‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring,
except for you.
Because you’re still awake at 3am binge-watching all the TV you didn’t have time for this
year.
And what’s that?
No more episodes left?
None more Frasier??
Well don’t worry -- I’ll have you covered well into 2015 with today’s episode of The
Dan Cave because today we’re talking about all the most binge-worthy TV of 2014!
Broad City: a wickedly funny show about two twentysomethings living in New York city.
Broad City’s Abbi and Ilana are relatable, laugh out loud funny, and, unlike the cast
of girls, they feel like real people.
Granted, they are total trainwrecks who get locked out of their apartment, try to get
into secret Lil Wayne concerts, and smuggle weed in their...well, not their purse let’s
put it that way, but they are eminently watchable and they just might be the best comedy of
the year.
Silicon Valley: one of the other great comedies of the year is Mike Judge’s whipsmart send-up
of the high tech industry in the eponymous Silicon Valley.
Though it has a slow start, its keen observations, rapier wit, excellent cast, and the single
greatest dick joke in human history make this a show you will find yourself voraciously
consuming.
The Knick: did someone say turn of the century medical drama starring Clive Owen as a drug-addled
but brilliant surgeon?
You’re goddamned right I did.
Imagine if House had a 90% mortality rate, dealt with race relations at the turn of the
century and was directed by Steven Soderbergh and you have an inkling of how wonderful The
Knick is.
One you throw in Cliff Martinez’s sterile, but modern score it is masterful story-telling,
and one that you’ll want to mainline into your main vein.
Not your dick.
The Flash: it’s only halfway done, but CW’s The Flash is too damn fun to leave out.
Not only did it hit the ground running, pun intended, but the flash managed to create
one of TV’s most likable protagonists in the form of Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen.
Grant Gustin plays Barry Allen the way I wish Andrew Garfield would play Peter Parker.
He’s got a sense of humor, he’s nerdy, he’s likeable, there’s just a charisma
that is not there in the Spider-Man movies.
Once you add in the synergy with Arrow and the rest of the DC television universe it
would be a crime to let this pass you by because this is truly phenomenal story-telling.
Black Mirror: sure, it technically debuted in 2011 and got a second season in 2013 but
that was the UK.
It just hit Netflix stateside recently so it made the list.
And I gotta tell you, Black Mirror has been the single most recommended show in recent
memory.
I’ve had so many people tell me to watch it.
So here I am telling YOU to watch it.
A sci-fi anthology series about technology, its moral implications, and how it can impact
our lives, Black Mirror is by turns funny and horrifying.
But most of all, it is relevant to the world in which we live.
Case in point, look how you’re watching this show!
Just make sure not to watch episode one while eating bacon.
You will thank me later.
How to Get Away with Murder: the latest from Shondaland is just as soapy and over the top
as you’d expect, but Viola Davis tears up the screen as the cutthroat, take-no-prisoners
attorney slash law teacher Annalise Keating.
Honestly, this should just be a sizzle reel for why she’s the perfect Amanda Waller
for Suicide Squad.
And any show that includes the phrase “Why is your penis on that dead girl’s phone?”
gets a thumbs up in my book.
Chopped: yeah, it’s a weird one to include, but once those mystery baskets open up and
Ted Allen reads the contestants their list of batshit insane mystery ingredients in his
fabulous dry monotone, it becomes the culinary equivalent of Saw.
Hannibal: a carnival of grotesqueries with some of the best writing and pacing in all
the land, Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal is, for my money, the best show of 2014.
With Powerhouse performances by Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancey, a cat and mouse psychodrama
between Hannibal and Will Graham this is must watch TV, and it’s also some of the hardest
to watch TV thanks to some really gnarly, grisly sequences.
Honestly I can’t believe this is on network TV.
And I’ll be damned if the food doesn’t look better than half the stuff they’re
putting out on Top Chef this season.
Guys, clearly I left out a ton of other shows, so tell me what series is eating up all of
your free time.
Let me know in the comments below.
While you’re there, give me a thumbs up as seen on TV.
That’s all for this week’s show!
Happy holidays to you and yours.
Have a happy, safe, fun, binge-worthy holiday.
Be sure to check out Malik’s Top 5 Video Games of 2014 on Nerdist Play, and then come
back next week when I’m gonna be talking about the time Ben Affleck went to deep space
to rescue hostages on a desert planet in Interstellargo.
Until next time, keep on diggin’.