Scandal, Veep, Game of Thrones Among AFI Top 10 of 2013

The American Film Institute has named its top 10 programs of 2013 and Emmy favorites Homeland and Modern Family found themselves on the outside looking in, breaking streaks of two and four years of inclusion, respectively. Along with the absences of American Horror Story, ratings juggernaut The Walking Dead, groundbreaking FX comedy Louie, HBO comedy Girls, and HBO politi-film Game Change, the 2013 had quite a bit of fresh blood, perhaps indicative of the increased depth of the television industry this year.

Netflix scored two slots on the list with House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, while other new entries included FX spy drama The Americans, Showtime period drama Masters of Sex, ABC political soap Scandal, and HBO political comedy Veep, the latter of which is coming off Emmy wins for Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale. The rest of the AFI Top 10 of 2013 list was made up of the most recent seasons of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Good Wife, and Game of Thrones.

It’s been a particularly award-heavy time for the TV industry, as the Writers Guild, Producers Guild, and International Press Academy have all announced nominations for their respective awards in recent weeks. Freshman series that have made noise include Masters of Sex and Orange is the New Black, both of which stand a reasonable chance of breaking into Golden Globe, SAG, and Emmy races later in the season.

Do you think that AFI made good selections for its list this year? Are you surprised that Homeland and Modern Family aren’t represented this year? If you could remove one program and replace it with another, what would it be?

AFI Top 10 Programs of 2013
The Americans
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
House of Cards
Mad Men
Masters of Sex
Orange is the New Black
Scandal
Veep