The key was the arrival of the Bennett clan and their matriarch, Mags. Margo Martindale was a Tony Award winning actress long before she joined the series but her work on Justified earned her in an Emmy in what I can only imagine was a unanimous vote. Somehow equal parts ruthless and cordially folksy, Mags maneuvered the citizens of Harlan, Kentucky into working against their best interests in order to secure the futures of one and only one of her three sons and his family. And oh yes, she also killed a man, then stole his daughter to raise as her own. Evil is always scariest when it comes in the form of a nondescript person who has the element of surprise on their side. Mags Bennett makes a decadent apple pie and she is one of the greatest villains in the history of television. Season two of Justified is must watch television and our choice as the second best show of the year.

Last year’s winner maintains a great deal of popularity this year as Modern Family finishes as our third place selection. The past 12 months included another series of misadventures for the extended Pritchett/Dunphy clan. War was waged for the rights to raise Lily if something happened to her two daddies; a school declared its love for the F-word; Phil and Claire switched good cop/bad cop roles for a day to disastrous results; and family patriarch Jay spent a night with his son’s gay friends, winding up making a drunken antiquing date with Nathan Lane. Modern Family somehow walks the line between inspired lunacy and perfectly measured comedy each episode. It has the deepest, most robust cast for any television program since Cheers. BOP’s affection for the program is total and while it slipped a bit in the vote this year, I expect it to be a mainstay on the Best TV Show list for many years to come.

The other two series in the top five are Parks and Recreation and Game of Thrones. The former show moves up one spot from fifth place while also increasing its overall voting by 10%. Originally conceived as a centerpiece for Amy Poehler, the show evolved into a deep roster of comedians who mesh much better than The Office or 30 Rock these days. Game of Thrones is the HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s masterwork and I strongly suspect that the only reason it didn’t do even better is because only half the voters subscribe to HBO. The title isn’t released on home video until next month, so the fact that Game of Thrones still attained a top five finish speaks to its impeccable quality. The series packed innumerable surprises in the first season including one of the most daring ever aired on television. I won’t spoil it since you should be watching Game of Thrones. Do it if for no other reason than to watch BOP fave Peter Dinklage in the role of his career as Tyrion Lannister, the unwanted prince whose self-preservation depends upon his wits and his gold.

Last year’s silver medalist, Community, falls to sixth place this time as our ardent support died out. The self-aware celebration of pop culture unquestionably had its high points over the past 12 months, particularly Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Critical Film Studies and the two-part season finale A Fist Full of Paintballs and For a Few Paintballs More. Alas, the overall uneven consistency of Community cooled our passion a bit, which is why the show’s voting total is down over 50% from 2011.

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