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Almost missed the deadline lmao. This year I wanted more cheerful and cutesy than serious, because I was using TV as an escape from the hell world that was 2020, so I didn't watch as much new TV as I normally do, and considering how little prestige TV I cared to watch before the world went to poo poo, this is gonna be a very twee list. HM) Teenage Bounty Hunters  Netflix cancelled this, and I found that out halfway through watching. I'm super sad that it wound up falling off my list, but I found the gif for it and by gum I'm gonna use it. 10) Motherland Fort Salem  Fun show about a group of witches in an alternate history. I'm excited for season 2. It's good, it's gay, it's on the list. 9) Ducktales  This show has dropped down since last year. Not because it got worse, but because the highs of the latest season didn't hit as hard. Mostly I'm sad that I know it won't be coming back for a Season 4, and that the Darkwing Duck show isn't just a spinoff after that very good backdoor pilot. Still worth a watch. 8) My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom.  The first anime in years that had me watching it as soon as it came out. The only other one that came close for me was Kaguya-Sama: Love is War. 7) Carmen Sandiego  While I feel that Season 3 didn't reach the heights of the first two, Carmen Sandiego was still a fun watch this year. Tying the season together with the theme of masks was a smart choice, and I really like it. I'm excited for the last season this Friday. 6) Stargirl  After the past few years oversaturated the superhero genre with grim, serious dudes who have to lie to their loved ones to protect them, Stargirl is a breath of fresh air, in that she's a peppy, cheerful girl who basically spends her time refuting the grimness of various superheroics, to remind us of the core thing that is missing from most Superhero media in the past few years (except, ironically, the worst piece of superhero media to come out in the past few years, the Avengers game): That Superheroes are, at their core, awesome. Courtney is great, Pat is great, Yolanda is great, etc etc but those are the highlights. 5) Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts  I forgot to put this in the writeup initially because I was editing the list as I wrote it up and accidentally wound up deleting this instead of moving it down. This was a great show from start to finish, which somehow all happened in the year 2020 what was last year. 4) Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure  Whoever it was who decided "hey let's take Tangled, and make more of it" is my new favorite person at Disney. Tangled The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure is 3 seasons of "More Tangled." Rapunzel is still her optimistic self, Eugene is still his wise-rear end who is more of a hero than he likes to claim. Add in new characters, such as Rapunzel's handmaiden with ambitions of knighthood, the king and queen who are (justifiably) concerned at losing their daughter again, and a young inventor who just wants to make his aloof father proud, and you have a fun story that I will continue to recommend to anyone who liked the original film. 3) Harley Quinn  Any other year this would be my #1, it was great and I love Harley and Ivy's entire dynamic, even ignoring the fact that they're gay. I'm excited to see where they go now, especially with Batgirl, who inevitably will be thrown into the confrontation of Season 3 between her friends and her father. 2) The Owl House  Sometimes a perfect romance is little miss perfect and an ordinary otter... with a dark side. Also Hooty exists. 1) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power  I could write a paragraph about how despite the flaws in the show I liked the heart or something, but when you get down to it, the gays won, we weren't queerbaited this time, and it was glorious. Senerio fucked around with this message at 09:12 on Jan 10, 2021 |
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Jan 10, 2021 09:02
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Just in case you counted my list already I made a change and put Kipo back in because i accidentally deleted it while moving shows around.
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Jan 10, 2021 09:12
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I'm stupid exhausted, and had difficulty putting this list together. If there are random run on sentences or whatever, that's why. 10. Schitt's Creek Sorry, Ted Lasso, I only have room on my top ten list for one cute show about the healing power of niceness, and this show wins. 9. Better Call Saul An excellent season of an excellent show -- and, I agree with Escobarbarian above when I say that it's the best season that's come out of Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul. Kim's great, Saul's great, the drug plot finally feels relevant to the show (and it's tense af). But, I'm going to be honest, after over a decade spent in this universe, I'm beginning to tire of the whole vibe of the piece, which is why it ranks to comparatively low. Still, very good. 8. Cursed Best adventure series of the year, excellently plotted and emotionally compelling, and, yeah, fun. I like the way it's unabashedly weird and wild, borrowing from history and Arthurian lore with these big, ambitious swings. I was consistently surprised by the way the plot moved, and the speed with which it travelled; it's the rare super serialised show that feels like an actual epic, rather than just an morass of subplots. I also appreciate the way it used its Arthurian lore to structure the show as a tragedy. 7. P-Valley Not sure anyone around here watched this, but if you didn't you should probably give it a chance. P-Valley concerns the prospects of a struggling strip club down in Mississippi, and the women and men who work there. It's 6. The Wilds I loved the first episode, until the end, which I absolutely hated. But I gave subsequent episodes a punt and I fell back in love. The performances from its teenage cast are very, very good, and I like that the characters are frequently so lovely to each other, in ways I find believably human. If Lost was ever truly character driven, it would be a lot more like this show. 5. Raised By Wolves A Biblical parable gussied up with a bit of science fiction. It's compelling, weird, and occasionally quite beautiful. Plus the show's decision to engage in wordless exposition shows just how stupid a lot of shows expect their audiences to be. 4. Mrs America The other show on this list about women tearing shreds out of each other. If I were dating shows, it would seem I have a type. 3. We Are Who We Are Heady and emotionally charged, capturing the experience of being a queer teen in a way that's both uncomfortable and probably very honest. Great performances, beautifully shot. Deeply, deeply indulgent too, probably in ways that aren't worth investigating too closely. But absolutely worth your time anyway. 2. Industry A satire that's meaner than black ice, this -- along with Succession -- was a real throwback to HBO's shut-up to keep-up era of television (aka its Golden Age). Unlike a lot of lesser shows, Industry never makes the mistake of falling in love with its cast (thank god), and seems to firmly understand what acceptable human behaviour should look like without ever falling into mawkishness or moralising. 1. Avenue 5 A queasy social satire masquerading as a space comedy, with a mid-season horror sequence that'll stick with me for a long time. I've no idea why people didn't like this very much, barring a couple of poo poo jokes in the pilot, this show's been excellent. Excellent acting by funny, likable performers (some of whom are playing terrifying monsters, to be sure). The set design, equal parts IKEA and Charlie and Chocolate Factory, was stunning. Probably the year's best soundtrack too; sorry The Mandalorian.
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Jan 10, 2021 09:20
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That’s a real cool list. I enjoyed P-Valley a bunch - it was only a few places out of my top 50.
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Jan 10, 2021 09:41
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Senerio posted:Almost missed the deadline lmao. This year I wanted more cheerful and cutesy than serious, because I was using TV as an escape from the hell world that was 2020, so I didn't watch as much new TV as I normally do, and considering how little prestige TV I cared to watch before the world went to poo poo, this is gonna be a very twee list. Huh, I somehow forgot about Ducktales and Rapunzel. My list is final, but the last season if Rapunzel was really great and had some incredibly impressive music pieces, which everyone should see! All in all, senerio has good taste when it comes to TV shows. This list is a bit heavily weighted towards homosexual representation, but that's just because the shows which represent it are well written. Teenage Bounty hunters was fine too. Edit: Oh goddamn it! I forgot Hilda too. That was not even a month ago. I blame the various 2020 tv in review lists I looked at to jog my memory. Apparently the people who write those feel too sophisticated for animation. cant cook creole bream fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Jan 10, 2021 |
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Jan 10, 2021 10:32
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I was trying to finish The Queens Gambit before the deadline but with GDQ and life stuff I didn’t get to it. Overall i realized I didn’t actually watch that much TV this year. While lots of people had more inside time, I had to learn how to film and give lectures online, so I was even busier than usual. Anyway, my list. Honorable mention: The Last Dance I grew up a huge Bulls fan, but since I went to NC State I am required to hate all things Carolina. Regardless, this was a fun documentary, and reminded me that I like basketball. 10. Upload The premise for this was cute, but I found it a bit boring at times. A fun relaxing show that doesn’t make you think too much. 9. New Journey to the West The 8th season was filmed under quarantine restrictions here in Korea so the cast couldn’t really go abroad or travel around much like they usually do, but they managed to put out what was probably their best season yet. 8. Ozark It took me a while to get into season 3 but when I did I liked it. A big bummer though. 7. Lovecraft Country Like many others I felt that the strong points of this were amazing, but some episodes were really weak. Lots of ups and downs here. The monsters in episode 8 were absolutely terrifying. I shrieked every time they came out. 6. The Queen’s Gambit I finished this after the original deadline, and am glad I did. It dragged a bit at times, and was somewhat predictable, but it was still a fun show. The eyes on Beth are scary. 5. Dark The finale was great, but also confused the hell out of me. I think I need to go back and watch the whole thing from the beginning. More people need to watch this. 4. The Mandalorian Star Wars. I’m not sure I like how the episodes don’t really fit together sometimes, but the second half of the season was really good. 3. Better Call Saul Good but so depressing. I need to go back and watch this from the beginning again sometime. I really think it may surpass Breaking Bad for me. Jimmy is such a lovable guy. 2. What We Do in the Shadows Amazing. This season was even better than the first season. And as others have said, Jackie Daytona. 1. Ted Lasso I had heard about this from others and wrote it off, but when I finally watched it I was hooked. This is a show that encourages you to hate it based on its premise alone, and then just gives you the biggest hug and makes you fall in love with it. Everyone needs to watch this show. So that’s my 2020 in TV! Look forward to seeing the results. Edit: finished The Queen’s Gambit and have edited my list. cryptoclastic fucked around with this message at 06:44 on Jan 15, 2021 |
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Jan 10, 2021 12:08
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Honourable Mentions Umbrella Academy S2, Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist, Brave New World, Amazing Race, Halifax Retribution, Love Victor, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Nailed It, She-Ra, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend, Kipo, Unsolved Mysteries Agents of SHIELD - Come on Disney, acknowledge and celebrate your unloved child. Bring Quake over to one of your new shows. Superstore - Superstore has always been a breezy retail sit-com which often reflects current issue. None so much as the Season 6 opener. Christ. It really should be a historical document at this point - https://youtu.be/wGfuLCI9BOs Ducktales – Look, this cute cartoon is ever-so improved on the 90s version. It’s a shame they’ve cancelled it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVAUxd3_l48 At Home Alone Together – The good old ABC came up with this gem during lockdown. Aunty Donna’s Big Old House of Fun – EVERYTHING’S A DRUM! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2T7oLbmvx4 Infinity Train S3 – Well they took the antagonists from S2 and made this season about them. It certainly got dark. 10) The Crown – I have never watched this show before. But I heard Princess Diana was in S4, so I tuned in. It was a glossy, soapy reimagining of history. Those monsters treated Diana terribly. 9) Westworld – This is a shiny show that isn’t nearly as smart as it believes it is. It frequently squanders interesting plots, characters and themes. But the concept & art design/cinematography is the part which keeps me engaged. Let’s see how things go with Dolores in S4. 8) Mad As Hell – They kept this gem of a satirical show running during the strict lockdown in Melbourne. Shaun Micallef really is a national treasure https://youtu.be/pGaAszsh57s 7) Harley Quinn – Watching Harley Quinn & Ivy interact is great. Plus, the number of characters they’ve killed off is surprising. It constantly subverts expectations and keeps you laughing. Oh and I loved the Bachelorette Party on Wonder Woman’s island. Jen is the best. 6) The Haunting of Bly Manor – I didn’t know I was getting a ghost story as a cover for a lesbian love story, but I really enjoyed it. 5) What We Do in the Shadows – The cast are fantastic and it’s constantly hilarious. The mundane BS of getting a chain email leads to these out-of-time vampires losing their poo poo. [img]https://media.giphy.com/media/PFS1MaHPKx2RYrf2Pf/giphy.gif/[img] 4) Lovecraft Country – Again, a flawed but glossy show. It has a lot more to say than Westworld. The pilot really encapsulates that the magic and monsters are on the periphery, it’s the racist monsters in the every day to look out for.  3) Drag Race – RuPaul Charles can be a problematic person. But their show still gives a platform to a diverse range of queens from around the world. Season 12 was fascinating in that they effectively ‘edited out’ a contestant as allegations (and confessions) arose when the season premiered. The re-edit certainly helped give the cast more air-time and reduced a clear winner’s edit. Never forget Crystal’s Baby Bird lip-sync. Honourable mention to Drag Race Canada & Holland. Oh and Shea & Jujubee for carrying a dismal AS5. 2) Legends of Tomorrow – Honestly, the best DC series. The fact it doesn’t take itself seriously is a godsend. This season we said goodbye to Ray Palmer (total mistake), but we still had a wide range of ridiculous (in the best way) stories. From exploding Rasputin to captive Marie Antoinette, Legends improved from a middling S4. 1) The Good Place – We only had 4 episodes in 2020, but the ending of The Good place was one of the best finales I’ve seen. As soon as it was released, I had downloaded the episode off of Netflix before boarding a flight. Watching the characters go left me in tears. It wrapped up almost everything perfectly. On another note, I still want to know - How did Simone die?
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Jan 10, 2021 15:19
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Man, despite having all the free time in the world, I really didn't watch a whole lot of TV this year. 10. Briarpatch I caught the first two episodes of this at a film festival last year and was taken by the fun, weird pulp vibes. 9. The Good Place I'm glad this show ended on a strong note because I felt like it was on the downturn a lot of comedies keep airing through (and end up worse for it). Absolutely stuck the landing on the finale. 8. Bojack Horseman Have always been slow to get on this (I just bounce off of cartoons), but I binged a lot of this recent and its as great as everyone says. The ending was kind of heartbreaking but hopeful, which feels right for the series. 7. Dimension 20's A Crown of Candy Spent a lot of time watching DnD actual plays and really dug basically everything Dimension 20 put out, this could really be for any of one the campaigns they released this year. This particular campaign was Game of Thrones by way of Candyland, and it worked really well. The shocking twists and intrigue you'd expect from the latter while still being funny as hell. 6. Devs An exceptionally stylish show that was a visual delight to watch. 5. Ted Lasso What a delightful show. I wasn't expecting much given how I was pretty tired of the commercial concept by its second go around, but I'm glad I checked it out. The relentless positivity was a needed balm for a dogshit year. 4. What We Do In The Shadows For my money, the funniest show on TV. I really enjoy how every character gets to take a turn in the spotlight. Jackie Daytona: Human Bartender  3. Normal People This feels like it aired forever ago, but its a lovely romance. Its beautifully shot (man, did it made me miss traveling), has a solid soundtrack and the lead actors have just incredible chemistry. 2. Fargo Its my least favourite entry to the series, but still pretty great in my opinion. As always, the cinematography and the music were on-point, and despite the messier story, I found it was just a watch for the vibes. 1. The Good Lord Bird Good lord, Ethan Hawke does the absolute most acting possible in this show and I could not get enough of it. I saw someone refer to it as a Tarantino film if it was trying to say something, and I can see that. Its insane and over-the-top and just a whole lot of fun. And not to mention, it's just a beautiful show to look at.
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Jan 10, 2021 16:02
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Another year where most of the shows I watch are reality TV and/or garbage. The Boys had a few too many pointless B plots. I'll Be Gone in the Dark stood out among the many poorly paced 2020 docuseries. The Circle made me watch every single other international version. Survivor's Winners at War season was mid. Westworld... actually sucked this season, and this is coming from someone who defends S2. 10. CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA “Happy? Often. But content? Always.” This didn’t initially make my top ten until the fourth-wall-breaking episode where Sabrina travels to an alternate reality to kill the original show’s Salem because he’s an eldritch monster. So stupid it circles right back to being enjoyable. Netflix has banished it to the void so it wasn’t able to wrap many plot threads up but the ending was acceptable enough. Still hoping Michelle Gomez wins an award for her role(s). 9. THE CROWN “It’s wicked, and it’s cold hearted, and it’s cruel. And it’s entirely in keeping with the ruthlessness I myself have experienced in this family.” I started watching during season three because I love Olivia Colman but season four made her a tertiary character to a riveting performance by Gillian Anderson playing Margaret Thatcher and meandering Princess Diana quarrels that ultimately went nowhere. It’s a shame that this was the last season for Olivia, Helena Bonham Carter, and the rest of the cast so I’m unsure if I’ll continue watching season five. 8. SEARCH PARTY “You’re all psychopaths! Just manipulating and killing people all the livelong day!” This show has the weirdest release schedule. S1 aired in 2016. S2 aired in 2017. S3 was dropped all at once last June. S4 airs next week. So I knew this show existed but didn’t binge until HBO Max bought the series. And binge I did. It’s rare that I call a comedy “wild,” “unpredictable,” and “adrenaline-inducing” but here we are. 7. LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE “You didn’t make good choices. You had good choices. Options that being rich, and white, and entitled gave you.” This is another adaption of a book I’ve never read. Honestly I came for Reese Witherspoon and stayed for Reese Witherspoon. This show did what Big Little Lies didn’t and gave her a character that she can really chew scenery with. Kerry Washington is also great as a foil and provides an equally soapy performance. I’m overall impressed that this show managed to address so many social issues and not be horribly offensive. 6. CANADA'S DRAG RACE “Priyanka, the only thing you’re loving is stupid.” The Drag Race™©® franchise aired 4 renditions last year and this is the one making the cut. The first season of CDR was refreshing because it didn’t have notorious fracker RuPaul hosting. I also expected a bootleg production but they had a budget this time around! This season also can’t be praised without mentioning the incredibly talented cast all worthy of an all-star season. I got a kick out of combining Drag Race challenges with Canadiana and it was the most fun show I watched this year. 5. NORMAL PEOPLE "I guess we just misunderstood each other." Another! Book! Adaption! This is one of those shows that is only a couple of episodes but spans a number of years. Normal People beats Riverdale this year for the oldest looking actors playing high school kids. I HATED the high school chapter because I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough but once it advanced to later stages in life it picked up (as much as a show about people wistfully staring out windows can be). I love me a romance story on a collision course with a heartbreaking ending and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards. If y’all have heard of this it’s probably because of the sex scenes. 4. THE MANDALORIAN “He means more to me than you will ever know.” I’m not a Star Wars person.  I don’t like either The Last Jedi or Rise of Skywalker. I don’t know why I watched this beyond the insatiable desire to consume every piece of pop culture (or maybe it was Baby Yoda) but I’m glad I did. The Mandalorian is good because it has adventurous world building and believable progression. The only thing I’m worried about now is the inclusion of so many extended universe characters and plot points that’ll just have a very casual fan like me feel like I’m falling behind. Oh and fire Gina Carano.3. LOVECRAFT COUNTRY “We’ve both done monstrous things, but that does not make us monsters. We could be the people we see in each other. We just have to choose to be.” This is a show that gets its merit from the performances rather than the plot. I really expected some more interesting Lovecraftian lore and monsters than what we got. Ultimately what succeeded most were the monster-of-the-week type stories and Meet Me in Daegu may be my favourite episode of TV this year. Shoutout to Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Aunjanue Ellis, Wunmi Mosaku, Jamie Chung and Courtney B. Vance for carrying this. 2. SCHITT'S CREEK “Were the crows nice? My uncle had a pair that kept trying to get me to take my bra off.” There’s a reason why this swept the entire comedy category at the Emmys. Everything about Schitt’s Creek was loveable down to the final minute. Catherine O’Hara really fastforwarded herself into gay icon status. 1. INSECURE “The last couple months it just feels like, we've been... off.” I think Insecure is currently the best and most underrated show on television. The cinematography and lighting are gorgeous. The music immerses you in the Los Angeles that these actors inhabit. Insecure’s done relationship fallouts before but this season focused on the friendship breakup between the two leads and it hurt. Not many shows can illicit the gambit of emotional responses from me but this one did in every episode. Now can we finally give Kelli a storyline?
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Jan 10, 2021 17:32
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Insecure didn’t make my list this year but gotta admit I was fuckin impressed that they did a whole Issa/Lawrence episode that not only wasn’t annoying and tiresome but was actually a season highlight
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Jan 10, 2021 17:35
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cant cook creole bream posted:This list is a bit heavily weighted towards homosexual representation Explicitly so, because I'm bi.
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Jan 10, 2021 18:44
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Not making the list: The years I remember to make this list, it's usually pretty stuffed with comic book/superhero stuff. That's dialed down a bit. Notably, Arrow isn't making the cut this year, even though I genuinely loved that show the whole way through, and I do think they generally stuck the landing (minus building up Mia, just for CW to pass on her show). Another superhero show I'm snubbing is the Boys, which I enjoyed, but doesn't really resonate with me since I hate "superheroes, but evil/assholes" stories. Also not appearing: Ozark: I liked seasons 1 and 2, but 3 never sold me on the Ben character. Fargo: Should be on here, but I have not finished the season. THE ACTUAL LIST 10. Avenue 5 The entire show is some kind of prophetic metaphor for 2020 and how everything can be ruined by stupid people who are easily convinced by other stupid people. 9. Better Call Saul A very well made show that I wish I liked more. I think the last Lalo action scene left a bad taste in my mouth. And Jimmy's story has been much less engaging after season 3. 8. Lucifer Small seasons = big fun. 7. DC's Legends of Tomorrow Absolutely THE superhero show. Here's hoping it can still knock it out of the park next year without Brandon Routh. 6. The Good Place The whole show was one wild ride. I think it's done the high concept comedy that pulls on your heartstrings concept so well, I kinda only want to watch braindead sitcoms for the next while... 5. What We Do in the Shadows Okay, not exactly braindead, but it definitely scratches that itch for something simpler and crass, despite the slightly out there concept. 4. Upload Robbie Amell is handsome. Andy Allo is cute. Allegra Edwards is hot. The fluffy parts were comfy. The conspiracy parts were... passable. 3. The Queen's Gambit Anya Taylor Joy's weird alien eyes elevate an otherwise straightforward and cliche story. 2. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist This was the first show I binge watched in a weekend in lockdown. Before that I was still in "this is all going to blow over soon" mode. It has the kind of lighthearted joy that we all need, tempered with the real human drama of a father that's going to pass away soon. It's also nice that we can have a musical show on network television, following in the footsteps of CXG or Galavant and the like. 1. Taskmaster But this is actually the greatest quarantine show, bar none.
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Jan 10, 2021 20:27
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Writing this with the caveat that I did not watch a ton of new shows this year and I'm sure there are things that came out that, had I watched them, would have been on here instead. With that said: 10) Lovecraft Country I didn't love it overall, but there were enough good individual elements that I don't regret watching it. And the cast was absolutely fantastic. 9) Truth Seekers A show about YouTube conspiracy/paranormal culture that didn't just give blind credence to racist, anti-science bullshit. Plus, it was actually both fun and funny. 8) Moonbase 8 A sci-fi show, minus sci-fi, and with three of my favorite comedians of the past decade, and with a plot designed to piss off Elon Musk fanboys. 7) Primal Samurai Jack blended with Conan the Barbarian. One thing about it I really appreciate is the bond between Spear and Fang; it's not a dinosaur as pet, it's a true companionship of equality between them. And it shows how good animation and storyboarding can get plot across without script. 6) The Flight Attendant I was not expecting to like this, and while there was a whole storyline that did not seem like it fit in with the show, it was fun, stylish, and had great acting. Not sure if season two will be able to keep it up, but the first season at least was a great surprise. 5) The Eric Andre Show Ladies and gentlemen, it needs no explanation. With this being the last season, I feel like a certain era of TV comedy has ended, but it ended on a high note. 4) The Mandalorian Is it high art? No. Is it fun and makes me think of the 1990s Star Wars EU come to life? Yes. Though I am a bit worried about the future of the show; hopefully now that the mass of spinoffs have been launched the third season won't be as overstuffed. 3) The Boys Something that points out that not only superhero culture, but also Disney corporate culture, is linked to the current far-right rise, and came out at a very opportune moment even before the events of the last week. 2) Upload Like the best Black Mirror episodes, this was just plausible enough (in tone if not specifics) to make it a believable dystopia, while also still being and funny and full of heart. 1) What We Do in the Shadows One of the best comedies of recent years, and one that I think was undeniably an improvement on the first season, which is doubly impressive given I was worried that it would be worse given the creators were less involved this season.
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Jan 10, 2021 23:58
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10. Fargo “East/West” was a tour de force. The rest wasn’t as great as previous seasons, but I loved that episode at least. 9. The Mandalorian I have some issues with the finale, but the penultimate episode was one of my favorite of the year. 8. Snowpiercer A well-executed spin on the same idea as the movie. Not quite as polished, but still good. 7. Great Pretender A really charming, fun anime about con artists with great characters. The ending is a little lacking imo, but worth a watch. 6. Rent-a-Girlfriend The best anime I watched this year was also the horniest. Underneath all the fanservice and jokes about the protagonist’s masturbation habits was a surprisingly heartfelt story about a dude with severe validation issues trying to learn self-respect, as well as the human need to form relationships with other people. 5. Agents of SHIELD The final season was a joyous celebration of everything the show is and was. 4. What We Do In The Shadows Jackie Daytona is so loving good. Almost as funny as any scene with Harvey Guillén. 3. Better Call Saul HOW DOES RHEA SEEHORN NOT HAVE AN EMMY 2. The Good Place The finale was incredible. One of my new favorite sitcom endings. 1. Dispatches From Elsewhere This can’t be everything there is. It just can’t. Something has to change. There has to be more. Dispatches From Elsewhere is a show about that impulse. It’s about the desire to know you’re special. It’s about not knowing how to be happy. But more than that, it’s a self-directed conversation from the creators about what happiness is and where it comes from, an exploration of what people do when they’re fixed in place: by routine, by loss, by themselves. It so easily could have become this unbearably twee, masturbatory exercise, and at times, it almost is. But the show seems aware of that, and it slowly peels away at itself, slowly lowers the façade. None of the big, “important” stuff was actually the point. None of it mattered. It was hope, but it wasn’t happiness. It was the promise of a solution, but the answer wasn’t some game, it was always you. And that answer might sound easy, but it’s actually the hardest one possible. This show never lets you or its characters off with the easy answer. It always pays respects to the hard parts, to the complications. How do you reckon with yourself, love yourself, change yourself? You can’t, not alone. Because that’s the other half: it’s always you, but it’s never just you. You just have to know that. You just have to ask. The finale is going to be controversial, but I loved it.
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Jan 11, 2021 01:11
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Just wanna say how much I love all these lists! I love all the votes for Dispatches From Elsewhere, I love that we got someone hyping up We Are Who We Are (it didn’t always work for me but it definitely deserves recognition), I love that Sen is still out here repping awesome gay-rear end cartoons like ever. TVIV ur all great
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Jan 11, 2021 01:31
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I need to check out Dispatches from Elsewhere, it's gone completely under my radar. Thanks lists!
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Jan 11, 2021 01:45
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Surprisingly, I watched less TV this year than I normally would. I do a lot of my viewing on my commute and that didn't really happen this year. I definitly didn't get to watch every thing I wanted to, but still watched enough to put together a decent list. Here is 44 to 25. 44. Killing Eve 43. Vice 42. Hard Knocks 41. Saturday Night Live 40. Formula 1: Drive To Survive 39. Run 38. High Score 37. Lego Masters: Australia 36. Impractical Jokers 35. Survivor 34. High Maintenance 33. Briarpatch 32. Last Week Tonight 31. AP Bio 30. The Queen's Gambit 29. We Are The Champions 28. The Outsider 27. Better Things 26. Miracle Workers 25 to 11 25. Shameless Last season was a real return to form despite no Emmy Rossum. The first two episodes of the new season have been absolute rippers. They've done an amazing job of weaving COVID, it's economic impacts, weed in Chicago, Evil Amazon and BLM into the storyline. 24. The Good Life The show is an all-timer but if you haven't watched it by this point, I'm not going to bother wasting real estate higher on my list. I gave it the love last year so it goes here this year. 23. I Am Not OK With This Sad to hear this didn't get a second season. Really good performances from the two leads and would have loved to see what happened in Season 2. 22. Sex Education Wow, the first season of this show was good. This second season was fantastic. What a fun show. Where is this magical place in England where it never rains? 21. Vikings It's not the show it was but I still enjoy it greatly. Looking forward to the last handful of episodes. And look forward to checking out Kingdom of Heaven once I'm done with it. 20. Hunters See below: This show was really fun. A great cast of misfits and a pretty cool premise. 19. Lovecraft Country Certainly had it's floors but the highs of this show were pretty drat high. Some really powerful episodes, some clever riffs on horror tropes and for the most part, a really fun ride. 18. The Boys The introduction of Stormfront was great. Homelander might be the best villain on TV. 17. Rick & Morty God forbid I engage with this show on the internet, but in a vacuum, this show is still pretty magical. 16. Ozark The first season of this show was mediocre prestige-drama at best but I swear the show is getting better each and every season. It's always fun when a new season of this drops. 15. How To With John Wilson This show is pretty brilliant. Has Nathan Fielders magic touch all over it. I would love to read/watch some stuff to figure out how the hell he managed to get all this footage. If you like Nathan For You or Joe Pera Talks With You then check this out. 14. After Life I know Ricky Gervais is hated on these forums, but I'm sorry, he keeps making amazing poo poo and this is no exception. Really sweet, really heartfelt, really funny and executed on the sophomore season really well 13. The Eric Andre Show The first season that I got to watch live. Eric Andre is fascinating individual and the show is amazing to view from an intellectual perspective. It's also hilarious. 12. The Flight Attendant A pleasant surpise. Took the mantle as "awesome fun and funny female led thriller show" from the now awful Killing Eve. Kaley Cuoco kills it. 11. The Crown The first season I got to watch in real time (I caught up this year). If I told my 16 year old self this show was awesome my younger self would hang so much poo poo on me, but now that I'm old and the production is so amazing, I'd scoff at my younger self and keep on watching And now my Top 10  10. Bluey You need to watch this show if you're a parent. I laugh on multiple occasions every episode (and cry on some too). Quite the feat considering episodes are only 7 minutes long.  9. Yellowstone Apparantly this rates gang busters on a network no one knows exist. I'm glad it does because it's awesome.  8. Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet This show could have gone wrong in so many ways considering the premise (a workplace comedy set at a video game studio) but I loved every minute of it. Charlotte Nicdao is a revelation. Easily the best COVID/Zoom episode of any show to air this year.  7. Fargo As with Avenue 5, I delayed watching this a couple of weeks due to the online discourse but I had a ton of fun with it. If you like Hawley, and you like Fargo, you'll like this. I enjoyed it a lot more than last season.  6. Black Monday This show somehow keeps getting better. Cheadle is a pleasure to watch in everything he does and one of the few shows that made me laugh out loud this year (that doesn't mean other shows aren't funny, I just tend to no laugh out loud much)  5. Avenue 5 I was a few weeks late to watching this show due to the lukewarm reception on this forum. But my god, I loved this. So funny, so dark.  4. ZeroZeroZero This show is gorgeous, the action scenes are tense as hell and the story is completely my poo poo (drugs, cartels, mafioso). Done by the people behind Gomorrah ie. "Italian Sopranos"  3. The Last Dance Can't believe this footage went unaired for so long. Fascinating watch and does a great job of explaining the psyche of pro athletes.  2. The Good Lord Bird This was a joy to watch, which was a pleasant surprise considering the subject matter. The performances of Hawke and Caleb Johnson were amazing.  1. Better Call Saul I don't know how this show keeps getting better but it does. The whole cast deserves all the awards. By far the best show on TV, especially in a year with a dearth of prestige TV.
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Jan 11, 2021 04:21
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I'm going to extend the deadline for this for at least another 6 days to try and drum up some more submission. New Deadline has been set as Midnight Jan 17th
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Jan 11, 2021 04:23
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10) Dark Side of the Ring - As someone who has been following wrestling for a long time, some of the stuff, the show misses on. But it doesn't matter, they put on a good TV show that tells some really sad stories in a way that I think non-wrestling fans would also enjoy. 09) House Hunters - Kind of a dumb show but I can watch it for hours and sometimes rewatch the episode I just watched 3 hours ago which is odd for me, a person who almost never rewatches anything at all ever. Brain turn off, Real Estate buyers go brrrr. 08) The Vow - This doc show makes a lot of weird choices, but it overall it's really compelling and they do such a good job of really conveying why someone could get sucked into it all, and why it was so important for them to get out. 07) Picco Picture Contest - The end of Adult Swim Streaming means the end of Picco and it's a real shame. I loved to watch and both try to vote my favorite pictures to the win, as well as to try to guess what the chat would vote for. 06) Survivor: Winners at War - I can't express how loving horrible season 39 of the show as and how close it came to me just dipping out of survivor for good. Season 40 delivered on everything it promised and then some, and had a way of feeling triumphant and important. 05) The Mandalorian - I really only started to watch this because it was all anyone was talking about in the stuff I consume. But drat does it go down smooth. Every episode is a dope western with nods to some of the underappreciated classics of cinema. Also the child is adorable. 04) Lovecraft Country - I wasn't sure I was going to like this but it really spoke to me. I'm someone who has always had interest in Lovecraft but have been hesitant to engage with the material due to how loving horrible Lovecraft was. I feel like this presents it in a way that I am good on consuming. I enjoy how many genres this show encompasses and that it's not afraid to be nerdy. I wish it was less problematic in matters of gender. 03) Inside the NBA - Often the best thing I watch every week is EJ, Kenny, Shaq and Chuck breaking down both what happened in tonight's games, and what is going on in the world. Are they always right? Hell no. But they're always interesting and always entertaining (well, as long as the main group is there). 02) Better Call Saul - A terrific show. One of the best ever. Rhea Seehorn is just amazing. Jimmy is such a loveable piece of poo poo. I love my time with this show. 01) FishCenter Live - For nearly every day at lunch from the spring of 2015 until the very end of the show at the holidays this year, I spent enjoying an (on average) hour of complimentary light entertainment about fishes competing for coins and points. I threw fist pumps in the air when the fish I loved won, and cried all day when fish I loved died. The hosts all made me laugh every day and it amazed me that they managed to find ways to keep it fresh and fun so often, while continuing to make the imaginary game more interesting. They had some of my favorite music acts on and some of my favorite writers and artists, and introduced me to new ones that I love. I don't consider myself an adult swim person, I don't watch most of the shows on the network (or at this point, any of the shows on the network) but I could really see the genius fueling Williams Street through these people, these are TV pros pros and deserved better. It broke my heart when the streams were canceled and gently caress AT&T forever for doing that man gently caress you forever AT&T, gently caress AT&T as a phone network, a media company and as a motherfucking crew. FishCenter Live: mourn you till I join you.
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Jan 11, 2021 05:47
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I am happy that Dispatches From Elsewhere and Upload are getting some more love on these later lists.
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Jan 11, 2021 06:11
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A lot of the things I watched were not released this year, but apparently a lot that were. Honorable Mentions: Mandalorian -- I like this show, but it didn't make my top 10. Queen's Gambit -- semi-lame finale keeps this out of my top 10. Rebecka Martinsson-- S2 of a Swedish Crime drama set in the far north. On Acorn. S1 was better (and different lead actress). Dead to Me -- Not as good as Season 1 but still loveably crazy runaway train. Dead Stills- Acorn TV show, darkly comedic and dark mystery focused on a 19th century photographer specializing in portraits of dead people. Teenage Bounty Hunter- Please don't judge me. 10- Upload- Sometimes the production makes me think of something that would be on PBS at 1AM on Sunday night but it somehow works. 9- The Last Dance -- Such a well done documentary. I lived through this but there was so much I'd forgotten. 8- Schitt's Creek -- Not much more to say about this that others haven't already said. Warm fuzzies get their happy ending. 7- What We Do In The Shadows -- Who knew there would be such a creative and funny show about vampires, and that it could make through another season? 6- Lucifer -- love this dumb show. 5- Killing Eve -- I heart Villanelle. 4- The Boys -- I'm not that big into super heroes but I love the funny, subversive take in this show. 3- The Expanse -- Of all the shows on this list, probably the one I'm most excited to find out where it's going. 2- The Good Place -- I'm just over the moon about the finale. 1- The Crown -- Pitch perfect. I don't know how something that should be so boring is so riveting.
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Jan 11, 2021 06:44
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 ohfuckohfuckohfuck This is the dirtiest list I ever made, but 2020 was a ratchet year filled with a glut of surprisingly amazing television. I can hardly remember all of the great stuff that came out, and I missed a lot of things that may have earned a place on my list, like Queen’s Gambit, Doctor Who, Ducktales, The Crown, and so much more. But, a list must be made so here we go! TVIV 2020 13. The Masked Singer Not always sure what in the Hunger Games is happening, but this continues to be a dumb, fun show. 12. Archer A return to form after the meanderings of the coma seasons! I’m really enjoying the old setting, even though I loved the season-long vignettes! 11. The Boys S2 Karl Urban shines in everything. Dennis Quaid’s kid is good, too! 10. Avenue 5 This was too real. Like Babe Ruth pointing to the outfield, Avenue 5 perfectly captures the zeitgeist of 2020 and predicted how lovely it would all get... 9. Westworld S3 I love this dumb, robot show. 8. Attack on Titan Doing 2020 since before 2020, the final season is wrapping up the action! Probably will make next year’s list, too! 7. Neebs Gaming I watch this channel every day. It has been and still is the foundation of my media diet. 6. Tosh.0 Another staple of my media diet for more than a decade, Tosh.0 deserves to be in my top 10. After a gimmick going back to the first episode of closing the third act with “we’ll be right back with more...” and then he would name a show that had been cancelled by Comedy Central; Daniel Tosh finally got to say “we’ll be right back with more Tosh.0.” Hopefully it gets picked up by another network or service! 5. Rick and Morty S4 They made fun of their own, stupid, alt-right fans. A continually wonderful show that keeps me laughing and thinking! 4. Dark S3 A satisfying time travel show. Ending was even okay! Watch in the original German! 3. The Last Kingdom S4 My favorite, now somewhat of a guilty pleasure, swords and sandals show! Uhtred has to keep doing dumb things to keep himself historically relevant and near the action, but I love him anyways! Destiny is All! 2. The Mandalorian S2 Single dad trying to get his kid into a prestigious academy while his car keeps breaking down saves Star Wars. Wonderful, compact stories, an interesting over-arcing narrative, and fan service that sits back and tries subtlety rather than absorbing the entire screen and runtime. 1. The Expanse S5 Firing on all cylinders! An amazing show and the best of science fiction!
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Jan 11, 2021 06:50
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First, superlatives. The Most Network Show I Watched Award: What We Do In The Shadows The Nothing Particularly to Say But I Did Like It Award: The Great The Excellent Achievement in Sound Design Award: Devs Pre-2020 Show I Which I Binged and Loved: Hannibal And now... 10. Ramy Seems at first like a formulaic entry in the Louie Deal genre, but the despicable depths to which Ramy descends become a sly critique of it. 9. The Eric Andre Show Can't not love this show. I've been a fan for so long. The episode "Blannibal Quits" is the best of the season IMO. 8. Dave I expected to hate this show and almost didn't watch it, but it made me laugh a lot and the exploration of mental health issues is legit. 7. The Boys Anthony Starr is one of the best TV actors of all time with this show. He will work for the rest of his natural life. 6. The Vow This show defies the traditional trajectory of docu-series by staying good beyond the first 2 episodes. It flabs out in the last 3, but by then you're hooked. 5. Search Party No comedy does plot like this show. It's so, so fun and fast as hell when it's firing on all cylinders. 4. Better Call Saul It's all been said, but across the seasons, the deliberate pace towards an outcome the audience suspects they already know is really something to behold. Probably my most anticipated show week-after-week this year. 3. The Good Lord Bird Ethan Hawke screams and glowers this amazingly influential slice of American history to life. God bless this wonderful man. 2. Lovecraft Country This is probably the most important show released this year. Representational victories and boundary-pushing sci-fi - absolutely loved it. "Strange Case" should win an Emmy. 1. How To With John Wilson "Risotto"? "Furniture"??? This show is an instant all-timer, made more special in the quarantine year for putting the aimless sidewalk-wander back in my life, even before the finale. Something Else fucked around with this message at 10:56 on Jan 11, 2021 |
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Jan 11, 2021 10:50
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Seeing some of the new posts made me realize I forgot Avenue 5, Ozark, and How To With John Wilson on my list. To be honest there is a good chance 2 of these would have made my top 10, if not all 3. Still I am going to leave my list as is since it is what it is. I just want to mention despite forgetting about them on the original post, I loved all 3 of them. Looten Plunder posted:9. Yellowstone I put this as my guilty pleasure of 2020 (I watched all 3 seasons last year). It is a show that I find people who thought SoA was the greatest show on TV think this is currently the best show on TV (looking at you stepdad). Also I expected more out a Taylor Sheridan ran show. Still I really enjoy watching it after I learn to taper my expectations, but I am unsure if I will enjoy watching this show weekly once season 4 starts. Part of me wants to wait until season 4 completely airs to binge it, but that season 3 cliffhanger... nate fisher fucked around with this message at 14:36 on Jan 11, 2021 |
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Jan 11, 2021 14:33
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Contrary to a lot of peers, i found myself with a lot less time to dive into new stuff this year, so my list mostly consists of known quantities. First of, the special prices: Would have watched, but had absolutely no time during its run Awards: Lovecraft County, Raised by Wolves. Missed opportunity awards: Beyond Walking Dead - Making Zombies scary again by showing how soft an adapted civilization becomes in a short time was a neat idea. Sadly everything else devolved in the usual Walking Dead slog. Picard - Again, interesting premise, but the inability to resist shoehorning old characters and a terrible conclusion equals no spot in my Top10. Downer Award: Agents of Shield. I cannot justify a positon in my Top10 if I can't remember a single positive thing of this season. All the Alternative-Space-Time-Travel-Alien-Clone stuff got too much for me. Promising first Impression award: Star Girl. Just solid for now, but has potential to get better. Would have watched and probably placed, but learned about its existence by reading this thread: Hilda Season 2 Why is this not a Top11 Award: His Dark Materials. Honestly, I could place this one anywhere between 7-10. Good to outstanding (Ms. Coulter) acting by essential cast members and competent design and FX. But the story seemed just meandering. Didn't and will not read the books, but will watch season 3 Now let's go dishing out the Points! 10. The Outpost  I'm a traditionalist. And I can't be mad at a show that is essentially what happens when you hand an early 80s PnP Dungeon Master and his friends a couple 1000$$ to act out their DnD campaign. 9. Wynonna Earp  Kinda same. But seemingly invented by a slightly older, but not more mature crew on several Friday-night-hangouts. The humor is definitely a matter of taste. For me, it works. 8. The Wilds  Clicked on this believing it was a one-off movie. Ended binging all 10 hours over one weekend. Starts with some very strong character backstory episodes. That they at first glance mostly delivered typical archetypes but kept me glued to the screen highlights the acting talent of the whole cast and the utter failure that are Walking Dead's attempts at the same thing. The development on the island was also way more engaging than Lost. I still don't know what to make of the turn towards the end, but I hope it will surprise me again next Season. 7. The Mandalorian  This shows that a story is always better when told on a more direct and personal level instead of that ridiculous galactic-danger-powercreep the movies showed us. I feel getting rid of the Yodababy-merch-machine was a bold and necessary move and bodes well for future seasons. 6. Vagrant Queen  Stupid fun Sci-Fi. Doomed from the start but absolutely glorious in its crappiness. Tried too hard to be Killjoys+ at the beginning. Sadly we will never learn how the long-story, which I assume the writers had, plays out. 5. The Boys  From what I learned about the source comics the series is a vast improvement. Nice illustration for when you take comprehensible motivations, take them to the extreme and enforce them with even more extreme measures. Anthony Starr is a real acting-Superhero. 4. Strike Back  Still maybe the best Action-show. But I'm glad it was the last season. There's only so much stuff to blow up and so much kinds of terrorists to stop. Maybe we get a new team in 5 years? 3. The Expanse  Always a contender for the #1 spot. This year seems a bit slow on the action-side so far, but we've only seen half of it until now. So far it is mostly setup and a showing what happens, when the crew is set on separate paths. The fact, that this is still very captivating is a testament to the shows qualities. 2. Legends of Tomorrow  Stays the best superidiots show by a wide margin. It should have gotten stale by now, but somehow manages to refuse every trite conventions in a most entertaining way. Losing Ray Palmer hurts, but by now I would not be surprised, if the next season stays as strong somehow. "Somehow" should be the most used word to describe this show. Almonst nothing should work, but SOMEHOW almost everything does. 1. Snowpiercer   Maybe not the best in any measurable metric but somehow something clicked with me. As suspected from the start, the murder-mystery was just the hook which led us deep into the problematics of a post-apocalyptic class-system which is barely held together by a single person Wizard-of-Ozing desperately to keep the engine running and simultaneously the fragile truce alive between the "Tailies" and the First-class people.If you poke around, you may find a lot of holes, but as a whole it tells a great tory with a lot of unique characters. And who knew, that that cute red-headed singer-girl from Mr. Fantastic could play such a beautiful psychopath?
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Jan 11, 2021 19:31
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gently caress, I just realized that The 100 was this year. Can't be assed to change my list, but it would be in the top 5 I think.
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Jan 11, 2021 23:22
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Haven't watched all that much TV so the below is pretty much all I've seen: Honourable mentions Cobra Kai - Great show about warring karate dojos and the teenagers navigating said war and life in general. Unfortunately not technically a 2020 show. The Expanse - Love it but haven't seen the new season yet. Actual votes 10/9: I just haven't seen enough 2020 shows to fill these spaces! 8. Westworld - Decent, but could have been so much better. 7. The Boys - Good, not great. The whole 'shocking violence' schtick gets old quick but the general 'gently caress nazis' message is evergreen. 6. Fargo - Again agreeing with previous posters. The Fargo tradition of a special penultimate episode was executed flawlessly, but otherwise this was not as good as previous seasons, though still worth watching. 5. The Queen's Gambit - Good stuff, agree with everyone's previous comments 4. The Good Place - Can't recommend this enough. 3. Avenue 5 - "On behalf of NASA let me say: Seriously?" Hugh Laurie captains a spaceship that is knocked off course and everybody on board makes the worst possible decisions at every single turn. 2. Staged - A 6-episode BBC comedy featuring David Tennant and Michael Sheen trying to rehearse a play by videocall during lockdown. Strongly recommended, features some surprise guest stars as well. Second season has just started! 1. Better Call Saul - Again, nothing to add that wasn't said before.
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Jan 12, 2021 12:26
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Behold my super Senerio-esque list, except I’m a cis straight dude with no excuses except these shows were great. Since 2020 managed to make my 2019 favorite Chernobyl look like a feel-good story about how a nation can pull together to overcome existential doom, and there’s a bunch of anxiety and depression issues in my household, I was making a very conscious choice to search out shows that would be uplifting. Which meant pretty much blazing through all the great kid focused shows that have been coming out lately. Thank goodness there’s so many of them. Some honorable mentions that weren’t quite good enough or just managed to barely miss being in 2020: The Expanse, Doom Patrol, Cobra Kai, and The Boys. 10- Lovecraft Country The promise and ambition this show wrestles around with makes it worth it, but a lot of it does bog down with some pretty pulpy plot contrivances that take away from all the good things the cast and crew are doing. When they’re going for the weird and wild though, it’s really great. 9- Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Lots of fun, catchy songs, and manages to frolic through some rather dark themes at points. 8- Harley Quinn It’s a cartoon for adults with all the swears! Hell yeah! It’s also really good and makes excellent use of some z-list DC characters like Kite Man. 7-Star Trek: Lower Decks Just like this was the best scene of TNG and The Voyage Home is (almost) the best trek movie, Lower Decks is the best Star Trek in ages. 6- Primal One of many shows on my list about the power of friendship! And in this case, also about rivers of blood and rage. Primal walks the tightrope of fantastic design, storytelling, and worldbuilding all without needing the safety net of dialogue. 5- The Mandalorian Despite being plotted like a tabletop rpg run by some nerds really into hitting those nostalgia notes, the execution and heart of this show is just too good to ignore. It’s nice to know Star Wars can still be great. 4- The Owl House This show is goofy, has some real wit to it, and even makes time to show how loving dumb a golden snitch is in any sorts of sports ball design by putting its protagonists on the losing side of it  3- Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: In an age when it feels like half of television is set in a grim and gritty post-apocalypse, Kipo spins the world after the collapse of humanity into something really magical. Plus Karen Fukuhara gets to lead with that voice the whole time. 2- Hilda: Hilda is about as warm a blanket of a show you could ever hope to find to cuddle up to. Pretty amazing discipline in its use of color palette too that I wish more animated shows would take a lesson from. 1- She-ra and the Princesses of Power: This show is unabashedly pastels and rainbows, and I’m loving here for it. It takes some time setting up its large cast and getting around to its real stakes, but then the emotional rollercoaster it does with all that preamble is really quite stunning. It turns out you can solve all sorts of problems with the power of friendship and have those triumphs feel earned rather than contrived. Or even plan out satisfying character arcs that unfold across seasons. Who knew? Still can’t get over how good this turned out to be. edited because I like every other poster in this thread forgot about Lower Decks Hobbes fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Jan 15, 2021 |
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Jan 12, 2021 18:56
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All the lists have been recorded up until this post of the OP. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3952217#post510913852 If your name is listed there and you want to make any changes to your Top 10, please shoot me a PM or post in the thread to let me know you've made an edit, otherwise I might miss the change. If you've posted a list and your name isn't linked there, let me know as it means I've missed you.
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Jan 13, 2021 02:35
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I don't even think I watched 5 TV series this year, but I really appreciate this thread for showing me everything I missed. Currently making my way threw Avenue 5. It's not perfect, but there have been a couple times that had me gasping with laughter. So thanks!
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Jan 13, 2021 02:44
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u brexit ukip it posted:Haven't watched all that much TV so the below is pretty much all I've seen: Your votes won't be counted unless you can fill out the last two spots. You have a few days to binge The Expanse and update your list and SURELY there is something else you watch? Do you like the MNF coverage? Does The Simpsons happen to be on TV when you eat dinner each week?
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Jan 13, 2021 11:21
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Senerio posted:4) Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Hobbes posted:8- Tangled Is this the same show?
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Jan 13, 2021 11:28
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Looten Plunder posted:Is this the same show? Yes.
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Jan 13, 2021 13:02
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Yeah. Season 1 was called Tangled the Series, and then they renamed it for Seasons 2 and 3 to "Rapunzel's Tangled Adventures"
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Jan 13, 2021 14:49
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Looten Plunder posted:Your votes won't be counted unless you can fill out the last two spots. Really? Can't just leave the bottom spots empty?
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Jan 13, 2021 20:45
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No this is the proper way. The dogmatic way it needs to be done. Besides, it's just sorta stupid to list two additional honorable mentions if you can't even fill out the proper list.
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Jan 13, 2021 20:48
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Honorable Mentions: Real Time with Bill Maher - Not everyone's cup of tea but consistently makes me laugh. For better or worse Maher is that guy that "isn't afraid to go there" and it results in some bad misses but some glorious hits. The Amazing Race - Amazing production values, always some memorable teams, and a show that manages to teach its audience a little about the world which is never a bad thing. 10. Tiger King Early 2020 was a strange, strange time. Tiger King was a perfect fit and a great distraction while we all came to terms with what was happening with coronavirus. Utterly compelling, tragic, and weird. 9. Nature The bigger docuseries like Our Planet reignited my interest in nature documentaries and Nature is still putting out fantastic stuff on PBS. 8. Westworld A show that is so close to being brilliant but always manages to stumble. It thinks it has something important to say but it can't quite get it out. Still, it's gorgeous and has some good acting and even if it can't always match its own ambition, it is always entertaining. 7. Modern Family A show that suffered from an unfair backlash for "winning too many awards" in my opinion. Did it deserve ALL the Emmy's it won? Probably not, but it drat sure earned a bunch of them. Fantastic ensemble cast, smart writing and a bunch of heart. The final season started in 2019 but wrapped up in April 2020. January saw the episode The Prescott which a real standout and kind of a victory lap before the show settled in to saying goodbye for the last time. 6. The Last Dance This brought back a ton of memories and the footage was remarkable. Although never a huge NBA fan I remember watching this Bulls team and realizing I was watching something special. Come for the cool basketball stuff, stay for a compelling case study on the psychology of greatness. 5. Hawaii Five O After 10 seasons, McGarrett and the gang hung up their badges and surfed off into the sunset. This show was never cutting edge but always stayed on my list because it was an excuse to look at HD footage of Oahu, had a very likable cast, and it was one of the few shows that my parents and I both watched and could talk about. Oh yeah, and they had a steady stream of appearances from another Oahu show, LOST. It was a good run. 4. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Wrapped up in a hilarious comedy show is an ambitious bit of journalism. Oliver and his staff excel at picking up stories that need to be told and making them entertaining. 3. The Mandolorian Well paced, gorgeous and Star Wars! This show was a lot of fun and man, did the finale hit me right in the nostalgia feels. 2. Queen's Gambit I just started watching this show 2 days ago and felt compelled to not only include this show, but put at it #2. The story is utterly compelling, acting is top notch, and my lord, is it pretty. That night swimming in the rain in Mexico City was just gorgeous on top of gorgeous. I expected the story and acting to be very good, I wasn't expecting such a visual treat. 1. Better Call Saul Every once and a while I find a show like Succession (usually i'm late to the party) and think wow, this might be the best show on TV. Then I watch BCS and remember instantly that no, sorry other prestige drama, you haven't taken the title away from the champ. I might like other shows more from time to time (GoT comes to mind) but for me there is no doubt that BCS is a better show. Writing, acting, shooting, this show is always flawlessly put together. Obligatory give Rhea Seehorn and Emmy. Season 5 served up one ace after another. Bulky Bartokomous fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Jan 18, 2021 |
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Jan 14, 2021 14:52
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Bulky Bartokomous posted:Oh yeah, and they had a steady stream of appearances from another Oahu show, LOST. It was a good run. This has always fascinated me. Did they just get them on the show for the LOLs or does the entire LOST cast now just live in Hawaii?
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Jan 15, 2021 01:06
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Looten Plunder posted:This has always fascinated me. Did they just get them on the show for the LOLs or does the entire LOST cast now just live in Hawaii? Mix of both. Several cast members ended up buying homes there including Terry O'Quinn, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lily. There might be more but those I know for sure. Five-Oh never had trouble getting guest stars because a lot of people were cool with getting paid to film there. In the later seasons, Michael Imperioli from The Sopranos had a recurring minor role. Bulky Bartokomous fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Jan 15, 2021 |
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Jan 15, 2021 06:24
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 20:39 |
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What a strange year. At first I thought it would be a year to watch lots of TV shows, including all the ones I never had the time for but as it turns out, watching TV was something I did between doing other things. Now that all the other things are gone the desire to watch TV has gone with it, replaced with simulating doing things in RDR2 or CP2077. Also every show released in January or February has a feeling of nostalgia and makes them seem better. So this is almost as much as a 'rank the 10 shows I saw' as 'the best 10 shows I saw'. Honorable mentions: -A bunch of Cool Girls shows that were decent enough with a stand out performance: Teenage Bounty Hunters (Anjelica Bette Fellini), Warrior Nun (Lorena Andrea) and Fort Salem (Amalia Holm) -Perry Mason which just did not get to where it seemed to be going -Dark and The 100 which spent too much of its precious remaining time on plotlines that did not interest me that much 10: Kingdom, correction. Season 2 was a great follow up to the first one, relentless in its pace towards an amazing climax. Any show where a giant zombie is suplexed through ice as the pivotal turning point in the fight can do no wrong for me. 9: Cheer, one of those pre-covid shows that seem older. I love shows that dig in to a thing I had no idea existed, in this case ultra-hardcore cheerleading. It's got a great cast of characters who open up to the show in a way you can get when they are sure no one will ever bother to watch it. The makers also structured their show superbly to go from cliffhanger to cliffhanger as you count down to the big event and the pressure rises. On some level Monica Aldama is a cult leader who pushes vulnerable kids to extremes but the determination they show to win and the joy when they do is geniune. 8: Devs, Alex Garland delivers in spades on the visuals and themes I love from his movies. In the end the premise that the show is built on almost overwhelms it in the end but its style and acting was never anything less then stellar. 7: The Crown, I think this has been on my list every year and it's still as good as ever. For each season the joy is to discover both a familiar actor as a famous person and a new find in the limitless pool of British acting talent. This year it was Emma Corrin who dazzles as Diana and whose chemistry with Josh O'Connor is so good, even in such a poisonous relationship. 6: Better Call Saul, by most criteria this should be higher. Acting and production are stellar and the season was compelling as ever. But I do think they are making some wrong choices. Breaking Bad started out as one thing and turned into another. And BCS too, except the end of BCS has to line up with the start of BB, not the end. By having characters we know live on and others we don't know together the tension that is created becomes artificial. If Lalo has to fight cartel assassins there is no tension, no matter how much they try. And on the other hand there are the characters I love, Kim, Nacho, even Howard who have to provide the stakes. The tension becomes 'is this the episode where they kill Kim' and that will only get worse. The show I loved most was the one of Kim and Jimmy doing their elaborate scams and insane courtoom antics, not Mike and Lalo shooting cartel footsoldiers. 5: The Boys, a great season carried by Aya Cash as I knew it would. Being worse then Homelander is no mean feat and she did it wonderfully without even needing to show off her powers. The pure malevolence she showed at times showed a whole different kind of monster. 4: The Expanse, Only a few episodes were shown in 2020 but it was enough for a high place. Amazon bucks being thrown at the screen made it look superb and the journeys of the crew on their separate paths were way more compelling then I would have thought. 3: The Mandalorian, it's fanservice for sure. I'm a fan and being serviced in this way is 100% fine with me. 2: ZeroZeroZero, if this was not such a poo poo year this would have been number 1. It's got great action, travels all over the world, compelling characters played by both actors I had never seen or others I knew in a completely different light. Dane DeHaan and Andrea Riseborough especially. And then there is Harold Torres as Manuel, a character who is a complete enigma in what his goals and motivations are. You just see his methods which are brutal to the extreme but you're never sure what his end game is and I still have no idea. And while this is often just bad writing here it feels like a man whose motivations are crystal clear, I just lack the right kind of mind to see them and that's probably a good thing. If it was not so brutal it would have been #1 but I needed something more uplifting to be the best thing: 1: The Queen's Gambit, everything has already been said about Anya Taylor-Joy's mesmerizing performance which carries this show easily past every other show last year. And it opened up my eyes to how Chess Is Actually Really Cool and all the amazing matches to see on Youtube from various channels and livestreams. Thank you show. CeeJee fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Jan 15, 2021 |
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Jan 15, 2021 11:16
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