July 6, 2021
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
2021 Emmys, A.P. Bio, American Dad!, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun, B Positive, Big Mouth, black-ish, Chad, Dickinson, Emmys, mixed-ish, Mr. Mayor, PEN15, Resident Alien, Rutherford Falls, Saved by the Bell, Search Party, Solar Opposites, Staged, Ted Lasso, That Damn Michael Che, The Conners, The Eric Andre Show, The Unicorn, Young Sheldon
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot
It’s that time again! The 2021 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 13, which means I’ve got a Wish List for the nommy noms I’d most like to see! In case you’re wondering, I haven’t held myself to any minimum or maximum number of entrants per category, nor do I strictly adhere to official Emmy rules. (I’ve included explanations for my deviations.) And of course, I must mention that I haven’t seen everything, so there are probably some worthy considerations I may have missed. First up: Comedy and Animation.
Almost every single one of my Comedy Series preferences from last year is not eligible this year, whether because of series finales or longer-than-average breaks in between successive seasons. Luckily we have a plethora of streaming services to fill the gaps, and plenty of them are represented here. We’ve got Hulu! We’ve got Peacock! We’ve got Apple TV+! We’ve even got that dang HBO Max. There’s also some room for basic cable in the form of Syfy’s Resident Alien. And it looks like for the first time since I’ve been making Emmy Wish Lists, there is no broadcast network series making my cut (although one of my choices began as an NBC show and another is a reboot of an NBC show).
In the acting categories, it’s an absolute embarrassment of riches in the Lead Actress category, with every one of the ladies I’ve selected giving the performances they were born to play. That’s also true of Alan Tudyk, who’s my easy winner in the Lead Actor field. (He’s an alien … pretending to be a human! Can you imagine?!) Over in Supporting, it’s a mix of newbies and usual suspects, with plenty of sitcoms really making full use of their deep ensembles these days.
KEY:
Bold=My winner
*=I have placed this nominee in a different category than the Emmy ballot.
Comedy Series
A.P. Bio
Dickinson
Pen15
Resident Alien
Saved by the Bell
Search Party
More
January 22, 2021
jmunney
Entertainment To-Do List, Podcasts, Television
Alan Sepinwall, mixed-ish, Podcasts, To Tell the Truth, Too Long Didn't Watch
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
TV
–mixed-ish Season 2 Premiere (January 26 on ABC)
–To Tell the Truth Season Premiere (January 26 on ABC)
Podcasts
–Too Long; Didn’t Watch – TV critic Alan Sepinwall invites some famous friends to watch the first and last episodes of shows they’ve never watched before.
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 21, 2020
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
2020 Emmys, American Housewife, Atypical, Baskets, Better Things, black-ish, Emmy Wish List, Emmys, GLOW, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Living with Yourself, mixed-ish, Never Have I Ever, Saturday Night Live, Schitt's Creek, Sex Education, Sherman's Showcase, The Conners, The Goldbergs, The Last O.G., The Righteous Gemstones, What We Do in the Shadows, Young Sheldon, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshots
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.
Yesterday I kicked off my Emmy Wish List coverage with plenty of Drama. Today it’s time to laugh along with the Comedies, and boy, what a year for laughter it was! At the top of my list are those wacky vampires (Vacky vampires? Wacky wampires? Vacky wampires?) of What We Do in the Shadows, which in its second season staked itself permanently in my heart. It’s my winner for Comedy Series and all but one of the acting categories. Too bad it doesn’t have a Supporting Actress, otherwise it would’ve been a clean sweep.
Matt Berry is at the top of the Lead Actor heap thanks almost entirely to the Jackie Dayton episode (which ought to also earn Mark Hamill a Guest Actor trophy). Meanwhile, Mark Proksch slays the Supporting Actor Field thanks to Colin Robinson taking full advantage of his promotion. And Natasia Demetriou is the #1 Lead Actress because Nadja is awesome in every episode.
As for the Supporting ladies, I’ve got a little bit of everything, and ultimately it just felt right to go with the representative of the oldest show on my ballot as the winner.
Some other notables: Never Have I Ever and mixed-ish make the strongest showings of freshman series, Sex Education switches its category placement from Drama to Comedy (and remains worthy of praise), and I’m currently only on Season 2 of Schitt’s Creek, but I’m sure it’s just as good in its final season.
KEY:
Bold=My winner
!( )!=I haven’t caught up to the current season of this show, but I still wanted to recognize it.
Comedy Series
Atypical
Baskets
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Mixed-ish
Never Have I Ever
Sex Education
!(Schitt’s Creek)!
What We Do in the Shadows
More
January 17, 2020
jmunney
Best of 2019, Best of TV 2019, Television
American Dad!, Barry, Best of 2019, Documentary Now!, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, Legion, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., mixed-ish, Momma Named Me Sheriff, Mr. Robot, Pose, RIverdale, South Park, The Other Two, The Twilight Zone, Watchmen
CREDIT: TBS
If you were cryogenically frozen in suspended animation for all of 2019 and want to get caught up on all the great TV you missed as efficiently as possible, well boy, do I have some suggestions for you…
1. American Dad!, “Rabbit Ears”
2. Watchmen, “A God Walks Into Abar”
3. South Park, “Band in China”
4. Barry, “ronny/lily”
5. Mr. Robot, “whoami”
6. Documentary Now!, “Batshit Valley”
7. The Other Two, “Chase Drops His First Album”
8. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “The Gang Chokes”
9. The Twilight Zone, “Blurryman”
10. Pose, “Never Knew Love Like This Before”
11. The Twilight Zone, “Replay”
12. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Thunder Gun 4: Maximum Cool”
13. American Dad!, “Top of the Steve”
14. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “The Gang Texts”
15. Momma Named Me Sheriff, “TV”
16. John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch
17. Riverdale, “Chapter Sixty-Five: In Treatment”
18. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Inescapable”
19. mixed-ish, “Let Your Hair Down”
20. Legion, “Chapter 25”
January 4, 2020
jmunney
Best of 2019, Best of TV 2019, Television
American Dad!, American Housewife, AP Bio, Barry, Baskets, Best of 2019, Better Things, Big Mouth, black-ish, Bob's Burgers, Bojack Horseman, Broad City, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Documentary Now!, Fleabag, Fosse/Verdon, GLOW, I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Jane the Virgin, Jeopardy!, Joe Pera Talks with You, Last Week Tonight, Legion, Living with Yourself, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., mixed-ish, Momma Named Me Sheriff, Mr. Robot, Pose, Rick and Morty, Russian Doll, Sex Education, Sherman's Showcase, Silicon Valley, Speechless, Superstore, The Conners, The Goldbergs, The Good Place, The Kids Are Alright, The Last O.G., The Mandalorian, The Masked Singer, The Orville, The Other Two, The Unicorn, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Undone, Watchmen, What Just Happened??!, What We Do in the Shadows, You're the Worst, Young Sheldon
CREDIT (Clockwise from Top Left): Amazon; Disney; Pamela Littky/FOX; Rhys Thomas/IFC
Under the known laws of physics, it is currently impossible to watch every TV show (or even just every good show) airing new episodes in a given year. But for those of us who treat televisual consumption as a transcendent pursuit, we do our best to fit in as many programs as possible, which means that there are more than ten or even twenty shows worth recognizing in an annual best-of list. So this year, I decided to rank as many shows as I thought were worthy of recognition and provide blurbs for the ones where I really needed to say something.
More
September 20, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Ad Astra, Between Two Ferns, Between Two Ferns: The Movie, black-ish, Brittany Howard, Crank Yankers, Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Disenchantment, Emmys, Evil, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Jaime, Loro, mixed-ish, Schooled, Single Parents, South Park, Superstore, The Conners, The Goldbergs, The Good Place, The Masked Singer, The Unicorn, Young Sheldon
CREDIT: Netflix
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Ad Astra (Theatrically Nationwide) – Dad Astra.
–Between Two Ferns: The Movie (Streaming on Netflix)
–Loro (Limited Theatrically) – Bunga bunga!
TV
It’s that time of year again!
–Disenchantment Season 1, Part 2 (September 20 on Netflix)
-Creative Arts Emmy Awards (September 21 on FXX)
-71st Primetime Emmy Awards (September 22 on FOX)
–The Conners Season 2 Premiere (September 24 on ABC)
–black-ish Season 6 Premiere (September 24 on ABC)
–mixed-ish Series Premiere (September 24 on ABC)
–The Masked Singer Season 2 Premiere (September 25 on ABC)
–The Goldbergs Season 7 Premiere (September 25 on ABC)
–Schooled Season 2 Premiere (September 25 on ABC)
–Single Parents Season 2 Premiere (September 25 on ABC)
–It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 14 Premiere (September 25 on FXX)
–South Park Season 22 Premiere (September 25 on Comedy Central)
–Crank Yankers Season 5 Premiere (September 25 on Comedy Central)
–Superstore Season 5 Premiere (September 26 on NBC)
–Young Sheldon Season 3 Premiere (September 26 on CBS)
–The Good Place Season 4 Premiere (September 26 on NBC)
–The Unicorn Series Premiere (September 26 on CBS)
–Evil Series Premiere (September 26 on CBS)
Music
-Brittany Howard, Jaime
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