Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2019

Agreed that Sex Education is awesome, it's the most life-affirming, empathetic, beautifully inclusive show on the telly right now... Well, besides Steven Universe, of course. Glad to see both of them place, though they're both too low. IMO Steven Universe was the best TV show of the 2010s.

I'd say it would only take two episodes for someone to figure out whether or not they'd like it. 2xp haha there's weird alien shit in a sense

I saw S1 of SE (out of extreme boredom) and don't remotely understand the Lynch reference.

I was going to say all of that honest!

If I may play the Otis to your Maeve, this show is the most convincingly surreal mass-market UK show in...decades? Kitchen sink drama has been cast away, and replaced with some exotic and highly erudite melange of Whit Stillman, Freaks & Geeks, 13 Reasons Why, 10 Things I Hate About You...all the best US teen fare, in essence, transported to our once-dingy, now somehow gloriously exalted isle and pumped full of psychoanalysis and sex hormones (I was gonna say Adrian Mole ffs haha) until it quivers right on the edge of madness. No idea how it was greenlit or made (the SETS) but the fact it's such a success is testament to how hungry the UK viewing public was for something that aspires for our nation to be more than just a vessel for no-nonsense grit. To paraphrase Pynchon, when Britain sleeps, does she dream? And when she dreams, does she dream of America?

All this for a show about horny teenagers *enormous Eric laugh*

okay, that's not entirely true -- if there are murders or weird alien shit, I can deal with tv teens and nouveau riche idiots

― sarahell, Thursday, February 13, 2020 4:23 PM (fifty-three seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

how about vampires, and slayers thereof?

there are too many shows that I am fairly certain I would like that I haven't yet seen ... I also have no desire to watch the cooking shows everyone loves ... life is short, and I am old, yet busy.

Lol isn't there just weird alien shit

The surreal elements must be contained to s2 cause I found the first season almost aggressively conventional

xp voodoo - it's on my list of shows I haven't seen but want to.

Though part of my interest in Buffyverse is that it is a touchstone, "ur-text" for so much else. ... Like so many episodes of Supernatural are basically rewrites of Buffy episodes (or so I'm told) -- which explains the weird gendering of Dean Winchester.

Yes, having spotless boys' toilets and girls' toilets that more closely resemble a derelict jungle lair is totally conventional and in no way any kind of inspired and deeply surreal visual touch (among many, many others)

Maybe you have to be British to really get why it's so deliriously weird idk

Clearly.

Anyway, S2 is 2020's and will be hard to beat on my ballot in next year's poll.

The storylines might be conventional sometimes, but a lot of the characterisation is distinctly strange, and it's the collective details of the town that add up to create something far more than the sum of its parts.

Lynch might be a bit of a stretch (though the surrealness is amped up in S2), but I was thinking particularly of the isolated sets: the derelict bathroom, a perfectly symmetrical 'trailer park' in a valley somewhere, a distinctly old-fashioned restaurant, a breakfast table overlooking a ravine, the busstop in the middle of nowhere.

It's surreal in the way Whit Stillman's Damsels In Distress was surreal - it creates a completely & insanely idiosyncratic world out of familiar materials

Jessica Jones was/has been super cathartic for me. I understand that some people (probably most people) are not viewing it the way I am, so I'm not gonna get all "how do you not see how great this show is" on this thread.

but like, in terms of dealing with the trauma of having been in that kind of an abusive relationship, it felt super real -- and even though that was more of a Season 1 thing, it still carried over into last year's season, because that trauma does stay with you. Also, the Trish wanting to be a hero like Jessica -- that's also been a "thing" in my life, so this past season was also really personal for me.

arresting all of you for watching a show about teenagers fucking

pretty sure Riverdale will place too

it's probably the marvel thing that I find most interesting/best, although the Trish character... maybe it's a problem of bad casting for that.

oh and going back a long ways because I just saw this thread. Dear White People is very good. I like the show better than the movie I guess? Start at the beginning, season 3 was kind of throwaway which they do meta address otm.

I should give Ainori Love Wagon another try.

I'm kinda curious about this Dude Lets Flats show ... would a non-British person be able to appreciate it?

tt: "Say 'yes, watch it, don't be put off by my stupid comments'"

which American TV shows are people in other countries not able to appreciate?

football

Baseball.

xp - I would imagine there are plenty of American shows about American things that people in/from other countries don't find interesting/don't give a fuck about. Idk -- like, I honestly find Seinfeld annoying because it's so much about NYC and I have never lived there and I kinda don't need to be reminded of the self-importance of NYC, which I can envision non-Americans thinking about America as a nation.

the office

i'm kinda surprised IASIP is popular elsewhere

I like baseball (go Rangers, I guess?) and I started watching Brockmire, which seems like it might have legs. Will see where it goes. I do like most TV.

there are a lot of american shows that don't translate well.

fyi we just began S2E5 of SE and it opens with the words "I don't get it" "You're not meant to, it's surreal"

:)

Seinfeld's funny.

The Mike Schur seasons of The Office are a really well-done ensemble sitcom with a genuinely warm & engaging wt/wt.

Always Sunny is a sitcom about terrible people being horrible to each other, like Bottom or Mother & Son or Fat Pizza or most of Galton & Simpson's writing. It's one of the most common sitcom premises!

Brockmire S1 worked absolutely fine without knowing anything about baseball. (Azaria makes his completely reprehensible character far more likeable than the types of rapey oafs who cross from sports commentary into general public awareness in Australia.)

I didn't find Seinfeld funny. It seemed like self-absorbed people from NYC having awkward NYC moments. I base this opinion on having watching parts of two episodes. Sorry, that is just how I feel.

https://i.imgur.com/TtkPa5T.jpg
#24 - Last Week Tonight (HBO) - 60 points, 8 votes

Hello, buglers! John Oliver has a weekly show, "Last Week Tonight"

Last Week Tonight on YouTube Website

Last Week Tonight on HBO Website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN8bJb8biZU

we got him

https://i.imgur.com/L5IOxQt.jpg
#23 - Veep (HBO) - 63 points, 10 votes

A thread for Armando Iannucci's VEEP

Veep on HBO Website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCTJFLv78s4

23 - Veep (HBO) - 63 points, 10 votes
24 - Last Week Tonight (HBO) - 60 points, 8 votes
25 - Great British Bake Off (Channel 4, Netflix) - 60 points, 7 votes
26 (Tie) - Sex Education (Netflix) - 60 points, 6 votes
26 (Tie) - True Detective (HBO) - 60 points, 6 votes
26 (Tie) - Years and Years (BBC, HBO) - 60 points, 6 votes
29 - Jeopardy (ABC) - 58 points, 7 votes
30 - Catastrophe (Amazon) - 55 points, 7 votes
31 - Steven Universe (Cartoon Network) - 50 points, 5 votes
32 (Tie) - ContraPoints (YouTube) - 45 points, 6 votes
32 (Tie) - Dark (Netflix) - 45 points, 6 votes
32 (Tie) - Derry Girls (Channel 4, Netflix) - 45 points, 6 votes
32 (Tie) - High Maintenance (HBO) - 45 points, 6 votes
36 - Broad City (Comedy Central) - 45 points, 5 votes
37 (Tie) - Corporate (Comedy Central) - 41 points, 6 votes
37 (Tie) - Pen15 (Hulu) - 41 points, 6 votes
39 - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) - 40 points, 6 votes
40 (Tie) - Desus and Mero (Showtime) - 40 points, 5 votes
40 (Tie) - Gentleman Jack (BBC, HBO) - 40 points, 5 votes
40 (Tie) - The Expanse (Amazon) - 40 points, 5 votes
43 - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX) - 40 points, 4 votes
44 - Silicon Valley (HBO) - 38 points, 5 votes
45 - The Good Place (NBC) - 35 points, 5 votes
46 (Tie) - Kingdom (Netflix) - 33 points, 4 votes
46 (Tie) - Stath Lets Flats (Channel 4) - 33 points, 4 votes
48 (Tie) - Game of Thrones (HBO) - 30 points, 4 votes
48 (Tie) - Pose (FX) - 30 points, 4 votes
48 (Tie) - The Dragon Prince (Netflix) - 30 points, 4 votes
48 (Tie) - Tuca and Bertie (Netflix) - 30 points, 4 votes
48 (Tie) - Veronica Mars (Hulu) - 30 points, 4 votes
53 (Tie) - 63 Up (ITV, UK) - 30 points, 3 votes
53 (Tie) - Bosch (Amazon) - 30 points, 3 votes
53 (Tie) - Euphoria (HBO) - 30 points, 3 votes
53 (Tie) - Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC) - 30 points, 3 votes
53 (Tie) - Queer Eye (Netflix) - 30 points, 3 votes
53 (Tie) - Repair Shop (BBC, Netflix) - 30 points, 3 votes
53 (Tie) - The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix) - 30 points, 3 votes
53 (Tie) - This Time with Alan Partridge (BBC) - 30 points, 3 votes
61 - SB Nation's Chart Party (YouTube) - 28 points, 5 votes
62 (Tie) - Documentary Now! (IFC, stream on Netflix) - 28 points, 4 votes
62 (Tie) - Ramy (Hulu) - 28 points, 4 votes
64 (Tie) - Brockmire (IFC, stream on Hulu) - 25 points, 4 votes
64 (Tie) - His Dark Materials (HBO) - 25 points, 4 votes
66 (Tie) - Big Mouth (Netflix) - 25 points, 3 votes
66 (Tie) - Dear White People (Netflix) - 25 points, 3 votes
66 (Tie) - Rick and Morty (Adult Swim, stream on Hulu) - 25 points, 3 votes
66 (Tie) - The Boys (Amazon) - 25 points, 3 votes
66 (Tie) - Truthpoint (Adult Swim, Stream on YouTube) - 25 points, 3 votes
71 - Infinity Train (Cartoon Network, stream on web) - 25 points, 2 votes
72 - The Witcher (Netflix) - 20 points, 4 votes
73 - Jessica Jones (Netflix) - 20 points, 3 votes
74 (Tie) - GeoWizard's Mission Across Wales (YouTube) - 20 points, 2 votes
74 (Tie) - Ainori Love Wagon: Asian Journey (Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes
74 (Tie) - Nailed It! (Netflix US) - 20 points, 2 votes
74 (Tie) - Too Old To Die Young (Amazon) - 20 points, 2 votes

around the time Trump became the GOP nominee Oliver's shtick crossed over from funny to tired as fuck for me and it never improved from what I've caught since

final season of veep was mostly good, but the finale was one of the better sitcom episodes i've ever seen.

earned a vote from me.

tbh that goes for pretty much all late night comedy, although for some reason Jimmy Kimmel is still kinda funny

xp

i found oliver's schtick went from repetitive to endearing to me. prolly because I am exhausted as fuck with everyone else's bullshit.

I am amused about how high one of my (our) shows is going to be.

Hai

:D

Veep was my #5 I think. Every time I thought about that final season it rose up my ballot. Phenomenal show with an extremely satisfying arc and v glad it rose above John Oliver. The rare show with 5+ seasons that never truly dimmed at any point, too

konbanwa!

the writing on Oliver's show is so far ahead of regular late-night shows that I don't get how Colbert isn't too embarrassed to do his 'monologue' every night. whoever writes the A Closer Look segments for Seth Meyers is presumably working in an office on their own, as they have a decent structure and more to say than facile appearance and ignorance jokes, although they do have to stay on a "let's let off steam at 1am" tone instead of laying out how the actual functions of a government being hollowed out for authoritarianism is (*checks notes*) alarming

dropped out of Veep midway through the first LA season, dropped back in for the final year and it had improved substantially

Sorry, that is just how I feel.

not arguing with your own opinion! just saying that's how it read to people on the other side of the planet - it was a big success in Australia, ran in repeats year-round on the station that had rights to the bulk of it. (Started on a different network, and later seasons were first-run-only on FTA.) Netflix last year paid c. $600 million for global rights from 2021, up from the $130 million Hulu paid for US rights in 2015, so we can all breathe easy that Steve Bannon will be kept in double shirts through the next presidential administration there's presumably research showing other countries have been able to follow it before.