In our look back at the best television of 2019, we’ll spare you the requisite references to “peak TV” and the 500-plus scripted series that aired or streamed this year, because nothing demonstrates that magnitude quite like lining up our mid-year findings with our year-end list. Some early contenders, including a fantastically awkward Hulu series and a stalwart sitcom, weren’t able to cross the finish line, while others, like an empathetic drama about egotistical lovers, saw a surge late in the year. It’s not that these shows were forgotten, or even replaced, really; they just became part of a bigger picture, one that now included some highly anticipated arrivals and poignant swan songs along with genre-breaking and life-affirming series. And, as our ballots show, there were bright spots and showstoppers for virtually every day of the year.
Update Mar. 21, 2020: We’ve added where to stream the series that weren’t already streaming.
308 Comments
Decent list although I’d put Righteous Gemstones WAY higher. Also, I’ll never understand the love for Crazy ex-GF or You’re the Worst, two shows that are neither as funny nor as meaningful as they seem to want to be. I’ve tried to get into them, but (IMO) they’re just meh. I get the concept but if you’re going to play the comedy-drama thing, I’m just not seeing it in those two shows.
Personally those are two of my favourite shows on the list, maybe I found the characters of Gretchen and Rebecca so scarily relatable, and I get that they might not resonate with everyone. But they both did the best job of displaying the grips depression can have on you and the humour you need to tackle it that I’ve seen on tv.
For Crazy ex-gf, I get that might be on me: I’m not a musical guy and while I do get depressed here and there, I’ve never quite hit those depths. So that might be on me. But I genuinely wanted to like “You’re the Worst” – the premise sounded great but I just found it tiresome. It could be I had an issue relating to the primary characters I guess.
The first few episodes of “You’re The Worst” definitely seem like they are trying too hard. I’m glad I stuck with it to the point where the show really gets in a groove and the characters are fun to be around and I got invested in their arcs, but I also tried to get my friend into it and she wasn’t having it, so I understand that it isn’t for everyone, at least not at first.
Crazy Ex I have some mixed feelings about. I think Rachel Bloom is stupid talented, many of the songs are great (coming from someone that *is not at all* a musical fan), there are some genuinely affecting moments in the story, some of the trope deconstruction stuff is neat. It definitely felt like a fresh perspective. But there’s a fair amount of the day-to-day plotting that didn’t grab me, the tone was occasionally a bit… light(?) for my liking, and I generally don’t think the show needed its ~45 minute runtime or overall episode count. As impressive as the sheer quantity of musical output was, the stuff around it didn’t necessarily justify its presence at all times. None of the non-Rebecca characters really landed consistently, for me. Overall, it was a show that I wanted to like a little more than I did. YTW on the other hand I have a real soft spot for. I agree its balance of comedy/drama could feel a bit odd, and its reputation as “THE SHOW THAT TACKLES SERIOUS ISSUES” is a bit overblown and kind of misses the true appeal. Its lows are definitely pretty low, but that show had some crazy high peaks, at least for me. It had ambition and a super-sharp specificity to its writing when it wanted to.
So obviously it’s all subjective, but I’m surprised Russian Doll is so high. I liked it but thought the ending just did not explain things very clearly (I still am not totally sure what was up with the fruit). But maybe that’s not enough to disqualify something that was still emotionally satisfying? I’m just musing here.More to the point, it’s amazing how few of these I’ve seen. I’d love to complain about the Mandalorian being on here (I really, really think that show is mediocre), but who knows, maybe it deserves to be compared to the others.
Yeah, I was onboard with Russian Doll up until it just…ended.
I don’t need my magical realism Groundhog Day stories to explicitly unfold like a Westworld-style jigsaw, but there were far too many hints regarding the time loops having those internally consistent rules and occuring for some specific underlying reason.
This. Groundhog day works because there’s no attempt to hint at an explanation, it’s just a thing that’s happening. Russian Doll kept dropping clues to string you along that end up going nowhere.
There actually is an explanation for Phil Connor’s torment in groundhog Day, I believe only in the script, but thankfully it never made it into the movie or it would have seriously detracted from its overall greatness.
I was happy it didn’t end with any explanation other than a mood (although that parade just made me think of the video for Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans”).
I agree but for slightly different reasons. I thought the ending was good, but the middle section is where it lagged and sagged, especially with the character John and some of the other side characters. Succession and Barry were definitely better and should rank higher.
Russian Doll was mediocre I thought, and wouldn’t have worked without Natasha Lyonne.
I am a huge Natasha Lyonne fan but I thought Russian Doll really started working once Charlie Barnett as Alan turned up & he and Nadia started trying to help each other He also almost made the future storyline this season on Arrow work as resentment-crazed future Deathstroke JJ
Eh hem and Greta Lee.
true true.
Russian Doll reminded me very much of ‘Flesh and Bone.’ It’s one of those deeply dark Gotham-New-York shows that thinks it’s deeper than it actually is. I’ll give credit to some of the visuals but, even now, it’s hard to see why it exists other than some people thought of a neat concept.
Agree with all of the takes here; Russian Doll got gradually less interesting as it went on and then just kind of fizzled out. At least it had an ending though! I recently watched Green Frontier on netflix which was excellent until the abrupt and ridiculous non-ending.
Watchmen at #2 seems a bit premature and feels more to do with this particular show being the current ongoing flavour of the month prestige thing everyone raves about.
While I don’t want it to be a letdown, I’m also not going to understimate Lindelof’s ability to bottle it at the very last second.
If The Mandalorian gets to be on the list 5/8 of the way through the season (or whenever the deadline was), Watchmen deserves to be there with three more episodes (and a much better show).
Yeah, but I would also argue that The Mandalorian doesn’t deserve to be on that list at all as the current ongoing flavour of the month schlock thing that everyone will completely forget about the moment they’re tired of Baby Yoda.
Watchmen I’d probably put somewhere between 10-20. There’re a lot of individual elements I enjoy and the usual HBO production values are obviously outstanding, but seven episodes in (I’ve not seen the newest one yet) I feel like it’s completely failed to come together into as a greater thematic whole or even present any kind of coherent central thesis so far.
Most of the shows on this list have a far better idea of what they are about than Watchmen does. The Boys definitely had more to say about superheroes & corporations than Watchmen has said so far about superheroes & racism.
I’d almost forgotten about The Boys – that does seem like a glaring omission from this list.
The Boys could have made the list, sure, but it was a slow burn introduce-the-characters-season. I give it points for being that. Really looking forward to season two. I think Watchmen is earning extra points for first, making a sequel worthy of the original; second, coming at it from a totally original angle; and third, coming to what seems like/is promised to be a big conclusion.
you havent seen the latest episode yet….
Honestly I would swap the two in my mind. I like them both but I am getting far more enjoyment out of The Mandalorian then I am Watchmen.Honestly I think part of it is my time is valuable and the fact that not a single episode of The Mandalorian has been over 50 minutes. Many of them under 40 minutes. They are nice short contained stories.
>If The Mandalorian gets to be on the list It should also be removed, along with Watchmen
Watchmen definately deserves to be there. Its Succession and Barry that should be at #3 and #4. Russian Doll is good but not as good as those two.
Everything about Watchmen has been incredibly tightly scripted and obviously planned out well. I got burned by Lost as much as anyone, but this was written to only be one season so the writing’s been focused. Plus, he showed with The Leftovers that he’s capable of wrapping threads up now. I trust him.
I fear that Watchmen might have a shitty Season 2 just like Westworld did.I know that The Leftovers was great and all, but the way HBO promotes Watchmen makes me think that they put too much faith on the show just like how they put too much faith on Westworld.
Watchmen is just intended as a single season show for now, isn’t it?
Season 2 is anything but confirmed. However, Lindelof wants no part in writing it:
https://www.slashfilm.com/damon-lindelof-watchmen-season-2/
I think that’s been overstated, and what he actually meant was that he doesn’t have any plans for it. The implication being that given a few months to think about it, maybe he’ll come up with a new story for a new season. But also maybe he won’t, and in the case of not, he’s perfectly willing to walk away, potentially leading to someone else coming in and picking up the reins.
He’s been burned before. If Watchmen builds in want/need for a season 2, he’s within his rights to play coy. I hope HBO gives him & his team plenty of time to come up with a season 2 – two years or more if need be.
That’s what I’ve heard.
Westworld had to stop production and rewrite the back half of season one. Watchmen had no problems like that. True though, HBO is plenty capable of killing it’s golden geese.
I watched the first 2 eps and thought it was very good, then just never got around to watching another one. Not sure if it’s me or the show. (I’m definitely not a comic book guy so maybe a bit of both)
This site sure is shoveling it down our throats. Not just the reviews but it seems there is a article about it every day.
The top of the rankings are clearly heavily influenced by the amount of content that has been blogged about each show on this site.
“Watchmen at #2 seems a bit premature”
Nope.
I mean, with one episode left it still has aired 2 more eps than Fleabag, not to mention over five more hours of actual show content. Even if it blows the finale, I’d still put it in my top 5 for the year.
Malodarian is on here as well, and its just OK, its better than normal star wars stuff but thats an incredible low bar
Lindelof is a massive hack, doesn’t deserve his fucking job.
It jumped the shark in the last three episodes. But that is the writers style, everything has to come together in the end, and it is a gamble on how good it will be.
Solid list. I haven’t seen all of these, but the ones I have seen are pretty great. I won’t say snubs, but stuff I’ve enjoyed that didn’t make it includes:Glow, Silicon Valley, Rick and Morty, Legion, Bob’s Burgers, Westworld, Agents of SHIELD, Insecure, The Expanse, and Last Week Tonight.Of those, the shows I’m most disappointed not to see are The Expanse and Insecure.
Interestingly, the two on the list that I feel the strongest about are both by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. I really liked Undone and it’s a pleasant surprise to see it on here since it hasn’t gotten much attention. Tuca & Bertie, however, did absolutely nothing for me. Granted, I only watched the first episode, so maybe it gets better, but I very much did not enjoy it and had no desire to continue.
Tuca & Bertie took some time for me to get into. The first few episodes seemed to be a random collection of visual jokes and I found Tuca a pretty annoying character, but about three of four episodes in both the plot and characters start to develop in a more BoJack-style direction.
Yeah. I’ve heard that it gets more deep as it goes along and I’m normally good at sticking with acclaimed shows through at least a few episodes even if they’re not totally working for me. But I found that first episode to be aggressively off-putting. Maybe I’ll circle back eventually when/if I run out of other stuff to watch.
What was the other thing he did?
He’s was an executive producer on both Undone and Tuca & Bertie, though he wasn’t the showrunner for the latter, so “by” isn’t the right word. Didn’t mean to minimize Lisa Hanawalt. Should have said he was involved in both.
That first episode of Tuca and Bertie is A LOT. The show stays fast and colorful and zany, but ends up finding its “real” voice, too—much like Bojack did. Honestly, the first episode of Bojack was fine, but I mostly reacted, “oh, another weird edgy animation about a profane drunk guy.” Now Bojack is my favorite show. Tuca and Bertie actually got to a point where it crept awfully close to the darkness of Bojack, and I was surprised to hear myself mutter to my TV, “Oh no! I don’t want too much Bojack in my Tuca.” When you live alone on a third of an acre with a deaf dog, you can say some really dumb-sounding shit out loud.
I’ve watched Bojack countless times but only made it through the first three Tuca & Bertie episodes. I wanted to love it like I do Bojack but couldn’t make it work. Seeing how it was canceled after one season I think that’s the majority response to it.
I got about 4 or 5 episodes into Tuca and bertie, both by myself and then with a friend and I still couldn’t get into it either time. I *was* told that it did get better in the later half of the season, so I eventually will go back to it, but those first episodes were just not making me want to continue at all.
It has a very young millennial/generation Z vibe and I’m too old for that shit.
Oh crap… Turns out that The Expanse, Insecure, and Westworld haven’t aired any episodes in 2019. Guess that’s what I get for watching things late.
heh yeah we watch it on Prime so I missed that too. Oops.
The Expanse hasn’t aired yet.
Yeah. I realized that after I posted. I thought the last season aired this year, but I just watched it late apparently.
I hear tell that 6 episodes of The Expanse have been made available for critics to see, but yeah, even if it were awesome, we’ll have to hope it’s so awesome that it’ll be remembered a year from now.
I really loved S1 of Westworld, but S2 was … all over the place. There were some standout episodes and some great acting but the plot was scattered. I agree with you about The Expanse 🙂
Apparently neither one aired in 2019. Oops! I agree that the plot in season 2 of Westworld was scattered, but I still found it to be very satisfying. I appreciated the new way they played with time especially.
I would add Dark Crystal to that list too, if only because it is more of a technical achievement, but it is a really, really, impressive technical achievement and it also told a pretty great story. A lot of shows like that would have been perfectly happy with looking good and not worried about anything else.
I haven’t checked that one out. I’m not even sure that I’ve seen the original movie all the way through, to be honest.
I think the Netflix series is better than the movie. They both (sorta) tell the same story, but the series does it better.
Dark Crystal was the most glaring omission of this list. It is the Blade Runner 2049/Fury Road of TV reboots.
idk, at first i liked silicon valley, now it just seems like entourage but instead of actors losing movies it’s nerds losing a computer company
I can see that. Though I think it’s actually a strength of the later seasons that the characters finally started succeeding. For a while, it felt like they were stuck on a treadmill where they’d get a small success followed by a huge setback. I like them enough that I’m enjoying seeing them actually push things forward and “win.” Though I haven’t seen yesterday’s series finale yet, so I can’t say whether they stuck the landing or not.
i haven’t watched any of the last season yet so i should probably do that. i think i might be going to hard on the show bc of season 5. i was really bored with it. also, legion definitely deserves to be on this list!
Last two seasons of Silicon Valley weren’t very good, although it started to get better towards the end of the previous season. I think the current season is a good as the first few. Their is a real focus on the dark side of the tech industry again.
Rick and Morty was really weak this year and there were only a handful of episodes so I think it’s a very fair omission.
I’ve very much enjoyed the episodes that I’ve seen. But I’ll agree that it’s only been a few episodes aired late in the year, so there’s nothing wrong with not including it for those reasons if none other.
“Rick and Morty was really weak this year”
I haven’t seen last night’s episode but I thought the first three were terrific.
I think a lot of those shows deserved something at some point, but not this year.
Well, a few of them didn’t air this year at all because I’m a dummy and didn’t check.
Is this season of Silicon Valley any different from the last? Because I feel at this point I’ve gotten the joke and I don’t need to hear it anymore, if that makes sense.
Nah… It’s been more of the same. For good and ill.
Yeah, at this point I think I’m dropping off then.It’s like Mr. Robot. I thought season 1 stood on its own and I feel no need to continue that story.
Fair enough. I still watched and enjoyed both, but I’m very much in favor of people ditching shows they’re no longer enjoying rather than sticking with it because of sunk cost fallacy.
DARK DARK DARK DARK DARK 100 times DARK.how does this place continue to ignore the most intriguing show on netflix.
I honestly forgot that was a thing until just now and still have no idea what it’s about. So count me among the ignorers. But please, come out the the greys and spread your gospel.
As a viewer, it’s difficult to really say what it’s about until you get to season 2. But it’s one of the most interesting shows on television right now.It’s German, it’s weird, it’s mysterious, it’s confusing, it has an incredible score and it’s been green lit for a conclusive third season in 2020.
Also, Westworld is 2018.
Yes. I am dumb and wrong.
Fact is, there’s just way too much great TV to ever watch nowdays.Seems like not that long ago, a “Top 25 TV Shows” list would be an absurd concept.Maybe a top 25 of all time, but not top 25 of a single year.I keep starting to watch a show I really like (Lodge 49), then episodes build up on my DVR while I watch some other show I like a little better, or shows I like less, but can’t stop watching for some reason (Walking Dead, The Terror), until episodes start disappearing from my DVR as it fills with other shows that I really like but will never get around to watching (Preacher).
Yeah. It’s impossible to keep up now. Especially if you’re also trying to keep up with the important films of the year as well.
And I have basic cable. No HBO, NetFlix, etc.Plus, The President Show now soaks up way to much of my precious TV watching hours (not the much missed brilliantly funny one, but the soul sucking 24 hour reality one).
Love GLOW but where it ended has me very concerned. There was great work there, but given the other entries on this list, I can see it just missing out.
legion was really fun but seemed to be largely ignored.
Yeah. It’s like Hawley’s other show, Fargo, in that it made a big splash coming out of the gate and then a lot of people seemed to sour on it pretty quickly.
The Righteous Gemstones is the best of the three Danny McBride collaborations with Jody Hill and David Gordon Green. i would argue that’s because of the three, it has the least McBride. His shtick worked for Eastbound and Down and was balanced in Vice Principals with the greatness of Walton Goggins. But by the begging of Gemstones it was getting tired, and they seemed to recognize that and focused more on the ensemble.
Fully agree. The reason Gemstones is so great is that it’s focus isn’t just on McBride. I find the guy insanely funny, don’t get me wrong, but there’s also a point of over-saturation in a show.
I also think that if you (like me) _like_ the oversaturation, then Eastbound has that covered. It is pure, unadulterated Danny McBride assholishness.
Oh, don’t get me wrong: I love me some EB&D McBride assholishness. The man is the king of playing that ‘type’…
I agree, because it isn’t “What if Kenny F-in Powers was a rich minister?” But rather takes some of the McBride caustic energy and spreads it out across a truly wonderful cast and nobody ends up overshadowed.
I wish I could up-vote your post more, because this is the best description I’ve heard yet. And McBride, if anything, gives way more leeway and attention to his fellow actors.I didn’t think Goggins could play any more outside ‘comedy type’ than Vice Principals but damn if he isn’t so perfect as Baby Billy.
It also helped that The Righteous Gemstones came at the exact time that Jerry Falwell Jr. was caught doing shady shit at a Miami nightclub with some cabana boys, just like how Jesse got caught with cocaine and hookers in Atlanta.The whole JFJR saga definitely helped TRG gaining popularity.
Gemstones is fine, but VP really grew on me as the series went. I think Goggins is poorly utilized on Gemstones. He can do so much more than he’s being given.
Just wanted say that, several decades from now, when Kaitlyn Dever is accepting her lifetime achievement awards and the comparisons between her and the likes of Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster are flowing, I totally called it. I’ll be long dead then. But I still want credit.
If it makes you feel better, civilization itself likely won’t last that long.
Was surprised Beanie got the Golden Globe nom for Booksmart and not her
I hope that Loretta’s surrogate dad Raylan is around to see her triumphKaityln Dever is terrific
I really disliked Loretta but thought the actress who portrayed her was fantastic, so I’m glad she’s moving on to new projects and getting the recognition she deserves.
I loved Loretta despite what a sullen, stubborn brat she could be. Kaitlyn Dever made her so lovable. I am proud of her for turning down the easy money as a regular role on Tim Allen’s revived sitcom as one of his daughters, basically betting on herself that she could get better roles than that. Thankfully that has turned out to be true, with Unbelievable and Booksmart especially
Nah Loretta was a total dick who thought having an advanced vocabulary meant she was better than everyone around her and also that she could be judgemental and imperious to “lesser” people. She was also incredibly ungrateful. I hate it when shows have a precocious kid and go out of their way to make them extremely unlikable. I’m glad the actress did not pick Tim Allen’s show haha her talents would have been wasted.
The way Hollywood works, in a few years she’ll play Timothy Olyphant’s wife in a movie probably.
“I totally called it”
Did you call it eight years ago when she was on Justified? If not, you’re already late to the party.
WE ALL KNEW!There are hundreds of us! Hundreds!
You should watch Short Term 12. It’s Dever, Brie Larson, Rami Malek, Lakeith Stanfield, and Stephanie Beatriz — basically every breakout actor of the decade except, like, Adam Driver. Dever and Larson are great together in it.
I have no problem believing this. She was a scene stealer in Justified.
ChernobylUnbelievableRussian DollFosse/VerdonFleabagLegionThe CrownBig Little LiesBarryGlow
10. 10 TV shows. AH AH AH
I just listed some of my favorite shows from this past year. Not sure why that’s so funny.
I’d say that I feel old, but “Sesame Street” is still running.
Who would’ve thought when they announced a Watchmen show created by David Lindelof it would be the #2 (arguably #1) show of the year and I’d think “Yeah, that’s about right.”
Also: Damon, not David. Proofreading is hard, Kinja’s absurd edit policy is worse.
People who watched The Leftovers
Especially those of us who watched The Leftovers season 2.
First on the block.
People who watched The Leftovers.
I know it was already said, but it deserves to be said again.
Literally anybody who watched The Leftovers.
I am glad people are saying this. Watchmen is coming to an end and I am excited to watch more Lindelof.And that is saying something as someone who had a white hot hatred for him prior to this.
I think in hindsight he got a bad rap. I was definitely annoyed about the final season of Lost (it was enough to eliminate my desire to rewatch it) but the heart and soul of Lost was the character work and the standalone episodes. His screenplays were never bad and a lot of the blame he got for his film work were work for hire gigs. (I love Prometheus, but the script had issues long before he got involved and Scott definitely didn’t help)I think even he would identify that something like Lost inevitably fell apart because the canvas got way too big. The Leftovers had a lot of elements that made it a masterpiece, but the major one was keeping the narrative focused around a great group of characters and not letting the mystery stuff ever become a huge part of the story (so then no one can be disappointed that nothing got explained about the sudden departure). Watchmen is such a damn great show because even though the story has a deep history, the actual focus is pretty tight. Him deliberately limiting the story to a gloried miniseries took a commendable level of restraint.
I wasn’t going to watch it and I’ve only recently discovered he’s at the helm. I’m stopping everything else I’m watching to get started. The Leftovers is one of my favorite shows of all time.
I’m sure this article was put together before Friday, and only two episodes have aired so far, but such is my love for Joe Pera Talks With You that I’m outraged it’s not on the list. I mean, quietly and politely outraged, obviously, and I’m sorry for making such a fuss but well, gee, I sure do love that show an enormous amount.
Watchmen turned out to be much better than I expected. Regina King is a great lead, but in a lot of good scenes, the short bit I loved the most may be when Laurie gives a long “intimidating” speech, and Angela responds with a sarcastic, “Oh my, I’ve got the vapors” kind of act.
I hold AV Club’s year-end TV rankings in high regard, and am looking forward to digging into the shows on this list I haven’t yet checked out.
Gretchen destroying her new couple friendship on You’re the Worst was the scariest and saddest thing I’ve seen on television all year. She’ll be one of my favourite television characters for a long time.
glad im not the only one – I feel like that show never got the attention it deserved. such good writing and acting
Schitt’s Creek really surprised me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything about it here, at least not that I’ve read or remember. But I started it on Netflix by accident (meant to skip it because the trailer they chose wasn’t compelling at all) and it’s been a delight. My better half even balked at joining me, but once we were two episodes in we were hooked. She tends to slap me every time something makes her tear up, and I got so many slaps this past season, I can still feel them.I’ve been a big fan of Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara since their wonderful work in Christopher Guest’s films, but in this show they’re at the top of their game.
Annie Murphy as Alexis on Schitt’s Creek for me has the best character arc in
TV history & she isn’t even my favorite character on the show, which is Emily Hampshire as Stevie, whose deadpan reactions steal every single scene she is in. But Catherine O’Hara as Moira is just in another category with her otherworldly bizarre and great performance.
Stevie is the best! Yeah at first i avoided the show because it seemed like an “Arrested Development” wannabe with a much worse name. But despite the similarities with AD, it really becomes its own show and has almost as good of an all-star cast.
not only a similar premise, but my reaction was similar. for both shows, i watched the first ep, wasn’t impressed, but then friends kept raving about it, so went back to it and became hooked.
As a huge SCTV fan boy, I was sold as soon as I saw Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara were the stars. Unless it had turned out to be an incredibly unmitigated piece of shit, I was going to enjoy it. Instead, it’s one of those shows that is sneaky great.
I heard about it here and there for a few years but the title totally put me off. Finally the buzz got so great that I gave in and we watched it all (so far) in a few weeks – it was funny from the start but definitely sneaks up into amazing.
I remember seeing this when it first appeared on Netflix and thinking, “I will never, ever watch this show, it looks terrible.”I got to the last episode of season 5 last night and I’m already heartbroken at the thought that it’s all coming to an end soon. I’ve loved every moment of this show. I’ll miss the Rose family terribly.
I’m guessing you got a good slap at the moment in Season 2’s finale where Johnny defends Roland and the town from the contempt of one of his former rich-guy peers when they’re out together for an anniversary dinner. “That town you drove past — it’s not called Shitsville. It’s called Schitt’s Creek. And it’s where we live.”
That was one of them. And the party at the end of the episode was note-perfect.
Started watching it solely because of Levy and O’Hara. It has evolved from a pleasant distraction/trifle into a legitimately great show.
I’ve been trying so hard to get into it, and I just can’t. But that said, I felt the same way about The Office, so maybe I’m just not in the right headspace yet.
Moira’s weird pronunciations are one of my favourite things ever.
Looks like I’ll be the one…you’re really all saying GoT is not one of the best 25 shows of this year? And The Mandalorian is? Come on.
It’s odd to me to compare a short miniseries to regular series but, if they’re on one list, Chernobyl is my overall #1.
I think Fleabag is way overrated. It’s nice but I don’t even think it’s as good as Veep which didn’t make the final the list (or as funny as Schitt’s Creek or…Pen15, What We Do in the Shadows), let alone #1 .
I liked Russian Doll but it’s definitely not better than Succession or Barry. I find Stranger Things to be tedious viewing at this point and I don’t think it should be anywhere this list.
I saw it on some ballots but Euphoria was probably the most memorable show for me. I get why some people don’t like it but I think it was the most must-watch normal series (non-Chernobyl division) after Succession and GoT.
I’m not sure why you’re surprised by GoT’s omission. The final season is notoriously disliked.
I’m not really surprised but the reaction has gone way too far IMO. I was yelling at the screen about at various points like most people and the writing of the ending and the lead up to it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth but the season overall had so many incredible moments that it definitely ranks for me. This all been argued but the hyperbolic taeks are just too much. People don’t have to like it but most are being flat out ridiculous. Hoping something hits 100 and only lands an 80 doesn’t make it a 20.
There is a lot of hyperbole, as always, but I think the season simply didn’t rank or score a passing grade for many viewers, especially when there was such an abundance of stronger television this year to contrast it with.
I hear everybody and I’m not going to beat a dead horse any further since I was also let down to some extent but I’ll point out that the final season on this site got a B+ average overall on both Newbies and Experts and the finale (which everyone hates), got an A- and B-, respectively. But, “it was the worst show of the year” and all.
True (I think those were really generous grades, personally), but AV Club also chose not to include the show in their top 25 of the year.
That doesn’t change that it was basically a shared cultural phenomenon for the entirety of the decade.
Yeah, but this is about the best shows on TV this year. Choose a different year/previous season and I’d agree with you. That they didn’t make this year is the indictment their piss poor decisions deserve. (I do feel for the crew and the actors, though. They deserve a victory lap.)
Yes but this is about the best television of 2019, not the most culturally relevant.
But this isn’t a list of cultural phenomenon of the decade, it’s a list of best TV shows THIS YEAR, and GoT was just not one of them.
What We Do in The Shadows and Euphoria seem like misses, especially with Baby Yoda making it (because really, that’s the only thing the show has going for it right now).
They could have done a top 1000 and GoT’s final season would not have deserved even a second’s thought.
I realize you’re being Hyperbolic. But that’s still insane.
Oooooooo that’s a good point where the fuck was What We Do In The Shadows.
Flat out loved Euphoria. I’m not surprised it isn’t getting Globe nominations, but was hoping Zendaya would get one.
Game of Thrones was the worst show of this year, and the final seasons taint the entire series so much that it will never be considered an all time great show.
Dude the GOT final season was a disaster.
GOT had previous seasons that deserve to be on a best-of list, but the final season was not one of them. It had one really good episode, two fair-to-middling, and the rest were just whaaa?
I’ve probably watch at least half of these. As always, HBO is just hitting it out of the park. Barry is fantastic, the Righteous Gemstones made me actually laugh out loud, and I’m absolutely enthralled by The Watchmen. Still have to watch Succession though. As for a dark horse: Russian Doll. You can binge the whole thing in one night and its just terrific. You think you have a handle on the plot, then they slowly start changing it. Highly recommended.
I am in complete agreement. Indeed this is a list of 25 shows.
I gotta disagree. Some of them are movies. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which ones.
Technically all of them?
David Lynch? Is that you?
But are they ‘cinema’?
Funny you should bring this up, because this is actually a list of 26 shows. There are two #19’s.
Well that equals 38, so I’m very confused.
I’m glad to see Fleabag in the top spot–PWB has entered her imperial phase. Succession is growing on me, too, and I hated it when I first saw it. By contrast, I wasn’t convinced by Undone, and I respect When They See Us while also admitting that I never want to watch it again (Ava DuVernay is obviously gifted, but so much of her work feels like it’s your civic duty to appreciate it).
I know how you feel about Ava DuVernay.I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch any of her stuff. I’m sure it’s well made and the subject matter is important – to the extent that yes, I do feel like it is my civic duty to watch it.But god damn, I really don’t need anymore outrage and depression in my life, and I feel like that’s all I’ll get from watching her material.
Does no one there watch Hulu? The Act, Castle Rock or Wu-Tang:an american saga made it on to zero ballots?
PEN15 was on the mid-year list.
I was somewhat disappointed by the third season of One Day at a Time – they did a great job of making Elena feel like a real character after sidelining her in season 2, and Alex also managed to get some believable development. However, I was put off by the way the only real Penelope focus was on repeat stories about her love life and also by her retconned brother, complete with a rushed episode introducing him, introducing this sudden lifelong conflict, and then resolving it so he can vanish (aside from one mute cameo). For me Penelope is the heart of the show. Hopefully next season will find fresh and believable ground for her.It took me a few episodes to get into ITYSL – I was annoyed at the talented guest stars wasted on, essentially, loud-mouthed and overextended jokes relying on how many times people could say ‘shit’ ‘dick’ or ‘fuck,’ (the waste of Cecily Strong, Steven Yeun and Vanessa Bayer was especially head-shaking), but eventually the show moved into much more delightfully absurdist territory and fully committed to it. Tim Robinson is a great leading man for this type of show – attractive but not generically so, very charismatic, able to play crazy but also able to build up to it and to play serious when needed for foundation – yet he was also willing to let others take major roles in sketches, even when some of those ended up being the best of the season.I thought Barry was terrific, for all the reasons given (although I sometimes think NoHo Hank is increasingly better off being spun into his own show). When both seasons ended I thought I almost don’t want to know what happens next, because the picture we have is already so rich and full. The show is really tough to watch, but in an honest, good way.
How much of an audience do these shows get, on the average? I’m guessing The Good Place and The Mandalorian are getting a lot of eyes. But I don’t know anyone who watches Fleabag. It seems like a critical darling that maybe 18K people actually watch.
The back half of Legends of Tomorrow s4 that aired in 2019 was not its greatest run, but it did have Zari’s Bollywood number
*cough*ZariRelegatedToNate’sLoveInterest*cough*
Nate is Zari’s love interest! She is the one that drove that plot (which I was okay with ultimately though it initially seemed unnecessary to me)
Nate’s inability to find lasting love is hilarious in a truly tragic way.
The universe only works if Nate is alone.
I mean, to your point, they did just leave Nate in the office all season…
It also had Ray Palmer in hell supposedly being tortured by Vandal Savage, but his innate goodness actually made Savage into a sweet and wonderful guy. That had to be my favorite part of Legends this year.
The episode where Sara set Zari and Nate up on their first date in an adventure that had Raider of the Lost Ark themes was a fantastic episode & yet another example of why Sara is the perfect leader of that team
They were playing Giant Jenga! That surely is on top of my favorite tv moments of the year. Hell, the decade
I guess I’ve watched more television this year than I realized because I’ve actually seen a lot of these shows; Crazy Ex, Tucca & Bertie, I Think You Should Leave, The Good Place, Watchmen, The Mandolorian, Pose, Russian Doll, Fleabag, Schitt’s Creek, Stranger Things, Documentary Now!, and Bojack.All ranged from good to fantastic, aside from Pose. I thought Season 2 was a big step down from Season 1 and just reeked of Murphy and Falchuk’s hammy writing. I loved the first season so I was hugely disappointed that it took such a nosedive.
Good list, loads of shows I’m now adding to my queue… but I’m sure I’m one of a million lesbians and fans of female-driven period dramas that are screaming GENTLEMAN JACK!!!!!! at their screens right now.
I was as surprised as you were at the exclusion of this great show.
Gentleman Jack was amazing!
it was so good!
Gentleman Jack made me realise that I was actually as much of a sucker for this whole “British nobility period romance,” thing as everyone else – it was just that all the stories that left everyone else swooning and me unaffected weren’t queer enough.(Actually, I do love Wuthering Heights, which falls into that subgenre – I just think all the people swooning over Heathcliff and Catherine are missing the point.)
Same. I get why people go NUTS for Jane Austen now.
Right?
watchmen at #2? joke list detected
earn those coins Gawker
I mean, how can Jaunty Lesbians not make this list???
I’m no lesbian , but that would definitely be on my list for Suranne Jones’ performance alone. But it was also consistent throughout, something many shows on this list cannot claim. Honestly, the quality difference between Pose’s two seasons is ridiculous. And just stop with the Stranger Things until it stops wasting its runtime. They’ve got less than 8 hours and they still find ways to film unnecessary shit.My biggest obvious snub would be ABlack Lady Sketch Show, which was certainly funnier than some of the “comedies” on this list. I love me some You’re the Worst, but this show was funnier. But thankfully Ex-Girlfriend is now gone so this website can stop elevating it from the occasionally-great-but-still-poorly-written show that it really was.My biggest expected snub was Santa Clarita Diet. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes yet critics don’t want to remember that when it comes time for lists. Gotta put those high-profile shows on there, no matter how much the final product seesaws between good and awful. (Which does make you wonder why ABLSS didn’t qualify for one of the “important” spots.)
Yes, very much agree. It’s hard to find a show that is consistently good for the season. I think…sometimes…there’s an episode order to fill and series feel a pressure to make everything long form. For instance, I wish the Marvel Netflix series had broken their seasons down into smaller episode arcs instead of pushing themselves to artlessly tell one long tale per season. Ain’t no shame in telling shorter bursts of stories to fill out a season. Heck, throw a one-off in there for good measure.
However, as far as good long-form goes…GJ gets its episode count right and fills every moment with purpose.
I Think You Should Leave is possibly one of the unfunniest comedy shows i’ve ever saw. I binged it one night and i think i laughed at 2 sketches. Couldn’t get on with Tuca and Bertie either, love Bojack though. Where was The Dark Crystal though?
I’m with you. I think I found a few of the skits funny at the time, but I can’t even remember which ones those were. But I do remember it was a lot of “guy acts stupid and crazy, one person points out how stupid and crazy that guy is, and then everyone gangs up on the straight man.” It’s not even funny once, let alone repeatedly.
Was that the “eat poo” bit about gifts with Steven Yeun? I vaguely remember something about that.
That was the most egregious example, yeah. The focus group one might have been even worse.I do remember one I liked, though: the church organ sketch. But I’m a sucker for goofy music in inappropriate settings. I still go back and watch the melodica Jurassic Park theme every month or so.
I would like to put in my suggestion for Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on this list. It’s a technical marvel, but that was almost a given. It also tells an engaging story with plenty fully realized characters. They’re not all winners, but most of actor/puppeteer pairings were excellent. I mean, I get the sense after watching it that Simon Pegg spent a good part of his childhood mimicking the Chamberlain in his bedroom, practicing for his role his whole life.
My show of the year, hands down. Strange for it to be omitted from a list like this!That said I haven’t seen most of the shows that actually made the list, and I thought I watched a lot of TV! Peak TV, eh?
Yeah that’s up there with Fleabag and Watchmen for me. It’s imaginative, beautiful and nailed the uniquely weird fantasy tone of the movie. Watching something as clunky and seemingly careless as His Dark Materials really highlighted how much craft and thought went into Dark Crystal. I’m planning on rewatching the series over Christmas.
As much as I wanted to like it, I fell asleep halfway through the first episode and never went back.
If you don’t think Derry Girls belongs on the list, you haven’t seen Derry Girls.Go watch Derry Girls. Thank me later.
this show not being on the list just reaffirms that I think “best of lists” should go by genre. There’s just too much good content out there :O
What about Sex Education?!
It’s advisable I suppose.
Sorry, this is only English-language shows, not ones you need subtitles to translate from Oirish.
Shut the feck up, James
Mind blowing moment when you realise Granda Joe is Ser Barristan Selmy.
Sorry, I learned today that Watchmen’s Senator Blake is Mad Men’s Bob Benson, so I have no mind left to be blown by things I should have realized sooner. (Also, wow, how did I not notice that Granda Joe was Ser Barristan Selmy!?)
Hardest I laughed all year was when the nun was reading the Exorcist on a bus and laughing.
Sister Michael is brilliant. “I know how daunting resit examinations can be, so if anyone is feeling anxious or worried or even if you just want to chat, please, please, do not come crying to me.”
For fecks sake. The true MVP.
It’s fine once you tune into it – although I do admit needing subtitles for Michelle’s machine-gun delivery when she’s explaining the Hugh Grant/Divine Brown story without remembering anybody’s name.“He goes with your woman – you know her. She’s a total ride, but she paper-clips her frocks together.”
The only thing I hate about the show, is six episodes. Its so much fun that of course I binge it in a day. Its not fair man.
There is one show I think really should have been on this list: The Boys. Its dark, funny, and imaginative. Not to mention the casting is spot on. I can’t wait for the second season.
Still no love for The Dragon Prince
This is the part where I plug the second season of “Dark”. As excellent as the first season was, the second far exceeded it.
Ah guys you keep doing this .. “What we do in the shadows” and Doom Patrol need to be on these lists. I understand that DP is on a niche streaming channel , but theres no excuse for missing out on WWDITS.
We have already watched the first season of “What We Do in The Shadows” THREE TIMES! It’s that damn good.
Here’s my list:Chernobyl
UnbelievableLegionThe CrownBarry
GlowSilicon ValleyRick and MortyLegionBob’s BurgersWestworldAgents of SHIELDRanking? No, no – thats a list of shows that I haven’t watched but I hear are amazing.Also: can everyone just not make any new shows next year, so the rest of us can get caught up?And anyone who is caught up – just go out for a walk, connect with nature and stuff.
No love for The Deuce?
The Deuce was my favorite show of 2019
It’s interesting how many of these shows are comedies, or in the rough shape of a sitcom. The movie world still regards comedy as a lower form, and there seems to be a general agreement that something can be funny or it can be art, but it can’t be both.
Some of the shows here, particularly Fleabag, The Good Place and Bojack, are undeniably great works of art, and every bit as culturally mature as the year’s big dramas. Here’s hoping that the 2020s will be the decade of Peak Sitcom.
Other than the Good Place, Barry and Righteous, I haven’t watched any. And I stopped Good Place at season 2.I guess I really don’t watch much T.VEDIT: I watched Russian Doll, but for the life of me, can’t figure out why it keeps popping up on the top of these kinds of lists. It was not that memorable.
I’m surprised to see The Mandalorian on here. It is a fun show to watch and sink 40 minutes into, especially with my 9 year old son, but overall it is far less than what I expected out of it.
The most interesting thing to me about this list is the fact that most of the shows included are more complex, better written and more emotionally satisfying than most of the films released in theaters this year.
I mourn Tuca and Bertie a bit. What we got was great, but we should have gotten more. Was it ever confirmed (as much as it could be) that Netflix axed it because its animation studio unionized? Because that would just make it extra depressing.
Decent list. Nice to see faves like Fosse/Verdon and The Other Two there, and can’t argue the obvious choice of Watchmen. I might quibble with some choices—I still enjoyed Pose this year, but found it a bit of a mess after its first season—but… However, I’m dismayed at how few lists have included Russell T Davies’ Years and Years, which would be top five for me. Of course, this site’s review didn’t get the show anyway…
I’ve watched 7 or 8 of these, some of the rest I’ve heard about, and others are completely new. I’ve watched enough of the top 10 to be comfortable saying that Chernobyl should have been far, far higher up. We’re not going to see something with its production quality any time soon – my Russian emigre friends were startled by the detail – and a simple testament to its brilliance is that it’s incredibly rare that Americans become fascinated by cultures they’re unfamiliar with. Also, it passes the watercooler test far more than anything else on the list.Also, not a surprise that Godfather of Harlem got omitted since it’s like Looming Tower: a superb series with fantastic actors that aired on a network nobody subscribed to and only a handful of critics bothered reviewing.
I still want to see that show.
Soooo…Legion isn’t on here because why?
No Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance? Are you mad?!
Where’s The Boys?????????
Loved fleabag, but chernobyl should be #1. The end
This is a good list. Bojack is too high (just a lot of dancing around the same story this year) and Russian Doll(definitely the most overrated darling of 2019) is ridiculously too high, but it’s solid overall. Every show on this list(at least the ones I have seen) are excellent. It was a very good year for TV, especially if you think about all the fantastic shows *not* on this list.
BoJack deserves its spot on the list. It’s The Good Place which is ranked far too high.
I’m satisfied to see Lodge 49 on this list at all, and pleased it ranks so high. I have seen some great and wonderful tv, but nothing that reaches into my heart the way Lodge 49 did. Aside from the wonderful characters and performances, the show is built with a level of care and detail that I can only compare to A Song of Ice and Fire. That’s a shockingly bold claim, I know, but re-watching the show has been so rewarding in terms of picking up connections and details that I have never seen the likes of on television before. It’s a simple show about quirky, but normal, people, but there is so much more to it if you want to look for it.
Man, when I first saw the trailers for Lodge 49 I immediately thought that I would like the show, but I’ve been burned so many times by interesting looking shows that got cancelled after one season that I never wanted to invest the time to watch it.Once season two rolled around I finally thought, OK, now i can watch this. Tore through season 1, watched season 2 mostly in real time. Just loved being in that world. And of course now… it’s cancelled.
It’s Watchmen. That’s the best show this year. Everything else is a distant second.
So, we just going to ignore Dark on Netflix as the best show on TV right now?
We shouldn’t! It’s great.
We shouldn’t! It’s great.
Drop Watchmen off the list altogether. Put Chernobyl way higher. The Good Place can be on the list but it should definitely be lower, The Mandalorian – while fun – just should not be on the list.
Agree with all of that. The Mandalorian is decent at best.
Tuca and Bertie was just so… mediocre though. Maybe if they had managed to level out the tone a little it would’ve been great but as it is now, it just jumps back and forth between trauma and wacky bullshit
I’m probably just forgetting something, but who’s the “men and women of the cloth” in Watchmen? Is it just a reference to Sister Knight’s nun-like costume?
For posterity, where did Game of Thrones land in past years?
Billy from Stranger things was a racist and sexual deviant who beat up children. Powerful arc my ass.
sorry to shout but HOW DID I NOT REALIZE JOE BLAKE WAS BOB BENSON?
tfw no doom patrol
No nod to Silicon Valley at all? What a shit list.
Russian Doll was extremely pretentious and full of unlikable people. Of course it’s #3.
Where’s The Deuce??!?!?!?!?!?!
I know I’m the only person in the world, but I love The Man in the High Castle. The current, final season is the best of the series; Rufus Sewell is on fire.
Also a shout out to the new season of The End of the Fucking World. It’s not as funny, but it’s got way more feels in return. I also realized in a strange way it is a sister show to Stranger Things. Stranger Things is “Gen X – the mainstream teens”, while TEotFW with its strong Aki Kaurismäki/Hal Hartley/Takeshi Kitano influences is “Gen X – the arthouse adolescence”.
Am I one of the few people who thinks Lucifer is one of the better shows that have been on TV this year? I realize my tastes are out of the mainstream. I’m one of the few people that watched and enjoyed the Bradley Whitford/Colin Hanks show The Good Guys from a few years back, but I thought Lucifer was considered a decent show. So far it doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s list of top shows of the year.EDIT: I just came across the ballots for best shows here on The A.V. Club. It appears that Latoya Ferguson also enjoyed Lucifer.
If I understand the ballot tabulation and added everything up correctly, here’s the rest of the top 40 (including ties like #19):26. What We Do in the Shadows27. The Good Fight28. Los Espookys29. (tie) Pen15/On Becoming a God in Central Florida30. Vida31. GLOW32. (tie) Ramy/Rick and Morty33. Big Mouth34. Billions35. Better Things36. Derry Girls37. (tie) Infinity Train/Legends of Tomorrow38. Killing Eve39. (tie) The Deuce/Mob Psycho 10040. (tie) Veep/Mindhunter
Me when clicking the link: “Fleabag better be #1″Me when scrolling through the list: “Good, no Fleabag yet”Me when I get to #2, Watchmen: “Oh my god, if Fleabag isn’t on this list, I’ll riot”Me when I get to #1: “Okay, good. Fleabag is #1.”I’m not so sure about Fosse/Verdon on this list. Michelle Williams was fantastic, but overall, the limited series came off as a significantly less-brilliant copycat of Fosse’s own semi-autobiographical work, All That Jazz.
Where the hell is What We Do In The Shadows?The lack of respect for erotic topiary will not stand
Animated Rosa Salazar and Lillie Caplan look awfully alike.
I feel like the only person alive who is MEH on Barry.Ffs, it’s not even in the same league as Mr. Inbetween, which gets no love 🙁
Kinda bummed Doom Patrol didn’t make the list. Or Young Justice for that matter. Doom Patrol is an incredibly fresh, smart, and intriguing take on many social topics.
Biggest surprise for me that didn’t make it on the list was The Boys. I absolutely hated the comic (stuck with it for 20 issues) when it came out, so my expectations for the show were low.The show ended up being a lot more entertaining than I imagined and succeeds in so many ways that the comic just did not. As for my favorite show of the year, it was Secession, by a mile. Season 1 was pretty good. Season 2 is one of the best seasons of any show I’ve ever watched. Biggest disappointments for the year:- Glow (just didn’t have the punch of the first two seasons)
– Silicon Valley (although the last few seasons were also pretty bad)
– Game of dum dum Thrones.
Where’s PEN15! I love PEN15! PEN15 is one of the greatest things to come into my life this year. I can’t wait for more PEN15 next year. Seriously, it’s one of the best shows I’ve seen in awhile.
My List:1) The Watchmen2) Veronica Mars3) What We Do In The Shadows4) I Think You Should Leave5) Big Mouth6) Orange is the New Black7) Preacher8) Legion9) The Mandalorian10) A Series of Unfortunate Events
Good list. I’d rank both Russian Doll and Watchmen as my top show, because both feel very alive, fun, and take creative risks while being very self-assured.Lodge 49 would be in the top 5. It was a darling and even if doesn’t get picked up by another network, it was a treasure to hang out with these people in this world for a little while.
Mindhunter was one of my favorite shows of 2019. Sad to not see it on the list.
A great year for television! Some of my favorites topped the list here. But for me one of the best pieces of media I consumed this year was Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal. Absolutely gorgeous art brought to life with deeply moving animation and brutal action. Thrilling and heartbreaking, the show has stuck with me long after the week it all premiered. It deserves to be seen.
“Dark” on Netflix needed to be on the top 5.
This list sucks, but not as much as the people who like half these shows.
I keep hearing great things about I Think You Should Leave, but I really, really disliked Tim Robinson in Detroiters. Is there any reason to think I might still enjoy the show?
I may be in the minority, but something about The Good Place this year feels a little… flat. Maybe because I know it’s the last season, but the eps feel both rushed and also like they’re wasting a lot of time. Maybe just structurally how NBC crams credits over the last three minutes over the show makes the eps seem even shorter. But it’s also the fact that they took Chidi out of the main gang for the entire first half of the season, which doesn’t feel right.
Tuca and Bertie was my biggest disappointment of the year.I wanted so much to love it. I love Bojack with all my heart (and Undone turned out a masterpiece as well) but the biggest problem I had with it was simply that Tuca was an absolute asshole.She was honestly one of the most unlikeable main characters I can ever remember watching. Fair enough, she had her occasional good moments, but the vast majority of her time was all about pleasing herself and damn anyone else, even her friends, because her own fun was all that matters. It may be a personal response for me, as I’ve been so badly hurt by “friends” exactly like her time and time again that it just flicked a switch in my brain, but I really wanted her to just go away and leave Bertie alone without her abusive, user of a friend.(The animation, world design, and pretty much everything else about it was great, though. Maybe a second season could have allowed Tuca to develop into someone who wasn’t a complete ass. Who knows.)
Also, I feel this list is sorely lacking in “Love, Death and Robots.”
Watchmen has been better than I ever expected it to be, and Barry and Veep were both brilliant this year. HBO’s been having another great one, that last season of Game of Thrones notwithstanding.
I’m glad you’re one of many outlets championing Lodge 49. This Friday will be another moment when we’ll all collectively scream on The Twitter until something saves Third time’s the charm!
Would like to see Final Space sneak into one of these lists.
First season was middling to great. This season was middling to boring.
wow, grim! I don’t think this culture (or any of you) can be salvaged. It’s best if China nukes America now.
Fleabag was definitely my favorite of the year, though part of that was how few episodes there were. I wonder how long it could have held up if it continued.
here are the ones you missed:City on a HillAmerican GodsDeadly ClassGentleman JackHomecomingMindhunterThe BoysUmbrella AcademyWayne
Overall a good list, but Ramy was far and away the best show of the year, IMHO. Surprised way more than any other show I watched this year, and found ways to develop both its central character and supporting characters in a way that few shows have (similar to Atlanta). Sad to see it not getting more love.
Lists are subjective, they’re designed to infuriate, blah blah blah.That said, why does everyone fucking ignore Brockmire? The producers did what I thought was impossible: topped seasons one and two while making Brockmire sober, yet maintaining the divine profanity and pathos of the show. This show deserves so much more.
Brockmire is so fucking great. My favorite ep this year was the one with his coworker’s divorce, thrusting Brockmire into the semi-responsible position.
Gemstones better than Eastbound??? what blasphemy
The Good Fight 🙁
Gah I wish Fosse/Verdon were higher, but the only other shows I’ve seen on the list at all are Stranger Things, Documentary Now!, The Good Place, and Russian Doll, and I agree with the order in which all those shows appear here. I might put it above Stranger Things, because it was a new venture, and had a unique style and hook, with the production numbers and the episodes that mirror or parallel, thematically or stylistically, the different Fosse productions. But I understand why most would disagree (it kinda lost steam at the end). So I suppose I shall remain happy that it is on the list at all.
*see’s Schitt’s Creek at 23 and Bojack at 7*
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Stevie (Emily Hampshire) bearing her heart in her community-theatre debut as Sally Bowles
to bear one’s heart ≠ to bare one’s heart, btw… but maybe you knew that and were trying to be obscure and clever, trying to say something suo motto?
omg is Sally an cyborg with a detachable heart unit
A second-opinion top 10:The BoysChernobylLove Death + RobotsUndoneWatchmenMindhunterRick and MortyGLOWFleabagTuca & Bertie
I’ll join in the chorus here about Russian Doll – it was pretty decent but its ranking here seems unwarranted. The ending really knocked it down several pegs – the whole season built up the characters in a compelling story, the finale had things shift to a narrowing, tense climax, then… some weird, unclear nonsense. So weak.At best it’s a cop-out, that lame idea about the audience deciding what happens (which is always stupid – don’t tell 95% of a story then blame the audience for wanting an ending when you can’t create a good one). At worst it’s a huge screw-you to an audience that got invested in character development but was led to a pointless non-ending filled with confusion disguised as “art!”.
Pen15 belongs on this list. Funniest show this year
In no particular order except for Succession being my #1, my shortlist includes How To Be A God…, Barry, The Boys, Unbelievable, The Good Place, I Think You Should Leave, Living With Yourself, The Magicians, Stranger Things, and Mrs. Maisel… and my dark horse for the year, which was just junk food tv, albeit very tasty junk food. I gotta throw some love to Lucifer. Binged the entire series when netflix picked it up and loved the hell out of it.
Best Shows of 2019*Vikings
Peaky Blinders
How I Met Your Mother
The Good Place
Orphan Black
The End of the Fucking World
Dark
The In-Betweeners
Money Heist
Continuum*Shows I watched in 2019 and are on Netflix.
I’d add Peaky Blinders, The Boys and The Expanse. Strange that Orange Is The New Black didn’t make this list too.
I have no kind of argument against any of these shows (though I have no interest in Succession…horrible, entitled billionaires behaving horribly entitled? Quality aside, no thanks). But The Expanse may be the smartest genre show in the known universe not called Watchmen. Deserves a mention. And also, GLOW. Why this show doesn’t get more love, I can’t say. It’s not got some deeper message or central metaphor to build out from, but the characters and relationships….
Surprised y’all haven’t included Giri Haji in this list. It’s a slow slow drama with gratuitous lesbian scenes and an ending that completely misses the target. It seems like your type of show.
I fell hopelessly in love with Fleabag just as it ended. It sucks so much that there will likely not be another season
Wait what about Atlanta?
1. Does there really need to be a tie? We couldn’t just do a 26 best shows list and NOT have a nice, clean number like every other list?2. Is Rosa Salazar’s career destiny to simply be animated?
This is a list of quality and interesting movie. Thanks for sharing this article. Although I haven’t watched all of it
THANK YOU for putting Undone on this list.I had never heard of it, which especially boggles my mind since, after discovering it here, I went and watched the whole thing, start to finish, in one sitting.Definitely one of the best things I’ve watched this year.But, DAMMIT! Why did it have to end there, like that???Well, at least season 2 is confirmed, but if they make me wait until next fall to find out what happens next, I’m gonna be pissed!
Once again it’s time for the official SNUB LIST of shows that deserved to be on here but got overlooked. Unfortunately, there was too much good TV this year so it’s hard to say what shows should be cut. The answer, of course, is to make this a top 30 list.5. Doom Patrol- Looking for a great new superhero show? Watch this one. Getting sick and tired of superhero shows? Watch this one.
4. Gentleman Jack – Too magnificently gay for the AV Club.
3. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power – Too magnificently gay for the AV Club, but with magic.
2. Steven Universe – Does the movie count? It’s a TV movie, so I say it does, and it’s the best made musical I’ve seen in years. But even ignoring that, this we got a beautiful culmination of all the show’s storylines up to the point, followed by a harsh, but hopeful, reminder that truly happy endings don’t exist.
1. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Maybe if this show carried a plunger everywhere it went,then the AV Club would notice it? That joke would be funnier if you watched the show, so go do that.
Seems to me that the Orville really deserved a place on that list, and definitely above Mando or Stranger things. Mando is too ham strung by fan service, and existing canon to have any sense of creativity. It’s fun, but there really isn’t any story there, not yet anyways.
And Stranger Things, it’s just the same thing for a third outing. Still fun, but there’s really nothing new or genuine about the show at this point.
The Orville on the other hand made a huge shift this. Away from the safe goof-ball story telling it started with into deep stories and character development with stakes. The show is run by a goofball and has goofball beginnings, but it really has become something more.
This is usually where I put in my two cents for K-dramas (which are as available these days as any British or Canadian fare). Except this wasn’t the best year for K-dramas. The series ‘Radiant’ (‘Dazzling’/’The Light In Your Eyes’) was mostly odd and confusing until an epic plot reveal in episode 10 (out of 12) altered the whole story in retrospect, turning it into the best series of the year. Yes, the plot reveal really was just that big. The series won the grand prize at the 2019 Baeksand Arts Awards. I recall the recapper of ‘Radiant’ on a k-drama site needed to take an extended break to compose herself before she could bring herself to write the recap for the final episodes.
DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE
The level of artistry and epic storytelling should have made it a shoo-in. It blew the last season of Game of Thrones out of the water, and somehow transcended the beloved movie.
Plenty of fantastic shows on this list. I’m especially pleased to see the dearly grieved Lodge 49 get some much-deserved love on here. (Although, let’s be honest, AVClub seemed to be the only publication ringing that bell all year.)
The only absent show that really sticks out to me is Ramy. I didn’t see any coverage for it this year, which is truly a shame. It’s a marvellously observed comedy-drama that focuses on a community that rarely has an opportunity to be the star of their own stories. What other hip “prestige cable” shows revolve around a millennial actually devoted to his religion? I also think it’s far better than the overrated Master of None.
Plenty of fantastic shows on this list. I’m especially pleased to see the dearly grieved Lodge 49 get some much-deserved love on here. (Although, let’s be honest, AVClub seemed to be the only publication ringing that bell all year.)
The only absent show that really sticks out to me is Ramy. I didn’t see any coverage for it this year, which is truly a shame. It’s a marvellously observed comedy-drama that focuses on a community that rarely has an opportunity to be the star of their own stories. What other hip “prestige cable” shows revolve around a millennial actually devoted to his religion? I also think it’s far better than the overrated Master of None.
True Detective ?
Silicon Valley really should be on this list. It stuck its landing better than Veep. Also, Schitt’s Creek below The Mandalorian? Wow!
So, I quite like the list, but several really good shows came out after this article dropped, and I can’t help but think they’d have at least gotten some recognition had they dropped sooner or the article had occurred in the first weeks of 2020. Will shows that aired/streamed in late December of 2019 be eligible for nomination in 2020?