January 6, 2021
jmunney
Best of 2020, Best of TV 2020, Television
A.P. Bio, American Dad!, Animaniacs, Beef House, Best of 2020, Better Call Saul, Big Mouth, Dispatches From Elsewhere, How to with John Wilson, Joe Pera Talks with You, Killing Eve, Middleditch & Schwartz, Never Have I Ever, PEN15, Rick and Morty, Search Party, The Baby-Sitters Club, The Mandalorian, What We Do in the Shadows, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
(CREDIT: FX/YouTube Screenshot)
When making Best Episode lists, some TV critics limit themselves to one entry per show, but I never operate by that self-imposition, as certain shows are just masterful when crafting a single hour or half-hour (or whatever runtime they feel like using), and that ought to be reflected in the ledger. So you’ll find that several shows have wound up more than once in this list, and those tended to be the ones that also fared the best on my Best Shows of 2020 list. You’ll also find at least one program that didn’t make my Best Shows list, as it’s possible to have one excellent outing within an otherwise disappointing season. So forthwith, if someone who missed all TV in 2020 asked me for a refresher, here is where I would direct them:
More
January 4, 2021
jmunney
Best of 2020, Best of TV 2020, Television
A.P. Bio, American Dad!, American Housewife, Animaniacs, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun, B Positive, Beef House, Best of 2020, Better Call Saul, Better Things, Big Mouth, black-ish, Bob's Burgers, Bojack Horseman, Devs, Dicktown, Dispatches From Elsewhere, Earth to Ned, Fargo, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, grown-ish, His Dark Materials, Holey Moley, How to with John Wilson, Jeopardy!, Joe Pera Talks with You, Last Week Tonight, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Match Game, McMillion$, Mike Tyson Mysteries, mixed-ish, Mrs. America, Muppets Now, Nancy Drew, Never Have I Ever, Normal People, PEN15, Rick and Morty, RIverdale, RuPaul's Drag Race, Saved by the Bell, Search Party, Sex Education, Solar Opposites, Stargirl, Superstore, The Conners, The Eric Andre Show, The Goldbergs, The Good Fight, The Good Lord Bird, The Last Dance, The Last O.G., The Mandalorian, The Masked Singer, The New Pope, The Plot Against America, The Twilight Zone, The Unicorn, Three Busy Debras, Unorthodox, What We Do in the Shadows, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Wilmore, Young Sheldon, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
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.
More
July 22, 2020
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
2020 Emmys, Bad Education, Devs, Dispatches From Elsewhere, Emmy Wish List, Emmys, Mrs. America, Normal People, Quiz, The Plot Against America, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Watchmen
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot
The 2020 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 28. As per annual tradition, I have assembled a Wish List for as many categories as I have something to say about. There is no minimum or maximum number per category, nor is there any strict adherence to official Emmy rules. And of course, there is the necessary caveat that I have not seen everything. Even with much of the country shut down for the past few months, that’s impossible.
(Check out my previously published thoughts on Drama and Comedy.)
It was a banner year for Limited Series, or at least it was a banner year for Limited Series being on my radar. Damon Lindelof and Co.’s take on Watchmen is the cream of the crop, although it’s not my top pick in most of the acting categories. That would be the very unique Dispatches From Elsewhere, which goes 3 out of 4 and misses out only Lead Actress due to having nobody in the running in that field. As for the rest of the nominations, I had a lot of fun spreading the love around to the likes of the passionate lovers of Normal People, the game show freaks of Quiz, the political ladies of Mrs. America, the politically concerned citizens of The Plot Against America, and Nick Offerman’s glorious beard.
KEY:
Bold=My winner
Limited Series
Devs
Dispatches From Elsewhere
Mrs. America
Normal People
The Plot Against America
Quiz
Watchmen
More
February 28, 2020
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Podcasts, Television
Better Things, Burden, Devs, Dispatches From Elsewhere, Ron Burgundy, RuPaul's Drag Race, Saint Frances, The Invisible Man, The Ron Burgundy Podcast, Will Ferrell
CREDIT: Zach Dilgard/AMC
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Burden (Limited Theatrically)
–The Invisible Man (Theatrically Nationwide) – It’s invisible, and it’s spectacular!
–Saint Frances (Limited Theatrically)
TV
–RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 12 Premiere (February 28 on VH1)
–Dispatches From Elsewhere Series Premiere (March 1 on AMC) – Jason Segel’s getting all mysterious.
–Better Things Season 4 Premiere (March 5 on FX)
–Devs Series Premiere (March 5 on Hulu) – From creator Alex Garland!
Podcasts
–The Ron Burgundy Podcast Season 3 (Premieres March 5)
Jmunney's Blog 