The 2015 Collider TV Awards: Miniseries and More

See all of our Best TV of 2015 here.

Over the last two days, we've explored some of the best performances and overall best comedy and drama series, and finally, we've come to a category that used to be an afterthought, but has recently become formidable. Miniseries -- once relegated to hosting bloated, maudlin network TV events -- have become art, and the miniseries (or limited series, or anthology series) is now a format that now boasts some of the best, most visually startling and emotionally compelling TV of the entire year.

The second part of this final entry to my TV Awards adds in a slew of mentions for things I loved on TV this year that didn't easily fit into my other categories. But! That's not the end -- we'll also be posting a number of features over the next two weeks about Late Night, sketch comedy series, the rise of the superhero show, villains we loved to hate, and much more, so check back for that. For now, let's close these awards with more of the year's best.

Rules: Series had to air between January 1st and December 11th 2015, Best Comedy/Drama limited to 12 series, Best Actor/Actresses limited to 10, Supporting/Guest Actor/Actresses limited to 8, Miniseries limited to 5. Broadcast series are considered for both their winter and fall seasons. Luther, which would have qualified as a TV movie, did not make my time frame cutoff, though I very much enjoyed it.

Best Miniseries

Wolf Hall (PBS)

The Jinx (HBO)

Deutschland 83 (Sundance)

Fargo (FX)

Show Me a Hero (HBO)

Winner: Fargo

Coming from someone who really didn’t much like Fargo’s first season, putting Fargo’s second season above my most beloved Wolf Hall and the startling series The Jinx (not to mention the really enjoyable Deutschland 83) is pretty high praise. But how could there be any other option, really? Fargo’s second season was gorgeous and stylistically unique, with a pitch-perfect cast all at the top of their games, and a compelling tale that even made some sense of its extreme violence. This year, Fargo was a feat of storytelling, of filmmaking, and of every other aspect. A gorgeous and detailed production that has really set a new bar for 2016 TV.

Best Actress - Miniseries

Claire Foy - Wolf Hall (PBS)

Kirsten Dunst - Fargo (FX)

Rachel McAdams - True Detective (HBO)

Queen Latifah - Bessie (HBO)

Jean Smart - Fargo (FX)

Winner: Kirsten Dunst

A formidable group here, but Kirsten Dunst’s performance of trapped Midwestern housewife Peggy Blomquist, whose abilities of self-delusion were nearly superpowered, absolutely wins out. Dunst managed to stand out in a very packed cast of incredible actors with her plucky — though occasionally deadly serious — portrayal of the woman who kicked off the whole story when she plowed over a young man in the snow-filled streets. Dunst’s Peggy was resourceful, childlike, canny, and occasionally violent. She had a perfected Lady MacBeth routine that pulled her husband down to the depths with her, but her own bravery (and seeming lack of conscience) always kept her afloat and one step ahead of her would-be assassins. Dunst was at her very best here, giving a performance unlike any other this year. It’s Peggy’s world; we’re just living in it.

Best Actor - Miniseries

Mark Rylance - Wolf Hall (PBS)

Oscar Isaac - Show Me a Hero (HBO)

Patrick Wilson - Fargo (FX)

Bokeem Woodbine - Fargo (FX)

Jonas Nay - Deutschland 83 (Sundance)

Winner: Oscar Isaac

This was exceptionally tough given my adoration for Mark Rylance and how he was incredibly magnetic in PBS’s exceptional series. But there aren’t many people who could make the inner workings of a 1980s city bureaucracy over a housing issue compelling, yet Oscar Isaac did. I respected Show Me a Hero without necessarily liking it, but Isaac’s performance was absolutely the miniseries’ highlight. His complex portrayal of real-life politician Nick Wasicsko was sincere, arrogant, passionate, frustrated, beleaguered, and ultimately defeated. It was powerful from the first moment until the last, and Isaac brought a distinctive energy to purposefully dull surroundings and difficult situations.