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 Welcome back to the annual TV IV ranking of the best shows of the year! We’ve had a bit of bad luck on this, our 13th go-around: our previous host is MIA. But… I’m here? I guess? I wasn’t really expecting to take on this responsibility, to be perfectly honest. I’m sure I’ll gently caress it up hilariously, and when I do please feel free to point and laugh. Anyway, it's simple: you all post your top 10 favorite shows of the year, I compile all the data from those lists into a big spreadsheet, and then we shake the tree to see what falls out. It'll be a grand old time.  Rules:
Previous years: 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Best of the Decade 2022 2023 Arist fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Jan 19, 2025 |
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Dec 19, 2024 02:54
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Here's a list of some notable programs that aired in part or in full in the last year: Abbot Elementary Agatha All Along American Sports Story Arcane Avatar The Last Airbender (2024) Baby Reindeer Based On A True Story Batman: The Caped Crusader The Brothers Sun The Boys Chad The Completely Made up Adventures Of Dick Turpin The Creep Tapes The Curse Criminal Record Davey And Jonsey's Locker Dark City: The Cleaner (unrelated to the similarly named film) Dark Matter Dead Boy Detectives The Decameron Disclaimer Doctor Who Dropout's suite of variety shows e.g. Dimension 20, Game Changer, Make Some Noise, etc. (all of which probably should count individually) Dune Prophecy English Teacher Evil (both the fourth and fifth seasons) Expats Extraordinary Fallout Fantasmas Fargo For All Mankind The Franchise FROM A Gentleman In Moscow Get Millie Black The Gentlemen Grimsberg Hacks Halo Hazbin Hotel Heartbreak High Heartstopper House Of The Dragon How To Die Alone Industry Inside No. 9 Interior, Chinatown Interview With The Vampire Invincible Invincible Fight Girl KAOS Kite Man: Hell Yeah Lady In The Lake Laid The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Manhunt Mary & George Masters Of The Air Monsieur Spade Monsters My Brilliant Friend My Lady Jane The New Look Nobody Wants This One Day Queenie The Red King Resident Alien Ripley A Round Of Applause Royal Crackers Say Nothing Sausage Party: Foodtopia The Second Best Hospital In The Galaxy The Serpent Queen Shogun Shrinking Snowpiercer Solar Opposites Somebody, Somewhere The Sympathiser Sugar Terminator Zero Tokyo Vice Thou Shalt Not Steal The Penguin The Three Body Problem True Detective Twilight Of The Gods The Umbrella Academy The Vince Staples Show The Way Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light WondLa X-Men '97 Arist fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Dec 29, 2024 |
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Dec 19, 2024 02:54
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YEAHHHHH let’s fuckin GOOOOOO
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Dec 19, 2024 03:04
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Awesome! Was worried the thread might not happen, thanks for stepping up (and hope that we see Looten back at some point), and now I gotta lock down my list which has been changing wildly throughout the year. Lot of TV this year, some of it was good even!
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Dec 19, 2024 03:53
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I watched a lot of shows this year, trimming it down to 10 is tricky. 10. Bodkin: I'm surprised I'm putting this on my list over some others, but it was a lot of fun. The mystery that Will Forte's character is trying to solve is fun and I never felt like the show was cheating me like some mystery shows do. 9. What We Do In The Shadows: I don't know what it is about this show but the new season comes out and my brain thinks I don't like it. Then I have nothing else to do, watch it, and then my sides are busting because of how much I'm laughing at it. Every character on this show is hilarious in their own way and it doesn't get old. 8. Monarch Legacy of Monsters: I was about to skip this show entirely because I don't care about monster movies, but this show was great. It's got monsters, alternate history, weird science stuff, a weird shadowy corporation. I had a great time with it. 7. Ghosts: I love this show so much. I've loved Rose McIver ever since someone convinced me to watch iZombie. They always find a way to keep this show interesting by either finding new ghosts, finding new things the ghosts can do, or just introducing some situation that the ghosts can help with. I always look forward to this show. 6. Only Murders In The Building: By all measures, this show should have been a mediocre single season, but they make it entertaining and funny every season. I always wonder how each season could keep it interesting and they always figure it out. 5. Silo: The current season isn't done yet, but I'm still risking putting it on here. I loved the first season and the second season is great so far. It's fallout style post apocalypse style intrigue. 4. Star Trek Lower Decks: This is some of the greatest Star Trek there has been. My second favorite after Strange New Worlds. Yes there are references to old shows, but they work in universe and the rest of the show is amazing. It's a shame it's ending. 3. Evil: This is one of my favorite shows. It's X-Files style "is it real or is it a hoax" type stuff where it's honestly random whether the thing they are investigating that week is real or fake, and it doesn't matter, because something equally absurd will happen the next week and it could be real or fake and no one ever really cares because more weird stuff is on the way. 2. Shogun: I watched this because people said it was good, so I checked it out. This is one of the greatest works of television ever made. A man trapped in what might as well be an alien world trying to navigate their problems while dealing with his own. 1. Fallout: When I heard that they were making a Fallout show, I was skeptical. Video game adaptations are always poo poo, how could this be good? It's beyond good, it's amazing. It captures everything that's great from the modern fallout games while also doing its own thing. Honorable mentions: Skeleton Crew: This show is fun so far, but it's not over so it could poo poo the bed Avatar The Last Airbender: They somehow pulled off a live action AtLA adaptation. Death and Other Details: This was fun even if it was kind of a dumb murder mystery The Grand Tour: The special they put out this year was an emotional roller coaster, and an end of an era. I don't care if they scripted things to happen, the moments still hit. I'm gonna miss these three guys doing adventures. Dark Matter: This show has an interesting concept of exploring different realities. It did some dumb stuff that was pissing me off in the middle but was able to pull it all together at the end of the season. The Outlaws: Some goofy British people doing court mandated community service, with some other fun stuff happening along the way. I really enjoyed it. Taskmaster: I got into Taskmaster this year. I watched New Zealand, then I watched UK, then I watched Australia. So good. Why?: Futurama: I'll keep watching but please stop. For All Mankind: They keep making this show dumber and dumber. I like space, but I have my limits. Masters of the Air: The third TV entry in the spielberg WWII Universe. It could have been great but it felt like they didn't know how to include all the stuff they wanted. In the end, they don't spend a lot of time mastering the air. Cojawfee fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Dec 19, 2024 |
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Dec 19, 2024 03:56
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Incredible timing, I just took a first pass at my list today despite not being sure if there'd be a thread for sharing it. I'll keep refining it over the next couple weeks but it sure is good to know I'll be able to actually post it somewhere instead of just sharing it in the TVIV chat thread which would have probably been a terrible idea. Thanks for stepping up Arist!
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Dec 19, 2024 04:37
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I’m so glad Artist has made this happen, especially because I was very anxious about doing it and having to ask someone else to do the graphics as I have zero photoshop talent. I am very much looking forward to figuring out my list!!!!
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Dec 19, 2024 05:27
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happy this thread's torch is being carried. thanks arist! hope looten is alright and doing well. i've only watched 5 things this year that even qualify, and i doubt i'll be able to cram in 5 more shows just to be able to make a top ten that consists solely of the things i watched, but i might try! Escobarbarian posted:I have zero photoshop talent same here tbh. i'm fighting for my life just to make the sorry excuses for images i put in last year's MoTY thread, and i'll likely be mostly copy/pasting my efforts for this year's thread
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Dec 19, 2024 05:45
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ShoogaSlim posted:hope looten is alright and doing well.
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Dec 19, 2024 06:17
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Here is a list, it is in descending order because I hear that's what everyone is into these days. Because I'm not really certain anyone cares about my opinions, you see. Nevertheless, these are 10 shows I watched, airing this year, and roughly how much I liked them relative to each other. 1. Ludwig I'll watch David Mitchell do pretty much anything but playing as a reclusive puzzlehead-cum-sleuth in bonny old England? Yes please! Nervous, mealy-mouthed, bougie AF Mitchell, of That Mitchell and Webb Situation works in and around Scotland Yard, dazzling the police with his Holmesian knowledge of crossword puzzles and sudoku to devastating effect. Hilarity ensues as murderer after murderer is carted away on the errant ramblings of an interloper. Begrudging respect is earned, while his true aim is put on the back-burner for another season—hooray! I really love British crime shows to an unhealthy degree (considering what I think about law enforcement and the bloody English) and this really is one; not one of the best but one of the more charming I've seen recently. 2. Fargo S5 Generously cast season of the recurring Minnesota-set crime series featuring Jon Hamm as the primary antagonist, Jennifer Jason Leigh as—another sort of antagonist and Dave Foley as her pet lawyer. Hamm’s right-wing, completely cracked Amon Bundy-cum-Joe Arpaio (am I misusing this word?) is a perfect target for a dangerous mother hiding from a haunted past, well-played by up and comer Juno Temple (of Ted Lasso). Hilarious coincidences, offensively pseudo-religious mania and spooky supernatural poo poo are all intertwined in the bitter cold traditions of Fargo. All of this really happened, natch. Juno’s Dot Lyon must reconcile her past with her present and rescue her family from the clutches of a mad sheriff, who is himself beset by some kind of awful revenant of a man and his own deputy dipshit son. So much going on here, so beautifully interwoven in so much dark horror. Really lives up to the Fargo legacy. 3. English Teacher Brian Jordan Alvarez created and stars in this hilarious high school teacher’s lounge act. There is a mix of drama between teachers and students, fortunately if memory serves, leaning towards the former with most of the major characters being teachers and faculty. Many madcap misadventures spring from well-worn tropes like age-difference and  moments. Mr Marquez is not an aspirational figure, thankfully, but neither is he despicable; he’s simply a man with a sometimes unpleasant job. His set of friends and co-workers are a little like the alley gang in King of the Hill, if half of them were Peggy. I was disappointed to come to the end of this one, but hopefully it’ll be back! Haha, what’s this? the wikipedia page has a “controversies” section, uh oh!4. Star Trek: Lower Decks This is like if The Orwell got to talk out loud about Star Trek without making parallel references in a Duplo universe. Interesting characters abound to go more boldly than ever before as their roles as junior officers reach greater heights of strategic importance to the comedic Star Trek canon. Along with impeccable story crafting, the crew of the Cerritos explores wacky alien dynamics in a way that takes advantage of the animated format without abusing it. Really some peak science fiction moments here as well as some human ones, hopefully not obscured by the *bleeps* the  and the art style.5. Resident Alien Once again, Alan Tudyk’s cleverly disguised alien octopodian must thwart himself and the machinations of other visitors as well as representatives of alphabet soup agencies from very bad things. The story branches out to cover the local police and native’s personal lives and the intersections thereof, with lots of in depth backstory to take us away from the X-Files aspects of grey on grey tropes that are the mushy, gelatinous bones of the show. Always hilarious if a bit plodding sometimes w/r/t the overarching plot that threatens to take away from the humor, although it never does. 6. The Penguin An unrecognizable Colin Farrell leads a cast of Gothamites bereft of capes, masks and costumes, as is the style of our times. Bruce Wayne backstory is briefly present as are a few other recognizable characters from the DC universe, much to my mild bemusement. Basically, the show focuses on a scumbag and his young ward as they try to come up from a bad position and get down and dirty from a respectable life, respectively. One helps, the other hurts, in a mutual relationship of fuckery and hopelessness. Additionally, you have Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone toeing the line between sympathetic and just plain evil. The show is well-made, and kept my full attention, especially the lovely view of Arkham and the villainy behind it. The violence is comically over the top of course, and the characterization is not bad? Overall, it drew me in to the finish and left me wanting more. 7. A Man on the Inside Ted Danson is a retiree-cum-investigator (lot of cums in this post) who uses his powers of not being as senile to solve a mystery that would leave Matlock, well, a little bored. But that’s not really what that’s about, this is a look at aging and memory loss and all of that fun stuff with a comedic take and an attempt to humanize the people we would probably rather forget about given well… Anyways, Ted and the feisty, sleepy and sometimes human residents of a posh bay-area shady acres have a series of thefts on their hands, and they make a muck of figuring it out as should be expected. Friends are made and betrayed along the way, and we find out why remembering is hard (because it’s painful.) For anyone who’s lost or is losing (  my Dad’s mind, and soon to be the rest of him) someone to dementia this might have some extra impact or relevance, but hopefully there’s more to it than just that. Pulling heartstrings can seem cheap, and I'd like to think this one isn't.8. Interior Chinatown Willis Wu is a waiter who is not very good at Kung Fu. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, few are, but he has aspirations drat it! He has big dreams, big ambitions and is learning to follow them in the wake of an abduction-cum-murder (see I told you, I can put cum anywhere). Will he solve the case and stop the gang war, get the girl, get a tip, tie friends, family and foes up in a neat little package? You should watch and find out. 9. Based on a True Story Wife and husband investigate a serial killer until they solve the mystery and then begin to exploit it to make up for the husband being a mediocre tennis instructor and things costing money like they do. I’m sure you can relate. Some ethical hoops are jumped through or skirted around and some simple logic ignored by the doltish couple as they fumble to monetization with a charming bio-hazard in search of that sweet sweet podcast cash. 10. Mr and Mrs Smith Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover helped create and stars in a sort of sequel to the 2005 movie, which I’ve never seen. Alongside his partner-cum-wife Maya “PEN15” Erskine he fights, well not crime per se, sort of secret agent/assassin type poo poo. High-end protection, espionage fancy highfalutin, white-tie stuff. They have decent chemistry together and their professional and personal relationship, while acknowledged as leaning towards professional with the understanding that the marriage has to be real even though it’s fake, still makes you wonder, because people grow together yada-yada-yada. This is all very edgy stuff (for a film from the 1950s) but it still had me guessing as to how the characters felt bonding under intense pressure and sexy times. Definitely popcorn time.
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Dec 19, 2024 10:19
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descending means the numbers go down not up
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Dec 19, 2024 11:52
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Arist posted:[*]Each show on your list must have aired an episode this calendar year. We’re ranking this year’s contributions, so please keep it to this year. Wait wait wait wait wait. Does this mean I can count a series of radio plays in my top ten, even though they've not got any visual content?
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Dec 19, 2024 12:35
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I knew someone would get pedantic about that. The format of television is the important part, so a visual component is kind of necessary. No radio plays, no podcasts.
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Dec 19, 2024 13:30
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ShoogaSlim posted:descending means the numbers go down not up Ascending would mean my appraisal of them was going up.
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Dec 19, 2024 14:30
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Wasn't expecting quite so much cum, QR Code Geass, but I really enjoyed your list! I was vaguely aware of Ludwig, I'll have to check it out, it sounds very... well, very British!
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Dec 19, 2024 14:35
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I added some lines to the rules to clarify the "no radio" and "you can list as many or as few shows as you want" guidelines
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Dec 19, 2024 16:37
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Thank you very much, Arist. I'll probably wait until fairly late to post mine so I can get through the end of Skeleton Crew and watch Squid Game, but I'll definitely be participating. Though I feel like I've missed so many shows that are highly rated while also watched so much mid-tier dross it will probably be a bit out of whack.
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Dec 19, 2024 21:52
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QR Code Geass posted:Ascending would mean my appraisal of them was going up. which show in your list of ten is your favorite?
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Dec 19, 2024 23:06
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Thanks for posting this! I didn't play enough games to post a list in that thread, but I think I watched enough TV! I might edit this post to add my list or post it later when I finish writing it.
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Dec 19, 2024 23:38
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ShoogaSlim posted:which show in your list of ten is your favorite? Sorry if I was unclear, but I enjoyed Ludwig the most.
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Dec 19, 2024 23:49
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QR Code Geass posted:Sorry if I was unclear, but I enjoyed Ludwig the most. no need to apologize! just making sure we're on the same page. descending ordered lists start with higher numeric values and go down (descend) to smaller numeric values. 10 -> 1 is descending. 1 -> 10 is ascending. i think what you're saying is that because you put your most valuable/liked movie at the top, that the value of the movies is descending. but, that's just not how it works when talking about the order of a list. it's a nitpick and ultimately doesn't matter, but we're in the official nitpick capital of the internet, so..
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Dec 20, 2024 02:17
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Ascending lists are crimes (sorry I’ve said something like this in the other two GOTY threads this year so I thought I needed to go for the hat-trick) (but also it’s true)
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Dec 20, 2024 02:19
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I didn't watch much this year and most of it was older stuff. 5. True Detective S4 - I watched 3 episodes before dropping it and it was a neat setting I don't see much. 4,. Rings of Power S2 - Love the books, movies and setting and I guess if you squint this mimicked a tiny little sliver of that. Shamefully I'll keep watching as long as they keep making it. I was rooting for Sauron this season. Some cool vistas. 3. Three Body Problem - I think that was this year. Fancy show and had some cool moments, didn't like most of the adapted characters. I'm mostly hoping the crazy sci fi sequels get made too. It needed more Wong. 2. Agatha All Along - catchy song and it looked like they had fun making it. Always good to see Debra Jo Rupp and Aubrey Plaza. 1. Fallout - much better than I expected. I'm not sure why this worked so well when so many other adaptations don't but hopefully we get more of it. Shogun, Penguin, Dune and Arcane are on my list to watch at some point. I also want to watch a spy show like Black Doves or Slow Horses. And the new season of From. I might remember more shows I watched and add them to the list. I was only at 2 shows when I started writing this and remembered 3 more as I went.
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Dec 20, 2024 20:57
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Oh jeez, here we go again, another year another batch of stuff to discuss with the TVIV. FIRST OFF, REALITY TV AND GAME SHOWS this year, saw The Traitors get the Emmy for Best Realty, defeating RuPaul We also saw Taskmaster get a children's spinoff We also saw a spinoff of Jeopardy with Pop Culture They rebooted @midnight and it was on network! They put DEAL OR NO DEAL ON AN ISLAND. The floor had photos of bananas, and a person said banana! Mr Beast got a game show with a $5,000,000 top prize, almost a full year since "Squid Game: The Challenge" (and right around now, when Season 2 of Squid Game is about to start) UK has put a show called Fortune Hotel that was a deal or no deal as well. WWE somehow became good again thanks to Cody Rhodes vs The Rock! but truthfully.... This was a difficult year for me personally, I found trying to watch something anything as that distraction, but my favorite genre of Television just wasn't that good this year. So much so, that I'm putting game shows on my list this year. I was also this close to putting up Dan Da Dan as the anime that was very interesting this year, but also just a snappy theme song. And also the documentary Mr. McMahon about Vince that gave a quick oversight of all the bad things he's done, if Dark Side of the Ring was just too tragic. (Apologies in Advance) 10. Game Changer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIRxM7W1qzg What is arguably the greatest piece of unscripted comedy, Game Changer on Dropout is still one of the best American Comedy shows around it is the closest we can get to Running Man here in America and everything from a great homage to The Circle to a game of bingo that is over the top and the greatest game of Simon Says ever played. It shows it still has plenty of games to make and many ways to gently caress with improv comedians. 9. X-Men '97 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L7fNV296h0 This is arguably the year of Gambit. From Channing Tatum in Deadpool and Wolverine to this revival of the 1990s Fox Kids classic. It's animation style feels straight from the Marvel Entertainment of the 90s, and the storylines, while modern, still feel like the comic book it was taken from (the X-Men 97 comics, not like, X-Men in general) 8. Deal or No Deal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMwvlQCmVwg Last year saw the start of Deal or No Deal in the UK, HOWEVER, this year saw two other versions of that classic "pick a number" luck game. Deal or No Deal Island doesn't really know what it wanted to be, however, the final episode where the winner goes up against a Howie Mandel banker is a real fan service moment. But the Australian version, which is available on prime in America and on YouTube, has been an absolutely delightful version of the show. The board amounts are just enough balance that you can actually go from "vacation" to "car" to "down payment on a house" but in no way is it an emotional disaster at any point in the game. It's exactly as whimsical and frantic and fun while still keeping the decisions in tact. The UK version still has stakes built in, Deal or No Deal Island has perfected the dramatic part of the game. But this breezes by faster than Jeopardy to me. 7. Conan O'Brien Must Go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDFFY6swDY0 I really don't care much for "comedian in a travel show" I think every version I've seen from "Travel Man" to "Anthony and Mama Doris" just feels like a terribly forced sketch show disguised as an interesting look at a country Conan is the only comedian to break this, this is Conan Without Borders but Bigger, and it's a very fun show, Ireland was absolutely one of the funniest episodes to watch, that I recommend. 6.Taskmaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdkXGFsQSnM Taskmaster Australia had the funniest moment in all of taskmaster involving scales and concetta having a nervous breakdown. But this was such a great year for the decade long panel show. From a New York debut to having a "live experience" and VR game. This is the peak of Taskmaster, it can only go downhill from here. (Unless there is an American version that somehow needs me in which case IT'S A GREAT TIME FOR TASKS!) 5. Grotesquerie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daV1NI7hxY0 Travis Kelce was just okay in this, but if it means people got to watch one of the best crime-horror shows in existence, then so be it. Niecy Nash-Betts going from comedy and action to a true drama that feels straight out of a Survival Horror game, they could've called this "Silent Hill" and it would make just as much sense. This was quite the 1-2 Punch after Mouthwashing 4. What We Do In The Shadows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUIdvbNJTYw I loved this show, a throwback to "fun horror" that had one of the best finales in television - if you enjoy referential comedy, it had a great final episode. The season itself, with a Lazlow's Monster and Jerry weren't as prolific as earlier series, however the overlaying arc of Tim Heidecker as this corporate stooge is something straight out of Severance. I'm going to miss all these silly vampires and their sky accents saying all these modern pop culture things, but I'm glad it ended before Nandor would say "Skibidi Toilet". 3. The Penguin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfJG6IiA_s8 At first, I didn't like yet another origin story, especially since Gotham was a while ago with a Penguin there. However, this version of "Oz" was actually a great portrayal of a man who is plagued by the corporate greed of the city and the desperate lengths to just stay afloat. Pattinson Batman is probably my favorite modern Batman telling, because of its ability to create the characters inside Gotham such as Riddler. And this felt to the Batman universe what Star Wars: Andor was for Star Wars nerds. It's there, but completely stands out. You don't need to know or care about Bruce Wayne, Gotham City or anything to get what is essentially "succession but with mafias" 2. The Franchise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Och6SQc6Nbs All I really want in media, especially in comedies, is a well constructed Satire. The universe of The Franchise does that for me. If you're a fan of VEEP, you'll feel at home with this show that plays into the power dynamics of above and below, but instead of in The White House, it's a movie lot for a faux Superhero Movie and it's crew members. While I'm sure The Boys will be mentioned (hopefully it will get mentioned) I enjoyed The Boys because of its satirical nature of Vaught, which I thought wasn't really touched on that much this year, in favor of a more "please hammer this home that fascists are evil and racism is bad" because of its unfortunate co-opt of "the dumbest people online" Thankfully, The Franchise has carried out some of that whimsy. Everything from inappropriate product placement, scenes that make no sense, bad right chronography. Essentially "The Room, But Superhero Movie" which I can enjoy. 1. Fallout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mugKDQDlg Prime Video is strange to me, while I am binging "Pop Culture Jeopardy" (which would be by #11th show) they have a few pieces of gaming content. There's a documentary series called "It's In The Game" about Madden Football, and a show from the Love Death + Robots team called "Secret Level" that has a messed up Pacman origin story. But what stood out the most to me this year, was Fallout, a video game franchise that, honestly, I enjoyed 3 & New Vegas, but just sorta... This version, started out feeling like a fan film, admittedly, but the longer I kept watching and enjoying not just the New Vegas references with New California Republic, but also going through this overlying story of Lucy, and her choices, that while other gaming adaptations feel like a fan service (Halo) or trying to condense a great story into a short run (The Last of Us) this felt the most like a "living let's play" with Lucy and her decisions with Max and Dogmeat. You can almost watch the show again, and feel like Lucy could've made different choices and you would've seen a different TV show take place. I might be reading too much into this feeling like a "choose your own adventure" but I will also shout-out one thing that I really enjoyed the most was the Soundtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPm1rJygN0k A perfectly good balance since the days of Ink Spots singing "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire". I don't know if it is my favorite gaming adaptation (Arcane was out this year as well, and I could also see that on many TVIV lists) but there hasn't been a show that made me go "holy poo poo this is awesome" in a long, long time.
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Dec 21, 2024 00:14
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One of my favourite annual SA traditions. I've got my list pretty much locked but I am waiting for Squid Game 2. Question: can the Summer Olympics be included as a whole or does it have to be a specific program that aired it?
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Dec 21, 2024 01:03
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I watched a LOT of television this year, and a lot of it was REALLY good! Some of it was also quite bad, but the nice thing about that was that apart from those that were too fascinating awful to stop watching (Masters of the Air), for the rest I could just stop watching it and watch some of the good stuff instead! There were shows I missed that I'll find eventually, and shows that seemed a shoe-in for my list that ended up having to fall by the wayside as I had to restrict it to ten, and cutting some of these REALLY hurt. Mr. & Mrs Smith, Only Murders in the Building and Ripley in particular I thought couldn't be shaken out, but I simply couldn't bring myself to drop out any of the others that would have to go to make room for them. Hell, in any other year Dandadan would have probably made it onto my list but didn't stand a chance against the competition it was up against. A good problem to have! A lot of  follows, click here to bypass them and go to a simple list in the next post!https://i.imgur.com/ViiQ5wT.mp4 10. The Penguin (HBO): This could have easily been one of the multitude of forgettable quasi-prestige crime dramas that come along every so often and offer up a weirdly muted approach to street crime, sanding off the edges in the hopes of maintaining a more universal "appeal" that ends up satisfying nobody. There is an element of that here in the series, a sense that we're seeing an attempt to ape or even cargo-cult the likes of The Sopranos and The Wire while trying to avoid getting into the politics or showcasing just how horrible the opinions and beliefs of their characters can be etc. But the show manages to rise above that generic quality, aided in part by two very strong performances by Colin Farrell (who is unrecognizable under the prosthetics) and Cristin Milioti. But it's also a show that truly benefits from its television format. Scenes get time to breath, actors get chances to let their characters feel like they inhabit an actual world. One of my favorite recurring bits are little moments where Oz gets annoyed by drivers while crossing the street or waiting for them to move out of parking spots. It's entirely irrelevant to the plot, it doesn't signify any great earth-shaking revelations or anything. It's just a fat middle-aged dude getting annoyed and grumbling about things because his character is more than just "wannabe crime boss", he's a living person who happens to be doing this, but he lives in the world and interacts with it too. The show also doesn't mind reminding the viewer constantly that Oz is a really, really, REALLY horrible person, but frequently showcases how he's able to convince other characters AND the viewer that he is sympathetic, that he sees mutual benefit in working with them, that he is willing and able to be a confidant, a friend, a mentor, even a servant when necessary... but underneath it all he's ALWAYS thinking about himself, he's ALWAYS willing to sacrifice anything and EVERYTHING to save himself at the expense of anybody else. A late episode in the season where a character realizes that Oz is even willing to let his own beloved mother get her fingers chopped off rather than admit something that will destroy his carefully constructed house of lies really stands out as astonishingly monstrous even to people who have done horrific things themselves. Oz isn't a genius, he isn't some Joker-esque "this is what he WANTED us to do, this was all his plan all along" type. His plans frequently blow up in his face, he constantly underestimates opponents or overestimates himself... but he can also improvise, he can change direction as needed on the spur of the moment. He's an opportunist, and a vile one, but he's also bizarrely compelling, and seeing the season end with him achieving everything he ever wanted and it being completely hollow AND doomed by our meta-knowledge that eventually the Batman is gonna show up and destroy even this hollow victory makes for a great capstone to what appears to be a one-and-done season (Farrell REALLY doesn't want to weat that fatsuit again!), and one well worth watching. https://i.imgur.com/eNgSpPM.mp4 9. Fallout (Amazon): This show had no business being as fun as it was, it seemed doomed to be an awful adaptation of a game series that has grown in popularity but seemingly gotten a little worse each time a new iteration came out. But they somehow pulled it off, making a very enjoyable exploration of a post-apocalypse alternate reality where the 1950s never really ended, where even the futuristic science-fiction technology feels extremely retro, and all the grand plans to rebuild old society fell apart under the pressure of multiple competing interests who exploited others for their own interests, whether they were raiders or scientists or wannabe warlords or religious cults sure they had the answer to everything. Giving the show three protagonists could have watered down the story immensely, but each individual strand holds together well on its won while also managing to weave in and out of each other's journeys. It helps that each of them is in some way ignorant of the world as it presently stands: one has lived a sheltered life in a Vault her whole life, another was brought up in a cult, a third is wise to the ways of the world but has also been in quasi hibernation for decades etc. It means they get to experience things with new eyes, to be surprised by things being not as they imagined or having changed from what they remembered, which allows the audience to learn about the world in a way that feels natural. While the show hits some strong emotional beats, most of what makes it work is the offbeat humor, the silly situations and misunderstandings as they run into https://i.imgur.com/xjCft38.mp4 8. Star Trek Lower Decks (Paramount+): This show has been on the verge of my Top 10 each year since I started watching it, and it finally made it in its final year. Wrapping up its fifth and final season just this week, the show went out on a real high, offering a sense of closure for the show and they characters while also setting the stage for potential ways to follow-up if they can get the green-light. On the one hand, it's always tempting to say,"Okay that's enough, they went out on a high let's not gently caress with that", but this isn't a show I got the sense was struggling along to get through its last season, but rather one that felt like it still had a lot more to offer. Once I was able to get past the (thankfully quickly discarded) quasi-Rick & Morty feel that the very early episodes of the 1st season had, I've been incredibly impressed by how the show has managed to find a line between the characters both poking lighthearted fun at Star Trek as a series while also wearing its heart on its sleeve about how much it absolutely loves Star Trek and how clear an idea it has on what Star Trek as a whole should be. The show is extremely, extremely wholesome considering how much death, swearing and implied nudity it manages to throw at the screen. The characters are all huge nerds, including the "cool and aloof" one (ESPECIALLY the cool and aloof one!) and while the show enjoys poking fun at some of the more bizarre and odd things that Star Trek has done in the past (like "sexy" decontamination gel rubdowns) it is also clear that they want to incorporate and enjoy the long history of shows going back to the original series... including the original Star Trek Animated series itself! Star Trek as a whole is a thing that in my opinion is, at its heart, about humanity "making it". We survived. We got past capitalism (gently caress capitalism), we got into the stars, we became explorers, we care for each other, we want the best for each other, we want to help each other. That's the kind of spirit that Lower Decks delivered in spades, all while managing to be extremely funny, and by the end when I saw where all the characters are against where they started, it really struck me how quietly and simply the show has developed their characters from one-dimensional shadows of Rick & Morty to ones I cared about and wanted to see succeed. It was a good 5 seasons, but I hope it isn't the last I have seen of them. https://i.imgur.com/aTAvIfm.mp4 7. Interior: Chinatown (Hulu): I once saw Jimmy O. Yang do a bit in his stand-up where he introduced himself by saying that if you were Asian you probably knew him from Crazy Rich Asians, but if you're white you probably know him as Jian-Yang, the shady developer from Silicon Valley who only spoke broken English and was constantly trying to exploit others and steal their ideas for his own profit. I bring this up both because in my case he was absolutely right about the latter, and also because Interior Chinatown explores, among other things, about what it can be like for an Asian trying to make it in film & television, and all the stereotypes and obstacles they find in their path. Yang's Willis Wu is just a regular guy watching life passing him by, whose highest aspiration he can think of as a possibility is that one day he might be like one of those guys on the cop shows who find a dead body at the start of an episode and report it to the cops. Except one day he DOES see something, and his attempts to get involve start him down an extraordinary rabbit-hole that goes to some incredible places. Before I started the show I'd heard some comparisons being made to Mr. Robot, and I can kinda see what they meant. But that is selling it short too, I think, because it's really its own thing, and what it does it does quite spectacularly, lead by a really incredible performance by Yang but aided by very strong support roles, really interesting writing, and a willingness to commit to reveals or twists that take the show far beyond Mr. Robot's own (very good) exploration of the line between fantasy and reality. The show manages to be both comedic and extremely touching, turning what appear to be very (deliberately) one dimensional characters into ones with depth. The show plays with the use of lighting, common tropes, stock characters, meta-narratives and spirituality in ways that were continually surprising. You can read as shallowly or deeply into it as you like and enjoy the show just as much either way, which itself can be somewhat meta in the way we see characters who push too far or question too much find themselves overwhelmed or even seduced by the answers they find, losing sight of themselves in the process. By the end of the season, I wasn't sure if I wanted that to be the end or if they should continue to explore further. Right now I feel like we got a pretty complete story, with the questions that weren't answered explicitly at least given heavily implied answers. However, based on the strength of what I've seen so far, if they make more I'll be there to see where it goes next with great interest. https://i.imgur.com/npU6gxT.mp4 6. What We Do in the Shadows (FX): Another show that wrapped up its final season just this week, WWDitS wrapped up an extraordinary run that belied all expectations. An American tv series based on a New Zealand movie seemed like it should have been doomed to fail, but instead over 6 seasons the show managed to not only live up to the quality of the original movie but has probably for many people become the first thing you think of when you hear the title. When the original team of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement moved on from being the showrunners, you'd think it was doomed to a quick death, but it managed to maintain its quality and arguably exceed it at times, and when it ended it didn't feel like they were out of ideas, just that they were ready to move on. Season 6 follows on from the prior season's shake-up of Guillermo reversing his Turning and facing the fact that he would never be a Vampire. It marks a seeming opportunity for the Vampires themselves to try new things: Nadja goes to work and becomes the office "jokester" ("Hello, is this the suicide hotline? I'm having iNtRuSiVe ThOuGhts!  "), Laszlo and ColinRobinson work on building a Which makes the finale episode itself so much fun, as the documentary crew unceremoniously decides to end filming and get into the edit, and Guillermo realizing that he's the only one who actually can't deal with change. Every so often the show would offer up a reminder that the Vampires are, well, they're immortal. The 6 years of the show and the close to 20 years Guillermo spent with them are less than an eye-blink, and what was an enormous and deeply important part of his life was just another in a series of endless experiences the Vampires themselves, and the reveal that not only have all the adventures we've seen been repeats of things they've done multiple times over the decades/centuries, but that they've been the subject of a(n awful) documentary before is both hilarious and a gut-punch. Guillermo's search for meaning and purpose to this part of his life leads to a fantastic series of alternate "endings" to the show that recreate famous endings from film and television for the viewer to enjoy, while Guillermo finds satisfaction in realizing that he's really more interested in the appearance of closure than actual closure itself, saying a tearful goodbye to Nandor before returning to hang out with him again (and inadvertently discovers Nandor's Bat-plans are a lot further developed than he thought). All of which is a long-winded way of saying the show was really funny for six seasons, it's over now, and I had a great time watching it and think it went out on a hell of a high note. God bless these idiots, yes even ColinRobinson. https://i.imgur.com/Xvhb3cj.mp4 5. Slow Horses (Apple): They kind of let the cat out of the bag regarding a major plot point from the end of Episode 1 in their trailer for the season (River is declared dead at the end of Episode 1, but we had already seen footage of him for later episodes so knew he wasn't) which is a shame, but it does create a kind of fun twist given some other characters don't discover the truth until later in the season long after they should have been told, and their reactions are rather hilarious. As a season, this is probably the "weakest" of the 4 made so far, which still makes it one of the best shows I saw all year. But there is a sense that we were seeing a lot of set-up for the next season or even the one after, as some plot points are either unresolved or are anti-climactic in a way that doesn't feel intended even for a series that often reminds the viewer that things don't get wrapped up as neatly and tidily in the "real world" as we see in most spy media. However, the new characters fit in very well, with Hugo Weaving, James Callis, Tom Brooke & Joanna Scanlan added to the cast and suggesting very interesting things to come. At its heart, it's more of what we saw in the first 3 seasons. River still thinks he's the lead character in a spy novel and lets his sense of drama overwhelm his brain, but he's also tortured by the realities of his continued low status, his larger-than-life grandfather's rapidly escalating cognitive decline, and his failure to pull off the big dramatic moments he feels sure are just waiting for him to step into the limelight... but he also gets the opportunity to show that he can grow given the right circumstances. Taverner is still scheming to maintain authority at MI5, enjoying enormous power and near unlimited scope to act as she feels but chafing under having to be "deputy" to people she thinks aren't as up to the task as she is. Ho is still bizarrely confident in himself despite numerous (and public!) humiliations. At the heart of it all, of course, remains Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb in all his horrible glory. Fat, smelly, disgusting, lazy, disinterested and of course very, very, very, very competent. Once again he is cleaning up after the mess of others while trying to keep his "Joes" protected regardless of his negative feelings towards them all. They're HIS Joes, and as he reminds the rest of the team you don't abandon or give up on supporting your Joes when they're in the field, regardless of whether they were supposed to be or not. Lamb is always there for his people, even if they don't know it, and a couple of moments late in the season where he uses his seemingly callous and inappropriate behavior to get death benefits for the spouse of a team-member AND to simply be there for another without either of them having to admit that is what he is doing reminds the viewer that Lamb not only far from the burned out old fossil he presents himself as, but he's also far from the uncaring, indifferent rear end in a top hat he acts like. He's still an rear end in a top hat, make no mistake, just not an uncaring, indifferent one! Keep making Slow Horses and I'll keep watching them, long may Gary Oldman's retirement racket continue. https://i.imgur.com/EcZ96OT.mp4 4. Fargo (FX): Most of this season aired in 2023, but I didn't feel right adding it to my Top Ten that year because I wanted the complete story first, to see how it all played out. The end result? It played out pretty loving well! A welcome return to form after the mess of Season 4, this season isn't perfect and probably sits a little beneath Season 1 in my ranking of all seasons (with Season 2 still the gold standard), but it hits highs as good as anything this series has ever done. Jon Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh get most of the attention for their roles, and deservedly so, as each puts in a hell of a performance. But Juno Temple's "Dot" is remarkable too, particularly in her interactions with Sam Spruell's Ole Munch, the latter being an astonishing presence throughout the season who leaves everybody who encounters him deeply unsettled or bitterly regretting crossing his path, including Hamm's Roy Tillman. But it is the final showdown between Dot and Munch that elevates this season from just very good to excellent, one of the most remarkable sequences I've seen in a television show. Munch, who brings to mind Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh from the Coens' No Country For Old Men, seems set to recreate the final confrontation of that movie here in this show. What follows, after a season of Dot proving herself remarkably accomplished at fighting off intruders and powerful threats to her family, is incredibly compelling to watch unfold, particularly with the context of the entire season proceeding it. The show has been critiqued, not unfairly, for arguably glossing over the monstrousness of Jennifer Jason Leigh's Lorraine due to the much showier evil of Hamm's Roy Tillman. In a series that hasn't been shy about pointing out that Capitalism is a monster (gently caress Capitalism t  ), Lorraine is pure evil, but this progressively gets downplayed in portrayals as she becomes more sympathetic (well, understanding is perhaps a better word?) towards Dot's position, culminating with a final confrontation with Tillman that is both satisfying and troubling. But I think there's a reason for that, and it's partly shown in the contrast between that confrontation and the one between Dot and Munch. While one is about exhibiting power, about showcasing mastery over the other and reveling in making them aware of their own powerlessness... the other is about forgetting about vengeance, forgetting about a so-called "balancing" of the scales and instead accepting love, companionship and friendship into your heart. Munch's growing bewilderment as the tables are turned on him, culminating in his sheer pleasure as he gets to actually taste and enjoy food for the first time in a VERY long time is astonishing. It makes the "power" exhibited by the likes of Lorraine and Tillman seem so unbelievably petty and unimportant. In a season that reassured me that Noah Hawley hadn't lost the magic that made the likes of season 1 and 2 as well as the 1st season of Legion, the finale and that final sequence in particular made me realize this is still a series that can blow me away and make me feel hope that better things really are possible, if people are only willing to listen and to learn.https://i.imgur.com/9XMGwSa.mp4 3. Agatha All Along (Disney+): This should have been a disaster, there was no way it couldn't be. WandaVision was a great premise squandered by all the intriguing story being cast aside in favor of people flying around shooting lasers and yelling at each other. That they were making an entire new show based around Agatha Harkness felt like a belated attempt to cash in on how popular the "It was Agatha All Along!" song from WandaVision. That it took 3 years for the show to get made, that there were constant name changes suggested that they didn't really have a story to tell, and it felt like the moment had passed and we were going to get another tired cash-in on a franchise that once ruled the (entertainment) world but had been showing diminishing returns (at least creatively) for quite some time. Then it turned out that the show loving ruled. Hilarious, touching, impressively made and very, very, very, very, very, very gay, this was one of the true glorious surprises of the year. It's a show that was rewarding to watch week to week, that was then entirely re-contextualized in its final three episodes, and unlike the show that spawned it did this in a way that felt like a natural story and character progression. By the time everything was done, you could tell that a huge amount of thought and effort went into telling the WHOLE story. A rewatch reveals new context to lines, to looks, to the things that AREN'T said or that at the time just seemed like random quirks to fill in as personalities for characters whose only seeming purpose was to be cannon fodder for the trials along "The Road". Each of the actors involved does a great job, but Kathryn Hahn rules the roost and she does a fantastic job. Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn and Patti LuPone are all great in their roles too (with LuPone's focused episode absolutely fantastic) but Aubrey Plaza steals the show as usual in her charged love/hate relationship with Hahn's Agatha. There's the promise of more to come, both for Agatha's character and others, but if you wanted to treat this particular season as a one-and-done there would be no problem with that at all. It tells a complete story, it tells it fantastically well, and all those title changes ended up making perfect sense both as a meta-joke and as a reminder of just what it is that drew people to this story: it was Agatha All Along. https://i.imgur.com/cxAFzfN.mp4 2. Doctor Who (BBC/Disney+): I make zero apologies for my lifelong obsession with/love for Doctor Who, a show that I've been watching my entire life and one that I fully expect to continue on long after I am gone (including if I live forever, this show will survive the heat death of the Universe). But there have been some grim years, with Chris Chibnall's time in charge of the show dragging its to depths of blandness that shouldn't even be possible: how the hell do you make a 2000+ year old time traveling alien in a police box fighting Space Potatoes and Pepper Potts boring!?! RTD's return was both welcoming and troubling: was the show just going to repeat what it did in 2005, especially with the decision to have David Tennant return to the role of the Doctor for the 2023 specials. Luckily, it turns out that RTD - who made the BEST show of 2021 (It's a Sin) - is actually pretty loving good at this whole making great television thing! His return to Who has been a joyous experience, lead by an actor who radiates impossibly high levels of charisma in Ncuti Gatwa. Gatwa's first full season was wild swings that more often than not hit and sometimes missed, but they were NEVER boring. RTD got to indulge in utter silliness before taking things to incredibly dark places: a universe without music; the death of every living thing that ever was, is, or would be; baby-eating goblins; an entire war with only one army in it, killing its own soldiers to make a profit for an armaments company; a woman cursed to be abandoned and despised by everybody she ever knew, loved or trusted once they heard a mysterious woman whisper something in their ear, till she was left to die alone; and most horrifically of all - the bitter and stunning stupidity of racism, revealed casually treated like the most natural thing in the world, leaving the Doctor of all people to watch them float off to their easily avoided deaths as he begged them to let him save them. The spark of Doctor Who has been reignited, and it makes me feel like it's 2005 all over again without feeling like we're just repeating the same old tricks and the show is out of ideas. The Disney+ money helps, of course, (just look at that new Console room!  ) but really what it came down to is that RTD - for all that his writing doesn't always make sense or falls apart at a moment's reflection - knows how to make a show feel energized and alive. Doctor Who limped along through the Chibnall era, wasting talented actors and crew, but now everything feels... well, it feels regenerated.https://i.imgur.com/NPUnlCg.mp4 1. Shogun (FX/Hulu): Utterly sumptuous television, I can't think of a better word for it. Shogun has clearly had an enormous amount of time and effort poured into it by people who deeply care and saw the chance to make something incredible, and holy gently caress did they pull it off. I read the James Clavell book it must have been 20+ years ago, and I'd seen the old mini-series version with Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune, and I loved the former and found enjoyment in the latter. But this? This was something beyond all of that. It's all a matter of perspective, of course, but what immediately struck me about the series from the very first scene was that everything was EXACTLY as I imagined it in my head when I read the book. The creaking timbers of the ship, the men dying of scurvy, Blackthorne's stubborn belief they could reach "The Japans" and his efforts to keep himself physically and mentally strong etc. From there it just continued, and though the show by necessity conflates characters and scenes or excises entire sections, it keeps all the key points and either expands on characters or makes adjustments to allow for Clavell's well-intentioned but clumsy attempts at evoking the appeal and fascination for the (mostly white) readers with the Japanese and their way of life. Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks created this 2024 version of the series, but they made lead actor Hiroyuki Sanada one of the producers and he helped spearhead the effort to make the series as authentic as possible to the time period and the culture. You can see the results in every single second of screentime. Not just in terms of costuming and set design or wardrobe, but in the movement of the actors themselves, with the intention being to assure that people moved, spoke and acted exactly as they should for their station, for their occupation, for their circumstances. The show takes great pleasure in allowing things to happen, to see them unfold, to take time and to let the viewer draw it all in. Cosmo Jarvis' Blackthorne does very well as a kind of audience stand-in, bewildered at times, enamored at others, horrified still more often by a very different sensibility and "morality" to what he is used to. But it's Sanada's Toranaga, Anna Sawai's Mariko and Tadanobu Asano's Kashigi Yabushige who steal the show with their performances. Toranaga is a wall, protecting his secrets, plans and thoughts even from his closest allies and demonstrating extraordinary patience, determination and willpower. Yabushige is ridiculous and hilarious in his bugged eyed and seemingly completely open reactions to everything, constantly scheming even when he knows he is just drawing himself deeper into the muck, unable to help himself from trying to take advantage at every step. While Mariko ("Lady Maria") is beset on all sides by constant pressure but maintains extraordinary poise, almost always keeping her own feelings in check except for a rare private moments, living a life under constant surveillance and suspicion in a hollow marriage to a brute of a man (who is far more than that 1-dimensional construct) and tasked with the miserable duty of attending to and trying to explain how the world works to a filthy, smelly heretic of a foreigner who continually questions EVERYTHING in defiance of all social graces. Production wise nothing came close to this show all year. It's got better costuming, cinematography, direction, acting and storytelling than most movies. It was incredibly compelling to watch each week, from the moment it started to the moment an episode ended (always too soon) I could not pull my eyes away. I watched a lot of great television this year, there were a lot of shows that were on the list and dropped off over time. But not Shogun. From the moment I saw it I put it at #1 on my list and it hasn't once shifted from that spot, and it's one I feel confident couldn't be more right now 10 months after it first aired. This was the best show on television in 2024, and it wasn't remotely close. Edit: Fixed an errant spoiler tag Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Jan 18, 2025 |
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Dec 21, 2024 10:14
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A simple version of my Top Ten without all the 10. The Penguin 9. Fallout 8. Star Trek Lower Decks 7. Interior: Chinatown 6. What We Do in the Shadows 5. Slow Horses 4. Fargo 3. Agatha All Along 2. Doctor Who 1. Shogun
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Dec 21, 2024 10:14
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Super well-written list as usual, Jerusalem, and I loved all the vids too. Man I really have no idea wtf is gonna make my list outside of maybe the top two? Looking at what aired in 2024 it was a stronger year than I remembered (although it probably didn’t help that I literally only managed to actually watch Shogun a couple of weeks back). I’m pretty sure nothing is gonna beat out Secret Level as the worst thing I watched this year, though, unless the Dune Prophecy finale manages to be even worse than the rest of the season.
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Dec 21, 2024 10:41
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I am happy this thread got made, it's my favorite each year.
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Dec 21, 2024 12:21
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Oh poo poo, I forgot Fargo Season 5 finished this year. That finale's getting it onto my list for sure.
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Dec 21, 2024 16:28
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QR Code Geass posted:H well-played by up and comer Juno Temple (of Ted Lasso). It's kinda weird to see Juno Temple being describes as an "up and comer".
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Dec 21, 2024 16:57
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Not to denigrate Fargo S5, but is it really worth listing for this year’s list when it already got the #7 spot last year? I feel like once you get one of those top 10 slots, the show should be ineligible for the next year’s list (even if it partially aired in it) so that other shows can have their time in the limelight.
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Dec 21, 2024 18:37
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demostars posted:Not to denigrate Fargo S5, but is it really worth listing for this year’s list when it already got the #7 spot last year? I feel like once you get one of those top 10 slots, the show should be ineligible for the next year’s list (even if it partially aired in it) so that other shows can have their time in the limelight. Some goons, myself included, don't vote for shows until they've finished airing whatever season they're airing. So you'd run into the opposite problem.
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Dec 21, 2024 18:41
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It's easy to forget in the streaming era but network shows, for example, tend to air every year, with individual seasons often crossing January 1st. I don't really think it's a workable solution to exclude them, it's just a weird idiosyncrasy of the format the list will inevitably run up against, unless we draw a line and say "this season is only eligible in the year it finishes airing." That would have its own problems, of course, but I'd be open to discussing it.
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Dec 21, 2024 18:49
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I mean, I get that this list is just for fun and this is a weird edge case, but it still seems silly that it's probably going to be somewhere in the #6-#3 position this year based on the votes so far. I feel like someone in five years going back to these lists will write-off 2024 as a weaker year for television if there were six shows last year keeping it from the top spot and fewer now. IMO a "shows are ineligible if they placed top 10 last year for the same season of television not counting midway breaks" (since Breaking Bad S5 making the top spot twice is fine in my book) rule is fine if the goal of the thread is discovery instead of opining. Sucks kinda for people like Idiom and the show since maybe Fargo could have broken top 5 last year with these votes, but there's nothing preventing it from being an honorable mention and #7 is still a great placement.
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Dec 21, 2024 19:46
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if a show aired episodes both last year and this year, it's eligible to vote for this year, because technically part of it aired this year. except if it won last year, bc then it's not fair  take my commentary with a heavy grain of salt bc im not typically a tv show kinda guy, but if anything a season shouldn't count until its last episode airs. you never know how poo poo might go south in the last episode or two.
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Dec 21, 2024 21:08
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Can we also ban any shows that I just don't like?
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Dec 21, 2024 21:32
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We’ve been over this before and yeah the only real solution is to let people vote for any show that aired an episode in this calendar year. Kinda sucks in Fargo’s case though because the deadline for the 2023 poll was literally the last day of January so people had plenty of time to change where Fargo (and The Curse, and whatever else) landed on their list based on the finale.
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Dec 21, 2024 21:54
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Cojawfee posted:Can we also ban any shows that I just don't like? I loved Fargo S5, I put it #4 on my list last year and struggled to even get my list down to 10 shows (I also watched the finale before submitting my list because there was ample time between it and the deadline). Escobarbarian posted:We’ve been over this before and yeah the only real solution is to let people vote for any show that aired an episode in this calendar year. Kinda sucks in Fargo’s case though because the deadline for the 2023 poll was literally the last day of January so people had plenty of time to change where Fargo (and The Curse, and whatever else) landed on their list based on the finale. I was mid typing this when I refreshed and saw this, but yeah, if this is how the rules have to be, then The Curse should be on everyone's list. In retrospect, that ending loving owned and the only reason it didn't make my list is because I didn't have time to process it. If I don't see it ranked on yours, I know to immediately disregard your opinions.
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Dec 21, 2024 22:03
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If I recall correctly the poll deadline had changed well after the people thought they had to get their lists in (plus I go away over Xmas, I wasn't watching much of anything and have to catch up on stuff when I get back home), but even so as far as I'm concerned the show was airing new episodes during 2025, and when 2025 got towards its end and I looked back on all the shows I watched that aired in 2025 it was in the top 10, simple as that. I also didn't list it in 2024 because the season wasn't done and I felt I needed to see how the show did or didn't stick the landing. Luckily it was a perfect dismount and scores of 10 all around from the judges.
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Dec 21, 2024 22:03
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