High Art
Mad Men
Phenomenal
Nathan For You
Rick and Morty
Broad City
Very Good
Wet Hot American Summer
Community
Inside Amy Schumer
Game of Thrones
Fargo
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Gravity Falls
Justified
Wolf Hall
Silicon Valley
Review
Portlandia
Good
Veep
Parks & Recreation
Mozart in the Jungle
Kroll Show
Homeland
Catastrophe
Recommended with Reservations
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
W/ Bob & David
The Man in the High Castle
The Mindy Project
Master of None
Difficult People
The Americans
Last Man on Earth
Intend to Start or Finish
Hannibal
Better Call Saul
You're the Worst
BoJack Horseman
Bob's Burgers
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Thanks, Scott! Now on Hulu)
1 comment:
With the acknowledgement that I haven't finished the latest seasons of the last two, Mad Men, Hannibal, and The Leftovers are transcendent, beautiful, wondrous creations that really among the great modern narrative works of art. Especially notable in a medium that defaults to the familiar through the necessity of its production model, these shows consistently surprised and upended my expectations, not just in the "twists and turns" of the story, but the tones and depth of emotion they risked exploring without any eye towards creating arbitrary thematic, narrative, or emotional resolution. I love them each deeply.
Beyond them, I remain hugely impressed by and very much into Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (no "My"), Last Man on Earth, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Crazy Ex has future "best thing on TV" potential, but retains some first-season timidity, whereas Last Man actually became MORE timid in its second season, and Kimmy's consistent sense of responsibility towards its audience, characters, and story is admirable, but somewhat inhibitive. I'm very curious to see where they all go.
Veep and Bob's Burgers get the "good on you" notice for continuing to be as funny as they are so relatively far into their runs, even if neither quite have the vigor they once did (Veep's fourth 10-episode season would be no great shakes to the eras that birthed Seinfeld, Cheers, or frankly 30 Rock, but something about the prestige of its cast, writers, and producers makes it seem like they should have run out of fuel by now on this single concept, yet very much have not).
Mindy's fourth is, thus far, its best season yet, though I'll admit to that being something of faint praise for a show that only got itself together midway into its third.
I'm about...five episodes into this season of Fargo...liking it well enough, but so much still feels as forced as what completely turned me off of the first season pilot.
I haven't even finished Community. Good God. Every episode is unbearable. I'll give it the epilogue about the guy who ordered the giant hand though. That was the greatest thing ever.
Other stuff not on your lists...
I don't even remember what happened on New Girl last year, but it was probably awesome. The new season just started last week and included this line - "Like Jay-Z, I got 99 problems, but unlike Jay-Z, I have zero caveats" - so it was probably just as on point then too.
I plodded through Daredevil, and can't say it's especially rewarding, but it has its high points if you're into the general scene. Jessica Jones is, so far, more or less the same, its more insistent narrative papering over a lot.
On the other hand of the comic book spectrum, The Flash is so much more heart-filled, inventive, and thrilling than any superhero thing since...Superman Returns? The extent to which it outpaces weekly what Marvel does once or twice a year is incalculable (and I actually liked the Marvel movies this year).
I watched the first two episodes of Supergirl; Melissa Benoist is much better than the show around her, which is severely lacking in the resourceful supporting cast The Flash is lucky to have. Made me appreciate the many things around it which seem effortless or second-nature.
Got into Fresh off the Boat this year, haven't regretted it for a second. Excellent family comedy.
And I think that's everything I watched.
Post a Comment