Since this blog is already extremely long, I’ll keep this short. I watched some TV shows this year and then I ranked them based on how much I liked them. What a concept! Here’s that.
50. Disenchantment
The latest comedy series from Matt Groenig, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama, Disenchantment which essentially is Futurama if it was set in medieval times instead of the future, takes a good while to find its footing.
The jokes are hit or miss, but the gags do still have the potential to be uproariously funny when they hit.
Disenchantment is a show I’d like to stick with, as it’s a candidate for a show that could experience a much-improved second season now that it seemed to find its rhythm in the season’s final few epsiodes. As for its first season though, the best one can say is it was uneven, at best.
49. Baskets
In its third season, Zach Galifinakis’ Baskets seems to have finally found its formula for success, which is, focusing less on Dean and Dale Baskets, the title characters, and more on Louie Anderson’s iconic Martha, which is truly turning into one of the best character performances of this decade.
In truth, there’s not much non-Martha related I even like about Baskets, but Anderson brings such a likable, relatable charm to Martha that its enough to propel it must-watch TV for however long it lasts on FX’s schedule.
48. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Could I tell you much of anything that happened in Kimmy Schmidt’s six episodes this year? Not particularly. The show has settled into such a recognizable formula at this point that while every episode is funny in some way, it’s frustrating that the writers seem unwilling, or perhaps incapable of advancing Kimmy Schmidt, both the show and the character, in any significant way.
Alas, there’s still lots to like, and after looking it up for a refresher I remembered 2018 had both DJ Fingerblast and Youtube Brown, which are enough for entry onto this list in their own right.
47. Electric Dreams
Did you know Amazon released an sci-fi anthology series based on the stories by esteemed writer Phillip K. Dick this past year? I’m willing to bet you didn’t.
Despite episodes that packed the star power of the likes of Terrance Howard, Bryan Cranston, Richard Madden, Steve Buscemi and Janelle Monáe, Electric Dreams flew completely under the radar in 2018.
Best described as Black Mirror’s little brother, the Eli Manning to Black Mirror’s Peyton, if you will, Electric Dreams swung hard in nearly every episode and there are a few that would stand out among the best Black Mirror would have to offer (“Autofac” and “Real Life”). Yet, there are others that are miserable slogs. Electric Dreams is certainly worth a shot if you’re a fan of Mirror or of Dick’s work, but it’s a mixed bag, so choose wisely.
46. F is for Family
Now in its third year, the Netflix animated comedy F is for Family took a small but noticeable step back in 2018 after a breakout sophomore year.
Bill Burr leads an impressive cast that this year added on Vince Vaughn as Frank Murphy’s friend-turned-enemy Chet, while the rest of the Murphy family deals with Sue’s impending pregnancy and the difficulties of living as a teen in working class 70s family.
While I found the plot and voice acting to still be strong, F is for Family seemed to be missing an important thing in its third season: laughs. That’s not to say there were none, but I found that the majority of the major gags in season 3 were largely swing and a miss.
45. American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Wildly different in many ways (many of them frustrating and often times just plain bizarre) than it’s star-studded first season, the second season of American Crime Story was far too often brutally slow paced and strangely out of order. Still, there’s no denying the power of its cast to bring the strange tale of Gianni Versace and his murderer, Andrew Cunanan to life.
Darren Criss shines in his most meaty role to date as Cunanan, a serial killer beset by his closeted homosexuality and difficult upbringing, but a psychopath all the same. He’s assisted by solid performances by Edgar Ramirez in the title role, Penelope Cruz, Jon Jon Briones and even Ricky Martin (!) who stops by to play the title character’s love interest.
I found the second season of Crime Story to be frustrating more often than not, but it still is worth a watch if for the performances alone.
44. Insecure
Like some other comedies that have been around a while on this list, I found myself getting somewhat bored of Insecure in season three, although I was admittedly invested in Issa’s relationship with Nathan (something is definitely up with him!) and Molly’s struggles at her new law firm (she’s in the right, and those guys are assholes).
Re-introducing Lawrence though, and having Issa seemingly falling for him again is a head-scratcher, after it seemed as though Issa Rae (the person and show-creator) had moved on, and had taken Issa’s (the character) life into a new direction.
Still, Insecure is an easy weekly watch that never really has a bad episode. I just didn’t really see much in season three that made the show better than it has been before.
43. New Girl
By the time New Girl’s penultimate season came around in 2017, it was kind of obvious the writers were basically out of ideas. The show still had its fair share of charm and one-liners, but the originality that made it one of the breakout sitcoms of the 2010s was long past.
Smartly, with only an abbreviated final season left in the works, the showrunners made a smart decision to bump us three years into the future. What followed was a renewed sense of freshness for Jess and the gang, and an ultimately very satisfying final eight episodes, capped off by a sweet, memorable finale.
42. Channel Zero
With its two mini seasons in 2018 (Butcher’s Block and The Dream Door, respectively), Channel Zero continued its strong run in being one of the scariest shows on TV that no one is watching.
While Channel Zero sometimes gets too crazy for its own good, it’s haunting visuals, cleverly placed jump scares and commitment to the truly bizarre helps it stand out in the Peak TV era.
41. Narcos: Mexico
In its fourth installment Narcos took the drug trade from Colombia to Mexico to mixed results. Diego Luna and Michael Pena anchored a strong cast, with Luna in particular turning in a performance that will make you quickly forget about Rogue One.
Still, Narcos: Mexico suffers somewhat from Netflix-syndrome, meaning the show is somewhere between 2-4 episodes longer than it needed to be to tell its story effectively.
If you like Narcos, you’ll get what you came for in season four, and moving the story to a new country doesn’t change things all that much. Still, while there are flaws, Narcos has found a formula for success, and as long as they keep casting talented actors and keep the show focused, it could go on this way for several more seasons.
40. Good Girls
Good Girls is somewhat of an obvious network rip-off of Breaking Bad (strapped for cash, the main characters turn to a life of crime of support their suburban families only to find out they aren’t prepared to be professional criminals. Sound familiar?), and it should probably suck, just out of principal.
Yet, I found myself stubbornly charmed by Good Girls in its first season, thanks to strong outings out of the trio of leads (TV veterans Christina Hendricks, Retta and Mae Whitman) and its twist-filled plot, that always provided enough of a hook to come back and watch the next episode.
Season two of Good Girls (which barely was renewed) will be fascinating to see if it can take the next step forward and drive its characters into new, interesting places, or if it will retreat back to the same old stops and starts that it pulled off too many times in the first season.
39. Counterpart
Let’s get the bad out of the way first. Counterpart was way too bloated, tried to cram too many twists into a story that is already a mind-fuck on its surface and generally failed to take the show in a creative direction that warranted its out-there plot.
Having said all of that, J.K. Simmons is phenomenal, playing two versions of the same characters (you’ll have to watch the show for it to make sense), adding in just enough subtle tells between the two that you’re never questioning which one you’re looking at.
The rest of the show too had its moments, and there is much to be played with in the upcoming season two if a few minor corrections can be made. Counterpart is a show to watch in 2019 heading into season two.
38. Wild Wild Country
Netflix has a truly ridiculous collection of docuseries, most of which get seemingly lost in the shuffle amongst their insistence on adding 15-20 new shows, movies or standup specials in any given week (has anyone gotten around to Flint Town? Didn’t think so).
However, Wild Wild Country, the streaming service’s foray into the cult of Bhagwan Rajneesh and his followers (most notably his loyal secretary Ma Anand Sheela), stood out due to the truly engrossing material, and the relative newness of the complete telling of the Rajneeshpurm story. Steered by the captivating, polarizing Sheela (still alive and more than willing to share details of her story), Wild Wild Country is among the best non-scripted shows released this year.
37. A Very English Scandal
A quick, Very English take on a truly English scandal, the show based on the Jeremy Thorpe scandal was a whimsical, fascinating look at a subject I was largely unfamiliar with.
Director Stephen Frears adds a bit of fun when he can to a story that’s otherwise very bleak, and Hugh Grant is delightful in the lead role as Thorpe, a gay politician who tries to get his ex-lover (Ben Whishaw) killed after he threatens to take it public.
If the show was titled A Very American Scandal instead, it likely would have been forced to go at least six or eight episodes which would have bogged the story down and made it forgettable. However, because our friends across the pond seem to have a much higher affinity for short TV shows, A Very English Scandal clocks in at a breezy, manageable three hours, and there are a lot worse ways to spend an evening.
36. Forever
Maya Rudolph + Fred Armisen in a romantic comedy with a clever twist? What could go wrong? Ultimately the answer was well… at least some things.
Forever was at times truly heartbreaking, brilliant television, and at other times was an uneven, confusing mess, and there was far, far, too many scenes of the two characters being painfully awkward together (intentionally, but still).
Still, the charm of its co-stars, and the stunning standalone episode “Andre and Sarah,” which is barely connected to the central plot at all and can be (and should be)watched even without the rest of the series as a backdrop, are enough for it to warrant its spot on the list.
35. Brockmire
Brockmire, the Hank Azaria vehicle about a drunken sportscaster who loses his dream job and has to rebuild his image in an independent club in small-town Pennsylvania, was always a little bit dark in its first season. But in season two, it leaned all the way in to force its title character to confront his demons or truly lose everything.
Azaria continued to be an underrated standout and while the jokes were as dirty as ever, Azaria and Brockmireproved it had another layer that we weren’t expecting in season two, and the results were a significant improvement in these rankings.
34. Lodge 49
No show on this list will feature less of a significant plot in any variety than Lodge 49, and whatever small steps the story does move forward in its ten episodes aren’t even really the point.
Lodge 49 is a success because it never tries to be what it’s not. It’s been described as a “surfer comedy” and a “hangout show,” but I’m not even sure those fit. To put it at its most simply Lodge 49 is weird, but mostly in a good way.
Wyatt Russell and Sonya Cassidy give life to the Dudley siblings and the rest of the cast of weirdos play their part too. I’m not sure I’d really recommend Lodge 49 to anyone, but I think anyone who watches it will have a good time. I’m not sure that makes any sense, but then again, neither does this show.
33. Bodyguard
24 but British. That’s essentially what you’re getting with Bodyguard, a BBC adaptation that came to Netflix and is perfectly bingeable with six hour-long episodes that are nearly impossible to not watch together due to the show’s deviant twists and gotcha cliffhangers.
Anchored by Richard Madden (of Robb Stark fame), Bodyguard is a fun, if somewhat deeply flawed political drama that’s probably best if you don’t think about it too much, and simply enjoyed its heart-pounding intensity for what it is. But nevertheless, that intensity is truly something else, and the first and final episodes are some of the most engaging episodes of TV this year.
32. Timeless
Extremely goofy and ridiculous but never not fun as can be, Timeless is the closest thing you’ll find on this list to a guilty pleasure. Sure, the overarching plot is ridiculous and characters seemingly turn good to bad and back in one episode’s notice, but damnit if Timeless doesn’t pull it off, somehow.
Each standalone episode brings something new and fresh as the team of time travelers has to correct some famous world event that is being disturbed by the evil doers, and the constantly changing theme from episode to episode gives the writers and cast a chance to mix it up. One episodes maybe they’re mixing it up with George Washington, and the next they’re stockcar racers in the 50s. You never know what you’re gonna get with Timeless.
Sadly, Timeless was ultimately cancelled after two season despite a feverish writing campaign from its fans, who were given a two-hour movie finale as reward for their efforts. I’ll miss Timeless, at least until someone travels back in time and blackmails the NBC executive that decided to shitcan it.
31. Blue Planet II
Although it didn’t quite top the magic of last year’s Planet Earth, Blue Planet II was another excellent installment in BBC America’s nature docuseries. Led by breathtaking visuals of deep -sea creatures rarely if ever seen before and the classic narration of the ageless David Attenborough, Blue Planet II is a must-watch for anyone who loves animals, the ocean, or really, really cool camera work.
30. Sorry For Your Loss
Talk about under-the-radar, Facebook Watch’s big foray into dramedy, Sorry for Your Loss, seemingly came and went without anyone paying it a second thought, despite a cast led by Elizabeth Olsen (an Avenger!) and Kelly Marie Tran (the actress sexists got #madonline at about The Last Jedi!).
The fact that no one watched Sorry For Your Loss is a shame, because it ended up being an excellent, short (gotta love those half hour dramas!) engaging look at grief, and how people move on from tragedy.
Olsen is powerful in the lead performance that I’m sure would be getting more Emmy buzz if Facebook bothered to promote the show even in the slightest, and while the secondary characters were largely hit-or-miss (mostly miss), she proved she is more than capable of carrying the load herself.
29. The Handmaid’s Tale
Let’s start with the good. The acting on The Handmaid’s Tale is top-notch, perhaps the best top-to-bottom on TV. The costume design, lighting and overall look and feel are also Emmy-worthy ,as is the directing.
And yet, The Handmaid’s Tale hit somewhat of a sophomore slump despite all of that in 2018. There’s just too many times that Offred made a frustrating personal decision, or one too many scenes of the useless Eden character. Or one too many Ann Dowd speeches. Also, the show is just damn brutal to watch. There’s no denying its mastery in several areas that make it worthy for a spot in the Top 50, but here’s hoping season three reverts back to the skeleton of the show that earned it a Best Drama trophy in its first season.
28. Corporate
Office Space is one of the great comedy movies of all time, but it is approaching its 20-year anniversary and could use a modern-day sequel that blends the new, even more ridiculous bullshit corporate banalities of 2018, with those from 1999 that still haven’t gone away, and probably never will.
In lieu of that sequel, we have Office Space’s weird, extremely dark but often extremely funny distant-TV cousin, Comedy Central’s Corporate. Helmed and starred by comedians Matt Ingbretson and Jake Weisman as the pencil-pushing, sometimes suicidal Matt and Jake, two mid-level executives-in-training at a massive technological conglomerate that may check off a few too many boxes of the exact companies you’re thinking of.
Corporate doesn’t always hit and is probably 2-4 episodes too long, but when it does, it is among the funniest (but also most depressing) things you’ll watch on TV. Also, Lance Reddick as the Jeff Bezos/Mark Zuckerberg/Bill Gates times 1000 evil corporate CEO Christian DeVille is one of the most underrated performances of the year.
27. Succession
Where you fall on Succession largely seems to depend on what you’re looking for out of a TV show in 2018. Some people put Succession on the level of the year’s best, a true candidate for best show of the year. Others find it irritating, the characters unlikable and the tension too long to build up before finally “getting good.”
I fall somewhere in-between. However, by the time our ridiculous, over-the-top Roy family was celebrating mild-psychopath Tom’s bachelor party in the most bizarre, grossest way possible, I was hooked.
The fun of Succession, for me anyway, is figuring out which member of this somewhat-too-recognizable family that you actually hate the most and seeing how the writing staff will twist and turn them to pieces with another “shocking twist” or seemingly out-of-nowhere monkey wrench that fucks up all of their plans and forces them to come up with Plan B, perhaps even literally.
Succession wasn’t my show of the year, or even close really, but it might have been one of the most fun.
26. The Deuce
David Simon’s foray in 1970s Manhattan, the rise of the porn industry and the downfall of pimp culture crackled in season two in a way that its first season never did. Aided by a time-jump into the late 70s, season two of The Deuce was more of what you’d expect out of Simon, but with a much sharper edge this time around.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Candy is the undeniable star of season two (James Franco’s twin Martino brothers took a significant step back, which is likely unrelated to the allegations made against the actor but is a positive change nonetheless), and her journey of not only trying to normalize the sex worker industry but to make herself be taken seriously as both an auteur and a business woman despite her past is gripping and devastating.
The Deuce was more focused and more compelling in season two, and one wonders what a final season, now moving into the 80s will look like after it seemed like it finally found its footing. Alas, it’s probably foolish to doubt Simon, at this point.
BONUS: Top 10 movies I saw this year
10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
9. Deadpool 2
8. A Quiet Place
7. The Favourite
6. Isle of Dogs
5. Annihilation
4. Black Panther
3. Avengers: Infinity War
2. Eighth Grade
1.Paddington 2
25. The Terror
On the surface, The Terror is a story about a shipwrecked crew that must deal with incredibly harsh conditions and a massive beast out to destroy them. But as the show unravels its multiple layers, we come to find out that the real terror (*extremely Rod Serling voice*) is man itself.
Anchored (pun intended) by a reserved go by Mad Men-alumn Jared Harris, The Terror is a masterclass of the slow burn, giving you time to appreciate and understand each shipmen, only for the (spoiler alert, I guess?) reality of their inevitable departure comes, some more quicker and painful than others.
Although I sometimes found the show to be a bit too on the slow side, you can’t fault the vision, as AMC has another bonafide dramatic hit on their hands, the second season of which will apparently explore the horror of Japanese internment camps during the second World War.
24. Maniac
It’s a little weird that a Netflix show starring two of the biggest actors in Hollywood (Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, (who I totally forgot were in Superbad together before prepping this article) seemingly flew a little under-the-radar on most best-of lists, but I think Maniac ultimately proved to be just too weird for people, and most seemingly checked out partway through or never bothered with it at all.
Maniac was certainly ambitious, and even attempting to explain the plot here would take up far too much time than I feel like spending. To say the very least, Maniac provided a platform for Stone and Hill to play many, many weird iterations of themselves (most episodes are a standalone story that, again, is too complicated to bother explaining).
Some episodes hit better than others and the central plotline is somewhat of a mess. Still, the actors (mostly Stone, if we’re being honest) and the pure delightfulness of the oddities of each situation make the show worth watching and by the end, I found myself fully invested, if not totally confused by whatever the hell was going on.
Maniac was probably a little too out-there for this world, but I’d encourage anyone who is willing to get a least a little bit weird to give it a shot.
23. Last Chance U
Transporting the story from Mississippi to Kansas, Last Chance U, Netflix’s junior college football docuseries does its best work yet when following Jason Brown and Independence College.
Last Chance U is great for football fans, sure, but its about much more than just football. Last Chance U is fun when it focuses on the gridiron, but it’s transcendent when it goes deeper, examining its characters from all angles, flaws and all.
22. Castle Rock
Adapting any Stephen King novel into a show is a daunting enough task, but creating a new story based off of several King novels that features enough Easter eggs to satisfy hardcore fans and is digestible to brand new viewers as well is that much more difficult. Such was the job of the makers behind Hulu’s Castle Rock, an incredibly ambitious show that was at times an unexplainable clusterfuck but was more often than not the perfect blend of haunting, twisty and engaging.
In a TV landscape where the pure Mystery Box show is falling out of favor in lieu of character-driven dramas, Castle Rock was a refreshing change of pace in 2018, where as it if it came out 5 or 6 years ago it may have felt like a retread.
While it didn’t always come together perfectly, I found the twists to ultimately be satisfying enough that it warranted the journey. It also didn’t hurt that the cast was top-notch, led by a truly creeping Bill Skarsgaard and familiar King actress Sissy Spacek, whose standalone episode “The Queen” was among the best hours of TV this year.
21. South Park
What can even be said about South Park at this point that hasn’t already? Trey Parker and Matt Stone find a way to somehow never disappoint, and season 22 was no exception, with episodes that will enter the crowded pantheon of all-timers like “Tegridy Farms” and the two-parter “Time To Get Cereal” and “Nobody Got Cereal” that shows Parker and Stone are willing to clown everyone, including themselves, for their old opinions about the world that have proven to be flat-out wrong.
Season 22 expertly trolls targets like Amazon, the Catholic Church and gun violence and while not every episode hit (“Buddha Box” is a bit of cringer), South Park has proven beyond any doubt that it still is must-watch television for both laugh-out-loud humor, and biting social commentary.
20. Legion
While it is clear that the second season doesn’t quite stack up to the incredible achievement of Noah Hawley and co. presented in their freshman campaign, the second season of Legion still was one of the most visually stunning, twisty, engaging shows on TV in 2018.
Backed by powerful performances from the cast (led by Dan Stevens and Aubrey Plaza) if you were willing to go on the journey it was trying to take you on, Legion still proved to be a powerful, gripping visual gem.
Tons of people seemed to give up on Legion in season two, and tons more were too frustrated by its pure bizarreness to bother putting the extra effort Hawley requires to find every easter egg, decipher each out-of-place scene and piece together a difficult to follow timeline and construction of events.
But what is TV in 2018 without being willing to take risks? Hawley takes more than just about anyone, and while Legion may prove to be simply Too Much for most, I’m on this train until we get there or it crashes, dammit.
19. The End of the F****** World
Never before have psychopaths been so darn adorable as they were in the hilariously dark The End of the F******World, which originally aired in England last year and was brought to Netflix in January. Essentially a romcom about a psychopath trying to murder his girlfriend, and a girl who doesn’t give a shit about anyone or anything, The End of the F****** World doesn’t exactly sound like a riot, but you’ll just have to trust me on it.
Hilarious and hilariously dark, The End of the F****** World somehow charms you to root for those damn kids by the end of its three-hour runtime, and the ending is so perfect, it of course was inevitably ruined when the show (supposed to be a miniseries) was renewed for a season two.
18. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
In it’s second season, Amazon’s breakout The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel continued to be one of TV’s best, an award-show darling backed by a capable cast and a show creator with a TV-pedigree to back up the buzz (Amy Sherman-Palladino).
In season two, Maisel continued to track Midge’s ascension in the standup world of the ’50s (albeit much too slowly) and her reckoning with finally telling her family about her career.
While no episode of Maisel is ever bad per se, it isn’t until the season’s back half once we’re out of the Catskills that the second season of Maisel truly found its form.
However, an outstanding final act that saw Midge finally come clean to her parents, grow her friendship with Lenny Bruce, and finally give her breakout performance on a national telethon while dealing with what a true path to stardom might mean to her personal life, can rank up there with any three-episode stretch on TV this year.
17. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Thank goodness that Brooklyn Nine-Nine was revived by NBC after being foolishly cancelled by Fox, because in its fifth season, the Andy Samberg cop comedy was truly firing on all cylinders.
It’s true to a certain extent that you basically know what you’re getting from Brooklyn this deep into its run, but it’s also important to remember 2018 brought us such moments as the Backstreet Boys cold open, the Sterling K. Brown-assisted classic episode, The Box, Rosa responding to an active shooter scene in one of the more intense episodes to date, and the inevitable but still ridiculously cute wedding between Jake and Amy.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine might be comfort food, but it’s done enough at this point to be talked about with some of the most successful sitcoms of this era.
16. American Vandal
If American Vandal doesn’t get picked up somewhere after it was cruelly cancelled by Netflix, it will be a crime even bigger than the one committed by the Turd Burglar, season two’s anonymous villain who tortures a high school with various poop-related crimes.
While season two doesn’t quite live up to the classic that was its first go-round, the second season of Vandal still hit a lot of high marks for it’s even deeper examination of high school social classes, how society views different groups of people and even the dangers the internet can provide for teens in the 21st century. It does all this, remember, while being ostensibly a low-brow mockumentary comedy that parodies the true-crime obsession by opening with a ten-minute scene of high schoolers uncontrollably shitting their pants.
If American Vandal is truly dead, I will miss it terribly.
15. The Haunting of Hill House
Ever since American Horror Story has gone off the rails, there’s been a significant gap in a quality, legitimately scary mainstream horror show on TV (sorry Channel Zero, but the “mainstream” part of that disqualifies you).Thankfully, along came The Haunting of Hill House a twisty and captivating ten-hour Netflix effort that was born for binging.
Truly scary in many moments, The Haunting of Hill House also does acting and plot better than just about any horror show you’ll see, and it deserves additional points for it’s tight direction and willingness to take big swings (much-buzzed about episode six features one long, ambitious take that is unlike anything else you’ll see on TV this year).
While the ending is somewhat of a dud, it doesn’t take away from how successful, Hill House was in its first nine episodes, and it should be remembered as one of the best horror-themed TV seasons we’ve ever seen.
14. Trial & Error
Perhaps the funniest show no one is watching or talking about, NBC’s Trial & Error is the show you need to watch if you miss the goofy, small-town charm once provided by Parks and Recreation, but wish Pawnee was wrapped up in multiple murder cases instead of planning for the Harvest Festival.
In season two, the brilliantly cast Kristen Chenewoth joins the cast as the prime suspect (replacing season one’s John Lithgow), and void of any serious dramatic turns, Chenewoth, allowed to simply have the most fun as possible, absolutely shines on an ensemble cast that is steered admirably by the impassive Nicolas D’Agosto.
Trial & Error may not be long for this world due to low ratings and overall lack of any significant word-of-mouth from the critic community. However, I have a feeling it will be a show that will be fondly looked back as one of the most underrated of 2018.
13. Sharp Objects
Led by a predictably outstanding performance by Amy Adams, HBO’s Sharp Objects was a standout hit in 2018, among the best miniseries to grace the platform.
Incredibly bleak and depressing but still impossible to look away from, Sharp Objects, a story that tells about a reporter with a troubled past who comes back to her hometown to investigate a series of child murders, hooks you early with its central mystery (who is the killer?) and never lets go.
Adams plays off of her mother (Patricia Clarkson) and her half-sister (Eliza Scanlen) beautifully, and the family is fucked up in some truly disturbing ways, but to reveal any more would take all the fun out of watching it for the first time. In my humble opinion, Sharp Objects didn’t quite stick the landing, but that doesn’t take away all that it built with the rest of its 8-episode run.
12. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
To talk about season 13 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is to divide it into two parts, pre-finale and post-finale. The pre-finale season was another impressive, if somewhat repetitive season of Sunny, with Glenn Howerton’s Dennis not-so-surprisingly coming back from North Dakota in the season premiere, and the gang continuing to be miserable, hilarious, awful people for the upcoming nine episodes.
The undeniable highlight from the pre-finale Sunny is “Time’s up for the Gang” their answer to the #metoo movement and how it effects the characters in the show (mostly Dennis) who have all committed some form of sexual harassment or another over the last dozen years.
But then there’s post-finale, Sunny which is honestly something I’m hesistant to discuss the off chance someone reading hasn’t seen “Mac finds his pride.” To say as little as possible about it, the episode takes “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” to a place absolutely no one expected, or even thought was possible 13 years in. A truly haunting, unforgettable final scene completely turned Sunny on its head, and there is more buzz about where the show will go from here than there has been in years, perhaps ever.
11. Better Call Saul
In its fourth season, Better Call Saul continued its legendary run with a season focused on Jimmy McGill’s tragic but inevitable transformation into Saul Goodman. In the wake of (SPOILERS) his brother’s death, Slippin’ Jimmy tried one last time to play it by the book before accepting who he really is.
While BCS wasn’t quite as strong this season as it had since years past (I found Mike’s story arc with the Germans and the lab facility to mostly be a slog until its dynamic last few episodes when it all came together), BCS took an important step forward and we near the endgame of this story. With more standout episodes and performances, Better Call Saul was once again one of the best television dramas in 2018. And man, that look on Kim’s face in the final scene is some of the most heartbreaking stuff you’ll ever see.
BONUS: Top 10 TV Episodes of 2018
10. GLOW: “Mother of All Matches”
9. Atlanta: “Barbershop”
8. Dear White People: “Volume 2: Chapter VIII”
7. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: “Mac finds his pride”
6. The Good Place: “Janet(s)”
5. Barry: “Chapter Seven: Loud, Fast and Keep Going”
4. Forever: “Andre and Sarah”
3. Atlanta: Teddy Perkins
2. Bojack Horseman: “Free Churro”
1. Castle Rock: “The Queen”
10. Homecoming
Sam Esmail’s signature style + a razor-sharp military mystery thriller + America’s Sweetheart Julia Robert + 30-minute episode runtimes. What more could you ask for in a TV show?
Homecoming, based off of a podcast of the same name, was truly a show made for the binge world we live in 2018. Unlike Esmail’s previous effort Mr. Robot, Homecoming doesn’t risk losing impatient viewers who aren’t engaged in the mystery box aspects, as it lives to exists in a five-hour window on Amazon Prime, easily finished in a day or two with almost every loose end wrapped up (although a season two is confirmed).
Roberts is fantastic, but its relative newcomer Stephan James, who stars as Walter Cruz, one of the subjects of the Homecoming initiative’s shady tactics that stands out the most.
Homecoming was more than a worthwhile adaption, and proof positive that Esmail is no one-hit wonder.
9. Killing Eve
Coming off the heels of her wildly successful solo effort Fleabag (not to mention a role in Solo), Phoebe Waller-Bridge stepped behind the scenes to bring 2018 one of its most fascinating, heart-pounding dramas, BBC America’s Killing Eve.
Following the cat-and-mouse game of serial killer Villanelle (the scintillating Jodie Comer) and the police officer obsessed with catching her Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), Killing Eve is as funny as it is violent. With twists flying out left and right all backed by two of the strongest performances of the year and a script that pops off the page, Killing Eve is a breakout for all involved, and one of the best new shows of the year.
8. GLOW
GLOW, the surprise wrestling-themed Netflix comedy based off of the 80s all-women wrestling show thrived in its second season, proving to be one of the warmest, most endearing shows on TV.
With standouts like “Mother of all matches,” “Work the leg” and the show-within-a-show “The Good Twin,” GLOW may have even surpassed its surprise first run.
GLOW‘s ensemble has little or no weak players but its leads Allison Brie, and especially Betty Gilpin improved considerably in season two, as the two main characters feud played out in unexpected ways both in the ring and out.
GLOW proved to be anything but a one-hit wonder in season two, and with a solid hook for season three teased in the season finale, there’s much to look forward to when GLOW shakes off the ring rust.
7. Barry
Bill Hader cut his teeth as a cast member on SNL where he was most well-known for playing over-the-top goofballs like Stefon or Vincent Price, but he’s proved since leaving the show that he’s also a capable dramatic actor.
Still, I’m not sure if anyone saw Barry coming, Hader’s emmy-winning dramedy about an assassin who falls in love with acting and tries to pursue his dream while keeping his true identity a secret.
Barry just kept getting better as it went along as Hader led a star-studded cast that featured notable bit players like Stephen Root, Anthony Carrigan and Henry Winkler. It’s final two episodes though were when Barry truly went from good show to great show, as the entire season’s worth of Barry’s choices come back to haunt him in that are somehow both unexpected and completely inevitable.
6. The Good Place
The Good Place has thrived in reinvention in its three-season run, and 2018 was no different. After seemingly writing itself into a corner again and again, Mike Schur and company always find a way to break out of it in the most hilarious, unexpected way possible.
2018 (which encompasses the back end of season two and the first half of season three), saw The Good Place take its characters somewhere completely unexpected: back to earth, but not before the end of season two forced its characters to confront their innermost flaws in front of the judge of the universe (a perfectly cast Maya Rudolph).
The first season-and-a-half of The Good Place will probably be the show’s most lasting legacy when it’s all said and done simply due to the perfectly pulled off twist and how expertly it was followed up. Still, season three is proving that Schur is seemingly never out of tricks, and there’s no telling what’s coming next.
5. Bojack Horseman
Another year, another season of Bojack Horseman that deserves to be spoken about with the best that TV has to offer.
This year, Bojack dug even deeper into its title characters past, mending it with a timely story-arc that speaks almost too true in a post-#Metoo era.
Will Arnett is truly, one of the great voice actors of our time, and while the true depths in which of the character of Bojack continues to fall to may turn off some viewers in its fifth season, Raphael Bob-Waksberg continued to masterfully blend wacky off-the-wall animal humor with some of the most intense dramatic stories on TV. There’s truly no show that has ever been like Bojack, and as it now gears up for its sixth season (!) one can reasonably argue it’s better than ever.
4. Dear White People
The most underrated show on television far and away, Justin Simien’s Dear White People returned in its second season in 2018 even sharper, better written and even more relevant than it was in season one.
Logan Browning turns in another strong performance as Samantha White, but it’s the rest of the cast (mostly all of which get at least one standalone episode to explore their story) that made DWP a breakout. Characters like Troy, Coco, Joelle and Lionel take significant steps towards growth in season two.
Even Gabe, Sam’s on-again, off-again boyfriend that is the catalyst for the show’s strongest episode, Chapter VIII, which is almost entirely an “interview” between Gabe and Sam for his ill-fated documentary that turns out to be not only a close-up examination of he and Sam’s relationship, but of racial relations at Winchester (a stand in for an Ivy League college for those unfamiliar) as a whole.
Dear White People will turn certain people off by its name alone, which is a shame, because I truly believe it’s a show every American should watch and can relate to in more ways than they might ever imagine.
3. My Brilliant Friend
A late show-of-the-year candidate, My Brilliant Friend an adaptation of a series of novels by the same name written by Elena Ferrante, is a truly magnificent, striking piece of storytelling. An elevator pitch would be this: If TV shows could win Oscars, this would win all of them.
My Brilliant Friend tells the story of two girls growing up together in a small Italian village in the early 1950s (yes it is subtitled, with the dialect being purely spoken in Neapolitan). Faced with the struggles of post-war life in a small village reliant on everyone in the family to contribute, My Brilliant Friend masterfully crafts the family dynamics of the entire village, a mafia story told from the perspective of its least powerful influencers instead of the opposite.
Somehow, the cast which outshines nearly any other on TV in 2018, is mostly made up of relatively unknown Italian teens. The score is breathtaking and the cinematography is again, award-show worthy. When it comes to the pure, overall presentation of what a TV show can be in 2018, it’s hard to top My Brilliant Friend.
2. The Americans
Season five of The Americans was truly, pretty boring and bad, so bad in fact that I left it out of 2017’s top 50 list altogether.
Any fear that that would carry over to the final season of FX’s Russian spy drama though was quickly erased, as season six proved to not only get The Americans back on track, but was perhaps the best season of all.
Matthew Rhys and Kerri Russell were outstanding as always, and the series finale “START” which gives us not one but two of the most memorable series finale scenes of all-time (I won’t even bother saying what they are. You know if you saw the episode) accomplished the near-impossible task of sticking the landing.
The Americans is truly one of the great dramas of all time, and the final season proved it beyond any reasonable doubt.
The Hall of No. 1 Shows
2013: Breaking Bad
2014: Fargo
2015: Mr. Robot
2016: Bojack Horseman
2017: The Leftovers
1.Atlanta
Robbin’ Season, the accurately titled second season to Donald Glover’s dazzling FX series Atlanta, followed up what was an extremely impressive freshman effort with something that not only matched the award-winning effort of its first go, but managed to somehow top in nearly every capacity.
With all-time classics like “Sportin’ Waves,” “Barbershop” and of course the absolutely insane, beautiful, and extremely fucked up “Teddy Perkins,” Atlanta has not only earned its place among the best television series of 2018, but is quickly ascending the list of some of the finest television made in this entire decade.
When combined with his music video for “This is America,” and his turn in Solo, Robbin’ Season completes a remarkable 2018 for Donald Glover, one that should go down as one of the best single 12 months of any artists ever. But taking all that away, Robbin’ Season as a standalone collection of ten episodes, is biting, hilarious, profound, thought-provoking and extremely weird. It wasn’t afraid to take risks, and every single one of them paid off.
To be honest, I had an extremely hard time pinning down by truly best show this year. Each of the top six entrants on this list was at one point a true contender. In the end though, I kept going back to the 1-2 punch of “Barbershop” and “Teddy Perkins,” which aired on consecutive weeks. Despite almost nothing tying them together, they represent all that Atlanta can be. One week you’re just trying to get a damn haircut, and the next week, a sheltered Michael Jackson-esque psychopath is trying to murder you in his mansion.
It doesn’t get much more 2018 than that.
The One Who Knocks 