Saturday, September 23, 2017

AFT Awards: Best Drama Series

This is the twentieth category of the 11th Annual AFT Television Awards, my personal choices for the best in television during the 2016-2017 season. Finalists and semi-finalists are included to recognize more of the impressive work done on television today. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.

Best Drama Series



Last year’s nominees: The Affair, Better Call Saul, Jessica Jones, Narcos, Ray Donovan

Emmy nominees: Better Call Saul, The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, House of Cards, Stranger Things, This Is Us, Westworld

Semi-finalists: Better Call Saul, Billions, Dark Matter, Legends of Tomorrow, Longmire, Luke Cage, Masters of Sex, National Treasure, Rectify, Sense8, Stranger Things, Supergirl, The Crown, The Flash, The Man in the High Castle, This Is Us, Timeless,

Finalists: Narcos followed up on a spectacular first season with a gripping look at life on the run for one of history’s biggest drug lords. Ray Donovan took its extended family in new directions with just as many bumps along the road. Good Behavior hatched a strong premise and let its plot and its fascinating characters take it wherever it needed to go from there. Mr. Robot got even murkier in season two but remained one of the most fascinating series on television. Humans explored new ideas and came to new conclusions in its ever-enthralling exploration of artificial intelligence.

The nominees:

The Handmaid's Tale presented a terrifying vision of what contemporary society could look like, featuring endlessly disturbing content in the most mesmerizing way. Westworld explored a vast world with boundaries that were nearly impossible to see, layering depth within all of its mysteries. Sneaky Pete and Goliath both took relatively familiar concepts and helped make them completely fresh due to on-point writing and tremendous ensembles.

The winner:

Legion was a visually astounding feat that matched its look with its content, separating itself far from its X-Men roots and creating something that was impossible to forget and totally captivating to experience.

Next up: Best Comedy Series

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