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Foreign TV shows of 2014

What was your favourite TV show of the year? Gotham, Scandal, Flash, Grey's Anatomy makes it to Nike’s top 12 TV shows of 2014. Check out the full list.

2014 came with the birth of a lot of TV Shows as well as the cancellation of some. We saw the birth of so many like 'The Flash, The Knick, The Affair, The leftovers, the lottery and Transparent.

While some like Selfie and Manhattan Love were short-lived, others like my favorite Lifetime TV show- Witches of East End got cancelled.

The comedy, crime and drama genre met stiff competitions as the new comers battled and got more attention this year.

I was also into a lot of Supernatural dramas (Walking Dead, Witches of East End) and tried to watch a lot of the no holds barred drama (Orange is the New Black, The Knick, How to Get away with Murder).

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This is not to say that comedy shows like The Big Bang theory and Modern Family had no place on our screens, but Mom, 2 Broke Girls, The Black-ish and Jane The Virgin joined them giving us a 2014 that we wont forget in a hurry.

Not so popular in Nigeria yet, ShowTime’s 'The  Affair' seeks to tell the story of an affair between two married people from two different points of view.

Perhaps, it is the brilliant story telling that captures viewers at first, but it is the suspense as to why Noah and Allison end up being interrogated by a detective that keeps us going.

The Affair tells the story of Noah: a teacher, a father to four and writer’s affair with Alison- A waiter who lost her son and is still trying to save her marriage to her husband Cole.

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There is more to Allison, we will later learn in the season, but what we don’t know is why Noah was arrested in the last episode, I guess we have to wait for season two!

Fans of Telenovela probably did not see this coming at all! But CW’s Jane The Virgin debuted on our screens in October. A loose adaptation of Venezuelan telenovela Juana La Virgin.

Jane the virgin is about a 23 year old Latina who becomes pregnant by being artificially inseminated by a distracted gynecologist when she does for Pap smear.

The humor is a big part of the drama’s charm giving Jane The Virgin a slot as one of the best TV dramas of 2014 despite being just 3 months old.

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Batman is probably not your favorite superhero, and Gotham understands that. So far, Executive producers have focused on James Gordon, the childhood of Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Cat woman and some of Penguins’ backstory.

My favorite character has to be Fish who is brilliantly portrayed by Jada Pinkett. Gotham carefully tells the origin stories of the Batman villains we have come to know including Joker, Scarecrow, Penguin, Fish, Catwoman etc.

Arguably the oldest TV Drama show that has held fans captive for more than 11 years, Shonda Rhimes’ Grey ‘s Anatomy makes it to one of the top TV shows of 2014

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Perhaps it is the spins, romance stories and the liberating approach that keeps us glued to our TV sets (Or computers in most cases). Whatever the case, despite character deaths and travels, our love for Meredith and Derek still stands strong eleven years after.

The curiosity as to what this TV drama show had to offer got to fever pitch when lead character Julia Louis- Dreyfus beat Orange is the new black’sTaylor Schilling and GirlsLena Dunham (Definitely two of my favorite lead female characters) at the 66th Primetime Emmy awards in August 2014

Veep’s lead character leads the drama with so much hilarity that gets you wondering if cluelessness is a trait every Veep needs to have.

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Another DC comic character gets us all asking for more this year. A spin off from Arrow, this year, Barry Allen who we last see in Arrow season 2 wakes up in the first season of Flash to realize that he has super fast powers.

In nine episodes, the “Streak” works with Star Labs Caitlin, Cisco, Dr Wells and The Arrow’s Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen and John Diggle fight to capture or save Meta-humans.

The Arrow left us wondering what happened to Oliver Queen after the last episode. But before then, we spent the entire year getting to see Queen’s exploit of the wilderness and recently China and how it affects his present day’s job as a vigilante in Starling City

From the introductions and re-introduction of villians Malcolm Merlyn and Slade Wilson to the death of Moira Queen and Sarah Lance to the new Thea, the writers of Arrow kept us on our toes for the most of 2014.

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TGIT has never been as intense as we witnessed this year; ABC saw social media go into frenzy with the introduction of How to Get Away With Murder. Executive produced by Shonda Rhimes; creator of Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, within three weeks of its debut, the series gave CW’s Vampire Diaries a run for its money coming tops in adult rating while The Vampire’s Diaries’ ratings went down.

We are still yet to understand Annalise Keating as a character, sometimes she blows hot, other times she blows cold, but Viola Davies is definitely doing a great job alongside five wannabe lawyers and her two loyal lawyers who will return to our TV screens come January 29

If Frank Underwood is king, then House of Cards rule the TV sphere, The Netflix drama continues to explore the ruthlessness of the congressman that we all hate to love. We definitely didn’t expect him to push Zoe Barnes in front of a moving train or finally getting sworn in as president at the end of season 2, but one thing is for sure Frank Underwood’s quotes got us through the most of 2014.

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Shunned and re shunned by major awards this year, Orphan Black definitely one of the most brilliant shows to return to our TV screens this year.

The BBC American drama’s lead character Tatiana Maslany showcases an impressive multiple character performance playing Sarah Manning, Alison Hendricks, Elizabeth Childs, Cosima Niehaus, Rachael Duncan, Helena as well as transgender Tony. This year, we see that last season’s villain is nothing compared to Rachael Duncan and the revelation that male clones also exist.

We spent most of the second quarter waiting for the second season of Orange is the New Black, and creator Jenji Kohan and the Netflix team made it worth it for us by making snippets available to us day in day out.

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Personally, this season is one of my favorites (Obviously or why will it make this list?) But the producers and writers tell the story carefully taking a calculated risk of veering from the lead character Piper Chapman as a major part of the story. We are exposed to the back end story of Crazy Eyes, Taystee, Sister Jane Ingalls, Gloria Mendoza, Miss Rosa and my all time favorite back-story – Lorna Morello.

No doubt, we owe this year’s Scandal ‘s genius to Eli Pope and Shonda Rhimes for brilliantly keeping us on our toes every Thursday. While Olivia Pope continues on her quest to save the world, we spent most of the year loving villain Eli Pope and Maya Pope and most recently Elizabeth portrayed by Portia De Rossi.

Cyrus and Olivia’s recent #BitchBaby performance and Olivia’s failed attempt to shoot her father took social media by storm. Still trying to take all that in, Olivia disappears. We definitely love the spins; turns, suspense and jitters scandal gives us after every episode

WORTHY OF NOTE;

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Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, 2 Broke Girls, The Knick, Madam Secretary, Sons Of Anarchy, The Walking Dead, Stalker, and Girls.

By Nike Fagbule.

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