January 26, 2022
jmunney
Best of 2021, Best of TV 2021, Television
A Black Lady Sketch Show, A.P. Bio, American Crime Story, American Dad!, American Housewife, Animaniacs, Atypical, Best of 2021, Big Mouth, Big Shot, Bob's Burgers, Chad, Chucky, College Bowl, Conan, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dickinson, Earth to Ned, Evil, Fantasy Island, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Ghosts, History of Swear Words, Holey Moley, Home Economics, How to with John Wilson, I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson, Impeachment: American Crime Story, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Jeopardy!, Joe Pera Talks with You, Last Week Tonight, MacGruber, March Madness, Miracle Workers, Never Have I Ever, Only Murders in the Building, PEN15, Physical, Pose, reservation dogs, Resident Alien, Rick and Morty, RIverdale, Rugrats, RuPaul's Drag Race, Saturday Morning All Star Hits!, Saved by the Bell, Search Party, Sex Education, Solar Opposites, Succession, Superman & Lois, The Baby-Sitters Club, The Beatles: Get Back, The Chase, The Conners, The Good Fight, The Handmaid's Tale, The Kids Tonight Show, The Masked Singer, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, The Other Two, The Problem with Jon Stewart, The Sex Lives of College Girls, The Shrink Next Door, The Wonder Years, To Tell the Truth, Tuca & Bertie, Ultra City Smiths, WandaVision, Wellington Paranormal, What We Do in the Shadows, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Y: The Last Man, Young Sheldon, Ziwe, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
CREDIT (Clockwise from Top Left): Screenshot, Netflix, Screenshot, Screenshot
For the Year of Our Screens 2021, my list includes all the shows that I would recommend to my fellow viewers as “worth watching.” So that’s 77 shows! There’s a lot of TV nowadays, and a lot of it’s also pretty good.
I utilized a self-imposed rule in which I had to watch at least 50% of a show’s 2021 output for it to be eligible. However, there were some noteworthy shows that I watched less than 50% of, so I’ve spotlighted those in an honorable mention section:
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January 14, 2022
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Podcasts, Sports, Television
Australian Open, Caprisongs, Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello & the Imposters, FKA Twigs, Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, How I Met Your Father, Nickelodeon football, Scream, Single Drunk Female, The Boy Named If, The World According to Jeff Goldblum
Single Drunk Female (CREDIT: Elizabeth Sisson/Freeform)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Scream (Theaters) – The FIFTH Scream, for those keeping count. (But the first without Wes Craven.)
TV
–How I Met Your Father Series Premiere (January 18 on Hulu) – Kim Cattrall narrates Hilary Duff’s life.
–The World According to Jeff Goldblum Season 2 Part 2 (January 19 on Disney+)
–Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Season Premiere (January 20 on TBS)
–Single Drunk Female Series Premiere (January 20 on Freeform) – Sofia Black-D’Elia gets a starring vehicle.
Music
-Elvis Costello & the Imposters, The Boy Named If
-FKA Twigs, Caprisongs
Sports
-NFL Wild Card Playoff Game on Nickelodeon – The Cowboys and 49ers are getting slimed.
-2022 Australian Open – Will Novak Djokovic be allowed to stay in the country for the entire tournament?
Podcasts
–Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade – SNL alums chatting about folks connected to SNL.
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.
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July 23, 2020
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
$100000 Pyramid, 2020 Emmys, Conan, Emmy Wish List, Emmys, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Holey Moley, Last Week Tonight, Match Game, RuPaul's Drag Race, Saturday Night Live, Sherman's Showcase, The Masked Singer, To Tell the Truth, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Whose Line is it Anyway?
CREDIT: ABC; IFC
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.
Now that I have made my way through the avalanche of award-worth Dramas, Comedies, and Limited Series, it’s time to get a little silly with the Variety shows. And this year, I decided to also talk about Reality, as there are enough competition shows that I plainly love to be able to fill out a ballot.
Conan is my top choice among the talkies, as Mr. O’Brien and company adapted quite naturally to the new reality of at-home production and Zoom interviews. The Soul Train/American Bandstand homage that is Sherman’s Showcase is the easy choice in Sketch Series; seriously folks, you gotta check this show out. And while I don’t always include SNL in the field, it earned a spot this year thanks to the resiliency demonstrated in its at-home episodes.
Moving on to Reality, where my Competition Program picks are dominated by game shows, naturally enough. At the top of the heap is the mini-golf showcase Holey Moley, one of the most purely fun and positive shows on the air right now. And Joe Tessitore and Rob Riggle are the perfect silly/serious M.C. pair to present the whole shebang.
KEY:
Bold=My winner
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot
Variety Talk Series
CONAN
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
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April 26, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Avengers: Endgame, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Knock Down the House, Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Samantha Bee
CREDIT: Disney/Marvel Studios
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Avengers: Endgame (Theatrically Nationwide)
–Knock Down the House (Starts Streaming May 1 on Netflix) – Political doc about AOC and other up-and-comers!
TV
–Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (April 27 on TBS) – Samantha Bee and the rest of the Full Frontal crew are at it again.
Music
-2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (April 27 on HBO) – Radiohead, Roxy Music, and Janet Jackson, oh my!
October 8, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Austin Rogers, Bob's Burgers, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Halt and Catch Fire, Jeopardy!, The Good Place
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 – Bob’s Burgers
Monday – Austin Rogers securing his place in the Jeopardy! record books
Tuesday – Austin going even further into Jeopardy! history
Wednesday – Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Thursday – The Good Place
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – Halt and Catch Fire better be careful about being so good about making me so sad.
July 31, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Celebrity Family Feud, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Jeopardy!, Orphan Black, The Gong Show, Whose Line is it Anyway?
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/Eric McCandless
Sunday – Celebrity Family Feud with its excellent answer of “squirrel”
Monday – Whose Line is it Anyway?, featuring the greatest Bruce Springsteen/Nicki Minaj duet of all time
Tuesday – Jeopardy!
Wednesday – Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Thursday – The Gong Show
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – Orphan Black
April 30, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Better Call Saul, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Great News, Last Week Tonight, Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner, RIverdale, RuPaul's Drag Race, Snatch Game, The Handmaid's Tale
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
Tuesday – Great news! Great News is great!
Wednesday – The Handmaid’s Tale
Thursday – Riverdale
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race snatching us all up as usual
Saturday – Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
April 3, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Bob's Burgers, Final Four, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Jane the Virgin, March Madness, New Girl, Review, Review (TV Series), Rick and Morty, 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 – A Bob’s Burgers twofer – the debate on top
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – New Girl floored me: (SPOILER) Schmidt?! (SPOILER) still loves (SPOILER)?!
Wednesday – Full Frontal reveals that Government Works!
Thursday – Review stopped, but Forrest MacNeil didn’t.
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Saturday – Rick and Morty delivered a delightful April Fools surprise, but the Final Four showcased offensive rebounding like all get out.
October 16, 2016
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Ann Arbor Short Film Festival, Atlanta, Better Things, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Last Week Tonight, Saturday Night Live, SNL, The Eric Andre Show, The Goldbergs, Time to deliver a pizza ball
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 – Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Tuesday – Most people don’t realize Atlanta‘s quality is another universe. Don’t be dumb.
Wednesday – The Goldbergs
Thursday – Better Things
Friday – Time to a deliver an Eric Andre Show finale! (Time to a deliver an Eric Andre Show finale!)
Saturday – That part in the Ann Arbor Short Film Festival (SNL) when everyone in the crowd stood up to get on the stage
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