4. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Typically, comedies have a harder time being excellent from the get go. Quality sitcoms like Happy Endings and even Community really didn’t hit their stride until the end of their first season. It’s a testament to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt then, that it manages to be outstanding right out of the gate.
Filled with wacky characters, such as cult leaders and spaced out landlords, the series follows Kimmy Schmidt, a victim of an underground apocalypse cult who moves to New York to start over. Tina Fey (Date Night, Saturday Night Live) is a creator here, which is why Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt feels a lot like it exists in the same world as her old show, 30 Rock. There’s also Titus Burgess as Kimmy’s flamboyant room mate and Jane Krakowski as her tightly wound boss.
The show’s magic formula rests on Ellie Kemper as the infectiously positive Kimmy, who could easily have been portrayed as a tragic figure. Probably the best new TV comedy this year, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt takes some bizarre turns but ultimately manages to give us compelling relationships and characters we care about. For what could have been a throwaway sitcom, this is a great achievement.
3. Jessica Jones
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Why is this higher than Daredevil, you ask? While both had their flaws, both were also brilliantly written, hopelessly compelling and addictive television. So what gives Jessica Jones, Marvel’s first superpowered female to lead her own TV show, the edge? It’s ambition.
While a lot of TV on this list deals with world defining ideas, Jessica Jones explores issues noticeably more personal and infinitely more important for 2015. Jessica Jones is the survivor of an abusive relationship; possibly THE survivor of an abusive relationship. Her thirteen episode escalating war with her former abuser, Kilgrave, takes the superhero genre to a place it’s never gone before.
While the writing doesn’t quite evoke the noir feel you might be expecting at first glance, it’s solid and infinitely watchable. Krysten Ritter’s Jones and David Tennant’s twisted Kilgrave sell the hell out of a deeply unsettling relationship, and there’s a feeling of menace round every corner until the very end. Expect both of them to get a lot more work in the next year or so. Also expect people to be screaming for a second season before the year’s out.
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