The Best TV Shows of 2015!

As much as we love movies, TV shows are every bit as important to us as far as entertainment goes. These days, a lot of TV dramas tend to play every bit as good as do quality movies, and the best part is that we get more of what we love with the average TV show; simply because they usually take 10-13 hours to tell their stories, where most movies have to do the same thing in around 2.

2015 gave us some great TV shows, many of which were right up our alley as fans of all things Horror & Genre, and below we've compiled a list of the 10 of them that we enjoyed the most. If you love great TV, and you're not watching these shows, then you're truly missing out on some of the best filmed entertainment that you can find on any screen, big or small.

Here's what this list will and will not contain:

• Horror & Genre-related shows only. If they aren't purely Horror, they at least have to have some sort of deviant grit to them. Thrillers, Mysteries, Sci-Fi, and Action are fine.
• As excellent as they are, straight-up Dramas like The Good Wife, Rectify, Downton Abbey, Et al. are just too far out of our purview to reasonably cover here.
• No comedies, because they are even further away from our purview than are normal Dramas. 
• This is a list, not a review, so we'll try to keep each write-up short and to the point, utilizing bullet points as much as we can.

ASH VS EVIL DEAD

While it's far from a perfect show, Ash vs Evil Dead has been a fun, much-welcomed treat since it premiered on Halloween. To see finally Bruce Campbell back and killing Deadites in his familiar bloody and goofy fashion, is something that we all look forward to every Saturday night; we actually gather around the TV to enjoy it together. Not many shows these days make us do that.

FARGO

Every bit as quirky as the movie that it's based on, Fargo is probably the best pure drama on TV. Of course, it's also violent, sadistic, and darkly humorous, but that just adds to its odd, compelling charm. S2 of Fargo was an addictive watch, at least for me, and that probably had a lot to do with its cast. Everyone here knocked it out of the park with their roles, whether they were big or small: Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson, Jessie Plemons, Bokeem Woodbine, Jeffrey Donovan, Zahn McClarnon... If any cast takes home a "Best Ensemble" award at any award shows this coming year, it will be the crew from Fargo.

GAME OF THRONES

Having read all of the A Song of Ice & Fire books, we've always enjoyed watching Game of Thrones, knowing what to expect, and seeing people's reactions to what did happen. With S5 though, we saw the show catch up to the books (George R.R. Martin is a PAINFULLY slow writer), and even surpasses them in some ways... and a few of those ways were pretty damned shocking, and pretty damned awesome.

GOT is one of the best shows on TV, and we're eager to see where they go with the story now. Especially since we have no idea what's coming next anymore. 

HANNIBAL

Cancelled by NBC after three seasons, we sadly bid adieu to our favorite Serial Killer in 2015. We've never seen a show like Hannibal before, and most likely never will again, but at least the ride that it took us on throughout its 39 horrific and visually stunning episodes will always be a part of us... especially our nightmares.

We loved the final episode, but knowing that there were more tales of Will and Hannibal to tell, made us feel like we were left hanging.

We'll always be thankful to Bryan Fuller, the amazing cast, and NBC for giving us this polished gem of a show, but we'll be equally as sad to know that the dark, twisted ride has come to an end.

JUSTIFIED

Another beloved show that took its final bow in 2015, Justified was at least allowed to bring the saga of Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder to a satisfying close. Not many shows have given us such a rich and complicated world like Harlan County, and populated it with equally dynamic characters, quite like Justified did, and it will definitely be one that we re-visit on a regular basis.

Oh, and it ended perfectly.

PENNY DREADFUL

As much as we loved S1 of Penny Dreadful, the show somehow managed to get even better in S2. Vanessa and Ethan are still great, and John Clare is still the most compelling and heartbreaking character on TV, but the introduction of Madame Kali and her coven of witches kicked things into a higher gear, and gave the show a better sense of direction.

We don't even want to talk about what happened to Sembene. We're still not happy about that. 

With its top-notch cast, its creepy atmosphere, and its Gothic style, Penny Dreadful is one show that we can not wait to be back on the air.

RAY DONOVAN

For all its faults, we love the hell out of Ray Donovan. It's worth watching alone for the performances of Liev Scheriber and Jon Voight, but its the flawed supporting characters that grab us the most; as dysfunctional as they may be, they're loyal to each other to a fault, and that creates all kinds of dramatic tension. .

The story is pretty good too, especially when things get violent and intense. 

Ray Donovan doesn't get the love that it should. It always seems like it's shoved to the back of the room when people talk about the best shows on TV, and it's just not fair, because it's every bit as good as most of the other shows that populate the airwaves these days, and a great deal better than most of them.

SCREAM QUEENS

We really wanted to hate this show, and I mean REALLY, but somehow it ended up amusing the hell out of us, and kept us watching the whole way through. We love inappropriate humor that bucks the PC bandwagon that so many butt-hurt whiners love to ride these days, and this show is nothing if not offensive. *It had us from the words "White Mammy." Damn, that took some balls.

The real reason the show worked so well was Emma Roberts; she was perfect as the bitchy, snobby, bitchy Chanel, and the shit that came out of her mouth made us laugh to no end.

I still can't believe that I'm sitting here calling Scream Queens one of the "best" shows of 2015, because there are many others that were far better in many ways, but damn if this wasn't entertaining as hell, and worthy of some praise... for what it is. 

VIKINGS

The saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his Viking clan is probably the most underrated gem on TV, as most people probably haven't even given it a chance. Those people are missing out though, because Vikings is mean, bloody, compelling as hell, and even a bit emotional at times. For a Network like The History Channel to produce a show that is so great, is impressive.

If you haven't checked Vikings out yet, do so immediately. It's kinda like Game of Thrones, minus the dragons and stuff. *There is nudity on the blu-ray versions of the episodes though.

THE WALKING DEAD

The most popular show on Cable TV is also the most derisive at times; We really liked the first half of S6, even though many people criticized the whole "lead the walkers out of the pit" plan, and the swerve of Glenn's not-death. Negen's arrival at the end of the season will no doubt rile people up just as much, especially if they follow the events of the comics.

Hopefully S6b will be a bit more streamlined and focused than 6a was, but no matter what they do, we know we'll be watching, and we know that it will probably rip our hearts out.

On the negative side of things: The final season of Mad Men just didn't do it for us like we hoped it would; we didn't even watch Hell On Wheels, which we love, because we refuse to support anymore of AMC's bullshit of showing the final 12 episodes of a show over the course two separate years. We'll just catch it next year, all at once; Orange is the New Black is good, but vastly overrated; American Crime felt like a bunch of pandering, SJW bullshit, so fuck that show; Show Me A Hero was solid, but not as solid as we'd hoped it would be; Rectify is excellent, but good lord is it ever slow; we totally missed out on the latest season of The Americans; Scream was typical MTV shite; even though we enjoyed a large part of it, HBO delivered a pretty lackluster S2 of True Detective; The Bastard Executioner was unwatchable shit, and we LOVED Sons of Anarchy; Fear the Walking Dead was decent enough at times, although it truly struggled to find its footing (It also boasts the dumbest title on TV, IMO); Under the Dome was shit from the beginning, and it continued to be shit; and A&E's attempt to do an Americanized version of the brilliant The Returned, was also shit.

On the positive side of things though:

• Mike's "I broke my boy" scene in Better Call Saul was probably the best moment in all of TV in 2015. Truly Emmy-worthy.
• Peter Quinn is still the best character on Homeland. 
• Marvel gave us two solid superhero dramas with Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and we can't wait to see what they do with Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher. 
• Luther returned for a 2-hour 4th Season which was far too short, but was every bit as great as Luther should be. 
• The Man In the High Castle was quietly one of the best shows on TV in 2015, and one that we can't wait to return. 
• The 2nd season of The Returned impressed us just about as much as its 1st season did... 3 years ago.