Top Shows of 2019

Drama
1. Counterpart (Starz)
2. True Detective (HBO)
3. The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
4. Chernobyl (HBO)
4. Years and Years (BBC One | UK)
A lot of what if? fun even if it doesn’t quite stick the landing. Like a Black Mirror concept stretched to 6 episodes without overstaying its welcome (mostly). Emma Thompson tears into and makes the most of a smaller, supporting role
6. Undone (Amazon Prime)
Initially felt this did not live up to the extremely positive reviews but kept at it and Undone rewarded the patience, becoming an absorbing, engrossing watch. Rosa Salazar imbues so much character into her voice acting it was like I was watching a live-person version of her character when it was all animated
6. Unbelievable (Netflix)
Merritt Wever had already been in a lot (and earned lots of acclaim & awards) but between this and her supporting role in Marriage Story I’m all aboard the Merritt Wever fan train.
8. Killing Eve (BBC America)
I continually re-evaluate the second season with lower and lower regard as time goes on, very fan-servicey second season
9. The Crown (Netflix)
It has a stacked cast for its new “generation” but, something about season 3 felt lesser than seasons 1-2 with no actual discernible drop in quality. There was a freshness in seasons 1-2 (likely due in large part to many of the seasons’ main actors being relative unknowns). Indeed, the parts of season 3 I felt most glued to the TV (well, phone) was watching Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles) and and Erin Doherty (Princess Anne). Of course Helena Bonham Carter and Olivia Colman were going to be good, but watching O’Connor and Doherty brought that freshness, like I was discovering something, like I was eavesdropping on real versions of young Prince Charles and Princess Anne
One complaint remains from the first 2 seasons, not enough Margaret. Never enough Margaret.
9. Mindhunter (Netflix)
Same as The Crown, no discernible drop in quality, but pulled me in less, was more willing to let day(s) go by before watching the next episode whereas once I got hooked on season 1 I had to binge the next episode
11. The Boys (Amazon Prime)
Presents a relatively fresh take on the superhero genre (staid af on the big screen). Though it doesn’t quite nail it consistently, its winning cast greatly helps overlooking its shortcomings. Jack Quaid (likeable in HBO’s Vinyl and the Amazon pilot Sea Oak) is more than capable as the de facto (co-)lead; Erin Moriarty nails Starlight’s journey of disillusionment (the audience is on the journey alongside Starlight thanks to Moriarty selling the hell out of writing that was too obviously telegraphing where it was going); Karen Fukuhara, Jennifer Esposito, Karl Urban all solid; but the biggest surprise was Chace Crawford’s amazing comic abilities and ability to elicit some level of empathy for a very, very unsympathetic character.
12. The Capture (BBC One | UK)
Like a lesser version of the prior year’s sublime Bodyguard, complete with 2 strong leads (Callum Turner and especially Holliday Grainger) and a cockamamie ending (which I was much more willing to forgive/go along with in the case of Bodyguard)
12. Euphoria (HBO)
Its stylishness and naturalistic acting from an all-around strong cast cushions the at-times meandering pace
12. The Deuce (HBO)
15. Game of Thrones (HBO)
15. Baptiste (BBC One | UK)
15. Watchmen (HBO)
It came together well in the end
18. Mr. Robot (USA)
Season 1 was great. Season 2 was style over substance. Season 3 was closer to 1 with some of the trappings and faults of 2. Season 4 started off hit-or-miss with some truly superb episodes (5th and 7th) with some lessers (the feet-dragging pace of the 4th episode ending with Tyrell staring at a light-emitting something that’s never explained???) but when it seems like the series is about to hurtle off into the truly out-of-this-world bizarre it came together nicely, proving that creator/writer/director Sam Esmail had an endgame the whole time that the show had been working towards and hinting at since the beginning, it took some overly-stylistic detours and too much look-at-me directing & cinnamontography but the show’s end’s (mostly) justifies the means
19. Our Boys (HBO)

Comedy
1. Catastrophe (Channel 4 | UK)
2. You’re the Worst (FXX)
Catastophe and You’re the Worst are broadly similar shows that both came to an end in early 2019. They could flip spots on this list on any given day
3. Los Espookys (HBO)
Favorite new show of the year. Utterly delightful comedy that came from left-field quickly becoming something I eagerly looked forward to every Friday.
4. The Weekly with Charlie Pickering (ABC | Australia)
4. Corporate (Comedy Central)
4. Broad City (Comedy Central)
7. Russian Doll (Netflix)
7. Wayne (YouTube Premium)
If Quentin Tarantino directed a half-hour coming of age/road trip comedy about a boy who grew up in a neighborhood that could’ve been the setting of a Bruce Springsteen album – this is that show
Mark McKenna and Ciara Bravo absolutely crushed their roles (props esp to the Irish McKenna) and I’m very sorry I won’t be able to continue on the journey & misadventures of Wayne & Del
9. Utopia (ABC | Australia)
The government incompetence and self-servingness of Veep (without the expletives) meets the cynicism of Corporate (without the acerbicness) meets the small stakes of Parks & Recreation (without the warmth)
9. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX)
Fourteen seasons in and it can knock out episodes like The Gang Texts and The Gang Chokes
11. On Becoming a God in Central Florida (Showtime)
Would work a helluvalot less without Kirsten Dunst and Théodore Pellerin
11. Silicon Valley (HBO)
Isn’t quite able to overcome the faults that have been consistent in prior seasons, but Thomas Middleditch’s Richard Hendricks and Zach Wood’s Jared alone would be worth the watch. Would’ve still loved 3 more seasons.
13. Nobody’s Looking (Netflix)
Solid addition to an already-growing stock of popular Brazilian Netflix productions. Went into this blind and found it to be just a delight to watch.
14. GLOW (Netflix)
14. Gruen (ABC | Australia)
16. Hamish and Andy’s “Perfect” Holiday (Nine Network | Australia)
17. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)
Episodes are increasingly falling into the trap of feeling overly-familiar along with characters being Flanderized to hell
17. Veep (HBO)
17. Barry (HBO)
17. Fleabag (BBC One)

Honorable Mentions:
Leavenworth (Starz)
The Weekly (FX/hulu/NYT)
Derry Girls (Channel 4 via Netflix)
2 Dope Queens (HBO)
A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO)
Alternatino with Arturo Castro (Comedy Central)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
State of the Union (SundanceTV)
The End of the F***cking World (Channel 4 via Netflix)
Cunk & Other Humans on 2019 (BBC Two | UK)
Gösta (HBO Europe | Sweden)

Didn’t Watch: When they See Us (Netflix); Dark (Netflix); Big Mouth (Netflix); Leaving Neverland (HBO); The Expanse (Amazon Prime); Anne with an E (CBC | Canada); David Makes Man (OWN)

Dishonorable Mentions:
Luther Season 5 (BBC One) – It would’ve been hugely preferable had this show not come back from a four-year absence than this abomination of a fifth season which felt more like a bad terrible parody of dark gritty antihero(ine) drama than a season of what had once been an enthralling, gripping, edge-of-your-seat show
Delicious Season 3 (Sky 1 | UK) – Delicious has gone from sparing, effective sentimentality to unearned sentimentality to forced, eye-roll-inducing sentimentality. Cloying/Schmaltzy/Cliched dialogue (especially the voiceovers) doesn’t help things, wasting a strong cast that had formerly been used to good effect in the first season

Cancellation that hurts the most: Wayne (YouTube Premium)

Performances of the Year
J.K. Simmons (Counterpart)
Mahershala Ali (True Detective)
Adam Gabay (Our Boys)
Jared Harris (Chernobyl)
Stellan Skarsgård (Chernobyl)

Olivia Williams (Counterpart)
Christine Baranski (The Good Fight)
Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)
Jodie Comer (Killing Eve)
MJ Rodriguez (Pose)
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Deuce)
Michelle Williams (Fosse/Verdon)
Emily Watson (Chernobyl)
Regina King (Watchmen)

Scoot McNairy (True Detective)
Orlando Jones (American Gods)
Ray Romano (Get Shorty)
Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones)
Harry Lloyd (Counterpart)
Michael Sheen (The Good Fight) after acclimating to his over-the-top hamminess
Elliot Villar (Mr. Robot)
Josh O’Connor (The Crown)
Or Ben-Melech (Our Boys)

Emily Meade (The Deuce)
Cush Jumbo (The Good Fight)
Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve)
Audra McDonald (The Good Fight)
Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)
Nazanin Boniadi (Counterpart)
Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul)
Dominique Jackson (Pose)
Lidia Porto (Get Shorty)
Carly Chaikin (Mr. Robot)
Ashlie Atkinson (Mr. Robot)
Joanna Scanlan (The Accident)
Erin Doherty (The Crown)
Harriet Walter (The Spanish Princess)
Jean Smart (Watchmen)
Hong Chau (Watchmen)

Mark McKenna (Wayne)
Wyatt Russell (Lodge 49)
Bill Hader (Barry)
Rob Delaney (Catastrophe)
Chris Geere (You’re the Worst)
Chris O’Dowd (Get Shorty; State of the Union)
Scott Ryan (Mr. Inbetween)
Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley)

Alison Brie (GLOW)
Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll)
Aya Cash (You’re the Worst)
Ciara Bravo (Wayne)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag)
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe)
Rosamund Pike (State of the Union)
Kirsten Dunst (On Becoming a God in Central Florida)

Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Anthony Carrigan (Barry)
Timothy Simons (Veep)
Andrew Scott (Fleabag)
Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Zachary Levi (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Chris Lowell (GLOW)
Tim Robinson (I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson) – 100% commitment
Théodore Pellerin (On Becoming a God in Central Florida) – Adroitly oscillates between making you want to smack some sense into him and wanting to pet him on the head as if he was a stray dog. The give-and-take, push-and-pull chemistry between the Pellerin and Kirsten Dunst adds so much more on top of what Dunst is doing
Zach Woods (Silicon Valley)
Zachary Quinto (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) – Echolocation
Marc Evan Jackson (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Peter MacNicol (Veep)
Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Kether Donohue (You’re the Worst)
Anna Chlumsky (Veep)
Emily Pendergast (Veep) – It’s not easy being a last-season supporting character addition to a show that’d been humming along like a well-oiled machine with a murderer’s row of actors—many of whom had been awarded many times over—without feeling like an afterthought or intrusion, but Pendergast not only smoothly fit in, but often heightened the hilarity of scenes she shared with Jonah, who, while having risen to the top of the ensemble in the middle seasons, had seemed like it was running in circles in season 6. The dynamic between straight-woman Beth and manic Jonah exceeded any of the comic antics Jonah could’ve done on his own in this last season.
Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Betty Gilpin (GLOW)
Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
Kyra Sedgwick (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Beanie Feldstein (What We Do in the Shadows)
Olivia Sandoval (Lodge 49)
Susie Essman (Broad City)