My Top 10 Favorite TV Shows I Watched in 2014

Howdy friends that just might be bored enough to read my blog post about television shows I watched this year. Glad to have you aboard this wild ride of top ten lists. Please keep your hands and legs inside the blog at all times.

As you may or may not know, 2014 was the year that we bit the bullet and got Netflix and Amazon Prime Streaming.  We also bit a bigger bullet and got rid of satellite, which was a good bullet to bite. We have been so busy watching the shows we missed the past few years, we haven't missed paying a bajillion dollars a month watching average shows on satellite. For those that might be considering the satellite or cable "ditch and dump", I'd highly recommend it.

At any rate, we watched less TV this year, but the TV we did watch, we were very picky about.  We started a lot of series, some of them terrible, many of them TVrific! I've decided to record the series my wife and I found most intriguing.  Now, many of these series will not be for you. In fact, I'd be willing to say that many of you would find these series too dark, too violent, too offensive. (It is a little known fact that my wife likes dark movies and TV shows. Even more than I do. Just another reason she is awesome.)

Perhaps you and your spouse are looking for a new TV series to sit down and gorge on.  These are the ones I liked that I watched this year. Of course, some have been off the air for many years, but this is how hip I am: I just barely got around to watching them.  So, without further ado, I give you my top ten favorite shows I streamed/watched in 2014:

But first, the "Honorable Mentions":
Psych (Netflix)
Raising Hope (Netflix)
The Blacklist (Netflix)
Downton Abbey (Amazon Prime)
House of Cards (Netflix)
Call the Midwife (Netflix)
Portlandia (Netflix)
The Killing (Netflix)

Now to the list...

10. Parks & Recreation (Netflix)

I've always loved this show. I was happy I was able to watch the entire newest season in about two days. This is the second funniest show on television.  The funniest show is to come...

9. Dexter (Netflix)

This is one of those shows that is DEFINITELY not for everybody. It is violent, full of terrible language and pretty darned sick.  But at its best (the middle seasons), you can't turn away. Every episode is like a roller coaster ride, a dark, messed up roller coaster ride. Honestly, if you are hesitant at all, you should probably stear clear of this show.

8. Vikings (Amazon Prime)

Another very violent show. I suppose that's exactly as the real Vikings were. I don't know, but I know this show is fantastic. My wife even likes it, but that might just because of the main character's piercing blue eyes.

7. Friday Night Lights (Netflix)

I was a little hesitant about this show. I thought it would be just another lame high school drama. Boy was I wrong. This show had layers of complexity and intrigue. It is one of the rare shows in which the last two seasons are its best.  I loved the way the writers switched things up after season 3.

6. Rectify (Netflix) 

This was absolutely the most thought provoking show on my list.  It was so thought provoking, it was almost like reading a book!  A book!  I can't wait for season 2 to be added to Netflix.

5. Justified (Amazon Prime)

Contrary to popular opinion at first glance, this show does NOT take place in the old west. This is a modern show about the US Marshall in the south. Not saying I have a man crush on him, but I definitely do have a man crush on him. This US Marshall is hands down the coolest character on TV.

4. The Goldbergs (ABC.com)

This is the one show we still watch that is not on Netflix or Amazon Prime.  We still wait every week for the new episode to be posted to ABC.com and then me and my boys laugh our butts off.  This is the funniest show on TV.

3. Sherlock (Netflix)

By now, just about everyone should know about the awesomeness that is Sherlock. It just took me a while to find it. I may not understand anything that is going on in each episode, but I pretend to, and that's the important thing.

2. The Walking Dead (Netflix)

I got suckered into watching this annoying, insane, sometimes cheesy, often ridiculous show and quickly got so addicted, I was reading about it online and going through situations from the show in my head. This show is bloody, gory, unabashedly crazy and so perfect.  It might be trendy, but count me in on the trend.

1. Breaking Bad (Netflix)

Alright, I know I'm way late to the party on this show, but I finally got around to watching it and it is quite possibly my favorite show of all time. Again, this one is not for everybody, but this show is so well written, it grabs you and sucks you in. There is no escaping until you finally watch that final episode. This the only show we've ever watched as a couple that my wife wanted to watch two straight episodes of.  I'm pretty sure I drove my coworkers crazy because they had already seen it and I would come to work every day and want to discuss the episode I had watched the night before.

So, there you have it. That's my list. Tune in next December to see the new list for 2015!  I'm sure they'll be some new ones on here and maybe some of the same. I just picked up True Detective on DVD, so we'll see where that takes us.