10th Annual TVIV Top 10 Poll 2021 Edition: The Dead Forum Lives On

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > 10th Annual TVIV Top 10 Poll 2021 Edition: The Dead Forum Lives On

BetterLekNextTime: Jul 22, 2008; It's all a matter of perspective...; Grimey Drawer

Who is all in for escapist TV? First some honorable mentions.

HM. We Are Lady Parts (Peacock). Fun crass show about a Muslim female punk band in England. It's a quick watch, and the songs are actually pretty good.

HM. Sex Education (Netflix). We binged the three seasons of this show this year. It's one of those shows that I expected to hate as mostly cheap crass teen humor. It ended up having a lot more depth for a high school comedy.

HM. Colin in Black and White (Netflix). This show is a tough sell given how polarizing Kaepernick is, and the preachy bits of commentary/narration won't win over any new fans. If you can look past this, the majority of the show focusing on high school Kaepernick and is well acted. The interactions with his parents pretty fascinating. If I thought a 3-sports star picking his career was a more interesting premise this might have gotten closer to my top-10.

HM. The Wheel of Time (Amazon Prime). I read the book maybe 20 years ago, which probably gives me the perfect amount of background to fill in general backstory without getting hung up on which details have been altered or not. I'm not sure the casting of the kids shines for me but I dig Moraine and Lan. The show is a fun ride so far and the scenery and production value have been mostly impressive. My main criticism is that the story feels a little rushed, but given that the showrunners are condensing eight billion pages into an episodic tv show it's much better than the alternative. Consider me completely on board for Season 2.

HM. The Witcher. The Ciri/Geralt relationship in this season is great, and this show continues to be fun when it gets weird and dark. This season felt more linear than S1 but still very enjoyable.

HM. Ted Lasso (Apple TV+). Late to the party on this show. I think I prefer S1 to S2 but when I needed a new #10 because something higher up on my list was not actually released this year, and I couldn't choose between Wheel of Time and Witcher, I went with this one. I enjoyed the journeys of the supporting characters and as much as there are villains in this show, like where they're apparently going for S3.

HM. The Detectorists. It's not a 2021 show but it's the best show we watched in 2021 (released on Acorn this year), and I just want to mention it because it's so dang good and kind of under the radar. Thanks to the top shows of the decade poll for mentioning this.

10. The Wonder Years (ABC). I can count on two fingers the network shows I sought out this year (the other was Ghosts on CBS). This show feels like an example of a reboot done right. It keeps the same wholesome tone and premise as the original. At the same time, the change in family and setting make it fresh and not just a retread.

9. Lucifer (Netflix). I'm putting this here since they managed to give us basically two seasons this year. Neither were perfect but I'm not overthinking it. Season 5B had some great stuff and a reasonable season ending, and was even better on a re-watch. The Dennis Haysbert arc, although really only 4 or 5 episodes, delivered in spades. For me Season 6 was all about the emotional tone of a series farewell. The plot had some problems and I don't love the finale, but the penultimate episode is probably one of my favorites of the show.

8. What We Do In the Shadows (FX). This season felt uneven to me but most of the episodes were still hilarious as heck. There's been more character growth this season, and I particularly like the development of the Colin/Lazlo friendship.

7. The Expanse (Amazon Prime). After 4 seasons of increasingly out-there sci-fi, S5 turned more into early-Game-of-Thrones with politics and family loyalties than out-there space monsters but setting all this in front of the backdrop of impending doom just amped up the tension that much more. Season 6 is here and looks pretty solid, keeping the story tight and gritty even within the big stakes

6. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). I am not a huge fan of any of the leads, which makes the alchemy of this show really amazing. The premise is a trio of tenants solving mysteries in a posh Manhattan apartment building and make a podcast about it. The writers get the tone just right, it's silly but with surprise reveal after surprise reveal to keep it engaging through to the last episode.

5. For All Mankind. (Apple TV+). So glad to have finally found this show! Mix a fun cast of complex characters with tantalizing alt-history and a space race that ended up being way more exciting than what we got in our own boring timeline. The sfx in the show really welcome you in, whether it's astronauts doing their thing or subtlety tweaked news reals.

4. Wandavision (Disney +). I'd consider myself a casual Marvel fan and I didn't know these characters before watching the show. This was my favorite thing on Disney+. The combination of campy pop culture satire, surrealist fantasy, and a legitimate main story about coming to terms with grief really worked for me. I'd probably like it even better if it didn't get Marvelized in the later episodes but really one of my favorite superhero shows ever.

3. Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix). What a fun ride! The creators really hit the nail on the head. Dark but not morose, weird without being off-putting, and sexy without getting too gratuitous. And funny! (like how unremarkable the supernatural goings on are in a coke-fueled LA). Kind of David Lynch light in best/most entertaining way possible.

2. The White Lotus (HBO). There was something just so delicious about this dark comedy. Rich people come to a posh resort to escape their problems, problems somehow still there, poo poo happens (literally). The way the anticipation of the disasters built towards the last episode just made this show for me. I also loved how the characters, even the objectively terrible ones, were written so that you could almost always empathize with them.

1. Reservation Dogs (FX). I'm not I can fully articulate why this show tops my list, but it just seemed to hit every note for my wife and I. Endearing banter and peer/cross generational relationships, sweet and funny. It also feels like an important work for representation of indigenous artists.

e: removed the Crown because it's not a 2021 release, shifted everything up and put Ted Lasso at 10.
e2: inserted For All Mankind at 5, shifted The Expanse to 7, and dropped Ted Lasso back to Honorable Mention.

BetterLekNextTime fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Jan 13, 2022

# ¿ Dec 26, 2021 06:53

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 23:48

BetterLekNextTime: Jul 22, 2008; It's all a matter of perspective...; Grimey Drawer

Escobarbarian posted:

Great list, but The Crown s4 was 2020.

Wow, how did I screw that up. I could have sworn that was a mid-2021 release. I blame pandemic time warp.

Edited the list above.

# ¿ Dec 26, 2021 17:44

BetterLekNextTime: Jul 22, 2008; It's all a matter of perspective...; Grimey Drawer

Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:

Big Bad Voodoo Lou's Top Ten TV Shows of 2021

4. Waffles + Mochi, Season 1 (Netflix).

Nice! We love this show too.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2021 06:56

BetterLekNextTime: Jul 22, 2008; It's all a matter of perspective...; Grimey Drawer

BetterLekNextTime posted:

Who is all in for escapist TV? First some honorable mentions.

HM. We Are Lady Parts (Peacock). Fun crass show about a Muslim female punk band in England. It's a quick watch, and the songs are actually pretty good.

HM. Sex Education (Netflix). We binged the three seasons of this show this year. It's one of those shows that I expected to hate as mostly cheap crass teen humor. It ended up having a lot more depth for a high school comedy.

HM. Colin in Black and White (Netflix). This show is a tough sell given how polarizing Kaepernick is, and the preachy bits of commentary/narration won't win over any new fans. If you can look past this, the majority of the show focusing on high school Kaepernick and is well acted. The interactions with his parents pretty fascinating. If I thought a 3-sports star picking his career was a more interesting premise this might have gotten closer to my top-10.

HM. The Wheel of Time (Amazon Prime). I read the book maybe 20 years ago, which probably gives me the perfect amount of background to fill in general backstory without getting hung up on which details have been altered or not. I'm not sure the casting of the kids shines for me but I dig Moraine and Lan. The show is a fun ride so far and the scenery and production value have been mostly impressive. My main criticism is that the story feels a little rushed, but given that the showrunners are condensing eight billion pages into an episodic tv show it's much better than the alternative. Consider me completely on board for Season 2.

HM. The Witcher. The Ciri/Geralt relationship in this season is great, and this show continues to be fun when it gets weird and dark. This season felt more linear than S1 but still very enjoyable.

HM. Ted Lasso (Apple TV+). Late to the party on this show. I think I prefer S1 to S2 but when I needed a new #10 because something higher up on my list was not actually released this year, and I couldn't choose between Wheel of Time and Witcher, I went with this one. I enjoyed the journeys of the supporting characters and as much as there are villains in this show, like where they're apparently going for S3.

HM. The Detectorists. It's not a 2021 show but it's the best show we watched in 2021 (released on Acorn this year), and I just want to mention it because it's so dang good and kind of under the radar. Thanks to the top shows of the decade poll for mentioning this.

10. The Wonder Years (ABC). I can count on two fingers the network shows I sought out this year (the other was Ghosts on CBS). This show feels like an example of a reboot done right. It keeps the same wholesome tone and premise as the original. At the same time, the change in family and setting make it fresh and not just a retread.

9. Lucifer (Netflix). I'm putting this here since they managed to give us basically two seasons this year. Neither were perfect but I'm not overthinking it. Season 5B had some great stuff and a reasonable season ending, and was even better on a re-watch. The Dennis Haysbert arc, although really only 4 or 5 episodes, delivered in spades. For me Season 6 was all about the emotional tone of a series farewell. The plot had some problems and I don't love the finale, but the penultimate episode is probably one of my favorites of the show.

8. What We Do In the Shadows (FX). This season felt uneven to me but most of the episodes were still hilarious as heck. There's been more character growth this season, and I particularly like the development of the Colin/Lazlo friendship.

7. The Expanse (Amazon Prime). After 4 seasons of increasingly out-there sci-fi, S5 turned more into early-Game-of-Thrones with politics and family loyalties than out-there space monsters but setting all this in front of the backdrop of impending doom just amped up the tension that much more. Season 6 is here and looks pretty solid, keeping the story tight and gritty even within the big stakes

6. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). I am not a huge fan of any of the leads, which makes the alchemy of this show really amazing. The premise is a trio of tenants solving mysteries in a posh Manhattan apartment building and make a podcast about it. The writers get the tone just right, it's silly but with surprise reveal after surprise reveal to keep it engaging through to the last episode.

5. For All Mankind. (Apple TV+). So glad to have finally found this show! Mix a fun cast of complex characters with tantalizing alt-history and a space race that ended up being way more exciting than what we got in our own boring timeline. The sfx in the show really welcome you in, whether it's astronauts doing their thing or subtlety tweaked news reals.

4. Wandavision (Disney +). I'd consider myself a casual Marvel fan and I didn't know these characters before watching the show. This was my favorite thing on Disney+. The combination of campy pop culture satire, surrealist fantasy, and a legitimate main story about coming to terms with grief really worked for me. I'd probably like it even better if it didn't get Marvelized in the later episodes but really one of my favorite superhero shows ever.

3. Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix). What a fun ride! The creators really hit the nail on the head. Dark but not morose, weird without being off-putting, and sexy without getting too gratuitous. And funny! (like how unremarkable the supernatural goings on are in a coke-fueled LA). Kind of David Lynch light in best/most entertaining way possible.

2. The White Lotus (HBO). There was something just so delicious about this dark comedy. Rich people come to a posh resort to escape their problems, problems somehow still there, poo poo happens (literally). The way the anticipation of the disasters built towards the last episode just made this show for me. I also loved how the characters, even the objectively terrible ones, were written so that you could almost always empathize with them.

1. Reservation Dogs (FX). I'm not I can fully articulate why this show tops my list, but it just seemed to hit every note for my wife and I. Endearing banter and peer/cross generational relationships, sweet and funny. It also feels like an important work for representation of indigenous artists.

e: removed the Crown because it's not a 2021 release, shifted everything up and put Ted Lasso at 10.
e2: inserted For All Mankind at 5, shifted The Expanse to 7, and dropped Ted Lasso back to Honorable Mention.

sorry to be a pain in the rear end, but I finished For All Mankind and I wanted to get it in my list. I've edited my post with new rankings for 5 through 10.

# ¿ Jan 13, 2022 18:27

BetterLekNextTime: Jul 22, 2008; It's all a matter of perspective...; Grimey Drawer

Escobarbarian posted:

Oh wow I definitely expected Mare to be higher

I watched it after I�d already edited my list two or three times. It�s really good and probably should have been in my 10.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2022 03:37

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 23:48

BetterLekNextTime: Jul 22, 2008; It's all a matter of perspective...; Grimey Drawer

thanks LP! These are so fun and I really appreciate the work you put into them.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2022 06:00

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > 10th Annual TVIV Top 10 Poll 2021 Edition: The Dead Forum Lives On