Can't figure out any reason to use a third party launcher any more. Nothing is as simple and straight forward as the stock launcher.

I'm using TVLauncher because it's nice and simple to use for the wife and kids. It's free and you can get rid of the ads if you purchase it, but the ads only show up in the settings screen, so they don't clutter the home screen and I forget they're there during regular use.

I've heard people say HALauncher is good too, but I preferred the simpler more straight forward look of TVLauncher.

No but make sure you search for and update the launcher manually in the Play Store, mine did not and it was pretty out of date.