My 10 favorite TV shows on right now

1. The Walking Dead 

AMC’s zombie apocalypse drama “The Walking Dead” just finished its best season yet. It’s like an epic novel where you don’t know where the journey will take you.

2. Orphan Black 

BBC America’s human-clone conspiracy drama “Orphan Black” had a great first season, which I caught up on recently through Netflix on DVD. Season two starts April 19.

3. Revolution 

NBC’s low-rated world-without-electricity drama deserves a bigger audience. The show has great action, cool plot twists and interesting characters. I hope it gets renewed for a third season.

4. Adventure Time 

Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time” is a cartoon for adults and kids. It’s got funny dialog, wild stories and a trippy universe.

5. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD 

ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” got off to a rocky start, but found its footing midway through its freshman season. It has the rich story-telling, character relationships and dialog that you would expect from Joss Whedon show.

6. Gold Rush 

Discovery Channel’s “Gold Rush” is the gold standard for reality TV shows. I enjoy watching as its three teams hunt for gold with varying degrees of success.

7. American Horror Story 

FX channel’s “American Horror Story” continues to shock and thrill with its single-season anthology stories, which so far have included “Murder House,” “Asylum” and “Coven.” Up next is “Freak Show.”

8. Supernatural 

Now in its ninth season, the CW horror series “Supernatural” is getting long in the tooth, but still has some life in it. It’s been renewed for a 10th season and a spin-off series has been ordered. The CW may be pushing the franchise too far like it did with “The Vampire Diaries,” a show I used to like but quit watching when the quality degraded.

9. Hannibal 

Another low-rated NBC drama worth watching is “Hannibal,” presuming you have a strong stomach. The grisly show, based on characters from the serial killer novel “Red Dragon,” at least deserves to finish its story.

10. Almost Human 

The Fox sci-fi cop show “Almost Human” is on the bubble and likely will be canceled. It was an interesting failure. The series put too much emphasis on standalone police procedural episodes and didn’t spend enough time on a larger more involving narrative.
It showed its potential in the episode titled “Unbound,” featuring guest stars Gina Carano and John Larroquette.

I’m also into the SyFy series “Helix,” which I hate-watched for half of its 13-episode first-season run. The second half of the season grew on me after the story changed direction.
Other shows I enjoy include NBC’s singing competition show “The Voice,” History channel’s “American Pickers,” the Weather Channel’s “Prospectors,” Animal Planet’s “Monsters Inside Me,” and Science channel’s “How It’s Made.”
P.S. This list only includes shows on broadcast and basic cable.