ILX’s Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2020

2020 saw the continuing balkanization of content, consolidation of big media and the inevitable dominance of streaming services. Apple and Disney settled in for the long haul, HBO begat HBO Now begat HBO Max, NBC put out Peacock without much in the way of new programming (but at least it plays on your Roku), Quibi came and went before anyone noticed, it became increasingly presumed that anyone you knew likely had Hulu and Netflix and Amazon and if not, why not? Niche watchers of all tastes can now easily stream treasure troves of classic movies (Criterion), sports (ESPN +), children’s programming (PBS Kids), UK TV (Acorn and BritBox), anime (Crunchyroll and Funimation), horror (Shudder and ScreamBox), arthouse (Mubi), retro (Night Flight), science (CuriosityStream), musicals (BroadwayHD), Chinese and Korean shows (Viki) and Bollywood (Eros Now) for monthly fees that run less than the price of a pack of cigarettes. If you can’t afford that, the internet provides YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, Kanopy, Crackle, Tubi, VPN and infinite sweet sweet t0rr3ntz.

There came a point for me (and likely you too) last year where I stopped wanting to have the same conversation with the same group of friends and strangers over and over again. With nothing to say, nothing to report, nothing happening, any news could only be bad news and if I don’t even have bad news to share what is there to talk about? Well, we could always talk about television. And that’s what a lot of us did when the water cooler disappeared: we watched television and then demanded our friends catch up so that we could talk about television with us. Garbage watching became a universal experience and it wasn’t unlikely that your mom might be watching P-Valley, a soap opera about strippers, or that your shrink would understand your Carol Baskin analogy. If you demand more complex programming, you’re always only two clicks away from thousands of hours of Peabody award winning fare. Now more than ever, curatorial guidance makes all the difference.

Much as with the ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2020 and ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2020 polls, the ethos of our ILX TV and Streaming poll isn’t geared toward arbitrary ranking; the difference between #72 and #41 is only one first place vote. Instead, we hope this may be a thread that you bookmark as a watching wishlist for your year ahead, a one-stop shop for recommendations to explore worlds you might not otherwise risk the time investment without.

For reference, here’s last year’s thread:
Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2019

In 2020, we received 49 ballots, all ranked, ranging from at least one single show voter to several who nominated the maximum of 25 different programs. 165 total programs received at least one vote and there was a 5-way tie for #77, making the winners the effective top 50% of our collective viewing. Serendipitously, everyone's #1 vote made the countdown. Any series released anywhere in the world that includes more than three episodes that premiered in 2020 qualified for voting. Acceptable nominations included YouTube or Twitch streamers with a recognizable episode-to-episode continuity whether fictional or presentational, web series, streaming series, cable series, game shows, news shows, animation and talk shows. Unacceptable nominations included unscripted sporting events, concerts, one-episode documentaries, made-for-tv films and concert or music videos.

Nominations took place here:
Nominate the Best TV/Web/Streaming Series of 2020 - Nominations Closing January 7

Shows received 15 points for a #1 or #2 placement in a voter's ballot; 10 points for a #3, #4 or #5 placement; 5 points for #6 to #10; 3 points for #11 to #20 and 1 point for #21 to #25. To more accurately represent viewer enthusiasm, an extra five point bonus was awarded for every total 5 votes tallied for that program (i.e. shows with 5 to 9 votes are awarded an additional five points, shows with 10 to 14 votes are awarded an additional ten points, shows with 15 to 19 votes are awarded an additional 15 points and so on).

Tie-breakers were resolved based on number of votes, number of #1 votes, and the number of votes that placed that show in a ballot's top five, in that order.

Each entry in the poll receives a bespoke graphic, a link to the show's 2020 season trailer, a link to a representative sample clip, a link to where you can stream the show to watch it yourself, an essay or review about the program and maybe some other goodies.

Your poll-runners are myself (research, tabulation, posting) and Moka (images).

For the sake of fast-loading what's likely to be a long thread for folks with less than high-speed connections, I'm asking all posters to refrain from auto-embedding YouTubes and instead provide links to scenes or episodes they want to share when discussing the show. Click "Show Formatting Help" under the Submit Question button if you need a hand with that.

We’ll get started on Monday morning! I’ll let you hold the remote till then.

Fair play forks

Reading through last year's results just now made me feel a weird sort of breathtaking dread. It doesn't seem possible that some of those shows that I watched an entire lifetime ago (during the Normal Times) were actually only released in 2019. Really underscores how different my sense of time's passage was pre-pandemic.

Thank you both again for your efforts!

from last year's thread:

One more brief point before we start that we might as well call “the sic rule.” As your author is American, the listed provenance and linked website for each show is predominantly going to be for its streaming home in the United States, even when the show hails from elsewhere. Readers are strongly encouraged to provide links for their own local streaming options so that everyone can keep up.

Illegal

deets darra

I pay a fella who provided a login to an app that has all prime, netflix, disney content as well as all tv channels you could name, pay per view sports and premium sports channels

Also thousands of series boxsets and movies besides

Limetorrent anything else

Should i even admit that

BRB, asking Modest Mickey for u

fwiw i pay for a bevy of services and supplement the obscure and predominantly European/Asian/otherwise inaccessible programming with BtN which a lovely benefactor on ILX gifted me with and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I, for one, just submitted a ballot of 25 Quibi shows

opted out this time in remembrance of the only good tv show, lodge 49

Should i even admit that

Lookit, we pay for six different streaming services, PLUS we rent things full price from Curzon, PLUS we pay for a premiums Sky package, but if all of these services are not going to get me First Cow in a timely manner, well...

Also, thank you, Forks and Moka. This is an amazing amount of work to do.

I, for one, just submitted a ballot of 25 Quibi shows

a real quibhead wld have called them "25 quick bites." fake geek girl.

I was initially roped in by "We Are Who We Are"s insouciance, weirdness and joie de vivre but somewhere around the fourth episode it devolved into a vague and personal fantasy of representation and unmoored eroticism. The narrative lines got frayed and the story got muddled and some of the choices felt wrong, both logically and emotionally. The kids remained fun to watch but all the adult storylines and acting got worse and worse, especially kid cudi.

Anyways, for folks that don't know it: We Are Who We Are is the story of a group of teenage kids brought to a US base in Italy by their military families around 2015. It follows the kids attempts to engage their identities: as sexual beings, struggling for gender identification, building political and intellectual personae. Simultaneously, the adults struggle with similar issues, occasionally crossing into the kids' worlds. At heart, it's an unconventional and occasionally very queer young adult soap opera directed by Luca Guadagnino, best known for his Oscar-nominated film Call Me By Your Name, which also features a May/September love affair.

https://i.imgur.com/nYFlxCl.jpg
#77 (Tie) - We Are Who We Are (HBO) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
Let us Anticipate "Call Me By Your Name"

Trailer
Sample Clip
Cast Zoom
Fanfic
Website
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/05/the-search-for-kindred-spirits-in-we-are-who-we-are-on-hbo
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/11/luca-guadagnino-we-are-who-we-are-season-2-election-2020-1234596312/

What a shambles

one vote eh

As a former military brat, I was vaguely interested in this show but given that I was basically the only teenager during the stretch when we lived on a military base I'm not sure how acutely it would speak to my experience of reading comic books alone in my bedroom.

it's a very social show, heavy on sex, depression and borderline personalities. it's also - as noted - a bit of a mess.

All of our 77s are tied with a single vote... but every single vote was a #1 vote! So people should definitely defend their choices!

Personally, having seen the entirety of WAWWA (or as it likes to style itself in its own credits, "WRWWR"), I can't really recommend this show to an adult viewer as the plot eventually flies completely off the rails. As prurient and abusive as it is, I think the intended audience is Euphoria teens.

nice graphics Moka. I caught an episode of We R who we R accidentally while channel surfing not realising it was the final one, and then realised I didn't need to watch anymore. I do like Guadagnino though so might give it another chance.

Originally based on a superhero comic series by My Chemical Romance co-founder (and current DC Comics writer/editor) Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba, “The Umbrella Academy” is a culty, dark genre dramedy following the misadventures of a large family of supes. It has roots in the slightly off-kilter family dynamics and surreal plots of Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol, which provided the main bones for the television show “Doom Patrol.” Pop will eat itself.

https://i.imgur.com/U9Q0fJD.jpg
#77 (Tie) - The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
Netflix's Umbrella Academy, adapted by Steve Blackman from a comic book written by Gerald Way and drawn by Gabriel Bá

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/the-umbrella-academy-season-2-takes-a-trip-to-nonsenseville.html
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/umbrella-academy-review-1304947

images are beautiful as always, moka

umbrella academy felt like a decent bit of low-stakes popcorn entertainment in the first season, my interest in seriously waned as it went along. i didn't watch the second, but i'm happy to hear compelling reasons why i should.

i know a lot of people seemed pretty passionate about it (or at least annoyed that it wasn't officially nominated) in the voting thread

She-Ra originated in the mid-80’s as a fantasy fighting toy line and supporting cartoon series that gender-flipped the phenomenally popular He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line; both series feature prominently in the excellent season 1 documentary episode of Netflix’s Toys That Made Us if you’d like to learn more.

Indie comics creator wunderkind Noelle Stevenson helmed the 2018 reboot of She-Ra as a teen-friendly, non-gender hierarchical and explicitly queer rethinking of the character that’s lasted for five seasons and ended this year.

https://i.imgur.com/SyScRbc.jpg
#77 (Tie) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
There doesn't seem to be a dedicated thread for Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (SPOILERS!)

Trailer
Catradora
Website
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/she-ra-reboot-netflix-queer-creator-interview-1013623/
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/how-noelle-stevenson-drew-her-life-in-comics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix_and_LGBTQ_representation_in_animation#She-Ra_and_the_Princesses_of_Power

amazing graphics and documentation for each of the picks. thanks forks & moka. looking forward to the rollout.

Followers is a Netflix developed J-drama soap opera that uses social media as a central fulcrum for the plot… and that’s all I know about it! Perhaps the person who voted for it can say more?

https://i.imgur.com/9mjRddx.jpg
#77 (Tie) - Followers (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Trailer
Website
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/02/27/tv/followers-tokyo-netflix/

Umbrella Academy is definitely one I would have voted for if it had been on the nominations list. Second season was an improvement on the patchy first one.

beautiful work, Moka

didn’t vote for it cause it wasn’t nominated originally but umbrella academy’s second season was much, much better than its first. would’ve ended up somewhere in the upper middle of my ballot I reckon

xpost or er what groovypanda said

it should be noted that votes for shows that weren't nominated - as long as they premiered three or more new episodes in 2020 - were accepted in the spirit of full inclusion.

Umbrella Academy is definitely one I would have voted for if it had been on the nominations list. Second season was an improvement on the patchy first one.

Yeah, second season had less emo origin story stuff and a lot more forward motion as a story. In our house we affectionately call it Fisher-Price Watchmen.

This was my (admittedly strategic) #1. It’s a difficult and frustrating show to recommend in some ways because it features some of the best writing and acting on television, is deeply emotionally engaging, remarkably uplifting and equally enjoyable watching for a six year old or a sixty year old... but the first two seasons include over a hundred seven-minute episodes about a group of animated dogs that are only available on Disney+. There’s understandably serious barriers to engagement but I promise you they are worth overcoming. If Bluey was on Netflix, I guarantee it would have rated in this year's top ten.

https://i.imgur.com/TO5dvDR.jpg
#77 (Tie) - Bluey (Disney +) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
Bluey - Spectacular Australian kids cartoon (in the US on Disney +)

Trailer
Sample Episode
Website
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/bluey-the-coronavirus-and-the-weirdness-of-little-kids
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/arts/television/bluey-cartoon-dog-australia.html
https://geekmom.com/2019/09/12-reasons-why-you-will-love-bluey/
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/nov/21/bluey-how-australia-fell-in-love-with-a-cartoon-blue-heeler-puppy-and-her-family

do want to see that

Videogame Dunkey is a comedy YouTuber focused on video games and game-adjacent culture who produces fairly complex and rigorously produced videos. He recently took a meta heel turn toward the dark side of content and his channel now navigates between creative shitposting and game reviews.

https://i.imgur.com/RQLedlZ.jpg
#72 (Tie) - Videogame Dunkey (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
game-related lolz of some fashion

Thank You Dark Souls
I’m Done Making Good Videos
Best of 2020
Website
https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/7/22160005/dunkey-youtube-among-us-minecraft-trending

never know how to feel about comparing YT vids and scripted shows on the same list, but dunkey is always solid and his recent cyberpunk video is basically the ur-text on the subject as far as i'm concerned

And now a dark girl-power soap opera dramedy on Netflix about a pair of teens with guns.

https://i.imgur.com/NzPMIzz.jpg
#72 (Tie) - Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://deadline.com/2020/10/teenage-bounty-hunters-canceled-netflix-one-season-1234591514

Taskmaster is a panel comedy show hosted by British actor Gregory Davies in which celebrities are tasked with executing unlikely feats of legerdemain as part of a pseudo-reality show. Reggie Watts acted as a host for the single season US adaptation in 2018; 2020 saw its tenth successful season in the UK.

https://i.imgur.com/rIoCDIX.jpg
#72 (Tie) - Taskmaster (Channel 4) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Rolling UK Comedy Thread - "Ricky Don't Lose Larry David's Number

Trailer
Full Episode
Website
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/15/taskmaster-review-a-delightfully-daft-diversion-from-the-world

It looks like I'm the Mayor of the Umbrella Academy? I watched both seasons last year, but even if I'd seen the 1st in 2019, I wouldn't have scored it as highly in that year's poll.

It's an adaptation that thrives the further it gets from the source material - everyone in the first season might as well have nametags that say "I dealt with a profoundly unpleasant upbringing by <fucking off to the moon for 4 years / becoming Batman / destroying trust in the life I created / getting fucked up on literally anything to hand / time-travelling past where I had to deal with it / dying horribly / pushing it ALL DOWN INSIDE>" - no-one's entirely shaken that off in the second season, but it begins by throwing them all far away from each other, and seeing what orbits they fall into when they return. When they first all stand in the same room again, one of them asks "I know this is impossible, did we all get sexier?", and they did*, the actors and the writers both seem more comfortable in the roles - plus they all have better hair*

Oh yeah, what's it about? 20ish years ago, 43 children were born on the same day in exceptional circumstances. One man adopted as many as he could get his hands on (7) and raised them as a superhero team. Things went variously off the rails, and the first season starts with them gathering after his death. The second season involves being stranded in different parts of the 60s, assassinations, (unrelated) tragic Swedish assassins, and the threat to the nuclear family. But, mostly, it's about the emotional moire whenever two of the family are trying to come up with the same solution to the same problem.

*apart from the 50 year old man trapped in a teenage body

This is not entirely representative, but nothing is

https://www.facebook.com/nxonnetflix/videos/593359904876663

Taskmaster seems like the kind of thing I'd profess to avoid but might actually enjoy if I was made to watch it

NXIVM (/ˈnɛksiəm/) was an American sex cult that engaged in sex trafficking while claiming to be a multi-level marketing company. Based in Clifton Park, New York, a suburb of Albany, the group claimed to offer personal and professional development seminars through its "Executive Success Programs" of large-group awareness training.The company has been widely described as a cult,and was shown in court to have been a recruiting platform for a secret society called "DOS" in which women were branded and forced into sexual slavery.

https://i.imgur.com/k4eDKeX.jpg
#72 (Tie) - Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult (Starz) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
NB: Top Starz
❀ the cult of: ➥motivational speakers ➥life coaches ➥personal growth gurus ➥new-age charlatans ➥AWESOMENESS FEST

Trailer
Website
https://www.vulture.com/article/nxivm-docuseries-the-vow-seduced-uncover.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/nxivm-keith-raniere-wellness-scam-sex-cult-848439/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/nyregion/nxivm-cult-keith-raniere-sentenced.html

Thank you for the compliments upthread!

With baby and all that jazz I'm sorry to say that my time watching tv - even with the lockdown - was very low this year, so I didn't vote but this poll will surely serve me as a guide to catch up!

Death to strategic or challops voters

https://media3.giphy.com/media/3zpHYzhLV3ZzW/giphy.gif

https://i.imgur.com/c4iNJcI.jpg
#72 (Tie) - Oxventure Dungeons and Dragons! (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
The incredible austerity of D&D in 1980
should i start playing D&D

Sample Clip
Website
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2019/nov/29/gamers-back-under-dungeons-and-dragons-spell

i made it about halfway through the nxiivm thing. i thought it was only gonna be 4 episodes which seemed about perfect but it just. did. not. end.

and another network made another doc about it too yikes.

fun art by moka

Though he came to acclaim as the co-creator of the seminal animated shows Dr. Katz and Home Movies, Loren Bouchard’s most undeniably successful work is the cartoon family comedy Bob’s Burgers. In 2020, BB notched its tenth and eleventh seasons and 200th episode.

https://i.imgur.com/5Vh9hhT.jpg
#71 - Bob’s Burgers (FX) - 15 points, 3 votes
Bob's Burgers

Comicon Talk
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/11/bobs-burgers-characters-watch-episode-200-1234597901/

also available on Hulu

I really should get around to watching more than a few episodes of BB at some point since Home Movies is an all-time classic.

I wonder if they would've made it to 200 episodes if they'd stuck with the original premise of a family of burger-slinging cannibals.

Not quite a website and not quite a streaming program, Jon Bois' 20020 represents something unique on our countdown: it’s the sole instance of (sort of?) interactive fiction that we voted in.

https://i.imgur.com/S35OA2t.jpg
#70 - 20020 (SB Nation) - 16 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote

Website
https://www.sbnation.com/secret-base/21557878/20020-questions-and-answers
https://www.wired.com/story/20020-online-fiction-football/
https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/11/review-17776-20020-jon-bois-futuristic-football-speculative-fiction

(on retrospect, i don't know that IF is as accurate a term to use here as "multimedia fiction" is, but I'd need someone who read the piece to confirm.)

OK

1. Why was I the only one to vote for She-Ra when I didn't even nominate it, HMMMM???? Famously I loved the last season despite being entirely indifferent to the everything that came before it -- the emotional payoff of my favorite character (also their haircut) turned me around completely on the series.

2. Who was the other Oxventure voter?! The campaign where they help their paladin through a series of trials is hilarious, if only for "Charismatic Cheat Friends".

Comedy rapper Lil Dicky parlayed his celebrity, skills and connections for a starring role in an FX niche signature specialty: the overly-personal, half-hour bio-comedy with elements of magical realism.

https://i.imgur.com/vL8vY3V.jpg
#69 - Dave (FX) - 16 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Your Ten Favorite Shows Currently on Television

Trailer
Sample Clip
Sway in the Morning
Website
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/the-vulgarity-and-vulnerability-of-dave
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/arts/television/dave-lil-dicky.html
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/26/lil-dicky-dave-burd-interview-sitcom-jewish-rapper

Sorry ILX, but I am never gonna watch a show starring Lil Dicky

your loss

everyone keeps telling me that it's a good show but yeah it's hard to get past the lil dicky of it all

the linked sway in the morning freestyle prob shouldve placed in 77 top tracks list (2019) also imo

Next up is the eighth official television spin-off of the Star Trek universe (The Orville notwithstanding) and the second to spotlight the beloved Next Generation Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

https://i.imgur.com/nL8lL1q.jpg
#68 - Star Trek: Picard (CBS All Access) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
NB: Top CBS All Access
Star Trek: Picard
There's a guy in my office wearing a Jean-Luc Picard Tie. What action should I take?

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/arts/television/star-trek-picard-review.html

20020 was my #2. Unbelievable storytelling and synthesis of fact and speculative fiction. Boot it up on your phone and get scrolling. Jon Bois is the best

I'd call it less interactive fiction than...like...a website that's also...a story? That you scroll through at your own speed?

With video bits and visualisations?

Uh, I'm pretty certain that the Jon Bois thing has been on my 'read this when you've got a spare day' list for, like, multiple years?

Oh okay, never mind, it's the sequel to that, sorry.

I really should get around to watching more than a few episodes of BB at some point since Home Movies is an all-time classic.

Bob's Burgers is one of those shows that's never not enjoyable but also never really feels compulsory. My own feeling is that there's a vital spark in Dr. Katz and Home Movies which isn't really there. But maybe it's just that there's a shtick to Bouchard's work that I'm now on my third time seeing. Certainly the performances in BB are great.

I mean, just from my cursory viewing of BB it seems to be lacking the 'funny people just loosely riffing in the recording booth' vibe of the former two, but I could be wrong.

Ethan Hawke on reading The Good Lord Bird:

The magic trick that author James McBride does by telling the story through 14-year-old Onion's point of view is he lets you laugh about it. He writes the humanness into it, as opposed to kind of a political angle. It's not self-serious, and yet it's full of tremendous heart. ... McBride finds a way to make it a healing experience to look at systematic racism, the wit of his writing is so compelling. And so when I finished it, I just felt hellbent on a mission that getting this story into our culture so that it's easier to talk about some of these things.

https://i.imgur.com/V8KiBnW.jpg
#67 - The Good Lord Bird (HBO) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
ethan hawke is john brown and daveed diggs is frederick douglass in the showtime miniseries THE GOOD LORD BIRD

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
Desus and Mero Interview
https://time.com/5895308/good-lord-bird-showtime-review/

Our second back-to-back book-to-prestige-TV-miniseries adaptation is a too-of-the-moment alt-history Philip Roth novel imagining what 1940’s America would have become if Charles Lindbergh became president. Spoiler: it's fascist.

https://i.imgur.com/p3MirEE.jpg
#65 (Tie) - The Plot Against America (HBO) - 18 points, 3 votes
Philip Roth - Where to begin?
But Is It on Netflix? - Streaming Video Service Thread: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube TV, AT+T Watch, Philo, Playstation Vue, HBO Max, HBO Now, Facebook Live and many more

Trailer
Tuturro, Ryder and Boyle discuss antisemitism and eugenics
Website
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/03/plot-against-america-hbo-review

“the sic rule.” As your author is American, the listed provenance and linked website for each show is predominantly going to be for its streaming home in the United States,

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ tbf

Please specify primary network/streamer that it aired on.

― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, December 18, 2020 9:08 AM (one month ago)

loved the good lord bird and hawke's performance. that desus and mero interview is very enjoyable, thanks for linking it.

Last one for today; check out my dope finishing move off the top rope!

https://i.imgur.com/A1SFgSH.jpg
#65 (Tie) - AEW Dynamite (TBS) - 18 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
AEW 2020: Take Me Home Cody Rhodes

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.theringer.com/2019/7/24/20708352/aew-wrestling-half-year-review-cody-rhodes
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2836546-how-aew-was-born-inside-tony-khan-and-the-elites-attempt-to-disrupt-wrestling

We tried getting into Bob's Burgers after finishing Adventure Time and/or Steven Universe, so while Tina, Gene and Louise as axes for personality types is urgent and key, we were very "Is this still on? Seriously, 21 minutes, what is this?"

That’s all for Monday on an understandably quiet day, given the poll’s low numbers at the outset. We’ll be back tomorrow with a run up to #50 but, until then, I would love to hear defense and recommendations of these shows from their voters!

#65 (Tie) - AEW Dynamite (TBS) - 18 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#65 (Tie) - The Plot Against America (HBO) - 18 points, 3 votes
#67 - The Good Lord Bird (HBO) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#68 - Star Trek: Picard (CBS All Access) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#69 - Dave (FX) - 16 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#70 - 20020 (SB Nation) - 16 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#71 - Bob’s Burgers (FX) - 15 points, 3 votes
#72 (Tie) - Oxventure Dungeons and Dragons! (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult (Starz) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Taskmaster (Channel 4) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Videogame Dunkey (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - Bluey (Disney +) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - Followers (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - We Are Who We Are (HBO) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote

really wished i'd checked out Plot Against America, sounds like it's right in my wheelhouse.

:D at all the 1 vote, #1 vote ties

I wanted to see that too and was too slow on the draw--believe it played on Prime before I signed up...I'm catching up compared to five years ago, but wow, most of these shows are obscure to me. I'm think I'm just baby-steps removed from 1995.

I had Bob's Burgers pretty high and feel like it's a perfect TV show. it's been on forever and i feel like the quality has held steady; without having to resort to any current affairs or over the top zany new characters or humour that's not suited to the show. i'm kind of amazed they're still doing the same thing and still doing it so well – and as someone who enjoys edgier stuff, I really like their approach to pg-level humour.

xpost - Clem: I'm clearing out a few shows I never got to finish, but maybe we can synchronize our watching in a couple weeks?!

Sounds good, but I think they took it down, no?

I was the other Oxventure vote. Learned about the show from the 2019 list. Lots of fun.

plot against america is worthwhile, i was one of the voters;

i'm a big roth fan but him doing alternative history did not grab me when i tried the novel ten or so yrs ago, maybe i'd be more into it now; the miniseries felt p tone perfect in establishing that era and the fear and powerlessness of sociopolitical occurrances/movements

i enjoyed Man in the High Castle and feel like it might be along those lines?

Clem - if they did, I'll find it elsewhere and can share with you, if you like.

I was the other Oxventure vote. Learned about the show from the 2019 list. Lots of fun.

Aw, nice! Have you watched their new Blades in the Dark campaigns? The first has been the only one with the whole group (the subsequent ones have featured only two players), but Mike's role-playing for Barnaby has been exquisite.

xpost, Blades in the Dark goes to the top of the need to watch list...

add me to the "Dave is actually good, I promise" chorus

Nothing I voted for has showed up yet. Have a feeling most of my ballot will be high consensus picks, and the other two or three won't make the list

Seen enough of two of these to know they aint for me (disclosure they were annoying and bad) but ill check out the plot against america

I was the one voter for We Are Who We Are, so was glad I submitted a ballot. I liked that it meandered and was open-ended and mostly plotless, it seemed fitting for the two teenage characters it followed, bonding over realizing they were both queer and dealing with the resulting alienation

I also like that the first character it focuses on, played by Jack Dylan Grazer, is strange and sulky and kind of off-putting, and his counterpoint, Jordan Kristine Seamón is the opposite

OK so as noted in the noms thread Idve voted for Umbrella Academy and prob in top 5, so it would have been way up the list could I have done so :( oh well.

I've only now seen Seduced, mightve voted for it too, its pretty full on.

with we are who we are: the immensely fucked up relationships of Sevigny and everyone in her sphere got downright comical eventually

she was completely in charge as a commander but such a mess as a mother and wife, it was interesting

Given Followers was my strategic number 1, put in so other people should take notice, I should out myself. This is a really interesting show about women on different stages of the fame/hype cycle and more fundamentally about what it is to be a woman in Japan today. It's a really great piece of social commentary. It's also really beautifully shot, the use of colour is really good with the saturation and intensity rising with the character's fortunes and then washing out as they fall. It makes Tokyo look so good.

xp
the bit where jack slaps his mother around and then kinda fake nurses her was very uh.
and the very corny and tone deaf seduction of kid cudi's wife by the military doctor.
and OF COURSE the extremely wrong attempt by the thirtysomething to initiate a threesome with a fifteen year old.
lots of weird shit in that show. i wish it was attempted with a less gauzy softcore eye... or maybe just not done at all?
Still not sure if many of the choices in that show are camp or self consciously perverse or just utterly tone deaf.

yes to all of those points, there was a lot of questionable stuff along the way

the teenagers ultimately had insight and made the right choices, though

I don't feel like I see many tv show that are very interesting. this was interesting I thought, despite being self-consciously perverse

i thought the first three, maybe four episodes did a good job of keeping me in but i think right around the wedding party the show took a hard turn and lost me

like the wedding party almost worked but not quite? and everything after that started feeling more and more removed from wherever the story was going before and getting more interested in shipping the characters like the director was playing with his barbies.

I was reminded of Transparent, which was a show where not much happened except real life, and I was always surprised by how at the beginning of each episode I never could imagine where it was going to end up

maybe a fair comparison as transparent also lost me at a certain point! I'm big on maintaining a narrative thread, otherwise it's free verse.

hbo seems really invested in having at least one teenagers-who-are-fucking show in rotation at any given moment and i think this was that. among the next up:
https://deadline.com/2019/12/hbo-max-orders-lena-dunham-produced-generation-to-series-1202801586/
(tangentially, dunham has not had much luck as a producer lately)

btw if you liked this show I strongly recommend Mercier as a kid from Israel who wants to become Parisian in Synonyms, where he does some outrageously good acting. Tons of full frontal nudity from him too if that's your thing.

Obit for S. Clay Wilson: http://www.tcj.com/s-clay-wilson-the-most-influential-artist-of-his-generation/

rong thread, sorry!

Taskmaster was very good this season. Daisy May Cooper in the live words task is probably the most I laughed at TV last year.

A bit predictable, heavy on network sitcom formula and lacking some of the acid and cleverness that made Always Sunny a must-watch, I found Mythic Quest nonetheless to be a pleasant enough low-commitment binge-watch that offered the promise of a more interesting second season now that all the characters and rulesets are fully defined.

https://i.imgur.com/mp7b0de.jpg
#64 - Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (Apple +) - 18 points, 5 votes
But Is It on Netflix? - Streaming Video Service Thread: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube TV, AT+T Watch, Philo, Playstation Vue, HBO Max, HBO Now, Facebook Live and many more

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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/mythic-quest-ravens-banquet-1276341

The main arguments for buying into Netflix's hour-long good-family-gone-bad-drama Ozark are a stellar cast and a defined arc that ends in the coming year. The arguments against are its knottiness and bleak worldview.

https://i.imgur.com/SL9Vxsw.jpg
#62 (Tie) - Ozark (Netflix) - 19 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Ozark

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https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/03/ozark-season-3-review

We had terrible trouble trying to get Mythic Quest because the Apple TV kept trying to stream the 4k version, no matter how many times we told it not to do that. Bloody Apple.

And then when it did work, it wasn't as good as it would've needed to be to overcome that initial annoyance. So I dislike it out of all proportion to its actual flaws as a programme.

The very definition of prestige television: REO Speedwagon.

only seen the first couple of episodes but ozark has to have the dullest aesthetic of any show i’ve seen. everything is drab muted blues, and that lack of visual spark hurts even more when you compare the show to breaking bad, its obvious inspiration

I haven't even sampled Ozark because, yeah, it seems like Breaking Bad Redux minus any sense of fun its antecedent had. Which I don't really need. Am I far off the mark?

The criticisms of it being visually uninteresting and wearing its BB influence on its sleeve definitely hold water and the pilot episode is offputtingly rotten, but the story and characters are increasingly compelling as the series progresses (esp Ruth).

And it's a lot more fun that its colour palette would suggest!

it seems like Breaking Bad Redux minus any sense of fun its antecedent had

Art, it isn't, but I think it's so junky, fun is the one thing it has going for it.

The cancellation of High Fidelity after one season caused a fair amount of social media tutting but it was hard not to notice that most of the complaints concerned the quick introduction and removal of a reboot headlined by a woman of color (a valid concern!) and not the lost quality of the program. Will our four voters (especially the top five voter) please let us know what the rest of us are missing?

https://i.imgur.com/UlUtqsp.jpg
#62 (Tie) - High Fidelity (Hulu) - 19 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
STUFF ON HULU

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/arts/television/review-high-fidelity-zoe-kravitz.html

sepinwall loved it *shrug*

haven’t seen

xxxxpost Eh, junkiness is just as much a turnoff. I assumed if anything it took itself way too seriously. I watch more than enough junk already.

And I promise that I know what the word 'antecedent' means and that I used it completely wrong. I promise.

We must be near maximum true crime media saturation at this point but at least two of us found room in our heart for this portrait of a director investigating the death of his mother. No spoilers, but tell us more?

https://i.imgur.com/R91b9Tb.jpg
#60 (Tie) - Murder on Middle Beach (HBO) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Police Line Do (Not) Cross: True Crime TV & Podcasts

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https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a34865015/madison-hamburg-father-now-case-murder-on-middle-beach-finale/

Haven't seen HF as thought the consensus was that it was rubbish so surprised to see it get 4 votes here - is it worth seeking out then?

Kipo is a post-apocalyptic Dreamworks fantasy anime for kids with a bright palette and a liberal social agenda. It contains the following linked musical collaboration with the GZA and John Hodgman, which should give you a sense of the intended audience.

https://i.imgur.com/pyw1U5l.jpg
#60 (Tie) - Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

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https://www.polygon.com/animation-cartoons/2020/10/12/21509753/kipo-and-the-age-of-wonderbeasts-season-3-netflix-release-review
https://collider.com/kipo-season-4-cancelled-rad-sechris-bill-wolkoff-interview/

GeoWizard is a YouTuber who assiduously documents his long-distance journeys on rigorously arbitrary straight-line and alternate-travel pathways across Europe and the UK. He has two fairly avid fans here who may want to tell us more about what makes this must-see stuff.

https://i.imgur.com/iKpNaxp.jpg
#59 - GeoWizard Missions (YouTube) - 20 points, 2 votes, 2 top 5 votes
thread of youtubers whomst are not terrible

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https://www.reddit.com/r/GeoWizard/

In retrospect I'm not sure why I didn't have Bob's Burgers on my ballot.

The Repair Shop is one of the gentler and kinder skill-based reality shows, equal parts documentation of very fiddly handiwork and deep nostalgia.

https://i.imgur.com/OUQspHn.jpg
#58 - The Repair Shop (BBC, Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
Bathtub Repair - Help
Boring Home Repair Question: the Fridge
This is the thread for questions about car repair

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Website UK
Website US
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/nov/25/the-repair-shop-review-is-there-a-lovelier-show-on-tv

GeoWizard is still the only explorer on Earth <3 my #5, his European adventure especially wonderful but don't count out his 2nd Wales attempt or his Norway crossing with Verity on boat-hauling duties

Kipo too low! Was my #6 so almost two top 5 votes.

One of the shows I watch with my 10 year old. Beautifully animated, a joy to watch and hard not to get caught up in Kipo's boundless optimism whilst still going to some dark places this season. Great finale too and deserves to become a modern day classic of animation.

neat, always keen for good animation, will check out

Historian David Olusoga’s A House Through Time was one of my favorite finds this year and thanks to ILX for sending it my way! Each four-hour season centers around a still-standing British house that was built in the eighteenth or nineteenth century, tracking - as closely as possible - the lives of each of the people who’ve lived there since its founding. It’s a deeply humanistic vehicle for cultural exploration and a great opportunity to take frank looks at issues of fashion, tradition, art, class, race, gender and sex through the centuries. Olusoga is a compelling and erudite narrator who always finds a way to present new perspectives on what would likely otherwise be fusty stories. This season’s house at 10 Guinea Street was paid for and housed slave traders and Olusoga doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to presenting the current owners with the sour news. The upcoming fourth season is one of my most anticipated upcoming 2021 watches.

https://i.imgur.com/pRcoyAi.jpg
#57 - A House Through Time (BBC2) - 23 points, 3 votes, 2 top 5 votes
The BBC
Your Ten Favorite Shows Currently on Television

Olusoga Interview
Full Episode: S1E1
Website
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/26/a-house-through-time-review-an-absorbing-important-history-lesson

Had a weird day yesterday so only just catching up but yay for AEW and GeoWizard, which I voted for!

ILX alerted me to AEW's relatively new and surprisingly fresh stories and match-ups. The entire roster and commentary panel is full of everyone you would want to see from the past and present of wrestling - such a talented group.

GeoWizard is the most median representative of Britishness which somehow works as a great palette for these deadpans paeans to beautiful landscapes ('That's lovely that'). His series are so faithful to the trajectory of each journey he takes (you hardly miss a moment with all the timelapse) and it's genuinely thrilling to see how someone copes with often hair-raising obstacles.

There's so much in here so far that I never knew about, so excited to catch up, though I felt this:

opted out this time in remembrance of the only good tv show, lodge 49

― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.)

Rewatching again, halfway through season 2. :(

The only talk show worth a damn during COVID was Desus and Mero and I will fight you over this.

https://i.imgur.com/hSg2zT3.jpg
#55 (Tie) - Desus and Mero (Showtime) - 23 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
bodega boys desus nice & the kid mero aka's poll

Pre-COVID Trailer
Officiating a Zoom wedding and fucking up Mero’s foot
Doctor Nina
Ridin’ with Biden
Obama Interview
Website

lol geowizard made it, I haven't participated in this poll so a surprise. good fun. want to check out a house through time

xpost GeoWizard. I've only watched the first attempt to cross Wales so didn't vote for the 2020 shows. Oddly compelling viewing.

First of mine to place.

First time I've watched enough telly to take part in this. GeoWizard looks right up my street but I got near-instant motion sickness! :(

Olusoga is class. Great show.

Well before WandaVision, Tim and Eric were already doing dark retro sitcom revival but with Meadow Soprano instead of an Olsen triplet. Also way more fart jokes.

https://i.imgur.com/wxYFJPx.jpg
#55 (Tie) - Beef House (Adult Swim) - 23 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job - Christ Almighty this show is funny.

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https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/tim-heidecker-eric-wareheim-beef-house-interview.html

how did i not know about this

It's amusingly puerile but also v minor T&E. I'm a fan generally; it didn't make my ballot.

I’m American and a child at heart so I think you know how I pronounce this title.

https://i.imgur.com/KTII3g5.jpg
#54 - Strictly Come Dancing (BBC) - 25 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
Strictly Come Dancing--am I on my own here?

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https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/dec/19/thank-you-strictly-come-dancing-for-giving-us-the-final-we-needed

was about to pour scorn but then saw who the winner was!!

I warmed quickly to the eminently-bingeable, low-stakes British supernatural ensemble comedy Ghosts and presumed it would come to America as a remake within the year. Before I was done with the first season, HBO bought it.

https://i.imgur.com/xnEr5o1.jpg
#52 (Tie) - Ghosts (BBC1, HBO) - 25 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Rolling UK Comedy Thread - "Ricky Don't Lose Larry David's Number

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https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2019/apr/15/ghosts-review-tv-to-give-you-a-right-giggle-at-the-supernatural

Beef House is the first thing of mine to place (I may or may not have been the 1 top 5 vote) . Can't argue against "minor," but it did cause me to laugh hard enough to risk passing out at least twice.

https://i.imgur.com/WSim1tj.jpg
#52 (Tie) - Fargo (FX) - 25 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
We need a thread for the FARGO TV show yah? Oh, yah!

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https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/30/21495303/fargo-season-4-review-chris-rock

still haven't watched the latest season

Repair Shop my number one, a little tactically. My #2 (which I guess will win) is just better, easily one of the best things I've watched in years; but this been family lockdown viewing since the start of the year, and it's more like a place we hang out to chill at the end of the evening than a tv programme.
That sofa chatter some of the most comfortable memories I'll have when I look back on this strange time - yelling at repairees who aren't grateful enough, me repeatedly saying 'I should learn to solder', marvelling at Steve, wanting to hang with Lucia, shouting 'that's beneath you' when they do an easy fix on something ugly with skill and good grace, just enjoying the weird fakeness of the idyll.
(Also more coldly fascinated by the World War stuff that just keeps coming. The British fixation on it makes more sense to me when people bring in these mementos from their grandparents' wild adventures - life on hell island so dull & dim & unheroic compared to all the shot-down aircraft, shipwrecks etc that randos 80 years ago lived through)

never heard of repair shop but looks up my alley & p good

Right at the start of COVID, you couldn’t have a conversation without talking about death and Tiger King. So I guess we’ve taken at least one step. Until now.

https://i.imgur.com/k2RB8Jm.jpg
#51 - Tiger King (Netflix) - 25 points, 6 votes
most outrageously horrible human being featured in netflix's TIGER KING: MURDER, MADNESS, and MAYHEM

Trailer
Louis Theroux and Joe Exotic
Website
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/04/netflix-tiger-king-is-an-ethical-trainwreck/609568/

ha, i started that poll thread but i could not vote for this.

this is definitely the best thing that came from tiger king mania: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzY64Qu8HHc

Tiger king was fun. Will always remind me of early quarantine.

Feels like ages ago yeah. Fun doc but when it became a sort of anti hero worship fest of the dude I lost the taste for it

The psychopathic documentary series this generation dictates, if not deserves. The moral indifference is quite something, but my god does it make for compelling viewing. Creates the good-bad sickness achieved by few documentary series. Didn't feel like there were any 'slow' episodes either. Voted for it.

Our last show for the day, Mindy Kaling’s teen dramedy Never Have I Ever, does the Netflix trick of keeping most of the trappings of the traditional network sitcom but also introducing PG-13 sensibilities and radically expanded cultural, racial and gender diversity. Also John McEnroe.

https://i.imgur.com/v8EbFim.jpg
#50 - Never Have I Ever (Netflix) - 26 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
Never have I ever

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https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/never-have-i-ever-reviewed-hotness-and-hotheads

just remembered the part of tiger king where the filmmaker let the park employees know that the jetski guy was an fbi informant lol

And here's today's updated wrap up.

#50 - Never Have I Ever (Netflix) - 26 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#51 - Tiger King (Netflix) - 25 points, 6 votes
#52 (Tie) - Fargo (FX) - 25 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vot
#52 (Tie) - Ghosts (BBC1, HBO) - 25 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#54 - Strictly Come Dancing (BBC) - 25 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#55 (Tie) - Beef House (Adult Swim) - 23 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#55 (Tie) - Desus and Mero (Showtime) - 23 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#57 - A House Through Time (BBC2) - 23 points, 3 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#58 - The Repair Shop (BBC, Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#59 - GeoWizard Missions (YouTube) - 20 points, 2 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#60 (Tie) - Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#60 (Tie) - Murder on Middle Beach (HBO) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#62 (Tie) - High Fidelity (Hulu) - 19 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#62 (Tie) - Ozark (Netflix) - 19 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#64 - Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (Apple +) - 18 points, 5 votes
#65 (Tie) - AEW Dynamite (TBS) - 18 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#65 (Tie) - The Plot Against America (HBO) - 18 points, 3 votes
#67 - The Good Lord Bird (HBO) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#68 - Star Trek: Picard (CBS All Access) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#69 - Dave (FX) - 16 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#70 - 20020 (SB Nation) - 16 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#71 - Bob’s Burgers (FX) - 15 points, 3 votes
#72 (Tie) - Oxventure Dungeons and Dragons! (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult (Starz) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Taskmaster (Channel 4) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Videogame Dunkey (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - Bluey (Disney +) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - Followers (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - We Are Who We Are (HBO) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote

never have i ever was cute

Neat results so far, lots of stuff I've never heard of. GeoWizard Missions and A House Through Time have particularly piqued my interest

Never Have I Ever WAS cute! Aaah Mindy is the best. The series really picked up in the last few episodes.

Never Have I Ever was my #1 vote. Idk why Netflix labels it comedy-drama instead of sitcom, since all scenes are played for the lols. Maybe because the writing is excellent and it's smart and poignant throughout?

there are definite dramatic undertones, what with her dead father and her strained relationship with her mother and best friends. tho i agre, it's no more a drama than scrubs was.

Kipo too low! Was my #6 so almost two top 5 votes.

One of the shows I watch with my 10 year old. Beautifully animated, a joy to watch and hard not to get caught up in Kipo's boundless optimism whilst still going to some dark places this season. Great finale too and deserves to become a modern day classic of animation.

― groovypanda, Tuesday, February 9, 2021 7:43 AM bookmarkflaglink

neat, always keen for good animation, will check out

― imago, Tuesday, February 9, 2021 7:44 AM bookmarkflaglink

groovypanda OTM, it's a beacon of light and hope. I will say that the animation in the last season was a lot worse than the first season -- I assume the studio had to crunch to finish the series.

Beef House my first vote to place, I think I heard about this on ILX, it aspires to be absolutely nothing other than what it is but it is about as well-made an example of the thing that it is as you can imagine

have not thought about it between the time i finished watching it and today, and never will again

I mean 'note-perfect fake sitcom with bizarre & OTT digressions' is a thing T&E do very well, but they'd already done it several times over before Beef House and it works better in bite-sized chunks IMO (imagine how much impact would be lost if Too Many Cooks had been turned into a series, as a non-T&E example).

But yeah, it was funny and fine for what it was but disappointing only inasmuch as it seemed like a step backwards rather than a broadening of the palette.

Oh I've never really watched anything by them before so I have no sense of this

Ha ha, oh wow. I can't imagine this being my first exposure to their work. Well, you're in for a treat if you choose to dig deeper. Expect things to get real weird.

I cant work out why I didnt vote for Bobs Burgers, I watch it all the time.

I haven't even heard of more than a half dozen of these shows, am definitely out of it

I can understand not getting into Bob's Burgers because it's very silly and low-stakes. But it's maintained its quality amazingly well eleven seasons in.

Yeah its one of those comfort shows you watch with a hangover/eating tea. Like old Simpsons.

Fargo was good in the first few seasons. I will watch this season too but I haven't heard as many great things about it

btw if you liked this show I strongly recommend Mercier as a kid from Israel who wants to become Parisian in Synonyms, where he does some outrageously good acting. Tons of full frontal nudity from him too if that's your thing.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, February 8, 2021

I really liked the film and him in it, it was hard to believe it was his first acting experience

same here. it took me multiple episodes to place him! he's gonna have a hell of a career.

I watched the first episode of the Chris Rock Fargo and bailed; discussion on the thread mostly suggests I did it right. The actors are so great though!

Fargo S2 > S1 >> S3 >>>>>> S4 (we bailed after 2 episodes)

The problem I think with S4 of Fargo is Hawley had been doing Legion for so long it leaked out into the production. There were loads of gloomy dark shots with green tinges, shots down hallways, weird ghosts for no reason, oftn painfully slow pacing.

And Jason Schwartzman I feel was badly miscast.

There is one really good ep that riffs off Wizard of Oz that I did really like.

The Mindy Project has been a comfort show over the last few years so I will check out Never Have I Ever

Just watched one of the Geowizard Missions video series - great stuff! Youtube had recommended me his geoguesser videos but the Missions one are way more up my alley

We watched a couple of episodes of Bluey last night because of this thread. It was great. We laughed a lot.

in my head beef house and sex house are the same show even though I watched both and know they have nothing in common

Sex House definitely superior. I still try to push that on everyone I can (the name sometimes makes it hard sell).

i goddamn loved the OZ episode of Fargo, and i didn't mind the aesthetics (appreciated the old gangster photos). i thought Schwartzman and the nurse were perfect, but didn't really dig Rock; overall it was decent. made it onto my ballot, but it might be the worsts of the 4 seasons. 2>>>3>>1>4

We're in the same place: that's my ranking too, but I also voted for 4. (Actually, the further away I get from 1 and 3, I might rank everything except 2 more or less the same. The second season dwarfs the other three.)

Haven't watched the fourth season (and nothing I've heard has me champing at the bit to rectify that) but otherwise that's my ranking, too.

Have never seen Fargo. Based on the love here for season 2 can I skip right to that or do I need to see season 1 for character depth or something? Or is it total anthology

you can definitely watch it on its own

there are connections between seasons 1 and 2 (and probably 2 & 4, tho i haven't seen 4 so i can't say what those are), but they're not essential to understanding and enjoying s2

The connections between the seasons (and the movie itself) are so incredibly tenuous as to be virtually nonexistent imo. It's essentially an anthology series of season-long stories.

If you're a Coen brothers fan there's often some easter eggs in them which are nice to spot, but you’ll not lose anything by not having that awareness.

I'd rate 2>1>3=4, the Wizard of Oz episode bumped it up for me, absolutely gorgeous black and white cinematography. I wished they'd done the whole series in black and white.

might even be fun, if you're going to commit to the entire series, to watch by time period. so i think it would go: s4, s2, movie, s1, s3.

but if you just want to watch the best one, s2 is amazing... and s3 i think it pretty underrated and worth checking out.

i think season two had a song and a quote from a Cohen bros movie in every episode.

Great, I will definitely watch s2 and then if so inclined will proceed into the others.

fargo sucks and noah hawley is a hack

sorry I have to say this once per thread whenever that show is invoked

i've seen you repeat that a bunch, but to not belabor the point, why you feel that way?

you can point me to a thread if you don't want to spend too much time on it

to put it as succinctly as I can, hawley seems to "get" the coens about as well as twin peaks' other principal writers "got" lynch when he wasn't around to consult

TBF, I've never gotten the impression that Hawley was trying to 'do' the Coens.

I mean, he also made Legion, so whatever he is, it's not a hack.

Sex House definitely superior. I still try to push that on everyone I can (the name sometimes makes it hard sell).

― Vladislav Bibidonurtmi (Old Lunch), Wednesday, February 10, 2021 6:44 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Sex House is one of the top shows of the last decade and I don't understand why it's not universally recognized as a landmark of television

you've ruined me!

Simon otm re: Hawley and Fargo

Thought the first season of Fargo tried hard to emulate the film; the second, I'd say, much less so.

I guess. Maybe that's why the first season kinda sucked. At any rate, if you didn't stick around long enough to see Bruce Campbell's portrayal of Reagan, you're doing yourself a disservice.

I thought Reagan was really woven into S2 well. And--maybe I'm reading too much into it--thought the ending, with Mike Milligan relegated to a desk job, was some kind of comment on the dawn of the Reagan presidency.

Trying to remind myself this is the countdown thread, not a Fargo thread--it's just a show I like talking about.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I kind of preferred S1 to S2. I watched both recently (haven't gotten to the later seasons yet) and, while S2 was definitely well-done, I didn't feel as emotionally connected to it.

yah i liked s1 more as well. cant remember why at this point lol.

Kirsten Dunst made S2 the most memorable for me

fargo sucks and noah hawley is a hack

sorry I have to say this once per thread whenever that show is invoked

― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Wednesday, February 10, 2021 10:44 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

i agree

I liked 3 a lot more than the general consensus, prob bc I’m a huge sucker for both coon and thewlis (the macgregor stuff sucks but whatever)

Coon was fantastic, as she always is--best reason to watch S3.

McGregor stuff was fun at times, but way more po-faced than it would have been in a Coens movie

Maybe should do a poll on favorite Fargo character? Think I would favor Alison Tolman from S1.

Allison Tolman was really great, hard to choose between her and Martin Freeman in S1

glad this was a day off for forks, who has been working overtime running these polls

Run that poll! I think I know who'd vote for, but there at least five or six possibilities for me.

"who I'd"

we should appreciate him, his and Moka's efforts are pretty amazing

Aw, thanks! Back today though!

Before we start today, let’s address a side-poll: I asked folks to provide their favorite shows that they watched this past year that were not released in 2020 and we got a bumper crop of options. In fact, there were so many options that there was little overlap: only a handful of shows got two votes and nothing got three, so this became less of a “side-poll” and more of a way to present our broader viewing tastes beyond the current year’s offerings.

Here’s that list with current (mostly US) streaming options. Defend your watching!

The Americans (Amazon), Battlestar Galactica (Peacock), Better Call Saul (Netflix), Borgen (Netflix), Brockmire (2 votes - Hulu), Chernobyl (HBO), Chewing Gum (Netflix), Columbo (Peacock), Country Music (PBS, Hoopla, Kanopy), Detroiters (2 votes - CBS All Access/Paramount, Comedy Central), Documentary Now (Netflix), Don’t Forget the Driver (BBC2), Escape at Dannemora (Showtime), Euphoria (HBO), The Expanse (2 votes – Amazon), Fleabag (Amazon, BBC3), Grand Designs (Netflix), Halt and Catch Fire (Netflix), Happy Endings (Hulu), High Maintenance (HBO), Home (Channel 4), Homecoming (Amazon), I'll Have What Phil's Having (PBS), Killing Eve (Hulu, BBC), King of the Hill (Hulu), Knots Landing, The Last Man on Earth (Hulu), The Leftovers (2 votes, HBO), Lodge 49 (Hulu), Mad Men (AMC), Mickey Mouse (Disney +), Moyashimon (Crunchyroll), Mr. Robot (Amazon), Neon Genesis Evangelion (Netflix), On Cinema at the Cinema (Adult Swim), Patriot (2 votes - Amazon), Polar Bear Café (Crunchyroll), Rectify (Netflix), Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-San (Crunchyroll), Southside (Comedy Central – Coming soon to HBO), Succession (2 votes – HBO), Summer Camp Island (Cartoon Network, now HBO), Taskmaster (Comedy Central, Channel 4), Terriers (Hulu), The Terror (Hulu), This Time with Alan Partridge (HBO, BBC), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (HBO), TJ and Dave: The Series (Vimeo), True Detective (HBO), Utopia (Amazon), Wakakozake (Crunchyroll), West Wing (HBO), Why Women Kill (CBS All Access/Paramount)

I asked folks to provide their favorite shows

I read that as "I asked forks..." I thought we maybe had a problem here.

I was one of the two Detroiters votes. Easily as funny and unpredictable as I Think You Should Leave and I wish I had caught on to it sooner. Comedy Central grossly mistreated it (possibly because it cost more than like 2 dollars to make?).

Speaking of slightly abstract comedy shows, ADBOHoF came on corny and overdone on first dosage but it won me over with a skewed sort of chicken fat: the heavy schmaltz of overdoing a joke with a million gags until it collapses under its own silliness. YMMV but anyone who liked I Think You Should Leave or Detroiters and quit this after one episode should maybe try again.
My fave bit remains the Ellen sketch.

https://i.imgur.com/1CprlZW.jpg
#49 - Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun (Netflix) - 26 points, 5 votes
Aunty Donna

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://tv.avclub.com/aunty-donna-s-big-ol-house-of-fun-is-a-pure-dose-of-sk-1845616957

torn about this show

The non-2020 show I discovered in 2020 but stupidly left off my list is actually a show which had a new season in 2020 but which I also stupidly left off the nominations list (but also I still haven't finished the final season so fair enough): The Clone Wars. Good enough to swing me from 'psssh, WGAF about a Star War' after seeing Rise of Stinkwalker to being borderline obsessive about a Star War. It singlehandedly makes the prequel era a compelling and fertile narrative space, which I would've thought next-to-impossible.

The best non-2020 series I saw was Rectify, which was as nearly-perfect a show as I've seen, from beginning to end. Performances, writing, tone...just beautiful, wouldn't change a thing. I wish the preacher from Deadwood would create some more stuff, knowing he had this in him.

the Ellen sketch was good tho yeah

I caught up with Homecoming. S1, good, especially the unique use of appropriated soundtrack music from famous films (The Conversation, All The President's Men, etc.); S2, increasingly farfetched but worth watching. I should have added Modern Family to my catch-up list--liked it pretty much from start to finish.

anyone who liked I Think You Should Leave or Detroiters and quit this after one episode should maybe try again

hmm this is exactly me

When these guys (Aunty Donna) are on, it's some of the funniest shit I've seen in my life, but I feel like the quality is hit and miss

like, completely in my wheelhouse in theory, but also...not the highest hit-rate

they did collabs with two of my favourite Youtuber gangs (both of whom I voted for) - Fairbairn Films and I did a thing - both of which are funnier than them imo. Aussie Youtube is the best

(I mean that the gangs are funnier, not the collabs)

I was wondering who was enjoying Rectify for the first time xps

I also have just watched all of Clone Wars with my son and am now rewatching The Mandalorian with him (I watched it last year he didn't) and he absolutely lost his shit when [ REDACTED ] turned up in an episode in Season 2

glad to see a couple people dove into the leftovers during the most leftoverian time to discover the most needs-to-be-watched show of the last decade or so

during the most leftoverian time

I rewatched S1 in the first few weeks of the pandemic--totally.

Who would've imagined in 1993 that the lead voice on the Tommy Boy novelty hit Supermodel was anything more than a one-hit-wonder? Instead that track serves as the first apex of a now 40+ year career of international stardom that's sparked the greater mainstream acceptance of drag as genre.

https://i.imgur.com/z9VmqMN.jpg
#48 - RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1) - 27 points, 5 votes, 1 top 5 vote
NB: Top VH1
'...and DON'T *bleep* IT UP!' -- the RuPaul's Drag Race thread
Shante, You Stay! Polling The Greatest 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Queens

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-52576336
https://www.vulture.com/tv/rupaul-s-drag-race/

binging succession twice in a row in the early days of the pandemic became my prayer to the world returning and not returning: wow this sucks, I’m afraid of outside, all I can do is sit and stare at this most garbage version of the elites of the world which maybe when all this is done we may grapple with somehow, surely this is it for folks like this, surely we will come together! As usual: very wrong about that! But the show is so funny!

5 votes eh?

After nearly eight years with The Guy, I’m deeply sad to see High Maintenance close shop, especially as well suited as it was to address the stressors of COVID NYC life. That said, Sinclair and Blichfeld have earned the opportunity to create new solo work. I’m excited to see what they do from here.

https://i.imgur.com/xSzAKos.jpg
#47 - High Maintenance (HBO) - 28 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
High Maintenance - Very good web-series. Discuss.

Trailer
Sinclair and Blichfeld Interview
Set Tour
Website
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/02/high-maintenance-deeply-ethical-season-4/606427/
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/high-maintenance
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/magazine/new-york-tv.html

Thanks for the sidelist forks im v much a "still catching up on stuff from the nineties" typa guy

Since my ballot was only 3 items long, that top 5 vote musta been me.

Oh the rest of my own sidelist:

-King of the Hill (which I did sorta watch when it first aired but only because it was on between shows I paid full attention to and so I was denied its subtle, heartwarmingly-hilarious brilliance for twenty years)
-Knots Landing (started cranking through Dallas again in the midst of lockdown doldrums and thought I should simultaneously sample its companion, which I discovered to be a much better show and downright underrated for something that ran for fourteen goddamn seasons)
-Columbo (yes, I really did only see this for the first time in 2020 after finally finishing Rockford Files and looking for something similar to fill the hole, but although it's not actually all that similar I am now in love with it and with Falk on their own merits)
-The West Wing (am now a staunch neolib, come at me bro)

I didn’t do a sidelist, but watched and loved in 2020:

Hannibal
Rome (rewatch)
Channel Zero

I’m sure there were more. I loved Hannibal the most and wrote about it in a bit in the thread on here.

TBRR one of the primary criteria for pre-2020 tv watching in the past year has been 'does this series have a ludicrously-high episode count sufficient to carry me through until the goddamn plague has lifted?'

kept myself mostly busy with new shows and video games, so the one old show i watched during quarantine was the glorious halt and catch fire. i also watched a few old seasons of survivor.

As someone outside looking in (to Borough Park even) I certainly wouldn’t mind hearing from our own Jewish and orthodox-adjacent ILX community on how this show was received and experienced.

https://i.imgur.com/s6Ee4Jm.jpg
#45 (Tie) - Unorthodox (Netflix) - 28 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
HEY JEWS
Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Trailer
Sample Clip
Making Of
Website
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/unorthodox-reviewed-a-young-womans-remarkable-flight-from-hasidic-williamsburg
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/03/unorthodox-review-netflix-shira-haas-1202220615/

Surprised that this became the breakout surreal salaryman anime du jour for America but I guess you should never underestimate the power of Netflix.

https://i.imgur.com/TJrq6Uy.jpg
#45 (Tie) - Aggretsuko (Netflix) - 28 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.polygon.com/entertainment/2020/9/1/21417399/aggretsuko-season-3-review-spoilers
https://recommendmeanime.com/anime-series-like-aggretsuko/

Unorthodox was in my Top 5 - I was expecting it to be a lot higher.

xp I also loved Rectify but didn't have room for it on my side ballot! Or for Justified! Or for Undone! For all of 2020's faults, it was probably the best tv-watching year of my life, discovered so many incredible shows

Ha I didn't think Aggretsuko would place. The third season took this show much further outside the bounds of Sanrio workplace animated sitcom, and I mostly liked where it went

i watched unorthodox, but i felt like it was a little slight. it was an interesting window into those hasidic communities, but besides the portrayal of the husband, it felt a bit surface level.

I need to catch up with Aggretsuko, I really liked the first two series I watched

I have gone back and forth on this show a half dozen times and I think I am back again to “it’s good, if a little exhausting sometimes.”

https://i.imgur.com/776jmJD.jpg
#44 - Last Week Tonight (HBO) - 29 points, 6 votes
Hello, buglers! John Oliver has a weekly show, "Last Week Tonight"

Pre-COVID Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-2020-finale

it was good this year. danbury, ct is indeed a shithole.

wish I'd voted Jreg now

The secret Szechuan Sauce dried up a bit on this show as the creators got badly distracted with new opportunities but it remained (mostly) watchable to me.

https://i.imgur.com/d9FsAMK.jpg
#43 - Rick and Morty (Adult Swim) - 29 points, 8 votes
NB: Top Adult Swim
i'm mr meeseeks look at me rick and morty thread

Trailer
Sample Clips
Selling Shit Ironically but Seriously, We’re Selling Shit Here
Website
https://www.ign.com/articles/rick-and-morty-season-4-review

I know I should like Last Week Tonight, it's objectively well-made and it has covered really important political topics that get underplayed in traditional news, but I just find the guy off-putting for some reason, I guess my stance is I'm glad a lot of other people watch it

didn't vote for this season of r&m, but i dug "the vat of acid episode"

Okay, I’m gonna need a UK ILXor explainer for this one.

https://i.imgur.com/ufV6xI7.jpg
#42 - Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC) - 30 points, 3 votes, 2 top 5 votes
fishing

Trailer
Full Episode
UK Website
https://mashable.com/article/mortimer-and-whitehouse-gone-fishing-ultimate-comfort-watch/
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/02/mortimer-and-whitehouse-gone-fishing-mens-health-male-friendship

Heard this was great, but I didn't see it so not my place to explain. Imagine it's a bit like The Trip, but real(er).

wish I'd voted Jreg now

Aaargh, how was he not on the list?

Sometimes I quite fancy going back and watching The Fast Show. Bet it holds up okay

Though it didn’t make my final cut ballot, I really enjoyed Quiz. It’s a three episode, 2 ½ hour TV film directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters, Philomena) intelligently dramatizing the early 2000’s cheating scandal (or was it?) that rocked the original UK Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?
The great cast includes Matthew Macfadyen of Succession, Sian Clifford of Fleabag, Mark Bonnar of Catastrophe, Aisling Bea of This Way Up and Michael Sheen of everything.

https://i.imgur.com/5cqFJ9r.jpg
#41 - Quiz (ITV, AMC) - 32 points, 5 votes, 1 top 5 vote
NB: Top ITV
Rolling iPlayer and All 4 and iTVPlayer 2017-2018

Trailer
Sample Clip
Charles Ingram on WWtBaMillionaire
Website US
Website UK
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/arts/television/quiz-millionaire-amc-macfadyen-graham.html

ooh never heard of this, sounds interesting!

New Pope, same as the old Pope, different from the Young Pope.

https://i.imgur.com/18y0Up0.jpg
#38 (Tie) - The New Pope (HBO) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
hbo/bbc's the young pope w/ jude law and the new pope w/ john malkovich

Trailer
Sample Clip (yikes)
Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/12/arts/television/the-new-pope-review-hbo.html

lol you had to go straight to the marilyn manson scene as the sample clip

there are indeed many scenes without marilyn manson in this show, though it does make sense that malkovich's pope character would gravitate to someone like manson's performative transgressiveness while ignoring the actual abuse he commits.

here's the other, much less problematic cameo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XppefSOavY8

Sorry, but any pope-themed historical drama will always remind me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2xWQr4VaUA

it's not a period piece fwiw

Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing, two aging comedians going around the UK fishing, which admittedly sounds terrible. The Trrip isn’t a bad comparison, but without sounding trite feels a but more organic, less needle between them and less competitive.

It’s an acute examination of male mental health and wellbeing and dealing with mortality, both there own and the loss they’ve experienced. The scene where Bob Mortimer revisits his childhood home and talks about the loss of his father is devastating. It’s often hilarious too and looks absolutely gorgeous.

I haven't seen a second of it but "two nice men who have been hilarious and unproblematic in public for thirty years, hanging out together and talking" doesn't sound terrible

I have to assume Kingdom is less racist and classist and somnambulant than The Walking Dead, what else does it have going for it?

https://i.imgur.com/vwmj8pS.jpg
#38 (Tie) - Kingdom (Netflix) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/kingdom-season-2-netflix-review-a-zombie-show-that/1900-6417439/

probably not as good as the sad-macho MMA series of the same name

Or, like,

Yay, this show rules, and not just for the hats.

i wish i had more time to give it a chance. watched the first ep, but didn't get time to delve any further before tuning in my ballot.

As a guy who used to watch the Walking Dead, gave up on that, and loves Kingdom, I'd say the vibe is totally different -- the addition of political intrigue to the zombie formula is so much better than the soap opera boredom that took over TWD.

same! i gave up on TWD part way into s3. love the idea of a zombie (or whatever kind of monster he is) with political clout!

The rumor is that you don't need to care any more about baseball to enjoy Jon Bois' second entry in the poll than you would for Brockmire. Can anyone confirm?

https://i.imgur.com/bzoXHyF.jpeg
#38 (Tie) - The History of the Seattle Mariners (YouTube) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
The Seattle Mariners in 2006
The Seattle Mariners in 2007
The Seattle Mariners in 2008
The Seattle Mariners in 2009
The Seattle Mariners in 2010
No question...this team fucking stinks. Seattle Mariners 2011 season of continued disappointment
You can't shine a turd. 2012 Seattle Mariners need help thread
The Seattle Mariners in 2013
The Seattle Mariners in 2014
The Seattle Mariners in 2015
Always different, always the same: 2016 Seattle Mariners
James Paxton & Co: 2017 Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners in 2018

Supercut Edition
Website
https://www.sbnation.com/secret-base/22188707/history-of-the-seattle-mariners-top-documentaries-episode-list
https://www.cinematary.com/writing/2020/5/25/the-history-of-the-seattle-mariners-2020-by-jon-bois
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Seattle_Mariners

i love baseball, but didn't really see why people enjoyed this so much.

Having never heard of the books or the original 1970’s show starring Jon Pertwee, I figured I owed the first episode of this kids show a shot... and it’s good! Very twee, very bucolic, very funny, well cast and well filmed. Though it’s written by and stars Mackenzie Crook, who US ILXors may know best as Gareth from the original UK The Office and one of the two lead characters in The Detectorists, it has a distinctly (and yet uncloying) Neil Gaiman air about it.

https://i.imgur.com/bcuLIla.jpg
#37 - Worzel Gummidge (BBC) - 35 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
NB: Top Children’s Show
books/films/tv shows that TERRIFIED you as a child and were DEFINITELY trying to (and maybe you shouldn't have been exposed to at that age)

Trailer
Credits Music
Website
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/dec/26/worzel-gummidge-review-mackenzie-crook-hes-back-hes-hilarious-and-hes-wearing-a-cravat

I thought the first two seasons of Insecure were as good as anything HBO had done up till then. There are certainly still bright spots but it's running on steam imo. Rae remains one of television’s great comedians but the diffusion of the story’s thrust to the lives of the less interesting secondary characters isn’t helping and suggests that the most important ideas this show has to offer have already been presented. This season was focused on female friendship, which is a great topic but the plotting points generally came off as petty and underdeveloped. Insecure is wrapping up in 2021; I’m hoping for a strong finish.

https://i.imgur.com/Z7vfCvO.jpg
#36 - Insecure (HBO) - 36 points, 5 votes, 2 top 5 votes
Issa Ray's "Insecure" HBO show

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.vulture.com/2020/06/insecure-season-4-finale-review.html

agree w liking insecure quite a bit, but not this season v much

it steams me that a handful of seasons' mariners threads are not called "the seattle mariners in ____", maybe i will watch whatever that youtube is at some pt but prob not lets be real

I was a big fan of the first season of Netflix’s The End of the Fucking World and I enjoyed the original Forsman comic that I Am Not Okay with this is based on (lol that the lead character is literally Olive Oyl) but I never quite got around to watching this. Please convince me I should!

https://i.imgur.com/bCjp4XA.jpg
#35 - I Am Not Okay with This (Netflix) - 37 points, 6 votes, 2 top 5 votes
Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/arts/television/i-am-not-okay-with-this-review.html
https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a31133146/not-okay-with-this-graphic-novel-lgbtq/
https://www.vulture.com/2020/02/i-am-not-okay-with-this-charles-forsman-comic-netflix.html

I very much liked the most recent season of Insecure (and voted for it). The end of a friendship is something shows rarely seem to do.

i agree and i thought it was a good idea poorly executed. i find orji's character deeply uninteresting on some sex and the city bullshit.

Seattle Mariners series is basically 'do you like Jon Bois' but taken to extremely lengthy levels. I for one do and was one of the top 5 voters. He has revolutionised the sports doc imo

sorta feel like tim rogers and jon boi should get together and do a series about sport games

Love this show; top three on my ballot. The main character's best guy friend bopping around his room to Prefab Sprout made me happier than anything I saw in any new media in 2020.

love kingdom. just a really fun watch. the stakes feel low despite it being pretty serious. approx 100x better than walking dead.

i dipped out of i am not okay with this, but i am glad i stuck around long enough to see that "king of rock and roll" scene, which was by far my favorite in the show

really liked this season of insecure, it was well written without some of the dumber plotlines of earlier seasons

This next one is deep on my “to watch” list so I’m gonna need some help with description here…?

https://i.imgur.com/SgNa4Rw.jpg
#34 - Giri/Haji (BBC, Netflix) - 37 points, 7 votes, 1 top 5 vote
But Is It on Netflix? - Streaming Video Service Thread: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube TV, AT+T Watch, Philo, Playstation Vue, HBO Max, HBO Now, Facebook Live and many more
Rolling iPlayer and All 4 and iTVPlayer 2017-2018

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website UK
Website US
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/31/801563128/giri-haji-is-a-story-of-cultural-cross-pollination-unlike-anything-else-on-tv
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/giri-haji-cancelled-bbc-netflix-will-sharpe-joe-barton-b421871.html

and i need to go for a run before the sun goes down so let's get one more in the mix and call it a day...

The Great is created by a co-writer of the dark comedy of manners (and, not incidentally, multiple Oscar winner) The Favourite and it clearly shows in subject matter, style and sense of humor. I watched a single episode and liked it a lot but my partner hated it so I tapped out. What did I miss out on?

https://i.imgur.com/Vw6YaCF.jpg
#33 - The Great (Hulu) - 38 points, 5 votes, 2 top 5 votes
STUFF ON HULU

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.vulture.com/2020/05/the-great-hulu-review.html

More tomorrow! Here's your newly updated hitlist!

#33 - The Great (Hulu) - 38 points, 5 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#34 - Giri/Haji (BBC, Netflix) - 37 points, 7 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#35 - I Am Not Okay with This (Netflix) - 37 points, 6 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#36 - Insecure (HBO) - 36 points, 5 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#37 - Worzel Gummidge (BBC) - 35 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#38 (Tie) - The History of the Seattle Mariners (YouTube) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#38 (Tie) - The Kingdom (Netflix) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#38 (Tie) - The New Pope (HBO) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#41 - Quiz (ITV, AMC) - 32 points, 5 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#42 - Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC) - 30 points, 3 votes, 2 top 5 vote
#43 - Rick and Morty (Adult Swim) - 29 points, 8 votes
#44 - Last Week Tonight (HBO) - 29 points, 6 votes
#45 (Tie) - Aggretsuko (Netflix) - 28 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#45 (Tie) - Unorthodox (Netflix) - 28 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#47 - High Maintenance (HBO) - 28 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#48 - RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1) - 27 points, 5 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#49 - Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun (Netflix) - 26 points, 5 votes
#50 - Never Have I Ever (Netflix) - 26 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#51 - Tiger King (Netflix) - 25 points, 6 votes
#52 (Tie) - Fargo (FX) - 25 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vot
#52 (Tie) - Ghosts (BBC1, HBO) - 25 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#54 - Strictly Come Dancing (BBC) - 25 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#55 (Tie) - Beef House (Adult Swim) - 23 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#55 (Tie) - Desus and Mero (Showtime) - 23 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#57 - A House Through Time (BBC2) - 23 points, 3 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#58 - The Repair Shop (BBC, Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#59 - GeoWizard Missions (YouTube) - 20 points, 2 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#60 (Tie) - Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#60 (Tie) - Murder on Middle Beach (HBO) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#62 (Tie) - High Fidelity (Hulu) - 19 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#62 (Tie) - Ozark (Netflix) - 19 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#64 - Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (Apple +) - 18 points, 5 votes
#65 (Tie) - AEW Dynamite (TBS) - 18 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#65 (Tie) - The Plot Against America (HBO) - 18 points, 3 votes
#67 - The Good Lord Bird (HBO) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#68 - Star Trek: Picard (CBS All Access) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#69 - Dave (FX) - 16 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#70 - 20020 (SB Nation) - 16 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#71 - Bob’s Burgers (FX) - 15 points, 3 votes
#72 (Tie) - Oxventure Dungeons and Dragons! (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult (Starz) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Taskmaster (Channel 4) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Videogame Dunkey (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - Bluey (Disney +) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - Followers (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - We Are Who We Are (HBO) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote

Naked Nicholas Hoult and that's about all I've got to add to the conversation on that one.

The Great is created by a co-writer of the dark comedy of manners (and, not incidentally, multiple Oscar winner) The Favourite

sadly something called green book meant this only one Oscar

re: Insecure, I think this was much more Molly's season and I like that. Also Andrew is nice.

the great was fantastic, especially both leads. it felt less like 'the favourite' and more like if veep documented 18th century russia instead of modern washington (well, it's more romantic and poetic than veep, but still)

(also not as funny as veep, but what is?)

it felt less like 'the favourite' and more like if veep documented 18th century russia instead of modern washington

good one

Saw bits of the great and bits of i am not ok with this and have zero patience for the approach of either tbh

Ohhh yea I guess I have seen I Am Not Ok With This. I got it confused with I Think You Should Leave. TV should think of some better show names imo.

OK Im sold on watching the Great if thats its angle.

btw, one full day of xp but i am totally gonna rewatch Sex House now. Completely forgot about it but remember thinking it was the best television ever when I first saw it. Wish I could buy a copy somewhere.

I thought I Am Not OK with This was okay, but I didn't like it nearly as much as cryptosicko.

I'm remembering it a bit better now, and I will say it was exceedingly strange.

xps to the start of the day - I would have been a third vote for The Leftovers as the non-2020 show I completed and loved the most last year

I really enjoyed the first three seasons of Rectify and this thread has made me remember to watch the last season

I was one of the voters for The New Pope, thought it was strange and funny, and Paolo Sorrentino's aesthetic choices for the show (and for The Young Pope) were startling

The Great is still rolling out weekly on UK Channel 4 right now, so we’re only about halfway through, but I already loved it enough to vote for it. Like Bridgerton, it’s a “costume drama for people who don’t like costume dramas”, but unlike Bridgerton, it’s good.

Bridgerton is good and underappreciated on this board. I should have voted for it.

This thread moves too fast for me.

Okay, I’m gonna need a UK ILXor explainer for this one.

The thing about Mortimer and Whitehouse is that they both have bad hearts. Bob Mortimer had open heart surgery - he almost died - and Paul Whitehouse had less serious surgery, but they have both faced down their mortality and decided that the thing to do is go fishing and hang out with each other and talk about fishing and death in absolutely beautiful surroundings. Also, Bob falls over. And there's sometimes a dog.

Theyre also messers, very gentle and kind messers, i love them both

Whitehouse in particular just always strikes me as a huge soul

And... awaaaay.

that one looks enticing.

there's too much stuff to be able to watch it all

You gotta be ruthless

Finished the outsider tonight.

Not perfect but slick and performances were good and adults need their own stranger things sometimes

Lol catching up with all the shows. We just started Beforeigners. Ep1 - excellent start. Imagine it will show up sometime on the rollout

And between Beforeigners and Lupin, have convinced our teenagers that subtitles are acceptable... opens up the world.

thanks for the additional context, trishy

Abby McEnany’s Work in Progress - a comedy about a self-described suicidally depressed butch lesbian who falls in love with a trans-man half her age - was one of the more overlooked gems of 2020. No surprise: it came out at the start of the year, it’s stuck in the less-accessible-to-most Showtime ghetto, it stars mostly unknown actors (with some great strategic cameos) and the combination of OCD behavior-gender fluidity-suicide themes likely scared many folks off. It is a revelation nonetheless; deeply human and caring, willing to explore taboo subjects without preface, effortlessly inclusive, genuinely funny and remarkably well acted.

https://i.imgur.com/2wfbfDk.jpeg
#32 - Work in Progress (Showtime) - 41 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote, 2 top 5 votes
NB: Top Showtime
Your Ten Favorite Shows Currently on Television

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/01/work-in-progress-abby-mcenany-interview-showtime-lesbian-lgbt-1202206057/
https://deadline.com/2020/01/work-in-progress-renewed-season-2-showtime-abby-mcenany-1202828565/

I punched out on Killing Eve two episodes into season two when Waller-Bridge took off and the sense that the train had come off the tracks became undeniable. Question for the seven fans who still count this among their favorites: what is keeping you on board?

https://i.imgur.com/EAdNksK.jpg
#30 (Tie) - Killing Eve (BBC America / BBC) - 41 points, 7 votes, 1 top 5 vote
These Drinks Is Vicious: The Killing Eve Thread

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website UK
Website US
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/arts/television/killing-eve-review.html
https://variety.com/2020/tv/columns/killing-eve-season-3-finale-review-1234622222/

feel like this show is gonna be in the 'worst show you stuck with to the bitter end' thread in future years. s2 was p bad and this was even worse imo. also old man shouting at clouds but by god it's so LOUD now!

bailed on Killing Eve this year, did not watch a single episode

Wow, surprised that finished so high. (Says one of the seven voters...mostly because I wanted a semi-full ballot; it was a really up and down season.)

Dark fans sound a lot like Peaky Blinders fans: people who are into it are really into it and asking them to describe what they like about it inevitably results in “I’d love to tell you but SPOILERS.” Something, something, time travel... I think? Can our seven votes provide non-spoiler hand signals on why we should watch this show?

https://i.imgur.com/zjel4sE.jpg
#30 (Tie) - Dark (Netflix) - 41 points, 7 votes, 1 top 5 vote
Dark: the German Netflix series that's like an amalgamation of Twin Peaks, Back to the Future, and X-Files (SPOILERS!)

Trailer
Theme Song
Website
https://dark.netflix.io/en
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/dark-season-three-review-sci-fi-series-netflix

Started watching this and I liked the vibe, need to return to it

love season one of Dark. season two was ok. season three i bailed on, not because it was bad – but i was having a hard time keeping up and the overall tone was just so overbearing by that point... all things that could entirely been on me and not the show.

Season three of Search Party represented a leap to a new network, multiple new cast members (Cole Escola, Louie Anderson, Michaela Watkins) and a shift in tone that moved away from somewhat more subtle social commentary to direct parody. Mostly, it worked.

https://i.imgur.com/Ir39z31.jpg
#29 - Search Party (HBO) - 43 points, 6 votes, 2 top 5 votes
But Is It on Netflix? - Streaming Video Service Thread: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube TV, AT+T Watch, Philo, Playstation Vue, HBO Max, HBO Now, Facebook Live and many more

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.vulture.com/article/search-party-season-3-review-hbo-max.html

Thought season one of Search Party was pretty good, then season two started turning into something I wasn't into and we bailed halfway through. Then we started using the HBO Whateverit'scallednow app and decided to try again, pushed through the rest of season two...and then season three was great! I was psyched that the show had finally found its footing and looked forward to what was next!

Season four will, um, very pointedly not be making it onto my 2021 ballot.

Brockmire never strived for subtlety but its final season was particularly unhinged. Taking a bold prognosticatory leap into an apocalyptic future, the show yoked Jim Brockmire with the task of being a single-parent empty nester and the new commissioner of the MLB. Predictions of the end of the world unfortunately came true a bit earlier than expected, making this acidly funny show a bit of a bummer. Even so, the acting and writing were as crisp as ever and, for me at least, this was an entirely satisfying end to one of the most unique, hysterical and criminally under acknowledged shows of the past five years.

https://i.imgur.com/TweiJdG.jpg
#28 - Brockmire (IFC) - 47 points, 6 votes, 2 top 5 votes
NB: Top IFC
BROCKMIRE the recently concluded IFC comedy series with hank azaria, baseball, amanda peet, baseball, tyrel jackson williams and baseball

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/arts/television/review-brockmire.html
https://tv.avclub.com/hank-azaria-and-amanda-peet-on-brockmire-braids-and-m-1842363742

This year’s bubble season, the first with I-guess-he’s-okay co-host Matt Lucas, mostly served pretty well as the escapist tranquilizer it was meant to be. Then it didn’t (#JusticeforHermine), leading to one of the more anticlimactic finals yet.

https://i.imgur.com/s7ng0Bz.jpg
#27 - The Great British Bake Off / The Great British Baking Show (Netflix, Channel 4) - 47 points, 9 votes, 1 top 5 vote
NB: Top Channel 4, Top Reality Show
On Your Marks, Get Set, Baaaaake! A Thread for Great British Baking Show / Bake Off & all of its sundry delights

Trailer
Website US
Website UK
Hermine is Cooking
https://www.salon.com/2020/11/27/great-british-baking-show-bad-hermine-controversy/
https://www.avclub.com/c/tv-review/the-great-british-baking-show/season-11

brockmire is something that's firmly in my wheelhouse, not sure why i haven't watched. will fix soon.

i loved the original brockmire video on funny or die too

I was interested in Work in Progress because Abby McEnany is a Chicago improv performer who I've seen on stage a bunch of times (maybe you too, Old Lunch?). But I don't have Showtime.

Thought season one of Search Party was pretty good, then season two started turning into something I wasn't into and we bailed halfway through. Then we started using the HBO Whateverit'scallednow app and decided to try again, pushed through the rest of season two...and then season three was great! I was psyched that the show had finally found its footing and looked forward to what was next!

Season four will, um, very pointedly not be making it onto my 2021 ballot.

I watched S3 and S4 back to back recently (since I can now watch HBO Max via Roku), and I actually preferred S4. There was some fun moments in S3, and I especially liked Michaela Watkins and Louie Anderson, but some elements of the courtroom comedy just seemed a little stale. I found S4 more compelling and unpredictable.

If S1 and S3 are your favorites, OL, maybe you just don't like when the show goes too dark? My wife liked S1, but bailed after S2 because the show got "too murdery." I think the show definitely walks a tightrope between frothy social comedy and edgy psycho-drama, and the balance doesn't work all the time, but I like the mix.

Wow, surprised that finished so high. (Says one of the seven voters...mostly because I wanted a semi-full ballot; it was a really up and down season.)

― clemenza, Friday, February 12, 2021 7:36 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I was one of the other Killing Eve voters & cosign this view.

It occurred to me that, with the possible exception of David Letterman, I’ve spent more time watching Alex Trebek than any other person on television. A few decades ago, Trebek self-consciously adopted a more parochial tone, often casually belittling or betraying an unconsidered sexist or ageist response to the contestants. It was clearly quizmaster schtick but it got stale as more contestants strayed from the atypical player profile. He reigned it back in a bit in his final years, but there was always a risk of being treated like a dolt if you dared an uneducated guess, especially if it regarded Canada.

All that said, his intonation, clarity and consistency were nearly flawless. That made it all the more jarring when, in the final clue of his final game and on a question that effected the likelihood of a potential winner, he flubbed by stating the question after a contestant’s mistaken guess and not allowing other players to buzz in. The producers rapidly set off an end-of-game signal but I'd never seen Trebek make such an error. It was a heartbreaking sign of just how much he had covered up how ill he really was and an astonishing testament to his consistency over the prior forty years.

I think Ken Jennings has been, thus far, an excellent host but it’s still a little jarring not to hear Alex’s voice every day. I actually miss him.

https://i.imgur.com/Jpr9VuW.jpg
#26 - Jeopardy (Syndication) - 51 points, 8 votes, 2 top 5 votes
NB: Top Syndicated Program, Top Game Show
Will that guy on Jeopardy ever lose?
Alex Trebek suffers 'minor heart attack'

Trailer
Goodbye to Alex
Ken’s First Game
Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/08/arts/television/alex-trebek-dead.html
https://jeopardylabs.com/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/01/08/alex-trebek-final-jeopardy-episode/

If S1 and S3 are your favorites, OL, maybe you just don't like when the show goes too dark?

I'd say that's accurate. S4 was basically a horror movie with some jokes sprinkled among the psychosis. I don't have an issue with darkness, but the tone of Search Party just wobbles way too wildly for me to hang with it. This season was just kinda bad vibes city without much of a point.

I think that people who don't watch Brockmire think they know what kind of a show it is, but it's not that kind of a show. It's romantic and warm and non-judgemental and funny. People should watch it.

Our lives are transient, but Jeopardy! is eternal

Two of television’s great comedic actors helped make our #25 a critical and popular hit but it missed me entirely. Six of you repped for Dead to Me; what’s it got going for it?

https://i.imgur.com/1EaBC6e.jpg
#25 - Dead to Me (Netflix) - 53 points, 6 votes, 3 top 5 votes
But Is It on Netflix? - Streaming Video Service Thread: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube TV, AT+T Watch, Philo, Playstation Vue, HBO Max, HBO Now, Facebook Live and many more

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a32368562/dead-to-me-season-2-review/
https://www.vulture.com/2020/05/dead-to-me-netflix-season-2-review.html

I didn't vote and completely forgot that I watched Dead to Me this year. What it's got going for it imo is pretty much the awesome performances of the 2 leads, but those performances justify a placement (though this feels a little high). A great depiction of 2 idiosyncratic, seriously flawed and broken women finding solace in their friendship despite how different they are from each other. Expectations are not very high for future seasons as it is heading in some very ridiculous directions though

I was the #1 vote for Work in Progress. Honestly, I'm grateful that I even remembered to vote for it, as it was pre-pandemic, and I still have a hard time conceiving of anything pre-March as being a part of 2020. I can't do better than forks' description here: "deeply human and caring, willing to explore taboo subjects without preface, effortlessly inclusive, genuinely funny and remarkably well acted." Plus, one of the very funniest celebrity cameos that I've ever seen in anything (no,I wouldn't dream of spoiling it).

I was also one of the Killing Eve voters. I agree that there was a noticeable drop-off this season, but one great stand-alone episode (the one set entirely in Russia) and an effective final scene in the season finale kept my feelings for the show on the positive side.

I think I was also one of the top 5 votes for Jeopardy? forks' intro above is lovely, and echoes my sentiments pretty much exactly. I had been dreading Alex's passing since his diagnosis was first announced, but then he ended up passing away two days after my father died, at which point I was too numb to really even respond to the news. I wasn't watching much of anything during the week or so after that, but when I was ready again, having a bunch of Alex's final episodes stored up in my PVR was poignant, and possibly even a bit therapeutic--watching those last episodes infused with the weight of losing my father, and our collective loss of Alex, took me back 30 years to the experience of the many dinners my family would have, sitting on the couch in front of our TV trays while watching and playing along with Jeopardy.

i mostly voted for jeopardy because of the greatest of all-time tourney, which was truly riveting television.

And just as I post that, another one of my top shows appears! Career-best work from the two leads, and a show that always stays funny and believably human even when its plot looks, as it frequently does, like it might soon veer off into ridiculousness.

If you weren’t watching the impeccably filmed, cast and acted British monarchy soap opera and comedy of manners The Crown, your mother probably was.

https://i.imgur.com/ieOrYXK.jpg
#24 - The Crown (Netflix) - 54 points, 8 votes, 2 top 5 votes
But Will There Be Corgis? Thread Where We Discuss Netflix's THE CROWN

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/arts/television/the-crown-history-season-4-netflix.html
https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a34823816/the-crown-season-4-controversy/

Alex Garland, of Ex Machina and Annihilation fame, is known for his didactic, tech-heavy, convoluted, slow-paced and bleak sci-fi. Presumably hoping to replicate their success with Noah Hawley, FX gave him a seven-hour mini-series that I have yet to try. Can any of our nonet of voters convince me to give it a go?

https://i.imgur.com/kfsZvcT.jpg
#23 - Devs (Hulu) - 56 points, 9 votes, 2 top 5 votes
A thread for Devs, the new Alex Garland show on FX/HBO (with SPOILERS)

Trailer
'Devs' Is A Show About 'Everything'
Website
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-reviews/devs-review-fx-hulu-alex-garland-958979/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/devs-explained-creator-alex-garland-breaks-down-fx-hulu-drama-1288022

Lol at doing a Moka-on-Grimes and giving The Crown the single minute it deserves

Devs was mostly leaden pretentious nonsense with a few good ideas and nice visuals. A shame because I usually quite like Garland.

DEVS was pretentious nonsense, but it was also Absolutely My Shit

Shoutout to Alison Pill's brilliant icy-warm performance

I voted for Devs, but it was the bottom entry on my ranked ballot. It balanced out as a net "enjoyed", but the characterisations felt stiff and unengaging.

Sonoya Mizuno was pretty wooden, but I thought everyone else was fine-to-great

The second season of the 90’s nostalgia cringe comedy with a twist - co-creator thirtysomethings Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play semi-autobiographical 13 year old versions of themselves and no one seems to notice they’re clearly not teenagers - got darker, better and more ambitious. Seven more episodes are still on the way at a date TBA.

https://i.imgur.com/V3zcB6P.jpg
#22 - PEN15 (Hulu) - 59 points, 8 votes, 3 top 5 votes
STUFF ON HULU
https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=77&threadid=85089

Trailer
Sample Clip
Konkle, Erskine and Peretti
Website
https://ew.com/tv/tv-reviews/pen15-season-2-review/
https://www.vulture.com/article/pen15-hulu-season-two-review.html

Devs was fine bottom-half-of-my-ballot fodder. I could tell from early on it was going to be vaporous nonsense but it was easy on the eyes. Something about the 'secret actual name of the show you don't learn until the end' + 'name of earlier Garland project' = 'DO U SEE WHAT WE DID THERE' formulation made it all seem a bit like an elaborate attempt at a clever joke.

Pen15 was def in my top 5. Just excellent empathetic cringe comedy.

Expanse fans are probably the most avid supporters of a currently going sci-fi show around. The buzz from everyone I’ve talked to is pretty standard: give it a season to warm up and you’ll be fully hooked. But what is the secret sauce behind a show that four voters put in their top five? School us, space nerds.

What are Expanse hive called anyway? Rock Hoppers?

https://i.imgur.com/Zgjnmcu.jpg
#21 - The Expanse (Amazon) - 60 points, 5 votes, 4 top 5 votes
Is anybody else watching The Expanse?

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/the-expanse-season-5-review
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse/

the school play arch season two of pen15 builds to was up there with anything I saw on tv last year, sublime

I'm there with you; super happy that they decided to get ambitious and build toward a setpiece instead of "MY PERSONAL MOMENT"
all the theater kid shit hit so squarely true and honestly observed, especially the techie/actor divide.

every year, i think the same thing: man there's so much fuckin tv to watch

also I mention the back end of pen15 as a good deal of the first half of the season is a brutal acid test for how much social and emotional discomfort the viewer is willing to contend with bc jfc

Tim Rogers - the inquisitive, obsessive, former YouTube reviewer for Kotaku and possessor of a self-professed painfully eidetic memory - never met an idea that he couldn’t expand upon. Having left Kotaku at the end of 2019 to start his own video game review and development hub, ActionButton.com, Rogers has since released a total of five heavily-produced YouTube reviews over the past nine months. The shortest (for Pac-Man) is three hours, the longest is six and concerns a 1994 Japanese-only dating sim called Tokimeki Memorial. This kind of content defines niche entertainment, but I'd go so far as to say that a love for video games isn't required to appreciate an Action Button review. You just have to love a specific sort of neurodivergent enthusiasm. For those of us who have embraced Rogers' wildly specific and deeply personal digressions and remarkable shaggy dog anecdotes, each new review offers an entire week of viewing and insight into a truly unique mind. In the words of his own memorable sign-off, Rogers was born stupid but he will not die hungry.

https://i.imgur.com/7YmcFDy.jpg
#20 - Action Button (YouTube) - 61 points, 6 votes, 3 #1 votes, 3 top 5 votes
thread of tim rogers content (do not read if you hate tim rogers)

210 Minutes about Doom
Shopping for Furniture
Website
YouTube
Twitch
https://www.slashfilm.com/the-quarantine-stream-action-button-reviews-video-games-on-youtube-unlike-anyone-else-reviewing-video-games-on-youtube/

TRUCK HECK

I love the expanse so much.

Tim just reading the names of old Namco arcade cabinets is pure poetry

pic.twitter.com/S2CwNITXHD

— Tim Rogers out of Context (@108minusContext) January 23, 2021

The new season of Big Mouth dropped in December, making me wonder how many voters were specifically excited about the show’s work for 2020 and how many just generally liked the franchise. Episode synopsis suggest the new season is more of the same surprisingly sophisticated animated comedy takes on teen gross-out topics (constipation, hand jobs, periods, jerking off) that got it eyeballs in the first place, but I’d like it if a fan could let us know if the quality has dropped off at all?

https://i.imgur.com/MbAqetD.jpg
#19 - Big Mouth (Netflix) - 64 points, 7 votes, 1 #1 vote, 4 top 5 votes
But Is It on Netflix? - Streaming Video Service Thread: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube TV, AT+T Watch, Philo, Playstation Vue, HBO Max, HBO Now, Facebook Live and many more

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://tv.avclub.com/big-mouth-season-4-shatters-friendships-and-feelings-t-1845736134

trainspotting Tim’s hair variations the last six months has been my truest passion

top 20 is where shows become fair game for the gasface right

i can't peel that tangerine for you man, you gotta make your own call

FX’s six hour+ miniseries about the glory days of second-wave American feminism boasted a frankly outrageous cast (Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Margo Martindale, Tracey Ullmann, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash, Jeanne Tripplehorn) and AAA movie production values.

https://i.imgur.com/3bEduUP.jpeg
#18 - Mrs. America (Hulu/BBC) - 66 points, 9 votes, 3 top 5 votes
Mrs America (2020) - Hulu/BBC

Trailer
Sample Clips
US Website
UK Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/arts/television/mrs-america-review.html

Glad to see that--I posted about it a few times during its run and thought I was the only one watching.