2019 TV in Review
[This post was originally published on Facebook in December 2019.]
The streaming wars are here, folks. Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu were already locked in combat, and then Disney+ and Apple TV+ entered the fray this past fall. In 2020, HBO Max will arrive on the scene. Undoubtedly, others will get in on the action. And let’s not forget the various sports and broadcast network streaming services already out there, too (aside: Who’s actually using CBS All Access?). But this isn’t the kind of battle consumers can watch from the sidelines awaiting a victor. It’s not VHS vs. Betamax or Blu-ray vs. HD DVD. It’s not expensive hardware but affordable content—that is, affordable until you realize how many subscription services you’re managing every month, and you’re suddenly fondly recalling the halcyon days of your old cable package. There was already enough programming back then. Now, we’re drowning in it. The first casualties in the streaming wars are the viewers—between aggregate costs, limitless programming, limited time, and increasingly unhealthy viewing habits.
On the one hand, it’s nice to have a range of shows that offer new voices and cater to niche audiences; on the other, how many of those are failing to be heard or falling through the cracks as we’re inundated with louder and dumber yet better marketed content? I try to be thoughtful about the television programming I consume, but I’ve certainly wasted time on duds and missed out on gems. And I’ve probably spent too much time on television in general—you be the judge: below are the television series I watched (or at least started) in 2019. Nearly half are from streaming services—well over half if you’re consuming HBO by way of HBO Now. Basic cable and broadcast shows have all but disappeared from my viewing, which wouldn’t be concerning if streaming services were conclusively producing better shows, but that is not the case, as my inventory reflects.
Readers who know me well are aware I’ve always been much more of a cinephile than a TV geek, even as the lines between the two mediums continue to blur. 2019 was a strong year for cinema, so my enthusiasm for television inevitably waned. Nevertheless, several shows—#1-3 in my top ten—wowed me, and a handful of others came close. Take a look, and let me know how wrong I got it.
Note: I did not include various late night talk shows or sporting events, which I watched on occasion, because how does one assess those? Come to think of it, the most satisfying thing I watched on television in 2019 was probably Tottenham Hotspur’s three-goal second-half comeback against Ajax in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Semi-finals!
Notably unseen: Deadwood: The Movie, Sex Education, Dark, Schitt’s Creek, The Morning Show, Years and Years, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Veep, The Good Place
TOP TEN
SUCCESSION (HBO) - A mea culpa: I was an idiot for abandoning this show last year. Eventually I gave S1 another shot just as S2 was starting and found it addictive from S1E5 onward. S2 raises the stakes for everyone, putting the family and their media conglomerate in financial, legal, and congressional crosshairs. Characters must decide where they stand on moral, ethical, and familial grounds. It’s an ugly, privileged world that Succession occupies, and that could be a barrier to entry for some viewers, but the writing is so sharp, so funny, so devastating. I’m also a sucker for narratives that stick the landing, and the final two episodes of S2 might be my favorite from 2019.
WATCHMEN (HBO) - I went into Damon Lindelof’s “remix” of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen with trepidation, but it turned out better than I could have imagined. A worthy continuation of the graphic novel’s story that expands upon its themes of heroism, vigilantism, power, and government and provocatively recontextualizes them through the lens of (past, present, and likely future) racism in America. There are shades of Lindelof’s Lost and The Leftovers here—elliptical storytelling, elaborate world-building, surreal events, compelling mystery—but this is a one-of-a-kind achievement.
MINDHUNTER (Netflix) - A major leap forward from S1, which was burdened by its origin story underpinnings. S2’s plot is centered on the FBI Behavioral Science Unit’s participation in the investigation of the Atlanta murders of 1979-1981, which gives the narrative a definite shape and clear goal. With the guidance of David Fincher, it turns into the eerie, thrilling (and politically minded) Zodiac sequel I never knew I needed.
BOJACK HORSEMAN (Netflix) - It should come as no surprise this one is near the top. I’m a card-carrying BoJack Horsestan at this point. It’s a bit annoying they’ve split the final season into two parts (why has this become a thing?), but part one of S6 finds BoJack finally, truly confronting his past behavior and actions. The whole series has essentially played out like therapy—except, you know, hilarious and beautiful. At this point, it’s a shoo-in for my Best TV of the Decade list.
WHEN THEY SEE US (Netflix) - This infuriating and heartbreaking dramatization of the 1989 Central Park jogger case and its aftermath is the best thing Ava DuVernay has ever made. A vivid docudrama of a racist system and the horrendous miscarriage of justice it produced. On a more positive note, Jharrel Jerome (who plays Korey Wise) is going to be a star.
THE DEUCE (HBO) - The third and final season jumps forward several years into the dark days of the 1980s, when the AIDS epidemic is ravaging families and communities and the pornography industry is moving off the streets and into homes. David Simon’s heavily researched series seems to have been building to this all along. Eileen (a terrific Maggie Gyllenhaal) was always the heart and soul of the show, but her character takes center stage in S3. Sobering and clear-eyed in the way Simon’s shows always are.
CHERNOBYL (HBO) - Until it gets a little preachy in the final episode, this miniseries is a riveting, play-by-play thriller about the worst nuclear disaster in history and the USSR’s attempted cover-up. I’m still haunted by the final scene in episode two, where volunteers descend into the plant basement, and the sound of the Geiger counter amplifies as the shot cuts to black. Chilling stuff.
GLOW (Netflix) - S3, a kind of at-the-crossroads season, is the best of the series so far. It contextualizes the overarching narrative and defines the identities and ambitions of the characters with the specificity they’ve heretofore lacked, all without losing sight of the show’s humor and verve.
LEGION (FX) - The other boundary-pushing superhero series this year. At the end of S2, the writers introduced a surprising and troubling maneuver by the protagonist that shifted viewers’ allegiances. So the stakes were high for S3 to handle the repercussions with care. S3 grapples with topical material skillfully and thoughtfully, resulting in a challenging but rewarding story trajectory. And its vision of time travel is unique and horrifying: “time eaters” are the creepiest creatures I’ve seen in a TV series in a long time.
PEN15 (Hulu) - A semi-autobiographical middle school coming-of-age story written and acted by the thirty-year-old women who experienced it, surrounded by adolescent actors. It’s a concept that shouldn’t work, but somehow it totally does. Painful, funny, affecting.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Rick and Morty (Cartoon Network) - Perhaps the most bonkers show out there right now, but it misses the top ten because in this bisected S4, the writers seem content to serve up weekly humor without much of the thematic potency seen previously.
Undone (Amazon) - It’s co-created by BoJack Horseman showrunner Raphael Bob-Waksberg, so of course I was going to be into it. Beautiful and diegetically apt rotoscope animation coupled with the story of a woman’s reckoning with her father’s mysterious death makes for an exciting new series.
Broad City (Comedy Central) - The conclusion of Broad City really feels like the end of an era in some way. Consistently funny, occasionally moving, and always unpredictable. S5E1 “Stories” is a 2019 television highlight.
The Righteous Gemstones (HBO) - More madcap shenanigans from the guys behind Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals, and I’m here for it. The marketing for the show barely hints at where the story leads, and I have no idea what’s in store for S2.
Tuca & Bertie (Netflix) - Centered on the friendship of two anthropomorphized adult birds (voiced by Ali Wong and Tiffany Haddish), the show inevitably pairs well with BoJack Horseman—also because T&B’s creator, Lisa Hanawalt, is a producer on BH. It’s abrasive at first but eventually finds a rhythm and builds to some heartfelt revelations. The cruelest series cancellation of the year. It absolutely deserved a second season.
Fleabag (Amazon) - Not quite S1 level for me because I can’t buy the Priest character as a credible person in this story world. He’s too much of a writer’s conceit. Nevertheless, Phoebe Waller-Bridge continues to mine the complexities of relationships with great care.
