Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2019

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.

that never truly dimmed at any point, too

lol xpost

Colbert's monologues were always pretty good in the beginning. I still watch every so often and it's a mixture of decent and "maybe all the writers were sick today"

I like Seth Myers' Closer Look segments (well, my wife likes them more, I probably wouldn't watch 'em on my own) and yes they're good though Myers has such a weird delivery, he talks so fast and trips over himself a lot but I still like him

All I know of John Oliver is the recycled stream of quotes recited by one of my 9-year-old students. I think I like it best that way.

That’s not to say anything either way about John Oliver, I just recommend recycled TV news.

whoever writes the A Closer Look segments for Seth Meyers is presumably working in an office on their own

turns out nearly - it's a former producer for Chris Hayes on MSNBC who writes the scripts overnight (eg from 8pm to 4am), edits to Meyers' notes at the office during the day (9am to 4pm), the writers' room do punch up after rehearsal in front of an audience at 4;15pm, main dude rushes new updates into script if relevant news breaks before taping at 6:30.

Like Oliver's long-form delving, love the stunts, but his delivery never transcends the material. Jon Stewart and Colbert could make me laugh even with weaksauce jokes. And I'll take Sam Bee's writing team over the other Daily Show alumni.

Still none of my 6 picks have shown up, although I expect to see 5 of them.

I don't know why but I find Oliver almost unwatchable, my parents love him to death but I just find it an unbearable smarm exercise

yeah one of my favorite people hates the schtick (oliver) but I have grown quite fond of it.

I like him but tend to watch his videos when people link them rather than week by week so I have no clue how many I saw in 2019 and how many of those were even from 2019

I still like him, but he suffers badly from presumed-male audience syndrome. All of his jokes are directed at men, and there are a looooot of dick jokes. It doesn't offend me, but it is a strangely exclusionary editorial voice for him to adopt.

Also, I find Dark funny. Especially the relentless rain. It can't not be a joke.

https://i.imgur.com/sIkXyF7.jpg
#22 - Unbelievable (Netflix) - 65 points, 6 votes

Your Ten Favorite Shows Currently on Television

Unbelievable on Netflix

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

All of my top 3 have placed, so the rest of this roll out will be me off to the side quietly shaking my head.

https://i.imgur.com/SZU0N8w.jpg
#21 - When They See Us (Netflix) - 65 points, 7 votes

Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

When They See Us on Netflix Website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3F9n_smGWY

https://i.imgur.com/GxKaYHC.jpg
#20 – The Righteous Gemstones (HBO) - 68 points, 9 votes

The Righteous Gemstones

The Righteous Gemstones on HBO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS89h7P_nZ8

I wasn't wild about the tidy ending to s1 but overall this was my favorite Jody Hill thing since early Eastbound

https://i.imgur.com/ei5gcph.jpg
#19 - Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 (Netflix) - 70 points, 6 votes

"Break up caused by meat! Break up caused by meat!" - The official TERRACE HOUSE thread

Terrace House:Tokyo 2019-2020 on Netflix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VueM03-5sCI