[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...

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...

A missing girl. A shocking crime. A town full of secrets. Welcome to Top of the Lake , from creators Jane Campion and Gerard Lee. At the Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Gone Girl: Inside ‘Top of the Lake,’ Jane Campion’s Haunting New Thriller," for which I sit down with Jane Campion ( The Piano ), Elisabeth Moss ( Mad Men ), Holly Hunter ( Saving Grace ), and Gerard Lee ( Sweetie ) to discuss Top of the Lake , Campion's haunting and spellbinding new thriller, which launches on Monday evening on the Sundance Channel. Jane Campion is missing. The Oscar-nominated director of such films as The Piano and Bright Star is in Los Angeles for a quick stop before the Sundance Film Festival, where her seven-part mystery drama, Top of the Lake, will be screened in its entirety over one day. We’re scheduled to meet for a drink at the Polo Lounge in the historic Beverly Hills Hotel, but Campion has vanished from the hotel, and publicists can’t locate her. Consider...

Stay cozy this New Year: I find the 18 new and returning television shows that will keep you warm this winter, from Girls and Justified to The Staircase, The Americans , and House of Cards . Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "18 Shows to Watch This Winter," in which I round up 18 new and returning noteworthy shows that you should be watching between January and March. Some you're looking forward to, some you may not have heard of, and there are a few that you've already drawn a big red circle on the calendar on the day that they return... Yes, Downton Abbey is back: the beloved British period drama returns to PBS’s Masterpiece for a third season beginning on Jan. 6, but it’s not the only new or noteworthy show heading to television this winter. Indeed, some of the most intriguing, dynamic, or plain interesting shows are launching in midseason this year, from Fox’s serial killer drama The Following and Sundance Channel’s Jane Campion-c...