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Post by otherscott on Dec 20, 2020 14:37:46 GMT -8
Double shot today:
Number 7: Never Have I Ever (Netflix)
I actually thought this was a pretty average show for the first 3 or so episodes, but it really found another gear after that, and almost every episode started improving on the one before. In terms of high school shows and shows about the Indian-American experience, this one was a real treat.
Number 6: Raised By Wolves (HBO Plus Max)
For whatever reason, it feels like genre shows have a higher barrier to entry to be respected by critics. I don't have all genre shows on my list or anything, but the three I do have I think really tackle real life topics in an interesting way, plus they create the world building and they are generally beautiful to look at. This, with the influence of Ridley Scott is one of the most beautiful cinematic shows of the year, and the Pilot is absolutely killer. It does lose a little bit of steam in the back half, but I stayed engaged and excited by the concepts they were exploring throughout.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 20, 2020 17:05:26 GMT -8
Okay, I definitely did not expect to see Never Have I Ever on your list. That is to say, I think it's a good show, with some charming performances. But the humor is just too broad and uneven to really click with me, and it didn't jell with the drama quite as it should have. I don't think it would make my Top 20 for the year. Incidentally, looking over the individual Top 10 lists, I'm amused by how many critics are bending/breaking the rules this year. (There are rules, correct?) The Top 10 of Vanity Fair includes "NBA basketball" and "Broadway"; TV Guide includes Hamilton and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (neither of which is a TV show), plus the West Wing reunion special; the Washington Post names the Democratic National Convention as the year's #3 show, because why not. |
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Quiara
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Post by Quiara on Dec 21, 2020 16:34:58 GMT -8
it feels like genre shows have a higher barrier to entry to be respected by critics Hm, is this really the case? Killing Eve and Watchmen were both critical darlings, after all. Obviously there was a time where SFF stuff would get shafted very often in BSE discussions (as per the Epic Debate of Yore Times, "Why is Buffy not in contention for the "best show ever" or whatever I called it five million years ago). |
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 23, 2020 15:22:36 GMT -8
I'm working on my year-end TV roundup, but in the meantime, here are my ten favorite TV episodes of 2020. (No particular order; there are limits even to my ranking abilities.)
Better Call Saul - "Bagman"
Fargo - "East/West"
What We Do in the Shadows - "On the Run"
The Boys - "What I Know"
Mythic Quest - "A Dark Quiet Death"
Solar Opposites - "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear"
Bojack Horseman - "The View From Halfway Down"
How To with John Wilson - "How to Cook the Perfect Risotto"
Little America - "The Cowboy"
I May Destroy You - "The Alliance"
Some of these shows aired flawed and uneven seasons, but each produced at least one episode that was pretty terrific.
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 24, 2020 6:38:26 GMT -8
What We Do in the Shadows - "On the Run" I didn't know what it was called, but I immediately registered that as the Jackie Daytona episode, which had me in hysterics. |
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 24, 2020 9:27:14 GMT -8
Yes, that's the one. I think I laughed harder at that episode than any other TV ep this year.
What's interesting is that most of my favorite sitcom episodes this year tend to lean on the serious side ("A Dark Quiet Death" is essentially a half-hour drama produced by a show that is usually a silly comedy), but "On the Run" is such a glorious exercise in pure goofiness.
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Quiara
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Post by Quiara on Dec 24, 2020 16:13:40 GMT -8
Incidentally, looking over the individual Top 10 lists, I'm amused by how many critics are bending/breaking the rules this year. (There are rules, correct?) The Top 10 of Vanity Fair includes "NBA basketball" and "Broadway"; TV Guide includes Hamilton and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (neither of which is a TV show), plus the West Wing reunion special; the Washington Post names the Democratic National Convention as the year's #3 show, because why not. Oh, also, I just want to put my flag down in the sand here, because the rise of streaming has allegedly ""muddied the waters"" when it comes to what a TV show is versus what a movie is to the point where people are suddenly saying the Hamilton pro-shot is a TV show. They are wrong. A television series has episodes which are typically meant to be watched over an extended period of time (yes, Netflix originals are meant to be binged but they mosty suck). This is why no one says their favorite TV show is Brian's Song or The Day After even though they aired on television. Because they're movies. Likewise, no one says that the Broadway proshots they show on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center are television shows. |
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 24, 2020 16:34:25 GMT -8
Seems a lot of folks really love that Jackie Daytona episode of WWDiTS. I recall quite liking it, but generally prefer eps that feature more of the entire cast.
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Post by otherscott on Dec 26, 2020 13:09:39 GMT -8
Took some time for the holidays, and even now it probably won't be a show a day, but here's number 5:
Number 5: Better Call Saul (AMC)
I think I'm comfortable saying this was the best season of the show to this point. It's the best the show has been able to integrate Mike and Nacho in the show in forever (since the first season at the very least), and tying their arcs to Jimmy's always fascinating arc has really done the show a lot of good. And the show was able to tap into the Breaking Bad playbook more frequently of memorable set pieces, most notably Jimmy and Mike walking back through the desert and Kim's confrontation with Lalo (who was a tremendous addition to the cast and really shined this season in particular). This is the ultimate journey over destination show, and helps prove that what makes TV fascinating is how to get to the end points, not the end points themselves (take that Spoiler Crusaders)!
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Post by otherscott on Dec 27, 2020 19:29:49 GMT -8
Number 4: Haunting of Bly Manor (Netflix)
I've never really been able to figure out why this shows (both this version and Hill House) haven't gathered more momentum critically. They are really excellent meditations on life, told through the prism of haunted house stories, with beautiful direction and in depth characters. Bly Manor in particular centers around mental illness and dementia in particular, which isn't a particularly common topic in television, but it's one that hits close to home for a lot of people and is rife with drama and difficulties and conflicts. It's one of those things where there's a whole lot to bite into here, there's a whole lot to watch for, and there's a whole lot to think about.
I think a lot of time horror is going to struggle critically, but this show is so well done and to me this season is virtually on par with the first. I just wish more people would jump on board. I want to see more great genre recognition by television media and criticism outside of Game of Thrones.
Watchmen absolutely did get a lot of recognition, but it also hit a lot of hot button topics that were going to get critics attention, plus Lindelof and HBO gets a "pay attention to this" bump. Killing Eve I don't really think counts as a genre show in a TV sense, it's similar in many ways to The Flight Attendant which also got a lot more attention than the genre shows on my list despite being a fairly straightforward thriller.
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Quiara
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Post by Quiara on Dec 28, 2020 10:59:46 GMT -8
Watchmen absolutely did get a lot of recognition, but it also hit a lot of hot button topics that were going to get critics attention, plus Lindelof and HBO gets a "pay attention to this" bump. Killing Eve I don't really think counts as a genre show in a TV sense, it's similar in many ways to The Flight Attendant which also got a lot more attention than the genre shows on my list despite being a fairly straightforward thriller. Hm, that's true. Maybe the problem with Haunting of... is that insufficiently genre? Compare with something like Lovecraft Country or even something like those two Jordan Peele movies which got a lot of critical buzz - I think if those movies had been less blatantly "horror!" they'd be a little less successful. As it is these shows seem to straddle the line between genre TV and prestige TV in a way that critics can't get behind. Hypothetically. It could also be that it's season 2 of a Netflix original, and that season 2 of a Netflix original is never going to get the buzz of season 1, which is arguably by design. |
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Post by otherscott on Dec 28, 2020 21:15:54 GMT -8
I actually do generally think people find the second season/series less good, I just happen to think it's more on the level than given credit for. But I do think it's a pattern that shows like The Haunting or The Boys or my number 1 show don't get the same treatment from the critical community.
Number 3: Bojack Horseman (Netflix)
Per my rankings, this was the second best show to begin last decade, and to me the final season really lived up to it. "The View From Halfway Down" was the episode of the year for me (I didn't do a best episodes list this year), and really brought Bojack to a beautiful conclusion about what happens when a flawed horse continues to try to move beyond past failures with the knowledge that the consequences will always stay.
I understand complaints that Bojack wasn't operating at it's peak from a humour perspective, but I will say that in some of the years leading up to this the humour wasn't really landing the same way, and the humour was just a smokescreen for the what the show really was anyways.
Terrific show, terrific final season, and the end of an era for Netflix who will now presumably never give a show more than 3 seasons again.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 29, 2020 7:00:18 GMT -8
I think the nature of modern TV - particularly the sheer level of competition - makes it tough for many shows to get in critics' good graces for multiple seasons. In most cases, you need a strong first season to capture people's attention; the "stick with it, it gets good" excuse doesn't hold as well when there are dozens of other shows with no backlog to catch up on premiering each month. (Occasional exceptions abound, particularly with shows that have brief premiere seasons and took some time to generate buzz - I think Fleabag's leap in critical appreciation for its second season series came about in part due to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's increased cultural profile between 2016 and 2019.) But okay, say your show has a great first season and gets a lot of critical acclaim. Where do you go from there? Your second season now has the pressure of raised expectations, plus the constant threat of newer programs popping up and drawing eyeballs away. Simply being "nearly as good" as Season One isn't going to cut it, because that gives the season a perceived feel of relative weakness. At worst you need to equal the prior season in quality; more likely, you need to top it. A few shows have pulled this off by starting well and getting progressively better over the years ( Better Call Saul is a particularly good example), but most shows can't keep up that pace. Compound this with the fact that critics, like most people, get tired of putting the same shows on their "Best of" lists every year and like to emphasize new things by virtue of them being newer. (I may not be immune to this phenomenon.) ETA: Just posted my own Top 10 TV Shows of the year. For the record, I almost included Bojack. Definitely a strong conclusion to the show, with an outstanding penultimate episode, but (as Scott points out) I did feel a bit let down from a humor perspective. |
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Post by otherscott on Dec 29, 2020 9:38:44 GMT -8
How To With John Wilson was really good. It was probably the best show that missed out on my list. In fact, I think all the shows that I watched that made your list would have been in my top 15-16.
Number 2: We Are Who We Are (HBO)
I'm not sure how big a secret it is, but I don't have a lot of time for social justice issues in TV shows. I think most of the time this is done, the issue is presented as one sided, and easy to solve with a little bit more care and humanity from those around. And my general dislike of the social far left issues like cancel culture and critical race theory sometimes make me feel more socially right than I actually am.
But let me be clear, I love stories about finding your identity, and how the people around you impact and mold that identity. And this show is maybe the best exploration of that I've seen. It's so well directed and structured, and it just continually goes to unexpected and surprising places while still maintaining the essence of what it is. And the show covers all sorts of aspects - fluidity of sexuality, fluidity of gender, fluidity of religion. It's a show that does one of my absolute favourite things, spending time with interesting people.
And I think the show has everything you could ask for, it has memorable moments and set pieces, it's got tragedy, it has comedy, it has a massive party episode with a dark echo back to it in a later episode. It uses music as well as any show I've seen, it's got characters who are flawed but ultimately looking for the greater good of themselves and the people around them. There is a bit of a lull after a strange but fascinating first episode, but once the party episode (episode 4) hits each subsequent episode provides a unique and fascinating story. And it's all centered on the relationship between two friends and the impact they have on each other, whether they are together or apart.
My number 2 show, and probably my highest recommendation of the year.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 29, 2020 10:08:02 GMT -8
I'm not sure how big a secret it is, but I don't have a lot of time for social justice issues in TV shows. I think most of the time this is done, the issue is presented as one sided, and easy to solve with a little bit more care and humanity from those around. And my general dislike of the social far left issues like cancel culture and critical race theory sometimes make me feel more socially right than I actually am. I'm now wondering how my TV list would have looked if I made more of an effort to watch shows where the critical buzz was not steeped in social justice. Honestly, even for shows that I have watched and I think are legitimately good, I'm not entirely convinced that the critics aren't prioritizing politics in praising them. (As evidenced by the number of critics who acknowledge the obvious flaws with I May Destroy You but named it the best show of the year anyway.) The sentiment you express here is more common than you think, and really underscores the continued critic/audience divide that seems to grow wider with each passing year. |
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