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Hello Friends, It's TVI and I just wanted to celebrate ANOTHER YEAR OF TELEVISION! Yes television has grown into being all about those STREAMIN' SENSATIONS and this year it's continued the long standing tradition of the last few years of "mostly being stuff from the internet" from HBO Max, to Paramount Plus, to Peacock and yes, Netflix, there has been just an abundance of shows, and just not enough time in the day to watch all this "content". As always, I'm starting out the list with "10 GAME SHOWS". And if we're going into the voting/scoring, I would give each of these shows ONLY ONE POINT, as my Top 10 list also includes game shows, and I feel they deserve more marks. 10 GAME SHOWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED IN 2021 10. Small Fortune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XWwANQKLMc Lil Rel hosts a game show where teams of three play games of skill and dexterity using miniature sets and props. Yes, I have seen the original british version of this show, but for some reason, the show's art department really needs some praise for it's propbuilding and the challenge team for not fully attempting to do "The Cube" in it's challenges. It was one of those shows that during the summer, I just binged entirely on Peacock and had a blast. 9. F-Boy Island https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5u4YCcDrko Dating Shows are really cheap to produce, and while tonight is the return of "Joe Millionaire" and there is always some attempt to "twist the formula", I think F-Boy Island is one of the most interesting formats out there, women are looking for love, and there are guys looking for love too, but also there are dudes just looking for "the sex". At the end, if the last guy standing is just a d-bag, they win $100,000. Otherwise, ROMANCE happens and everybody leaves with money and it's happy. It is exactly what you wanted Love Island to be, but with more comedy. 8. Bank Balance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqiVdNCzOJE That's right, it's a quiz show hosted by  Gordon Ramsay . The show is essentially quiz and topple put together. A team has to put bars on a balance beam 12 times to win money. But the show ended early because nobody won, but the sheer novelty of Ramsay doing a show that has NOTHING to do with food, and do it very well, is something to be admired.7. Wipeout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgc69U7cBJs John Cena and Nicole Byer are the new John & John in this couples based cable version of Wipeout, it's streamlined faster, and still has the same "people falling into water" that you expect. But it's just weird to see Peacemaker and "The Nailed It Lady" doing the commentary. Some people really love it, others don't, I just think it's mindless enough to work. 6. The Weakest Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gneXkVKCiv8 Jane Lynch serves as the "New Anne" in the 2020/2021 reboot of The Weakest Link, as the players get eliminated, the ladder grows, and the tension builds. The show wound up getting the reboot treatment in Australia and in the UK during the course of the year as well. 5. New World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy4iA46e0NU Netflix has had a steady run of South Korean television series, goons have grown to love korean formats such as "The Genius" and "The Great Escape" and one of my favorites of the year was "New World" this sort of cross between survivor, endurance, fantasy island, sitting on a million dollars, and more. Each episode has a new twist, but the amazing visuals and character dynamics among it's contestants make it a delightful series to watch. 4. Legends of the Hidden Temple https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydp-vqaDzQM&t=2s They rebooted that thing from your childhood.... for The CW. Instead of children it's grown adults who still act like children, Olmec is there with some fiverr quality animation, and instead of Space Camp, there is $25,000 credit from "chime", whatever any of that means! 3. Insiders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwoARovwD7w If you had to watch any one "reality show" this year, I would suggest Insiders, a reality show from Spain in which contestants are told they are in the final stages of casting, but the reality show began the second they entered the studio. Morals are tested and twists are thrown every episode, to figure out if people are really who they say they are, when the cameras are turned on. There was a rumor of "The Mole" returning to Netflix, but there was a show called "The Insider" being filmed, so I am lead to believe this show is getting an american version later this year. 2. Frogger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jx1vWBC7vc Holey Moley producers turned Frogger into a wipeout show as well. Contestants jump on lily pads, avoid moving cars (foam blocks) in the hopes to make it to the boss stage in an indoor set that looks straight out of an arcade, with amazing visuals and props, and not that bad of commentary, its probably the best "people falling into water" show of this year. 1. I Literally Just Told You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMIggDSnPGk&t=231s While it is not "officially" top 10 material, it is one of my favorite new game show formats. Literally it's a test of short term memory, questions about what the host just said, where the contestants are from (according to the announcer) to awkward game show tropes being played out make for a wonderful campy, irrelevant, yet hilarious game show, please check this out, to see Jimmy Carr descend into madness. TelevisedInsanity's TOP 10 OF 2021 10. Invitation to Party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWNECCsPxA The kids love these "tabletop" shows like Critical Role, but did you know G4 returned in 2021? I have, multiple times. Anyway, instead of picking G4 favorites like "XPlay" or "Attack of the Show", I decided to actually showcase one of G4's sleeper hits, because it's the only Tabletop show that actually airs on television. Invitation to Party is a series where four people play Dungeons & Dragons, however, at random intervals, it turns into an improv show when they step into "The Circle" and act out the scenes in real time. It's very interesting on a multitude of standpoints, one being that while they stream it on twitch, the next day it's edited for broadcast and put on YouTube and then on the actual cable channel, it's the backwards of how things "used to be", and I think the merit alone is why it's on my list. 9. The Cube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak-ceRThMhE Remember when I said that's it with game shows? I kind of lied, my bad. The Cube got it's american version in 2021 with D Wade as the host, surprisingly enough, it does a great job of showcasing what makes the game show so enjoyable to watch. People in panic mode over simple ball-in-a-cup challenges with really cool camera set-ups. 8. Jujitsu Kaisen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6riDJMI-Y8U I don't think I have ever put an anime series on my "best television shows" list, ever. However, Jujitsu Kaisen is probably one of the best "animes" I have ever seen. It takes a Jekyll and Hyde approach of the "high school student fighting monsters" series, and makes it somewhat interesting and, at least to be, as captivating. was it worth leaving out "Cowboy Bebop" and "The Witcher" on this list for this series? I believe so. 7. I Think You Should Leave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Fv3LFGCgo Still one of the best sketch shows currently airing, Tim Robinson continues to bring meme-level quality in it's sketches, from "Coffin Flop" to "Sloppy Steaks" to make it very memorable, even if you have no recollection of ever seeing it. 6. Wandavision https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBhlqe2OTt4 A love letter to television, Disney+ this year was REALLY Marvel Heavy - Loki, Falcon and Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, What If... and I'm probably missing others, if I had to pick a favorite from the pile, we would need to jump back to the early part of 2021, when Wandavision was still seen as "the show we should watch", hilarious theme song parodies, wonderful set dressing that transcends the decades of sitcoms, and a heartwarming fascination as to why things were what they were. Even though the Marvel burnout I was facing, I found enjoyment from this. 5. Succession https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kevqiiYNFrc Daddys #1 Candy Baby is Back, and while this might end up in that top spot among others, I decided to leave it at five, just because I know it'll be near the top, if not at the top. Ted Lasso is probably there too, but I don't own an iphone. Anyway, this season of succession had wonderful twists and turns, and continues to be the real "modern day dallas" that will eventually lead to a "Who Shot Logan?" around Season 5. 4. Squid Game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqxAJKy0ii4 It's a television show, people really loved it, then the guy who hands out bags of money decided to replicate it, and then nobody wants to talk about the show anymore, welcome to art meeting capitalism, one of the many obvious stories you'll see in Squid Game, the hottest thing globally, because there was a red-light-green-light game for "big cash prizes", kind of like Survivor, but if the contestants actually died. 3. Taskmaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBI_OyNAhHM Yes, the british panel show is on the list, yes this is the last game show on the list. Taskmaster somehow managed to continue being my "must see" television show year after year, really hilarious tasks for comedians to think about completing, New Zealand's version standing out as well (like a bucket hanging from a string) and when I thought the show is just getting boring, they pulled me back in with amazing celebrities. They also have an app! 2. How To With John Wilson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7aSybHRa6s&t=7s Leaving my top two for the "underground favorites" How to with John Wilson is one of my favorite shows, hands down, a mix of found footage, documentary, and nathan fielder surrealist comedy, it's season two did not let me down at all, from breaking into the Bang CEO's house, to a visit to Waste Management, each episode was one surprise after the other. 1. Saturday Morning All Star Hits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPAr3-4egRU My number one show of the year is probably the most "on brand" show for me, Saturday Morning All Star Hits is Kyle Mooney at his best, at first, it looks like a parody of Saturday Morning TV shows like Denver the Last Dinosaur and Gummy Bears, but as the show progresses, you get Bobby's World, you get Pokemon, and you get a real taste of the surrealist vision of corporate america loving to sell kids early on subs. Just an absolute hilarious and morbid comedy series, that kept me laughing, especially when finding out Sexiest Man Alive Paul Rudd lends his voice as "Dave" in "Createamals"
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Jan 7, 2022 08:30
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 12:28 |
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