Clockwise from Top Left: What We Do in the Shadows, Never Have I Ever, Better Call Saul, How To with John Wilson (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshots)
Last year, I decided to rank as many TV shows as I felt like recognizing in my year-end list, and that worked out so well that I decided to do it again for 2020. So welcome to my ranking of the 67 Best TV Shows of 2020! Not every show is accompanied by a blurb, just the ones that I felt like I really needed to say something about.
I worked with a self-imposed rule that I had to have watched at least 50% of a show’s 2020 output for it to be eligible, but there were some shows that I’ve only just begun to watch that I wanted to recognize as well, so they’ve got their own Honorable Mention section. And there were also some shows that aired relatively few episodes in 2020 to the point that I didn’t think they should be eligible either, so they’ve also got an Honorable Mention section. And then there’s one more show that’s managed to establish its very own Honorable Mention section, and that’s where we start.
The Chase; Celebrity Wheel of Fortune; The Hustler (CREDIT: Ron Batzdorff/ABC; Carol Kaelson/ABC; Christopher Willard/ABC)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies –Pieces of a Woman (January 7 on Netflix)
TV –Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks (January 1 on BBC America) –Earth to Ned Season 1 Part 2 (January 1 on Disney+) – A delightful talk show hosted by an alien. I wrote about it on my newsletter. –RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 Premiere (January 1 on VH1) –Call Me Kat Series Premiere (January 3 on FOX) – Starring Mayim Bialik and cats. –The Great North Series Premiere (January 3 on FOX) – New animated show with the voices of Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Jenny Slate, Will Forte, and others. -Alex Trebek’s last week of new Jeopardy! episodes (January 4-8, check local listings) –The Hustler Series Premiere (January 4 on ABC) – Another game show on ABC! This one’s hosted by Craig Ferguson. –History of Swear Words (January 5 on Netflix) – Hosted by Nicolas Cage himself. –Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist Season 2 Premiere (January 5 on NBC) –Name That Tune Reboot Premiere (January 6 on FOX) – Hosted by the one and only Jane Krakowski. –Celebrity Wheel of Fortune Series Premiere (January 7 on ABC) –The Chase Reboot Premiere (January 7 on ABC) – Jeopardy! all-time greats Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer square off against contestants. Sara Haines hosts. –Mr. Mayor Series Premiere (January 7 on NBC) – Ted Danson gets right back in the sitcom swing.
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Promising Young Woman (Theaters)
–Soul (December 25 on Disney+)
–Wonder Woman 1984 (Theaters and HBO Max)
TV
–Death to 2020 – Some sort of comedy special from Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker.
–The Masked Dancer Series Premiere (December 27 on FOX) – The Masked Dynasty expands.
–New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast (December 31 on FOX) – Hosted by Joel McHale and Ken Jeong!
SNL: Dua Lipa, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
The final Saturday Night Live episode of 2020 aired six days before Christmas and was hosted by Kristen Wiig, who was accompanied by musical guest Dua Lipa. I love Christmas! Kristen Wiig has made me laugh, often! Dua Lipa’s songs have brought me so much joy! Sounds like we’re in for a good time…
I actually watched one (1) full sketch before I even started to eat my breakfast. Now onto my review…
The cold opening sketch is very, very, very often based on a notable piece of news from the past week, and that is indeed the case here, as Mike Pence Gets the Vaccine (Grade: A Plain Lollipop). Some silly impressions, Rudy pops in for a rabies joke, la la la la la, onto the opening montage.
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (December 18 on Netflix) – Viola Davis plays the title role alongside Chadwick in his final role.
TV
–American Dad! Holiday Episode (December 21 on TBS)
–Jeopardy!: “Around the World with Alex” (December 21-January 1, check local listings) – 2 weeks of classic episodes of Alex presenting clues from across the globe.
Music
-Paul McCartney, McCartney III – Macca making more music.
-Taylor Swift, Evermore – This came out last week. Taylor keeps sneaking up on us with surprise releases.
Music Documentary
–Excuse Me, I Love You (December 21 on Netflix) – Ariana Grande in concert, hurray!
SNL: Timothée Chalamet, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
The eighth episode of the 46th season of Saturday Night Live (now concluded [the episode, not the season]) was hosted by Timothée Chalamet, who at 24 years, 11 months, and 15 days is the youngest host of the season thus far. Here’s another Timothée Chalamet factoid: on last week’s Card Sharks, there was a question in which a group of 100 women were asked if they thought “Timothée Chalamet” was an actor or a fancy wine, and more than half said wine!
The musical guest was Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Everybody loves it when The Boss, Patti, Little Stevie, Max Weinberg, The Professor, and The Big Man’s nephew come to town, don’t they? I sure do!
I had cereal for breakfast while watching, but this time, my Honey Nut Cheerios were Medley Crunch.
The very first sketch headed to the Situation Room (Grade: 2 and a Half Coors Light Cold Activated Cans), as Drs. Fauci and Birx discuss the Covid vaccine rollout. And no, your eyes don’t deceive you, Brad Pitt hasn’t suddenly started looking like Kate McKinnon, but rather Kate is playing Fauci now, instead of Brad when he zoomed in back in the spring.
SNL: Morgan Wallen, Jason Bateman, Heidi Gardner (CREDIT: Saturday Night Live/YouTube Screenshot)
Hello December, Saturday Night Live would like to return to airing new episodes. I imagine that is similar to the conversation that Morgan Wallen had with NBC executives after his initial booking for this season’s second episode was cancelled due to maskless partying. Something along the lines of, “Hello Lorne, I would like to be booked again.” And maybe Jason Bateman also had a conversation like that about hosting. “Hello 2006, I would like to host SNL a second time.” “Hello 2007, I would like to host SNL a second time.” Et cetera. It took a while, but 2020 finally said yes. As for me, I said, “Hello morning of December 6, 2020, it’s time for me to review an episode of SNL once more.” So I sliced up some banana onto my cereal and got to work!
If you were on Twitter a few days ago, you may have noticed that “Cecily Strong” was trending, as voter fraud testimony witness Melissa Carone sounded exactly like the Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party. The joke was already there, so did SNL actually need to make it? For an answer, I would note that not every SNL viewer watches the news 24/7 (good for them), so Ms. Carone was new to them when Cecily actually did play her. Thus, the Michigan State Senate Hearing cold open (Grade: 5 “After Davids”) was kind of like the Sarah Palin sketches way back when in which Tina Fey just repeated some of the things that the actual Palin said, and it was pretty much gold. There were other conspiracy purveyors on hand to say some kooky things, but this was the “Witness You Wish You Hadn’t Started Testimony at a Hearing” Show.
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Godmothered (December 4 on Disney+)
–Mank (December 4 on Netflix) – Fincher on Mankiewicz.
–Mulan (December 4 on Disney+, without the premium fee)
–Let Them All Talk (December 10 on HBO Max) – Soderbergh directs Streep-Bergen-Wiest on a cruise.
TV
–Big Mouth Season 4 (December 4 on Netflix)
–MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time Special (December 6 on MTV)
Music
-Arctic Monkeys, Live at the Royal Albert Hall
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