Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2019

(final post about Ainori I swear) the current season is doing similarly wonderful things in East Africa - they are game for any experience, any complicated historical message, anyone's house if they take a shine to them. nothing is sanitised (literally)

glad i decided to vote, since one of mine was for Too Old To Die Young. I posted these on the relevant threads:

I'm five episodes in now and I think it's really strong. the manner in which the five leads are all operating in vv different ways on paths of revenge for those who have been wronged is pretty interesting and the whole series being specifically from the very first scene about the violent effects of broken and/or evil men is pretty timely to say the least.
I saw someone online refer to episode 2 as basically Tarkovsky doing "Narcos" and that seems pretty otm, i mean obv not Tarkovsky-level but miles better than any of the bullshit in Narcos. Points to the show for clearly being super contemptuous of the police dept -- i love the Wolf of Wall Street style of Hart Bochner's homicide squad.

William Baldwin is insane in this. and James Urbaniak's villain in episode 5 was one of the most despicable creations I've seen in a long time. Miles Teller makes for a better blank slate than Ryan Gosling.

― omar little, Thursday, June 27, 2019 12:05 PM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

I finished Too Old To Die Young, which for all its promotion may as well have not even existed. I’m still marinating a bit on its themes but as a show that is at least partially devoted to the fascism of the police and features one character whose purpose seems to be visiting unholy vengeance upon men who hurt women, i appreciated it. It was extremely slow in a way that might try the patience of some (I do think the pace was a legitimate artistic choice and it didn’t bother me) and it almost literally lost the plot at the end but it had some incredible moments and I’m amazed that Amazon went anywhere near it. It was very on the nose but also just refreshing in that sense, and another legitimate choice.

― omar little, Friday, August 2, 2019 1:30 PM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

you'd imagine it would work well as a bit of prestige for Amazon, too. I recognize that any show being touted as "groundbreaking" needs to prove it, and yet i think it really did some interesting shit. i'm not really a Refn apologist per se but this was the type of programming i would like to see more of on streaming, which should have more room for such experimentation.

I suspect the content was too much for the corporate suits. I mean the extreme anti-cop stuff and the sexual content, i can see some cowards in the board room insisting that they completely ignore its existence. I'm sure they were perfectly cool w/the violence.

― omar little, Friday, August 2, 2019 3:40 PM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

i think episodes 5 & 8 were very much peak Refn. i *almost* want to call 5 a masterpiece. it really goes some places.

― omar little, Tuesday, August 6, 2019 1:29 PM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

There really aren’t too many good pieces on this. Most of the reviews I’ve read have been snarky negative pieces from sub-A.V. club types who don’t seem willing to engage with it on its own terms; lots of “LOL nothing happens, style over substance” opinions which I guess just tells me even more than before the very specific pace at which streaming-era TV is supposed to move allows no room for negotiation and that when a show arrives with some actual fervent opinions about America and violence they don’t even register (not that this hasn’t always been somewhat the case with film and TV, cf ppl taking Starship Troopers at face value etc etc). Anyway this is a very admirable bit of filmmaking, imperfect as it is.

― omar little, Sunday, October 6, 2019 1:40 PM (four months ago) bookmarkflaglink

it really does feel like the first post-The Return series, even if the production timeline almost certainly doesn't allow for that to be true

Xps Sorry, ulysses! We always compile our ballots separately and usually try to engineer them afterwards so they’re a bit less similar. Still, if it means more people end up watching esoteric British YouTube...

Thanks for the Too Old to Die Young write-ups, omar. It sounds genuinely weird - I will have to check it out.

i enjoyed witcher - i don't think it's great television or anything so this is a great spot for it but it's a good guilty pleasure better made than the Xenas and whatever of yesteryore which it gets lots of comparisons to

goes w/o saying that the Cliff Martinez score for TOTDY is outstanding.

tangent: lol, no need to apologize; the whole point was to bring in divergent viewpoints! I was just amused that anyone looking at your ballots would immediately say "well THEY'RE living together..."

https://i.imgur.com/7OnHnbc.jpg
#71 - Infinity Train (Cartoon Network) - 25 points, 2 votes

The New Adventures of ILXor: The Animated Series Poll voting and campaigning thread

Infinity Train on Cartoon Network

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXPZzXeGD6s

there are so many fucking shows

Always on the lookout for new animated shows that are good and not too pandering. What's this like?

i watched two episodes and liked it but got hung up on the glaring and unavoidable fact that it is meant for children and the script reflects that. i may need to retry.

they just wrapped "book 2" btw!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9livZeXARWU

my sneaking suspicion is that I would've been much better off if i had this to watch instead of Silverhawks as a kid but my window of enjoying this stuff is closed until i am watching it with a kid.

I do not particularly like Refn but Amazon tried so hard to bury TOTDY I remain tempted to watch it.

Oh no I just remembered I forgot to vote for the final season of Jane the Virgin! Was it on the list? I hope it shows up.

NARRATOR: But she had forgotten one thing...

https://i.imgur.com/NeYUhjy.jpg
#66 (Tie) - Truthpoint (Adult Swim) - 25 points, 3 votes

OK, which one of you is @BARTSIMSON_REAL?

Truthpoint on Adult Swim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKUQwgNkc1c

go ahead. keep screaming "Shut The Fuck Up " at me. it only makes my opinions Worse

— wint (@dril) March 10, 2018

Ahaha sorry everyone

This is obviously shit but I absolutely love it. Derek is so damn funny

It's the best sort of fiasco. Well, not the best - Tim and Gregg have that on lockdown - but a worthy pretender. *presses toilet effect button*

here's an equally subtle bookend

https://i.imgur.com/E6VFKUm.jpg
#66 (Tie) - The Boys (Amazon) - 25 points, 3 votes

What's good on Amazon Prime Video

The Boys on Amazon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06rueu_fh30

Derek is an absolute master of improvised weirdo irony. Dril is just... This show is all-out chaos.

Hated this

if i ever am in the mood for brainless, testosterone-fueled ultra-violence, maybe i'll give this a shot.

https://i.imgur.com/zyiZCg0.jpg
#66 (Tie) - Rick and Morty (Adult Swim) - 25 points, 3 votes

i'm mr meeseeks look at me rick and morty thread

Rick and Morty on Hulu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw6BrzB1drs

if i ever am in the mood for brainless, testosterone-fueled ultra-violence, maybe i'll give this a shot.

― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Monday, 10 February 2020 17:47 (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

this was a weird season, didn't vote for it. but it was still funny even when it ventured a bit too far up its own ass.

only the snakes episode lived up to the towering highs of season 3.

a good show whose risible fanbase makes this low slotting feel more deserved than it is

I didn't follow the nominations thread, so I'm curious what the criteria were for this poll. How was "series" defined: anything with multiple episodes? Also, I assume it had to air at least one episode in 2019, but are you voting just for the 2019 episodes or for the series as a whole?

Wow, the concept of Rick and Morty feels like a thing from the past for me, did not know it was still on

As mentioned at the top of the nominations thread: "Any series of three or more episodes qualifies as long as at least one of the series' episodes has premiered somewhere in the world in 2019. Acceptable nominations: YouTube/Twitch streamers with a recognizable episode to episode continuity whether fictional or presentational, webseries, streaming series, cable series, game shows, news shows, animation, talk shows. Not acceptable nominations: sports, concerts, one-off documentaries or films, music videos."

Bearing in mind the quality of prior seasons is admittedly kind of unavoidable but these votes should have been cast in the name of the quality and enjoyability of episodes released in 2019; a vote for Riverdale today is not a vote for season one.

https://i.imgur.com/8MxfYco.jpg
#66 (Tie) - Dear White People (Netflix) - 25 points, 3 votes

Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Dear White People on Netflix

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

ty, ulysses

Did not Giancarlo Esposito was on Dear White People! Liked the movie, never saw the show. Anybody wanna rep for it as a fan?

I thought this was the best season of DWP so far! Hugely meta and even more cynical than usual.

do i need much backstory or can i just jump in at s3?

Awwwww -- I am happy that two other people voted for DWP besides me!

why I like this show:
1. nostalgia -- not that I really want to go back to my time as a college student -- but it brings back memories (esp. w/r/t activists and other extra-curricular stuff)
2. a lot of people I know (I am white, they are white) tune out and get defensive about social justice stuff re race because of the didacticism of how it's communicated, and I feel like this show illustrates these concepts in a way that is ... better appreciated by white people

a good show whose risible fanbase makes this low slotting feel more deserved than it is

my main issue with it is the character design, at the risk of sounding like a boomer there's just no personality behind it whatsoever, it looks worse than Family Guy

the writing is pretty good though

https://i.imgur.com/48tB1Ar.jpg
#66 (Tie) - Big Mouth (Netflix) - 25 points, 3 votes

Big Mouth on Netflix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70CN9XeDnf0

I think the show really expanded and improved upon the themes of the movie. Plot-wise it doesn’t quite all hang together and a lot of it feels compiled with the urgency of renewal fears, but that’s heavily referenced in the script a la Arrested Development. In S3 there’s a nice show within a show. It’s really enjoyable as a whole and extremely of this moment.

xp hmm...I think start from the beginning. It sets up a lot of enigmas that are only just opening up in S3. You’ll fly through it in a few days though, I think

speaking of hideous character design xp

sarahell otm

I tried to watch this and just couldn't. But it's placed low so I can't really hate...hate is reserved for the stuff you like en masse lol

weakest season of big mouth so far, not enough coach steve or shame wizard. some of it was too gross even for this show, and it wasn't as weirdly heart-warming as it's been in years past. still some belly laughs, though.

https://i.imgur.com/GwlsIB8.jpg
#64 (Tie) - His Dark Materials (HBO) - 25 points, 4 votes

HIS DARK MATERIALS

His Dark Materials on HBO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APduGe1eLVI

I'm teaching the first HDM book to a student of mine! We watched half the first episode of this and it looked pretty competently done. The books themselves, while very good, aren't free of fault (they're a bit fussy in tone and there are a few baked-in inconsistencies) so I'm fine with a bit of creative license. Seems fairly reverent though. I've only seen half an episode, as I say - maybe I'll watch some more at some point when the backlog is exhausted

Lack of Coach Steve was a massive boost to the last season of Big Mouth fuiud

Not a lot of note seemed to happen compared to previous seasons tho

https://i.imgur.com/5UB50xk.jpg
#64 (Tie) - Brockmire (IFC) - 25 points, 4 votes

Your Ten Favorite Shows Currently on Television

Brockmire on Hulu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt4IiGtyuTs

^ highly underrated show in general and this season was as well written and acted as it has ever been
post-Apu Azaria is among my fave actors

:(

the show is good / messy in an interesting way -- would have been just as enjoyable (if not more so) if it was not Watchmen-branded

Honorable mention acting award of the year goes to Meryl Streep on Big Little Lies. This season wasn't good enough to nom or vote for, and I'm fairly 'meh' on Streep in general but this was probably my favorite performance of hers. I was incessantly infuriated every time she was onscreen. A supercut of her scenes is highly recommended if you can find one. Also Laura Dern had a whole lot more to do this season and was v v good. If you're looking for high-quality performances in a show that doesn't quite gel or fully satisfy as a show, you could do worse, is what I'm saying here.

heh, that show is set where my family is from, and apparently is fairly "authentic" in terms of personality types, so I have been avoiding it, much the same way that my friends who work in tech don't watch Silicon Valley.

any of you ever watch...

tientsin mystic
couples therapy
are you the one (season 8)?

(xpost) Damn, somehow I missed Big Little Lies, too. S2 wasn't as good as S1, but--mostly because of Streep--it would have been third on my list.

Almost done w Too old to die young. It’s very good... possibly even better than twin peaks... well it makes more sense anyway lol

Discovering Ainori from this poll and it is INCREDIBLE thanks everyone!

watched chernobyl, fuck wildly good; it was written on a scene-to-scene level impeccably

Let the party begin. A new season of Tuca and Bertie is coming to Adult Swim in 2021. @aliwong @TiffanyHaddish @lisadraws pic.twitter.com/dmR9yUaTMz

— adultswim (@adultswim) May 22, 2020

some good news!

Excellent news

v positive

Sad ending to the Terrace House saga, didn't know about this
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/arts/television/terrace-house-suicide.html

has been one of the biggest stories in the pro wrestling world this year, which is saying something. she had a very bright future, was one of the first women to perform at the january 4 tokyo dome show, the biggest annual event in japanese wrestling.

the one thing that stuck out to me before 'the truth' came out was how much faith TH fans seemed to have that the show was more authentic, less scripted than american reality TV. like maybe it's presented with more subtlety and ridiculous camera cuts so people assume it's more documentary-like, and general weebishness drives american fans to think japanese products don't lie like the american ones do

i checked in on the TH subreddit a lot after it happened and while there weren't any "she deserved to die" posts there was a massive amount of "[i wasn't the biggest fan of her]/[she was in the wrong in the laundry incident]/[she should've behaved better]... but she didn't deserve the abuse." like it's still reality tv, it's still bullshit, it shouldn't take someone dying for people to learn it's a presentation and shouldn't be taken at face value. dumbass wrestling fans seemed to get that immediately.

*less ridiculous camera cuts, ykwim

*.....fewer

More polls should include a link to the winners at the bottom of the thread so it's easy to find.
Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2019

it's not the bottom anymore