It’s the opinion of a number of people—professionals and laymen alike—that we’ve entered a second golden age of television. This is simultaneously great and really annoying. As the New York Times’ David Carr wrote, “The vast wasteland of television has been replaced by an excess of excellence that is fundamentally altering my media diet and threatening to consume my waking life in the process.”
Review (Comedy Central)One of the best episodes of television this year also had the best title: “Pancakes, Divorce, Pancakes.” Forrest MacNeil (Andy Daly) reviews life experiences sent into him by “viewers” like attending the prom, being a racist, and becoming an addict. His only rule is that he must follow through on every request, no matter what. What starts as a nonsensical, satirical show turns into a character study of a man whose life completely devolved once he, in the aforementioned episode, reviews eating 15 pancakes in one sitting, divorcing his wife, and eating 30 pancakes in another sitting. —Brianna Wellen
Its simplicity—apart from a few craftily utilized CGI sequences—
Blackish (ABC)