the 1950's that almost didn't happen due to society rules at the time. A must see for anyone who doesn't have Showtime. Binge watch the DVD when it comes out because this show rocks.

6)Elementary- I love Sherlock Holmes, I think Lucy Lui is one of the most gorgeous women of the planet, and am thrilled to see this show continue being exciting into it's second season. The addition of Mycroft as his brother's foil is fascinating and will provide a great story line into next year. One of the best shows on TV easily.

5)Marvel Agent's of SHIELD- Some have bitched that this show doesn't have enough superheroes on it but I think that is a little disingenuous as the characters on the show are being fully fleshed out and have really interesting story arcs. Who if Skye's mom? Is it May? What happened to Agent Coulson? Will Fitz and Simmons ever hook up? This show is well written pulp that TV is sorely lacking in. Way to go Joss Whedon for bringing another show I love.

4)Big Bang Theory- Still the funniest show on TV. The chemistry between all of them and the new addition of Stuart is gelling perfectly with some of the best writing out there for a sitcom. The women all get big laughs in what could have been rote characters, but are brought to life due to the excellent actresses playing the roles. Who would have thought that a regular on Charmed and the girl from Blossom would strike it big?

3)Sleepy Hollow- Easily my favorite new show, Sleepy Hollow is one scare fest after another. Using real history combined with X-Files stories and the Bible, the creators have developed a world unlike any I have ever seen. Tom Mison oozes charisma with Nicole Beharie in a way not seen in years (again think X-Files) with Orlando Jones leaving his Mad TV days far behind. This is a great series that I look forward to every week.

2)Walking Dead- This is the greatest show ever in a lot of ways. The storyline is perfected, and the cast likable to a point that if someone dies, like they usually do, you feel bad when they are offed as if they were real people. That is good TV. Thumbs up to David Morisson for his portrayal of the Governor and the rest of the cast for making us believe the world is infested with zombies.

1)Sons of Anarchy- No show this year affected me as much as this one did this year. The MC was caught in a war between the Irish, the 9ers, the Mayans and the Triads. Nero dumped Gemma and appears to be leaving the group after he discovered Jax lied to him. Juice is on the outs for spilling the beans to Nero. And poor Tara got drowned and a BBQ fork to the head for her trouble when Gemma lost it. Next season will be the last. That sucks as this show is intense beyond belief.

WORST OF 2013

10) Dracula- Instead of Dracula eating everyone he wants, this latest borefest has the vampire going after hostile takeovers and stock market manipulation in some alternate Victorian world where free energy exists. WTF? Really? Is the best you could do with an iconic character that should be slaughtering his foes not driving down their savings account? Yawn. It doesn't help that the guy playing Dracula sucks too.

9)Lucky 7- I predicted this show would die first and I was right. They've tried this exact same show before about eight years ago with Luke Perry and did about as well. Who wants to watch a bunch of people win a fictional lottery and then bitch about it for 22 episodes. No one apparently as it didn't make it to it's fourth episode.

8)What Would Ryan Locte Do?- Why would anyone give a show to someone who obviously has the IQ of a regular Fox News viewer? Locte may be a gifted athlete but has the brainpower of a slug and has shown that on interviews in the past. This show was so bad even E! said no thanks after it's lackluster first and only season. Go back to swimming and leave the rest of alone please.

7)Anything with a Kardashian in it- There are way too many shows with these Armenian media whores lately. Thankfully, Kris, the ill-fated talk show was cancelled after six weeks as it was too painful to sit through and the rest of the empire seems to be crumbling as their 15 minutes appear to be just about up. Even Kanye West is feeling the heat as his upcoming marriage to head whore Kim is sapping any good will the public had of him. I hope they both fade away.

6)X-Factor- Speaking of Kardashians, firing Khloe from last season didn't do the show any favors as it's ratings fell below reruns of Charlie Brown, the Shopping Channel and an infomercial on bunions. It has been a ratings black hole for FOX and I will be stunned if they renew this mess which again will have all new judges next year if, God help us, it comes back.

5)Ironside- The remake no one was asking for returned with Blair Underwood as the title character. Ohhhh, he's black this time huh? Terrible writing, acting and plots doomed this show from the start. Why try something this awful when the source material wasn't all that good to begin with. Ugh.

4)New Sitcoms- Every network went for broke with more than a dozen almost none of which were worth watching. The worst of them were the Crazy Ones, proving once and for all Robin Williams is no longer funny, We Are Men, which collected a talented cast and made them into unlikable jerks and Super Fun Night, which squanders the immense talent of Rebel Wilson. Michael J. Fox's new show is painfully unfunny as is the Millers. Dads makes the list for many but not me. I still think compared to all the above listed, it's Shakespeare.

3)Summer serialized programming- This summer was a giant waste of time for anyone who spent more than a minute watching Under the Dome or Siberia. Both started off promisingly and I liked Siberia better until it just freaking ended with zero resolution for anything. Under The Dome did the exact same thing, leaving us with an idiotic cliff hanger, rather than wrap up the season and set the sights for next year. These two series are a master class in how NOT to end a season. The fact that Dexter ended soon after just as crappily made me swear off serialized dramas like this forever.

2)Duck Dynasty and A&E- I hope A&E didn't like my business because I am NEVER watching the channel again. Much like when WB cancelled Angel for purely reasons of greed, A&E can suck it too for keeping a bigoted homophobe on the air. Cracker Barrel can go suck it too for bowing down to the Christian crowd and the bigoted beliefs. Racism is wrong always. So is being anti-gay no matter what you think the Bible says. And as long as you stand behind these outdated beliefs, I will not. I will also be contacting your advertisers and tell them their products can go to hell as well. If enough of us this do that, Duck Dynasty will fade into the swamp for which it belongs. Drop dead Duck Dynasty and A&E.

1)60 Minutes- MSM is bad. This show is a travesty. This year they got caught trying to hype a book about Benghazi that was a complete fabrication and they knew it. Whether it was done for political reasons, greed or both is unknown but this show has got to go. The damage they did to this country is immense as the Republicans based their whole get Obama strategy on this false report and then refused to back down even when the story came out as bull. 60 Minutes blows and anyone believing anything they have to say is truly gullible. This used to be a premiere news show. Now it is a waste of an hour of programming. Burn in hell, 60 Minutes. Burn in hell.