[Televisionary]

Yes, returning shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Good Wife, Borgen, Parenthood , and others were aces this year. But this is all about the newcomers. At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, "The 16 Best New Television Shows Of 2013," in which I offer up my picks for the best new shows of the year, including Rectify, Orange Is the New Black, The Returned, Masters of Sex, Broadchurch , and Orphan Black , to name a few. 16. Bates Motel (A&E) The story of Norman Bates — recounted in Alfred Hitchcock’s jangling Psycho — is only too familiar to most people. But under the watchful eye of executive producers Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse, the Twin Peaks-esque Bates Motel offers a fresh look at Norman’s formative years (despite the fact that the series is set in the present day and in a different location), including his relationship with his overbearing, quixotic mother, Norma (a stellar Vera Farmiga) after they purchase a run-down motel on the Oregon coastline an...

Sundance Channel’s ‘Rectify,’ which begins on Monday, is a weighty meditation on crime, punishment, beauty, and solitude. It is also insanely riveting television. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Sundance Channel’s Rectify is the Best New Show of 2013," in which I review Sundance Channel's Rectify , which begins Monday and which I name the best new show of 2013: "With Rectify , McKinnon creates a world of light and darkness, and of heaven and hell, one that exerts a powerful gravity from which it is impossible to escape." Sundance Channel, the indie-centric network that is closely aligned with corporate sibling AMC, is quickly ascending to a place of prominence in an increasingly fragmented television landscape. For the longest time, the network was identifiable as the home of independent films, repeats of Lisa Kudrow’s short-lived HBO mockumentary The Comeback , and some forgettable reality fare. It lacked a cohesive programming i...

How to choose from the slew of content about to hit the airwaves? From miniseries (Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake ) to returning favorites ( Game of Thrones ) and new offerings ( Rectify ), I makes my picks for what's worth watching on television this spring. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, " Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Bates Motel : 15 Shows Worth Watching This Spring," in which I offer up 15 television shows to check out in the coming months, from the tried-and-true to those off the beaten path. With the promise of warmer weather just around the corner, a slew of new and returning television shows are hitting the airwaves. HBO welcomes back Game of Thrones on March 31, AMC travels back in time for another season of Mad Men on April 7, and Sundance Channel offers two spellbinding new original dramas: Top of the Lake , a mystery series from co-creator Jane Campion, and Rectify , a searing drama that looks at what life is like after being rele...