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I love this thread and I'm already making another list of shows that I didn't get to before now, but I'm really looking forward to getting into: This Place Rules From 1899 The Patient Minx House of Dragons Tokyo Vice How To Black Bird Irma Vep And speaking of lists, I have another one for the shows I couldn't jam into my top ten list. Apparently there were more than 300 shows that premiered for the first time in the first SIX MONTHS this year. An insane year for content, but I had to mention these also amazing shows that are definitely worth watching: White Lotus Interview With A Vampire Mo High School After Party This Flag Means Death Murderville Physical We Need To Talk About Cosby We Own This City This Fool Now the real list, here we go: 10. Gaslit A recounting of the insanity that swirled around the Watergate breaking and fallout, it somehow continued to just keep blowing my mind in how absolutely hosed up and dark and hilarious everything got. With career defining performances from a murderers row of amazing actors, Dan Stevens, Julia Roberts, Betty Gilpen, chewing thru not only the cruelty and madness of the Nixon presidency, but also larger thoughts on loyalty, and love, and how that can be absolutely twisted to break you. It also has some of the sneakily best written dialogue of the year. Shea Wigham gives perhaps the most indelible performance of the year as the insane and captivating G Gordon Loddy. 9. Atlanta Feels like I have nothing else to say that someone else hasn't done a better job already. Though I haven't ever connected emotionally as fully as other people have with its characters, it's film making bonifides, its use of the episodic format, the cleverness and intention with its structural experiments, has pushed the TV drama forward all on its own. 8. Peacemaker A few months after watching the show, what sticks with me isn't the fast-paced and hilarious dialogue, the killer action scenes, or sci fi inventiveness, it's John Cena breaking down and crying. The secret power of this show depicting hosed up super heroes is emotional honesty, delivered in swift punches and relentless combos. These characters struggle with struggles that we all have, the struggle to be taken seriously, the struggle with toxic family, the struggle to forgive and be forgiven, while also wrapping it up an excellent action yarn perfectly wrapped up by season's end. A rare thing on TV. 7. The Bear Anxiety inducing in a way that I haven't seen captured as well since Uncut Gems, it's also an uplifting story of picking up yourself from a horrible senseless tragedy, leavened with deep humor, and examinaing ambition, and what we owe to each other. Next level directing and acting good enough to stop all that for a simple monologs centered directly on the actor's face. 6. Somebody Somewhere 2022 has been wonderful for TV in a lot of ways, but what excites me most is that the parameters of it have expanded enough to embrace diverse stories that for some dumb reason haven't been explored yet. I could have put Mo in this slot, or This Fool, or High School, or one of the other dramadies that were simultaneously hilarious and profound. But this show about an unhappy 40 something year old woman trying to fit into strictured Kansas suburbia is the one that has left the greatest impression. It doesn't matter how little I might share with the lead, her dealing with loss, and unrealized dreams affected me on a real level that feels fairly universal. We've all dealt with this poo poo. And the show seems cognizant about it, not dwelling in the sadness or futility, but like it's characters, ready to bear it as just another thing you have to deal with. This show seems wise, and creates a funny and nuanced crew of characters whose increasing interactions seem to underline the shows main theme, the power of being together. 5. Reservation Dogs As seen by the other lists, this show is killing it. And it's focus this season on its expanded cast of characters was a fantastic choice, now filtering the tragic-comic adventures of teenagers with adult views on family and redemption. I was a goddamn mess by the end of the season. 4. Barry Do I like this show this much because of how much I loathe Dexter? Maybe the thing that still rankles the most after it had its sputtering end is its sociopathic need to have its main character avoid the consequences of his own actions. Season 3, seems to exist to ensure that didn't happen. Barry, finally got what was his and it turned what was TV's funniest show to also at times, its most dramatically effective. There doesn't seem to be any guard rails for this show, but here's hoping they keep up this quality for Season 4. 3. Severance A triumph of sci social commentary and a show so assured its shocking, it's a showcase of top tier writing an directing. Other people have covered this so all I'm gonna say is this is one of the best first seasons of anything I've ever seen. 2. Better Call Saul Another show that is rightfully getting its plaudits here. I actually came to BCS as a viewer who stopped watching the show after the 3rd season. No particular reason why, but at times I was grateful for it as I dov3d back into the show with a vengeance, and utterly found it impossible to stop at one episode just so I could see the next. But what I also found was that it was almost as hard to watch more than a few episodes in a row. Because each episode was so dense, so heady, so weighty, that I found myself fuller than after a buffet. So much happened in its 6th season that I'm still reeling from it. A swan song sason that could stand with some of its best season, maybe the most rare thing you can see on TV. 1. Andor How is this show my number one, in a year of BCS, Severance and Reservation Dogs? It doesn't take as deep a character study as other shows on this list, it doesn't fill an episode with enough twists and turns that you need a minute to take it all in, it doesn't wow you with its inventive story or narrative risk. What it does set out to do over its dozen or so episodes is tell you a tale as polemic, as political, as the diagetic in story voice memos calling for revolution. REVOLUTION in bright capitalized letters, slashed across the boundaries of episode ends, not content to let the contours of the hour drama stop i5self from essentially creating three different movies, with increasing levels of reward as a result. I'm a fan of this stuff, grand stories spread over dozens of characters telling a story of humanity and the struggle to remain human. And every line, every acting choice, every directorial trick and sci fi bit of world building, was aimed at that. This show was a message, a riotus series of introductions and paid off climaxes, that had me cheering and weeping within moments of each other. This just FEELS new, and that's why it's my number one. Shageletic fucked around with this message at 14:34 on Jan 2, 2023 |
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Jan 2, 2023 13:58
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Jerusalem posted:Great write-up, Shageletic! While it wasn't my #1 choice, I can't deny that Andor was masterful at making you FEEL for characters, some of whom literally only existed for an episode or two, and made all those little moments add up, reminding us that the Capital R revolution is built on thousands (milliions) of tiny little moments like an old woman who felt she could finally put on her best coat and walk across the town square she'd avoided for over a decade. Thanks! It's great to see many goons converging on the same shows for this year, because that's just how good they were. But at a certain point I think any show on your top 10 if you spent alot of time watching TV is going to score 10/10s in every objective metric. Then it just comes down to the subjective, what particular show just hit you the best, in an almost ineffable way. That was me for Andor but I also agree with other ppls number ones too lol.
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Jan 2, 2023 16:56
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That's a lovely rationale for your number one Capone. Great writeup.
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Jan 3, 2023 15:49
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So you've seen Somebody Somewhere? I'm trying to find someone else who has lol
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Jan 3, 2023 16:04
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Khanstant posted:i'll spare you my star wars rants except to say after rogue 1 I quit Star Warring with it and intend to never see a new one... but this write-up and a couple others really have me thinking maybe I could watch and enjoy this show without even touching my dumb star wars baggage. I love sci-fi and fantasy and space and revolution and incredible intricate person-level worldbuilding. I think I'll give this a shot Let us know how it goes!
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Jan 5, 2023 00:28
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As a fan of the movie Animal Kingdom, I dropped out of Animal Kingdom late in the first season when I saw how long they were going to take the plot. So it's good all the way through and worth a watch?
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Jan 17, 2023 21:36
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Need to see that Caroline Calloway interview
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Jan 18, 2023 19:31
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Hell yeah
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Jan 23, 2023 10:12
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This is a better list than anything I've seen out there done by major outlets like Vulture or what's left of the AV Club. It's hard to argue against any of these shows placement
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Feb 4, 2023 08:44
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