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Escobarbarian posted:just pointing out in case some people are forgetting most of it wasn’t a 2019 show Believe me, I will never forget  Edit: Trying to catch up on shows I missed earlier this year made me realize just how many different shows I once would have been all over that I almost completely forgot existed. I still haven't seen Jessica Jones season 3 and I don't think I'll actually get around to it at all, even though season 1 was one of my favorite shows the year it aired.
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Dec 16, 2019 00:54
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 22:16 |
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The fracturing of television means almost nothing but live sports (REAL live sports, not pro-wrestling) gets big ratings anymore. But the fracturing means there's more choice than ever, and while it isn't ALL high-quality a hell of a lot of it is. This year my top ten was a nightmare to put together. Not so much due to my absolute favorite programs (those were easy) but trying to figure out which shows deserved to fit into the back half of the top ten. So many really, really good programs didn't make it in: Mindhunter, Legion and The Deuce for instance. That is on top of the many shows that were "fine" but didn't quite make that extra step, like Good Omens, Dark Crystal, Stranger Things 3, Wellington Paranormal (which was still REALLY good) or hell even the final season of The Preacher which overall fell flat but remained a guilty pleasure. If I'd had time to watch The Witcher or His Dark Materials it might have made the list too, but that's just a couple of a ton of shows that I didn't get the time to watch this year. 10. Watchmen: I went back and forth over whether or not to include this. It looked great, I deeply appreciated the transitions in the edit, a lot of the actors were tremendous fun (particularly Jeremy Irons). But it was lacking something, and not just the fact it was trying to follow up on the (complete!) storyline of one of the great graphic novels of the 20th Century. Often it felt like I was watching (high budget) fanfiction, even though one of the creators was on-board (you'll be shocked to learn it wasn't Alan Moore). But in the end, there was ONE thing that I appreciated so much that I had to give this show the nod over the likes of Legion, Mindhunter and The Deuce. Because after multiple episodes of schemes and plots and misdirection and smug assholes being smug assholes.... the ultimate villain of the show happily explains the details of their evil plot to rule the world.... an hour BEFORE she was set to execute it. That (and what predictably happens afterwards) can not have been a coincidence by the show's creators, and I deeply, deeply appreciated it. In particular Ozymandias' instant and unmistakable look of disappointment when he hears them explain it. Beautiful.  9. The Mandalorian: It sagged in the middle with some "planet-of-the-week" stuff, but the opening and closing sections of this series were a pure joy of sci-fi Western. It's another example of how Star Wars - like many properties - works better when the people who own it aren't micro-managing every aspect like has (arguably) happened with the movies. While I'm sure there was plenty of studio oversight, largely the series managed to feel natural and that the directors got a fair amount of leeway under Jon Favreau's oversight. Like the lamentably unsuccessful Dredd movie, the actor playing the lead was able to put their ego aside and hide their face/body under a mask/armor and let the character take center stage instead of their familiar face. Pedro Pascal is a superb actor and the incredibly brief glimpse of his face reminded me just how expressive his face can be after 8 episodes of the blank face of his mask, but I'm still glad they chose to hide it in service of the story/character. Yes the "planet-of-the-week" stuff sagged, but the prison breakout episode and the two-episode finale ended the show strong. Plus you had Werner loving Herzog playing a villain! And yes Baby Yoda was adorable, but thankfully the show was all done before the memes exploded and with luck they'll resist leaning into that in the second season and maintain the show's balance. It's Star Wars, it's a Western, it's good!  8. The Crown: Replacing an actor is always difficult, replacing an entire cast is insane. But a show about the ENTIRE reign of the (still living, still reigning) Queen of England is one that by necessity requires not just a revolving supporting cast but a revolving main cast too. Gone are Claire Foy, Matt Smith and Vanessa Kirby as Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip and Princess Margaret, replaced by Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter. While it is sad the see the first three go, the latter three are excellent replacements, with Colman of course her usual utterly superb self. The series maintains the sumptuous visuals and the dives (sometimes shallow, sometimes deep) into major events in history; including those often sadly forgotten or unknown by many, such as Aberfan, which is one of the strongest episodes of the season. But the strength of it for me is in looking at a group of people who are ostensibly at the VERY top of the social pyramid/hierarchy but are experiencing the same ennui that almost everybody experiences at some point in their lives: that niggling idea that you're getting older and haven't really lived up to your potential, and the world is leaving you behind. The Queen remains steadfast because she has to, the opening scene showing her literally face-to-face with her younger self as new stamps shift from the young Queen to the "frumpy" middle-aged one. But the rest of the family struggles and stumbles, with older members trying to find a way to remain (or feel) relevant while younger members lash out impotently as they grasp that any changes to the status quo will have to come in incredibly incremental steps while the Queen looms large over them all. The showrunner makes no bones about using dramatic license to play this all up, which makes for more exciting if largely fictitious "history". But like the Royal Family (and perhaps the concept of the British Monarchy itself) it is all overshadowed but also held together by the seemingly imperious, endless and unbreakable facade of the Queen who alone grasps the true weight of the Crown: the necessity that nothing and NOBODY can be held separate from being subservient to her status... even her own firstborn son and the future King.  7. The Good Place: It's as good as it ever was, but drops down the list for me because for the first time in the show's run it was... predictable? In a way, at least, as it found a status quo and stuck with it for the entirety of the season that aired this year (they took one of those stupid mid-season breaks). For a show that in previous seasons took such joy in completely subverting expectations and creating entirely new scenarios for the characters to deal with, this one felt oddly linear. But the writing was still good, the characters remained utterly charming, the chemistry between the main cast as always exceptional, and the new supporting characters fit in well. However if you're one of those monsters who is left cold by the Eleanor/Chidi relationship you could be forgiven for not enjoying how heavily it permeates every aspect of this season. Personally I loved it, but I'm sad that there was no episode as wild and weird as last year's Janet(s).  6. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: I've remained a big fan of Sunny over the last couple of seasons, but shockingly season 14 felt like one of the strongest in years, right up there with the best stuff they've ever done. Every single episode was pure quality and utterly, utterly hilarious. From horrific attempts to create a real life Romantic Comedy, the dynamics of group-chat paralleled with animal pack relationships, a blatant and straightforward take on climate change, the dehumanization of the "algorithm", abortion rights all the way to a spoof of Waiting for Godot, all while staying true to the common theme of the gang ruining the lives of other people. It was all so, so good and funny and clever and funny and did I mention it was funny? Not to mention, while it didn't hit the highs of Mac Finds His Pride in season 13, The Janitor Always Mops Twice was an incredible parody of/homage to noir films. If the show can keep up this level of quality I hope it runs for years to come, and as the final episode of the season indicates, they have no plans of going away anytime soon.  5. The Boys: I hated the comic this show was based on. It was miserable, gritty for its own sake bullshit. I put off watching the show for a long time as a result and I regret that, because holy poo poo this was good. The world they built felt plausible, the idea of heroes being largely vapid celebrities who get off on being famous/worshiped is not exactly a new idea but it was felt entirely naturally realized. But it is the characters and their relationships/developments that make this so strong. Stripping out a lot of the nastier parts of the cynicism that permeated the comic, the show more than maintains the darkness. The protagonists are not good people, but they're better than the monsters who are the "superheroes"... but even those have nuance and are clearly a product of their environment and the obvious end result of taking young people and giving them everything they could ever want and having every single person tell them every day that they are better than everybody else. Sometimes this works well, like with A-Train or even protagonist Billy Butcher, but sometimes it absolutely does not like with The Deep. But the reason this show made my list, and especially so high, is because of Homelander. Antony Starr from the unremarkable Banshee plays the Superman/Captain America hybrid and he is absolutely loving incredible. He's charming and perfect and inspirational and utterly, utterly, utterly insane and completely terrifying. One of the best, most intimidating and unsettling villains/characters of the year in television.  4. What We Do In The Shadows: The movie was an unexpected treasure but I was certainly not convinced or even hopeful the TV series would be good. I was wrong, of course, because the show was incredible. Rather than transporting the movie characters to America and recasting, it was just 4 different vampires living in America who ALSO decided to let a documentary crew film them. The cast they chose was fantastic, Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry and Natasia Demetriou making up the core cast of vampires but the theme being expanded slightly with Mark Proksch as an "Energy Vampire" and Harvey Guillén as Guillermo the hapless familiar who dreams of being a vampire but discovers he may have a different kind of hereditary to live up to. The show is crude but clever, revolting and ridiculous, delightfully disgusting etc. The vampires are completely immoral and yet somehow maintain an odd kind of affection and level of care for each other. Laszlo tries to keep Nadja happy by murdering her reincarnated lover who always makes her sad (because he keeps getting murdered!); Nadja tries not to hurt Laszlo's feelings (she found his 100 year career as a porno star boring) and sympathizes with the plight of Jenna the virgin; Nandor at least goes through the motions of being aware of Guillermo's problems; and even Colin Robinson recognizes his relationship with an Emotional Vampire is unhealthy and ends it for both their benefit. But most of all the show is FUNNY. Really, really loving funny. It feels pointless to try and single out any one episode, but if I had to I'd recommend the Vampire Council episode, if only for the incredible cameos and the reveal that basically every single movie vampire in history is, in fact, an actual vampire. Yes, even Blade: Vampire Hunter. Also anybody who liked this show should REALLY try to find a way to watch Wellington Paranormal.  3. Mr. Robot: The show is complete now and I loved it all. Yes, even the sometimes maligned second season. Everything came to an incredibly satisfying close, every plot point (that I remembered) was wrapped up and almost all of them apart from Tyrell's in a satisfying way. Rami Malek's acting was, as always, wonderful, but while Portia Doubleday was woefully underused it was a great relief to see Carly Chaikin finally get a chance to shine with an emotional range beyond agitated despair. FSociety returned, the 5/9 Hack was turned into what it should have been all along (loving over the 1% alone and divvying up their resources equally among the 99%) and Elliot finally figured out what that missing piece of himself had been all along. In the process, some nasty people died, some poo poo came back to bite good people on the rear end, and even some monstrous people got a chance to somewhat redeem themselves. In the end it was all about Elliot though. Not parallel realities, not the nature of White Rose's machine (spoiler: she was insane and it didn't do loving anything), not what was in Mrs. Alderson's safety deposit box etc. It was about Elliot, and while some dislike the ending I thought it was beautiful and personal and hopeful and about as good an ending as I could have hoped for. I will miss the show, but I am so glad it went out on such a high note.  2. Barry: I had no idea Bill Hader was so talented. He's not Donald Glover but then nobody is, but what he and series co-creator Alec Berg have made is still utterly remarkable. The story of a depressed assassin with deeply repressed anger issues doesn't exactly sound like a laugh out loud show, but it is. It's an incredibly funny but simultaneously sad story of people who know on some level that they are never going to achieve their dreams, as well as the compromises some are willing to make for a chance at even an empty, hollowed-out version of it. Sally's reveal of the physical abuse she suffered in the past and the way she lets that genuine, emotionally resonating story get twisted is a real gut-punch. But while she and Henry Winkler's Gene have great stories, it is Hader's Barry who is the driving force of the show and he absolutely delivers both in laughs but also intensity. The tall, gangly comedy dude is somehow completely believable as both a deadly efficient killer as well as a bumbling doofus scrambling to cover his tracks and maintain the new life he desperately wants to live. It all builds to a bloody conclusion, and as keeps being shown again and again, you can't build a peaceful new life on the bones of murder, death and rage. You can make a touching, affecting and somehow incredibly funny television show though.  1. Chernobyl: The best horror movie I've seen in years, with one of the scariest monsters. Except there is no "monster", and it isn't a horror movie. It's the (dramatized) retelling of the events of 1986 when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant's reactor did what was supposedly physically impossible and exploded during a safety test. Opening a year after the event with the suicide of the central protagonist of the series, it then jumps back to the moment of the explosion itself and spends 4 episodes dealing with the fallout, figuratively AND literally. Finally in the last episode, it answers the question asked constantly throughout the series: HOW did this happen? It was physically impossible and it happened, and the courtroom scene in which the doomed Legasov lays out in horrifying detail EXACTLY what happened is somehow just as tense and unsettling as watching the first episode as the workers and firemen and residents of the city unknowingly wander through the fallout of the worst nuclear disaster in the history of the planet. The first and last episodes are incredible bookends but there is plenty of meat between those slices of bread. The growing realization of just how bad the situation was; the risks the workers and recovery teams were knowingly put into to try and contain it; the crippling emotional weight put on those who had to deal with the truly innocent victims (the local wildlife and domestic pets); and most of all the maddening bureaucracy and rear end-covering that both contributed to the initial problem as well as hampered the efforts to deal with it. It is an incredible achievement by Craig Mazin, best known before this as the writer for the two Hangover sequels. Those movies, successful as they were, gave no indication that he was capable of a brilliant piece of television like this. But he did it, and make no mistake, it is a masterpiece. The best thing to air on television all year, and it wasn't even close. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Jan 5, 2020 |
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Dec 31, 2019 04:47
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I completely forgot True Detective Season 3 was this year. I probably still wouldn't have put it in my Top 10, but yeah it was a big improvement over season 2.Arist posted:Alright, I'm gonna cop to something: I only watched one episode of this. But that episode was some of the most horrifying poo poo I've ever seen in my goddamn life. I don't know that I can bear to watch the rest. But it was really good!!! Regy Rusty is right, please watch the rest of Chernobyl, Arist. It's magnificent.
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Dec 31, 2019 23:14
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esperterra posted:gently caress I FORGOT THE CROWN 
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Jan 1, 2020 00:51
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Rocksicles posted:Did doctor who qualify for this year, considering it only had one episode in 2019? It counts, but as much as I love Doctor Who I couldn't really justify including a single episode that aired on the first day of the year into my Top 10 over other shows.
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Jan 3, 2020 02:30
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Tenzarin posted:Eagerly awaiting to see how my list did in the finals. Yeah, pity the thread wasn't a little more active this year but still excited to see the results 
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Jan 9, 2020 00:41
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Toxic Fart Syndrome posted:I feel like it was busier than last year, but haven't attempted to quantify that... Ironically it looks like we had more entries this year than last year (36 in 2018, 40 this year) but it feels like there was a lot less engagement.
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Jan 9, 2020 02:55
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Doctor Who screens a single episode on the first day of the year and nothing else and still makes the list  I'm legit surprised Mindhunter is so low, while it kind of cropped up without fanfare this year I figured it would get at least a few points (then again, it didn't quite make my Top 10 either). Wish The Crown was higher, but I'm glad people are still watching, it's just gorgeous television.
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Jan 10, 2020 01:23
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Eugene V. Dubstep posted:Always Sunny .... trailing Fuller House.
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Jan 10, 2020 02:50
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What We Do In The Shadows made the Top 10  As much as I enjoyed Mandalorian and Watchmen I'm really surprised they ranked so highly (well, maybe not Watchmen) but I'm thrilled beyond words that Chernobyl topped the poll, it really deserved it. Thanks Looten Plunder!
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Jan 10, 2020 08:23
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I hadn't actually realized just how close Watchmen got to the #1 spot  Best of the Decade sounds interesting.... there's been so much TV!
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Jan 10, 2020 11:47
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Watching that Righteous Gemstones video made me realize,"Hey, I should be watching The Righteous Gemstones."
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Jan 11, 2020 06:06
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 22:16 |
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Oh poo poo it has Walton Goggins in it? This is my
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Jan 13, 2020 04:17
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