2020 saw the continuing balkanization of content, consolidation of big media and the inevitable dominance of streaming services. Apple and Disney settled in for the long haul, HBO begat HBO Now begat HBO Max, NBC put out Peacock without much in the way of new programming (but at least it plays on your Roku), Quibi came and went before anyone noticed, it became increasingly presumed that anyone you knew likely had Hulu and Netflix and Amazon and if not, why not? Niche watchers of all tastes can now easily stream treasure troves of classic movies (Criterion), sports (ESPN +), children’s programming (PBS Kids), UK TV (Acorn and BritBox), anime (Crunchyroll and Funimation), horror (Shudder and ScreamBox), arthouse (Mubi), retro (Night Flight), science (CuriosityStream), musicals (BroadwayHD), Chinese and Korean shows (Viki) and Bollywood (Eros Now) for monthly fees that run less than the price of a pack of cigarettes. If you can’t afford that, the internet provides YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, Kanopy, Crackle, Tubi, VPN and infinite sweet sweet t0rr3ntz.
There came a point for me (and likely you too) last year where I stopped wanting to have the same conversation with the same group of friends and strangers over and over again. With nothing to say, nothing to report, nothing happening, any news could only be bad news and if I don’t even have bad news to share what is there to talk about? Well, we could always talk about television. And that’s what a lot of us did when the water cooler disappeared: we watched television and then demanded our friends catch up so that we could talk about television with us. Garbage watching became a universal experience and it wasn’t unlikely that your mom might be watching P-Valley, a soap opera about strippers, or that your shrink would understand your Carol Baskin analogy. If you demand more complex programming, you’re always only two clicks away from thousands of hours of Peabody award winning fare. Now more than ever, curatorial guidance makes all the difference.
Much as with the ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2020 and ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2020 polls, the ethos of our ILX TV and Streaming poll isn’t geared toward arbitrary ranking; the difference between #72 and #41 is only one first place vote. Instead, we hope this may be a thread that you bookmark as a watching wishlist for your year ahead, a one-stop shop for recommendations to explore worlds you might not otherwise risk the time investment without.
For reference, here’s last year’s thread:Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2019
In 2020, we received 49 ballots, all ranked, ranging from at least one single show voter to several who nominated the maximum of 25 different programs. 165 total programs received at least one vote and there was a 5-way tie for #77, making the winners the effective top 50% of our collective viewing. Serendipitously, everyone's #1 vote made the countdown. Any series released anywhere in the world that includes more than three episodes that premiered in 2020 qualified for voting. Acceptable nominations included YouTube or Twitch streamers with a recognizable episode-to-episode continuity whether fictional or presentational, web series, streaming series, cable series, game shows, news shows, animation and talk shows. Unacceptable nominations included unscripted sporting events, concerts, one-episode documentaries, made-for-tv films and concert or music videos.
Nominations took place here:Nominate the Best TV/Web/Streaming Series of 2020 - Nominations Closing January 7
Shows received 15 points for a #1 or #2 placement in a voter's ballot; 10 points for a #3, #4 or #5 placement; 5 points for #6 to #10; 3 points for #11 to #20 and 1 point for #21 to #25. To more accurately represent viewer enthusiasm, an extra five point bonus was awarded for every total 5 votes tallied for that program (i.e. shows with 5 to 9 votes are awarded an additional five points, shows with 10 to 14 votes are awarded an additional ten points, shows with 15 to 19 votes are awarded an additional 15 points and so on).
Tie-breakers were resolved based on number of votes, number of #1 votes, and the number of votes that placed that show in a ballot's top five, in that order.
Each entry in the poll receives a bespoke graphic, a link to the show's 2020 season trailer, a link to a representative sample clip, a link to where you can stream the show to watch it yourself, an essay or review about the program and maybe some other goodies.
Your poll-runners are myself (research, tabulation, posting) and Moka (images).
For the sake of fast-loading what's likely to be a long thread for folks with less than high-speed connections, I'm asking all posters to refrain from auto-embedding YouTubes and instead provide links to scenes or episodes they want to share when discussing the show. Click "Show Formatting Help" under the Submit Question button if you need a hand with that.
We’ll get started on Monday morning! I’ll let you hold the remote till then.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 7 February 2021 21:31 (three years ago) link
Fair play forks
― cpt otm (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 February 2021 22:04 (three years ago) link
Reading through last year's results just now made me feel a weird sort of breathtaking dread. It doesn't seem possible that some of those shows that I watched an entire lifetime ago (during the Normal Times) were actually only released in 2019. Really underscores how different my sense of time's passage was pre-pandemic.Thank you both again for your efforts!
― Vladislav Bibidonurtmi (Old Lunch), Sunday, 7 February 2021 22:32 (three years ago) link
from last year's thread:
One more brief point before we start that we might as well call “the sic rule.” As your author is American, the listed provenance and linked website for each show is predominantly going to be for its streaming home in the United States, even when the show hails from elsewhere. Readers are strongly encouraged to provide links for their own local streaming options so that everyone can keep up.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 7 February 2021 22:46 (three years ago) link
Illegal
― cpt otm (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 February 2021 22:49 (three years ago) link
deets darra
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 7 February 2021 23:05 (three years ago) link
I pay a fella who provided a login to an app that has all prime, netflix, disney content as well as all tv channels you could name, pay per view sports and premium sports channels
Also thousands of series boxsets and movies besides
Limetorrent anything else
― cpt otm (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 February 2021 23:10 (three years ago) link
Should i even admit that
― cpt otm (darraghmac), Sunday, 7 February 2021 23:11 (three years ago) link
BRB, asking Modest Mickey for u
― Vladislav Bibidonurtmi (Old Lunch), Sunday, 7 February 2021 23:30 (three years ago) link
fwiw i pay for a bevy of services and supplement the obscure and predominantly European/Asian/otherwise inaccessible programming with BtN which a lovely benefactor on ILX gifted me with and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 00:09 (three years ago) link
I, for one, just submitted a ballot of 25 Quibi shows
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Monday, 8 February 2021 00:14 (three years ago) link
opted out this time in remembrance of the only good tv show, lodge 49
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Monday, 8 February 2021 06:46 (three years ago) link
Lookit, we pay for six different streaming services, PLUS we rent things full price from Curzon, PLUS we pay for a premiums Sky package, but if all of these services are not going to get me First Cow in a timely manner, well...
― trishyb, Monday, 8 February 2021 12:07 (three years ago) link
Also, thank you, Forks and Moka. This is an amazing amount of work to do.
― trishyb, Monday, 8 February 2021 12:08 (three years ago) link
I, for one, just submitted a ballot of 25 Quibi showsa real quibhead wld have called them "25 quick bites." fake geek girl.
― shivers me timber (sic), Monday, 8 February 2021 12:31 (three years ago) link
I was initially roped in by "We Are Who We Are"s insouciance, weirdness and joie de vivre but somewhere around the fourth episode it devolved into a vague and personal fantasy of representation and unmoored eroticism. The narrative lines got frayed and the story got muddled and some of the choices felt wrong, both logically and emotionally. The kids remained fun to watch but all the adult storylines and acting got worse and worse, especially kid cudi.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 14:23 (three years ago) link
Anyways, for folks that don't know it: We Are Who We Are is the story of a group of teenage kids brought to a US base in Italy by their military families around 2015. It follows the kids attempts to engage their identities: as sexual beings, struggling for gender identification, building political and intellectual personae. Simultaneously, the adults struggle with similar issues, occasionally crossing into the kids' worlds. At heart, it's an unconventional and occasionally very queer young adult soap opera directed by Luca Guadagnino, best known for his Oscar-nominated film Call Me By Your Name, which also features a May/September love affair.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 14:29 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/nYFlxCl.jpg#77 (Tie) - We Are Who We Are (HBO) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 voteLet us Anticipate "Call Me By Your Name"
TrailerSample ClipCast ZoomFanficWebsitehttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/05/the-search-for-kindred-spirits-in-we-are-who-we-are-on-hbohttps://www.indiewire.com/2020/11/luca-guadagnino-we-are-who-we-are-season-2-election-2020-1234596312/
What a shambles
― cpt otm (darraghmac), Monday, 8 February 2021 14:30 (three years ago) link
one vote eh
― johnny crunch, Monday, 8 February 2021 14:33 (three years ago) link
As a former military brat, I was vaguely interested in this show but given that I was basically the only teenager during the stretch when we lived on a military base I'm not sure how acutely it would speak to my experience of reading comic books alone in my bedroom.
― Vladislav Bibidonurtmi (Old Lunch), Monday, 8 February 2021 14:36 (three years ago) link
it's a very social show, heavy on sex, depression and borderline personalities. it's also - as noted - a bit of a mess.
All of our 77s are tied with a single vote... but every single vote was a #1 vote! So people should definitely defend their choices!
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 14:42 (three years ago) link
Personally, having seen the entirety of WAWWA (or as it likes to style itself in its own credits, "WRWWR"), I can't really recommend this show to an adult viewer as the plot eventually flies completely off the rails. As prurient and abusive as it is, I think the intended audience is Euphoria teens.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 14:45 (three years ago) link
nice graphics Moka. I caught an episode of We R who we R accidentally while channel surfing not realising it was the final one, and then realised I didn't need to watch anymore. I do like Guadagnino though so might give it another chance.
― danzig, Monday, 8 February 2021 14:53 (three years ago) link
Originally based on a superhero comic series by My Chemical Romance co-founder (and current DC Comics writer/editor) Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba, “The Umbrella Academy” is a culty, dark genre dramedy following the misadventures of a large family of supes. It has roots in the slightly off-kilter family dynamics and surreal plots of Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol, which provided the main bones for the television show “Doom Patrol.” Pop will eat itself.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 15:02 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/U9Q0fJD.jpg#77 (Tie) - The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 voteNetflix's Umbrella Academy, adapted by Steve Blackman from a comic book written by Gerald Way and drawn by Gabriel Bá
TrailerSample ClipWebsitehttps://www.vulture.com/2020/07/the-umbrella-academy-season-2-takes-a-trip-to-nonsenseville.htmlhttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/umbrella-academy-review-1304947
images are beautiful as always, moka
― tiwa-nty one savage (voodoo chili), Monday, 8 February 2021 15:08 (three years ago) link
umbrella academy felt like a decent bit of low-stakes popcorn entertainment in the first season, my interest in seriously waned as it went along. i didn't watch the second, but i'm happy to hear compelling reasons why i should.
― tiwa-nty one savage (voodoo chili), Monday, 8 February 2021 15:10 (three years ago) link
i know a lot of people seemed pretty passionate about it (or at least annoyed that it wasn't officially nominated) in the voting thread
She-Ra originated in the mid-80’s as a fantasy fighting toy line and supporting cartoon series that gender-flipped the phenomenally popular He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line; both series feature prominently in the excellent season 1 documentary episode of Netflix’s Toys That Made Us if you’d like to learn more.
Indie comics creator wunderkind Noelle Stevenson helmed the 2018 reboot of She-Ra as a teen-friendly, non-gender hierarchical and explicitly queer rethinking of the character that’s lasted for five seasons and ended this year.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 15:21 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/SyScRbc.jpg#77 (Tie) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 voteThere doesn't seem to be a dedicated thread for Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (SPOILERS!)
TrailerCatradoraWebsitehttps://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/she-ra-reboot-netflix-queer-creator-interview-1013623/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/how-noelle-stevenson-drew-her-life-in-comicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix_and_LGBTQ_representation_in_animation#She-Ra_and_the_Princesses_of_Power
amazing graphics and documentation for each of the picks. thanks forks & moka. looking forward to the rollout.
― that's not my post, Monday, 8 February 2021 15:28 (three years ago) link
Followers is a Netflix developed J-drama soap opera that uses social media as a central fulcrum for the plot… and that’s all I know about it! Perhaps the person who voted for it can say more?
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 15:40 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/9mjRddx.jpg#77 (Tie) - Followers (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 voteNetflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread
TrailerWebsitehttps://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/02/27/tv/followers-tokyo-netflix/
Umbrella Academy is definitely one I would have voted for if it had been on the nominations list. Second season was an improvement on the patchy first one.
― groovypanda, Monday, 8 February 2021 15:43 (three years ago) link
beautiful work, Moka
didn’t vote for it cause it wasn’t nominated originally but umbrella academy’s second season was much, much better than its first. would’ve ended up somewhere in the upper middle of my ballot I reckon
― Roz, Monday, 8 February 2021 15:45 (three years ago) link
xpost or er what groovypanda said
it should be noted that votes for shows that weren't nominated - as long as they premiered three or more new episodes in 2020 - were accepted in the spirit of full inclusion.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 15:47 (three years ago) link
Yeah, second season had less emo origin story stuff and a lot more forward motion as a story. In our house we affectionately call it Fisher-Price Watchmen.
― trishyb, Monday, 8 February 2021 16:02 (three years ago) link
This was my (admittedly strategic) #1. It’s a difficult and frustrating show to recommend in some ways because it features some of the best writing and acting on television, is deeply emotionally engaging, remarkably uplifting and equally enjoyable watching for a six year old or a sixty year old... but the first two seasons include over a hundred seven-minute episodes about a group of animated dogs that are only available on Disney+. There’s understandably serious barriers to engagement but I promise you they are worth overcoming. If Bluey was on Netflix, I guarantee it would have rated in this year's top ten.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 16:03 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/TO5dvDR.jpg#77 (Tie) - Bluey (Disney +) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 voteBluey - Spectacular Australian kids cartoon (in the US on Disney +)
TrailerSample EpisodeWebsitehttps://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/bluey-the-coronavirus-and-the-weirdness-of-little-kidshttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/arts/television/bluey-cartoon-dog-australia.htmlhttps://geekmom.com/2019/09/12-reasons-why-you-will-love-bluey/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/nov/21/bluey-how-australia-fell-in-love-with-a-cartoon-blue-heeler-puppy-and-her-family
do want to see that
― imago, Monday, 8 February 2021 16:10 (three years ago) link
Videogame Dunkey is a comedy YouTuber focused on video games and game-adjacent culture who produces fairly complex and rigorously produced videos. He recently took a meta heel turn toward the dark side of content and his channel now navigates between creative shitposting and game reviews.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 16:22 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/RQLedlZ.jpg#72 (Tie) - Videogame Dunkey (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 votegame-related lolz of some fashion
Thank You Dark SoulsI’m Done Making Good VideosBest of 2020Websitehttps://www.polygon.com/2020/12/7/22160005/dunkey-youtube-among-us-minecraft-trending
never know how to feel about comparing YT vids and scripted shows on the same list, but dunkey is always solid and his recent cyberpunk video is basically the ur-text on the subject as far as i'm concerned
― tiwa-nty one savage (voodoo chili), Monday, 8 February 2021 16:34 (three years ago) link
And now a dark girl-power soap opera dramedy on Netflix about a pair of teens with guns.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 16:36 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/NzPMIzz.jpg#72 (Tie) - Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 voteNetflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread
TrailerSample ClipWebsitehttps://deadline.com/2020/10/teenage-bounty-hunters-canceled-netflix-one-season-1234591514
Taskmaster is a panel comedy show hosted by British actor Gregory Davies in which celebrities are tasked with executing unlikely feats of legerdemain as part of a pseudo-reality show. Reggie Watts acted as a host for the single season US adaptation in 2018; 2020 saw its tenth successful season in the UK.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 8 February 2021 16:48 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/rIoCDIX.jpg#72 (Tie) - Taskmaster (Channel 4) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 voteRolling UK Comedy Thread - "Ricky Don't Lose Larry David's Number
TrailerFull EpisodeWebsitehttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/15/taskmaster-review-a-delightfully-daft-diversion-from-the-world
It looks like I'm the Mayor of the Umbrella Academy? I watched both seasons last year, but even if I'd seen the 1st in 2019, I wouldn't have scored it as highly in that year's poll.
It's an adaptation that thrives the further it gets from the source material - everyone in the first season might as well have nametags that say "I dealt with a profoundly unpleasant upbringing by <fucking off to the moon for 4 years / becoming Batman / destroying trust in the life I created / getting fucked up on literally anything to hand / time-travelling past where I had to deal with it / dying horribly / pushing it ALL DOWN INSIDE>" - no-one's entirely shaken that off in the second season, but it begins by throwing them all far away from each other, and seeing what orbits they fall into when they return. When they first all stand in the same room again, one of them asks "I know this is impossible, did we all get sexier?", and they did*, the actors and the writers both seem more comfortable in the roles - plus they all have better hair*
Oh yeah, what's it about? 20ish years ago, 43 children were born on the same day in exceptional circumstances. One man adopted as many as he could get his hands on (7) and raised them as a superhero team. Things went variously off the rails, and the first season starts with them gathering after his death. The second season involves being stranded in different parts of the 60s, assassinations, (unrelated) tragic Swedish assassins, and the threat to the nuclear family. But, mostly, it's about the emotional moire whenever two of the family are trying to come up with the same solution to the same problem.
*apart from the 50 year old man trapped in a teenage body
― Andrew Farrell, Monday, 8 February 2021 16:49 (three years ago) link
One of my re-watches: Top 5 for me, definitely.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 00:36 (three years ago) link
have no interest in football or sports in general but liked that show
― Dan S, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 00:40 (three years ago) link
It is a show about discussions happening on your way out the door of the house, mostly, and i have never had a fictional character sold to me as completely as the angel matt saracen for whom i would kill irl
― scampsite (darraghmac), Wednesday, 17 February 2021 00:48 (three years ago) link
10 #1s! Time I got around to watching it. Great poll, thanks organizers!!
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 00:55 (three years ago) link
yeah I have put it off for many of the reasons assuaged in this thread will be watching this week, thanks so much for forks and moka! Beautiful thread and countdown!
― Clay, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 02:02 (three years ago) link
watched a couple of episodes of I May Destroy You today after reading this thread, don't really understand it yet but it is interesting
― Dan S, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 02:09 (three years ago) link
1. The Last Dance2. Murder on Middle Beach3. How to with John Wilson4. Dave5. Seduced: Inside the NXIVM cult6. Dead to Me7. Flight Attendant8. Somebody Feed Phil9. I know this much is true10. The Plot Against America11. The Vow12. My Lottery Dream Home
side poll:ChernobylHappy EndingsBrockmireI'll Have What Phil's Having
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 03:10 (three years ago) link
Everyone here loves it so much, I’m afraid to say I liked it less as it went along.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 17 February 2021 03:15 (three years ago) link
Xpost to Dan there.
Johnny - Chernobyl is goddamn amazing eh?
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 17 February 2021 03:24 (three years ago) link
wildly good
i forgot another side poll show i watched and really liked in 2020 (prob forgot cuz this was pre-pandemic) - horace & pete
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 03:26 (three years ago) link
I heard that was kinda of a bummer?
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 17 February 2021 03:47 (three years ago) link
fair to say that; id call it a tragedy prob
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 03:59 (three years ago) link
it's good and funny and very much a bummer
― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, 17 February 2021 04:16 (three years ago) link
Thanks for the kind words! I can’t take much credit here! Forks was the one doing most of the heavy lifting in this poll.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 17 February 2021 04:44 (three years ago) link
There is a visceral thrill in watching IMDY in that Michaela's is the sort of voice who hitherto has never had the chance to make TV shows. There is a minute to minute triumph in the mere fact of its existence.
Thanks to the poll runners - How To with John Wilson sounds fascinating and I will check it out, had never heard of it prior to now.
― Uncle Boomer Who Can Recall His Past Wives (Adept), Wednesday, 17 February 2021 09:28 (three years ago) link
Excellent poll, many thanks to forks and Moka. Here's my weighted ballot.
1 I May Destroy You2 The Queen's Gambit3 Schitt's Creek4 Unorthodox5 The Great6 The Undoing7 The Crown8 Ghosts9 The Great British Bake-Off10 Only Connect11 Us12 Rupaul's Drag Race13 Roadkill14 Giri/Haji15 Small Axe16 Dracula17 Portrait Artist Of The Year18 Quiz19 Devs
― mike t-diva, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 10:12 (three years ago) link
Thanks organisers, was a lot of fun to read - maybe I'll vote next year!
― chap, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 13:02 (three years ago) link
Thanks to forks & moka! My short ranked ballot:
1. Action Button (YouTube)2. All Gas No Brakes (YouTube)3. Devs (Hulu)4. What We Do in Shadows (FX)5. Normal People (Hulu)6. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)7. Lindsay Ellis (YouTube)8. Jeopardy (Syndication)9. Videogamedunkey (YouTube)
Favorite thing I watched last year not from last year: Halt and Catch Fire
― american primitive stylophone (zchyrs), Wednesday, 17 February 2021 14:46 (three years ago) link
THANK YOU FORKS AND MOKA! sorry i couldn't chat during the festivities, was barely keeping up w/ work etc.
here's my ballot! (weighted)
Action Button (YouTube) - LinkTed Lasso (Apple +)All Gas No Brakes (YouTube) - LinkWhat We Do in Shadows (FX)How To with John Wilson (HBO)Avenue 5 (HBO)Search Party (HBO)Devs (Hulu)Corporate (Comedy Central)The Dress Up Gang (TBS)High Maintenance (HBO)AEW Dynamite (TBS)RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1, Netflix)Schitt’s Creek (Netflix)Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (Apple +)The Eric Andre Show (Adult Swim)The History of the Seattle Mariners (Youtube) - LinkPatriot Act (Netflix)PEN15 (Hulu)Ramy (Hulu)Star Trek: Lower Decks (CBS All Access)Lovecraft Country (HBO)20020 (Web Only - SB Nation) - https://www.sbnation.com/secret-base/21410129/20020/Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun (Netflix)Canada’s Drag Race (Crave/BBC)
Old shows, all first watches in 2020 I think (Utopia may have been late 2019, i can't remember):
1. The Leftovers (WOW WOW WOW how did i miss this)2. Neon Genesis Evangelion (2 eps left now!)3. Utopia (2013)4. Lodge 495. Detroiters
― Kompakt Total Landscaping (Will M.), Thursday, 18 February 2021 20:18 (three years ago) link
also this thread reminded me to watch the seattle mariners thing and it's so good and i love that team so much more than i already even did ughhhh
― Kompakt Total Landscaping (Will M.), Thursday, 18 February 2021 20:19 (three years ago) link
I May Destroy You (HBO)How To With John Wilson (HBO)What We Do In The Shadows (FX)The New Pope (HBO)Better Call Saul (AMC)Mrs. America (FX/Hulu)Bojack Horseman (Netflix)The Boys (Amazon Prime)The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)Jeopardy (syndicated)The Mandalorian (Disney+)The Last Dance (ESPN)Lovecraft Country (HBO)
I only watched one new old show in 2020 and that was the incredible and beautiful Halt And Catch Fire
― tiwa-nty one savage (voodoo chili), Thursday, 18 February 2021 20:35 (three years ago) link
Was pretty absent for most of this poll but just got around to looking at the list properly and decided to give How To With John Wilson a go. I'm yet to read everyone's comments because I want to watch the whole thing first, but the first episode was literally a masterpiece. Like Chris Marker meets All Gas No Brakes.
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 18:40 (three years ago) link
get excited it gets better
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Monday, 22 February 2021 18:41 (three years ago) link
I can't even imagine! This is the most excited I've been about a use of the visual form in a while.
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 18:42 (three years ago) link
I finished off Worzel Gummidge, what's that German word for nostalgia for a place you've never been? Lots of that.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 22 February 2021 19:10 (three years ago) link
Sehnsucht? Weltschmerz? Neither of those are quite right.
Omg the music choices in How To With John Wilson are killing me. So simultaneously hilarious and affecting.
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 19:15 (three years ago) link
i look forward to your response on the scaffolding
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 22 February 2021 19:17 (three years ago) link
That's kind of what I was talking about! Sometimes the humour is absolutely pitch black, shockingly so, but the show also has such incredible compassion for its topics and subjects that the humour is somehow never too much. And yet it's still the funniest thing I've seen in years. Such rewatch value too. It would be impossible to catch everything on the first go!
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 19:28 (three years ago) link
The 2020 Gummidge episode was the best yet - hope he gets to make the covid-cancelled one, and as many more as he likes (inc zero), when it’s safe to do so.
― stilt in the wings (sic), Monday, 22 February 2021 19:50 (three years ago) link
I built myself a fort and watched the whole season of HTWJW and I suggest everyone else does the same.
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 21:45 (three years ago) link
Ha, that was fast tangent! Fav ep?
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Monday, 22 February 2021 21:51 (three years ago) link
Oh god I couldn't even say. Every episode has so many highlights! Baby, the refs' dinner, the 'designed' scaffolding... The visual poetry is amongst some of the best I've ever seen. Really hope he gets to make more. :)
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 21:54 (three years ago) link
it's renewed for the second season and was pretty rapturously critically reviewed; i think he gets to do this for awhile.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 22 February 2021 21:56 (three years ago) link
Hooray! Next for catch-up viewing: I May Destroy You.
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 22:02 (three years ago) link
you... might wanna pace that one a bit. It may destroy you.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, 22 February 2021 22:04 (three years ago) link
Started Dead to Me on my sister/brother-in-law's recommendation, not realizing at the time it placed here. First two episodes, so-so.
― clemenza, Monday, 22 February 2021 22:07 (three years ago) link
watched most of the mariners youtube thing, its good; wouldve been downballot somewhere for me
― johnny crunch, Monday, 22 February 2021 22:36 (three years ago) link
Oh god...don't know if I'm ready. Currently watching It's a Sin and I can barely handle it.
Mariners and Dead To Me both very much on my ballot. Speaking of which, hang on...
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 23:28 (three years ago) link
Sex Education (Netflix)All Gas No Brakes (YouTube)Dead to Me (Netflix)What We Do in Shadows (FX)GeoWizard Missions (Youtube)AEW Dynamite (TBS)Tiger King (Netflix)The History of the Seattle Mariners (Youtube)I Did a Thing (Youtube)Fairbairn Films (Youtube)Never Have I Ever (Netflix)Bojack Horseman (Netflix)Corporate (Comedy Central)Work in Progress (Showtime)The Eric Andre Show (Adult Swim)The Dress Up Gang (TBS)The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)We Are the Champions (Netflix)Emily in Paris (Netflix)PEN15 (Hulu)Love Life (HBO)The Great British Bake-Off (Netflix, Channel 4)
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Monday, 22 February 2021 23:29 (three years ago) link
I've started watching History of the Mariners. The bit early on where they say "who cares, baseball is boring" got me laughing out loud. So did the team's brilliant scheme of resizing the batter's box.
― wasdnuos (abanana), Tuesday, 23 February 2021 03:45 (three years ago) link
Just finished HTWJW myself. Ah man. Incredible
― imago, Tuesday, 23 February 2021 14:20 (three years ago) link
cough cough where are you watching it?
― kinder, Tuesday, 23 February 2021 14:25 (three years ago) link
i can think of 'one two three' places you can see 'movies'
― imago, Tuesday, 23 February 2021 14:29 (three years ago) link
The finale murdered me but I think the refs' dinner is the Oscar pick sequence
― imago, Tuesday, 23 February 2021 14:30 (three years ago) link
Glad everyone is loving HTWJW. I watched it just after voting and it definitely would have been very high on my ballot otherwise. The background shots throughout are just wonderful and the celebrity cameo in the first episode was amazing, especially as it's not even referenced and I was left wondering whether he even realised until later who it was
It's coming to Sky Atlantic in the not too distant future
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 23 February 2021 14:34 (three years ago) link
We cough coughed the first episode to check it out, and it really was quite something. I'm not sure the husband will be into it. He does not like uncomfortable comedy.
We also found ourselves watching twenty minutes of Congo last night on Film 4 just because they talked about it in The Dress Up Gang.
― trishyb, Friday, 26 February 2021 11:42 (three years ago) link
I was doing a mental inventory last night of all the shows where I'm waiting for new seasons:
Better Call Saul - first on most lists, I suspect.Big Little Lies - think there's another one on the way.Atlanta - caught up in time.Ozark - one more, then call it a day, please.Stranger Things - I'll watch because I'm come this far; not excited.Killing Eve - ditto.True Detective and Homecoming - in development, I believe.Dead to Me and Flack - indifferent, but I'd continue.
― clemenza, Sunday, 30 May 2021 20:06 (three years ago) link
You all are the best for alerting me to the existence of the Dress-Up Gang. I am not much of a comedy watcher nowadays but I could watch 10 seasons of that show and hope somehow they can produce more of it (I know it was a minor miracle the show even aired)
Also, I May Destroy You was as good as 10 #1 votes suggests
― Vinnie, Sunday, 30 May 2021 23:23 (three years ago) link
Thanks to ILX for getting me to watch Giri/Haji, which was fucking amazing!
― Draymond is "Mr Dumpy" (forksclovetofu), Monday, 31 May 2021 23:34 (three years ago) link