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2015: The Year in Certified Fresh TV Shows

by RT Staff | December 29, 2015 | Comments

TAGGED AS: 2015, Certified Fresh

2016 is here, but are you approaching the future kicking and screaming? Then let’s stay here in past, and binge watch all of 2015’s quality shows you didn’t get around to the first time. Our gallery of Certified Fresh TV shows can help!

Galavant
Season: 1
Premiere: Jan. 4

While the jokes in Galavant ride the line of predictability, their execution, along with campy themes and silly musical numbers, make it memorably entertaining.

Downton Abbey
Season: 5
Premiere: Jan. 4

Though it’s becoming increasingly soapy, Downton Abbey is still a beautiful show whose characters confront the ever-modernizing world with wit and style.

Marvel’s Agent Carter
Season: 1
Premiere: Jan. 6

Focusing on Peggy Carter as a person first and an action hero second makes Marvel’s Agent Carter a winning, stylish drama with bursts of excitement and an undercurrent of cheeky fun.

Empire
Season: 1
Premiere: Jan. 7

Though heavy on melodrama, Empire elevates the nighttime soap with its top-notch cast, musical entertainment, and engrossing plots.

Togetherness
Season: 1
Premiere: Jan. 11

Togetherness is a delightful surprise that interweaves day-to-day life with moving, dramatic characters who have an affinity for deprecating, squirmy humor.

Girls
Season: 4
Premiere: Jan. 11

Girls is familiar after four seasons, but its convoluted-yet-comical depiction of young women dealing with the real world still manages to impress.

Man Seeking Woman
Season: 1
Premiere: Jan. 14

Amusingly surrealistic and enjoyably odd, Man Seeking Woman is easy to fall for, taking a ridiculously funny approach to a common theme.

Justified
Season: 6
Premiere: Jan. 20

Justified returns to form for its endgame, rebounding with crisp storytelling and colorful characters who never take themselves too seriously.

Fortitude
Season: 1
Premiere: Jan. 29

Fortitude‘s fine cast, deliberate pacing, and chilling setting provide the show with more than enough of the titular quality.

Fresh Off the Boat
Season: 1
Premiere: Feb. 4

Once the cliched gags of Fresh off the Boat are superceded by a grounded truthfulness, the series evolves into a humorously charming family sitcom.

Better Call Saul
Season: 1
Premiere: Feb. 8

Better Call Saul is a quirky, dark character study that manages to stand on its own without being overshadowed by the series that spawned it.

The Jinx
Season: 1
Premiere: Feb. 8

Disturbing themes and an engrossing blend of interviews and dramatizations make The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst a docu-series that merits further pursuit.

House of Cards
Season: 3
Premiere: Feb. 27

Season three introduces intriguing new political and personal elements to Frank Underwood’s character, even if it feels like more of the same for some.

Battle Creek
Season: 1
Premiere: Mar. 1

Battle Creek doesn’t reinvent the wheel as a police procedural, but it distinguishes itself with biting humor and a darker tone than most network shows.

The Last Man on Earth
Season: 1
Premiere: Mar. 1

It may run out of steam before the season’s over, but The Last Man on Earth‘s ambitious concept and comedic undertone are enough to lure viewers in.

Broadchurch
Season: 2
Premiere: Mar. 4

Season two of Broadchurch builds on its predecessor’s intrigue, with the added bonus of new characters who mesh well with the existing cast.

American Crime
Season: 1
Premiere: Mar. 5

Raw, emotional portrayals of diverse characters in dire pain, mashed up with chilling narratives and a gutsy attitude make American Crime a must-see.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Season: 1
Premiere: Mar. 6

Blessed with originality and a spot-on performance from Ellie Kemper, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is as odd as it is hilarious.

Community
Season: 6
Premiere: Mar. 17

Despite cast and broadcast changes, Community manages to remain at the top of its quirky class.

iZombie
Season: 1
Premiere: Mar. 17

An amusing variation on the zombie trend, iZombie is refreshingly different, if perhaps too youth-oriented to resonate with adult audiences.

Bloodline
Season: 1
Premiere: Mar. 20

While Bloodline‘s tricky timeline detracts from the potency of the story and its characters, the show remains an addictive, tightly drawn brainteaser framed on a believable canvas.

Younger
Season: 1
Premiere: Mar. 31

Darren Star’s witty writing and Sutton Foster’s charisma help elevate Younger above some of TV Land’s previous sitcoms.

Louie
Season: 5
Premiere: Apr. 9

A renewed focus on the show’s singular blend of sincerity and hilarity keep Louie at the top of its game.

Daredevil
Season: 1
Premiere: Apr. 10

With tight adherence to its source material’s history, high production quality, and a no-nonsense dramatic flair, Daredevil excels as an effective superhero origin story, a gritty procedural, and an exciting action adventure.

Game of Thrones
Season: 5
Premiere: Apr. 12

Bloody action and extreme power plays return full throttle, as Game of Thrones enjoys a new-found liberation from the world of the source material, resulting in more unexpected thrills.

Orphan Black
Season: 3
Premiere: Apr. 18

Season three of Orphan Black lures viewers into an expanded series mythology while continuing to highlight Tatiana Maslany’s multiple standout performances.

Wolf Hall
Season: 1
Premiere: May 5

Beautifully filmed and brilliantly acted, Wolf Hall masterfully brings Hilary Mantel’s award-winning novels to life.

Wayward Pines
Season: 1
Premiere: May 14

Creepy and strange in the best way possible, Wayward Pines is a welcome return to form for M. Night Shamalyan.

UnREAL
Season: 1
Premiere: Jun. 1

The revealing and thought-provoking UnREAL uses reality TV as a suitably soapy springboard for absorbing drama.

The Whispers
Season: 1
Premiere: Jun. 1

Though predictable and, at times, poorly paced, The Whispers is a structurally sound and stimulating supernatural mystery with an enjoyable ensemble of creepy kids.

Hannibal
Season: 3
Premiere: Jun. 4

Bryan Fuller serves up another delightfully demented season of Hannibal, featuring a hearty helping of gorgeous gore, paired with a sweet side of twisted humor.

Orange is the New Black
Season: 3
Premiere: Jun. 12

Thanks to its blend of potent comedy and rich character work, Orange is the New Black remains a bittersweet pleasure in its third season.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Season: 1
Premiere: Jun. 17

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell sets engaging performances against an enchanting canvas, even if some of the magic from the source material gets lost along the way.

Deutschland 83
Season: 1
Premiere: Jun. 17

An engrossing drama with a fun ’80s soundtrack, Deutschland 83 chronicles an intense spy story that brings viewers uncomfortably close to the Iron Curtain.

Catastrophe
Season: 1
Premiere: Jun. 19

Catastrophe proves that there’s still a place for simple romantic comedy on television, as long as the actors have chemistry and the jokes are laugh-out-loud funny.

Ballers
Season: 1
Premiere: Jun. 19

Ballers may not be a game-changer, but it scores points with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who brings charm and depth to the NFL version of Entourage.

Mr. Robot
Season: 1
Premiere: Jun. 24

Mr. Robot is a suspenseful cyber-thriller with timely stories and an intriguing, provocative premise.

Humans
Season: 1
Premiere: Jun. 28

Humans is a mature, high-octane thriller offering emotional intrigue and thought-provoking suspense that should prove irresistible to sci-fi fans while remaining accessible enough to lure in genre agnostics.

Masters of Sex
Season: 3
Premiere: Jul. 12

With a six-year leap forward in the timeline, Masters of Sex takes an intriguing dramatic turn, but may leave a few viewers feeling frustrated.

The Jim Gaffigan Show
Season: 1
Premiere: Jul. 15

The Jim Gaffigan Show benefits from an abundantly likable star in a setting that, albeit familiar, adds a new, natural energy to the standard struggling-dad-sitcom genre.

I Am Cait
Season: 1
Premiere: Jul. 26

I Am Cait aims for insight rather than exploitation, treating its subject with a respect that sets it apart from other reality programming.

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
Season: 1
Premiere: Jul. 31

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp offers more of the the goofy hijinks that fans of the cult classic crave, but outsiders might not be quite as enamored.

Difficult People
Season: 1
Premiere: Aug. 12

Difficult People makes the unlikable likable with mean-spirited, unhappy characters who still can’t help but amuse.

Show Me a Hero
Season: 1
Premiere: Aug. 16

Show Me a Hero is an impressively crafted period drama whose timely themes prove as absorbing as its engaging, compassionately drawn characters.

Documentary Now!
Season: 1
Premiere: Aug. 20

Boasting a talented cast and smart writing, Documentary Now! is a clever send-up of non-fiction filmmaking, though some may find themselves outside the narrow scope of its humor.

Fear the Walking Dead
Season: 1
Premiere: Aug. 23

Fear the Walking Dead recycles elements of its predecessor, but it’s still moody and engrossing enough to compete with the original.

Public Morals
Season: 1
Premiere: Aug. 25

Public Morals is a worthy mob crime drama, with a strong leading man and a talented supporting cast counterbalancing cliché-ridden dialogue. Difficult People
Season: 1
Premiere: Aug. 12

Difficult People makes the unlikable likable with mean-spirited, unhappy characters who still can’t help but amuse.

Narcos
Season: 1
Premiere: Aug. 28

Narcos lacks sympathetic characters, but pulls in the viewer with solid acting and a story that’s fast-paced enough to distract from its familiar outline.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Season: 1
Premiere: Sep. 9

Smart, energetic, and a little bit silly, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert succeeds largely due to the charisma of its host, whose confident debut promises a bright future for the revamped show.

You’re the Worst
Season: 2
Premiere: Sep. 9

Expertly balancing character growth against edgy humor, season two of You’re the Worst elevates the show’s excellent writing and talented cast to a new level.

Doctor Who
Season: 9
Premiere: Sep. 19

Peter Capaldi and the writers have settled into an emotionally engaging tone, allowing the show to raise the stakes for the Twelfth Doctor.

Gotham
Season: 2
Premiere: Sep. 21

While still tonally uneven in season two, Gotham is back with a renewed focus, moving away from disjointed case-of-the-week plots into a darker, more stable serialized story.

Empire
Season: 2
Premiere: Sep. 23

With masterfully melodramatic writing and gloriously glam performances, Empire is not backing down on the soapy spectacle in its second season.

Quantico
Season: 1
Premiere: Sep. 27

Obvious copycatting aside, Quantico provides ludicrously entertaining thrills from a well-balanced cast.

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Season: 1
Premiere: Sep. 28

Trevor Noah’s confidence and likability augur well for The Daily Show, even if his edgier jokes are hit-or-miss.

The Grinder
Season: 1
Premiere: Sep. 29

The Grinder‘s humor is buoyed by Rob Lowe and Fred Savage’s chemistry as a hilarious new odd couple.

The Affair
Season: 2
Premiere: Oct. 4

The Affair shifts its emphasis in season two, moving psychological drama to the foreground and expanding the show’s central crime story to include two new points of view.

Homeland
Season: 5
Premiere: Oct. 4

Homeland re-energizes itself in season five by setting up a twisty Berlin-set spy thriller that spotlights Carrie’s questionable ethics more than ever.

The Leftovers
Season: 2
Premiere: Oct. 4

The Leftovers continues to be unpredictable and provocative in season two with its new location, though the inexplicable circumstances will still frustrate many viewers.

Casual
Season: 1
Premiere: Oct. 7

Jason Reitman’s Casual is a funny — albeit very specific — look at modern dating, sharpened by edgy dialogue and self-assured performances.

Red Oaks
Season: 1
Premiere: Oct. 9

Red Oaks offers an affectionate nod to 1980s sex comedies that — largely thanks to a talented ensemble cast — finds fresh humor in its familiar premise

The Last Kingdom
Season: 1
Premiere: Oct. 10

The Last Kingdom fuses beautiful cinematography and magnificent action sequences to create highly gratifying historical drama.

The Walking Dead
Season: 6
Premiere: Oct. 11

Six seasons in, The Walking Dead is still finding ways to top itself, despite slow patches that do little to advance the plot.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Season: 1
Premiere: Oct. 12

Lively musical numbers and a refreshing, energetic lead, Rachel Bloom, make Crazy Ex-Girlfriend a charming, eccentric commentary on human relationships.

Fargo
Season: 2
Premiere: Oct. 12

Season two of Fargo retains all the elements that made the series an award-winning hit, successfully delivering another stellar saga powered by fascinating characters, cheeky cynicism, and just a touch of the absurd.

Supergirl
Season: 1
Premiere: Oct. 26

Melissa Benoist shines as Superman’s plucky little cousin in Supergirl, a family-friendly comic-book adaptation that ditches cynicism for heart.

Ash vs. Evil Dead
Season: 1
Premiere: Oct. 31

True to the movies that spawned it, Ash vs. Evil Dead is a gory, hilarious, and audacious resurrection of Sam Raimi’s beloved horror franchise.

Master of None
Season: 1
Premiere: Nov. 6

Exceptionally executed with charm, humor, and heart, Master of None is a refreshingly offbeat take on a familiar premise.

W/ Bob and David
Season: 1
Premiere: Nov. 13

W/ Bob and David offers a long-overdue reunion between Mr. Show principals Odenkirk and Cross – and a suitably hilarious reminder of the reasons for their subsequent individual successes. Master of None
Season: 1
Premiere: Nov. 6

Exceptionally executed with charm, humor, and heart, Master of None is a refreshingly offbeat take on a familiar premise.

Jessica Jones
Season: 1
Premiere: Nov. 20

Jessica Jones builds a multifaceted drama around its engaging antihero, delivering what might be Marvel’s strongest TV franchise to date.

The Man in the High Castle
Season: 1
Premiere: Nov. 20

By executive producer Ridley Scott, The Man in the High Castle is unlike anything else on TV, with an immediately engrossing plot driven by quickly developed characters in a fully realized post-WWII dystopia.

Transparent
Season: 2
Premiere: Dec. 11

Transparent‘s second season ups its dramatic stakes while retaining the poignancy and humor that have made the series such a consistently entertaining example of the best that modern serial drama has to offer.

Making a Murderer
Season: 1
Premiere: Dec. 18

Making a Murderer is a spellbinding slow burn that effectively utilizes the documentary format to tell a twisty mystery.

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