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Getting in under the wire! Here is my scientifically proven list of good TV things: EDIT: adjusted to remove the 2022 show I included 10. What We Do In The Shadows This show continues to be a great tightrope walk between sad, weird and hilarious. They found ways to move the plot forward while staying true to these deeply strange characters, in a satisfying way. 9. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson  This season of ITYSL managed to take the insane vibe of the first season and pair it with a bigger existential sadness, and somehow make it funnier and more shocking. It's hard to beat the old man makeup skit for pure WTF excellence, and now I really have to get myself to Dan Flashes. 8. Hawkeye  I was least excited for this show of all the Marvel offerings, but it ended up being one of the most enjoyable. It didn't hit the heights of some of the moments of Winter Soldier or Loki, but it also avoided the traps those shows fell into, which bumped them off my list and down into the "meh" pile. Low stakes but fun, the charm of Hailee Steinfeld and Florence Pugh carried the day here. Plus it was a joy to see D'Onfrio as the Kingpin again. The ending was weaker than the rest, as is the Marvel way, but it still held together for me. 7. Ted Lasso  This show shouldn't work. A show about optimism and perseverance sounds treacly and awful on paper, and the fact that it is so successful is a huge testament to the writing and performances. They took the positives of S1 and added to them, and I think this season can stand with the first as equally strong. 6. Brooklyn 99  The finale was perfect in all ways, and if the beginning of the season had been stronger this would be at the top of the list. But it was a tough line to walk, trying to balance the new conversation about police in a show about goofy police officers. It wasn't always successful, but I applaud the attempt, and it was worth it to get to the excellent finish line. NINE-NINE! 5. Squid Game  There isn't much to say that hasn't been said about this, so I will focus on one thing I liked. The decision to send all the players home at the end of an early episode was a genius move that was a huge part of why this worked. It removed all the nagging thoughts the audience had about why the people should leave, and really cemented the game as do-or-die. The two girls' performances in Episode 6 were amazing and heart-breaking, and capped the whole thing nicely. 4. The Great British Bake-Off  This was probably the best season of Bake-Off yet, or at least close. A really fantastic group of characters and some exciting conclusions made this the high-water mark for comfort TV this year. Jurgen is my hero. 3. Only Murders In The Building  I almost didn't watch this, because I hate Martin Short in most things. But they really found a way to make him work perfectly, and make his over-the-top quirks fit into the story. Also I wasn't familiar with Selena Gomez before this (because I am An Old), and was impressed with her performance here. They did a great job mixing the whodunit stuff with the comedy, and the whole thing was very compelling. A great surprise! 2. The Beatles - Get Back  It is hard to recommend this to non-Beatle fans, because it is so long. But I cannot overstate the achievement of this TV show/film/whatever. The advances in image and audio technology that gave us this film alone are worth witnessing, and the level of total immersion in the Beatles' world is unparalleled. It really was like being in the studio with them, warts and all, and it totally rewrote the way I look at the band and how they worked. Ladies and Gentlemen, your hosts for this evening, the Rolling Stones! 1. WandaVision  This show just clicked for me perfectly. Combining the creeping dread and weirdness of a Twilight Zone episode, pitch-perfect sitcom genre recreations, and superhero stuff, it basically ticked every box I have. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany were top-tier, and of course Kathryn Hahn was perfect. I do think they had some misfires, especially about "Ralph" and some of the finale stuff, but the positives were SO positive for me that it makes up for any lacks. This was a great instruction in how the superhero genre can be expanded to some really fascinating and interesting places, and it used the previous MCU connections as a way to create tension, not just drive future projects. And my two Walk Of Shame nominees for biggest disappointments are: 2. Book of Boba Fett - Seeing Mando show up in the most recent episode proved how poorly they have used the title character in this show. When a character has no motivations or character traits, it is hard to build a compelling story around him. 1. Wheel of Time - (Disclaimer: As you can tell from my username, this series has always been a big deal to me, so I really was trying to keep my expectations low.)This show started OK, and then actually hit a stride with the Logain-centric episode. The end of that episode seemed to really "get" what made the series work, and I got excited for the rest. Seeing it fall apart piece by piece over the next few episodes was painful, and I won't be coming back to this unless they manage to turn the whole thing around. Ishamael fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Jan 31, 2022 |
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Jan 31, 2022 18:10
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 10:35 |
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Escobarbarian posted:Really cool list! But yeah you should replace Peacemaker to make sure your list is counted drat! I thought it premiered in December. Will update now!
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Jan 31, 2022 22:03
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Thanks for putting this together, it was a lot of fun to be a part of!
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Feb 28, 2022 18:08
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Looten Plunder posted:Whilst I could easily just say "that's the way it was when I inherited it", I'm still gonna advocate for keeping it at 10 shows. For a few reasons: Just wanted to chime in and say that I always appreciate the work you do on this, and I keep a list throughout the year just for the purpose of contributing to your yearly thread, so keep rockin it
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Nov 18, 2022 16:07
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