What’s missing from our list of 2018’s best TV?
Image: Photo: Dear White PeoplePhoto: DetroitersPhoto: High MaintenanceGraphic: Natalie Peeples TV Features TV
As we wind down 2018, our best-of coverage continues with the following question:
What’s missing from our list of the year’s best TV?
Kyle Fowle
There’s hardly reason to argue with almost any year-end list these days because of the sheer number of good TV shows out there, but I’m genuinely surprised that HBO’s High Maintenance didn’t make our list. The second season of the HBO run keeps with the anthology-esque spirit of the show, but it goes deeper in ways surprising and touching. So, there’s still the random characters that populate New York and The Guy’s life, but what’s different this time around is a narrative through-line involving The Guy’s ex. That character arc, one of pain and jealousy and moving on, adds so much to a season that’s already achingly honest. Add in the fact that one of the year’s best episodes—“Globo,” reckons with the election of Donald Trump, and the completely indescribable feeling of moving through the world on the morning of November 9, 2016 in a smart, poignant, and stirring way—and you have a season of TV that’s more than worthy of any year-end list.
Myles McNutt
It’s difficult for an established reality show to make it into a best of TV list: Beyond the fact that critical conversation privileges scripted programming, reality shows are built on iteration, and that feels less novel or memorable when we reach the list-making time of year. And I’m part of this problem, because I failed to put CBS’ Survivor on my own list despite the fact that its fall cycle has been absurdly enjoyable for a show in its 37th—not a typo—season. Yes, the David Vs. Goliath theme is profoundly dumb. No, I couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened during the season that aired in the spring, so 2018 wasn’t all great for the series. But something about the alchemy of casting and game-play has created a season with a succession of satisfying twists and turns, reminding us that although we may not instinctively think of it as list worthy, a reality show 18 years into its run can still create some of television’s best drama and comedy. (I’ll never hear the name “Natalie” without laughing now.)
Eric Thurm
Making reality TV really pop is an artform: There are hundreds of hours of interactions to film, comb through, and precisely edit into a narrative that will make sense, delight viewers, and feel just slightly off, like humans hanging out too many years in the future to quite make sense to us. So every year, I become more and more impressed with the reigning queen of the genre: Vanderpump Rules. The sixth season is one of the show’s best; over half a decade in, Vanderpump Rules remains an examination of fame, misfired charisma, and the terrors of tenuous social status that would put any 19th century novel to shame. Whether it’s Jax Taylor maybe falling in love with his reiki master Kelsey while his relationship with Brittany Cartwright festers like an untreated sore, Stassi Schroeder’s then-boyfriend creating a new god tier of social faux pas by grossly hitting on Lisa freaking Vanderpump, or the slow-moving car crash of James Kennedy ignoring the “best friend” he was clearly sleeping with (not that anyone else cared), Vanderpump Rules remains mesmerizing. The cast of past, present, and future SUR employees are stuck with each other forever, and it’s incredible. It’s not about the pasta; it’s about dread.
Clayton Purdom
Aw, come on—am I the only person who thought Maniac was one of the year’s best? Well, apparently. Cary Joji Fukunaga’s 10-parter was far from perfect, but it aimed admirably high, wrangling spy action, elven fantasy, late-capitalist malaise, intense family dynamics, corporate psychotherapy and more into a freewheeling caper across several levels of reality. It also got career-best comedic performances out of Emma Stone and Justin Theroux and a fine, sad-sack turn from Jonah Hill. And Ben Sinclair! Not all of its ideas stuck, but it was messy, smart, and light in a way I’d love to see more sci-fi attempt.
Dennis Perkins
I’ll admit, I was worried going into the new, Mary Berry-less (not to mention Mel- and Sue-less), Great British Baking Show era, but I am pleased as rum baba to say that this enduringly endearing and delightfully stressful baking competition series has marched on just as sweetly. Sure, there’s a lingering bitter aftertaste to the great British baking show schism that led to those departures, but not on the Great British Baking Show itself, which rides remaining judge Paul Hollywood’s gruff charms alongside new judging partner Prue Leith and celebrity goofballs Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig without missing a trick. The key ingredient to this series’ success has always been the utterly generous heart that goes into every episode, and Fielding and Toksvig, if anything, seem more emotionally invested in the fates of the contestants they have to expel, one-by-one, from the show’s famous tent. And if Hollywood and Leith continue the necessarily merciless judging of soggy bottoms, overworked and under-proved doughs, and the occasional collapsing confectionary disaster, they, too, provide warmly constructive criticism rather than the traditional reality show scorn. A series—as the departed Berry was wont to say—“cram-jammed” with delights, The Great British Baking Show remains one of the most cozily exciting TV experiences going. [Dennis Perkins]
Alex McLevy
Maybe it’s the curse of distance that comes from being released way back in January, or maybe it’s simply a victim of the era of Too Much TV, but I’m bummed out to find the Steven Soderbergh-helmed Mosaic failed to crack our top 25. The miniseries is everything you could want in superlative television: a sharply nuanced and well-written mystery, performed by a coterie of uniformly strong actors at the top of their game (longtime character actor Devin Ratray deserves to be getting award nominations for his star turn), and an ace director brilliantly shooting and editing the whole thing into an intriguing puzzle? It’s the one thing I have felt comfortable recommending to anyone all year long who’s asked me what great show they should check out, regardless of individual tastes, and sadly, not a single person to date has responded with, “I’ve already seen it.” (Feel free to ignore the accompanying multimedia app as an experimental lark on Soderbergh’s part.) You’d think an HBO series from an Oscar-winning director wouldn’t need underdog-status championing, and yet here we are. Give it a watch if you haven’t yet—and odds are, you haven’t.
Caroline Siede
Come on you guys, Netflix’s Queer Eye gave us two full seasons and a special in 2018, and we couldn’t even give it a spot on our list?! I get that it can be hard to stump for reality TV when there’s so much great scripted stuff out there, but Queer Eye at least deserves a special award for being one of the most unexpected joys of 2018. The new Fab Five offered an updated spin on the early ’00s Bravo original, emphasizing self-empowerment, confidence, and empathy along with styling tips and home makeovers. Karamo used his vague “culture and lifestyle” assignment to deliver some really thoughtful therapy sessions, Tan invented a whole new way to wear shirts, Jonathan established himself as an instant icon, Antoni put avocado on stuff, and Bobby did five times as much work as everyone else while getting barely any credit for it. Whether we were bonding over tear-jerking transformations or mocking Antoni’s complete inability to cook, Queer Eye was the rare cultural unifier based on something lovely and uplifting, rather than dark and depressing. I’m guessing we’re still going to need that in 2019, so it’s a good thing the show has a third season on the way. Until then, I’ll just be rewatching A.J.’s episode on a loop.
Lisa Weidenfeld
I watched and loved a lot of TV this year, but it’s possible Wynonna Earp is the show I looked forward to the most, and also the one I wish I was seeing on more best-of lists this December. It’s a Western, a procedural, a Buffy descendant, a horror comedy, and probably a few other things as well. But mostly it’s fun. Its wildly entertaining third season was the strongest yet, and featured a potato-licking mystery, a Christmas tree topper made out of tampons, and one of TV’s sweetest ongoing romances—the usual stuff of great drama. The show’s mythology keeps expanding into an ever larger battle between forces far more powerful than its scrappy team of heroes, but it’s the writing and character work that make the show shine. Wynonna may be tough and merciless in her pursuit of victory, but it’s her sense of humor that keeps her human and compelling, and the bond between her and sister Waverly has provided a grounding emotional force on a show with an increasingly complex central plot. There just aren’t enough shows on TV that would work a Plan B joke into their heist sequence.
Vikram Murthi
Even correcting for James Franco’s involvement, which might put people off for legitimate reasons, it blows me away that The Deuce didn’t crack AVC’s main list. David Simon and George Pelecanos’ bird’s-eye view of the inception and proliferation of the sex industry in the United States represents some of the most mature, compelling television of the year. Simon’s detail-oriented, process-focused approach comes alive when examining a side of American culture that functions as a metaphor for everything: gentrification, the rise of cultural conservatism, urban renewal, late capitalism, and, most potently, the filmmaking process. This season, Simon and Pelecanos pushed their subjects toward broader freedoms that quickly revealed themselves to be traps in disguise. Not only does all social progress come with a price, but also it’s limited to those pre-approved by those controlling the purse strings. Yet, Simon and Pelecanos never forget that the tapestry of human experience is neither exclusively tragic nor comprehensively optimistic. Some people discover happiness, and others lose their way. Rising and falling in America has always been a permanent state because social environments and political context circumscribe life-or-death choices. It’s been a decade since The Wire ended, but its worldview lives on through Simon’s successive work: everything’s connected, follow the money, and bad institutions fail good people every damn day.
Danette Chavez
Although the show’s title addresses a certain demographic, Dear White People has so much to say beyond calling out the oblivious and privileged. Yes, Justin Simien’s adaptation of his 2014 film of the same name wears its politics on its sleeve, but they’re right next to its heart. The show is much more a winning coming-of-age dramedy than it is a polemic, and even then, it’s still miles ahead of most college-set series in both style and substance. Simien’s created his own visual language to capture both the intimacy of the relationships among the core cast, as well as the microscope they’re under as black students at an Ivy League school. And I really cannot say enough about the dialogue, which crackles and informs. Season one had such a moving coming-out storyline, made all the more so by DeRon Horton’s vulnerable performance; the new season follows Lionel’s adventures in dating and dorm sex, with hilarious and poignant results. Really, the whole cast should be commended, from Logan Browning, who provides a wonderfully complex center as Sam, to Antoinette Robertson, who may have given the series’ best performance in season two’s “Chapter IV.” Dear White People still makes a point of punching up—at racist and sexist institutions, tangible and otherwise—but many of its most extraordinary moments have come from characters like Sam, Gabe (John Patrick Amedori), and Reggie (Marque Richardson) recognizing their personal foibles. Thankfully, Netflix has already renewed Dear White People for a third season, giving you all a chance to get it together.
Gwen Ihnat
The odd Amazon sitcom Forever had a lot to say about the monotony of monogamy and marriage: Can you really stay with someone happily for the rest of your life? (Or afterlife, as the case may be.) With anyone but Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph cast as that main couple, Forever might have slowly slid into bland drudgery. But the two gifted comic actors injected a lot of life into the monogamy question, aided by a spirited supporting cast including Catherine Keener, Julia Ormond, and Noah Robbins. Sure, there are some days when you want to talk to anyone but that person sitting across from you at the breakfast table. But who else would discuss with you, ad nauseam, banal topics like the perfect way to spend a half-hour, or the best way to sit in a chair? The standalone episode “Andre And Sarah” makes achingly clear how much finding (or not finding) that person who makes you shine steers the path your life will eventually take, all in a mere 35 minutes.
Allison Shoemaker
While I’d love to praise one of the many things that aired this year that I’m sure to revisit in future—someone else is going to mention Wanderlust, Salt Fat Acid Heat, and the dazzling Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert, right?—I feel compelled to bring up a program I’m almost certain I’ll never watch again. It’s unlikely that when HBO snapped up The Tale at Sundance this year, the network was thinking of the benefits of the pause button. Yet it’s a benefit all the same. The debut narrative feature from documentarian Jennifer Fox follows a fictionalized version of the director (played by Laura Dern) as she re-examines a traumatic childhood experience she’d filed away in her mind as loving and consensual, managing to be both gentle and almost unbearably upsetting all at once. Dern’s simple, seemingly relaxed performance belies the nightmare which fuels it, and that pause button may prove invaluable to some—it certainly was for me. The Tale is a film which seems to demand that you witness, rather than merely watch it. Should you need to walk away for a minute, it’ll keep.
Noel Murray
I know, I know: At least once or twice a year someone tells you about some cool animated series you should be watching, and talks about how trippy and ambitious and strangely deep it is. But guys, trust me: You need to catch up on Cartoon Network’s Summer Camp Island. Only half of season one has aired so far (20 10-minute episodes, mostly non-serialized), with the rest of the first batch reportedly set to debut before the end of the year. It’s a show parents can watch with grade-school-aged kids or on their own—a treat for animation buffs, and for anyone who enjoys a the kind of surrealism that’s more adorable than upsetting. With its snooty teen witches, dorky monsters, and never-ending parade of anthropomorphic clothes, toys, plants, and foodstuffs, Summer Camp Island is like a weird old Disney cartoon crossed with an ’80s teensploitation picture. And it is glorious.
A.A. Dowd
Mike Flanagan is a Stephen King guy. You could guess that from his adaptation of Gerald’s Game and from the news that he’s doing King’s Shining sequel Doctor Sleep next. Or you could just watch his work and marvel at how plainly influenced it is by the author’s, at how well it captures that signature King touch—the division of perspective among multiple characters, the interest in history and trauma, the graceful juggling of timelines. There’s much more King than Shirley Jackson in Flanagan Netflix take on The Haunting Of Hill House. The miniseries didn’t scare me as much as it seemed to scare a lot of my friends and colleagues—while well-executed, its jolts were mostly of the familiar James Wan spirits-slithering-up-walls variety. But I loved the intricacy of the storytelling, the way Flanagan moved fluidly from the childhood scenes to the adulthood ones and back again, mapping the entwined lives of these damaged siblings to suggest the way that our past and present remain in constant conversation. (It’s memories, of course, that are really haunting the Crain family.) In the end, I found Haunting Of Hill House a better, more spiritually faithful adaptation of It than the real one from last year. Guess that makes me a Mike Flanagan guy.
Erik Adams
The contents of The Big List demonstrate that it’s a great time for television comedy of all stripes: Animated, musical, workplace, detail-oriented genre parody, surrealist examination of the agony and ecstasy of existence. And while I would’ve liked to have seen some notice for the humble charms of NBC’s Superstore or a nod to that episode of Joe Pera Talks With You where Joe hears “Baba O’Riley” for the first time, I’m surprised that we didn’t heap more praise on another Michigan-set cable show co-starring Conner O’Malley. Like Myles with Survivor, I’m willing to accept that I’m part of the problem: Detroiters didn’t make my ballot’s final cut, despite all the hearty laughs, shoddily produced TV commercials, and General Getdown dance routines (“He’s a general—he’s the best”) the Comedy Central series gave me this year. Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson’s love letter to their shared hometown will always be powered by the stars’ explosively silly onscreen connection, but season two did some stellar work at fleshing out their characters as individuals, whether it was Sam reuniting with an ex to record a sultry grocery-store jingle or Tim (loudly) grappling with the family legacy of Cramblin Duvet Advertising. If nothing else, these episodes proved that when it comes to comedic news anchors, sometimes the inspiration for Ron Burgundy outstrips the legend himself.
130 Comments
The Tale shouldn’t be on the list, but only because it’s a film, and it’s in my Top 10 films of the year.I loved S1 of Dear White People, but for some reason I never got around to S2. I’m very happy it got renewed anyway though.I’ll give a shoutout to Santa Clarita Diet, which had a much-improved S2. Looking forward to seeing where they go from here.
You should give DWP season 2 a shot! I didn’t think it’d be able to keep up the good parts of season 1, but honestly it doubled down on all the best parts of the first season and moved beyond some of its faults. Its just as beautifully shot and executed, but it has a more clear vision of what it wants to be.
Oh, I’ll definitely watch before S3. It glares at me everytime I open my Netflix list.
I’m pretty eager about Santa Clarita Diet, too. I liked that they’re expanding the weird mythology behind the, um, condition but geez it stopped short just when things were getting good.Also there were some great guest performances here and there – Jonathan Slavin, Sarah Baker, Joel McHale, and Maggie Lawson, to name a few.
I will agree with anyone who has Clone Abe Lincoln as their avatar. So…what this guy said!
For all of its problems, I still enjoyed the second season of Legion, and don’t think it deserves the hate it’s gotten. It is a step down from the first season, but still had some pretty amazing episodes.
Yeah, I don’t know if it was just a little too free form for people to follow or if it was David’s slide into inky morality that turned people off, but it was hardly a bad season.
I just think (keeping things vague) that transition for David didn’t really unfold in a believable or logical way, and the big culmination of it was handled really clumsily, especially given the touchy subject matter.
Legion, like Westworld, is obtuse to a fault. Two seasons of both shows each, and I don’t have a strong connection to or understanding of the main characters.
I thought the second season was better than the first honestly. The Shadow King turning all of David’s allies against him was a really cool idea.
The Shadow King turning all of David’s allies against him was a really cool idea.Legion has tons of cool ideas, it’s just not the greatest at implementing all of them. That particular turn came off as entirely un-earned to me (as I said back in the episode thread), to say nothing of badly-implemented sequences like Ptonomy joining the living computer-thingy.
I didn’t mind the implementation. I’m a HUGE fan of The Prisoner and Legion shares the vast majority of its DNA with that show, so it all works really well for me.
I was just coming here to say this about Legion as well.It was my personal number one show of 2017, and while I didn’t agree with everything it did this season (I’ll withhold spoilers), it was still boundary pushing, a visual feast, and wonderfully acted. I’m as curious as ever to see what’s next.
That whole dance off battle was awesome. I have yet to delete that from the DVR, just so I can watch it again
I’m here for this. I think Season 3 is gonna clean up some of the mess of Season 2, but what even when this show is a mess, it’s pretty compelling. I’m still thinking about some of the questions I had about the show!
It had some amazing individual episodes and moments for me. I really thought the trip inside the memories and minds of everyone was particularly great. But it didn’t add up to as much, to say nothing of that terrible final episode, IMO. I thought S1 was genius, S2 just kinda did the Mr. Robot and disappeared up its own ass. Robot came back, though.
Some foreign exposure would have been nice. This has been the second of two very strong years in anime, and The Jews are Coming continues to be the best sketch comedy on television.
The Expanse
Where is Corporate?
Glad to see Wynonna Earp and, briefly, Joe Pera Talks with You, mentioned as omissions. I really love iZombie and The 100, but truthfully neither had the most consistent year, though both sure do set up interestingly for next season.
Joe Pera Talks With You is an utter delight from start to finish. Somehow he makes just the phrase “smallish cheesecake” into a hilarious punchline that isn’t even really a joke but still lands. Plus you get to learn strange fun facts that seem like a postmodern novel’s throwaway subplot but are in actuality real (namely how Saskatchewan declared a war on rats in the entire province). If you haven’t read this review of the show, I recommend it: https://observer.com/2018/09/film-crit-hulk-joe-pera-bizarre-wholesome-outsider-comedy/
Jo Firestone as Sarah was one of the best supporting characters of the year, too. The double-length season finale set mostly in her doomsday-prepper basement was amazing
I was also surprised by how well the relationship worked and how believable it was despite the relative lack of details and time devoted to it prior to that.
Joe Pera Talks With You is easily my pick as the best new show of the year. I did not know what to expect when first watching the show and almost didn’t bother finishing even the first episode but boy did it ever win me over with the second episode when he goes to the diner for breakfast. The show is low key, unbelievably sweet (but not in a saccharine way), slyly funny and beautifully shot.It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I challenge anyone not to love the ‘Baba O’Reilly’ episode (Joe Pera Reads the Church Announcements). I am praying that Adult Swim renews it…
both iZombie and The 100 are ending with their next seasons, right? I didn’t love the last season of the 100, but that finale was great.
iZombie is ending after the next season. I am pretty sure the head of the CW said specifically they are NOT planning for The 100 to end after next season. Maybe they hope that the electrifying re-boot at the end of the season will give it additional life/ storylines, which I definitely think it could. Last season did try my patience a bit at times, with Octavia and Abby and even my beloved Clarke being stubborn idiots for much of the season.
Yeah, iZombie’s recent season had its share of hiccups to put it mildly. The writers went bigger with New Seattle but they bit off more brain tissue than they can chew. Still I have high hopes for the last season, especially with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar coming aboard for some appearances.
Only thing I would argue about the Wynonna Earp write up is that it isn’t so much a Buffy decendant but a Buffy clone. Seriously the two series are so similar. Note: that is not a bad thing if more series that ripped off Buffy did it as well as Wynonna Earp we’d have way better TV shows.
I have seen an interview with the Wynonna Earp showrunner & I was a bit surprised at how open she was about the show being basically her doing a western redo of Buffy.
I say if you’re going to do something like that be open about it. The first episode is basically Welcome to the Hell Mouth. So its kind of smart saying “ya, I wanted to make a Buffy in the West” and know what it totally works. Though I like the fact Wynona is much more sure of herself, which reminds me of Season 4 to 7 Buffy rather then 1 to 3.
Waverly is a lot more likable and has better storylines than Dawn, too
I was more comparing Waverly to Willow rather then Dawn. I like Michelle Trachtenberg but damn she was poorly written.
I feel like Nicole Haught is more the Willow analogue (they both even have red hair!) but it is not a perfect comparison I know
Ah ya Officer Haught.
The Adventure Time finale was magnificent, and I’d love to see it not end up swept under the rug, even though the whole release cycle for the last season was so ridiculously disjointed.Not necessarily the best TV of 2018, but Wellington Paranormal 100% stood out as one of the most genuinely unique offerings, in my eyes. Infinitely rewatchable in the way few genre shows are these days (now that everything is so serialized, it’s getting tough to have a bank of one-off episodes to go back to on a rainy day.)
I’ll be legitimately sad if Detroiters doesn’t get a third season. Every episode has been an utter delight.
Sorry https://twitter.com/SamRichardson/status/1072550827045335041?s=19
Welp. I guess I know who Mort Crim’s Chump of the Week is this week:
Um…
Good judgement….is…is what was missing.Man I miss the old AV Club.
Agreed, a lot of this list is shit. Vanderpump Rules? Dafuq?
Well, as someone who used to post on the ‘old’ AV Club but didn’t bother to sign up for Kinja, I’m coming in from the cold now to ask why literally no-one has mentioned Trust on here. Always interesting and engaging, and anchored by a fantastic performance by Donald Sutherland, it seems to get no love here. We had it here in the UK quite recently compared to to the US, so maybe you’ve just all forgotten it? Surely Brendan Fraser’s performance deserves a mention?
Hill House was the most glaring omission, to me. You could take away the horror elements and it would still be one of the best dramas on TV.
Except for that last episode. That one was bad in so many ways. And don’t send me those articles that are like “did you notice that there’s red in the cake scene? doesn’t that blow your mind?”. If you require THAT close of a reading of a scene to get across a major plot point (one that has major thematic resonance with the rest of the show), then the show made a bullshit choice.
I really like that theory that they’re still in the red room, but I wish the show would have hammered that point a lot more. Also, the whole thing with the cover-up of the kid dying to protect the ghost kid and the house was weird. I really liked the show but that ending was a dud
Yeah, if they were still in the red room, that would make sense and would make the ending better. But it still doesn’t fix how the house had been monstrous and evil up until that last episode and then suddenly multiple people choose to die there like it’s American Horror Story. The ending was fine if the show that preceded it were completely different.
Had to stop reading because I haven’t watched the last episode yet so FUCK….I hope I don’t agree with you after that. It’s been so damned good so far.
“Reiki master.”
So let me get this straight, not only does Insecure not make the Best Of list, it does not make the list of shows that did not make the Best Of list.That’s cool. Like, totally.
Insecure seems to have lost a bit of its buzz. It’s weird.
I came here hoping to see Insecure and nothing. Yet almost all the eps got really good reviews on this site.
Insecure and Jane the Virgin, too. Both should’ve been on this list since they didn’t make the actual cut.
I agree that Maniac should have made the list. It was a solid sci-fi/psychological drama thing up front and a farcical black comedy in the back. I want Netflix to do more single season things like that.
Agents of SHIELD. Season Five wasn’t as truly great as Season Four – but damn, it was worthy of at least one notice.
Clayton, you are not alone. I re-watched the whole series twice back to back, I was so astonished and dazzled. The second time was even better than the first, as I began to see all the repeated props/supporting characters. I think about it at least once a day and I get goosebumps each time.
“the inception and proliferation of the sex industry”You mean the commercial porn industry Vikram. Limiting sex industry to prostitution alone, there were great periods such as the bordellos of Chicago that were huge over a century ago.
So does the New Queer Eye trade in fewer stereotypes than its predecessor?
Yes. A lot changes in 20 years.
Good.
It’s helpful that it’s no longer in NYC, so there’s more variety of backgrounds and needs and lifestyles. They meet them where they are, and there’s less of that “let’s turn everyone metrosexual!” vibe of the original.
No TRIAL AND ERROR? A perfectly wacky sendup of THE JINX and other true-crime mockumentaries with an absolutely off-the-wall bonkers performance by Kristin Chenoweth and the main cast played off her beautifully in the crazy town of East Peck that makes Pawnee look like the campus of Oxford University.
LADY-DRIVER!
I forgot about that show which is sad because I fucking loved it.
Happy to remind you. Let others know how much you loved it and lets see if we the fans can #SaveTrialAndError Thanks!
I respect all these choices, but Cobra-Kai deserves a shout-out. That show was fucking awesome.
Both the second season of Legion and the final season of 12 Monkeys were fuckin awesome.
Both the second season of Legion and the final season of 12 Monkeys were fuckin awesome.
The series finale for 12 Monkeys is the most satisfying show finale I’ve ever seen. I did a full rewatch before watching the final season, and it was worth the extra wait. I feel like nobody watched 12 Monkeys, and it’s a shame. Haven’t seen the second season of Legion yet, but it’s sitting here waiting for me. I think I need a rewatch on season 1 for that, too.
12 Monkeys had an amazing final season, shame on Syfy for burning it off in like a weekend
shame on Syfy for burning it off in like a weekend
That’s how shows are going now. Netflix releases an entire season & you suck it up in a day or two. It doesn’t take away from the quality of the show and it means that you don’t have to wait week after week to get the resolution you’ve been waiting several years for.
I feel like such a quick release for an entire seas0n of TV unnecessarily limits its impact and the discussion around it
I feel like such a quick release for an entire seas0n of TV unnecessarily limits its impact
Fair enough, but how does it limit the impact?
and the discussion around it
Again, how? You’re able to immediately discuss it because you don’t have to wait several months to get to the end of the season.
Because it comes and goes so fast, and so does the viewer attention to it
Because it comes and goes so fast, and so does the viewer attention to it
That depends on the viewer. Speak for yourself.
Sorry, missed this comment the other day.Seriously I was so happy they got the 4 seasons they wanted and were able to tell the whole story. It was really well put together and actually made sense in the end, which is very rare for a time travel show.
I think you’re right that hardly anyone watched it though, not sure why that is considering it was basically the best sci fi show on cable while it was on.
There’s a 12 Monkeys show? Man…
Yep and it’s really good too! The creators wanted 4 seasons and they got it, so everything is really well thought out and the time travel works really well. Highly recommended!
Pretty sad there is no mention of THE EXPANSE. Best sci-fi show on TV, although this season had one plotline that didn’t really work (looking at you Clarissa Mao), it was still brilliant TV. I’d also throw a bone at a lot of animated series (STEVEN UNIVERSE, ADVENTURE TIME, SHE-RA, VOLTRON, HILDA, STAR VS. THE FORCES OF EVIL etc…) but I don’t expect those to get noticed on this type of list.
The Venture Bros. Season 7!
Best season yet. The way they’re cemented 21 and The Monarch as best friends has been great.
Agreed! What other show can say that their latest season is their best? It just gets better and better each season. 🙂
It’ll get props once the whole project is done in a season or two. But yeah, that was fantastic.
She-Ra and Hilda were definite highlights for me. I feel so happy that kids these days have shows like that to grow up with.
Right? Cartoons have really grown to be so inclusive, diverse, and feature phenomenal storytelling. Of course there have always been animated shows that did this, but it just seems to be more common all the time. It’s wonderful.
Steven Universe certainly had a good run of episodes this year, especially in being such a groundbreaker for LGBTQ portrayal in kids’ animation. And the Gems’ adventures will return in a week.Its successor, the new She-Ra, certainly grew on me but I felt it stopped abruptly just as things were getting even better. That eleventh episode alone was emotional stuff for a kids’ show.
Yea that SU wedding was something else. What a beautiful episode.I feel you on She-Ra. I was ready for another ten episodes. Unlike most things, animated shows really benefit from having 20 episode seasons.
I felt the same way about ‘The Dragon Prince’ – it stopped just as the adventure was getting started. Can’t wait for season two.
Agreed. It took me a few episodes to get onboard with the animation style (it looks great in action, stuttery in dialogue), but just when it hit its groove it ended. (I also could’ve done without Sokka being in the show. Either have the character type or bring back the voice actor, but don’t do both).
I only started watching The Expanse about 3 months ago and binge watched it to hell. Excellent show.
Clarissa Mao’s transition from the novels to the show is one piece of revisionism that just didn’t work well. Without her internal dialogue and some of the backstory in the novel (that wouldn’t have translated well to the screen) she just seemed incomplete.Though, I liked how they cut out a lot of the drudgery from Abaddon’s Gate, and made the story of the gate and the Slow Zone much more palatable for TV. And condensing Sam, Bull and Pa’s parts of the story into Drummer really did keep things from getting too overstuffed with one-shot characters (I’m looking at you, Game of Thrones!). Plus, Cara Gee was amazing and damn well deserved an Emmy or Golden Globe nomination for it.
Oh, totally agree. I’ve been reading the novels since they came out and as they come out, and I’m maybe of the opinion that the TV show is better. They do a lot to streamline things and bring in character stuff way earlier that really benefits the narrative.But you’re totally right on Mao. They just whiffed on how to get her across in a TV show. I don’t even think the actress was bad per se, but she was just given nothing. In a show with so much nuance and sound motivations driving characters her daddy issues just came off really flat and silly. I had ideas of how they might’ve made it better when I was watching the show, but I’ve mostly forgotten it. Peaches is a really important character going forward, so I hope they’re able to course correct there. But even still, Season 3 was brilliant.
The Magicians is the best fantasy show on tv, and that didn’t get noticed. And yeah, Adventure Time is awesome (still haven’t caught up, but I’d assume it was better than most stuff on their list).
I would say Legion is the most glaring omission from both lists. Their second season was much better than the first, and the first was already one of the best things on television. That Behind Blue Eyes scene where David finally fights the Shadow King was the best thing I saw on a screen all year long, no contest.Fear the Walking Dead probably deserves an honorable mention, too. The first half of their fourth season was incredible, easily the best written, most sophisticated storytelling the Walking Dead has ever done, in either of the shows or the comic book. Of course, it came back from the midseason break and immediately went back to being mediocre AF, so there’s no way it belongs on any “best of” lists, but those 8 episodes leading up to Kim Dicken’s departure were so well written and executed.And Vikram is correct, The Deuce should have been on the first list.
Still no Man in The High Castle
Yeah, I wasn’t sure if it deserved to be in the Best of list but it should’ve made it here. One of the few shows I like that has gotten better each season and not worse.
I will also give them credit, they do not waste characters.
Thanks for the rec Noel Murray. I’ll def check that out. I would also highly recommend Cupcake and Dino for anyone looking for a fun animated show that is cool with kids and adults. It was honestly one of the consistently funny shows I saw last year, and damn does it have a great theme song. Its on Netflix and is pretty binge-able.
Ahem.
12 Monkeys is missing.
Maniac was easily the best thing on TV this year.And The Haunting of Hill House was just…was I watching the same show as everyone else?The only people who were vaguely capable of acting were the mother and father…oh, maybe the adult youngest son and young oldest son.Every scene with either Shirley or Theo in was almost unbearable to me.
Um… Westworld? Hello?
Two that are missing on the technicality of starting in 2017 and finishing in 2018. Meaning the missed out last year too.
Counterpart and Happy! Totally different shows linked by having truly original concepts, anchored by brilliant performances by two actors who arguably gave the two best performances as the two evilest feckers in Oswald State Correctional.
Vanderpump Rules? What the fuck? No!
seriously. also “forever” was one of the worst thing i’ve seen on my screen all year. its so insanely unfunny.
Yea…a lot of talent wasted on that nonsense.
Nice to see somebody highlight Forever – I’ve got one episode left, but I’ve enjoyed it quite a lot (and yeah, the Andre and Sarah episode was a highlight).I’ll counter that by saying that I thought Mosaic was kind of a letdown – while there were intriguing elements, the solution to the mystery was kind of a letdown, and I don’t think Garrett Hedlund’s performance was all that good (although Devin Ratray’s and Jennifer Ferrin’s were).
Inside No.9 – I can understand why it was missing because as far as I know it hasn’t been shown in the US but the live episode was one of the best episodes of tv I’ve seen all year, funny, deranged and genuinely unsettling, and Pemberton and Shearsmith deserve a huge amount of kudos for pulling it off so well.
Indeed. Stephanie Cole slitting her own throat was the highlight of the year.
I’m surprised Wild, Wild Country didn’t find room on any list! One of the more surprising and mesmerizing documentary series I’ve seen this year.
Since the best of tv post already resulted in a comments thread on the merits of Maniac (or lack thereof), I figure I can just link it rather than repeating everything.
You guys sure like your reality shows, huh? Also, all seem to share a defensive feeling that everyone else disapproves of your liking reality shows, or doesn’t get them like you do. It’s… kinda weird?
Mr. Mercedes. Season 2 was just as good as season 1.
Loved it…it started straying pretty far from the source material, but I have to say I actually enjoyed it even more than the books, and that’s not something that happens very often.
I found “You” by accident as it wasn’t advertised much that I saw. Enjoyed it a lot – creepy and with good performances. Hope no-one got any bright ideas about intensive stalking via social media that way!
WHERE THE HELL IS THE EXPANSE, YOU COWARDS
I just binged both seasons of GET SHORTY and absolutely loved it. The general lack of notice isn’t surprising given the network/platform (Epix), but damn, Chris O’Dowd is surprisingly badass in this.
Agreed, Get Shorty was great…loved how they actually tied-up the end of Season 2, so even if it doesn’t get another season, you still get closure.
Summer Camp Island definitely scratches that Camp Laslo itch and has really sharp writing. Immensely good vibes from this show.
I really wish you guys continued to review the Magicians.
Another vote for The Expanse.
It’s an anime show but whatever, I’m give a shout-out to A Place Further than the Universe. Forget all you know about the medium – there’s no magical girls, mechas, monsters, or metahumans to be seen here.
In a nutshell, the premise is a quartet of high school girls working together to travel to Antarctica for their own individual reasons, with the driving force being that one girl’s mother disappeared there on an expedition a few years prior. It still sounds unbelievable even without the medium’s trend trappings, but the group’s plans play out realistically and in beautiful animation. It deftly balances humor and drama in such fully realized characters. But the most surprising thing about the show was how inspired and emotional I got throughout their adventures, especially at the finale. It’s just that wonderful so if you need a good cry or some inspiration yourself, seek this one out.
I will humbly sing the praises of Jane the Virgin. The show has been quietly awesome for years, skillfully blending screwball comedy, soapy twists, inter generational family drama, and even a dash of politics all while being led by a fantastic female-heavy Latinx cast. And that season-ending twist? I gotta say, I haven’t yelled at the TV like that in YEARS. I can’t believe I have to say goodbye to the Villanuevas, DeLaVegas, and Solanos in 2019, but thank god they’ll still be around on Netflix. This show is TV comfort food in the best way.
I’ll throw in Counterpart. The mix of espionage and science fiction is well done and such a great showcase for JK Simmons. Being on Starz, I imagine the audience is fairly small but it’s definitely worth checking out.The other show I don’t see mentioned is Happy! Christopher Meloni as nick sax is the cure for my holiday blues. The amount of absurd packed in that show makes it can’t miss for me and I’m ready for season 2 to start any time now.
the 3 I missed most that made this list:
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, THE DEUCE and THE TALE.Deuce is just awesome fun. Great 80’s NYC era, great writing, acting, directing, and cinematography. Always enjoyable.HILL HOUSE scared me and was not too over-the-top when it came to the writing/story without getting sappy or silly. (OK, it got silly at points.) But fun always and each episode would end and I’d say “Ok, one more!”And THE TALE just blew me away. So ugly, painful, hard to watch- and amazingly well done. One of the best depictions of PTSD/trauma I’ve ever seen in a movie or tv show. Everyone should watch this movie, even if its hard to do.
Castlevania.
This years Great British Bake Off has probably been the best ever. I’m much preferring Noel and Sandy to Mel and Sue. Even Prue seems to be a better foil for Paul than Mary was. But this years contestants were great. We’ll all miss Terry.This year’s best TV for me has to be David Attenborough’s Dynasties. The painted wolves episode in particular. It should come to BBC America early next year.
What about Deutschland 86? Did the actual three years between series cause people to forget about? They’ve already gotten the green light for Deutschland 89, hopefully it won’t take three years for it to premiere. Sundance TV did fire off the series fairly quickly and aired it late at night to boot (Thank goodness for DVRs.).
Detroiters was the best comedy on TV this year.I’m baffled I haven’t seen a single mention of Who Is America? on any critical list.
Big Mouth and Bojack Horseman got on the list and not Castlevania? Can this show PLEASE get the recognition it deserves?
It’s not the concept, but the castaways that will make any season of Survivor. Some of the new twists they’ve added to immunity idols and advantages and whatnot help alot too. I agree this fall had a good season. It’s not always the case.
And while Crazy Ex-Girlfriend gets a lot of love from this site, it’s a shame the equally good Jane the Virgin isn’t championed nearly as much. Season 4 premiered late last year, but most of the season aired in 2018, featuring Rogelio’s rivalry with Brooke Shields, Xiomara’s cancer storyline, and Petra heating things up with Rosario Dawson!