Well, here we are at the end of the year, when we're supposed to look back and celebrate all the great events of 2022. There was, umm, let's see... well, that part wasn't so great. Oh, then there was that time when... oh yeah, that was pretty terrible, too.
Let's be honest. The past few years have been rough. Sometimes the best parts of 2022 involved IGNORING 2022, turning on the TV, and being taken away to fictional lands of other people's problems.
Life may be a tad sucky in the 2020s, but television's never been better. I read a recent article that claimed our new golden age of TV may be winding down, and that's a bummer. Recent cutbacks at Netflix and HBO may be indicative of streaming having jumped the gun and invested too much in quality shows without paying attention to profits. There's a chance we may have been overly spoiled the past few years. So before good shows go the way of the dodo and we're left with nothing but America's Next Top Masked Chef Model Can Dance, let's celebrate some of the amazing TV fare that 2022's brought us. These are my picks for the five best shows of the year.
#5 - THE GREAT NORTH (Fox) - Ever since the pandemic hit, I've yearned for heartwarming TV fare. My usual tastes are a combination of snarky comedies and esoteric arthouse dramas, but when we were in lockdown and feeling hopeless, I didn't want jaded jokes or depressing realism. I mostly just wanted fluffy shows where people hugged each other a lot. Ted Lasso became my hero. The Great British Baking Show became my comfort food. Positivity is important. I just never thought I'd find it in a quirky animated sitcom from the Bob's Burgers team. Each week on "The Great North," the plucky Tobin family faces life in rural Alaska with togetherness, fortitude, and unpredictable jokes that land faster and harder than you'd expect. Add an outstanding voice cast of Will Forte, Jenny Slate, Paul Rust, and Nick Offerman at his most Offermanic, and you've got the feel-good show of 2022.
#4 - DERRY GIRLS (Channel 4 / Netflix) - This year also saw the third and final season of this global treasure of a show. "Derry Girls" was always funny, but taking a year off for the pandemic must have allowed creator Lisa McGee to fine-tune the writing, because this wonderful farewell of a season is SO next-level funny that I found myself hitting pause so I didn't miss anything over my own laughter. It's a giant love letter to friends, family, and growing up in the 90s in Northern Ireland. Its humor is only matched by its heart. "There's a part of me that doesn't really want to grow up," says lead character Erin in the final episode. I couldn't agree more, and I don't want to say goodbye to any of these characters.
#3 - STRANGER THINGS (Netflix) - 2022 featured a slew of acclaimed series at the height of their creativity and passion. Shows like "Better Call Saul" and "Barry" deserve every accolade thrown their way. BUT honestly, sometimes you just wanna put the heady stuff aside, make some popcorn, and watch kids fight aliens from a parallel dimension. Critics have never been especially kind to "Stranger Things," but has there been a show that's left a bigger dent in our pop culture landscape this year? "Chrissy, wake up!" memes flooded the internet all year, Metallica got a huge bump in sales, and the show's soundtrack even brought Kate Bush an unexpected #3 chart hit some 37 years after its original release. That's got to mean something. The Hawkins saga IS great television. Is "Stranger Things" going to win an Emmy for its nuanced writing and relevatory character studies? Nope. But will it be one of my favorite shows of all time? Absolutely. The Duffer Brothers have been able to perfectly straddle the line between teen adventure and sci-fi horror for four seasons now. When the fifth and final season drops next year, it'll be the talk of the globe.
#2 - LOS ESPOOKYS (HBO) - It came as a surprise to no one when HBO cancelled "Los Espookys" mere weeks after its second season debut. It's a miracle that something this weird even got two seasons in the first place. But what gloriously bonkers seasons they were. Created by SNL and Portlandia alum Fred Armisen and writer/co-stars Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega, "Los Espookys" is a surreal workplace comedy -- except the workplace is four friends who stage horror events (fake exorcisms, bloody Quinceneras, etc.) for fans of the macabre. Oh, and did I mention that the show is entirely in Spanish? And that one character works as a Shakira impersonator while another can talk to the moon and has a demon called Water's Shadow living inside his mind? It's bonkers in the very best of ways, and you can still see every episode on the HBO Max app.
#1 - SEVERANCE (Apple TV) - I'll say it right now. "Severance" might just be my favorite TV show since "Twin Peaks." I've watched the first season three times now, and I'm about to embark on my fourth. Each viewing is like peeling back an onion and discovering a new layer. You can't do justice to a show like "Severance" in a quick blurb. In fact, it sounds downright stupid: "A dystopian tale where willing participants consent to a brain-altering medical procedure wherein their work and home lives can be separated into two distinct personas." On paper, it sounds ridiculous. On the screen, it's genius. Creator Dan Erickson has crafted a complex and tense thriller that also somehow manages to be a treatise on grief AND a meditation on workplace culture. The script is brought to life in the most claustrophobic of manners by director Ben Stiller (yep, THAT Ben Stiller) and a dizzyingly sparse visual aesthetic that makes me yearn for a visitor's pass to Lumon Industries just so I can experience it for myself. Above all, though, it's just downright deliciously weird, with twists and turns and even Christopher Walken thrown in for good measure. It's funny, unsettling, and downright horrifying (sometimes in the same scene.) It's the kind of show the internet was invented for - I guarantee there's people in chatrooms right now dissecting scenes. I should know, I'm one of them. It's the best show of the year by a country mile.
Happy New Year, all! And even if its not, here's hoping there's good TV to distract us from it.
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