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Post by otherscott on Dec 4, 2018 13:04:17 GMT -8
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 4, 2018 14:48:06 GMT -8
It says something about the current state of TV - far too many shows to keep track of, most of the buzziest being "pretty good" rather than "great" - that I don't think Sepinwall's list is going to be seen as any sort of 2018 consensus. He hasn't even seen America to Me, which will almost certainly rank high on many other critics' lists.
I still want to catch up on a few other shows this month, but as it currently stands, the year's been pretty underwhelming. There are maybe 7-8 shows I was really impressed with, or am at least comfy enough to put in my Top 10.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Dec 4, 2018 16:19:51 GMT -8
It says something about the current state of TV - far too many shows to keep track of, most of the buzziest being "pretty good" rather than "great" - that I don't think Sepinwall's list is going to be seen as any sort of 2018 consensus. He hasn't even seen America to Me, which will almost certainly rank high on many other critics' lists. I still want to catch up on a few other shows this month, but as it currently stands, the year's been pretty underwhelming. There are maybe 7-8 shows I was really impressed with, or am at least comfy enough to put in my Top 10. I must admit, I'm quite surprised he put The Americans at number two. That seems a bit high, especially judging by his reviews, which seemed a little more critical of the final season than other critics. I probably wouldn't put it so high, but I haven't seen enough tv to really judge properly. The character stuff was great. But from a story perspective, almost nothing happened in the final season, and the catalyst for the climax was a missed Thanksgiving dinner. What's surprising is that I still found it really compelling and interesting. I can say that the only two shows to truly impress me were Bojack Horseman and Atlanta. Quite surprising, honestly, considering that even just a few years ago, it seemed like there were too many great shows to ever be caught up on.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 4, 2018 17:35:15 GMT -8
In 2015, I had 14 shows that were vying for my Top 10. Like I mentioned last year, quantity has overtaken quality. (Also, supply has overtaken demand, as evidenced by the fact that cancellation is becoming a more imminent threat to many "niche" shows.)
The Americans aside, Sepinwall's Top 5 picks (haven't seen My Brilliant Friend, but let's go by the print edition, which includes Better Call Saul at #5) are pretty solid. Beyond that, it gets dicier, but I've come to expect that. (There's at least one show in my prospective Top 5 that he doesn't mention at all.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 4, 2018 20:28:26 GMT -8
I'm so glad I'm not rating or ranking movies or shows anymore. It's cool that you guys get some pleasure out of it, but it just feels so mechanical to me. If I'd like to draw someone's attention to a film or TV series I'm enjoying, sure I'll talk it up. But having to defend putting this or that show on a personal ranked list, year after year, is so tiresome to me at this point.
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Post by otherscott on Dec 5, 2018 8:19:59 GMT -8
It says something about the current state of TV - far too many shows to keep track of, most of the buzziest being "pretty good" rather than "great" - that I don't think Sepinwall's list is going to be seen as any sort of 2018 consensus. He hasn't even seen America to Me, which will almost certainly rank high on many other critics' lists. I still want to catch up on a few other shows this month, but as it currently stands, the year's been pretty underwhelming. There are maybe 7-8 shows I was really impressed with, or am at least comfy enough to put in my Top 10. I'm going to disagree, I'm properly whelmed with the year, and I think it stacks up pretty well to past years in terms of the quality of my top 10 list. It might even be an overall deeper year than the last couple. It might be because I was more on top of TV this year, but there's some pretty good shows that are going to be missing from my list. That's largely because a lot of the seasons (particularly the Season 2's) of shows that were by and large decried as "disappointing" I was still pretty impressed with. What I am not impressed with is the long running shows. This year in particular, Bojack, Better Call Saul and The Americans are really the only shows of note that are running past Season 2. There's a lot of shows in Peak TV that seem to come on with one year in mind, maybe 2, and then keep getting renewed past when they have interesting stories to tell.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 5, 2018 9:29:17 GMT -8
The only shows which I felt really suffered from a "sophomore slump" this year were Legion and The Handmaid's Tale. (American Vandal S2 was a step down from the first, but still far too good to be considered slumpy.) Plenty of other shows had improved second seasons this year - Jessica Jones, Timeless, One Day at a Time, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and of course Atlanta. (Hopefully, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has a solid S2 as well.)
Also, mot of the new shows don't seem to be offering much that's fresh or revolutionary. There were a number of high-profile busts (Rise, The Romanoffs), and a lot of shoulder-shrugs. There didn't even seem to be a cultural touchstone debuting this year the way previous years had Empire, Stranger Things, and The Handmaid's Tale. (I mean, there was Roseanne, but no critic is putting Roseanne on their "Best of the Year" list.)
Admittedly, my TV habits have fallen behind, as I spent much of the year studying for a bunch of awful state exams. And I'm going to catch up on a few other shows before the year is out. But I'm quite curious to hear what shows you're referring to. (But I wouldn't ask you to spoil them now, if you want to save them for your Top 10 reveal.)
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Post by otherscott on Dec 5, 2018 9:47:12 GMT -8
Yeah I won't spoil my list, but I'm referring to 3 sophomore shows in particular that most would say suffered a significant slump that I still found quite good.
The new shows weren't as buzzy as in past years, but I think there were some solid ones. That said, I think most of the ones I enjoyed you haven't seen yet for various reasons.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 5, 2018 16:16:25 GMT -8
If Legion and Handmaid's Tale had "sophomore slumps", sign me up for more of them so-called slumps. The first one in particular remained far more fun and inventive than most TV I've seen in recent years. I'll allow that they didn't finesse the good guys taking Farouk into their fold all that convincingly, but I'm still curious to see how it shakes out in S3. Dan Stevens will probably kill it as the "villain".
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Dec 15, 2018 11:10:35 GMT -8
I'm surprised that Killing Eve is ranking so highly on all these lists, honestly.
Atlanta and The Americans seem to be the contenders for top show - sounds about right...
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Dec 15, 2018 12:12:36 GMT -8
I'm surprised that Killing Eve is ranking so highly on all these lists, honestly. Atlanta and The Americans seem to be the contenders for top show - sounds about right... Atlanta yes, The Americans no.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 15, 2018 16:53:33 GMT -8
I'm surprised that Killing Eve is ranking so highly on all these lists, honestly. It probably won't be there next year, even if Season 2's actually better than S1. Viewers and TV critics are pretty fickle.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Dec 16, 2018 8:47:35 GMT -8
I'm surprised that Killing Eve is ranking so highly on all these lists, honestly. Atlanta and The Americans seem to be the contenders for top show - sounds about right... Atlanta yes, The Americans no. Booooo. Season 6 was not the show at its peak (I think that's S4) but I think it was a pretty self-evidently good season of television. (At some point I'll watch Atlanta and agree with you on it.)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Dec 16, 2018 8:52:45 GMT -8
I'm surprised that Killing Eve is ranking so highly on all these lists, honestly. It probably won't be there next year, even if Season 2's actually better than S1. Viewers and TV critics are pretty fickle. Oh, I think it won't be there next year because, much like Orphan Black (the show it's ripping off), the show is going to rapidly tailspin into consequenceless conspiracy wank - not that it wasn't that already, but the novelty of the show and the good performances from the leads are currently distracting from that. Eventually the critics will turn on it, but the show will retain its intended audience of lesbians under 30 for another four seasons until the show eventually runs out of gas.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Dec 16, 2018 9:34:10 GMT -8
Atlanta yes, The Americans no. Booooo. Season 6 was not the show at its peak (I think that's S4) but I think it was a pretty self-evidently good season of television. (At some point I'll watch Atlanta and agree with you on it.) It was! I quite liked it-I'm definitely not as down on it as Jeremy. But the top show? That's going a bit far. Though it seems there are far fewer great shows than there were a few years ago, so it's not that crazy.
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