I find myself getting crazy reflective as the year draws to a close. Maybe because I’m just that deep. Or maybe just because there is less new stuff to write about this time of year, so I need to fill this column with something. So today, I offer you my picks for the best of the best of the last 12 months. (FYI: I tried to limit the acting categories to one winner and one runner-up, but in some cases ties were simply unavoidable.)
Best Drama Series: Mad Men. Marital drama hasn’t been this honestly and gut-wrenchingly depicted since Tony and Carmella came thisclose to divorcing. (R.I.P. Don and Betty.) Men also gets points for delivering the most crowd-pleasing moment of the year. I’m talking about the scene in the finale where Joan triumphantly returns to her old stomping ground to save the day.
Runners-up: Big Love, Friday Night Lights, True Blood, and Breaking Bad
Best Comedy Series: Modern Family. Over the summer, I somewhat hyperbolically tweeted that the pilot was the funniest thing I had ever seen in my entire life. So naming it the funniest comedy of ’09 probably seems a little anti-climactic (but no less true).
Runners-up: The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, The Office, 30 Rock, Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother, Nurse Jackie, and Parks and Recreation
Best Lead Actor in a Drama: House‘s Hugh Laurie, who was crazy good in the drama’s two-hour Cuckoo’s Nest takeoff. If that doesn’t net him a long-overdue Emmy, nothing will.
Runner-up (tie): Bryan Cranston/Breaking Bad and Kyle Chandler/Friday Night Lights
Best Lead Actress in a Drama: Jeanne Tripplehorn/Big Love. Her performance during Barb’s excommunication was so good sources confirm to me exclusively that even God stood up and cheered.
Runner-up (tie): January Jones and Elisabeth Moss/Mad Men
Best Lead Actress in a Comedy: Amy Poehler/Parks and Recreation. Once Poehler found the flawed and funny human being inside her nutball bureaucrat, Parks and Rec became appointment viewing.
Runner-up: Edie Falco/Nurse Jackie
Best Lead Actor in a Comedy: Jim Parsons/The Big Bang Theory. He’s been called a comedy genius more times than I can count, so I think it’s time we took things to the next level. Comedy legend, anyone? Too soon? I think not.
Runner-up: Zachary Levi/Chuck
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama: Aaron Paul/Breaking Bad. One word: “Peekaboo.”
Runner-up: Zach Gilford/Friday Night Lights
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama (tie): Chloe Sevigny/Big Love and Katey Sagal/Sons of Anarchy. Forget Emmy. The performances these actress turned in last year screamed Oscar.
Runner-up: Deborah Ann Woll/True Blood
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Simon Helberg/The Big Bang Theory. The show is so overstuffed with geniuses it’s easy to take Helberg’s mad comedy skills for granted. Easy and dumb.
Runner-up (tie): Eric Stonestreet/Modern Family and Aziz Ansari/Parks and Recreation
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy: Jane Lynch/Glee. No contest here. As long as Lynch’s ball-busting dictator is raising hell at William McKinley, I’m more than happy to overlook Glee‘s weaknesses.
Runner-up: Sofia Vergara/Modern Family
Did I forget anything/anyone? Interested in sharing your own best-of list? Get thee to the comments section at once. In just a few more hours no one will care anymore!
More Best/Worst:
Ken Tucker’s top 10 of ’09
Wow no love for DEXTER. surprised. I think that trumps everything you listed, but otherwise…good choices.
Ditto!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is Michael C Hall’s year!
Completely agree, where is Dexter! Best season yet! I do love Ausiello’s list better than others already posted on EW though. Closer to my own.
Exactly, where’s Dexter??? Michael C Hall should be at least a runner up for lead actor, and John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer should be the best supporting actor in a drama
this!
Not only should MCH get the top stop – Jennifer Carpetner should also get a nod. To me, she rocked this season.
agreed! Jennifer Carpenter is amazing in everything I’ve seen her in (yes, even her meltdown scene in White Chicks) but January Jones???? What! After seeing her host SNL my assumptions were confirmed..she cannot act.
Dexter definitely should be number 1 or 2 for best drama.
I watch every single show you mentioned Michael, so I can’t say your list isn’t great even though my 3 favorite shows were ignored. (Lost, Battlestar Galactica, & Dexter)
Dexter is FAR better than Mad Men.
No. It’s not.
Yes it is. Dexter is amazing television on every level. I literally cannot stay awake through an episode of Mad Men. Its like taking an Ambien watching that bland show.
oh yes, Dexter is way better than Mad Men.
I love dexter. It’s one of my favourite shows ever. But it’s not better than Mad Men. In fact i think that of all the shows currenntly airing Mad MEn is possibly the best.
Mad Men needs to take some cues from Dexter and Breaking Bad on how to properly pace a season so that the episodes are not mind numbingly slow and boring. I believe Ken Tucker has brought this issue up numerous times, and this is the reason I cannot watch Mad MEn.
I love Mad men, but dexter definitely needed to be on there.
And PS. January JOnes is rubbish! At first I thought her emotionless face was the character, but as I watched the episodes which required emotion she still had the same face with fake tears. Arghh terrible.
for real, where is Dexter? And would people please Stop claiming True Blood is great drama! Its pure pulp. Not a bad show, but certainly not in a league with Mad Men or Dexter.
How is Dexter not pulp?
Your “pulp” is someone else’s “great drama.” You’re not the Arbiter of Taste.
Agreed!!! I’m surprised dexter wasn’t there at all…maybe he just forgot!!
From history, i knowAusiello doesn’t like DEXTER. Shame on him, it is the best show on TV. MAD MEN is a soap opera esque wanna be sopranos, not even close to being as good. January Jones cannot act
Dexter is amazing.. I can’t believe it didn’t even get a single mention. Michael C. Hall killed it. Lithgow was beyond perfect. The whole cast and the whole storyline this season was amazing. I am starting to think Ausiello lacks true taste..
Ausiello has never seemed to warm up to Dexter. I adore Hugh Laurie, but as someone over here at EW has said, he simply wasn’t asked to do as much as MCH was this season.
Completely agree. This was Dexter’s best season yet, and Michael C. Hall, John Lithgow, and Jennifer Carpenter are a master class in acting. I also like Hugh Laurie, but his acting skills are just not on the same level with Michael C. Hall. True Blood is fun, but the acting is shaky. It is laughable to put it above Dexter.
Exactly what I came here to say.
Maybe Dexter’s not as good as you thinks it is….
Exactly, unless this column was supposed to be the best shows and actors after Dexter.
I don’t even watch Dexter and I believe it’s better than Mad Men. Call me unenlightened, but Mad Men does not do it for me. But, Dexter intrigues me. I will have to catch up on day on DVD
Do it!!!!! Dexter is the best.
I don’t understand all the Mad Men love either. To me, it’s too slow and sacrifices actual plotlines for general atmospheric tone. However, I know a lot of people love it – different strokes!
Where is Dexter???? EW has no love for THE BEST show this season
Aaron Paul beats out John Lithgow? Sorry this list is totally ridiculous!
Exactly. Two words: Trinity Killer
Aaron Paul is amazing in Breaking Bad. He deserves it!
They are both incredible, and both deserve to be mentioned.
Did you even watch Aaron Paul in BB. The range of his acting in season 2 was brilliant. I loved Lithgow as the Trinity Killer, but Paul deserves the nod hands down.
I to agree with most people that MM is very slow compared to Dexter/Breaking Bad. Both of those shows should be at the top of the list.
EXACTLY!!
Man men is a nice slice of nostalgia, but it moves slowly. Dexter is far far better. I do like seeing kudos for FNL though, one of my favorite, abiet not as good this year.
Lisa Edelstein will be mad at you. She’s not on the list. Again. Uh oh, lol
Ha that is exactly the first thing that came to my mind too. Ausiello had better watch out…
haha same.
Haha i know… but I still don’t think she deserved it either time.
THIS x 1000
Um, who cares?! Why should she be on that list anyway?! Can’t think of any reason other than having the most obsessive annoying fangirls ever (and that’s not her fault)!
LOL, Liz, I couldn’t agree with you more. Lisa Edelstein is as fab as her fans want her to be.
I think people are referring to her jokingly getting mad at Ausiello for not being on his list last year.
Edelstein was terrific in House last year but Sagal was simply amazing. They are great actors.
I don´t think Lisa will be mad. She is always joking. But I agree. She is a fantastic actress.
She deserves to be on that list. Lisa is an amazing actress.
True Blood is WAY better than Mad Men.
My sister’s ex-boyfriend committed suicide because of True Blood. She kept making him watch that drivel, and then one day…
OH NO YOU DIDN’T!!!!!
Okay. You’re just on drugs.
Mad Men does have better writing but I found True Blood more entertaining.
BEST SERIES SIGNING OFF: Battlestar Galactica.
best series ever: BSG.
So Say We All!!!
you believe this even with the LAME ending?
Not everyone hated the ending.
It wasn’t perfect, no, but it did do some things right.
And even if there were things I didn’t like about it, it’s still hands down one of the best series I’ve ever watched. Just my opinion though.
I liked the ending-no sign off is a perfect fit for everyone. (supranos?)
I do like the fact that they left the franchise open.
It was lame in parts, but I mostly don’t care because of the series as a whole.
The only lameness I do care about was that, IMO, the epilogue was unspeakably terrible. Adama at Roslin’s grave should have been the end.
All you have to do is press stop without playing the last 3 minutes. That’s what I do
Also, I wish there was some love for Mary McDonnell on Ausiello’s list. Roslin is one of the best females ever portrayed on TV.
Lie to Me! Tim Roth? Nothing?!
Gotta agree. He deserved mention!!!!
Bravo! Tim Roth is amazing on that show. Cheers!!
Hugh, of course! There’s no doubt in that one. He is simple the BEST.
Hugh Laurie really is crazy good! Best actor in television in my opinion! Considering there are definitely alot of great actors on TV now, Hugh is House!!
And he’s British but always sounds American! How rare is that these days?
I agree Hugh rocks, but House these days… um, kinda sucks. It’s like super-boring and soap-opera esque.
Michael C. Hall is just as overdue as Hugh Laurie is for an Emmy. He and the rest of the cast of Dexter are incredible actors.
I agree that True Blood is better than Mad Men
And Dexter is better than True Blood. Even though I am a huge TB fan, I cannot deny that Dexter was fantastic this year! It was the best season yet for Dexter.
No love for Jon Lithgou…no longer the idiot guy from 3rd rock from the son
GOOD LORD PEOPLE STOP WITH THE INSANITY!
True Blood is some entertaining light fare, but it’s not actually GOOD. Get a grip!
You are right, it’s not actually good…IT’S GREAT!!!
I love True Blood
Just can’t get into Modern Family. Not sure what everyone sees in it. I also can’t STAND 30 Rock, worst drivel on the screen today. That said have to go with Big Bang as best comedy
I love Big Bang also, but it seems to me that you’re not a fan of “wait…what did he just say?” style of comedy. You probably didn’t like Arrested Development either. It’s ok, both flavors aren’t for everybody (though I do like both styles).
I would never compare Arrested Development to 30 Rock in a million years. AD is amazing, 30 Rock is okay on its good days.
BETTER OFF TED is missing from your list ausiello. You should acknowledge portia’s awesome veronica at least
I like Modern Family. I stopped watching 30 Rock this season, after i realised that they are just doing same thing over and over again and not in a good way (like some procedurals do) but in a boring way.
I like Modern Family, but I have to say that The Big Bang Theory is the best comedy on TV. Every cast member is hilarious, and Raj’s “rabbit subjects” part? Gold.
I guess I don’t get it. I don’t think Big Bang is funny at all. I have tried to watch it but I just don’t think it is all that funny, How I Met Your Mother is way funnier, no one tops Neil Patrick Harris!
I just think we are so lucky to have such an amazing collection of dramas, dramadies and comedies this year. It is really an embarrasment of riches. I am only sad I don’t have time to watch them all. I do agree Ausiello’s exclusion of Dexter is a monumental faux pas. Additionally, one more comedy stands out for me – Community. Thank you HBO, Showtime, and basic cable for upping the ante for quality shows!
COMMUNITY! You forgot it altogether and I am crushed.
Kudos on the FNL, however.
Agreed and agreed. Community is so entertaining!
I agree. Where is the Dexter love. And only one nod for Glee? Though I think Jane is a shoe in for any award she is nominated for (and hysterically funny). But I prefer Sofia’s Gloria character. Gloria is more believable than Sue Sylvester.
Where’s lost and JOSH HOLLOWAY….COME ONNNN
I totally agree no lost. I thought season 5 was really good. Now I know it wasn’t nessicarily the beat show of 09 but I must say for best supporting actress it should have been Elizabeth Mitchell I mean really she’s amazing in lost and definatly gave an awsome preformance as Juliet.
LOST IS THE BEST!!!
& Holloway, Mitchell, O’Quinn, Emerson. WTF?
i love True Blood and Mad Men, but Mad Men’s drama is much more real and all around solid than True Blood’s. And when you compare casts, there are moments where I think the depiction and acting falls flat with the True Blood cast (as much as I love them). I think you got it right
I agree with you, although I don’t think they should even be in the same category.
no michael emerson from lost as best supporting?!
Emerson is awesome but credit to Ausiello: Aaron Paul kicked ALL kinds of ass on ‘Breaking Bad’ this year. ‘Peekaboo’ was as astonishing a performance as I’ve seen.
I think John Lithgow definitely deserves a mention for Arthur Mitchell… that performance was epic.
Absolutely agree with this one!
No love for Community? It’s my fave new show of the season.
Totally. Most of those shows you picked are horrible, and this is easily the best new show of the season.
Absolutely!! I adore Community! Brilliant!