Jeff "Jmunney" Malone's Self-Styled "Expert" Thoughts on Movies, TV, Music, and the Rest of Pop Culture
January 20, 2023
Best of 2022, Best of TV 2022, Television Abbott Elementary, American Dad!, Atlanta, Beavis and Butt-Head, Best of 2022, Better Call Saul, Bob's Burgers, Ghosts, MST3K, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Norm MacDonald: Nothing Special, Pickled, Rick and Morty, The Orville, The Simpsons, TV, Ziwe Leave a comment
I’m a Chocoholic (CREDIT: FX/Screenshot)
When so many modern TV shows feel like amorphous blobs, I cherish those programs that know how to craft well-oiled episodes more than ever. Here’s a mighty fine selection that I might just want to keep watching over and over.
January 18, 2023
Best of 2022, Best of TV 2022, Television Abbott Elementary, American Dad!, Atlanta, Beavis and Butt-Head, Best of 2022, Better Call Saul, Bob's Burgers, Chucky, Dicktown, Doctor Who, Girls5eva, High School, Jeopardy!, Mr. Mayor, Ms. Marvel, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Never Have I Ever, Not Top 10, Rick and Morty, RuPaul's Drag Race, Severance, Sherman's Showcase, Single Drunk Female, South Park, SportsCenter, The Orville, The Rehearsal, The Sex Lives of College Girls, TV, Undone, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Young Sheldon, Ziwe Leave a comment
CREDIT (Clockwise from Top Left): AMC/Screenshot; ABC/Screenshot; Paramount+/Screenshot; Hulu/Screenshot)
To demonstrate how great TV can be found pretty much everywhere these days, I’ve decided to pick the best show on each network and streaming service on which I regularly watched at least one show that aired in 2022. However you’re getting your fill of TV nowadays, you’re bound to find something enjoyable. If you and your remote ever find yourself hopelessly adrift, I can vouch that the following are all great places to find your way back to safety.
September 2, 2022
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., Megadeth, Rick and Morty, Taylor Hawkins, Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert, The Good Fight, The Sick the Dying... and the Dead!, The Simpsons, The Simpsons: Welcome to the Club, Wedding Season Leave a comment
If it’s season, I’m sneezin’ (CREDIT: Hulu/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
–Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (Theaters and Peacock)
TV
–Rick and Morty Season 6 Premiere (September 4 on Adult Swim)
–The Good Fight Season 6 Premiere (September 8 on Paramount+) – Final Season Alert!
–The Simpsons: Welcome to the Club (September 8 on Disney+)
–Wedding Season Season 1 (September 8 on Hulu) – Rosa Salazar’s in this.
Music
-Megadeth, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!
Music on TV
-Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert (September 3 on Paramount+ and CBS)
January 27, 2022
Best of 2021, Best of TV 2021, Television American Dad!, Best of 2021, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Evil, How to with John Wilson, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Nickelodeon football, Only Murders in the Building, PEN15, Pose, Resident Alien, Rick and Morty, RIverdale, Saturday Morning All Star Hits!, Search Party, Solar Opposites, Succession, The Good Fight, The Other Two, The Sex Lives of College Girls, WandaVision, What We Do in the Shadows Leave a comment
CREDIT: HBO
I probably watched somewhere between 1000 and 2000 episodes of TV in the past year. I don’t keep track of this information too specifically, so it’s hard to say for sure, but going by an estimate of at least 3 episodes per day, it must be somewhere within that range (if not higher). Anyway, these are the episodes out of that bunch that made enough of an impression on me to make me go, “Yeah, they nailed it.”
January 26, 2022
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 1 Comment
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:
June 18, 2021
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television Annie Murphy, Back of My Mind, Card Sharks, College Bowl, Conan, Evil, H.E.R., Helen Mirren, Kevin Can F*** Himself, Luca, Peyton Manning, Physical, Rick and Morty, Rita Moreno Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It, Rose Byrne, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, The Good Fight, The Sparks Brothers, When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren Leave a comment
Kevin Can F*** Himself (CREDIT: Jojo Whilden/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
–Luca (June 18 on Disney+)
–Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (Theaters)
–The Sparks Brothers (Theaters)
TV
–Physical Series Premiere (June 18 on Apple TV+) – Rose Byrne gets into 80s aerobics.
–Evil Season 2 Premiere (June 20 on Paramount+)
–Kevin Can F*** Himself Series Premiere (June 23 on AMC) – Annie Murphy hates sitcom clichés.
–Rick and Morty Season 5 Premiere (June 20 on Adult Swim)
–College Bowl Reboot Premiere (June 22 on NBC) – Peyton Manning hosts.
–Card Sharks Season Premiere (June 23 on ABC)
–Conan Series Finale (June 24 on TBS) – Headed to HBO Max.
–The Good Fight Season 5 Premiere (June 24 on Paramount+)
–RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 6 Premiere (June 24 on Paramount+)
–When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren (June 24 on ABC) – Something with animals.
Music
-H.E.R., Back of My Mind
January 6, 2021
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 Leave a comment
(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:
January 4, 2021
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 2 Comments
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.
May 1, 2020
Entertainment To-Do List, Television Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, Jeopardy!, Jerry Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill, Ken Jennings, Rick and Morty, The Mandalorian Leave a comment
CREDIT: Netflix/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.
TV
–Rick and Morty Season 4 Mid-Season Premiere (May 3 on Adult Swim)
–Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian Series Premiere (May 4 on Disney+) – Docuseries BTS look at our new favorite Star Wars show.
–Jeopardy! Ken Jennings Encore (May 4-15, Check local listings) – Encore presentations of the first and last games in Ken Jennings’ original run as well as the Greatest of All Time tournament.
Comedy
–Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (May 5 on Netflix)
April 9, 2020
Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Television 30 Rock, American Dad!, Atlanta, Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Black Mirror, Bojack Horseman, Community, Inside Amy Schumer, Nathan for You, Review, Rick and Morty, TCGS, The Chris Gethard Show, The Eric Andre Show, The Last Man on Earth, Too Many Cooks, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks The Return 1 Comment
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshots
In assembling my picks for the best TV episodes of the past decade, I noticed that I was leaning heavily on the comedy side. This was unsurprising, as I tend to watch more sitcoms than dramas. But the difference was even more pronounced than usual. I think that makes sense, because on average, comedies tend to be specifically designed on an episodic basis moreso than dramas.
I should also note that I did not limit shows to any prescribed maximum. You’ll notice that certain programs keep popping up, like Community and Nathan for You. They deserve it, as they’re the types of shows that revolutionized themselves on the regular.
So here are the television morsels from the 2010s that shine within the context of their full works and also stand brilliantly on their own.
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