Max - Sultan of Television: Winter Pre-Gaming (The Six Most Exciting Winter Prospects)

The 2015 winter season has a lot to be excited for. FX/FXX is putting up the majority of the goods, but good ol' HBO and AMC have some to contribute as well. BBC is throwing in its hat with Broadchurch season two, and CBS will join us once again come February 25th. In fact, there's so much to look forward to, that I thought a list was in order. Thus, I will be ranking the six most exciting shows premiering in January and February.

The first contribution to this list comes courtesy of AMC. The Walking Dead is unable to be described as anything but a phenom. What started as a low-budget comic book adaptation on the stingiest of channels somehow rose to become the most watched cable show of all time. While generally high quality, the show fluctuates constantly. While one week we'll be given the extraordinary "The Grove," another week we'll be handed the season 5 A finale, "Coda." While not completely show-stoppingly awful, the midseason finale really didn't do much to push viewers into excitement for the show's return. Prior to the episode I would have put TWD much higher on this list. But, with new shows and seasons looking more and more interesting and compelling, Dead loses a couple tick marks. The biggest points of intrigue heading into the latter half of season 5 consist of how Maggie will react to the death of her sister, where the gang will continue from here, and whether or not the show can hold its quality together.

It's Always Sunny is on its way to being the longest running live action sit com of all time. This is fantastic news in my opinion. Since its inaugural season, Sunny had been delivering consistent laughs. While this may have taken a spike during the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th season and taken a dip during its 7th and 8th, the 9th season had a huge upswing, returning a bit to Sunny's roots. Thus, the tenth season makes it into the shows with the most hype. Advertised for this season is the gang being obnoxious and drunk on a plane, the gang being obnoxious and drunk in various areas of Philly, and the gang being obnoxious and drunk right in their bar. While it may seem like more of the same, if the writing stays as tight as the previous season, we will be in for a treat. Sunny may not be the comedy behemoth it was five years ago, but it remains one of the funniest, most fun to watch 20 minutes on TV.

I love Survivor. I love quality television. I love Survivor. I love quality television. Does this ruin my credibility? I would not like to think so... but perhaps it does. Whether or not it does, I am excited as hell for the thirtieth season of the best reality TV show of all time. This time around, we have a full season of newbies divided into three tribes: White Collar, Blue Collar, and No Collar. Obviously, the idea is that everyone will be on different financial and intellectual levels, making everyone have different goals and sympathies towards each other. Those on the internet and those at CBS have hyped the season up to be tremendous, hopefully outdoing the rather drab season 29: San Juan Del Sur. Though nothing is for sure, the fact that Survivor is still going strong headed into its 30th edition is welcome news. If the rumors are true and the 30th anniversary of Survivor is indeed fantastic, I, along with hopefully all of you, am totally watching.

Though it's debatable because of the existence of HBO's Veep, I'd say that Archer is either the first or second best comedy currently on TV. Now, season five (Archer: Vice) took a bit of a dip in quality, but with the jokes still staying sharp as ever if not just a little less, I am still psyched for the new season. I've said it many times before, but the greatest comedy of all time is Arrested Development. If there is one show that is a bit of a brainchild of AD, it is Archer. With clever references, quick jokes that fly by so fast they give you whiplash (watch out J.K. Simmons), and completely out-there yet original characters, Archer is really making an effort to etch its name beside Arrested. Oh - and it also uses Jessica Walter in the exact same role as she played in Arrested Development. So almost all of the characters are original. Anyway, with the sixth season of the show coming up in a week, it's exciting to see what hilarious episodes are cooking up with go-around.

When I first heard the idea for Better Call Saul, I admit I thought it was a joke. A completely separate show, still written by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, that takes place before Breaking Bad, still following Saul Goodman and Mike Ehrmantraut. However, once about a year past and discussions kept going on about the spin-off, it seemed that it would actually come to fruition. Now, with only about a month between the premiere and now, it is definite. While it could very easily fall apart into stupidity, the writers are still fantastic, the actors are still fantastic, and AMC still maintains a pretty bang-up track record (Low Winter Sun and Halt and Catch Fire never happened... okay?) Thus, the once jokingly thought of Better Call Saul makes number two on this list. Will it be awful? Will it be as good as Breaking Bad? This show is the biggest question mark for me. It could out-do everything on this list or fall way below them.

FX caps off this list with my number one most anticipated show: Justified. Any time a fantastic show is coming to a close, hype is usually surrounding it. When Boardwalk Empire was ending, it was the most hyped show of the Fall season. Come Spring, Mad Men will probably be the most exciting show as it heads into its final season. Coming up in the final season of Justified will be the long awaited showdown between Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder (hopefully). With Boyd's wife as an informant for police, Raylan at the end of his rope emotionally as more love interests slip through his fingers, and the potential retirement of Art, a lot is sure to go down. Throw in the fact that several new guest stars are confirmed to come to Harlan and start causing trouble and the final season of Justified seems all the more enticing. Will it live up to expectations? That really remains to be seen. However, for now, the list stays the list.