The 77 Best TV Shows of 2021

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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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Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 11/19/21

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The Beatles: Get Back (CREDIT: Disney+)

Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.

Movies
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Theaters)
C’Mon C’Mon (Theaters)
King Richard (Theaters and HBO Max) – Tennis, anyone?

TV
Cowboy Bebop Season 1 (November 19 on Netflix) – Might watch this just for the corgi.
The Great Season 2 (November 19 on Hulu)
Solar Opposites Holiday Episode (November 22 on Hulu)
Hawkeye Series Premiere (November 24 on Disney+)
Saved by the Bell Season 2 (November 24 on Peacock) – One of the best new shows of 2020 returns for 2021.
The Beatles: Get Back (November 25-27 on Disney+) – Documentary series directed by Peter Jackson.
-National Dog Show (November 25 on NBC)
South Park: Post Covid (November 25 on Paramount+) – First of 14 South Park films for Paramount+.

Music
-Adele, 30 – It’s Adele again.
-The Darkness, Motorheart
-Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raise the Roof
-Sting, The Bridge

Music on TV
-2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (November 20 on HBO)

Jmunney’s 2021 Emmy Wish List, Part 1: Comedy

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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

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The 67 Best TV Shows of 2020

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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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Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 11/20/20

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Hulu Animaniacs (CREDIT: Hulu/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
Belushi (November 22 on Showtime) – A documentary about Belushi, John.
Happiest Season (November 25 on Hulu) – Directed by Clea DuVall and starring a cast of some of my favorite funny people!

TV
Animaniacs Reboot Premiere (November 20 on Hulu) – The Warner Brothers – and the Warner Sister – are back to run amok once again!
Marvel’s 616 Docuseries Premiere (November 20 on Disney+)
Saved by the Bell Reboot Premiere (November 25 on Peacock)
-The National Dog Show (November 26 on NBC)

Music
-Ariana Grande, Positions – This came out a few weeks ago, but I somehow missed it when that happened.