Television Review - 2018

Because I made an effort to review every show that I watched in 2018, I'm going to be able to structure this year's TV review post a little differently and cram it all into one. In the past, I've broken out reviews of my five favorite viewing experiences of the year into separate installments, but since I don't have all that much new to say, I'll simply rank them and link those reviews here.

Here are all the shows that I've watched during 2018. I completed the most recently concluded season of the show (and only the most recent season of the show) unless otherwise indicated. The crop is a little thinner this year because Cheers and The Americans both took a very long time.

• Everything Sucks! 
• Cheers (Seasons 5-11)
• The Good Place (Seasons 1-2)
• Atypical (Seasons 1-2)
• Barry 
• Ozark (Season One)
• The Americans (Full series, Seasons 1-6)
• The Big Bang Theory
• Jersey Shore Family Vacation (Seasons 1-2)
• BoJack Horseman
• Better Call Saul
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• South Park
• Top Chef (Okay, I forgot to review this)

Here are the shows I watched last year that have dropped off the list due to no new episodes:

• You're the Worst (returns in January)
• The Sopranos
• Master of None
• High Maintenance
• Rick and Morty

Here are the shows that fell out of the rotation since last year, or that I am 100% sure I will not be continuing, with an explanation:

1. Silicon Valley - We watched an episode or two of this, but rumors of its decline in quality along with the departure of T.J. Miller's Erlich Bachman character from the show stunted our enthusiasm, and we've just sort of stopped watching it.

2. Billions - I can't actually say we stopped watching it -- in fact, we watched the third episode of Season Three after a long hiatus last night. We might complete Season Three next year if that momentum sticks, but I think it's just decent, and the repeated power plays and backstabbing make it feel a little too much like House of Cards and Suits at times. The characters on Billions lie somewhere on the spectrum between the boring, 1-dimensional ones found on House of Cards and the highly entertaining but caricature-like ones on Suits, so it's walking a tight rope.

3. Ozark - I can't stress or repeat myself enough on this point, and it's actually cathartic to say it out loud every so often. The Season One finale episode of Ozark was so unbelievably terrible that I'm dropping the show out of principle, even if it definitely had its moments along the way. There's only a handful of TV episodes I've ever seen that I'd slap an "F" grade on, and adjusting for expectations (Ozark was otherwise decent-to-good), it might be the most disappointing (not to mention repulsive) single installment of a show I've ever seen. It's close between that and the How I Met Your Mother finale.

Finally, here were my Top Five Viewing Experiences of the Year:

5. Barry (Season One) - I'm giving this the slight edge over Season Four of Better Call Saul in a year in which I just happened to watch a lot of great TV. In the end, it's probably because Barry was a completely new experience and toed the line between comedy and drama perfectly.

4. Atypical (Seasons 1-2)- The second season wasn't quite as strong as the first, but overall, but Atypical is rife with strong characters and presents an interesting look at a family whose son (and series main character) is on the autism spectrum.

3. BoJack Horseman (Season Five) - BoJack Horseman might be the best actively-running series on TV and delivered another consistently stellar slate of episodes in 2018. It was something of a bounce-back from Season Four, in which there were a few amazing episodes scattered among weaker (for BoJack) installments.

2. Cheers (Seasons 5-11) - This is the best live-action sitcom I've ever seen and it delivered consistent laughs all the way up until the finale, which is one of the greatest episodes of television of all time.

1. The Americans (Full series, Seasons 1-6) - What a ride. FX's period drama is firmly in the "best of all-time" discussion. When I finished watching the show, my reaction was, "Well, I know The Wire is better, but what else?" As far as other completed dramas are concerned, I know there's Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Deadwood, and Mad Men (which I don't love but is critically acclaimed) to reckon with. I'd certainly put The Americans somewhere in that group.

Television Review - 2016 (Part 2): #5 TV Experience of the Year - Silicon Valley

5) Silicon Valley

This year, my top four shows are head-and-shoulders above the rest and I had a lot of trouble deciding on which show would claim this spot.  Ultimately, I settled on Silicon Valley, a consistently hilarious comedy with some pretty good characters.

I'm admittedly not very tech-savvy nor do I follow much of what the Pied Piper gang is trying to do with their product. However, even to one with little technical knowledge, it's fascinating to watch the cutthroat nature of the digital business both between competing firms and within them. Richard and company seem to continue to catch big breaks only to be held back from controlling their own destiny at every turn. It's an interesting battle for financial and intellectual independence for some of the most brilliant minds in the industry.

Oh and beyond that, it's funny. Really, really funny.

There is no character on TV quite like Erlich Bachman, a man who has confidence, bravado, and foolishness in spades and in equal proportions. T.J. Miller's screen presence is right up there with that of any comedic actor anywhere. While he's often difficult to take seriously, Miller is able to make us feel for an oft-absurd character whose desire to be part of the Pied Piper team and friendship with Richard come off as genuine. When he faces struggles this season in both departments, we feel for him because Miller makes him the most likable character on the show, even disregarding how entertaining Erlich is when he's trying to impress or influence others.

Over the years, Erlich has replaced Richard as the guy we really root for and it's a good change. Many comedies (::cough:: Modern Family ::cough::) have a tendency to have their characters never really progress, but what Silicon Valley has done with Richard's character through three seasons keeps him both fresh and believable. Richard used to be superlatively timid when he was just trying to get his algorithm off the ground in Season One. By Season Three, he's still pretty nerdy and often tentative with decision-making, but leadership of this group and the frustration of trying to make it in the business world has created a substantial change in his character. He's much more demanding and often arrogant; the latter is a flaw that frequently costs him and makes his failures seem all the more avoidable.

I'd be remiss to do a Silicon Valley review without mentioning Bertram Gilfoyle, a close second to Erlich on the comedic front. Gilfoyle's one liners and deadpan humor are excellent, particularly when he's messing with Dinesh. He's mostly a dick who has little sense of loyalty to the group or any sort of moral code, but he's certainly a favorite of mine.

If you haven't seen Silicon Valley, it's an easy watch with 30-minute episodes and an addictive sense of humor. It's one of the best comedies out there and has been for all three of its seasons.

Season Grade: B+

Essential Episodes: "Maleant Data Systems Solutions" (s3.ep4), "Bachman's Earning's Over-Ride" (s3.ep8), "The Uptick" (s3.ep10)

So What's Else Is Going On? - TV

Clearly I've spent a good amount of time here discussing Better Call Saul and BoJack Horseman, but I do watch other stuff (I promise!) that I don't have the desire or energy to discuss on an episode-to-episode basis. Here's some blurbs on what else I've been watching this year.

Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory

I'm lumping these two together because they're both just kinda there. They've had two very different trajectories over their run. Modern Family started out amazing and then gradually went down the tubes. The Big Bang Theory started out pretty bad, got significantly better and peaked in its seventh season, and now is facing the decline phase as it tries to wring whatever plot lines it might have left in this core group of characters. I enjoy these shows, but they're largely forgettable.

Archer

I mentioned during last year's TV review that Archer was getting dangerously close to getting dropped from my rotation if it didn't start getting a lot better. While Season Seven was nothing like its Seasons 1-3 heyday, it at the very least featured a massive rebound from Season Six. The gang's reboot as The Figgis Agency largely worked and we got an interesting season-long plot line that kept things moving. I'm not a fan of the clones/Kriegerbots/whatever, but at the very least that aspect of the show was used to great effect in the finale. Without spoiling anything, I have no idea how they're going to reconcile the Season Seven ending with the fact that Archer has been renewed for another three years.

Catastrophe

This is the first Amazon Prime show I've ever watched and it was a good one. Rob Norris (Rob Delaney), an American, goes on a business trip to London and meets Sharon Morris (Sharon Horgan). The two have an extended fling, but when he goes back home, he gets a call from Sharon (who amusingly pops up as "Sharon London Sex" on his phone during the series' entire run), who reveals that she's pregnant. This is the initial "catastrophe", but many others ensue as Rob moves to London to make it work with Sharon and raise their baby.

The heart of the show is Sharon and Rob's relationship, but the minor characters get a little more to do in the second season. The show has a sharp wit and is often laugh-out-loud funny (Carrie Fisher is awesome as Rob's awful mother). It's only two seasons of six episodes apiece, so it's a relatively quick watch if you're looking for something new to get into.

Suits

Suits somehow is still trucking along through Season Six and has been renewed for Seasons Seven and Eight. I have no idea what they're going to do with it -- they've already exhausted pretty much every plot line that could cause upheaval within Pearson Specter Litt. The firm's been whittled down to just the core six characters and Mike's stuck in prison. I've been pretty invested in Mike's prison plot line and his relationship with his roommate and his prison nemesis, but the rest of it has been pretty "eh". The writing has become piss-poor on this show over the years and they use the word "goddamn" like a crutch. 

Louis Litt, the show's best character, has very little to do relevant to the drama and does ridiculous things, like purchase a house just so he can spend time with an interior decorator he has a crush on. Donna's schtick is getting pretty old after six seasons. The whole thing seems so low-leverage to me -- Mike's in prison for two years and everyone else got off scot-free. Isn't that a tremendously positive result given how many rules they've broken? Can't he just wait the two years (assuming Harvey could get Gallo out of there) and call it a win? I don't see why a group of very smart people is willing to risk even greater chunks of their lives to spring Mike from jail, even if he took those years to protect them. I'm probably not going to stop watching Suits because it's fun, brainless, easy to digest, and my wife likes it too, but it's far past its prime.

Louie (Season Five)

Season Five of Louie came out on Netflix this year and it was pretty strong, even if it was short. The season features Louie and Pamela trying to make sense out of their relationship and some interesting experiences that Louie has when traveling for work.

Louie is always a hard show to explain to people who haven't seen it. I guess I'd compare it to a more serious Curb Your Enthusiasm in that Louie explores the ridiculousness of some somewhat mundane situations, but the show digs deeper than Curb's pure goofballery and there's a surreal component to it as well. I'm never over-the-moon enjoying myself while watching the show (Season Four's superlatively excellent "Into the Woods" arc aside), but it's always making you think about the way we interact with the world.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

This is belated, but I finally got around to watching Season 11 (wow, how is that possible already) of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This is a show that just kinda sits around on our DVR, never at the top of my wife's / my list of things to watch on a given night, and eventually we accumulate the entire season until I just decide to binge it while she's working or reading. It was surprisingly pretty funny even this late into its run. Much of the season is spent nodding and winking to loyal fans of the series over the past ten seasons, but despite that, it's still great television on its own. My personal favorite is one told entirely through Frank's eyes, and we learn just how ol' Danny DeVito struggles to keep up with the gang's shenanigans on a day-to-day basis.

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

This one I'm close to writing off. I fell asleep (literally) during many of the episodes and it just wasn't compelling enough to keep me going now that Kimmy's somewhat removed from being a prisoner. Two of the four primary characters -- Lillian and Jacqueline -- are thoroughly disinteresting, particularly Lillian, whose weird anti-gentrification schtick wears pretty thin and who offers absolutely nothing except attempts at humor through ohmygawd-she's-so-decrepit shock value. Jacqueline is just Jane Krakowski playing essentially the same self-absorbed elitist character she played on 30 Rock. I've seen that movie before. Plus, the show weirdly created a second character for Tina Fey to play. It's her baby, so she can do whatever she wants, but as an audience member, I found her plurality bothersome.

Silicon Valley

This slipped my mind somehow in my original edition of this post. Silicon Valley's sense of humor is as great as that of any show currently on television and Ehrlich Bachman and Bertram Gilfoyle are outstanding comedic characters. Season Three digs further into the somewhat complicated relationship between Richard and Ehrlich as the latter's mistakes continue to wear on their friendship. Richard continues to deal with what's been the central conflict of the entire show -- the difficulties of having control over the destiny of your own idea. I have no idea whether the show accurately portrays the power struggle between the idea men, the business managers, and investors, but it's fascinating to watch. The show has done well to give Richard more of an edge to him as the series has developed. Originally, Richard was pretty shy and humble, but he's attained more confidence from the call of leadership and it's not clear that's made him a stronger person -- in reality, he's kind of an ass sometimes. We're not rooting as hard for Richard to succeed as we did when the show began, but we're just as interested to see if he does.

South Park

I'm only two (good) episodes in, but I can just tell that Trey Parker and Matt Stone are going to hit this one out of the park, just like they did last year.

Other Shows I Hope to Watch Before Year-End
Mr. Robot (Season Two)
You're the Worst (Seasons One through Three)
Top Chef (first half of Season Fourteen)
Ballers (Seasons One & Two)