My Favorite TV Shows of 2012

As I did in 2011, I wanted to end the year with my list of favorite TV shows.  As expected, some of the shows will overlap, but I have also found new shows that I would recommend to others.  I also found that my old favorites were bumping up against a batch of new entrants, so I cheated and made my life easier by providing two categories (listed in alphabetical order).  

Old Favorites (Started before 2012)

-- Borgen (Dutch television broadcast on LinkTV online)
-- Bored to Death (HBO, ended after three seasons)
-- Boss (Starz, ended after two seasons)
-- Falling Skies (TNT)
-- Fringe (Fox, ending after five seasons)
-- Justified (FX)
-- Louie C.K. (FX) 
-- Mad Men (AMC) 
-- Parks and Recreation (NBC)
-- Southland (TNT)

New Favorites (First appeared in 2012)

-- Battleground (Hulu)
-- Blood & Chrome (Internet BSG mini-series, SyFy movie in 2013)
-- The Fades (BBC, ended after one season)
-- Hatfields & McCoys (History Channel mini-series)
-- The Inbetweeners (MTV remake)
-- Last Resort (ABC, ending after one season)
-- Lilyhammer (Netflix)
-- Longmire (A&E)
-- Magic City (Starz)
-- The Newsroom (HBO)

I know, it's a lot of TV.  Of the 20 shows, 7 will not be back either because they were cancelled or never intended to last more than one season.  And what strikes me as interesting is the number of non-network shows on the list.  In fact, 3 of my 10 favorites from 2012 were not even run on television.  I guess this list reflects the growing presence of the Internet in this realm.  Who knows what 2013 will bring?  Stay tuned.