Even though Jackie tried to get sober once before, she’s never had the motivation to kick her addiction that getting arrested provided her. It’s one thing to disappoint your family, alienate your friends, and screw around at your job, as Jackie’s loved ones have consistently rallied around her and she’s a strong enough nurse to afford herself some leeway with Gloria; it’s something else entirely when the legal system gets involved and when the freedom that she did have is threatened to be taken away. Jackie’s been obstinate enough about the way she lives her life and how she handles her addiction, but could getting arrested serve as her rock bottom? And will Barry be someone able to help her begin the journey to sobriety and wellness?

In addition to his role on the USA drama, Feuerstein has appeared on the likes of The West Wing, Masters of Horror, and The Hustler. He’s the second new addition announced for the seventh season of Nurse Jackie, with Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub set to portray the newest ER doctor at the hospital.

The seventh and final season of Nurse Jackie will premiere in the spring of 2015. Production on the season is currently underway in New York.

Will you be watching Nurse Jackie next season? Do you think that Jackie will be able to pull herself together following the events of the sixth season finale? Is being arrested the catalyst that Jackie needed to finally get sober?

The post Nurse Jackie Season 7: Mark Feuerstein to Recur appeared first on TVHackr.

Created by Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem and currently ran by season five addition Clyde Phillips, Nurse Jackie follows ER nurse Jackie Peyton (Edie Falco) as she deals with addiction issues. Along with The Big C, United States of Tara, and Weeds, the series was a part of a wave of Showtime dramedies centered on damaged middle-aged women, with performances by Falco and Emmy winner Merritt Wever drawing critical raves and awards attention. After some wheel-spinning seasons, the show began to make Jackie pay for the lies she had to tell in order to further her addiction, first by having her confront the death of a friend in season four and then by having her get into legal trouble at the end of season six. Now that she’s stuck in the web of the United States legal system for a crime that’s far and away the most serious she’s committed in the name of her addiction, will Jackie be forced to confront the impact that her addiction has had on her life? Or has she been an addict for long enough that there’s no pulling her back from self-destruction?

While original Nurse Jackie cast member Peter Facinelli left the series at the end of last season, season seven will see three-time Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub (Monk) joining the cast as an ER doctor who has a special way of dealing with Gloria. Additional casting information should be released the further the show gets into production.

Production on the seventh and final season of Nurse Jackie, which should premiere in the spring of 2015, recently began.

Will you be watching the final season of Nurse Jackie? How would you like to see Jackie Peyton’s story come to a close? Do you think she has any chance in the world at staying sober and pulling her life back from the abyss?

#NurseJackie is working one last shift! Join us in celebrating and bidding farewell to the 7th & FINAL season in 2015 pic.twitter.com/0zejQaaeI4

— SHO_PR (@SHO_PR) September 10, 2014

The post Nurse Jackie Season 7 to Be Its Last appeared first on TVHackr.

When Nurse Jackie returns, Jackie is back to using following her relapse in the fifth season finale, a relapse that took place on the one-year anniversary of her becoming sober in the first place. While there’s a chance that she’ll see the error of her ways and make her move toward sobriety, Jackie was still a decades-long addict, someone who learned how to lie very effectively and very persuasively, so it’ll take a lot for someone to A) notice that she’s using again and B) convince her that giving sobriety another shot is the best thing for her and the kids.

Meanwhile, on the final season of Californication, Hank has given up a world tour with Atticus and Faith to give his relationship with Karen another chance, but when he settles into his new job in the writers’ room of the Santa Monica Cop television adaptation, he’ll come face to face with the life of routine and comfort that he’s ran away from for decades. Is this the moment when the great Hank Moody finally packs it in for a life of domestic bliss?

Produced by James Cameron, Years of Living Dangerously takes a look at the hot button topic of climate change, as correspondents (film and television actors, news journalists) travel the globe to showcase the effects of climate change and talk to those who have been impacted by the global phenomenon. The series will also delve into possible solutions for climate change and whether Earth has reached the point of no return in terms of habitability.

You can check out the trailer for Years of Living Dangerously, as well as a new teaser released today, below.

Will you be watching Nurse Jackie this season after the relapse in the fifth season finale? Do you think that Hank will finally end up with Karen on Californication? What do you expect to learn from Years of Living Dangerously?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeO68-e-Glg

The post Showtime Announces Premiere Dates for Nurse Jackie, Californication, and Years of Living Dangerously appeared first on TVHackr.

This week on TVHackr, we talked about The White Queen’s first official trailer, the second episode of The Fosters, and casting news from History’s Vikings. Meanwhile, the internet revisited an infamous game show episode, extoled the rise of subversive genre programming, and took a look at the state of 3-D television.

Defiance 1.08 Preview: Nolan Discovers an Astronaut
Nolan and Tommy discover an astronaut from the year 2013 who had been in hypersleep during the Pale Wars, but is his presence in Defiance a danger to the residents of the town?

Showtime: Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex Teasers
The network released first looks at Ray Donovan, about a Los Angeles fixer whose father gets paroled early, and Masters of Sex, starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as human sexuality researchers.

2013 TCA Nominations Announced
The Americans and Breaking Bad led the way with four nominations each, while the likes of Monica Potter, Tatiana Maslany, and Vera Farmiga were honored in the Individual categories.

The White Queen Trailer: You Will Know Loss
Coming to Starz in August, The White Queen centers on three women vying for the throne of England before the Tudor dynasty took over.

The Fosters Recap: Do You Believe Me Now?
On the second episode of The Fosters, Mike and Lena clash once more, Talya gets jealous of Brandon and Callie, and the Fosters figure out how Callie and Jude will be fitting into their lives.

2013 Critics’ Choice Television Award Winners Announced
Among the winners were The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Tatiana Maslany, Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Louis C.K.

Vikings: Alexander Ludwig and Linus Roache Join Season 2
The second season of Vikings will find Ludwig playing Ragnar’s son and Roache portraying a potential ally to the Earl.

A Chat with Allie Gonino About The Lying Game, Future Plans
TVHackr made the trek to Austin for the ATX Television Festival and while there we talked with Allie Gonino about the fate of her ABC Family mystery.

Web Therapy Season 3 Teaser: The Return of Dr. Fiona Wallice
Who will be guest starring on Web Therapy this season? Find out the names (and reasons they’re contacting Fiona) here.

News Roundup: Miguel Gomez Joins Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain
Gomez joins House of Cards actor Corey Stoll in signing on for the thriller, which is based on a trilogy of novels penned by del Toro. He’s set to play a gang-banger fresh from juvenile hall.

Twisted 1.02 Sneak Peeks: Jo Struggles with Her Feelings for Danny
Next time on Twisted, Jo doesn’t know how to react to Danny being around, while Lacey struggles with how her peers are treating Regina’s death.

Portlandia Renewed for Two Additional Seasons by IFC
The Peabody-winning series will return for a fourth and fifth season, with both scheduled to include 10 episodes.

MTV: Awkward. Midseason Trailer; Zach Stone Scheduling Changes
While MTV released the fall trailer for Awkward. this week, it all but confirmed the cancellation of Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, which has been shifted to 11:00 for the remainder of its season.

Sleepy Hollow, Bob’s Burgers Among FOX Shows Heading to Comic-Con
Twentieth Century confirmed the 11 shows it will be sending to Comic-Con in July, including Sleepy Hollow, Bones, and How I Met Your Mother.

The Fosters 1.03 Sneak Peeks: Should Brandon Move In with Mike?
Next time on The Fosters, Callie digs into her dark past and Jesus continues to see Lexi, even though they both know they shouldn’t keep dating.

HBO Renews VICE for Season 2
HBO has ordered another 14 episodes of acclaimed newsmagazine VICE, which currently airs Fridays at 11:00.

Magic City Season 2 Premiere Sneak Peeks: Vera Finds Out About Meg
Check out three sneak peeks at the second season premiere of Starz’s period drama Magic City, as well as a recap of the first season to refresh your memory.

Mistresses 1.03 Preview: Tensions Arise Between Savi and Dom
Next time on Mistresses, Savi and Dom aren’t sure how to be around one another after their night together, Karen can’t stay away from Sam Grey, and Joss’s new boss isn’t impressed with her.

Hit the Floor 1.04 Sneak Peek: Ahsha’s Uncomfortable Wearing a Bikini
Next time on Hit the Floor, Ahsha is faced with wearing something revealing during a calendar shoot, while Olivia looks into the whereabouts of Mia and Jelena sets her next plan into motion.

Nurse Jackie: Eve Best Not Returning for Season 6
Dr. O’Hara will be in London for at least one more season, as Eve Best will not return for the sixth season of the Showtime dramedy.

Magic City: Watch the Season 2 Premiere Here
Starz has released the second season premiere of Magic City ahead of its television debut.

Starz Greenlights Hour-Long Drama Power
The series, created by The Good Wife‘s Courtney Kemp Agboh, follows a wealthy nightclub owner who has a secret life as a drug kingpin.

Around the web:
The 10 Best TV Shows You (Probably) Didn’t Watch This Season (Vulture)
Need something new to watch during the summer? Want to impress your friends with your vast knowledge of semi-obscure television? Vulture has you covered.

Gillian Anderson, The Fall And The Rise Of Subversive Genre Fare (The Huffington Post)
The Huffington Post looks at the latest trend to hit television: “B-Movie TV.”

When an unemployed ice-cream-truck driver whammied Press Your Luck (The A.V. Club)
What happens when a game show contestant has watched the show enough to know how to beat the system? Reminisce with The A.V. Club.

With ESPN out, is 3-D TV dead? (CNN)
Now that ESPN has pulled the plug on ESPN 3D, what’s the future of 3-D television? CNN examines the ramifications of the move.

How To Introduce Kids To Tough Topics? Art And TV Can Help (NPR)
NPR looks at the importance that television can play in introducing difficult topics to children and making them palatable.

The Way We Watch Television: Sherlock By the Numbers (PopMatters)
PopMatters parses the viewing numbers of BBC’s Sherlock, including who the fans of the show are and how they watch.

Summer TV Bad Boys: 8 Dark Characters to Watch Out For (Cinema Blend)
There are going to be several quality antagonists/anti-heroes on television this summer. Cinema Blend brings you eight of them.

The post The Week in Television Wrap June 8-14 appeared first on TVHackr.

According to TVLine, Eve Best will not be returning to Nurse Jackie for its upcoming sixth season, which was commissioned earlier this month. The reason given is that she wanted to focus more on London theatre work after four seasons of work on the Emmy-winning dramedy. Best only appeared in the first two episodes of the fifth season before her character, who gave birth in the fourth season finale, relocated to London, a move that was a major damper on the rest of Jackie’s first year of sobriety.

O’Hara’s confirmed absence and continued residence across the pond should mean that at least one of Dr. Roman and Dr. Prentiss will make it to the sixth season and remain a series regular. Carrie brings a lot of tension to the hospital, both in terms of her relationship with Coop and Jackie and Gloria’s dislike of her, and could continue to stir things up, while Ike’s situation with Zoey has yet to be resolved, so unless the show manages to jam in an ending for them during the season finale, it’ll have to be moved to season six, a’la Jackie and Mike.

The lack of O’Hara will also potentially have a negative impact on Jackie, who felt the absence of her friend very much this season. Jackie may have Frank in her life to lean on, but she doesn’t have a friend that she can be herself around, not to the extent that she relaxed around Eleanor. There’s still complicated feelings with Eddie, things with Kevin haven’t smoothed out enough for the two to be classified as friends, Gloria is too much the superior to be a friend on O’Hara’s level, and Jackie thinks of Zoey less as a contemporary due to the age difference and the latter’s decidedly child-like demeanor. Without that rock in her life, how will Jackie’s sobriety be affected?

In addition to her role on Nurse Jackie, Best has appeared on the likes of Up All Night, Vital Signs, and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.

The fifth season finale of Nurse Jackie is set to air this Sunday at 9:00 on Showtime.

Are you disappointed that we might have seen the last of Eleanor? How will Jackie cope without her good friend by her side? With Dr. O’Hara gone, is it a given that either or both of Dr. Roman and Dr. Prentiss will make it to season six?

The post Nurse Jackie: Eve Best Not Returning for Season 6 appeared first on TVHackr.

New feature alert! We here at TVHackr want to give you a weekly recap of our activity, as well as a few choice links from around the web of TV blogging. Every Friday, we’ll be posting a roundup of everything we published during the past seven days and selecting a handful of interesting links from various websites. Hope you enjoy.

Family Tree 1.03 Sneak Peeks: Tom Looks Into the Life of His Grandfather
Tom continues his look into his family history by tracking down information on his grandfather, a boxer who competed in the 1948 Austerity Games.

The Killing Season 3 Sneak Peeks: Sarah Linden’s Blast from the Past
Though she thought she was out of the force for good, a case that Holder works brings Sarah Linden back into the fold. Just how much of a connection does an old case she thought was closed have to his current dilemma?

Dominic West To Star in Showtime’s The Affair
The show follows two married couples and one affair that has major reverberations for all involved.

We’ll Be Live from the ATX Festival Later This Week! Arrested Development Featured Opening Night
TVHackr will be at Austin’s ATX Festival and provide you content, including pictures and articles about panels we attend.

Episodes: Chris Diamantopoulos To Guest Star in Season 3
The Office alum is set to play the new head of the network, meaning that Merc doesn’t get rehired and Carol refuses the opportunity.

Critics’ Choice TV Awards Name Most Exciting New Series
The honorees include Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex, and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Fosters Series Premiere Recap: You’re Not Worthless
What happened during the first episode of ABC Family’s The Fosters?

The Secret Life of the American Teenager Takes an Awkward Bow Out
The ABC Family drama aired its series finale this past Monday.

Mistresses Series Premiere Recap: All I Wanted to Do Was Hold Him
During the first episode of the ABC soap, someone cheated, someone died, there was an illegitimate child, and someone thought about hooking up with the same gender.

The CW Releases Full Trailers for The Originals, Reign, The 100, and The Tomorrow People
Two weeks after its upfront presentation, the network released extended previews for four of its five upcoming dramas.

Magic City: Watch the First 5 Minutes of Season 2 Here
The second season of Magic City premieres Friday, June 14th at 9:00 on Starz.

Devious Maids: Lifetime to Release the Series Premiere Early
This marks the first time that a series premiere has been released early in two different languages.

America’s Next Top Model Cycle 20 to Premiere August 2nd on The CW
The 20th cycle will feature both male and female models for the first time.

NBC Renames The Family Guide to Growing Up Fisher
Growing Up Fisher will premiere sometime this midseason.

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot to Develop Rod Serling’s Final Screenplay Into Miniseries
The Stops Along the Way has yet to have any details released about its plot or characters.

Magic City Redband Trailer: You’ve Got One Move Left
At the end of this season of Magic City, will Ben Diamond or Ike Evans be the King of Miami?

The Borgias To End After This Season
The series finale of the period drama will air Sunday, June 16th.

Californication: Mercedes Masohn to Guest Star in Season 7
The actress, who recently starred in ABC’s canceled supernatural soap 666 Park Avenue, will play a TV actress who puts Hank in an uncomfortable position.

Hit the Floor 1.03 Sneak Peeks: Sloane Thinks Pete Told Ahsha Her Secret
Now that Ahsha knows who her father is, how will she handle herself?

The Fosters 1.02 Sneak Peeks: Jesus Covers for Mariana
While Jesus may be doing the honorable thing in protecting his sister from a likely severe punishment, what will not taking his pills mean for his health?

Twisted Series Premiere Sneak Peeks: Natural Born Killer?
Danny Desai’s past comes back to haunt him when he’s accused of a crime that he didn’t commit. Or did he?

Orange Is the New Black Trailer: Netflix Goes to Prison
Netflix released the first trailer for comedic drama Orange Is the New Black, adapted by Weeds showrunner Jenji Kohan.

Nurse Jackie Renewed for Season 6 by Showtime
The dramedy will return for a sixth season in 2014, with production beginning in New York this fall.

Twisted: Spoilers for the First Three Episodes
What is supposed to happen during the first three episodes of ABC Family’s Twisted?

HBO Announces Premiere Dates for Boardwalk Empire, Eastbound & Down, and Hello Ladies
While Boardwalk Empire’s fourth season premieres September 8th, it won’t be joined by two comedies until September 29th.

FXX Picks Up First Original Series in Animated Comedy Chozen
The show tells the story of a gay white rapper who emerges from prison with newfound motivation to do good in his life.

Family Tree 1.04 Sneak Peeks: Tom Goes to a Derbyshire Farm
Tom, Bea, Pete, Keith, and Luba go to the Chadwick alpaca farm in Derbyshire and family truths are revealed in the process.

Mistresses 1.02 Preview: Savi Looks for Guidance from Karen and April
How should Savi proceed after what happened with Dominic? Karen and April have two very different opinions of what she should do.

ABC Gives Straight-to-Series Order to Bryan Singer’s The Black Box
The series, written by Mystic Pizza‘s Amy Holden Jones, follows a neuroscientist who struggles with mental illness – and the secret’s she’s keeping from her family.

NBC Releases Official Siberia Trailer
Premiering July 1st, Siberia centers on a reality show taping gone horribly wrong.

The Best of Streaming: What You Should Watch on Netflix, Hulu, and Other Sites (Vulture)
Bored online? Here are suggestions of what you could be watching.

Government’s data-mining was anticipated by TV dramas (Hitfix)
Television forewarned about events like the recent NSA controversy.

Embrace the mystery: Is repeat viewing the best way to approach complex TV? (The A.V. Club)
The A.V. Club talks complex television and which manner of watching is most conducive to understanding, appreciating, and enjoying it.

4 Shows from Norway’s crazy, successful slow TV experiment (The Week)
Among the highlights of Norway’s unusual TV craze are programs about a single interview and a sea cruise.

The post The Week in Television Wrap June 1-7 appeared first on TVHackr.

“Nurse Jackie is an essential part of the Showtime brand, and we are thrilled with the series’ growth in its fifth season,” said David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. “Under the new leadership of Clyde Phillips, and with an amazing cast led by Edie Falco, this show is as sharp and compelling and entertaining as ever. I’m excited to get to see the next chapter in Jackie’s life.”

This season on Nurse Jackie, noticeably lighter than the darker fourth season, has found Jackie in a much better place than we’ve seen her in the series to date. Going on a year sober, she’s on good terms with Kevin, has someone in her life in  NYPD officer Frank, and doesn’t have the specter of Cruz hanging over the hospital anymore. However, with Grace experimenting with drugs, Jackie might be losing one of the main motivators to her sobriety, as she suggested to Kevin that the girls go and life with him, at least until Grace’s recent rebellious streak dies down. Jackie’s found the type of happiness she thought she had left behind after getting sober, though it took a while for her to get acclimated to feeling the emotions she numbed for decade, and she can’t let anything, not even her children, stand in the way between her and physical/mental wellness. Her life may not be perfect, but Jackie has to do what she can to maintain the status quo she’s established in recent weeks, so if that means allowing Kevin to take the reins and continuing to work on herself, so be it.

Nurse Jackie airs Sundays at 9:00 on Showtime. The season finale is set for June 16th.

How do you think this season of Nurse Jackie compares to last season? Where should executive producer Clyde Phillips take Jackie’s journey next? Should next season be the final season of Nurse Jackie?

The post Nurse Jackie Renewed for Season 6 by Showtime appeared first on TVHackr.

Which makes compiling a Top 10 list that much harder. With so many shows being thrown against the wall to see what sticks, you’re bound to not be able (either physically or emotionally) unable to watch every Hot New Thing that comes onto the scene, so creating a Best Of can feel a little incomplete. However, I decided to approach it less as a definitive declaration and more of a sampling/appreciation of what the year in TV has been like; the 10 shows that I selected cover a fair amount of bases of 2012 TV, from the best network show you’re not watching to the freshman political comedy that debuted in an election year to several premium cable dramas that either made the leap to greatness or stayed steady after doing so last season. There are impressive creative rebounds, controversial seasons that will have people talking for quite a while, and, most of all, plenty of great episodes just begging to be rewatched.

10. Bob’s Burgers (FOX)
One of the main complaints I hear about the state of television today is that there aren’t any good family shows out anymore, that so much programming anymore is dedicated to people being mean to one another. Anyone who subscribes to that point-of-view should be watching Bob’s Burgers, my pick for best family comedy on TV and a delightfully weird take on a typical sitcom set-up. Proprietors of a struggling burger restaurant, the Belchers are a tight family unit who, while unconventional in everything they do, are obviously crazy about one another and support the other’s ambitions wholeheartedly. While the show derives some of its humor from the family trying to earn the money to pay the rent and keep their restaurant, Bob’s Burgers really shines when it puts the focus on one of the children’s latest issues (i.e. Gene’s first girlfriend, Tina falling in with a bad crowd) and/or when it allows itself to be more than a little absurd (i.e. a homeless window decorator claiming to be a mannequin, a fruit/vegetable skin diet). Never is there comedy in putting one another down – rather, this is a family full of nice, goofy, weird people who feed into one another’s weirdness, even pulling the “long suffering” parent into the madness fairly frequently.
Three Essential Episodes: So2E02 “Bob Day Afternoon”; So2E04 “Burgerboss”; So3E06 “The Deepening”

9. Justified (FX)
The third season of Justified expanded the world of Harlan County upon the death of former mastermind Mags Bennett. With no central figure controlling things anymore, there was a lot up for the taking, including a mysterious fortune, land, crops, and most importantly, power. It might not have had the focus of the previous season, but season three made up for that by stuffing itself with important figures in the battle for Harlan and pushing Marshall Raylan Givens to his personal breaking point. While Boyd was busy trying to buy an election and curry favor with the new sheriff, Raylan’s dealing with problems at home with Winona (and Arlo) and Dickie Bennett has escaped prison only to fall into a snake pit, with every major player in Harlan after the money his mother left behind. The show managed to corral all the smaller stories and minor characters into a bloody, high stakes entanglement that found no big bad coming forth from the mess; was all the pain, all the death, all the destruction worth it in the end? Or did it end up leaving each character so much weaker than they were in the beginning that no one had the resources or the back-up to become the new don of Harlan? But lest you think Justified is a pulpy body farm merely meant to appeal to only our basest urges, the finale ended on a heartbreaking moment for Raylan who realized that to the one man he wanted to mean everything to, he means nothing at all.
Three Essential Episodes: So3E05 “Thick as Mud”; So3E10 “Guy Walks into a Bar”; So1E13 “Slaughterhouse”

8. Veep (HBO)
HBO’s latest political comedy debuted in an election year and perfectly encapsulated what lies behind the political curtain. Vice President Selina Meyer was once excited about being in politics and ready to make the change she wanted to see in the country happen, but following years of embarrassing public gaffes, a President who doesn’t want to associate himself with her, and a political climate that’s grown more sour, she’s been beaten down by the machine. However, she still has three years to go in her first term, three years in which to pull something out of her hat to garner good press and keep herself in the President’s good graces and as much as she hates her job, it’s better to be the Veep than to not be the Veep. Taking a cue from The Thick of It, Armando Iannucci’s recently completed British political comedy, Veep is a deeply cynical look at a world very few get to see, as verbally dexterous as it is tightly plotted and penetratingly real, with the benefit of a raw lead performance and a litany of important supporting characters. Though much of her time is spent trying to clot the latest PR crisis, Selina Meyer is trying to alter the course of a career that has been on rockier ground, but in the world of politics (and Veep itself), nothing really ever changes. And that’s the point.
Three Essential Episodes: So1E03 “Catherine”; So1E04 “Chung”; So1E08 “Tears”

7. Archer (FX)
Structurally, the third season of Archer was the most interesting yet, with two major arcs that bookended multiple standalone episodes and guest appearances from the likes of George Takei and Burt Reynolds. The show managed to keep its plotting very intricate (dead prime ministers! Canadian drug lords! ocelots!) while giving each member of its cast a moment or episode in the sun and continuing to craft distinct, intelligent dialogue with no word wasted. (You could argue that Archer, for all the adventure it depicts, has the deepest knowledge of pop culture/media, including an ability to wrap the most obscure of references in an Archer yell or Malory snark for safe keeping.) It mixed pop culture parodies/homages with spy capers, living dead girls, and drifting race cars, along with trips to Canada, space, and West Virginia. Archer was everything that it can be in the third season, to the point where you have to wonder if the upcoming fourth season can match the creative highs and consistency; of course, the show has been so good since the beginning that it can that it can afford a minor step back and would still be a tremendously fun half hour. But mostly, it remained, in my eyes, the most consistently funny show on television, combining globe-hopping stories with well-worn character beats to produce a great season.
Three Essential Episodes: So3E06 “The Limited”; S03E08 “Lo Scandalo”; S03E10 “Crossing Over”

6. Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Upon pulling the trigger on Jimmy, Nucky Thompson became a gangster. He had been involved in criminal activity for quite a while, but he always made an effort not to get his hands dirty, so in fully embracing the lifestyle, the third season of Boardwalk Empire saw a change in its hero. He needed every ounce of his newfound lack of guilt and ability to operate a weapon since arguably his toughest rival, ill-tempered Gyp Rosetti, decided to set his sights on taking Atlantic City from its kingpin once and for all. While early parts of the season were slower and more methodical, depicting everything from Van Alden’s attempts to become another person in Chicago to Margaret’s pet project women’s health clinic, the tension, action, and political intrigue only increased during the back half, with the death of Owen providing the catalyst for Nucky to take the Rosetti threat seriously. The show’s pacing can be unusual, in that its deep supporting cast is sprinkled across the episodes rather than appear for chunks at a time, but when it all comes together in the end, it makes the case that a novelistic approach to storytelling is not dead. In fact, it can make for quite the pay-off to the patient viewer and strengthen everything that came before it, as season three of Boardwalk Empire did.
Three Essential Episodes: S03E07 “Sunday Best”‘ S03E10 “A Man, A Plan…”; S03E11 “Two Impostors”

5. The Borgias (Showtime)
One of the shows to take the leap from good/pretty good to great this year was The Borgias, Showtime’s costume drama about the Borgia family, an Italian dynasty led by Pope Alexander VI, and their desire to stay in power. During the first season, the show seemed to have a good idea of what it wanted to be and how it wanted to tell the story of this rich, controversial family, seen as the bane of the Catholic Church in the eyes of many, but it didn’t quite execute it in the best way. While the acting was top-notch and the cinematography/costuming gorgeous, the pacing was a tad off and it had moments of being content to just sit there rather than move forward. However, the second season improved quite a bit – the story propelled itself more (there was no dead space to speak of and things became delightfully entangled), the action inserted made sense and was never overbearing, and the stakes for the family got much higher. While Rodrigo has been dealing with people trying to take him out of the papacy from the day he assumed the title of Pope, season two of The Borgias ratcheted up the threat level with crazed Friar Savonarola, revenge-seeking Cardinal Della Rovere, and the proud Sforza family all posing threats to his position. In addition, the Borgia children were all dealing with issues of identity that manifested themselves quite differently and profoundly in the family dynamic; while Cesare yearned to be the favored son, Juan self-destructed due to worsening health and Lucrezia struggled with the idea of getting married without losing herself in the process.
Three Essential Episodes: S02E05 “The Choice”; S02E07 “The Siege at Forli”; S02E09 “World of Wonders”

4. Treme (HBO)
Treme is a show whose rhythms you either get or you don’t. It took at least one full season for me to get accustomed to the sprawling cast and (seemingly) small plot stakes, but since then, I’ve been in tune with everything that David Simon and company were putting out. The third season of the New Orleans-set drama focused heavily on the intersection between art and commerce, with several of the characters having to decide how, when, or if they could commodify their talent, to rather mixed results. While Annie’s career skyrocketed, culminating in the release of her album at the end of the season, Davis was burned one too many times from being in the music industry and got to give a profane send-off to his greatest love on a special hidden track; while Janette found that working in a larger restaurant wasn’t her thing, Antoine soul-searched regarding the type of music he chose to play, ultimately becoming okay with the path he took in becoming a musician. It was a moving season of heartbreak and pain (Albert’s lymphoma, LaDonna’s trial), of love and connection (Toni and Terry, Sonny getting married), of the highs and lows that the city of New Orleans has faced since Hurricane Katrina, a season which built to a finale that could have served as a pretty tremendous series ender. Though several character arcs have been more or less wrapped up, Treme has a five-episode coda to play out the final coda in the post-disaster journey of a former cultural haven, which will undoubtedly be the sweetest music of 2013.
Three Essential Episodes: S03E04 “The Greatest Love”; S03E08 “Don’t You Leave Me Here”; S03E10 “Tipitina”

3. Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
The greatest creative rebound of the year had to be Nurse Jackie‘s rebirth in its fourth season. While the show has always been watchable due to a strong supporting cast, interesting central premise, and the lead performance from Edie Falco, it had slipped into a rut where there were no consequences, no danger to anything Jackie was doing. You knew that she’d never get caught nor would she ever have to atone for the things she had done – until this season. During the fourth season, Jackie became the underdog in a sense, battling both her opiate addiction (including a brief stint in rehab where she made one pivotal connection) and a new boss at the hospital who seemed to have her number. Much of the repetitious second and third seasons didn’t give her a feasible challenge to have to overcome, but the fourth season really stacked the deck against Jackie and had her try to wriggle out of trouble as best she could, becoming all the more powerful in the process. After fighting change for so long, she finally wanted to become a better mother, a better nurse, a better friend, and you had to respect the fight that she put into it and the emotional depths it took her (and the show) to. The fourth season of Nurse Jackie, in addition to making better use out of Akalitus and giving Jackie a formidable foe in Mike, showed that while change can be difficult, scary, and intimidating, it can bring a lot of good with it.
Three Essential Episodes: S04E02 “Disneyland Sucks”; S04E05 “One-Armed Jacks”; S04E09 “Are Those Feathers?”

2. Spartacus: Vengeance (Starz)
There was a lot of pressure going into Vengeance, the third season of Spartacus and first without series star Andy Whitfield. The show had managed to craft a very good prequel without the actor, who later succumbed to cancer, but Vengeance would see the debut of Liam McIntyre in the role of the slave-turned-warrior. What worries there were going into things were quickly squelched by McIntyre’s more contemplative performance (juxtaposed against the absolutely delicious return of Lucy Lawless’ Lucretia), a universe that continued to expand away from the confines of the arenas of Capua, and action scenes that ran the gamut from highly emotional to deeply troubling. Spartacus found the rebel army on the run from the Romans, having to dig deep to fight off the increasingly confident Glaber, and stay alive long enough for the other slaves in the area to hear of their quest for freedom and join in; the incredibly bloody finale may have knocked out a good chunk of the supporting cast (in the operatic way that only Spartacus can do), but in doing so, it severed ties between the show and Capua once and for all, leaving the army on their own and waiting on their next opponent.
Three Essential Episodes: S03E05 “Libertus”;  S03E09 “Monsters”;  S03E10 “Wrath of the Gods”

1. Homeland (Showtime)
Very few shows inspired as much chatter in 2012 as Homeland, whether it be for the breakneck pacing that saw game changing plot points pop up as early as the third episode or for the increasingly bigger plausibility issues that became pervasive later in the season. For me, the second season of the critically acclaimed CIA drama was much more hit than miss, thanks to its superb character work and palpably tense atmosphere. The fact that you truly never knew what you’d see every Sunday on Showtime was simultaneously disorienting and thrilling, a way to make sure you paid attention to everything that happened because you never know what could be important at a later date. (Exhibit A: Brody’s suicide tape.) With the finale hinting that the third season will be smaller in scope and focus on the relationship between Carrie and Saul, the second season of Homeland looks like it will be the manic chapter in the show’s saga, an interesting contrast to Carrie’s improved control over her disorder after spiraling in season one. Whether we were watching Carrie screaming into the wind about her latest hunch, Saul exercising fatherly concern for his protege’s increasingly erratic choices, Quinn stretching his moral ambiguity for much of the season, or Brody struggling to figure out who the hell he was and what he stood for, Homeland had a compelling, ambitious season that proved it knows its character better than any show on television.
Three Essential Episodes: S02E03 “State of Independence”;  So2E04 “Q&A”;  S02E12 “The Choice”

The Next 10:
11. Cougar Town (ABC)
12. Shameless (Showtime)
13. Web Therapy (Showtime)
14. Wilfred (FX)
15. Damages (The Audience Network)
16. Parks and Recreation (NBC)
17. Awake (NBC)
18. NTSF: SD: SUV:: (Adult Swim)
19. Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim)
20. Battleground (Hulu)

The post Top 10 TV Shows of 2012 appeared first on TVHackr.