Before the Emmy winners for 2015-16 are revealed this Sunday, here is the best of the TV year 2015-16, in my opinion.
THE AFFAIR
BETTER CALL SAUL
DOWNTON ABBEY
FARGO
HOMELAND
MASTERS OF SEX
NARCOS
The
upstairs-downstairs drama came a full circle in its final season, after going
through a World War, death, murder trials, romances, blasts from the past, new
families, bad financial times, the declining relevance of nobility and the
fight to keep the estate. The Crawleys grew from strength to strength through
each setback. In the final season, loyalties were shaken, dreams were
shattered, hearts were broken, relationships evolved, and finally there were
some happy endings for many. Generating a mixed bag of emotions within the confines of the
sensibilities of the ’20s, DOWNTON made a comment on the socio-economic
situation of the time, especially so in the final season. After an evolution
for each, the characters were developed with finesse, and each one in the large
ensemble was done justice to. It was a perfect end to what can be called an
iconic series that spoke to so many people in so many ways.
Series – Comedy
CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND
GRACE & FRANKIE
MASTER OF NONE
MODERN FAMILY
MOM
MOZART IN THE JUNGLE
VEEP
VEEP has been such a
roller coaster from the beginning. It’s been funny, silly, ridiculous, much
like American politics has become these days. In its fifth season, the strange
provisions in the American constitution to break a tie in a general election were brought to the front of the series with such outrageousness. It was comical to
see the hoops that the characters has to go through to get ahead of the
tie-breaking, and the extents they would go to in order to stay ahead. In
addition to that, Selina’s relationship with her daughter saw new levels of
hilarity, as Catherine proved to be sole heir of Selina’s mother’s estate. Additionally,
Selina’s new boyfriend, new bodyguard, the meeting with the Chinese, the Finnish Prime
Minister… they were all such brilliantly executed storylines. Moreover, the
season took us to the top of the roller coaster that the show is, without
revealing whether it was going even further up or straight down. From Selina’s
hatred towards Tom James and their sexual tension to her final downfall as
another woman rose to the top, everything was quite the ride with twists and
surprises that kept us on our toes all along. This was a good season for VEEP.
Felicity Huffman as
Leslie Graham, AMERICAN CRIME
Keri Russell as Elizabeth Jennings, THE
AMERICANS
Michelle Dockery as
Lady Mary Crawley, DOWNTON ABBEY
Julianna Margulies as
Alicia Florrick, THE GOOD WIFE
Claire Danes as Carrie
Matthison, HOMELAND
Viola Davis as
Annalise Keating, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
In the fourth season
of THE AMERICANS, Keri Russell lent excruciating pain to her always-exemplary
portrayal of Elizabeth Jennings, as the KGB spy was forced to do some things were
really beyond her at this stage in her journey. She revealed with real depth that
Elizabeth has started to get affected by the things her duty towards ‘the
Centre’ compel her to do. She was absolutely stunning with her portrayal of the
self-revulsion she felt at having to seduce her friend’s husband. She was
remarkable as a mother who was trying to do what’s best for her daughter and
protecting her like a lioness, despite being annoyed by Paige in certain ways.
She was the complete package of perfect performance this season.
Performance By An
Actor In A Leading Role – Drama
Freddie Highmore as
Norman Bates, BATES MOTEL
Bob Odenkirk, as Jimmy McGill, BETTER CALL
SAUL
Kevin Spacey as Frank
Underwood, HOUSE OF CARDS
Michael Sheen as
William Masters, MASTERS OF SEX
Wagner Moura as Pablo
Escobar, NARCOS
Rami Malek as Elliot
Alderson, MR. ROBOT
Jimmy McGill went from
being a guy who was trying hard to fit into a mold set for him at a corporate
law firm, to kind of ‘breaking bad’ in this season of BETTER CALL SAUL. His
earnestness in trying to do something right by making that TV commercial, and his
outrage at being reprimanded for it, was conveyed with strong conviction by Odenkirk.
He filled each scene he was in with such restrained emotion, which made you
want to root for the guy even more. He even brought a certain endearing quality
to revenge against a sibling. This season, Odenkirk really showed us shades of
Saul Goodman that we know so well, without taking away from the positive
earnestness of Jimmy McGill.
Performance By An
Actress In A Leading Role – Comedy
Rachel Bloom as
Rebecca Bunch, CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND
Lily Tomlin as Frankie Bergstein, GRACE &
FRANKIE
Jane Fonda as Grace
Hanson, GRACE & FRANKIE
Melissa McCarthy as
Molly Flynn, MIKE & MOLLY
Anna Faris as Christy,
MOM
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as
Selina Meyer, VEEP
Lily Tomlin’s
performance as Frankie in the second season of GRACE & FRANKIE was just
outstanding through the crazy situations the madcap Frankie puts herself
through. She does paintings of her own vagina, she makes her own lubricant, she takes on a
fight with her best friend’s executive daughter, she meets her son’s birth
mother, and she prepares to euthanize a suffering friend, all the while dealing
with guilt and heartbreak. She was just fantastic through it all. She delivered
each quirky dialogue, each oblivious expression, each entitled posture, and
everything else with no flaw.
Jim Parsons as Dr.
Sheldon Cooper, THE BIG BANG THEORY
Rob Lowe as Dean
Sanderson, THE GRINDER
Aziz Ansari as Dev,
MASTER OF NONE
Gael Garcia Bernal as Rodrigo D’souza, MOZART
IN THE JUNGLE
Jeffrey Tambor as
Maura Pfefferman, TRANSPARENT
Bernal, a fine
performer, who adds a genuine and unique flavor to whatever he does has done
fantastically in MOZART. His quirky and endearing character was essentially
thrown into various situations in the second season of the Amazon series, what
with trying to divorce his wife and all. We even saw him outside of being part
of the orchestra, and then getting involved in the politics of it. His
inability to confront his feelings for ‘Hailaye’ is so believable but present,
and Bernal is responsible for every nuance that puts together all of the above.
Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role – Drama
Maura Tierney as Helen
Solloway, THE AFFAIR
Regina King as Terri
LaCroix, AMERICAN CRIME
Lili Taylor, as Anne
Blaine, AMERICAN CRIME
Maggie Smith as Lady
Violet Crawley, DOWNTON ABBEY
Kirsten Dunst as Peggy Blumquist, FARGO
Sarah Paulson as
Marcia Clark, THE PEOPLE V. O.J. – AMERICAN CRIME STORY
There’s no doubt that
Kirsten Dunst’s performance on FARGO this year was a knockout turn for her. In
my opinion, she shined as one of the best performers of the year. Her crazy and
endearing and laugh-out-loud-worthy scenes as Peggy were absolutely what
made the season for me. FARGO season 2 would’ve been quite dry without her
extraordinary contribution.
Performance By An
Actor In A Supporting Role – Drama
Jonathan Banks as Mike
Ehrmantraut, BETTER CALL SAUL
Jim Carter as Charles
Carson, DOWNTON ABBEY
Rob James Collier as Thomas Barrow, DOWNTON
ABBEY
Rupert Friend as Peter
Quinn, HOMELAND
Cuba Gooding Jr. as
O.J. Simpson, THE PEOPLE V. O.J. – AMERICAN CRIME STORY
Christian Slater as
Mr. Robot, MR. ROBOT
Thomas Barrow to me
was one of the most interesting character in DOWNTON ABBEY, if not the most
interesting. He was layered and drew empathy even through his more cunning ways.
Rob James Collier took the character to various places over the years, but in
the final season especially, he gave us the angst and the desperation of Thomas
Barrow in the most gut-wrenching way. His suicide attempt and his surrender
thereafter were beautifully portrayed.
Performance By An
Actress In A Supporting Role – Comedy
Mayim Bialik as Dr.
Amy Farrah Fowler, THE BIG BANG THEORY
Donna Lynne Champlin
as Paula Proctor, CARZY EX-GIRLFRIEND
Allison Janney as
Bonnie, MOM
Debra Monk as Betty,
MOZART IN THE JUNGLE
Suzanne Cryer as
Laurie Bream, SILICON VALLEY
Judith Light as Shelly Pfefferman, TRANSPARENT
Judith Light is such a
layered performer. And she brings a certain desperation to the character of
Shelly in TRANSPARENT that is so self-aware, yet unperturbed. I think in the
show’s second season in particular, she got the opportunity to shine more as someone
who was trying to move on from her family in some ways, trying to get on with
her life. All this while, she maintained with consistency the annoying
qualities of the character that we’re supposed to hate and love.
Performance By An
Actor In A Supporting Role – Comedy
Fred Savage as Stewart
Sanderson, THE GRINDER
Ed O'Neill as Jay
Pritchett, MODERN FAMILY
Eric Stonestreet as
Cameron Tucker, MODERN FAMILY
Malcolm McDowell as
Thomas, MOZART IN THE JUNGLE
Zach Woods as Donald
‘Jared’ Dunn, SILICON VALLEY
Tony Hale as Gary Walsh, VEEP
Gary comes off as
really dumb. He’s a pushover, a doormat, a punching bag and everything of the
kind, while actually making one think that he has no self-esteem. And now
I almost cannot imagine Tony Hale as being anything different than what Gary
is. I think he does an outstanding job year after year. And this year in
particular, his physical comedy has been spectacular. Just seeing his
expressions in some scenes can crack anyone up.
Performance By A Guest Actress
Christine Baranski as Dr. Beverly Hofstadter,
THE BIG BANG THEORY
June Squibb as
‘Meemaw’, THE BIG BANG THEORY
Marisa Tomei as Mimi
Whiteman, EMPIRE
Catherine O'Hara as
Dr. Debra Radcliffe, MODERN FAMILY
Rosie O'Donnell as
Jeanine, MOM
Ellen Burstyn as
Elizabeth Hale, HOUSE OF CARDS
Baranski is just the
best performer in the room in any scene that she does on THE BIG BANG THEORY. She
is poker-faced snarky like few can pull off. Beverly’s intellectually-laced indifference
is a work of genius put together by the chameleon of an actress that is
Christine Baranski.
Performance By A Guest
Actor
Michael J. Fox as Louis Canning, THE GOOD WIFE
Timothy Olyphant as
Timothy Olyphant, THE GRINDER
Reg E. Cathey Freddy,
HOUSE OF CARDS
Harry Hamlin as Fred,
MOM
Zachary Levi as James
McMahon, TELENOVELA
Till the end, Michael
J Fox brought to the role of Louis Canning a sort of conniving, quirky
brilliance, with perfection. In the few scenes that he had on the show’s final
season, he did absolute justice to the character that we grew to love and hate
over the last seven years.
Writing
BETTER CALL SAUL
DOWNTON ABBEY
FARGO
HOMELAND
MASTERS OF SEX
MODERN FAMILY
MOM
Gripping to the core,
HOMELAND’s writing in season 5 was at its edge-of-the-seat best. I thought
every scene perfectly complemented its preceding and succeeding scenes. The
plotting was well-paced, and the characters and their relationships were
fleshed out with nuance, all the while doing justice to who they essentially were,
despite their evolution over five seasons.
Cinematography
BETTER CALL SAUL
FARGO
HOMELAND
MR. ROBOT
THE PEOPLE V. O.J. –
AMERICAN CRIME STORY
Stunning shots, genius
transitions and brilliant foregrounding made FARGO the hypnotizing spectacle
that it turned out to be. Without the opening visuals of some scenes, this
series would not have made as deep an impact as it did.
Production Design
BETTER CALL SAUL
CODE BLACK
FARGO
HOMELAND
SUPERGIRL
From the shambles where
Quinn recovers and the sex club where the CIA’s leak takes place, to the
refugee camp and the European townships displayed, HOMELAND set each frame in meticulously
detailed environments, getting every element right.
Costume Design
DOWNTON ABBEY
EMPIRE
FARGO
THE ROYALS
Consistency was key in
the art of costume displayed by DOWNTON ABBEY season after season, in keeping
with the eras that it portrayed. The costume design in the final season was
nothing short of outstanding. It presented the characters and their
predicaments and states of mind with brilliance. From the wedding dresses and the
millinery to modifications in the staff’s livery to the children’s outfits,
everything was beautifully put together, forming an essential part of the
DOWNTON world.
Make-Up And
Hairstyling – Prosthetic/Non-Prosthetic
CODE BLACK
FARGO
GREY’S ANATOMY
NARCOS
The excellent prosthetic
make-up made CODE BLACK the graphic and disturbing beauty that it was. The chaos of the ER in a state of 'code black' would not have been the same
without the excellence in make-up.
Music – Background
Score
THE CATCH
THE GOOD WIFE
HOMELAND
MR ROBOT
Capturing the tense
mood, the intense flavor, the intriguing madness of MR ROBOT, its soundtrack is
nothing short of captivating. It complements the ingenuity of MR ROBOT’s drama
to perfection.
Music – Songs
(Original/Compilation)
THE CATCH
CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND
EMPIRE
GREY'S ANATOMY
NASHVILLE
The quirky, funny,
outrageousness that is the soundtrack of CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND enhances the
titular craziness to such a level that without this brand of music, the show
won’t be the unique comedy program that it is.
Fine Print ▪ The eligible series are those that I follow, and have had new episodes on the air or online between September 12, 2015 and July 14, 2016 (THE AFFAIR, AMERICAN CRIME, AMERICAN IDOL, THE AMERICANS, BATES MOTEL, BETTER CALL SAUL, THE BIG BANG THEORY, BLUE BLOODS, BONES, CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO P.D., CODE BLACK, CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, DEVIOUS MAIDS, DOWNTON ABBEY, DR. KEN, ELEMENTARY, EMPIRE, EPISODES, FARGO, FEED THE BEAST, THE FLASH, THE FOSTERS, FULLER HOUSE, GIRLS, THE GOLDBERGS, THE GOOD WIFE, GOTHAM, GRACE AND FRANKIE, GREY'S ANATOMY, HOMELAND, HOUSE OF CARDS, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, MASTER OF NONE, MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA, MASTERS OF SEX, MISTRESSES, MODERN FAMILY, MOM, MOZART IN THE JUNGLE, MR. ROBOT, NARCOS, NASHVILLE, THE ODD COUPLE, THE ORIGINALS, THE PEOPLE V. O.J. – AMERICAN CRIME STORY, QUANTICO, RIZZOLI AND ISLES, THE ROYALS, SCANDAL, SHERLOCK, SILICON VALLEY, SUPERGIRL, SUPERSTORE, TELENOVELA, TRANSPARENT, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, VEEP) ▪ The maximum number of nominees 7 ▪ The minimum number of nominees is 3 ▪ The ‘TV TALK Best Of 2015-16’ is only an expression of what I considered as excellence in television in the year 2015-16 ▪
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