Friday, January 3, 2020

My Favorite TV of 2019

No matter how gross something is just remember it is very easy to wash your hands - Scott McNulty
Years over, new year is started, what did I watch last year anyway? I have the sense I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I run back through my list in TV Time, seems like I spent a lot more time watching TV than I thought I did.

My Favorite TV of 2019

Watchmen (SciFi/Fantasy) - My highest rated show of 2019. I was not expecting to like it and in its first few episodes it just seemed weird like they weren't going to have a coherent story, but all the ends come together and tie up nicely.
His Dark Materials (SciFi/Fantasy) - I'm surprised I never read this as a kid, but I have really enjoyed this series. I started watching it about the same time I started some others and just realized the acting, story, set of this show is just one notch above everything else.
The Mandalorian (SciFi) - This is a "fun" show more than a "serious" show. Enjoy the action and enjoy the laughs. Storm Troop target practice might be my favorite scene in the first series.
Veronica Mars (Drama) - I found this show a decade after it was out looking for something that Mrs.Chaos would also enjoy and it was great. This random extra season is just more of everything there is to love in the original series.
What We Do in the Shadows (Comedy) - This show is not for everyone. It has a ridiculousrid premise and ridiculous humor and the dry wit comedy of everyone acting like it's all perfectly normal. If you enjoy that, there isn't much of this on TV, and it's a stand out comedy delight.dry wit humor

The Okay

On the comedy side of things, Fresh off the Boat, Sillicon Valley, The Good Place, The Tick, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Big Bang Theory were all enjoyable to watch and I'd do it again.
I'm working my way thought Apple TV+ and have watched Dickinson, See, and The Morning Show. All of them are fine shows for the genre they are in, but there are better options out there. I was most impressed by Steve Carell's performance in The Morning Show as the sexual harasser who doesn't think he's that bad in the grand scheme of things. I just started watching Servant and it's my favorite so far on the network, but there will be The Twist™ and I'll just have to see if it's great or if the villain was actually a townsperson in a rubber mask.
I'm still hanging on to the Arrowverse, but 2020 will be the year I stop almost all of these shows. Arrow, Supergirl, and Flash were amazing debuts and did a great few seasons but each one has slowly puttered out. The only Arrowverse show I'm likely to keep watching is Legends, which started fairly weak, but has jumped the shark and is pure satire on the genre. Legends still gets good laughs from me.
Stranger Things, The Handmaid's Tale, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. all pulled off another season that is more of the same. They had stronger earlier seasons and are just chugging along now.
Black Mirror, Twighlight Zone are anthology shows with good and bad episodes. There are probalby some you'll like and some you won't. If you have a friend who watched them all, they could probably tell you which YOU would like.

Probably Not

American Gods, Star Trek: Discovery - I keep holding out hope that these shows will get good
Good Omens - If David Tennant is in it, I'm probably going to watch it, but I did not like this show. The humor did not stick for me.
Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - They did a very good job reproducing the look and feel of the movie, but I was unmoved by the show. There are a few scenes characters that are fun, but overall very boring. I'm honestly shocked this was renewed for another season.hi
True Detective - Season 1 was so good I've kept watching, but Season 2 and Season 3 have been mediocre.

Honarable Mention

Game of Thrones - You should finish this off. Whatever opinion you have about the ending, you are right in thinking it, and everyone else's opinion is wrong.
The OA - this show is weird. I really enjoyed the weirdness of Season 1 and the idea that you had an unreliable narrator and you weren't exactly sure what reality was. I did not enjoy one of the weird plotlines in Season 2 so it was like, maybe, 50% good for me? It looks like it isn't renewed for a 3rd season so it was fun while it lasted.

Summary

It's great to be in a golden era of television, yet there is so much content, people are dividing into their little zones of what they like.