Tuesday, December 18, 2018

My Favorite Televisions Shows of 2018




In no particular order

Atlanta








The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel











The Good Place
















The Deuce

Succession

The Americans

Godless

Bodyguard

Counterpart

Better Call Saul

America to Me

I could probably come up with another dozen if I really tried. And there are some that seem to be sort of between years.What are yours?

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You've got some good choices here, Patti. I've been watching Happy Valley and liked it.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I watched that a few years ago and rewatched it with Phil. One of the best police dramas.

Jerry House said...

I really liked KILLING EVE.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Jackie loved KILLING EVE.

I don't know if I could even pick one dozen. Three are on your list:

THE AMERICANS
MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
COUNTERPART

Other possible choices:

GLOW
HOMECOMING
MADAME SECRETARY
HOMELAND
DICTE
VICTORIA
MYSTERY ROAD
THE INDIAN DOCTOR

Sadly, a lot of shows haven't lived up to previous seasons, for me.

Jeff Meyerson said...

MY BRILLIANT FRIEND would probably make my list too.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Haven't seen MY BRILLIANT FRIEND yet or LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL. Very true, Jeff. (About second seasons).

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Better Call Saul
The Deuce
Godless
Killing Eve
Counterpart
Sharp Objects
John Oliver
Bill Maher(except for the episode where he fawned all over Barbra Streisand).

A couple you listed I haven't seen yet such as Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Homecoming.
I have really liked Rake but it is not a new series.

Todd Mason said...

I liked rather than loved a lot of the new series I saw this past year, and some, such as KILLING EVE, had good aspects but were not what I'd call good (often due to characters acting arbitrarily to serve plot, as KILLING EVE does in spades, so despite liking Sandra Oh's performance, I gave up on it at about episode 5). This is true of MRS. MAISEL as well, only there, as I put it elsewhere, there's too much of wanting the Midge character to have and eat her fondant-laden cake simultaneously...someone as wedded to conventional thinking as Midge is in most ways isn't likely to be building a Lenny Bruce-acolyte career.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Steve hit my #1 show when it's on, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.

We watched LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL over three consecutive nights. We didn't love it - in fact we both preferred THE NIGHT MANAGER - but I guess we liked it enough to stick it all the way through.

Of course Todd is right about Midge - look at her reaction seeing the naked penis, identical to her mother's - but there is still enough to watch.

Shows that have disappointed a little or a lot in season two include two Aussie shows, GLITCH and WANTED. The former is more disappointing, as I loved season one.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Always amazed at how little Midge's generation differed from her mother's, compared to what followed. I loved the first season of Glitch too but couldn't even get through the second. Similar to Wanted.
I agree about Killing Eve. The sag was back-breaking.

Todd Mason said...

Among those not yet mentioned I've made an effort to see, and have enjoyed along with MAISEL and COUNTERPART and the Very good THE GOOD PLACE and THE DEUCE are:

GET SHORTY
STAN AGAINST EVIL
FULL FRONTAL
SHAMELESS
YOU'RE THE WORST
SCHITT'S CREEK
AMERICAN WOMAN (already cancelled by the Paramount cable channel)
SWEDISH DICKS (goofy but mostly smart)
iZOMBIE
BLACK LIGHTNING (goofy but definitely smart)
ANIMAL KINGDOM
THE JIM JEFFERIES SHOW
NERO WOLFE (the Italian telefilm series)
DIVORCE
and there were a number of others that have been not quite good, but watchable or interesting but seriously flawed, including
VIDA
FBI
MAGNUM PI
THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA
KILLJOYS
WYNONA EARP
BELLEVUE
100 CODE

And I still need to catch up with BETTER CAUL SAUL and ATLANTA and THE GOOD FIGHT and see if I like THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE at all. Still waiting on an affordable means of watching THE HANDMAID'S TALE since there's only a bit more on Hulu that strikes me as worth investigating too closely (maybe Sarah Silverman's series).

George said...

I'm in Super-hero mode mostly when I watch TV:
AGENTS OF SHIELD
THE FLASH
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
SUPERGIRL
ARROW

pattinase (abbott) said...

The only superhero I have watched was Jessica Jones, which was good for a while. Have seen some or most of Todd's but lost track of some due to hospital days.

Alice Chang said...

THE INDIAN DOCTOR was pretty good, as well, and was left hanging by the BBC after three seasons. I saw it on CineMoi starting last fall; currently it's being broadcast on the RetroTV network, which has a longstanding deal with Acorn TV, which is or was also streaming it, of course. (Acorn mostly syndicates to public stations, but has also place several of their series on Retro, which also runs a fair amount of Canadian series along with 1970s DOCTOR WHO and other older US series and co-productions, such as RAY BRADBURY THEATER.

Such series as BROAD CITY are old favorites that were barely on this year, though it's coming back for a final season, much in the manner of several other favorites (the goofy but fun TIMELESS is getting a wrap-up film instead). SMILF is a good one they're taking their time in bringing back for season two. Animated series THE VENTURE BROTHERS and ARCHER had not-bad seasons, not their best (ARCHER's worst, in fact), and both about to wrap things up with one more.

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH isn't too shabby, either. Though I jumped in in the middle there, so still sorting some things out.

JESSICA JONES's first season, and LUKE CAGE's first two seasons, were pretty good. BLACK LIGHTNING is on a comparable level.

Todd Mason said...

Forgot I had picked up Alice's computer and it on her login. Her mentor has entered hospice as of tonight, and she was playing a videogame to help distract herself, while waiting for news. I checked her texts for her on here, and checked in on this site...

Jeff Meyerson said...

We watched INDIAN DOCTOR on Acorn through Amazon Prime. Jackie also liked GIRLFRIENDS with Phyllis Logan, Zoe Wanamaker, and Miranda Richardson. Logan's philandering husband goes overboard on an Anniversary cruise, and his girlfriend accuses the wife of murder. It's a lot lighter than the summary might indicate.

Todd Mason said...

I have since been reminded of BARONESS VON SKETCH and the cancelled THE OPPOSITION.

Jeff Meyerson said...

We've watched the first two episodes of BODYGUARD on Netflix the last two nights. So far, it's pretty good. She (Keeley Hawes) sure gets a lot of roles.