Tag: Netflix

Best 15 New TV Shows of 2023

~ Scott ~ Leave a comment

It feels a little weird to talk about the best new TV shows of 2023 when it’s July 2024. But once again, I’m a little behind in getting this out. However, I am still three weeks ahead of when I put out last year’s list.

In fact, I would like to go back and revise my top 15 lists for the last decade where I’ve been doing this. But for now, let’s just focus on 2023, which started incredibly strong. Most of my top series were released before my birthday in April.

There was that one weekend in early April where Netflix dropped Beef, and then that Sunday night’s episode of Succession was the one where you know who died off screen. That was an incredible weekend of television, one that could go unrivaled for some time.

As you’ll see in my list, limited series are really starting to take over these days. So many shows have recently ended or will end with their next season. It’s getting harder to sustain something great for three or more seasons, and sometimes they bring a limited series back when maybe it should have stayed a limited series.

But I can complain about Shogun next summer. Let’s get on with the 2023 list.

Note: Limited series and anime are included; all documentary series are excluded. I try my best to limit spoilers (but no promises).

15. Scavengers Reign (Max)

If you want an animated sci-fi series with a colorful, unique world and a progressively engrossing plot, Scavengers Reign will hit the spot. Don’t go in expecting anything like Aliens or Star Wars. This is more like if Primal was turned into a futuristic sci-fi series about exploring a new planet. Psychedelic drug users may also find a lot of value in this one, which was already cancelled but bought by Netflix with an uncertain future.

I don’t think the voice acting and overall plot are strong enough to move it into all-time status, but it’s worth the time.

14. The Curse (Showtime)

My best advice is if you want to watch The Curse, please make sure you’ve watched some of Nathan Fielder’s other work before like Nathan for You and The Rehearsal. If you already have and you don’t like his schtick, then you probably will hate this show since he acts very similar in it. However, he also shows more acting range than ever before, and Emma Stone is in her prime right now and does a great job as his wife.

Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) is the third lead, and you can literally play a game each episode trying to decide which of the main characters is the worst person on the show. Your answer will likely change too as we learn more about this couple and their phony personas for their HGTV shows about flipping houses.

The finale is insane, and unless you’ve been spoiled on it already, you’ll never guess how it ends. But this is definitely one for Nathan Fielder fans.

13. The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)

If you’ve watched Mike Flanagan’s other horror series for Netflix like The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, then you should have a good idea of what to expect here. I’d rank those two series ahead of this one, but this is still very good and arguably the darkest series yet.

All six children of a pharmaceutical company CEO die in a 2-week span. That’s not a spoiler. You find out through the course of the season how and why they died.

It does a great job of handling the flashbacks and different timelines. The aftermath of the party scene in episode 2 is traumatizing.

12. Pluto (Netflix)

It was a banner year for Netflix anime, and Pluto was one of the best as a sci-fi murder mystery. If you like anime like Psycho Pass and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, you’ll dig this for sure. A Blade Runner fan should also like it.

I won’t give away spoilers, but it follows a detective investigating a string of murders of robots and humans. Even the dubbed version is quality work.

11. Gen V (Amazon Prime)

I’ll avoid the Season 4 discourse of The Boys, especially after it dropped the worst episode in franchise history on the 4th of July. But Gen V is a worthy spin-off with a lot of new, younger characters and a fresh take on the same universe of The Boys.

Yes, you can expect the same over-the-top violence and a ridiculous CGI penis scene. But if you like The Boys, chances are you’ve watched this already.

10. Silo (Apple TV+)

Who would have guessed that Apple TV+ would become the top streaming service for sci-fi series? Silo was another strong entry led by Rebecca Ferguson’s character navigating a dystopian, underground community where people aren’t supposed to go to the surface unless they want to die a few steps after being exposed to the atmosphere.

Of course, there’s a big mystery and conspiracy over the truth of this silo and what’s outside. It’s a great show and the setting gives it a video game feel a la BioShock or Fallout Shelter.

Good to see Season 2 is on the way, because too often shows like this get cancelled.

9. Shrinking (Apple TV+)

My kind of dramedy with Jason Segel as a grieving therapist (his wife died in a car accident) who starts to take an active role in his patient’s lives. Perfectly cast. It bounces between his work and his life at home trying to raise his daughter alone.

It’s a quick binge with episodes of the perfect length. It’s also great to see Harrison Ford get to do some real acting in his old age instead of being forced to play Han Solo or Indiana Jones again.

8. A Small Light (National Geographic)

    You don’t expect such quality from National Geographic, but the show was also available quickly on Hulu and Disney+ where I watched it. This is about the family who helped hide Anne Frank’s family during World War II.

    Yes, you already know the ending is going to be sad, but it’s a well-paced WWII story. Could they have just made a 2-hour movie about Miep Gies? Sure, but I think the limited series approach did a good job of showing just how long they had to endure the horror of the war, and how tragic it was that they lost so much of the Frank family in the later stages of it.

    7. One Piece (Netflix)

    This really could have been a disaster given the numerous misses already on Netflix’s resume for making live-action adaptations of popular anime series. There’s also the fact that I have never watched the One Piece anime because I’m always afraid of my OCD completionist qualities taking over and having to finish over 1,000 episodes of a show I may not actually enjoy that much.

    So, there was a lot working against this for me. But I went into the first episode with an open mind and found it surprisingly enjoyable. Good cast, the action scenes didn’t look cheap, and the story kept my attention the whole way. By the end, I was looking forward to Season 2.

    Still not planning to start the anime anytime soon.

    6. Poker Face (Peacock)

    See, Peacock isn’t entirely useless. A “case of the week” show format usually isn’t my vibe, but they pull it off so well with great special guests and Natasha Lyonne doing her Columbo thing every episode.

    It’s a throwback but also feels modern and high budget, and the pilot gets you interested immediately with Lyonne on the run from some casino gangsters that accounts for the serialized part of the plot.

    Bring on Season 2.

    5. Jury Duty (Freevee)

    Huge points for originality and creativity, and it’s coming from Freevee? Even more reason to celebrate this unlikely success of a scripted show about a jury trial where everyone is an actor except for one guy named Ronald.

    Assuming he truly was being himself and was not clued in on what this was, it’s an excellent comedy experiment with James Marsden stealing the show as he plays a fictionalized version of himself.

    But Ronald makes the show work, because if this guy was an asshole, the show could have been a disaster. Any future attempts at a story like this could go really poorly if they pick the wrong person, which is why I still have some suspicions that he really had no idea this was all scripted and planned.

    It’s far from the funniest show you’ll ever see, but it is very entertaining, and you have to give some bonus points for creativity these days. This shit could have been the Night Court reboot instead.

    4. Daisy Jones & the Six (Amazon Prime)

    I picked a good weekend to binge this last year as I was going through some shit at the time. They basically take a 1970s rock band in the vein of Fleetwood Mac and make a documentary 20 years later about their success and downfall, complete with a love affair angle between the two lead singers of the band (Riley Keough and Sam Claflin).

    It’s not going to work for everyone, but it clicked for me. Definitely helps to be a fan of that era of rock bands and to enjoy music documentaries. I also find myself still listening to one of the songs the actors recorded for the show called “Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)” where you can instantly hear the Fleetwood Mac influence.

    3. Blue Eye Samurai (Netflix)

    I would call Blue Eye Samurai the best Netflix anime offering, except it’s not really a Japanese anime series. This is a beautiful mixture of 2D and 3D animation with scenes that look as cinematic as something you’d see in Kill Bill.

    In this tale of revenge, you get excellent storytelling, top-notch voice acting, and memorable fight sequences. This should go down as one of the best animated series ever made.

    2. The Last of Us (HBO)

    I’m ashamed to admit I bought The Last of Us many years ago for PlayStation 3 and have yet to play it. So, I went into this one cold about the plot, but the pilot instantly grabbed me. I knew the girl he was with in the game wasn’t his daughter, but why didn’t I connect the dots that something horrible was going to happen to his real daughter in the first episode? What a start.

    While I could not give you the comparison to the game, I’m not sure it matters. What they did stood on its own as damn good television. I was pumped each week to watch this, and I even enjoyed the “one-off” episodes with the gay couple and the flashback to the mall with Ellie’s friend. Not to mention the other moments that shocked me, someone oblivious to the game, like what happened to Tess and the young kid and father they met up with later.

    Hopefully the day will come when I get around to playing the game, but for a video game adaptation to lead to this good of a season of TV, I’m optimistic about what we could see down the road.

    Something tells me not many of these adaptations will be as well done as this season was.

    1. Beef (Netflix)

    If you saw me tweeting about Beef in April 2023, you probably knew I’d put this as the No. 1 new show of the year. When it came out, all I knew about it was that it was a road rage story with Steven Yeun. I didn’t really know anything about Ali Wong at the time, but she was great as Amy in this. Glad they cleaned up at the award shows for this.

    I was basically dialed in from the first episode. A dark dramedy? That’s my genre. Loved the way they escalated the story to reach that absurd climax in the ninth episode, one of the craziest I’ve seen in any show, before calming things down for a memorable finale. The supporting cast was great, especially Danny’s brother and Amy’s husband.

    The music also put it over the top for me. Right in the first episode, they find a way to use Hoobastank (“The Reason”) as a needle drop going to the end credits. Later on you get Incubus (“Drive”), The Offspring (“Self Esteem”), System of a Down (“Lonely Day”), Bush (“Machinehead”), Keane (“Somewhere Only We Know”), and my favorite woman singer of all time in Björk (“All Is Full of Love”) to end the penultimate episode.

    Then the final scene couldn’t have gone any better when I heard “Mayonaise” start, my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song. The way the light in the room flashes to sync up with the drums, then getting to the line with “June” just before the credits show the name of the actress who played her daughter June… It’s perfect. I get goosebumps every time like when I watch the final scene of The Dark Knight.

    The script, the acting, the music, it all came together for me quickly. I felt I was watching something special in the third episode when Danny’s character goes to a church and starts crying during an excellent performance of “O Come to the Altar” by a church band. I’m not a religious person at all, but I find myself watching this video on YouTube frequently to this day as I really enjoy the way the song sounds here. Elevation Worship is the group best known for this song, but the extra guitars and dueling male-female vocals they use in Beef gives it a 1990s Midwest emo sound that just works best for me.

    Hands down, one of my favorite limited series of all time. Of course, they have announced a Season 2, so it looks like they’ll be turning this into an anthology series. That could be good, but I hope they leave the story of Danny and Amy alone.

    This was already perfection.

    Honorable Mentions

    • Carol & the End of the World: Carol’s voice can be annoying, but this animated dramedy about the apocalypse is worth the watch.
    • The Diplomat: Punchy dialogue between Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell lightens up meaty political plots.
    • Fellow Travelers: Well done gay love story that spans decades with Matt Bomer.
    • Lessons in Chemistry: Bill Pullman’s son can act, and I was certainly blown away by his character in this – just not as blown away as he was by…Just watch it.
    • A Murder at the End of the World – Some feel the ending is predictable, but I enjoyed the show and setting.
    • My Adventures with Superman: I actually didn’t watch the animated Superman series in the 90s, but I’ve been enjoying this one and S1 is better than S2 (so far).
    • The Night Agent: Very solid binge for fans of 24.
    • Rabbit Hole: In my best Jack Bauer voice, DAMNIT! They cancelled a good one here. Kiefer should be pissed at busted ass Paramount for not continuing this twisty thriller.
    • Special Ops: Lioness – Taylor Sheridan is singlehandedly keeping Paramount alive. Another good offering here with a CIA operative show.
    • Tiny Beautiful Things: Kathryn Hahn carries this dramedy about motherhood.

     So, that’s where I’m at with 2023. Here is a little table look at my picks for 2018-2023, and I’ll have to eventually get something updated and expanded for past years.

    As for 2024, I feel like I’ve been keeping up well with the new shows halfway through the year. Really enjoyed some of them already like Dark Matter and Baby Reindeer.

    I’m sure it’ll still take me into next July to get that 2024 list out. But as long as I get it out…

    Best 15 New TV Shows of 2022

    ~ Scott ~ 1 Comment

    Despite it nearly being August, I am only ready to tell you how much I enjoyed 2022 TV series such as Peacemaker and Dahmer. But it takes me a while to catch up with so much TV out there, and last NFL season saw me working side projects on the weekend that cut into my binging time.

    But after finishing The Peripheral (cool but hard to understand) as my 85th new series of 2022, I am ready to debut my list of the best 15 new TV series for 2022. You can see the 2021 list here and the bottom of this page shows tweets – yes, they are still god damn tweets and not X’s – from past years.

    If you do not see your favorite listed in the top 15 or the dozen honorable mentions, there is still a good chance I watched it, but it did not click with me. Seems like Winning Time about the Lakers is probably the top show I do not enjoy as much as the average viewer. I felt they are wasting a perfect cast with too many cheap camera tricks, ugly filters, and breaking the fourth wall in an uninventive way. You’re not Fleabag. Just let the actors do what they do. But maybe I will prefer the upcoming S2.

    Note: Limited series and anime are included; all documentary series are excluded.

    I try my best to avoid spoilers, but no promises…

    15. The Bear (Hulu)

    I must point out this is just for Season 1, but I would be lying if I did not say a much stronger Season 2 influenced me to prop this one up. Remember, ranking 15th out of 85 is solid praise.

    S1 still prepares you for the greatness to come later as you’ll start randomly referring to people as “chef” and “cousin” if you spend a binge with this fast-paced show. The episode that is one long tracking shot during a busy time at the restaurant is outstanding, and how can you beat a series that uses New Noise by Refused four times in two seasons? But again, I am only trying to judge S1 here.

    Think of it as a Shameless spin-off following Lip’s character after he left the Gallagher family. He is basically the same self-destructive smart guy in this standout from Hulu.

    14. Somebody Somewhere (HBO)

    Again, this is for S1 and not an also incredible, improved S2 that has already aired. But this little slice of midwestern life is really unlike anything on TV right now. This is an ideal dramedy that is usually so lighthearted and fun to watch. I swear the actors go without a script in many of the scenes cause the chemistry just feels so natural, especially between Sam and Joel.

    Speaking of Joel, try telling me this isn’t true about Jeff Hiller and Tom Brady, who are both 46 and 6’5”.

    13. Spy X Family (Watched on Hulu)

    I absolutely loved the first half of this anime about a spy who constructs a fake family with an assassin wife and telepathic daughter to infiltrate a school and befriend the son of a powerful target. But I took a long break before picking up the second half, and not long after they get the dog, it just loses its steam for me. By the finale, I was shocked at how slow things were moving and that bummer of a second half dropped it in the rankings for me.

    But obviously this is based on a manga and there are more episodes to come. The beginning is fantastic stuff you should check out if you are a fan of anime.

    12. Shoresy (Hulu)

    I watched about 7 episodes of Letterkenny a few years back, liked the unique dialogue and comedy, then never got back to it. Then I saw Shoresy pop up as this hockey player spin-off series, and I ended up watching the whole thing in one sitting. Just the first scene in the first episode with Shoresy in the bathroom is something I have probably watched 6 or 7 times. It is a perfect example of the series you can expect from this one.

    Eventually, I went back and finished Letterkenny and better understand the Shoresy character, who does not show his face in that show as he does here since it is the same actor as Wayne from Letterkenny.

    But I loved Shoresy and only wish it had more episodes.

    11. Black Bird (Apple TV+)

    After three comedies and an anime, let’s get into the true crime limited series with A-list actors market that Apple TV+ is mastering these days. This was a true story about a criminal who agrees to lessen his sentence by transferring to another prison to befriend a suspected serial killer and learn about his crimes.

    Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser carry this show with Hauser doing an incredible job as the killer with his signature high-pitched delivery and creepiness. Egerton’s charisma is also excellent, and for the people who say he should be the next James Bond, I am down with that after watching this one.

    Ray Liotta (RIP) fans will also appreciate him playing the father of Egerton’s Jimmy character. If you enjoy prison shows like me, you should make this a top priority the next time you get Apple TV+.

    10. Under the Banner of Heaven (FX/Hulu)

    This is another true crime series about Andrew Garfield as a detective investigating the murder of Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Mormon character (loved her in Normal People, my top show of 2020). This show does not hold back at all about how cult-like the LDS and Mormons are. It is a dark story and Garfield, who I have really come to enjoy in recent years, does a great job with battling his character’s religious beliefs throughout the case.

    9. Five Days at Memorial (Apple TV+)

    Another shocking true story that looks at what a hospital went through during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Some of the saddest scenes from anything that aired in 2022 come from this series, and pet lovers will also be crushed at what happens here. Just a total disaster that they did not do a better job of getting aid to the people there.

    To me, this was 2022’s Dopesick on a scale of how angry you will feel about things in this country after you watch this.

    8. Chainsaw Man (Watched on Hulu)

    I knew this was highly rated everywhere, but after 3 episodes, I was not feeling the juvenile dialogue from the main character, who kept mentioning how he wants to touch boobs every other line. The animation was cool, the fight scenes were bloody and good, and I liked the world they were building.

    But as the season wore on, I understood the character better, why he’s had to mature from his dog-like state, and by episode 8, I was hooked and quickly finished the rest of it. This ended up being my top anime of the year and the hype is warranted. Looking forward to more episodes.

    7. The Devil’s Hour (Amazon Prime)

    Without giving much away, I thought this was a very original and compelling series that mixes horror, sci-fi, and mystery. A woman wakes up at the same time every night (3:33 AM), which is considered the Devil’s Hour (between 3:00 and 4:00 AM).

    Her son is one of the creepiest little bastards you’ll ever see, so casting gets two thumbs way up for that one. You also get to see Jamie Tartt from Ted Lasso in a role where he understandably hates the son. Peter Capaldi is great as you would expect playing the mysterious man.

    Again, I do not want to give anything away, so check out the 6 episodes and know they have already renewed it for two more seasons.

    6. Peacemaker (HBO Max)

    I’m so behind on this that HBO Max has already been changed to Max but fuck that stupid name. Peacemaker is one of the biggest highlights of the HBO Max era. I enjoyed the character in The Suicide Squad, but John Cena really surprised me with how good he is at this role in the series. The supporting cast is good too, and the overall tone and comedy is something right up my alley. I look forward to multiple seasons of this one.

    5. Dahmer (Netflix)

    As someone who loved and misses David Fincher’s Mindhunter series on Netflix, this was a solid consolation prize. It is a very detailed work in the serial killer genre of Dahmer’s bewildering murders, and Evan Peters was an excellent choice to play him. Ditto for Richard Jenkins as the father, and I must say after watching this, you have to wonder if Dahmer would have turned out the way he did if his father was not so encouraging about his dead animal fascination.

    4. The Dropout (Hulu)

    The 2022 TV landscape was filled with limited series on tech bros and Silicon Valley twats breaking bad. There was the WeCrashed series about WeWork and the Super Pumped series about Uber’s bad boy. I enjoyed both, but I think Hulu’s The Dropout with Amanda Seyfried portraying Elizabeth Holmes was the best one. Her performance was the best work of her career, and I had to bring back the shot of her dancing in her Steve Jobs outfit in front of his poster in the banner above. Perfectly creepy scene. Naveen Andrews (Lost) was also great as her shady partner Sunny.

    What a disappointment Holmes was. If she had just waited to get a working model, she could have been a billionaire. But the greed and drive to be first to market was a huge part of these series about these grifters.

    3. The Offer (Paramount Plus)

    Was this really 2022? It feels like two summers ago when I binged through Paramount’s The Offer, a fun, detailed look at the real-life story behind the making of The Godfather. This was so good that it made me finally go back and watch the first two Godfather movies start to finish, making sure I had a solid viewing in HD as an adult as it had been a long time. My conclusion was that I do in fact enjoy Part I more than Part II, and it really is close to perfection. But both were great.

    As for this series, Matthew Goode as producer Robert Evans stole every scene. There are movies coming out about Evans, and all I can say is good luck to those actors trying to follow what Goode did here.

    2. Heartstopper (Netflix)

    Finally, I got this in before S2 drops in early August.

    I only discovered this show, which is based on a graphic novel, a few weeks after it aired thanks to it debuting with a very high ranking on the IMDb Top 250 Series. I questioned how good it could be (in an all-time context) as it just sounded like a coming of age, high schoolers discovering love story aimed at the LGBTQ crowd.

    I ended up watching it in one sitting. The performances are fantastic, the music is on point, and the pacing is excellent. It is not heart-stopping drama, but it absolutely is heartwarming and encompasses all those feelings of shyness and awkwardness that you would expect from such a story about teens.

    Seems like I probably mentioned this last year when I gave It’s a Sin, the limited series about AIDS in the 80s, a very high ranking, but the British are just so much better at telling these stories than Americans. They let the characters and story do all the talking, and it doesn’t come off as political or preachy virtue signaling.

    If an American made this show, the gay kid would get an over-the-top yassification, the bi-curious kid would be a jock from a Conservative Christian family with Trump signs, and the trans girl would likely face horrifying scenes of abuse and trauma on a weekly basis.

    Here, they’re just two blokes who share a trans friend. Live and let live. Simples.

    1. Severance (Apple TV+)

    My main interest in trying Apple TV+ was to see Severance, and it did not disappoint. With so many networks taking the limited series based on a true story approach, or making every series they can in the Star Wars, Marvel, Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones universes, this is a breath of fresh air.

    This is probably the best original series with elements of sci-fi, mystery, and psychological thriller since Mr. Robot. I don’t want to give anything away, but the general premise is these people have their life at work and a life at home, and their conscience is split between the two without overlapping.

    Of course, our lead character (played perfectly by Adam Scott) discovers that things are not quite right about this, and piece by piece we start to see what’s behind this company. The supporting cast is great too with Christopher Walken and John Turturro always stealing scenes, and Britt Lower as Helly should be a breakout star for her role in the office.

    I’m not sure how many more episodes they can pull out of this one, but S1 left many things unanswered, and the writers have a hell of a job left to complete. But I really look forward to it, and I hope they can get paid extra to bring S2 to us. Original, quality TV is so important to have.

    Honorable Mentions/Fun Binges

    • Andor: Who knew a Star Wars project could still be done well this century?
    • Cyberpunk: Edgerunners: Not familiar with the game this is a prequel to, but I dug the animation, and it has a solid story
    • Fleishman Is in Trouble: Felt like a timely series for me, exploring the difficulties of relationships, dating, and finding purpose in life as you near 40
    • House of the Dragon: It’s not peak Game of Thrones yet, but the first season had some solid episodes and I will look forward to more
    • Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head: Technically, this is top 15 for me because I love it, but just feels wrong to call this a “new series” when it literally is taking the classic at its best and just updating it with more modern plots. But it is so well done
    • Outer Range: Nice little mixture of sci-fi and mystery with a good cast
    • Reacher: Blows the Tom Cruise movies away and should be a great Amazon replacement for the departure of Jack Ryan, which was a bit of a dud the final few seasons
    • Smiling Friends: Amusing little animated dramedy series you can finish in one sitting
    • The Legend of Vox Machina: I’ve already watched both seasons of this, but it’s like that Netflix Castlevania animated series meets The Witcher, or Skyrim meets The Boys
    • Tokyo Vice: There is great potential here for this neo-noir take on investigative journalism into the Tokyo underworld
    • WeCrashed: Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway crush their roles in yet another limited series based on a greedy tech person, otherwise known as a tech person
    • Wednesday: The Tim Burton fan in me appreciated seeing this, but I wish it stayed a bit darker like his classic era, and it did not really stick with me after I finished it

    Here are the previous lists from past years:

    You can always find me tweeting about the shows I’m currently watching. Fortunately, I have caught up on a lot of 2023 stuff already, and I do not anticipate a deep fall due to the strikes going on. So, I might be able to get 2023’s list out sooner next year, and all I can say now is watch Beef on Netflix.

    Best 15 New TV Shows of 2021

    ~ Scott ~ 1 Comment

    That’s not a typo. While 2022 is almost halfway over (!), I am only now getting to my top new TV series that debuted in 2021. I wanted to match the effort I put in last year with my top 12 series of 2020, but I just never got around to doing this until this week, the start of a dead zone for me with no NFL or NBA games.

    After starting accounts with Disney+, Paramount+, and Apple TV for the first time in the last year, there are more shows than ever to watch. I watched 81 new series that started in 2021, but I was able to break that down into a top 15 I feel good about. Are there some series I still missed? Of course.

    I’m not going to share the full list I broke down, but chances are if one of your favorites didn’t make the cut, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as you did. Station Eleven (HBO Max) is likely one big example of that. I really loved the parts that focused on Jeevan, but anything with the Traveling Symphony in the future fell flat for me. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) reminded me of how people enjoy Martin Short and Steve Martin way more than I ever have or likely will.

    Note: limited series and anime are included; all documentary series are excluded.

    I will do my best to avoid spoilers, but no promises…

    15. Dexter: New Blood (Showtime)

    This may have snuck in at No. 15 just so I could talk about it. Technically a new series, this does do some justice to make up for the horrific original series finale that Dexter gave us in 2013. A fucking lumberjack? Fortunately, New Blood is better than the last four seasons of the original series, but it still is not up to par with the best of that series. Still, it was cool to see Dexter back with Deb as his new dark passenger, and Clancy Brown did a more than respectable job as the villain. The kid playing teenage Harrison did not bother me, though I have no interest in seeing a spin-off with him. Just let this thing die.

    As for that ending, it was poorly received again, but I actually thought it made sense and was necessary. Would I have shot the scene differently to make it more dramatic? Of course, but I really cannot complain with the story choice they made this time.

    14. Scenes from a Marriage (HBO)

    This modern take on the Ingmar Bergman classic was a showcase for the acting chops of Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, two actors I’ve taken an increased liking to in the last year or two. They both shine here, but dialogue-heavy series must be in your wheelhouse if you are going to enjoy this one. I’m happy to say they took an existing IP and made it their own thing instead of a straight remake.

    13. WandaVision (Disney+)

    Spoiler alert: this is the only Marvel show on my list for 2021. It was the first one I watched, and I thought it was the best one. 2021 really was the year of spoofing the classic sitcom, laugh track and all, but unlike with AMC’s Kevin Can Fuck Himself, we got a pretty clear answer of why this was done in WandaVision. Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are great together, but one season is the right length for this unique idea.

    12. Midnight Mass (Netflix)

    Our first Netflix entry may have been slept on, but this was a really strong take on grief and loss combined with a more typical horror storyline. But Hamish Linklater was fantastic as the priest, and the ending was something you’ll never forget. I got a bit emotional during this one a couple times.

    11. Yellowjackets (Showtime)

    Between the Fear Street movie trilogy on Netflix, Cruel Summer, and this show, there was a lot of 90s nostalgia in 2021. This show did a great job of balancing multiple timelines with the plane crash survivors as teenagers and the current-day survivors navigating a new mystery. Christina Ricci is supposed to be the “ugly” one of the bunch, but she still looks pretty damn good and it was nice to see her in a big role again. I look forward to the second season and where they can take this one. The first season did not take all the predictable routes you may have expected from a story about a plane crash.

    10. Tear Along the Dotted Line (Netflix)

    This is probably my most obscure choice for the year, but it’s an animated series from an Italian, and it does a shockingly effective job of covering depression, anxiety, and a lost love. I’d probably have it higher if it was a little longer, but this was well done and should be watched on Netflix by those having BoJack withdrawal.

    9. To Your Eternity (watched on HBO Max)

    I wanted to watch some great, new animes as that was missing from my 2020 collection. This one delivered with good animation, interesting characters, a few shocking and emotional moments, and the second half really gripped me with the storyline. I was mad when I finished it because I wanted more, but fortunately a second season is on the way.

    8. The White Lotus (HBO Max)

    I was a fan of Mike White’s Enlightened series with Laura Dern on HBO, so it was cool to see him get another chance with The White Lotus, a high-caliber dramedy. You get the clue right away that someone on this island is going to die before the trip is over, but that mystery takes a backseat to the drama these characters get into, and the rhythmic music and sounds keep a steady pace over the six episodes that fly by when you watch them. Murray Bartlett (Armond) and Jennifer Coolidge (Tanya) are highlights, and you can never go wrong with seeing more Sydney Sweeney as the generations clash in this one. I’m a bit worried of using this as an anthology series with different characters, but if they have more stories to tell, I’ll watch them.

    7. It’s a Sin (HBO Max)

    I watched several movies about the early days of AIDS last year, but this British series from Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who) was the best, most touching, and scariest of them all. It does a great job of showing the impact this virus had on a close-knit group of gay friends in the 80s. After later watching Years and Years (2019), which I would highly recommend, there’s a raw honesty in Davies’ work that I just don’t see as much in a lot of American works, especially those that deal with LGBT stories as we tend to make them too preachy in this country. Davies’ approach is much more authentic as he’s not afraid to show us the flaws in these characters, but honoring them with respect is still the goal.

    6. Invincible (Amazon Prime)

    Went in cold to this franchise. I remember watching the pilot and thinking this felt pretty tame and aimed towards younger kids. Then that scene happened. Holy shit. I was hooked from there, and an impressive voice cast (J.K. Simmons, Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, Walton Goggins, etc.) sure helps bring the violence and story to life. I can’t wait for the second season.

    5. Hacks (HBO Max)

    I know I’m late to this 2021 party when I’ve already finished the second season of this show. But I love it. Jean Smart should win all the awards, the actress playing Ava is a delightful find for the industry, and the chemistry between Jimmy and nepotism Kayla is always fun. It’s also the only legitimate live-action comedy that made it to my top 25 finalists as I think comedy is so hard to do these days with the way people get offended, real or not, by everything. If you can make a show that’s funny without having to be animated – so not Big Mouth – then you are well ahead of the curve these days.

    Since this is about the 2021 series, I tried to not let my viewing of season two influence my ranking. Season two is really just as solid as the first season, though I love to watch the world building at the start of a show, so seeing Ava have to win Deborah over in season one probably edges it out over season two. The way it ended in season two, they really could have called it a series, but I am happy to see they’re bringing it back for a third season.

    Like I said, there is a real comedy drought these days, so let’s keep every good one we can find.

    4. Dopesick (Hulu)

    This series is almost like The Wire for the opioid crisis. I am not saying the character work is as strong as that HBO classic, but the writing and presentation is on par with how David Simon does things in his series. You get perspectives from everyone: doctors, patients, addicts, pharmacists, sales reps, the criminal Sackler family, lawyers, the DEA, and whistleblowers. Michael Keaton gets top billing, but he might not even be on screen as often as Will Poulter (a conflicted sales rep) or Michael Stuhlbarg (Richard Sackler).

    No series on my list is as important as this one, because it does expose just how criminally negligent this family was in making sure Oxycontin was being pushed to people in pain without any care for the addiction to come. This show should make you furious, but it is absolutely required viewing and it is so well done it hurts.

    3. Mare of Easttown (HBO)

    Guess I am still a sucker for a great whodunit murder mystery with an excellent lead actress (Kate Winslet) and a jaw-dropping scene that paid homage to Silence of the Lambs. You’ll know it when you see it. I also was not able to predict the killer until the very end, so good job on that with the usual red herrings and dead ends. I hope they just leave it as a limited series, though I won’t object to seeing more Mare on my TV.

    2. Maid (Netflix)

    Can it still be underrated if it has glowing reviews and 77,000 votes on IMDb? But that’s still half the ratings of Mare of Easttown, and I still feel like Maid doesn’t get talked about enough as the best limited series of 2021. Margaret Qualley delivers what should be a star-turning performance in the lead, and while I usually shit on nepotism, her performance and the casting of her real-life mom (Andie MacDowell) as her mother took this series to the highest level.

    Like Dopesick, it’s a series that makes you angry about the way our systems continuously fail the people who need help the most in this country. It just never seems like she is going to carve out a good life for her child and keep her away from her abusive ex. But you keep watching with optimism and the show does not disappoint.

    1. Squid Game (Netflix)

    I’m the guy who hounded Criterion for years to put Memories of Murder on Blu-ray. Of course I was all over this quirky, original South Korean series that took the world by storm last fall.

    I watched Alice in Borderland a year earlier, which was a similar series about people having to pass games that could kill them. That’s definitely worth watching too, but Squid Game really amps up the emotional punch with a more diverse cast (ages and backgrounds) of characters.

    It’s crazy, it’s intense, it’s sad, and there’s a big twist at the end. This is also why I really worry that season two will not deliver, because no matter how many unique, new games they can come up with, nothing will beat seeing this for the first time. Watching a sympathetic character get betrayed (Ali) or a smug prick meet his demise (toilet sex having Jang Deok-su) will always make you think of season one. Been there, done that.

    But what a ride it was for nine episodes.

    With my top two picks this year, I guess Netflix is proof that if you fire enough bullets, you’re bound to hit something. Now if only I could have thought of a non-gun reference to not sound like such a typical American.

    Honorable Mentions/Fun Binges

    • Arcane (unique visual style, but I wished I loved the story more)
    • Chucky (this had every right to suck but it was a lot of fun; declines a bit after Jennifer Tilly appears)
    • Cruel Summer (90s nostalgia in a teen whodunit)
    • Halston (must see for Ewan McGregor fans as he kills it)
    • Heels (indie wrestling show done right)
    • Inside Job (good year for animated series with this conspiracy theory workplace comedy)
    • Lupin (hard to believe one guy can pull all these cons off, but it’s entertaining)
    • My Name (solid South Korean action series on Netflix)
    • Super Crooks (another interesting take on baddies with superpowers)
    • Tokyo Revengers (solid time-travel anime with more to come)

    Finally, here are the previous lists from past years. These would all change a little based on shows I was slow to get to or only discovered later.

    Happy binging, and remember I am always tweeting about shows on Twitter. I already see strong competition for my best of 2022, which hopefully will be finished well before June of 2023.

    Best New TV Shows of 2020

    ~ Scott ~ 2 Comments

    Due to COVID-19, you may have watched more TV than usual this year. Maybe you binged an old series you’ve had on your bucket list for years, or maybe you watched everything new on the many streaming platforms available to us these days.

    I did both, starting the year with King of the Hill (finally), then kicked off the pandemic in March with an amazing first-time binge of Nip/Tuck, and ultimately, I watched over 70 new series that debuted in 2020. It would have been more if I weren’t eclipsing 5,000 films watched lifetime this summer.

    What were the best new shows in my view?

    This is something I always like to throw on Twitter in late December, picking out the 10-15 best new series of the year with the caveat that they had to debut that year.

    This year I thought I would write a short summary of my selections, because I found it to be tougher than usual for finding high quality new shows. Obviously, the pandemic pushed back a lot of projects into 2021, so the fall felt especially lean compared to past years. But there were still other shows that fell flat for me, including HBO’s take on Perry Mason. It looked fantastic and the cast was solid, but something was just missing with the story for me. I also had no problem with Netflix making Away one-and-done as it was another dull show about going to Mars (but not as terrible as Sean Penn’s similar Hulu series).

    Note: limited series are included; all documentary series (including The Last Dance) are excluded. Anime was eligible, though I frankly did not watch new ones outside of the unintentional comedy gold that was Japan Sinks 2020 (see my recap thread of it here). And before you come at me, I know I still need to see Ted Lasso despite my dislike of Jason Sudeikis.

    I will do my best to avoid spoilers, but no promises…

    12. The Outsider (HBO)

    Adapting Stephen King has been very profitable for decades, but the viewers rarely get a rich, cinematic experience out of it. The Outsider had a great start in building up a supernatural mystery, but a slow pace and decision to film 10 episodes instead of a neater eight dragged things down for me. I was also not satisfied with the finale at all, so the decision to not go on with a second season at HBO does not bug me one bit. It is still worth watching for the early scenes with Jason Bateman and a breakout role for Cynthia Erivo.

    11. We Are Who We Are (HBO)

    I was not planning to watch this coming-of-age story about teenagers on a US army base in Italy, but then I saw Chloe Sevigny was in it as the main character’s mother, and I have this irrational love for her going on nearly two decades now. So I watched it weekly when it was on, and as a millennial, it was certainly a different vibe watching Gen Z teens explore their sexuality in a foreign country under the gaze of the military and the 2016 election (there is a hilarious MAGA hat scene).

    However, this is not a series about politics, though conservatives would certainly appreciate it less as it is a very pro-queer story. It’s kind of like a lighter, arthouse version of Euphoria, but mostly carefree instead of serious. Something you would watch in the summer to take in the atmosphere and music. The ending is also really well done, and that could be the ending for good if they keep it as a limited series.

    10. Your Honor (Showtime)

    We are only two episodes into this one with eight more to air, but I am projecting good things here. How can it not be good with Bryan Cranston as the lead with a strong premise? He plays a judge and his son just did a hit-and-run to accidentally kill a big-time mobster’s son. That happens quickly in the pilot too. I would have liked to see another scene with the mobster’s son alive to see if I should even feel bad he’s dead, but oh well. I’m sure we’ll quickly learn this family is trash and we’ll be rooting for Cranston to get away with everything in a way Walter White couldn’t.

    9. I Know This Much Is True (HBO)

    Mark Ruffalo is excellent in this mini-series where he plays twins with the paranoid schizophrenic brother needing the other’s help. You know this was well done when Rosie O’Donnell was in it and I didn’t even hate her character. It is depressing material without any real replay value, so it was a perfect binge during the pandemic but may not be remembered fondly down the road.

    8. Devs (FX on Hulu)

    This was the year’s ambitious sci-fi drama. The plot and pacing are far from perfect, but there are absolutely multiple scenes you will never forget if you give this show a chance. Some are haunting, some are beautiful, and the finale will keep you thinking after it’s over. I watched it weekly so I’m not sure if it’d come together even better as a one or two-sitting binge, but if you’re really into sci-fi and tech, I’m not sure what better options you could find in 2020 than Devs. I thought the HBO Max offering Raised by Wolves was disappointing.

    7. Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)

    Here we have another timely limited series based on a novel looking at what happens when a Black woman (with a mysterious background) and her daughter get involved with a rich, white family in the late 1990s. Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon are both great in this. I actually would have picked Washington to win the Emmy for this over winner Regina King (Watchmen), but whatever. Watching this show also led to this tweet in April:

    6. Lovecraft Country (HBO)

    I promise there is only one more HBO series on the list, but no doubt the network’s wildest show of 2020 was Lovecraft Country. Just when you think this is True Blood meets 1950s segregated America, they switch things up after two episodes. Monsters in the woods turns into an episode right out of Indiana Jones, only to get even crazier with a woman changing races after taking a potion, a Korean sex monster, and time travel through the multiverse. Some episodes are much better than others, but you’ll be entertained throughout the whole season.

    5. Upload (Amazon Prime)

    Finally, a comedy. This one really surprised me because I thought the trailers looked awful, which was disappointing as a fan of Greg Daniels’ other work (King of the Hill, The Office, Parks and Recreation). But once I gave it a try, I was pleased to see this take on a virtual afterlife was very entertaining with plenty of dark humor and even a legitimate murder mystery surrounding the main character’s untimely demise to set this whole story up. I am looking forward to season two.

    4. I Am Not Okay with This (Netflix)

    Good job, Netflix. You cancelled the only non-limited or documentary series I really liked from you this year. Sure, it was originally renewed for a second season, but then they blamed the pandemic and reversed their decision. So we only get seven short episodes of this one, but I really enjoyed it. I am biased towards high school stories to begin with, but this was a good mix of comedy and sci-fi with a dark, explosive ending that we deserved to see the aftermath of.

    3. I May Destroy You (HBO)

    I had never heard of Michaela Coel before this show, but this is an outstanding breakout effort as she created, wrote, directed, and played the lead. From the very first episode you get hooked in by wanting to know who raped her. In the finale, I’ll just say I was initially disappointed, then after thinking about it some more, I liked how she went about it. In between you get some comedy from her friend Terry, but this is certainly a serious show that looks at sexual consent in the modern age of hook-up apps and MeToo. It seems unlikely this would get a second season, but the story they have already told can stand on its own.

    2. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

    Before I watched:

    The series has since fallen to #92 on IMDb, and while I would still say that may be too high on an all-time list, I must admit this was a damn fine limited series. Anya Taylor-Joy went from that interesting young actress in Split to someone who can carry a show as the lead. Her career should blow up from this performance as a fictional chess master prodigy with a history of trauma and substance abuse. While I still do not know much about chess after watching this, those match scenes are filmed so well to keep things interesting, and the show offers so much more than just her excelling at chess.

    The Queen’s Gambit would be my No. 1 show if I wasn’t where I was emotionally this year. Hence…

    1. Normal People (Hulu)

    Binged over two nights in August, I just adored this series about two teens in Ireland who fall in love before falling out of touch, only to connect again in a series that spans years of their lives. If I was 50, married with kids, then maybe this wouldn’t have connected with me the way it did, but right now my heart is in a strange spot with such an uncertain future, and this series connected with me.

    The acting feels so genuine and the two leads have great chemistry. If this were an American series, it would probably go full RomCom with silly montages and happy-go-lucky vibes, but there is a bleakness to this series and relationship that hits you hard. They did not go for a cheesy ending either.

    The only complaint I would have is that the series does not pull off the sell of why Marianne is treated as practically a leper at school and why Connell has to keep her such a secret. I thought she was funny, smart, and beautiful, but maybe that’s the five-month mark of quarantine speaking for me.

    It has been a long year.

    Honorable Mentions

    Quiz (AMC): Entertaining British mini-series starring Matthew Macfadyen (Tom on Succession) as a former army major who cheated on the British version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

    The Undoing (HBO): I had high expectations for this murder mystery because of the cast involved, but it ended up being too straightforward and practically pointless for me. Still, it is nice to see Hugh Grant shedding his RomCom skin and Nicole Kidman so content playing her “rich, white woman us common folk cannot possibly relate to” characters these days.

    The Plot Against America (HBO): This was another HBO production with talented people involved (David Simon, Zoe Kazan, John Turturro) and a timely alternate history story of Charles Lindbergh becoming POTUS and the rise of fascism in America. However, it was too dull most of the time for me. I will say if you decide to stick it out, the finale is fantastic and an incredibly dark vision of what things could look like in this country if fascism took over. So in the era of Trump, that last episode definitely rated highly with me.

    The Good Lord Bird (Showtime): Ethan Hawke is brilliant as abolitionist leader John Brown in this real-life story of events that led into the Civil War. I just wish they could have developed another character as interesting or just given Hawke more screen time.

    Finally, here are some previous lists from past years. These would all change a little based on shows I was slow to get to or only discovered later.

    Happy binging, and remember I am often bringing this stuff up on Twitter, so if you ever need a recommendation, just hit me up.