We have had perhaps one of the most diverse slates of TV shows this summer, but what was noteworthy? I try and reason the best of Summer TV.
Best Actress – Caitroina Balfe (Outlander). She barely beat out Maggie Gyllenhaal for this honor, and the reason being is there such a wealth of things to enjoy with Balfe’s performance. She has to carry Outlander, because if we didn’t believe her performance the show would fall apart. It’s a tall task but she’s fully game whether its telling off the rough Scottish men or dealing with the loss of her husband, she’s great in every way.
Best Actor – None. This might seem like shade given how much I’m enjoying some of the male performances so far this year such as Sammy Huegian on Outlander, Eric Winter on Witches of East End or Tyler Hoechlin on Teen Wolf but nothing has really registered as THE best performance, cause the women and supporting actors are running circles around them.
Best Supporting Actress – Kaniehtiio Horn (Hemlock Grove). Hemlock Grove is utter garbage, and I mean UTTER garbage as a show and it defines the words hate watch, but for every moment Horn was on screen, I managed to enjoy myself immensely. She’s everything.
Best Supporting Actor – Richard Sammel (The Strain). There’s not a performance this summer that has managed to instill the amount of dread that Samuel’s Eichorst manages to drum up when he steps on screen. The more we learn about his back story the more fascinating he becomes.
Special Acting Award – Sammy Shiek (Tyrant). Tyrant has been an up and down show for me for so many reasons, but I don’t know if an actor made the amount of impact per minutes on screen than did Sammy Shiek. His “confession” scene after his wife was killed in her attempt on Basam’s life was a master class in acting.
Most Surprising(ly Good) Show – The Lottery. It seemed like it would just be some low budget approximation of a good cable show but it turned into a sleek, engaging thriller that has managed to expand its world in interesting ways and is such a wonderful example of what scifi can be.
Most Surising(ly Bad) Show – The Leftovers. There are certainly shows that have been worse this summer (True Blood’s final season and whatever Teen Wolf did this season), but The Leftovers takes the cake as the show I just couldn’t even deal with past episode 2.
Special Shoutout – In the Flesh. I can’t technically place it in the summer TV awards since it premiered in May, but this show was too awesome not to mention again. This show is one of the best shows to air this year and while you have some time be sure to check it out.
Top 5 Best Series
- The Strain
- Outlander
- The Witches of East End
- The Lottery
- That Honourable Woman