Totally love this list. I haven’t seen “American Horror Story” and am not quite ready to sign on, but from what I’ve heard, I certainly agree with the pick.
The 5 Best TV Villains of 2011
What would a good show be without a good villain? The answer to that is a whole heck of a lot less interesting. This year the dial was chock full of great, delicious villains making our small screen heroes look even more heroic. It was a tough call picking out just five of the best TV villains of 2011, but these characters’ dastardly deeds put them ahead of the pack.
Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) - “Breaking Bad”
Can you think of a more frightening villain from 2011 than the mild-mannered chicken man from “Breaking Bad”? Because I can’t. Giancarlo Esposito was perfection in the role turning Gus into one of the scariest villains on televisions, often without saying a word. The meticulous Gus always seemed five steps ahead in the game, until his anger finally got the best of him. Even still, Gus got one of the coolest send-offs of any villain in recent memory.
Who knew straightening a tie could be so disgustingly cool?
Mags Bennett (Margo Martindale) - “Justified”
There are few villains that can make apple pie terrifying, but Margo Martindale’s Mags Bennett from the second season of “Justified” was one of them. Martindale won a much deserved Emmy for her turn as the matriarch of a truly twisted Harlan clan. Steely and vulnerable at once, Mags would literally kill you with kindness. Mags was a woman who would do anything to get what she wanted, but her struggle to lift her family out of a life of crime and drug trafficking made her infinitely human and relatable. “Justified” will have to work hard next season to find a bad guy even half as great.
Klaus (Joseph Morgan) - “The Vampire Diaries”
Last year, the quest to first avoid and then kill Klaus drove the plot of CW’s supernatural “The Vampire Diaries”. Having heard much about the character without ever seeing him, Klaus certainly had a big reputation to live up to. And he did in spades with Joseph Morgan confidently inhabiting the part of the murderous vampire-werewolf hybrid. Yet the show doesn’t shy away from Klaus’ vulnerability. His quest to make more hybrids is motivated at least in part by his loneliness. Plus he has more family issues (patricide and matricide?) than you can shake a (pointy) stick at. “The Vampire Diaries” loves a good bad guy, and we can’t help but love Klaus.
Victoria Grayson (Madeline Stowe) - “Revenge”
It’s a bit hard to pick out just one villain on ABC’s primetime soap-fest “Revenge”. After all, heroine Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) is on a mission of vengeance that includes most of the characters on the show. With a fun anti-heroine at the center of the action, who is villainous enough to take her on? Enter Madeline Stowe’s campy, amazing Victoria Grayson. The former lover of Emily’s father and the matriarch of the Grayson clan, Victoria always has a lot on her plate. But that never keeps her from delivering amazingly catty bon mots. How can you not love a woman that hugs a frenemy and declares the warmth of her body is her hatred burning through? Even her hugs are scary!
The House - “American Horror Story”
Sure, the latex gimp suit got a lot of the scary play on FX’s horror serial “American Horror Story”, even landing on the cover of Entertainment Weekly beside show stars Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott. But after finding out that lovestruck, whiny teenager Tate was the one embodying the suit, the scary got a bit zapped out. But the house where all the creepy madness took place never stopped being terrifying. Looking for a mad scientist, a school shooter, a pig baby or an angry gay ghost? The house has those to spare!
The creepy atmosphere of the “murder house” was a great backdrop for the disturbing happenings for “American Horror Story’s” freshmen outing. The house became like a malevolent character in itself, scarier than the sum of it’s parts. Although house didn’t work out very well for the doomed Harmon family, if you want to try your luck the actual house in Los Angeles where they filmed is on sale. Ghosts not included…or are they?
— Who were your favorite TV villains of 2011? Sound off in the comments at Yidio HERE!
"Heroin Mill Employees Make $5K Per Week, Get Free Meals"
See? “Breaking Bad” is totally viable. [via Gawker]
AV Club: 25 best television series of 2010
Forget all those other end-of-the-year lists. This one is the best and most accurate. It ignores ratings and goes right for the best drama and comedy to be seen on our TV screens.
[via AV Club]
I just watched the season finale of “Breaking Bad” and it was one of the best written pieces of television I’ve ever seen.
Rainbow Entertainment’s Ed Carroll on AMC’s Original Programming
Some of the crowd at Ringling College may not have known what they were in for when they attended a screening of AMC’s Emmy Award-winning show Breaking Bad about a chemistry teacher who turns to cooking crystal meth after being diagnosed with cancer. Though Ed Carroll, Chief Operating Officer of Rainbow Entertainment, which owns AMC, charmed during the subsequent Q&A session on Wednesday night, more than a few audience members were forced to walk out during the particularly tense and bloody episode of a show critically hailed for both its dramatic chops and, as Carroll told these viewers, “a macabre sense of humor.” He explained, “What we try to do every time Walt White makes a bad decision—and he’s made a ton of them—there are severe implications.
”[via SRQ]
Yeah, I got to see the next episode of “Breaking Bad” early.
Poster for season 3 of “Breaking Bad.” Almost as good as this one.
Breaking Bad Spoofs Obama Weatherproof Billboard (via Vulture)
The best TV series of the ’00s--The A.V. Club
kgtl:
This list is best taken “in no particular order”
Excellent list. I love every one of those shows.
And I agree: Putting these shows in order is pretty much impossible.
EW: 'Battlestar,' 'True Blood,' and 'Big Bang' win Television Critics Association awards! News flash: Critics have good taste!
The 200-plus members of the Television Critics Assocation celebrated its 25th anniversary of award-giving last week by handing them to shows including Battlestar Galactica (Program of the Year), True Blood (Outstanding New Program), and The Big Bang Theory (Outstanding Achievement in Comedy).
Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad won the TCA award for Individual Achievement in Drama, and Big Bang’s Jim Parsons won for the same in the Comedy category. Mad Men won the best drama award…
Tuned In: AMC party
Jason Horwitch is the creator of Rubicon, a political thriller AMC recently picked up for next year. As a fan of twisty, byzantine serials, I was curious, and Horwitch definitely makes it sound twisty and byzantine. The drama is set in a political think tank—based, Horwitch says, on the RAND Institute—one of whose employees (James Badge Dale) becomes enmeshed in a global conspiracy. (Lili Taylor and Miranda Richardson co-star.)
Horwitch says that when he pitched the show to AMC, he described it as: “What happens in an hour of 24, we’ll do in a season.” You might not think that would be a selling point for a TV show, but there lies the difference between AMC and network drama. What he means, Horwitch says, is that he wants to do a story of political intrigue, not in the heightened-reality action style of 24 or Alias, but rather with the detail and psychological realism of a show like The Wire. (Which makes the pitch make more sense: you could simplistically describe The Wire saying that it does in a season what a police procedural does in one episode.)
Emmy nominations - let's go over the deserving nominees & snubs
Drama:
Drama Series: “Big Love,” “Breaking Bad,” “Lost,” “Mad Men”
—But why the hell didn’t “Big Love” and “Lost” get any acting noms? I know they’re ensembles, but jeez. I am happy, however, that they finally recognized Moss for “Mad Men” and also Paul for “Breaking Bad.”
—Of course, “FNL” and “BSG” were criminally under-nominated, especially since it was the latter’s final season. “BSG” won Peabodys, damn it! And why the hell wasn’t “The Shield” recognized for its final, almost perfect season? I was expecting them to ignore the 3-seasoned wonderful “Brotherhood” and the new, too-subtle-for-nominations “Southland.” Oh, well.
Best Casting: “Mad Men,” “Friday Night Lights”
Best Directing: Michael Rymer for “Battlestar Galactica,” Phil Abraham for “Mad Men”
Wow no guest star nominees for shows I like as much as ones I’ve mentioned, but Michael J. Fox for “Rescue Me” (I also love Jimmy Smits) and CCH Pounder for “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency”—they are great and the shows are good.
Lead Actor: Bryant Cranston for “Breaking Bad,” Jon Hamm for “Mad Men”
Lead Actress: Elisabeth Moss for “Mad Men”
Supporting Actor: Aaron Paul for “Breaking Bad,” Michael Emerson for “Lost,” John Slattery for “Mad Men”
Supporting Actress: None of my people, but I think the “In Treatment” noms were good.
Best Writing: Holy goodness—4/5 of the noms are for “Mad Men” writers and the last is for “Lost” creator/main writers. I win.
Comedy noms I’m happy about:
Comedy Series, directing, writing and actor and actress, plus supporting actor and actress: “The Office,” “Flight of the Concords,” “30 Rock,” “Family Guy” (first animated in this category I believe), plus everything for “SNL,” “The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report.” I guess they’re just better with comedy nominations.
Guest Actor in Comedy: Jon Hamm in “30 Rock,” Justin Timberlake in “Saturday Night Live”
Guest Actress in Comedy: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live”—hands-down best guest appearance of the year.
What should have happened is posted here and here.
* Even in an expanded field, shows like Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica (relegated mainly to technical categories) are still going to get robbed. Big Love, the best-acted drama on TV, got not a single acting nomination. And as for Chuck? Um, it’s an honor just to be renewed. [Update: Tom Shaw reminds me of the snub of The Shield, which is not just egregious but kind of insane.]
