There is not a time when I am conscious in my house that a television isn't on. When I come home from work, the remote is the first thing I grab. When I go to bed, I set a sleep timer so I don't dare nod off without the comforting light of the idiot box lulling me to dreamland. I honestly don't want to know how many hours of my life I waste staring at talking heads and fictional people with lives far more interesting than my own.
The only GOOD thing about being a television addict is that it makes me somewhat uniquely qualified to write my annual year-end recommendations for the best TV of 2023:
#10 - RIVERDALE (The CW) - Okay, so maybe I shouldn't call this a list of the BEST television. Riverdale is NOT a great show. It's not even a good show. But for seven glorious seasons of nonsense, it's been my favorite popcorn escapism. Having exhausted every conceivably ludicrous plotline from murder to cults to aliens to superheroes, the last surviving remnant of the CW's glory years transported its residents back to the 1950s for its final season, actually making the show loosely resemble the Archie comics it was loosely based on. Farewell, Riverdale. I will miss your brainless greatness.
#9 - THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW (Netflix) - I'm so bored of putting this show in my best-of every year, but it just keeps deserving it. In a world of division and turmoil, we at least have ONE show left to teach us what "reality" should be. It's always refreshing to witness a competition show where the winner gets little more than a plate and bragging rights, where contestants become friends who help and encourage one another, and the losing players get hugs and love from the judges instead of scolding and derision. It's the perfect antidote to the evening news.
#8 - SCOTT PILGRIM TAKES OFF (Netflix) - Edgar Wright's movie adaptation of the fantastic Scott Pilgram graphic novels was great, but this new animated series stays even truer to the aesthetic of the source material (while getting the entire cast from the 2010 movie to reprise their roles.) The result is infinitely watchable and a refreshing new dive into a world I've loved for years.
#7 - TED LASSO (Apple+) - The third season of Ted Lasso is admittedly a bit uneven. A show about a soccer team works best when it focuses on the team dynamic, and much of the show's presumably last season has its main characters separated from one another and leading their own storylines. Some of those storylines work and some falter. But despite its inconsistencies, Ted Lasso remains a show worthy of every ounce of its feel-good reputation and acclaim. Will there ever be a fourth season or a spin-off? Like Ted, I choose to believe.
#6 - MUPPETS MAYHEM (Disney+) - When I heard Disney was creating a show based around the Muppets' house band Doctor Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, I had my doubts. But the end result was a wonderful send-up of music documentaries and the rock lifestyle, complete with some amazing cameos, inside jokes for music nerds like me, and gut-busting laughs for kids and kids-at-heart alike.
#5 - SEX EDUCATION (Netflix) - My all-time favorite Netflix show had its swansong this year, and it didn't disappoint. I've always had a tough time describing this show, and I think that's what the show's creator Laurie Nunn was aiming for. Is it set in England or the U.S.? Is it set in the 80s or modern times? The show purposely blurs those lines to make it accessible to anyone of any generation or background. I read a review once that called it "wholesomely filthy," and that's spot on. It's a coming-of-age teen sex romp with a heart and earnestness that constantly runs the risk of overblown wokeness, yet still manages to be more fun and quirky than outright preachy.
#4 - SHRINKING (Apple+) - I didn't think Apple could make a comedy better than Ted Lasso, but it took the Lasso team to do it. Helmed by Ted Lasso creator Bill Lawrence, actor/comedian Brett Goldstein (Lasso's Roy Kent), and star Jason Segel, Shrinking stars Segel as a therapist coping with the grief of his wife's death by breaching conventional ethics with his patients and getting directly involved in their lives. It's a tour de force for Segel, and adding Harrison Ford as Segel's harrowed boss is the icing on the cake of this exceptional series with such potential.
#3 - POKER FACE (Peacock) - Critics were anticipating the premiere of this Peacock mystery series with bated breath, and the hype was every bit deserved. Poker Face is the brainchild of Knives Out director Rian Johnson, who wanted to craft a "murder-of-the-week" detective procedural in the vein of Columbo. But instead of the hero being a detective, it's Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a cocktail waitress who's on the run from the mob, keeps stumbling into murders, and has the uncanny ability to discern when people are lying. It's some of the smartest mystery writing you'll ever see, and if Lyonne doesn't win ALL the awards this season, the system's broken.
#2 - WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (F/X) - It's very rare when a TV series based on a movie ends up better than the source material, but WWDitS somehow manages to be even funnier than the 2014 movie of the same name (which was pretty great on its own.) This stellar mockumentary about four dysfunctional vampires and their long-suffering human familiar just announced its farewell season next year, so jump on the bandwagon while there's still time and learn why it's earned 21 Emmy nominations in its short run.
#1 - EXTRAORDINARY (Hulu) - If this column serves ANY purpose, it's to beg you to jump on Hulu and check out this unheralded show that I stumbled into one fateful night and ended up binging the entire series in one sitting while laughing myself silly. The first solo project of creater Emma Moran (who wrote the script while in grad school,) Extraordinary takes place in a dystopian future where nearly everyone on Earth develops superpowers when they turn 18 -- except Jen, a 25-year-old jealous slacker underdog still waiting for her transformation. Jen lives with her roommate Carrie, a timid soul with the power to channel the dead, which they primarily use to summon and berate an indignant Hitler whenever they need a pick-me-up. It's a cynical, jaded, and hysterical look at the power of being powerless, and it's easily the best thing I've watched this year.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have, like, 273 other shows to watch. Except I'll probably just watch Extraordinary again - it's THAT good. Happy New Year, all.
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