“LaToya Ferguson 5: Blindspot”OMG someone else knows, yes, validation.That show’s transition from a kinda amusing knockoff of The Blacklist with tattoos to the best action-thriller on TV is one of the wildest things I’ve seen in a long time. It’s almost Person Of Interest levels of pure quality jump, switiching the perspective from the frankly dull male lead to you know, the character who actually matters in Jane for S2-onward has been such a HUGE boon. It still has the trappings of a network TV procedural, but it uses them to weave this totally bonkers high pulp spycraft story with a really excellent roster of characters and a damn good sense of how to split itself between the story of the week and the continuing plot.I’m begging you guys, give this show an honest shot. S1 is kinda messy ala the first seasons of Fringe and Person of Interest, but the quality jump afterwords is also similar. S2-3 weave one giant arc that’s well worth watching.
When I saw Blindspot on this list I was puzzled at first but of the many procedurals I watch, this season of Blindspot has gripped me more than the others. The Jane/Remy switch has been huge, as has Tasha’s turn.I was pretty creeped out by dull as dishwater lead Kurt Weller this week declaring that even if there is only a 5% chance and could killl her, any cure to return Jane to her ‘Jane’ persona is worth it. Erm NO IT ISN’T, plus it isn’t YOUR decision Kurt. Her body, her choice plus remember, the Jane persona is the fake one!
This system confuses me. How does Vida end up on the final list while Hill House, which received the same number of votes in the same positions, not? Or Maniac, which received more votes but doesn’t make the list either? I haven’t actually seen any of them but the system just seems rather objective more than subjective.Also, does f**ing noone watch the Expanse? This is why we can’t have nice (sci-fi) things. SMH.
Fine, I’ll catch up on the Americans! I think you won’t be disappointed. I’m almost through the second to the last season and it just keeps getting better. A friend tells me it has one of the best series finales in history, so there’s that to look forward to…
Venture Bros – basically a perfect television season. But it’s not hip like Killing Eve or Atlanta. Counterpart F is for Family Kidding Westworld (maybe I’m in the minority on this one) Ducktales Cobra Kai Legion Baskets It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (hey, I actually thought the Super Bowl two-parter was pretty good)
This season of Legion was pretty inconsistent but surely better than many of the other shows on the above lists. Baskets never got much credit but it has just gotten better and better over the years. I came in prepared to be annoyed but damn there are so so so many shows on TV now I feel worse for anyone who actually sat down and watched them all.
Cobra Kai was way better than it had any right to be. William Zabka really is surprisingly good. The Daniel/Johnny frenemy relationship could have been camp but the show went with nuance and it’s amazing they pull it off… and still lock into the original movies! I thought this show would suck and instead it was great.
Wow, only one reviewer had Netflix’s Elite in their top 15. I’d be inclined to think that’s maybe because none of the others have seen it – but then the one who did placed it at … number 15. So I guess that explains the lack of coverage here on AV Club.
I don’t think it’s really substantive enough to make more of an impact, but I really did enjoy it. But I forgot a couple of shows that probably would have bumped it, to be honest. And the big issue in terms of coverage is that Netflix simply releases too much television, and the local language programs are often the first to get elided.
Thanks for posting a response! For some reason I thought it would get mainstream popularity despite the subtitles – there were actually ads for it on TV here in London. Oh well.
It did eventually get some coverage elsewhere once a few critics actually watched it, but it was definitely dealing with multiple issues (the foreign language issue, the teen soap issue) that would keep it from getting much mainstream attention. There was a time when we probably would have covered it, but the #PeakTV realities mean that it’s a prime example of a show that slips through the cracks.But I think all of their local language programs are going to be stuck in a “way less niche than they would be without Netflix’s impact, but still not positioned as a central part of their original content brand in a mainstream context” box. Lots of my students have seen Dark, for example, because it was recommended to them by the algorithm, but that isn’t moving the needle culturally.
Here were my favorite TV shows (in order) for 2018, and a few extras.The Americans (FX) Better Call Saul (AMC) Atlanta (FX) Barry (Showtime) GLOW (Netflix) Forever (Amazon) Kidding (Showtime) Escape at Dannemora (Showtime) High Maintenance (HBO) Ozark (Netflix) Queer Eye (Netflix) Joe Pera Talks With You (Adult Swim)“Been Meaning to Finish”: The Terror (AMC), Homecoming (Amazon), The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX), The Good Place (NBC), The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu), Sharp Objects (HBO)“Been Meaning to Start:” The Deuce (HBO), Billions (Showtime), Killing Eve (Hulu), Lodge 49 (AMC), Room 104 (HBO), Tales from the Tour Bus: Season 2 (Cinemax), The Romanoffs (Amazon)“Gave Up On For No Reason and/or I’m All Good Here”: American Vandals Season 2 (Netflix), Westworld (HBO), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), all Marvel Netflix shows (Netflix), Succession (HBO), Waco (Paramount), The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix), Legion (FX)“Watched, Enjoyed and Have Zero Recollection of For Some Reason”: The End of the Fucking World (Netflix)
Just my two cents, but I wouldn’t waste your time on The Romanoffs. I liked 3 of the episodes, but the show is a mess. As a fan of Mad Men, I expected more. The set design and location shots are phenomenal, though. The writing and acting are sub par for the talent they hired, add in that each episode runs at least an hour and it’s really time better spent on better shows.
Anyway, by way of more substantive griping… I was surprised by how underwhelmed I was by Killing Eve. If I were to summate it in as reductive a way as possible I would call it a gender-flipped Hannibal with the tonal palette / rhythms of Orphan Black, and those things together turn out to create an extremely weird, nihilistic dissonance. It’s like Brett Easton Ellis trying to do a mainstream feminist TV show, with all that implies. Something that toes a line between black comedy and deliberate provocation. It’s just a weird thing to sit through, the lightness and witty repartee and the high stakes violence. I dropped it after four episodes.I get that people like Sandra Oh, and that every time a career character actor gets to step in as a lead people get hyped, but even as she’s on point for the tone of the show, the tone of the show doesn’t work.
Did not one of you so-called “critics” have The Expanse in your Top 15? Whoa. I hadn’t noticed that. Did The Expanse go seriously off the rails this year? I’m not caught up. Most likely reason for leaving it off a top 15 list, though – there’s just too damn much good tv out there.
as at least some others have observed the expanse & counterpart both deserve a spot on at least one of these lists…as IMHO do both patriot & black lightning…all for somewhat different reasons & I’d never finish trying to figure out how to rank them…
Wow, I can’t believe no one listed “Counterpart.” I feel like it’s the best show no one is watching. I’d call it the new “The Americans” but A.V. Club is one of the few places that actually noticed that show (and rightfully so!).
Nice to see Bob’s Burgers and Jane the Virgin on some of the ballots. But it looked like the former show amassed enough votes to be in the top 25 and yet isn’t. That’s suspicious.
The Good Place The Marvelous Mrs Maizel Better Call Saul GLOW The Expanse Cobra-Kai Westworld Preacher Broad City The Magicians Last Week Tonight Ducktales Stranger Things Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Legends Of Tomorrow and the runners up..iZombie It’s Always Sunny in Phillidelphia Daredevil Atlanta Mr Robot
I’m saddened by the apparent snub of Hap & Leonard’s third (and unfortunately final) season. It was the show’s strongest and most ambitious season (even if it doesn’t entirely land the ending imo) and I’m gonna miss it’s mix of pulp, humor, and unflinching explorations of racism. There was a lot of great TV this year, but it’s too bad this show seemed to slip through the cracks this year for many.
I agree, Hap & Leonard was strong as always, but for a number of reasons (the channel it was on, the low-key style) it never managed to find the audience it deserved. Hopefully people will discover it on streaming.
As usual: Here’s me bringing up the rear.1. The Magicians2. The Expanse3. Star Wars Rebels4. Deadline: Whitehouse5. Better Call Saul6. The Venture Brothers7. GLOW8. The Deuce9. American Ninja Warrior10. The Terror11. The Good Place12. The Americans13. Cobra Kai14. Altered Carbon15. DaredevilI’ve bitched more than enough about #1 & #2. But… Star Wars Rebels. You know, there’s a reason Star Wars fans this week freaked out at the prospect of Sabine Wren showing up as a character on “The Mandalorian” here next year. It grew the SWCU and ended on a six pack of B+ episodes that occasionally popped “A.” It firmly established a trio of women-warriors the Star Wars fan base is and should be screaming to see live action: Sabine, Hera, & Ahsoka.
Making these lists must be a lot of work and I think I understand why AVC went from a top 30 to a top 20 starting last year. But with *so* *damned* *many* impressive shows these days, a top 20 (from individual top 15’s) is really pretty restrictive.
1. Atlanta2. The Americans 3. Killing Eve 4. GLOW 5. Better Call Saul 6. Waco 7. Jane the Virgin 8. Big Mouth9. Love10. Daredevil11. The Magicians12. The Good Place13. 13 Reasons Why 14. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina15. The MickAnd I still have outliers like The First, Black Lightning, The Looming Tower, DuckTales and A.P.Bio that I liked. And that’s not getting into specialty programs like CNN’s The 2000s docu-series, and a pretty solid reality competiton in Survivor: David vs Goliath. But when do I get to say The A.V. Club was wrong about….Cobra Kai?
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I would think “The Tale” should just be considered a movie rather than TV.
“LaToya Ferguson 5: Blindspot”OMG someone else knows, yes, validation.That show’s transition from a kinda amusing knockoff of The Blacklist with tattoos to the best action-thriller on TV is one of the wildest things I’ve seen in a long time. It’s almost Person Of Interest levels of pure quality jump, switiching the perspective from the frankly dull male lead to you know, the character who actually matters in Jane for S2-onward has been such a HUGE boon. It still has the trappings of a network TV procedural, but it uses them to weave this totally bonkers high pulp spycraft story with a really excellent roster of characters and a damn good sense of how to split itself between the story of the week and the continuing plot.I’m begging you guys, give this show an honest shot. S1 is kinda messy ala the first seasons of Fringe and Person of Interest, but the quality jump afterwords is also similar. S2-3 weave one giant arc that’s well worth watching.
If you haven’t read Latoya’s Blindspot piece, it’s well worth it. https://uproxx.com/tv/blindspot-season-four-procedural-worth-watching/ #BlindspotFucks
Oh neat, didn’t know she wrote about it somewhere else.
When I saw Blindspot on this list I was puzzled at first but of the many procedurals I watch, this season of Blindspot has gripped me more than the others. The Jane/Remy switch has been huge, as has Tasha’s turn.I was pretty creeped out by dull as dishwater lead Kurt Weller this week declaring that even if there is only a 5% chance and could killl her, any cure to return Jane to her ‘Jane’ persona is worth it. Erm NO IT ISN’T, plus it isn’t YOUR decision Kurt. Her body, her choice plus remember, the Jane persona is the fake one!
I watch and like this show, but I probably would not have put it in my top 15. It’s fun, but I am not sure it’s higher quality than the Blacklist.
This system confuses me. How does Vida end up on the final list while Hill House, which received the same number of votes in the same positions, not? Or Maniac, which received more votes but doesn’t make the list either? I haven’t actually seen any of them but the system just seems rather objective more than subjective.Also, does f**ing noone watch the Expanse? This is why we can’t have nice (sci-fi) things. SMH.
Fine, I’ll catch up on the Americans!
Fine, I’ll catch up on the Americans! I think you won’t be disappointed. I’m almost through the second to the last season and it just keeps getting better. A friend tells me it has one of the best series finales in history, so there’s that to look forward to…
Surprised how many clearly didn’t watch Barry or Marvelous Mrs Maisel!
Awww, I was hoping for little blurbs about the shows, not just the ballots themselves.
Snubbed:
Venture Bros – basically a perfect television season. But it’s not hip like Killing Eve or Atlanta.
Counterpart
F is for Family
Kidding
Westworld (maybe I’m in the minority on this one)
Ducktales
Cobra Kai
Legion
Baskets
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (hey, I actually thought the Super Bowl two-parter was pretty good)
Snubbing The Venture Bros. is insane, it had one of it’s best ever seasons and was a delight from start to finish.
This season of Legion was pretty inconsistent but surely better than many of the other shows on the above lists. Baskets never got much credit but it has just gotten better and better over the years.
I came in prepared to be annoyed but damn there are so so so many shows on TV now I feel worse for anyone who actually sat down and watched them all.
Also, and maybe I missed it, but i didn’t see The Expanse on any of the lists.
Cobra Kai was way better than it had any right to be. William Zabka really is surprisingly good. The Daniel/Johnny frenemy relationship could have been camp but the show went with nuance and it’s amazing they pull it off… and still lock into the original movies! I thought this show would suck and instead it was great.
Wow, only one reviewer had Netflix’s Elite in their top 15. I’d be inclined to think that’s maybe because none of the others have seen it – but then the one who did placed it at … number 15. So I guess that explains the lack of coverage here on AV Club.
I don’t think it’s really substantive enough to make more of an impact, but I really did enjoy it. But I forgot a couple of shows that probably would have bumped it, to be honest. And the big issue in terms of coverage is that Netflix simply releases too much television, and the local language programs are often the first to get elided.
Thanks for posting a response! For some reason I thought it would get mainstream popularity despite the subtitles – there were actually ads for it on TV here in London. Oh well.
It did eventually get some coverage elsewhere once a few critics actually watched it, but it was definitely dealing with multiple issues (the foreign language issue, the teen soap issue) that would keep it from getting much mainstream attention. There was a time when we probably would have covered it, but the #PeakTV realities mean that it’s a prime example of a show that slips through the cracks.But I think all of their local language programs are going to be stuck in a “way less niche than they would be without Netflix’s impact, but still not positioned as a central part of their original content brand in a mainstream context” box. Lots of my students have seen Dark, for example, because it was recommended to them by the algorithm, but that isn’t moving the needle culturally.
Hey, Kyle Fowle, Vikram Murthi, Caroline Siede and Eric Thurm, what kind of monster doesn’t put The Good Place on their ballot?
Major karmic points off for that one.
Props to Danette Chavez for putting Bojack as number one on her list, and Atlanta at number two. Thank you for validating my taste in television!
Props to Danette Chavez for putting Bojack as number one on her list, and Atlanta at number two. Thank you for validating my taste in television!
Glad we got some LoT love. That show is so needed to provide laughs in our dark world.
Honestly a bit surprised that no one put Drag Race on their list. thought S10 went back to seasons 4-7 quality (that’s right, i love season 7)
Does everyone at AVC hate Counterpart? You guys treat it like the plague for whatever reason. I thought it was pretty cool and original.
Agreed, loved Counterpart.
Here were my favorite TV shows (in order) for 2018, and a few extras.The Americans (FX)
Better Call Saul (AMC)
Atlanta (FX)
Barry (Showtime)
GLOW (Netflix)
Forever (Amazon)
Kidding (Showtime)
Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)
High Maintenance (HBO)
Ozark (Netflix)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
Joe Pera Talks With You (Adult Swim)“Been Meaning to Finish”: The Terror (AMC), Homecoming (Amazon), The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX), The Good Place (NBC), The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu), Sharp Objects (HBO)“Been Meaning to Start:” The Deuce (HBO), Billions (Showtime), Killing Eve (Hulu), Lodge 49 (AMC), Room 104 (HBO), Tales from the Tour Bus: Season 2 (Cinemax), The Romanoffs (Amazon)“Gave Up On For No Reason and/or I’m All Good Here”: American Vandals Season 2 (Netflix), Westworld (HBO), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), all Marvel Netflix shows (Netflix), Succession (HBO), Waco (Paramount), The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix), Legion (FX)“Watched, Enjoyed and Have Zero Recollection of For Some Reason”: The End of the Fucking World (Netflix)
Just my two cents, but I wouldn’t waste your time on The Romanoffs. I liked 3 of the episodes, but the show is a mess. As a fan of Mad Men, I expected more. The set design and location shots are phenomenal, though. The writing and acting are sub par for the talent they hired, add in that each episode runs at least an hour and it’s really time better spent on better shows.
#Terrorwuzrobbed
Anyway, by way of more substantive griping… I was surprised by how underwhelmed I was by Killing Eve. If I were to summate it in as reductive a way as possible I would call it a gender-flipped Hannibal with the tonal palette / rhythms of Orphan Black, and those things together turn out to create an extremely weird, nihilistic dissonance. It’s like Brett Easton Ellis trying to do a mainstream feminist TV show, with all that implies. Something that toes a line between black comedy and deliberate provocation. It’s just a weird thing to sit through, the lightness and witty repartee and the high stakes violence. I dropped it after four episodes.I get that people like Sandra Oh, and that every time a career character actor gets to step in as a lead people get hyped, but even as she’s on point for the tone of the show, the tone of the show doesn’t work.
Did not one of you so-called “critics” have The Expanse in your Top 15? Outrageous.
Did not one of you so-called “critics” have The Expanse in your Top 15? Whoa. I hadn’t noticed that. Did The Expanse go seriously off the rails this year? I’m not caught up. Most likely reason for leaving it off a top 15 list, though – there’s just too damn much good tv out there.
It was still as good as ever in my opinion.
Not a exactly a downturn in quality, but the back half of season 3 does feel a bit rushed, squeezing a novel’s worth of plot into seven episodes.
as at least some others have observed the expanse & counterpart both deserve a spot on at least one of these lists…as IMHO do both patriot & black lightning…all for somewhat different reasons & I’d never finish trying to figure out how to rank them…
Wow, I can’t believe no one listed “Counterpart.” I feel like it’s the best show no one is watching. I’d call it the new “The Americans” but A.V. Club is one of the few places that actually noticed that show (and rightfully so!).
Nice to see Bob’s Burgers and Jane the Virgin on some of the ballots. But it looked like the former show amassed enough votes to be in the top 25 and yet isn’t. That’s suspicious.
The Good Place
The Marvelous Mrs Maizel
Better Call Saul
GLOW
The Expanse
Cobra-Kai
Westworld
Preacher
Broad City
The Magicians
Last Week Tonight
Ducktales
Stranger Things
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Legends Of Tomorrow
and the runners up..iZombie
It’s Always Sunny in Phillidelphia
Daredevil
Atlanta
Mr Robot
I’m saddened by the apparent snub of Hap & Leonard’s third (and unfortunately final) season. It was the show’s strongest and most ambitious season (even if it doesn’t entirely land the ending imo) and I’m gonna miss it’s mix of pulp, humor, and unflinching explorations of racism. There was a lot of great TV this year, but it’s too bad this show seemed to slip through the cracks this year for many.
I agree, Hap & Leonard was strong as always, but for a number of reasons (the channel it was on, the low-key style) it never managed to find the audience it deserved. Hopefully people will discover it on streaming.
As usual: Here’s me bringing up the rear.1. The Magicians2. The Expanse3. Star Wars Rebels4. Deadline: Whitehouse5. Better Call Saul6. The Venture Brothers7. GLOW8. The Deuce9. American Ninja Warrior10. The Terror11. The Good Place12. The Americans13. Cobra Kai14. Altered Carbon15. DaredevilI’ve bitched more than enough about #1 & #2. But… Star Wars Rebels. You know, there’s a reason Star Wars fans this week freaked out at the prospect of Sabine Wren showing up as a character on “The Mandalorian” here next year. It grew the SWCU and ended on a six pack of B+ episodes that occasionally popped “A.” It firmly established a trio of women-warriors the Star Wars fan base is and should be screaming to see live action: Sabine, Hera, & Ahsoka.
I don’t trust anyone who didn’t include The Good Place on their list. I’m also upset Jane the Virgin didn’t make the final cut.
Making these lists must be a lot of work and I think I understand why AVC went from a top 30 to a top 20 starting last year. But with *so* *damned* *many* impressive shows these days, a top 20 (from individual top 15’s) is really pretty restrictive.
I was disappointed that The Expanse didn’t make anyone’s list.
1. Atlanta2. The Americans
3. Killing Eve
4. GLOW
5. Better Call Saul
6. Waco
7. Jane the Virgin
8. Big Mouth9. Love10. Daredevil11. The Magicians12. The Good Place13. 13 Reasons Why
14. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina15. The MickAnd I still have outliers like The First, Black Lightning, The Looming Tower, DuckTales and A.P.Bio that I liked. And that’s not getting into specialty programs like CNN’s The 2000s docu-series, and a pretty solid reality competiton in Survivor: David vs Goliath. But when do I get to say The A.V. Club was wrong about….Cobra Kai?