5.) Better Call Saul (Season 4 - AMC)
Spoiler alert, The Deuce is my next show, and what both this and that have taught me is that you can put your trust in the great TV autuers of our time, but don't expect them to reach Breaking Bad or The Wire heights. What they will give you is the best 'made' shows on TV. If we were grading on technical brilliance, Better Call Saul might be the best show on TV. No show can mine small moments, can build suspense, can shoot inventively and brilliantly, like Better Call Saul. But let's not lose sight that this show is not Breaking Bad. That masterpiece mixed technical brilliant with plot brilliance. This has all the former, but not all the latter. The Mike story, with building the superlab, struggled a bit this season, though it ended nicely. The Jimmy/Saul half remains to me the more entertaining half of the show, and his slow devolution into Saul was nice to watch, and can usher in a great new period for teh show. It's still staggering that this show has been so consistently good it may last longer than Breaking Bad did, but I do think while Vince Gilligan can create a show in his sleep, the plot is not nearly as good as what Breaking Bad was. To be fair, that is a damn high bar to reach.
4.) The Deuce (Season 2 - HBO)
I'm biased because I will go to bat for anything done by David Simon. That said, The Deuce is not The Wire. It isn't as good. But people seemed to set expectations a bit too high. What the Deuce was is a meandering slice of life story of New York in what is considered one of the darkest eras in teh city's history. But instead of the bleakness of The Wire, it all too often exposes the optimism in the darkness. The story of pornography freeing the women in prostitution to not have to depend on pimps. The story of the crackdown on the most perverse of sex trade to at least something a bit more above board. The story of female sexual revolution. And of course, like any great New York in the 20th Century story, how the mob and cops had a role to play. Yes, there were too many characters, yes not all the storylines had dramatic impact, but one's like Candie's growth as a director, or the fall of CC as a totem for the pimp business, to so many others, were really well done. It may not have been The Wire, but it was still a distinctly brilliant David Simon show.
3.) Bojack Horseman (Season 5 - NETFLIX)
Alan Sepinwall recently ranked his 20 best 'streaming' shows (aka NETFLIX, Amazon and Hulu). He had Bojack Horseman at #1, calling it the only true 'masterpiece' that any streaming service has put out. I fully agree. Five years in, Bojack is a masterpiece, a modern day Arrested Development, but with talking animals. The number of sight gags, the number of jokes, the number of brilliant moments, all the time overlaying a deeply sad, inward, plot, is astounding. If anything, the fifth season took more risks than past years, with the loosest connection to one central plot (Bojack filming Philbert) but more one-off masterpieces, like Diane's trip to Vietnam, or the great episode of Bojack telling a 25-minute monologue eulogy. I honestly dojn't know how long they can keep going, and a turn to less serialized plot will help enable a longer shelf life, but the creative team has lost nothing, as sharp and creative as ever, be it the sight gag of saying the the 'Americrane Airlines' flight to Turkey was 'Overstuffed', to so much else. Bojack is a true masterpiece, as good as ever.
2.) Babylon Berlin (Season 1/2 - NETFLIX)
In all fairness, the show actually aired in Germany in 2017, but it went out in NETFLIX in 2018, so to me it counts. Look, no one watched this in the US. But it was the nost expense German TV show ever, and for good reason. It was brilliant, an incredible mixture of spectacle, plot and drama. The plot was a bit convoluted with 5-6 ongoing storylines that had loose connections with each other - though admittedly it was probably easier to follow if you knew German. What the show did so well though, was the direction. The dramatic moments were bite-your-fingernails good. The big scenes were such great spectacles, be it the song at the Cabaret in the 2nd episode (a real 'This is a brilliant show' moment), or the realization that Greta was tricked by early-period Nazis during a train riot. No show in 2018 staged spectacle so well - something that could be done given their budget.
The plot was complex, but in a The Wire type of way, not a Boardwalk Empire kind of way. The Wiemar Republic was a fascinating time in German history, seeing the slow rise of Nationalism, the role Communism played (or tried to play), and the government trying to stave off tyhe radicals. All of this with some nice PTSD introspection, and class and gender warfare, and you get a surprisngly complex, brilliant show. The artistic touches, including amazing set pieces and scenery, just added to the brilliance. I'm so excited I got turned onto this show, and while it was a pain having to sit through reading subtitles, it was so well worth it.
1.) Succession (Season 1 - HBO)
The best description I heard about Succession was someone (I think Zach Harper, of 'Talkhoops' fame) calling it the white0collar, drama version of Arrested Development. That makes sense, The story of the patriarch who wouldn't give away control of his empire to his son that had been bred for that role. It even had the daughter who lived life for cuases and was partnered up with the guy no one took seriously. The younger ridiculous brother (GOB vs. Roman), and so much more. Of course, even without that interesting slant, Succession was a masterpiece. In a world that actively hates the successful and rich, here we had a show that was all about that, but made it so relatable, so human, so open, we all could enjoy it.
My #1 shows since I've been doing this are all so interesting, be it Fargo Season 1 (2014), Veep Season 4 (2015), People vs. OJ Simpson (2016), and The Young Pope (2017). In that list of five shows, I think Succession may be last, and while that may seem harsh, that is more a testament to how good those other shows were. Succession by itself was the most sudden hit of any show I can remember. Even comparing to my other #1 choices that surprised, Fargo was incredibly pumped up prior to luanch, and same with People vs.. OJ and The Young Pope. Here, we had no true star actors, no big promotional push. The pilot was directed by Adam McKay, of Anchorman fame. The show would be something different.
Succession waz a perfect blend of drama, power, and sneaky hilarious comedy. The comedy was truly the lasting memory of the show (that and the amazing theme song), be it Tom and Greg, or really anthing to do with Tom, or the running joke of peeing on the rug, to so much more. It was amazing watchign Bryan Cox, so amazingly powerful in that performance. It was great watching all the backstabbing and conniving and chess-moves play out in front of us. Yes, i9n the end these were all fabulously wealthy magnates, but their problems, in this case, were our problems and were amazing to watch. Succession was a surprise, but it fully deserves in my view the title of best show I watched this year. If anything, like Fargo, or Veep, or People vs. OJ, or The Young Pope, it was so damn watchable.
Spoiler alert, The Deuce is my next show, and what both this and that have taught me is that you can put your trust in the great TV autuers of our time, but don't expect them to reach Breaking Bad or The Wire heights. What they will give you is the best 'made' shows on TV. If we were grading on technical brilliance, Better Call Saul might be the best show on TV. No show can mine small moments, can build suspense, can shoot inventively and brilliantly, like Better Call Saul. But let's not lose sight that this show is not Breaking Bad. That masterpiece mixed technical brilliant with plot brilliance. This has all the former, but not all the latter. The Mike story, with building the superlab, struggled a bit this season, though it ended nicely. The Jimmy/Saul half remains to me the more entertaining half of the show, and his slow devolution into Saul was nice to watch, and can usher in a great new period for teh show. It's still staggering that this show has been so consistently good it may last longer than Breaking Bad did, but I do think while Vince Gilligan can create a show in his sleep, the plot is not nearly as good as what Breaking Bad was. To be fair, that is a damn high bar to reach.
4.) The Deuce (Season 2 - HBO)
I'm biased because I will go to bat for anything done by David Simon. That said, The Deuce is not The Wire. It isn't as good. But people seemed to set expectations a bit too high. What the Deuce was is a meandering slice of life story of New York in what is considered one of the darkest eras in teh city's history. But instead of the bleakness of The Wire, it all too often exposes the optimism in the darkness. The story of pornography freeing the women in prostitution to not have to depend on pimps. The story of the crackdown on the most perverse of sex trade to at least something a bit more above board. The story of female sexual revolution. And of course, like any great New York in the 20th Century story, how the mob and cops had a role to play. Yes, there were too many characters, yes not all the storylines had dramatic impact, but one's like Candie's growth as a director, or the fall of CC as a totem for the pimp business, to so many others, were really well done. It may not have been The Wire, but it was still a distinctly brilliant David Simon show.
3.) Bojack Horseman (Season 5 - NETFLIX)
Alan Sepinwall recently ranked his 20 best 'streaming' shows (aka NETFLIX, Amazon and Hulu). He had Bojack Horseman at #1, calling it the only true 'masterpiece' that any streaming service has put out. I fully agree. Five years in, Bojack is a masterpiece, a modern day Arrested Development, but with talking animals. The number of sight gags, the number of jokes, the number of brilliant moments, all the time overlaying a deeply sad, inward, plot, is astounding. If anything, the fifth season took more risks than past years, with the loosest connection to one central plot (Bojack filming Philbert) but more one-off masterpieces, like Diane's trip to Vietnam, or the great episode of Bojack telling a 25-minute monologue eulogy. I honestly dojn't know how long they can keep going, and a turn to less serialized plot will help enable a longer shelf life, but the creative team has lost nothing, as sharp and creative as ever, be it the sight gag of saying the the 'Americrane Airlines' flight to Turkey was 'Overstuffed', to so much else. Bojack is a true masterpiece, as good as ever.
2.) Babylon Berlin (Season 1/2 - NETFLIX)
In all fairness, the show actually aired in Germany in 2017, but it went out in NETFLIX in 2018, so to me it counts. Look, no one watched this in the US. But it was the nost expense German TV show ever, and for good reason. It was brilliant, an incredible mixture of spectacle, plot and drama. The plot was a bit convoluted with 5-6 ongoing storylines that had loose connections with each other - though admittedly it was probably easier to follow if you knew German. What the show did so well though, was the direction. The dramatic moments were bite-your-fingernails good. The big scenes were such great spectacles, be it the song at the Cabaret in the 2nd episode (a real 'This is a brilliant show' moment), or the realization that Greta was tricked by early-period Nazis during a train riot. No show in 2018 staged spectacle so well - something that could be done given their budget.
The plot was complex, but in a The Wire type of way, not a Boardwalk Empire kind of way. The Wiemar Republic was a fascinating time in German history, seeing the slow rise of Nationalism, the role Communism played (or tried to play), and the government trying to stave off tyhe radicals. All of this with some nice PTSD introspection, and class and gender warfare, and you get a surprisngly complex, brilliant show. The artistic touches, including amazing set pieces and scenery, just added to the brilliance. I'm so excited I got turned onto this show, and while it was a pain having to sit through reading subtitles, it was so well worth it.
1.) Succession (Season 1 - HBO)
The best description I heard about Succession was someone (I think Zach Harper, of 'Talkhoops' fame) calling it the white0collar, drama version of Arrested Development. That makes sense, The story of the patriarch who wouldn't give away control of his empire to his son that had been bred for that role. It even had the daughter who lived life for cuases and was partnered up with the guy no one took seriously. The younger ridiculous brother (GOB vs. Roman), and so much more. Of course, even without that interesting slant, Succession was a masterpiece. In a world that actively hates the successful and rich, here we had a show that was all about that, but made it so relatable, so human, so open, we all could enjoy it.
My #1 shows since I've been doing this are all so interesting, be it Fargo Season 1 (2014), Veep Season 4 (2015), People vs. OJ Simpson (2016), and The Young Pope (2017). In that list of five shows, I think Succession may be last, and while that may seem harsh, that is more a testament to how good those other shows were. Succession by itself was the most sudden hit of any show I can remember. Even comparing to my other #1 choices that surprised, Fargo was incredibly pumped up prior to luanch, and same with People vs.. OJ and The Young Pope. Here, we had no true star actors, no big promotional push. The pilot was directed by Adam McKay, of Anchorman fame. The show would be something different.
Succession waz a perfect blend of drama, power, and sneaky hilarious comedy. The comedy was truly the lasting memory of the show (that and the amazing theme song), be it Tom and Greg, or really anthing to do with Tom, or the running joke of peeing on the rug, to so much more. It was amazing watchign Bryan Cox, so amazingly powerful in that performance. It was great watching all the backstabbing and conniving and chess-moves play out in front of us. Yes, i9n the end these were all fabulously wealthy magnates, but their problems, in this case, were our problems and were amazing to watch. Succession was a surprise, but it fully deserves in my view the title of best show I watched this year. If anything, like Fargo, or Veep, or People vs. OJ, or The Young Pope, it was so damn watchable.
