Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2019

Top three on the way

too low

my #1

lol, A+ fakeout

did anyone watch chernobyl? are all the voters out to lunch?

― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Saturday, February 15, 2020 7:46 AM (eighteen minutes ago)

fuck this union-busting creep btw

On Cinema's prescience crosses over to Decker in that the alternating squinting / open-pursed lips acting range is exactly exactly Trump's childlike notion of performative toughness

definitely disagree with Mr America as a capsule summary of On Cinema for newbie btw, though it probably works fine as a tiny weird stand-alone


I lost interest in Killing Eve pretty early on in s1 and no one seemed to think s2 was an improvement

― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Saturday, February 15, 2020 2:52 AM (four hours ago)

S2 of Killing Eve was pretty poor. Surprised to see it so high

― groovypanda, Saturday, February 15, 2020 3:09 AM (three hours ago)

groovypanda otm

How does this compare to the film (which I liked)

― imago, Saturday, February 15, 2020 6:14 AM (forty minutes ago)

it's astounding how well it compares to the film. it's not quite as great, but keeps the tone perfectly, doesn't exhaust the premises, invents loads of great new wrinkles to the set-up and even to modern vampirism, and even manages to preserve a touch of the charming parochialism of the original despite being set in NYC.

ulysses there, linking the only really great sketch from that tim robinson thing :P

also, good to know re: Shadows!

fuck this union-busting creep btw

settle down, bud

feels like a good time to mention that Tim Heidecker's appearance on this show is incredible

The way I Think You Should Leave was meme'd told me that Mr. Show would have been huge if social media had been around in the 90s. Also, too low.

maybe the Instagram sketch is so great it justifies the show's position here

I didn't really get much else as hard (with a few exceptions) - too much mudpie, too much pandering to basic crudeness idk. maybe it'll grow on me if i finish the season

The way I Think You Should Leave was meme'd told me that Mr. Show would have been huge if social media had been around in the 90s.

totally though I think this show was designed with that in mind, there's a pretty conscious overlap between it and a lot of weird twitter stuff

I watched it all. It was fine. Not a fan. People I like a lot love it.

ulysses there, linking the only really great sketch from that tim robinson thing :P

― imago, Friday, February 14, 2020 4:08 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://media.giphy.com/media/UQIASPdRVXUjeOP6XK/giphy.gif

its definitely hit and miss but one advantage of the show is that the sketches actually end pretty quickly

on the thread someone posted the "Roundball Rock" sketch from SNL which I think demonstrates exactly what's wrong the show...the premise of the sketch is hilarious but once its revealed there's nothing left to do and yet they make it go on for 7 minutes anyway. ITYSL doesn't have that problem

like all sketch shows it has peaks and valleys but the peaks (steering wheel, the worms are their money, turbo time, etc) stuck in my head since the first viewing

I didn't really get much else as hard (with a few exceptions) - too much mudpie, too much pandering to basic crudeness idk. maybe it'll grow on me if i finish the season

― imago, Friday, February 14, 2020 2:11 PM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the episodes are 15 minutes long ffs

also the show is fucking brilliant and eminently rewatchable

the instagram sketch is great but i think... several are better. especially "fully-loaded nachos"

instagram sketch is def very good, but also probably the most conventional thing in the series.

the hot dog suit one

laser spine specialists

your family hates you! only i love you!

the Fred Willard sketch may be my favorite. next to the game show with "The Chunky"

i mean, even the "conventional" instagram sketch features the line "Slurping down fish piss with these two wet chodes"

the Fred Willard sketch may be my favorite. next to the game show with "The Chunky"

― frogbs, Friday, February 14, 2020 2:22 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

this one's somber, so it's all right to cry. it's called "he layeth on high," and it's about a big baby duck who gets his head caught in a stewed tomato

my condolences!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uy3e_1t4bs

no matter who you are, you've met howie

oh lol never mind the video in that clip freezes :(

i guess you'll never know about jazz legends like roy donk and tiny boop squig shorterly

ey, my gazpacho soup is heah

the will forte airplane sketch is another favorite, but i'm a sucker for will forte

https://i.imgur.com/Fg4jzqF.jpg
#3 - Barry (HBO) - 160 points, 17 votes

Bill Hader in HBO's Barry

Barry on HBO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir1_hjemxNA

good show

I appreciated that the ronny/lily episode of Barry showed up the massively hyped GoT episode that aired directly before it.

lol yes, that was an excellent moment in programming synergy

I Think You Should Leave was the funniest show of the year, the only one that made me laugh in truly unexpected ways.

gonna wrap this up before 5. Any thoughts on your top two and margin of victory?

watched s1 of barry, thought it was ok but the HBO antihero bullshit was starting to make me feel queasy, so i didn't watch s2

LetterKenny #1 lets gooooo

Russian Doll & Fleabag surely

I'm guessing Watchmen came this low because it's on HBO and so lots of folks are actually priced out of watching it. I waited until I was at my parents house and then binged it in a week. Somehow missed the nom or I would have put it over "Kingdom." The idea of "prestige TV drama" is so highly overrated -- I feel like these shows are always things I experience more as "this is objectively well-made and thus merits my attention" while Watchmen I really wanted to, well, watch, which I guess answers that question.

Joe Pera robbed of its rightful #1 spot.

yup

Oh then again Barry is on HBO too! (Which is why I've never seen it except on the plane. But to be honest I experience it as exactly the kind of show I refer to above; everybody in it acts really well, the lines are well-written, I just -- find it easy to walk away from.)

Shows I have never seen and am truly excited to watch based on descriptions here, so far: Lodge 49, Joe Pera

Excited for you, eephus!

yeah excited about those two, too. I just tried On Cinema but noped out pretty quickly.

really you have to discover On Cinema via a YouTube rabbithole

Like Brad said, it's kind of boring, but sticking with it pays off so well on so many occasions. It is a big commitment though.

https://i.imgur.com/dchgv4a.jpg
#2 - Fleabag (Amazon) - 185 points, 19 votes

Fleabag

Fleabag on Amazon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX2ViKQFL_k

https://i.imgur.com/NHkWVKf.jpg
#1 - Russian Doll (Netflix) - 260 points, 25 votes

“Happy Birthday Baby!” Talk about Russian Doll on Netflix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jRh2PRa1tU

Russian Doll on Netflix

”Russian Doll: What to Read About the Hit Netflix Series”

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