Top 10 TV Shows of 2016

Top 10 TV Shows of 2016

Spoilers ahead for Survivor, Westworld, and Game of Thrones.

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12/29/2018: Switched out "Better Call Saul" for "Atlanta."

Honorable Newbies: Angie Tribeca (TBS), Insecure (HBO),  The Night Of (HBO) (mostly for first 2 episodes)

10.  The Crown (Netflix, New)

“She is the job. She is the essence of your duty.” King George VI

A well-produced drama chronicling the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy), beginning with the end of her father’s rule (Jared Harris, now suddenly one of acting’s best coughers and sputterers) and her marriage to Philip (Matt Smith, shedding the Doctor who role for someone a little less cuddly). The standout is John Lithgow as Churchill, but I am also partial to Alex Jennings as former king Edward. One of my new favorite voices. It gets a little slow at points, but if you like modern British history, it will scratch that itch.

9. Atlanta (FX, New)

 

      "Life itself is but a series of close calls."- Darius

      It took me a while to jump aboard the "Atlanta" train, but it was worth it. The versatile cast is a joy to watch and the stories are guaranteed to make you laugh. The weirder, the better.

8.  Survivor (CBS)

“Puzzles lay down for me like lovers.” – Debbie Wanner

Kaoh Rong was marketed to us as the season where everyone gets injured. It certainly delivered on that front, and climaxed early with the brutal reward challenge that saw 3 people go down, including Caleb who very nearly died and had to be airlifted in a crazy sequence unlike anything we’ve ever seen. There were some great characters, and the first two-thirds or so were fantastic. It kind of sputtered out at the end, and the winner was not terribly satisfying (sorry, Michele :().

On the opposite end, Millennials vs. Gen X started off pretty bland and slowly worked its way up, as the less-interesting players got eliminated early, and we had a pretty great Final Six. Jay was a star, David had a great story, and Adam’s personal agony was compelling. The ending to his story will rip your heart out. There was a lot of personal growth all around, and luckily the season theme was not forced down our throats (some Probst comments notwithstanding), and never devolved into mindless generational warfare.

7.  Stranger Things (Netflix, New)

 

“Maybe I’m crazy maybe I’m out of my mind! But God help me, I will keep these lights up until the day I die if I think there’s a chance that Will’s still out there!” – Joyce Byers

This one really kinda popped up out of nowhere. People have called it amazing and the best show of the year – I don’t know if I would go quite that far, it’s more comfort food than something on the level of Mad Men or The Wire. It is, by design, a throwback to those 80s adventure movies, and doesn’t really tread into new territory. But that’s okay. The kids are great – and Millie Bobby Brown is a revelation. Wynona Ryder and David Harbour get some much-earned attention. If there’s a weak spot, it’s the teen love story which takes too long to connect with the main plot. But ultimately, I’m not looking too deep into things here, and look forward to its return.

6.  Love (Netflix, New)

“We just keep believing in this fucking lie that a relationship evolves and gets better…”- Gus Cruikshank

Love is a fun/funny little comedy that tries to do boy-meets-girl romance a bit differently. Gillian Jacobs being the alpha in the relationship is a nice touch, and both leads are likable enough that you want them to be happy, but flawed enough that you don’t want it to happen easily. Only real thumbs-down is the completely generic title that makes it harder to search on Google.

5.  Girls (HBO)

“You’re an adult. She’s a baby. Why do you need more help than a baby?”- Adam

Not much to say about Girls. It continued to balance humor with the emotional gut-punches and bad choices that we love from this gang. Jessa and Adam was a pairing I never knew I wanted. The crew seems to be on the road to growing up, and the final season will hopefully give us the ending they all deserve (whatever that means).

4.  The Walking Dead (AMC)

“Children are out future. Making bite-sized snacks for the dead. The point is to stay standing.”- Paula

It wasn’t The Walking Dead’s greatest year, but there were bright spots. The conclusion of the zombie herd crisis was bonkers, the introduction of Jesus and Ezekiel added some colorful new blood, and Negan gave us a villain truly worth fearing. The massive summer cliffhanger was, in my opinion, unnecessary, and could have been showed in the finale, with the 2^nd victim shaking up the premiere. The fall run of episodes probably did suffer from scattered focus that did not justify whole episodes, but all in all it was a decent year.

3.  Westworld (HBO, New)

 “’Mistakes’ is the word you're too embarrassed to use. You ought not to be. You're a product of a trillion of them.”- Robert Ford

The concept of Westworld is amazing, and the show is a trove of beautiful design, and a showcase for some great actors. I just wish it didn’t try so hard to be clever and mysterious. I love mystery (Lost is Exhibit A on that front), but it had to be mysteries as appetizers and side-dishes, and not as main courses. I don’t need to be tricked into viewing Dolores from two or three different timeframes at once. Hiding the Man in Black’s identity only prevented how much he could be developed, and we figured out the twist very early on. I don’t need to question of someone is a host every time they appear.

So why is this up in 3^rd place? Because, as I said, the concept is THAT good, the finale was gangbusters, and Anthony Hopkins is great. There is so much to think about here, and it promises to be even better in season 2 now that the big reveals are (hopefully) out of the way.

2.  Game of Thrones (HBO)

“I fought. I lost. Now, I rest. But you, Lord Snow…you’ll be fighting their battles forever.”- Alliser Thorne

If you want to know my takes on individual episodes, just look for my episode ranking. As a whole, it contained a lot more material from the books than we thought, and most of the new stuff was great, notably Bloodraven’s cave, the Bastard Bowl, and the Green Trial (Are we calling it that? I’m calling it that). No one to single out as the season’s MVP, and the spotlight was shared mostly equally. But as usual, GoT gonna GoT.

1.    American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson (FX, New)(combined with ESPN’s O.J.: Made in America)

 

“I’m not black…I’m O.J.”- O.J. Simpson

Could have been hokey (and occasionally it glanced over that edge), but mostly it was a tense, thoughtful, and engaging rendition of modern history, with standout performances from Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance, and Sterling K. Brown. The only miscast was Cuba as O.J. He just did not capture the physical and vocal authority of the real man, nor did he ever channel the man’s personal charm that got him to where it did. But beyond that, the show was a knockout, with extra kudos to the jury episode. Even knowing where everything leads, it was amazing to watch, and that’s a difficult thing to pull off. The follow-up has a lot to live up to.

I also throw in the doc that aired on ESPN that went further to explain the racial relations in America as well as OJ’s rise – making the fall ever more tragic. The trial scenes are interesting to watch in tandem with the scripted show.