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 7, 2022
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
A Discovery of Witches, A Hero, Pivoting, RuPaul's Drag Race, Search Party, Superman & Lois, The Righteous Gemstones, The Weeknd
Pivoting (CREDIT: FOX/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
–A Hero (January 7 in Theaters, January 21 on Amazon)
TV
–RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 Premiere (January 7 on VH1)
–Search Party Season 5 (January 7 on HBO Max) – Final Season Alert!
–A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Premiere (January 8 on Sundance Now, Shudder, and AMC+) – I’ll probably wait until it airs on AMC proper, though.
–Pivoting Series Premiere (January 9 on FOX) – Eliza Coupe in a sitcom that looks like it has some bite to it.
–The Righteous Gemstones Season 2 Premiere (January 9 on HBO)
–Superman & Lois Season 2 Premiere (January 11 on The CW)
Music
-The Weeknd, Dawn FM
July 9, 2021
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
American Utopia, Conan, Earth to Ned, Emmys, Eric Andre: Legalize Everything, Holey Moley, How to with John Wilson, Last Week Tonight, Match Game, Nate, RuPaul's Drag Race, Sherman's Showcase, The Chase, The Hustler, The Masked Singer, To Tell the Truth, What the Constitution Means to Me, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Wilmore
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. Finally, on Day 4, we wrap things up with Variety and Reality.
Did you know that there’s a talk show hosted by an alien puppet on Disney+? If you didn’t before, you do now. And you’re going to want to watch all of it as soon as possible before you die. It’s called Earth to Ned, and it’s hilarious and boasts a lineup of fantastic guests. It’s got vibes of Jiminy Glick, but it’s much more kind-hearted. It’s a celebration of talk shows as an art form and general phenomenon, and that’s why I believe that it should win the Emmy for Variety Talk Series.
Variety Sketch Series is where the oddballs that don’t slot easily into any other category end up, and thus that’s where the inimitable How to with John Wilson deserves our love.
And as for Reality, my enthusiasm is much the same as it was last year, when I was demanding praise for the first season of mini-golf extravaganza Holey Moley while the second season was airing. And now this year, I’m demanding praise for Season 2 while we’re in the midst of Season 3.
KEY:
Bold=My winner
Variety Talk Series
Conan
Earth to Ned
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
WILMORE
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February 26, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Alice Cooper, Anthony Hopkins, Colin Jost, Corona Can't Keep a Good Queen Down, Detroit Stories, Golden Globes, Olivia Colman, RuPaul's Drag Race, The Father, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, The Vigil, Tom & Jerry
Tom & Jerry (CREDIT: Warner Bros/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
–The Father (Theaters) – Olivia Colman plays Anthony Hopkins’ father
–The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (March 4 on Paramount+) – This is the day CBS All Access rebrands as Paramount+.
–Tom & Jerry (Theaters and HBO Max) – Colin Jost in the Wedding of the Century!
–The Vigil (Theaters and On Demand)
TV
–RuPaul’s Drag Race: Corona Can’t Keep a Good Queen Down (February 26 on VH1)
-78th Golden Globe Awards (February 28 on NBC)
Music
-Alice Cooper, Detroit Stories – Loved him on The Muppet Show; glad to see he’s still making music.
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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January 1, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Television
Alex Trebek, Brad Rutter, Call Me Kat, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Craig Ferguson, Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks, Earth to Ned, History of Swear Words, James Holzhauer, Jane Krakowski, Jenny Slate, Jeopardy!, Ken Jennings, Mayim Bialik, Megan Mullally, Mr. Mayor, Name That Tune, Nick Offerman, Nicolas Cage, Pieces of a Woman, RuPaul's Drag Race, Sara Haines, Ted Danson, The Chase, The Great North, The Hustler, Will Forte, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
The Chase; Celebrity Wheel of Fortune; The Hustler (CREDIT: Ron Batzdorff/ABC; Carol Kaelson/ABC; Christopher Willard/ABC)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Pieces of a Woman (January 7 on Netflix)
TV
–Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks (January 1 on BBC America)
–Earth to Ned Season 1 Part 2 (January 1 on Disney+) – A delightful talk show hosted by an alien. I wrote about it on my newsletter.
–RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 Premiere (January 1 on VH1)
–Call Me Kat Series Premiere (January 3 on FOX) – Starring Mayim Bialik and cats.
–The Great North Series Premiere (January 3 on FOX) – New animated show with the voices of Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Jenny Slate, Will Forte, and others.
-Alex Trebek’s last week of new Jeopardy! episodes (January 4-8, check local listings)
–The Hustler Series Premiere (January 4 on ABC) – Another game show on ABC! This one’s hosted by Craig Ferguson.
–History of Swear Words (January 5 on Netflix) – Hosted by Nicolas Cage himself.
–Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist Season 2 Premiere (January 5 on NBC)
–Name That Tune Reboot Premiere (January 6 on FOX) – Hosted by the one and only Jane Krakowski.
–Celebrity Wheel of Fortune Series Premiere (January 7 on ABC)
–The Chase Reboot Premiere (January 7 on ABC) – Jeopardy! all-time greats Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer square off against contestants. Sara Haines hosts.
–Mr. Mayor Series Premiere (January 7 on NBC) – Ted Danson gets right back in the sitcom swing.
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
More
April 24, 2020
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders, AWOLNATION, Bad Education, Beastie Boys, Beastie Boys Story, Normal People, Parks and Recreation, RuPaul's Drag Race, RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race
CREDIT: Apple TV/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
–Beastie Boys Story (Streaming on Apple TV+)
–Bad Education (Premieres April 25 on HBO)
TV
–RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race Premiere (April 24 on VH1)
–Normal People Series Premiere (April 29 on Hulu)
-A Parks and Recreation Special (April 30 on NBC)
Music
-AWOLNATION, Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders
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)
June 25, 2017
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
Better Call Saul, cheeky monkeys, Doctor Who, Downward Dog, Orphan Black, RuPaul's Drag Race, Sasha Velour, The Carmichael Show, The Gong Show, 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.
CREDIT: VH1
Sunday – Twin Peaks
Monday – Better Call Saul, because everything’s blowing up
Tuesday – Downward Dog
Wednesday – Fargo had a fine finale, but The Carmichael Show had one of its best discussions ever.
Thursday – The Gong Show, cheeky monkeys
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race, even though my cable cut in and out during one of the lip syncs
Saturday – The Doctor Who/Orphan Black double bill lived up to its promise.
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