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
September 25, 2020
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Amber Ruffin, Bless the Harts, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, Fargo, Fear of Death, Jane Lynch, Kajillionaire, South Park, The Amber Ruffin Show, The Simpsons, Tim Heidecker, Utopia, Weakest Link
The Amber Ruffin Show (CREDIT: Peacock/YouTube Screenshot)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Kajillionaire (Select Theaters)
TV
Despite the pandemic, the Fall TV Season is in full swing.
–The Amber Ruffin Show Series Premiere (September 25 on Peacock) – One of Seth Meyers’ writers strikes out on her own.
–Utopia Series Premiere (September 25 on Amazon)
–Bless the Harts Season 2 Premiere (September 27 on FOX)
–Bob’s Burgers Season 11 Premiere (September 27 on FOX)
–Family Guy Season 19 Premiere (September 27 on FOX)
–Fargo Season 4 Premiere (September 27 on FX)
–The Simpsons Season 32 Premiere (September 27 on FOX)
–Weakest Link Reboot Premiere (September 29 on NBC) – Hosted by Jane Lynch.
–South Park: The Pandemic Special (September 30 on Comedy Central)
Music
-Tim Heidecker, Fear of Death
December 30, 2017
jmunney
Best of 2017, Best of TV 2017, Television
Best of 2017, Better Call Saul, Downward Dog, Fargo, Halt and Catch Fire, Mr. Robot, Review, Review (TV Series), Search Party, The Good Place, TV, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks The Return
CREDIT (Clockwise from Top Left): Michael Gibson/FXX; Showtime; AMC; Kelsey McNeal/ABC
This ranking was originally posted on News Cult in December 2017.
In recent past best-of-year lists, I have pointed out the impossibility of watching every single program that airs on television. The medium is now saturated to the point that not only could one average viewer be watching a completely different set of shows than another average viewer, but so could one professional critic be similarly disconnected to another critic. It naturally follows then that no best-of is any more “correct” than any other. But this has been the case all along. The value of such year-end curating is not a matter of accuracy, but of insight and personal style. Thus, I encourage readers to seek out as many best-of lists as they find edifying, from as diverse a group of critics as possible. Think of each as the best according to a particular palette. Here is my contribution to that cornucopia.
(Shows that were top 10-worthy this year that I didn’t have enough room for include Baskets, BoJack Horseman, The Carmichael Show, Legion, Rick and Morty, Riverdale, Silicon Valley, Speechless, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Young Pope, and You’re the Worst.)
10. Review (Comedy Central)
If this list were determined by density of entertainment value alone, the three-episode final season of Review would easily take the top spot. Andy Daly’s career-defining work as “life reviewer” Forrest MacNeil brought his combination of explosive hilarity and existential despair to its logical eternally continuous endpoint. Great series finales tend to be either ambiguous or definitive; Review’s is somehow both open-ended and forcefully conclusive.
More
June 18, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
$100000 Pyramid, AFI Life Achievement Award, Better Call Saul, Diane Keaton, Downward Dog, Fargo, Leslie Jones, Orphan Black, RuPaul's Drag Race
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
CREDIT: ABC/Lou Rocco
Sunday – The $100,000 Pyramid, for Leslie Jones’ reaction
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – Downward Dog
Wednesday – Fargo
Thursday – AFI Life Achievement Award for Actress, Director, and Climate Change Denier Diane Keaton
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race: Extra Stressful Reunion Edition
Saturday – Orphan Black
June 11, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Better Call Saul, Downward Dog, Fargo, French Open, Jelena Ostapenko, Mike Tyson Mysteries, RuPaul's Drag Race, The AV Club
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – Amidst all the prestige, I think I actually liked Mike Tyson Mysteries the most.
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – Downward Dog
Wednesday – Fargo
Thursday – The AV Club
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Sunday – French Open Ladies Final, especially the part when the winner asked if she could brush her hair before the trophy ceremony.
June 4, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Angie Tribeca, Beat Shazam, Doctor Who, Downward Dog, Fargo, RuPaul's Drag Race, Twin Peaks
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – Twin Peaks
Monday – Angie Tribeca
Tuesday – Downward Dog
Wednesday – Fargo-go-go-go!
Thursday – Beat Shazam once, shame on you. Beat Shazam twice, shame on Shazam.
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Saturday – Doctor Who
May 28, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Doctor Who, Fargo, Great News, Jane the Virgin, RuPaul's Drag Race, The AV Club, Twin Peaks
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – I’m not quite sure what’s happening on Twin Peaks, but I do know it’s stuck with me.
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – Great News
Wednesday – Fargo? Far-WHOA.
Thursday – The AV Club
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Saturday – Doctor Who
May 14, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Better Call Saul, Doctor Who, Fargo, Last Week Tonight, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., RIverdale, RuPaul's Drag Race
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Better Call Saul finally laid it all out there.
Tuesday – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Wednesday – Fargo is hot on the trail.
Thursday – Riverdale is just not letting up.
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Saturday – Doctor Who
February 20, 2016
jmunney
Best of 2015, Best of TV 2015, Television
Arnold Baumheiser, Better Call Saul, Blaine DeBeers, Carol Pilbasian, Chuck McGill, Dean Sanderson, Elliot Alderson, Fargo, Fresh Off the Boat, Jessica Huang, Jessica Jones, Kent Woolworth, Kimmy Schmidt, Liz Greenberg, Mike Milligan, Moonbeam City, Mr. Poopybutthole, Peggy Blumquist, Phil Miller, Rad Cunningham, The Grinder, The Last Man on Earth, Titus Andromedon, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
1. Rad Cunningham (Will Forte), Moonbeam City – On an underseen show, Will Forte worked his indelible powers of empathy and open-mindedness to birth another one of his beautifully pathetic creations. In the patently ridiculous Moonbeam City PD, Rad is the most ridiculous, and the most childish, but also the most profoundly human.
More
December 20, 2015
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Billy on the Street, Fargo, Jeopardy!, Saturday Night Live, SNL, The Big Bang Theory, The Last Man on Earth
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – The Last Man on Earth
Monday – Fargo ended Season 2 on its own terms.
Tuesday – Jeopardy!
Wednesday – Jeopardy!
Thursday – Billy on the Street (but Honorable Mention to The Big Bang Theory for its most tender episode ever)
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – Lola Fabray performing “12 Days of Christmas” after putting 12 shots of rum in her eggnog on SNL
