If the biggest takeaway you get from this piece is, yes, Rotten Tomatoes ranks TV shows now, then yes, Rotten Tomatoes ranks TV shows now. Danger already informed you of Dads getting the ol’ Bucky Larson last week, which means Lucky 7, a series that was quickly scratched off ABC’s schedule after only two episodes, is 29% more critically adored than Seth MacFarlane’s racist bro-stink. I could spend all day looking at the Tomatometer scores for terrible shows, but then I remembered Work It! (5%!) is a thing that happened. Historians will one day try to make sense of the events of January 3 and January 10, 2012, to no avail.
Instead, I scrolled through some of our favorite, or at least most discussed, shows to see what Rotten Tomatoes’ Top Critics and Normal Joe Certifiedfreshsixpack thinks are its best and worst seasons. Also, “TV Zone” is still a relatively new invention, so dozens of shows haven’t been tabulated yet, which explains why you won’t see The Wire, The Sopranos, and The Simpsons below, although the “Best” answer for two of those three is season four.
30 Rock
Best: Season 6 (100%)
Worst: Season 4 (67%)
Archer
Best: Seasons 2, 3 (100%)
Worst: Season 4 (90%)
Boardwalk Empire
Best: Season 1 (96%)
Worst: Seasons 2, 3 (83%)
Breaking Bad
Best: Seasons 2-5 (100%)
Worst: Season 1 (79%)
Dexter
Best: Seasons 2, 5 (100%)
Worst: Season 8 (65%)
Game of Thrones
Best: Season 3 (100%)
Worst: Season 1 (80%)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Best: Seasons 3-9 (100%)
Worst: Seasons 1, 2 (80%)
Justified
Best: Season 2 (100%)
Worst: Season 1 (94%)
The League
Best: Season 4 (100%)
Worst: Season 1 (50%)
Louie
Best: Seasons 2, 3 (100%)
Worst: Season 1 (86%)
Mad Men
Best: Season 2 (100%)
Worst: Season 1 (87%)
Parks and Recreation
Best: Seasons 3, 4, 6 (100%)
Worst: Season 1 (57%)
Sons of Anarchy
Best: Seasons 2, 4 (100%)
Worst: Season 6 (80%)
Terriers
Best: Season 1 (94%)
Worst: OH WAIT
True Blood
Best: Season 3 (94%)
Worst: Season 6 (40%)
The Walking Dead
Best: Season 1, 3 (96%)
Worst: Season 2 (90%)
