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

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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Website
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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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