*A funny title, given that every year since FX chief
John Landgraf coined it, there's been more shows than the year before.
This is the first time in a while that my top show
for the year wasn't obvious. Or, at least, it's the first year in which my top
tier wasn't obvious. Normally, to come up with my list, I have a head-to-head
sorting program, that keeps making me pick between two shows until it has
figured out an order. I might tinker with a position or two after that, but
otherwise, I stick with those results. It's a good way to weed out outside
influences of what "should" be at the top. I did that this year, and
the further along I went, the results just didn't look right. I was getting
shows in my top 3 that I didn't even think would be in my top 10. So, I tried a
couple other manual sorting methods and kept coming up with similar, if not
identical, results. In other words, this is the most surprising list I've had
in a while, although you will see many familiar titles from previous years. I
think part of my confusion is simply that the number of my favorite shows has
dwindled without obvious replacements. The Leftovers loomed large for a
few years. Veep has been a staple for several seasons and took a break
in 2018. Parks and Rec and 30 Rock are long gone. Even my
darlings that almost no one watched like Rectify and Review
aren't around anymore.
In this Peak TV era, I've started to notice a slow
decline in quality at the extremes. There are fewer A or A+ shows and an unbelievable
number of A- or B+ shows. The freedom afforded to creators and showrunners has
increased the diversity of ideas, structures, and representation in a way that
we've never seen before. The problem is that it has diluted the talent pool.
Shows that would've had 2 or 3 writers on staff capable of being showrunners or
head writers may only have 1 or 2 now. Or, more people are working on multiple
shows and getting less time to recharge themselves. It's great to see people
getting more work, but it's kind of like the Beatles after they broke up. All
of them individually made some good music, but none of them alone could reach
the height of the Beatles together.
This is all a long-winded way of saying that my list
this year is deep overall, but a little weak at the top. On average though, it
was a great year in TV.
Top 10
Previous Rank: #5 - 2017, #19 - 2016
Favorite Episode: Janet(s)
I really didn't expect to see The Good Place
here. I didn't realize it was my favorite show for the year. Maybe I'm hesitant
to be that predictable: picking another Michael Schur show at the top. And do
you ever notice how critics' Top 10 lists almost never put comedies at the top?
I succumb to that line of thinking sometimes.
But, at the end of the day, follow the joy. Week to
week, what is the show I look forward to watching the most when there's a new
episode? In 2018, that's The Good Place. Plain and simple. It has the
best core cast on TV. It's hard to even pick an MVP. Ted Danson is a legend,
Manny Jacinto is outright hilarious. Kristen Bell quietly holds everything
together. D'Arcy Carden keeps finding new ways to milk comedy out of what
started as explicitly a non-character. William Jackson Harper and Jameela Jamil
have moment of brilliance too. The real reason this is here though, like
another show in my top 10, is because I never know what's in store for the next
episode. Michael Schur and his staff churn through story at a ridiculous rate.
It's quietly one of the smartest comedies on TV while never letting that get in
the way of the jokes. 2018 included a strong run of episodes to end the second
season at the beginning of the year, and it ended 2018 on the strongest
possible note: the episode "Janet(s)". In addition to being a tour de
force performance by D'Arcy Carden, the episode was dense with jokes and
bureaucracy and found yet another new direction to bring this wacky story in. I
don't know how long Schur and company can keep this up, but it's breathtaking
while it lasts.
[Find it on Netflix...eventually]
2. The Americans (Season 6)
Previous Rank: #9 - 2017, #2 - 2016, #6 - 2015, #7 -
2014, #14 - 2013
Favorite Episode: START
I began to worry about the story of deep-cover
Russian spies Elizabeth and Phillip after last season seemed to delay
everything for the final season, leaving a lot of pressure on this season to
deliver... And did it ever. Not in a big, Game of Thrones kind of way.
That was never what this show was about. That series finale has stuck with me
like few others, including an all-time heartbreaking music cue. But that whole
season was filled with great moments. Remember Phillip line-dancing or
Elizabeth discussing classic French heist films? This is one hell of a cast.
Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, and Noah Emmerich are exceptional. Holly Taylor has
made one of the great child actor leaps. Even Keidrich Sellati, playing the
ignored son Henry, had some good moments. I worried early where the season was
going. By the end, those concerns were all gone. The Americans cemented
itself as one of the greats.
[Find it on Amazon Prime]
3. Better Call Saul (Season 4)
Previous Rank: #3 - 2017, #9 - 2016, #22 - 2015
Favorite Episode: Something Stupid
I know, I know. Picking Better Call Saul is
so predictable. Gushing about a Vince Gilligan show* is like praising the
latest Coen Brothers movie. It's almost lazy. It's such a good show though. I
barely even think about it as a Breaking Bad prequel anymore. I watch it
as a tragic romance or the story of a man worn down by the low expectations
people have of him. And that's only the Bob Odenkirk/Rhea Seehorn half of the
show. There's a whole other half about Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks)
negotiating the conflicts between his own personal code and his role in Gus
Fring's (Giancarlo Esposito) criminal empire. It was a shame seeing Michael
Mando's Nacho pushed more to the background, but it meant even more Rhea
Seehorn, which I'll never complain about. It turns out that losing Michael
McKean from the regular cast didn't hurt the quality one iota. The opening
montage of "Something Stupid" is one of my favorite scenes or
sequences of 2018. I'm so worried about Kim Wexler. I just want her to be
happy.
[Find it on Netflix...eventually]
*It should be noted that Peter Gould co-created the
show and took over showrunning duties almost completely this year.
4. American Vandal (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #10 - 2017
Favorite Episode: The Brownout
I liked season 1 of this wonderful mockumentary
series even more than season 2. Last year, I should've ranked the show higher.
I was embarrassed by how much I liked it. Not anymore. I was really underwhelmed
by season 2 when I first saw it. So much so, that I rewatched it within a week
after binging it the night it premiered. I wasn't ready for this season to not
be quite as funny (except, of course, for the wild, season-opening Brownout). It
was also a shame that Peter and Sam (Tyler Alvarez and Griffin Gluck) weren't
as personally invested in this case. Instead, this season went to a darker
place and had some pretty profound things to say about millenials and social
media without resorting to the same lazy criticisms other shows do. I will miss
this show greatly, even though I fear it had nowhere to go but down.
[Find it on Netflix]
[Find it on Netflix]
5. Atlanta (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #6 - 2016
Favorite Episode: Teddy Perkins
On The Good Place, I never know where the
story is going next. On Atlanta, I never know that or even where an
episode is going to begin. Every episode is an experiment and can find a new
way to surprise me. Even though Donald Glover is the Emmy-winning star and, in
my opinion, a generational talent, it doesn't even matter who leads an episode.
Having Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beets in the supporting
cast is an embarrassment of riches. "Teddy Perkins" is an all-time
great episode of any series, and I wasn't even sure if it was my favorite
episode of this season. That's how great the show was in season 2. Putting it
fifth seems too low.
[Find it on Hulu...eventually]
6. Killing Eve (Season 1)
Favorite Episode: I have a Thing About Bathrooms
God damn this show was fun. I ignored it when it
first premiered. Another show about a serial killer didn't excite me. As the
popularity grew though, I decided to try it out and I was instantly hooked.
Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer are perfect adversaries. Creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge
infuses the show with so much playful electricity and dark humor that it's easy
to see why it's so addictive. I have no confidence that the show can keep it up
in a second season (because it's unfair to expect that for any series), but I'm
more than happy to go along for the ride while it lasts.
[Find it on Hulu]
7. BoJack Horseman (Season 5)
Previous Rank: #11 - 2017, #5 - 2016
Favorite Episode: Free Churro
If you don't accept by now that BoJack Horseman is
simultaneously the silliest and saddest show on the air, then I don't know what
to tell you. This season was as good as ever, even if it wasn't as fresh as
previous seasons. By far my favorite episode was "Free Churro", an
episode length eulogy by Bojack drawn as a single-take, despite the fact that
in animation, making something look like a single shot isn't any harder that
normal. That episode gave me the
biggest, longest, and most unexpected laugh of the season. It was something
special. I doubt you can find a show as dense with visual gags. And it has the
ability to turn a dumb, multi-episode gag like Todd's sex robot into a savvy
commentary on sexual harassment in the workplace. It's a show full of
surprises.
[Find it on Netflix]
Favorite Episode: Part 3
I wasn't familiar with the Rajineeshpuram community
before watching this Netflix documentary series. Now I'm terrified by the
story, and of one of 2018's breakout characters, Ma Anand Sheela. In six parts,
this series documents the rise and fall of the Oregon cult brilliantly. After I
started it, I didn't want to turn it off. I lost a lot of sleep that night.
With each chapter, the story got stranger and more unbelievable. By the time I
finished, my biggest question was how I'd never heard of this before? Is there
really not a David Fincher movie or Errol Morris documentary about them out
there?*
[Find it on Netflix]
*I didn't research this question at all. There
probably is something else out there. Whatever it is though, it wasn't high
profile enough for me to be aware of it.
9. Brooklyn Nine Nine (Season 5)
Previous Rank: #8 - 2017, #8 - 2016, #12 - 2015, #4
- 2014, #18 - 2013
Favorite Episode: The Box
Only 11 episodes aired in 2018, but they were
exceptional episodes. The year began with "Safe House", which
included one of the best payoffs to a joke this year in the final moments of
the episode. That was followed by the return of the Pontiac Bandit. Then right
after that was "The Box": a bottle episode that was a direct homage
to a classic Andre Braugher episode of Homicide: Life on the Streets.
That's a hell of an opening salvo. It didn't need any episodes this Fall to
secure a place in the top 10. The fact that Andre Braugher doesn't have a
Jeremy Piven-esque stack of Emmys for his character is just silly.
[Find it on Hulu]
10. Barry (Season 1)
Favorite Episode: Chapter Seven: Loud, Fast, and
Keep Going
Barry
didn't turn out to be the comedy I thought it would be. Instead, it was even
better. Bill Hader and Henry Winkler earned very deserved Emmys. This seris
took the idea of a hitman-turned-actor seriously. I'm still shook from Hader's
work in the season's penultimate episode. For such a funny guy, Hader is able
to play it straight so well. Any laughs he gets are almost accidental. But
there's still rooms for laughs. Anthony Carrigan's No-Ho Hank was one of 2018's
more reliable joke machines and, between his moments of desperation, Winkler's Gene
Cousoneau reminded everyone why he's a legend. I can't wait to see where things
go in season 2.
[Find it on HBO Now]
The Other Top 10
11. It's Always Sunny (Season 13)
Previous Rank: #5 - 2012
Favorite Episode: The Gang Makes Paddy's Great Again
I've missed this show. Thanks to the move to FXX,
which I didn't have until this year, I haven't been able to include Sunny
in my year-end list for a long time. Well, it's back now and it has no business
still being this good after 13 seasons. Fit Mac may not be the endless source
of jokes that Fat Mac was seven years ago, but they still got plenty of mileage
out of it. It's Always Sunny is always inventive (this season included a
deranged take on Home Alone, a blunt examination of Hollywood's female
reboot trend, and a season-ending interpretive dance sequence played completely
straight), and in its old age, it's even reflective, playing on its own legacy.
I hope it never ends, even though I know it must.
[Find it on Hulu...eventually]
12. Speechless (Seasons 2-3)
Previous Rank: #19 - 2017, #38 - 2016
Favorite Episode: L-O-N-- LONDON: Part 1 & 2
"Best ABC Comedy" is a constantly rotating
title and Speechless has earned it for now. It's reached that sweet spot
where it's confident but not yet stale. Minnie Driver is a force to be
reckoned with. John Ross Bowie and Cedric Yarbrough handle themselves with the
ease of the comedy veterans they are. And the child cast is uniformly strong.
I'm continually surprised by how developed JJ's character is, regardless of who
is reading his lines. The fact that that never gets confusing is impressive.
Anyone who isn't checking out the non-Modern Family ABC family comedies
is missing out.
[Find it on Hulu]
13. The Middle (Season 9)
Previous Rank: #21 - 2017, #12 - 2016, #13 - 2015,
#10 - 2014, #11 - 2013
Favorite Episode: Toasted
The Middle is an All-Time great series in my opinion. It ended a
little weak, but I'm not missing my last chance to tell people to watch it.
It's a comfort food show that navigated the aging of the children as well as
any series ever has. Patricia Heaton was better than her Emmy winning work in
Everybody Loves Raymond. Neil Flynn was lethally laconic until the very
end. Eden Sher's Sue is one of TV's All-Time great optimists until the very
end. Atticus Shaffer turned a collection of ticks into a well-rounded person.
And, Charlie McDermott's Axl managed to grow up without changing his entire
personality the way oldest sons often do in sitcoms (I'm looking at you, Mike
Seaver). I'm going to miss this show so much.
[Find it...somewhere]
14. Last Week Tonight (Season 5)
Previous Rank: #16 - 2017, #16 - 2016, #14 - 2015,
#11 - 2014
Favorite Episode: Drain the Swamp
Always informative. Always funny. John Oliver and
his staff's penchant for long-con jokes. His work with Russell Crowe's
jock-strap from Cinderella Man, hidden Scientology plugs, and Presidential wax
figures brought me countless laughs. And remember when he made a children's
book about Mike Pence's dog? Who does that? The thoroughness of his bits is
often jaw-dropping. Every year, I debate if I should include this show in my
year-end list, because it's so much different than everything else. I always
come back to the laughs though. The informative deep-dives into often
under-covered topics are nice, but it's appointment viewing because it makes me
laugh like few other shows.
[Find it on HBO Now]
15. GLOW (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #29 - 2017
Favorite Episode: The Good Twin
One of the purely enjoyable binges of the TV season.
I think I actually spread it out to an entire weekend this year instead of a
single sitting. Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin continue to be as great as ever.
As the rest of the ensemble gets fleshed out, the show gets even stronger. With
the league established, this season got to focus even more on the wrestling
fun. The fake episode of the GLOW wrestling program, "The Good Twin",
was pure fun. The Tamme spotlight episode "Mother of All Matches" was
surprisingly moving. At some point it'll even stop being surprising that Marc
Maron can really act.
[Find it on Netflix]
16. The Deuce (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #17 - 2017
Favorite Episode: The Feminism Part
It's unfair for any show to live in the shadow of The
Wire. It's doubtful that any show, even a David Simon show, will pull off
the necessary balance of that spiralling narrative. The Deuce does a damn
fine job getting close to it though. Like all David Simon shows, it's two steps
forward and two steps back for all the characters. No happy ending comes
without consequences. The through line of Candy making "Red Hot" gave
this season some much needed focus. Maggie Gyllenhaal really is the heart of the
series. I hope she gets a happy ending. Everyone else - eh - I'm fine with how
things go for them either way. One of the best things I can say about James
Franco's performance is that I don't spend the scenes with his two characters
together trying to figure out how they did that or looking for the seams.
[Find it on HBO Now]
Favorite Episode: N/A
ESPN released this massive 20 hour documentary about
the history of basketball quietly this Fall. It's far from perfect. I know I
have some opinions about things they left out, but for anyone with affection
about basketball in any form, it's a must-watch, thanks to the breadth of
topics and variety of interviews. Hell, even if you don't like basketball, it's
still enjoyably informative. It is strongest at the beginning. There are chunks
of basketball history that are often overlooked. The pre-Bill Russell era and
really the entirety of the 1970s NBA get a lot of time devoted to them in this.
Sadly, this does come at the expense of any college basketball stories later
than 1995.
[Find it...somewhere]
18. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #18 - 2017
Favorite Episode: Vote for Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy
I can't say this about many shows, but the biggest
problem I have about MMM is that it doesn't have enough episodes. Ten just
isn't enough for all the detours Amy Sherman-Pallidino likes to write into her
shows. In a 22 episode season, taking trips to Paris or the Catskills would be
welcome. With only 10 episodes, it means taking precious time away from Midge's
rising stand-up career. Still, I love the rat-a-tat Sherman-Pallidino dialogue,
Rachel Brosnahan is a perfect Sherman-Pallidino lead, and the cast is full of
able comic performers around her. There just aren't many shows I enjoy going on
frustrating detours with.
[Find it on Amazon Prime]
19. The End of the F***ing World (Season 1)
Favorite Episode: Episode #1.8
Frankly, I watched this show so long ago that I have
trouble remembering details about it. What I do remember is that Alex Lawther
as a budding psychopath/aspiring serial killer and Jessica Barden, in search of
anything more exciting than her current life, are a lead duo I'm happy to
follow. The season is refreshingly brief (Despite being on Netflix, no episode
is longer than a network sitcom without the commercials) and it ended so
perfectly that I'm cursing Netflix for ordering another season (even though
I'll absolutely watch it). I definitely don't think the show if for everyone.
You should be able to tell in the first couple minutes if the dark sense of
humor and muted tone are for you. And, even if you hate it, you only waste the
amount of time it take to watch a single Lord of the Rings movie.
[Find it on Netflix]
20. Dear White People (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #46 - 2017
Favorite Episode: Volume 2: Chapter IV
This show is really damn smart and elevates the
discussion of race in America better than anything I've seen in 2018. It's also
occasionally funny, occasionally mysterious, and occasionally tragic. I suspect
the title scares a lot of people away, which is a shame. Frankly, I've learned
a lot from the show; things I should've learned a long time ago. That said, it
never feels like homework watching the show. Each episode focuses on a
different cast member's story. It's fun to see how the overlapping narratives
play out throughout the season. This season ends with a twist that, in
hindsight, I should've seen coming all along. It sets things up for an
interesting third season.
[Find it on Netflix]
The 10 I Wish I Could've Put Higher
21. Fresh Off the Boat (Seasons 4-5)
Previous Rank: #42 - 2017, #18 - 2016, #16 - 2015
I'm so happy people finally know who Constance Wu is
thanks to Crazy, Rich Asians.
Hopefully that will lead to more people watching this great ABC family comedy.
Wu is by far the best thing about the show, but she's not alone. The ensemble
has rounded out nicely as it has moved away from making Eddie the lead
character. In 2018, Honey and Marvin having their baby has been the best of
both worlds. they can do stories about cultural differences in baby rearing but
the Huangs aren't saddled with a baby of their own that they have to work
around. And, for the record, I have no idea why the show dropped so much in my
rankings last year. Normally these are pretty consistent even though I do the
rankings independently.
[Find it on Hulu]
22. Succession (Season 1)
I've loved listening to the ongoing debate about
whether this HBO series is a comedy or a drama. I think I lean drama, but
either read of it is fine. It's hard to convince people to watch a show about
dysfunctional rich people acting horribly. The only thing I can say in its
defense is that it's not glamorizing these characters. It's aware of just how
awful they are, and that leads to some pretty tremendous laughs. (OK, maybe it
is a comedy.) This isn't a show that gets better as the season progresses.
Rather, it comes fully formed yet it takes a few episodes to get used to its
rhythms. I love the whole cast, but Nicholas Braun's lovable doofus, cousin
Greg, stands out in a year full of lovable doofuses.
[Find it on HBO Now]
23. The Haunting of Hill House (Season 1)
I'm a big fan of Mike Flannagan's horror movies
(Oculus,
Hush), so I was
excited when I heard he had a Netflix series. For the most part, it didn't
disappoint. Great cast (Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Elizabeth Reaser,
Timothy Hutton) and some great scares. The sixth episode, "Two
Storms", was by far the highlight of the season, using minimal visual cuts
to raise the suspense to new levels. Horror really isn't designed to be spread
out over a long period of time, so it's really impressive that this mostly kept
things up for 10 episodes. Based on word of mouth, it was popular enough for a
second season, but I don't know how they could make that work. Better to leave
it as is.
[Find it on Netflix]
24. The Handmaid's Tale (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #27 - 2017
Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel,
Ann Dowd, and the rest of the cast are incredible. I don't think I wavered on
how I felt about a character as much as Strahovski's Serena Waterford. Every
week she either infuriated me or made me hopeful that she finally saw the
light. The fact that Elisabeth Moss still outshined her is a testament to how
great Elisabeth Moss is. No one gets a better showcase week-to-week than Moss.
By cruel design, this is the least bingible show on the air. If my tolerance
was a little higher, and if I wasn't so frustrated by the repetitive story this
season, it easily could've broken into my top 20.
[Find it on Hulu]
25. Blackish (Seasons 4-5)
Previous Rank: #14 - 2017, #13 - 2016, #34 - 2015,
#29 - 2014
Blackish has
been a perennial favorite for a couple years now. It takes a little dip this
year only because the season 4-ending story arc about Bo and Dre having marital
problems went on a little too long and underlined the same point too much.
Otherwise, it was business as usual. When Blackish is firing, the
Johnson family still makes me laugh like few others on TV. Dre's work scenes
are somehow endearingly racist. That shouldn't be a thing, but somehow those
scenes make it work. I think it's because it successfully conveys that fighting
racism is more of a constant discussion than something with a specific end
point. Regardless, those scenes are often howlingly funny.
I don't know how many more times I need to say this:
If you don't watch any of the ABC family comedies, you are missing out.
[Find it on Hulu]
26. Everything Sucks (Season 1)
This show got very lost in the winter schedule and
Netflix has already cancelled it. That's a real shame. It's a 90s high school
coming of age story that's high on nostalgia, with a wonderful young cast, and
a sweet heart. It's been a hard show to get people to watch because there's
nothing urgent about it, and it plays sort of like it's an import from some
obscure Canadian network. It was a treat to watch though and hit so many of my
sweet spots. Patch Darragh dancing to Deep Blue Something is the most goofily
enjoyable thing I remember watching this year. This show wears its heart on its
sleeve wonderfully. My only issue is that it ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger
and there's no hope of resolving it now.
[Find it on Netflix]
27. Evil Genius
Another Netflix true crime series. In four parts, it
investigates one of the most bizarre crimes in American history. It's a little
light on answers, but it's a doozy. I remember hearing about this bank robbery
around the time it happened, but I had no idea just how complicated and messy
the whole thing really was. With each new detail, the story sounds more and
more like something a screenwriter came up with. I did watch most of this with
a couple shots of bourbon in me. I'm not sure if that added to or diminished
the appeal. All I know is that I would happily watch Ann Dowd play Marjorie
Diehl-Armstrong in a TV movie some day.
[Find it on Netflix]
[Find it on Netflix]
28. Silicon Valley (Season 5)
Previous Rank: #24 - 2017, #14 - 2016, #5 - 2015, #3
- 2014
The longer this show tries to run in place, the more
it's going to fall on my list. I love the cast so much. Zach Woods can always
make me laugh. The loss of T.J. Miller was hardly felt and left more room for
Jimmy O. Yang's Jian Yang to go full heel. One nice development this season was
the show realizing that Thomas Middleditch's Richard really is to blame for so
many of the problems Pied Piper has faced. Earlier in the series, when
characters suggested that, the show didn't appear to side with the opinion. I
believe it for the first time now.
[Find it on HBO Now]
29. American Ninja Warrior (Season 10)
Previous Rank: #44 - 2017, #48 - 2016, #45 - 2015
The show doesn't change much each year. City
Qualifier, City Final, Vegas Final, and maybe someone wins $1 million. The
level of competitor gets better every year. The obstacles get tougher. This
year saw a drop in the age limit, which artificially increased the talent pool.
Overall though, it's the same basic thing. I'm fine with that. I love having
this show to fill a couple hours every week in the summer. I love sitting in
front of my TV, stuffing my face with cookies, watching people get past insane
obstacles, and thinking "I don't know. It doesn't look that hard".
[Find it on Hulu]
30. Maniac (Season 1)
It's funny. I've mostly heard Maniac talked
about in terms over how it's better than comparative shows. I've seen the
second episode of Maniac called the best episode of Black Mirror
in 2018 (partly because the last season of Black Mirror technically
premiered at the end of 2017). Personally, I've joked that the best season of Legion
this year was Maniac. Both shows share the same retro-futuristic view of
the world and are run by showrunning directors always looking for a cool new
way to shoot something. Maniac has the benefit of featuring leads who
have a handful of Oscar nominations and a win between them in Emma Stone and
Jonah Hill. Those two got to have a lot of fun and play a variety of
characters/roles. I'm not sure that I actually understood what was going on
half the time, but that was part of the fun.
[Find it on Netflix]
The 10 (+16) In the Middle
31. Sharp Objects
Gillian Flynn is becoming one of the most reliable
authors in Hollywood, whether it's her adapting her own work (Gone Girl), her
adapting someone else's work (Widows),
or someone else adapting her work with her (Sharp Objects). This HBO
mini-series had hints of Southern horror inside a larger murder mystery. Amy
Adams is going to win all the awards possible for this (the Emmys won't do her
like the Oscars, right?). Eliza Scanlen was pretty great too. I had some issue
with where things went in the last couple episodes, but the very end and the
very last line make up for it.
[Find it on HBO Now]
32. The Simpsons (Seasons 29-30)
Previous Rank: #39 - 2017, #36 - 2016, #42 - 2015
Death, taxes, The Simpsons. We don't
appreciate it enough. 2018 saw The Simpsons pass Gunsmoke to
become the longest running scripted primetime series in history. I'm surprised
how quietly that came and went. The Simpsons is at 663 episodes
according to IMDB. It premiered when Roseanne and Murphy Brown were
still in their original runs. It's on it's fifth U.S. President. For 30 seasons
it's been a solid rating performer and was at one time a cultural phenomenon.
The list of writers who have worked for the show is up there with the likes of SNL
and The Show of Shows. I'm in awe of this show and you should be too.
[Find it on Hulu and FX Now]
33. Bob's Burgers (Seasons 8-9)
Previous Rank: #48 - 2017, #44 - 2016, #43 - 2015
It's always going to be behind The Simpsons for
me. Maybe it shouldn't be. It's just as clever, just as funny, and just as
watchable. It's somehow on season 9 even though it feels like it just
premiered. Those animated series have a way of doing that. Even just reading
the episode titles makes me laugh. "Y Tu Ga-Ga Tambien". Who makes a
title referencing a Mexican movie from 2000 that most film nerds haven't even
seen? "The Hurt Soccer". "The Taking of Funtime One Two
Three". "Better Off Sled". That's good shit. And the episodes
live up to the titles.
[Find it on Hulu]
34. Westworld (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #25 - 2016
I love the scale of the production. It's behind only
Game of Thrones as the most impressive production on TV. Individual
episodes like "Akane no Mai" and ":Kiksuya" were among the
year's best. Individual performers like Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright
deserve every bit of praise they receive for the show. I just plain don't care
about the puzzle of the show. I wish it would be more concerned with good
storytelling than with confusing/deceiving the audience. It's no coincidence
that the best episodes of the season were the straightforward, stand-alone
episodes. Oh well, I'll be back for season 3, no doubt.
[Find it on HBO Now]
35. LA to Vegas (Season 1)
This show was never going to work. The concept for
it - the misadventures of the passengers and crew on a discount airline making
trips from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back - was too limited to work long
term. Even by the end of its lone season, the stories were running on fumes.
Still, they got every bit of comedy that they could out of the idea. Kim Matula
isn't all that funny herself, but she quarterbacked all the crazies nicely. The
highlight of the show, of course, was Dylan McDermott hamming it up as the
pilot of the airplane. Best of all, Dermot Mulroney had a recurring role as
McDermott's virtually identical rival. You've gotta love them leaning into the
running internet joke that they are interchangeable.
[Find it...somewhere]
36. Homecoming (Season 1)
Julia Roberts in her first series regular role was
stupendous. Stephan James gave her a great scene partner. Bobby Cannavale and
Sissy Spacek were great in supporting roles. This Sam Esmail series was
cleverly directed and scored. The big reveal moment, in which the visual style
of the series was explained is the kind of thing that showrunners dream of
being able to pull off. For some reason, I just didn't get sucked into the
mystery of it all. I wish I had a better explanation for putting it this low.
It just goes to show how much solid TV there was this year.
[Find it on Amazon Prime]
37. Legion (Season 2)
Previous Rank: #22 2017
Good luck finding a more visually inventive show on
TV. Showrunner Noah Hawley began as an author, which is hard to believe. The
best parts of Legion would suggest someone who has thought for the
screen or as a director for much longer. Season 2 actually ran into trouble
because Hawley seemed to be more concerned with clever new ways to visualize
something than with storytelling. I couldn't tell you what actually happened
this season. It was mess for the most part. Still, there was always something
to look at. I know I've watched the dance off in the premiere several times.
And there's the simple fact that I'll watch any show with Aubrey Plaza in it.
[Find it on Hulu...eventually]
I wasn't sure where this show would end up on my
list. Anywhere from 11th to 50th would've sounded right. This is AMC's second
mini-series based on a John Le Carre novel after the success of The Night
Manager a couple years ago. This one relies heavily of relative newcomer
Florence Pugh. She is tasked with playing an actress working as a spy working
as an actress. The series plays with the truth in interesting ways, as Pugh is
trained to not only learn a cover story, but to live it in order to stop a
radical terrorist group from killing innocent people. Michael Shannon and
Alexander Skarsgaard are good, but Pugh is what determined is it would sink or
swim. She's great. It's the overall story that I didn't care much about.
[Find it on AMC.com]
39. Saturday Night Live (Seasons 43-44)
Previous Rank: #32 - 2017, #32 - 2016, #36 - 2015,
#20 - 2014
After a Trump-fueled resurgence in 2017, SNL took
a little step back in 2018, relying to much on guest stars for most of the
political sketches and losing any trace of nuance to Alec Baldwin's Trump. I
like a lot of the cast right now, so it would be nice if they would start
looking to them more often for the roles. They've lucked out that no one seems
to last very long in that administration. Imagine if they still had to get
Melissa McCarthy to be available to do something with Sean Spicer every other
week.
It's always hard to rate a season though. It's
inconsistent by nature, even at its very best. Personally, I love Collin and
Che doing Weekend Update and how they play to each other more than the
audience. As long as Kate McKinnon and Kennan Thompson are in the cast, I know
I'm going to laugh. I don't have the time or motivation to track down a
favorite sketch of the season, but that NASA one from the Steve Carell episode
made me laugh a lot.
[Find it on Hulu]
40. Lodge 49 (Season 1)
I laughed exactly twice in 10 episodes. Both were
giant belly laughs. The rest of the time, I liked relaxing and going with the
flow. I'm not sure how to rate a show like that. Lodge 49 plays by its
own rules. Part of the time it was a buddy comedy. Other times it was a stoner
mystery. Occasionally, it was a reflection on wasted opportunities and
unrealized potential. I mean, the big
guest star of the season was Bruce Campbell. Use that calibrate wisely. All I
know for sure is that Sean (Wyatt Russell) and Liz (Sonya Cassidy) are TV
siblings I'm more than happy to hang out with once a week.
[Find it on Hulu]
41. A.P. Bio (Season 1)
I'm impressed by how the series stuck to its guns.
It premiered as a show about Glenn Howerton as a disgraced Harvard philosophy
professor hired to teach A.P. Bio at his hometown high school. The show
promised that he was never going to teach them anything and that it wouldn't
turn into some Welcome Back Carter situation. And, they've followed
through with that so far. Howerton spends most of his time yelling at teens and
doing everything except teaching them A.P. Bio. They assembled a talented group
of young actors to play his students with a variety of personalities. Patton
Oswalt as the eager-to-please principal gives Howerton another person to scowl
in contempt at. Howerton, as over a decade of It's Always Sunny has
already proven, is great at verbally assaulting people. I don't know how much
life there is to this idea. It got renewed for a second season, so I guess I'll
find out.
[Find it on Hulu]
42. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 4.1)
Previous Rank: #36 - 2017, #29 - 2016, #17 - 2015
I'm not sure how UKS fell from where I had it
last year. Last season had me prety low on the show. By the end, it was all too
much. Season 4 (the half that aired in 2018 at least) was a nice bounce back.
However, I have accepted that this will never live up to it's predecessor (30
Rock). I enjoy it for what it is. Ellie Kemper's Kimmy is a ball of
sunshine.Titus Burgess's Titus Andromedon annoys the hell out of me. Carol
Kane's Lillian always feels a little out of place, even though she's funny
enough. Jane Krakowski is so good at playing Jenna Moroney that I don't really
mind her playing the chacacter again and calling her Jacqueline White. Oh, and
there's always the best opening theme song on TV.
[Find it on Netflix]
43. This Is Us (Seasons 2-3)
Previous Rank: #37 - 2017, #27 - 2016
Well, Jack is finally dead, so that's one less game
to play. That's been replaced by flashbacks to Vietnam and an election arc for
Randall. I don't know how I feel about that trade off. Not much of an
improvement. Mandy Moore got to do some of the best work of her career after
Jack's death. Really anything with her and Milo Ventamiglia before the kids is
sweet and romantic. I never figured the show would age well as it burnt through
plot, so this is following schedule. The cast is still great though and there
are enough sublime moments to make it worth keeping up with.
[Find it on Hulu]
I watched this three part mini-series and thought
that it was a sometimes dark, sometimes funny story about gay panic and the
British parliament. It wasn't until the end that I realized that it was based
on actual events. Somehow, that made it darker and funnier while adding tragedy
and urgency. This is the second thing I saw this year featuring Hugh Grant and
Ben Wishaw as good as they've ever been. Alas, it broke the one rule I set as
an immediate disqualifier: no dead dogs. It's hard to come back from that, no
matter good something is otherwise.
[Find it on Amazon Prime]
45. The Big Bang Theory (Seasons 11-12)
Previous Rank: #47 - 2017, #47 - 2016, ? - 2015, #22
- 2014, #19 - 2013
This is an old sitcom by any measure and it's in its
final season (I think). You can sense the writers wrapping everything up, even
if they are doing it clumsily. Sheldon and Amy finally got married. Raj appears
to have found a girl. Howard and Bernadette are settled in as parents. Leonard
and Penny, well, they are still together. The show never quite figured out what
that relationship was beyond "sitcom math" at work. Even resident sad-sack Stuart has a girlfriend. Hopefully
they don't try something at the bottom of the 9th to mess everything up, like
renewing the show without Sheldon or something.
[Find it on CBS All Access]
46. The Last Man on Earth (Season 4)
Previous Rank: #43 - 2017, #22 - 2016, #31 - 2015
Not many shows can claim to be genuinely unique. The
Last Man on Earth played by its own rules until the very end. No other show had
its bizarre sense of humor. Will Forte's Phil Tandy Miller is the kind of
frustrating, annoying, but somehow lovable leading man that TV doesn't often
see. January Jones took a staggering left turn with her character that no one
would've expected in episode 2. Even though I didn't always like the show, I'm
going to miss it more than a lot of shows I've ranked above it simply because
there was nothing else like it.
[Find it on Hulu]
47. Orange is the New Black (Season 6)
Previous Rank: #41 - 2017, #26 - 2016, #28 - 2018,
#24 - 2014
I've always been a little lower on Orange than other
people. I've always liked it though. This season saw the inmates move to
maximum security prison after the riot. I didn't care much for it, even
though, like last season, I appreciated Jenji Kohan's attempt to shake things
up. In maximum security prison, it looked too much like female Oz. The severity
of the setting didn't mix as well with the lighter tone the show like to hit
most of the time. Still, I'm in awe of how the show maintains and rotates out
its ensemble. Literally anyone could become my next favorite character. It's
probably time to start looking at an end game though, or to let go of more of
the original cast, who look a little bored.
[Find it on Netflix]
48. A Million Little Things (Season 1)
I cannot get this title correct. I keep wanting to
drop "Little" or change "Things" to "Reasons". I
think that reflects how derivative the show is, pulling greatly from both This
Is Us and 13 Reasons Why. The show leans far too much into melodrama
and far too quickly. Any group of friends with this many secrets shouldn't
remain friends. Still, the cast is charming; James Roday, Romany Malco, and
Allison Miller in particular. I accidentally watched one too many episodes. and
now I'm committed for the entire season, at least. At the rate that this burns
through plot, I can't imagine where things will be by then.
[Find it on Hulu]
49. Forever (Season 1)
This Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen show was this
season's big mystery, except for the fact that most people don't even know it
exists. Even though it's been out for a few months, I don't want to reveal too
much about it; not that the surprises are worth it. The show never quite finds
its footing, even though Rudolph gets a rare chance to show off some dramatic
range. Still, the season's sixth episode, "Andre and Sarah", which
has almost nothing to do with the other seven episodes, is one of the best
episodes of any show this year, and can be watched as a standalone short film.
Sadly, that does only highlight how disappointing the rest of the season was.
[Find it on Amazon Prime]
50. The Romanoffs (Season 1)
Matthew Weiner's follow-up to Mad Men is massively
ambitious. It's a globetrotting anthology series about people who all believe
they are descendants of the Russian royal family. The cast is incredible and
Amazon invested a lot of money into it. The anthology format allows Weiner to
experiment with tone and story to an even greater degree than he did in Mad
Men. The Romanoffs is no Mad Men though. The episodes were uniformly too long.
They rarely came together in a believable way. I know creative types hate to
hear this, but sometimes, there is such a thing as too much freedom.
[Find it on Amazon Prime]
51. Vanity Fair
This was an easy end of the year binge. I'm not familiar with the book, so I got to experience the story with new eyes. That was the saving grace. While Olivia Cooke is a fine Becky Sharp and the rest of the British cast are fine, much of the series rings false. Everything is far too neat. All the period appropriate costumes look too new and starched. Every room looks like it was set up 10 minutes before filming. I kind of hate the guy opening every episode by saying "This is Vanity fair. A world where everyone is striving for what is not worth having". It's worth watching if you're a fan of costume dramas, but it isn't going to change anyone's mind on the genre.
[Find it on Amazon Prime]
51. Vanity Fair
This was an easy end of the year binge. I'm not familiar with the book, so I got to experience the story with new eyes. That was the saving grace. While Olivia Cooke is a fine Becky Sharp and the rest of the British cast are fine, much of the series rings false. Everything is far too neat. All the period appropriate costumes look too new and starched. Every room looks like it was set up 10 minutes before filming. I kind of hate the guy opening every episode by saying "This is Vanity fair. A world where everyone is striving for what is not worth having". It's worth watching if you're a fan of costume dramas, but it isn't going to change anyone's mind on the genre.
[Find it on Amazon Prime]
52. Love (Season 3)
Previous Rank: #64 - 2017, #57 - 2016
This is a well made show. It knows exactly what it
is and wants to be. Gillian Jacobs is a star. Paul Rust annoyed me a lot, but
that's kind of the point. I was most often impressed by the side characters
this year. Claudia O'Doherty's spotlight episode was by far my favorite of the
series. She better start showing up in more movies and shows. Iris Apatow has
real chops too. I love the scene when she's on the studio backlot, fuming with
rage, and snaps out of it just long enough to be sweet to a producer and some
fans. I never cared for what the show was trying to be, even if it did so
successfully. That's why it's so far down on my list. That, and it wrapped
everything up at the end hastily and clumsily.
[Find it on Netflix]
53. New Girl (Season 7)
Previous Rank: #54 - 2017, #40 - 2016, #46 - 2015,
#23 - 2014, #15 - 2013
Honestly, New Girl doesn't deserve to be down
this far. By the end, it was a solid joke-machine and had one of the most
over-qualified casts on TV. Almost the entire main cast could anchor a series
on their own. That's pretty remarkable when you think about how New Girl
started as "The Zooey Deschanel Show", withstood the loss of the most
charismatic male cast member (Damon Wayans Jr.) after the pilot, and even lost
Deschanel for half a season. I like that New Girl took the Parks
& Rec. inspiration and made a time jump for the last season. Had it
aired a little more recently and not been so obviously burned off, I might have
put it higher.
[Find it on Netflix]
This movie about Garry Shandling was broken into two
parts that aired over two night, so I'm calling it a series. This documentary
is a loving tribute by Judd Apatow about his mentor. It might be Apatow's
finest work as a director. He got a ton of access and a lot of great
interviews. The first half that focused on the early days of Shandling and the
comedy scene of the 70s and 80s was far more interesting that the second half,
especially during the less eventful, post-Larry Sanders Show years. Shandling
is more beloved by the comedy world where he had a massive influence than he is
beloved by the world in general. I'm not sure it accomplishes the goal of
explaining his importance to non-comedy people.
[Find it on HBO Now]
55. Modern Family (Seasons 9-10)
Previous Rank: #52 - 2017, #46 - 2016, #48 - 2015,
#21 - 2014, #20 - 2013
It's an old show. The adult cast has reached the
point where they can do this in their sleep. It's hard to blame them for not
being as hungry as in those first few seasons. It happens to every show (Did
the Cheers guys even rehearse in those last few seasons?). And, the kids are all
too old now. Unlike, say, The Middle (which also had a much smaller
cast), Modern Family never bothered to tilt the story more to the kids
or to find room for them. Haley's pregnancy arc has been a nice attempt, but
even that has only been a tertiary story.
[Find it on Hulu...some of it]
56. Supergirl (Season 3)
I'm a fan of easy to watch CW shows with a lot of
pretty people. In fact, the only reason I finally picked up Supergirl and
watched all three seasons this summer was because Season 3 had Odette Annable,
who I've liked since Cloverfield. It's a decently enjoyable show. I'm happy to
leave it on in the background. But if the cast was even 80% as pretty, I doubt
I'd bother. I'm certainly not keeping up with it week to week. At the risk of
sounding too superficial about the show, I do want to note that Melissa Benoist
is absolutely terrific for this role. She is so damn likable and pulls off the
heroic moments when needed.
[Find it on Netflix]
57. 30 for 30 (The Two Bills, The Last Days of
Knight, 42 to 1)
Part of the appeal of the original batch of 30
for 30 documentaries was that it had filmmakers experimenting with the
documentary form in each installment. We're in the 90s now in episode count.
There's only so many new ways to make a documentary. There's a "house
style" now and it's hard to find new sports stories that haven't been told
before. So 2018's crop of 30 for 30s just wasn't as good as in past
years. Still, they are easy watches, and I liked recognizing all the shots of
the campus at my alma mater in The Last Days of Knight. Someone
probably deserves bonus for getting Pacells and Belichik on board for
"The Two Bills".
[Find it on ESPN.com]
The Bottom 10
58. The Flash (Season 4)
Previous Rank: #53 - 2017, #56 - 2016)
I'm unfair to the CW shows, because I don't watch in
the Fall. So, I only judging on half a season. I get a lot of chuckles out of
Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and the gang. Tom Cavanagh has almost too much fun
playing all the different versions on Harry Wells. Gun to my head - I couldn't
tell you who the villain for season 4 was or how they beat him. Frankly, I
don't care. It played well at the time, I'm sure. Hartley Sawyer was both
annoying and charming throughout the season. Whatever the case, it hasn't moved
into brooding like Arrow yet, so I'm sure I'll be back to catch up on Netflix
next summer.
[Find it on Netflix]
59. Good Girls (Season 1)
I like that NBC provided me a delivery system to
get more Christina Hendricks, Mae
Whitmanm, and Rhetta in my life. As with most of the sub-50 shows on my list,
it's an easy and inconsequential watch. I doubt I'll return for season 2 (how
many shows have I said that about though?), but it was enjoyable enough.
I would like some help. For some reason, I keep
thinking this show is produced by Jason Katims. Other than Mae Whitman, is
there any other reason why I would think this? I can't find one. Maybe having
QB1 (Zach Gilford) in a support role is also to blame.
[Find it on Hulu...some of it]
60. Waco
Because, yeah. David Koresh really needed someone to
take his side. I appreciate what the Paramount Network was trying. They took a
lot of big swings since premiering this year. Perhaps the biggest swing was
beginning with a mini-series with no hope of continuation. They got the best
cast possible. I feel like Michael Shannon, Melissa Benoist, whichever Culkin
brother this had, and Andrea Riseborough should all be too busy to have the
time to be in this. Julia Garner is a whole other level of busy. In 2018 alone,
she was a regular cast member in four different series (Waco, Maniac, Dirty
John, and Ozark) and was in multiple episodes of a fifth (The Americans).
That's absurd. Nearly as absurd as Taylor Kitch's speaking voice as David
Koresh, which sounded like he was always too short of breath to yell. It really
wasn't a bad show. I just tried a little too hard to tell the Branch Davidian
side of the story.
[Find it on ParamountNetwork.com]
61. Rise (Season 1)
Jason Katims has earned a season a blind faith.
Friday Night Lights is an all-time great series. Parenthood very above average.
The return to small town high school life in Rise and the shift to musical
theater sounded like a slam dunk. Auli'i Cravalho has supernova potential, and
they are smart to buy stock in her early. But Rise was more stumble than
success. The biggest problem is not realizing just how unlikable Josh Radnor's
Lou Mazzuchelli is. It doesn't help that they made him straight when the
actually person the character is based on is gay. Who thought it was smart to
make the theater director on a show about making a high school musical a
straight father? Know your audience. The LGBTQ community was the only chance of
making this a hit. Whatever. Rise has its moments, almost all tied to Cravalho.
The rest of it is just watered down FNL so far. Maybe I'll keep watching.
[Find it...somewhere]
62. The Alienist
This show looked great. By that, I mean A+ work in
production design and cinematography. It didn't have the problem of a lot of
period pieces where everything looks too clean and the costumes over-starched.
Dakota Fanning didn't feel as out of place in the period setting as I expected.
She held her own with Daniel Bruhl and Luke Evans even though the age gap was a
little more distracting than the casting agents may have thought. I never got
sucked into the mystery at the center of the show though and ended up completing it out of
habit more than a need to see what happens next.
[Find it on TNT.com]
63. House of Cards (Season 6)
Previous Rank: #66 - 2017, #37 - 2016, #51 - 2015,
#36 - 2014
There's a world where Francis Underwood is killed
off from the show for creative reasons, not Kevin Spacey reasons, and Claire
takes over on her own terms. Season 5 came eerily close do setting that up on
its own. There's no ideal way to lose the star of a show, but House of Cards
was positioned for it as well as any show I can think of. In this world where
the show was handed over to Claire on purpose, I assume he story wouldn't be so
concerned with tying up loose ends that the writers intended for Frank to worry
about. I'd really like to watch this hypothetical show. Robin Wright has been
the series MVP for a while. The season we actually got though, wasn't great.
Claire spent most of the season filling in for Frank storylines. The conflict
with the Shepherd family never amounted to much, except for the occasional
scene in which Robin Wright and Diane Lane squared off (I'd watch a whole
series of that). And there was that whole pregnancy story which never made
sense*. The concluding moments of the series landed with a thud. I literally
wasn't aware that it was the end when I watched it. After the episode ended, I
was confused that another episode didn't come on. I checked IMDB and Netflix to
make sure it wasn't a mistake.
[Find it on Netflix]
*Really, how old is Claire Underwood supposed to be?
Spacey is 59. Wright is 48. I was under the impression that Clarie and Frank
didn't have a large age gap, so you can't pretend Claire is much younger than
Wright. I admit that I'm pretty ignorant about pregnancy, but how is it not a
bigger deal that Claire got pregnant? At the very least, should it be an
incredibly difficult pregnancy? Not one where she can be poisoned and the baby
is still fine.
64. Ghosted (Season 1)
Previous Rank: #63 - 2017
This Adam Scott/Craig Robinson/Amber Stevens-West
supernatural comedy never figured itself out or even got good. I do love seeing
how desperate series try to course correct. This one shifted hard. It dropped
the supernatural element almost entirely and basically turned into a workplace
comedy. It brought Kevin Dunn into the cast at the very end. And, it actually
was a little better. The show needed to end. The cast was far too good to be
wasted on a dying series, but the collective talent made it work. Episodes
toward the very end only seemed half produced even. They would let moments sit
awkwardly rather than try to edit them for laughs. It really did play like it
was supposed to have a laugh track but no one bothered adding it in afterwards.
The ultimate sign of how little anyone cared by the end: the last episode
clearly came from earlier in the production, when they were still trying the
monster of the week idea. It didn't match up with the storylines from the
previous week at all. In terms of television production, Ghosted might be the
most informative series I watched all year. I won't miss it, but I wouldn't
trade the memories for anything.
[Find it...somewhere]
65. UnREAL (Seasons 3 & 4)
Previous Rank: #45 - 2016
This is a real rarity. 2 entire seasons of UnREAL
aired in 2018. Even rarer, they aired virtually back to back and on different
networks. Season 3 was delayed on the schedule for months, finally airing in
the early Spring. Then, this summer, Lifetime dumped it to Hulu who quietly
burned them off on one day (despite their normal business model being weekly
episode releases). It's a shame I didn't watch it's sublime first season when
it aired in 2015 so I could've ranked it highly. That was the only good season,
it turns out. Seasons 3 and 4 were just not very good. Too melodramatic. Burned
through too much story. The darkness that made the fist season so great was
replaced with viciousness that didn't even have a target. They took the
anti-hero idea too far and just made everyone villains without owning up to the
idea. Shirri Appleby and Constance Zimmer still had their moments, but they
were fleeting and far between.
[Find it on Hulu]
66. Camping (Season 1)
Since I didn't watch the whole seasons on these last
shows, I'm not sticking to the 100 word minimum of the first 64 shows. It turns
out that making a show about Jennifer Garner being unlikable just makes
Jennifer Garner unlikable. It doesn't conflict the audience at all. This
uncomfortable show wasn't for me.
[Find it on HBO Now]
67. Happy Together (Season 1)
I thought the collective sitcom talent of Damon
Wayans Jr. and Amber Stevens West would be enough to make this show watchable.
It's not. Everything about this CBS sitcom was lazy.
[Find it on CBS All Access]
My "Time is Finite" Casualties
There are a lot of shows out there. I know I don't
watch the top 66 shows that aired in 2018. That would be impossible. These 10
shows are the ones I most intended to watch but haven't yet for some reason.
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni
Versace
Reason I Missed: Lack of motivation
Reason to Watch: I've heard just enough good word of
mouth.
Arrested Development (Season 5)
Reason I Missed: Lack of motivation
Reason to Watch: Completionism
Brockmire (Season 2)
Reason I Missed: I didn't IFC at the time
Reason to Watch: I liked the first season a lot.
Casual (Season 4)
Reason I Missed: Lack of motivation
Reason to Watch: Completionism
Collateral (Season 1)
Reason I Missed: I kept forgetting about it
Reason to Watch: Carey Mulligan and strong reviews
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Season 3-4)
Reason I Missed: Intimidating backlog of episodes
Reason to Watch: I liked the first season.
My Brilliant Friend
Reason I Missed: Subtitles during a busy time of
year
Reason to Watch: Really great reviews and general
trust of HBO curation.
Pose (Season 1)
Reason I Missed: I wasn't sure if it would be worth
it, then I forgot about it.
Reason to Watch: Strong praise all-around.
Shameless (Season 9)
Reason I Missed: Lack of motivation
Reason to Watch: Completionism
Transparent (Season 5)
Reason I Missed: Lack of motivation
Reason to Watch: Completionism
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