[Previous Years: 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 LT / 2014 NLT / 2013 / 2012 / 2011]
These dumb and obsessive television posts have mutated over its now eight years. A simple “top 11 of ‘11” became a behemoth of over seventy programs last year. I finally broke. Thanks to many life changing events that happened in 2018, I watched less television than when I first started writing these annual reviews.
 |
| Comedy Central |
- You have seen TITLE. Great, let’s discuss every single aspect of the show or wait until you have consumed it all and then we can continue this dialogue.
- You have not seen TITLE. You are inferior to me and I demand you stop all other entertainment consumption and report back to me when you have seen every single aspect of the show. You must watch TITLE and I will not accept you into my life until you have.
Best TV Show That Has Recently Completed / All Seasons Watch Recommend:
The Americans (FX)
 |
| FX |
The Americans had the best series finale since Six Feet Under. Absolutely perfect and validated what all of us have been saying for years. The show had zero weak spots. Even its fake (wigs) and inanimate (mail robot) aspects were second to none. There were no new Nathan For You episodes in 2018. However, the news came out this year that it has ended. As much as I loved this show, and wish there were more episodes, it could not have had a better finale. I know more will discover this show and I look forward to reliving it as more people find it because it will have a great legacy.
Best TV Show That Is Seriously Great:
Better Call Saul (AMC)
 |
| Robert Trachtenberg / AMC / Sony Pictures Television |
BCS has hit a stride similar to its predecessor, but got to its pace quicker. This will probably remain in this top slot until it’s end. Meanwhile, IASIP keeps on chugging and finding new episodes without slowing at all. It needs to be considered one of the greatest shows in television history.
Best TV Show That Is Bonkers Entertaining:
Billions (Showtime)
 |
| Showtime |
While it will never get nominated for an Emmy, both of these shows know its tone and hits its notes perfectly. Want a dark drama with people acting crazy? – Billions gonna Billions: it’s a show that won’t wait until a finale to drop a bomb. On a much brighter other side of the coin, Nailed It is the baking competition show we deserve. Nicole Byer warrants more fame.
Best TV Show That Had A Disappointing Recent Season:
Game of Thrones (HBO)
 | |
|
Game of Thrones is clearly just setting up for its finale season (very familiar with how The Americans treated its penultimate season).It’s very possible that my standards are too high for these shows. I will watch new episodes with the same fervor, I still love these shows very much.
Best TV Show That I Am Happy To Never Watch Again:
House of Cards (Netflix)
 |
| Netflix |
Good riddance House of Cards – I won’t be taken hostage by you ever again. The last season was a sham – and I only watched it to make sure the corpse is actually dead. Get over yourself HoC! Meanwhile, Shameless will quickly return to my schedule if Emmy Rossum returns. It will probably still be a good show, but no Emmy drops it below my new standard of what is worth my time.
Best TV Show That Needs To Get Resurrected ASAP:
Detroiters (Comedy Central)
 |
| Comedy Central |
The amount of uproar over the Detroiters cancellation has to bode well for its future. No such luck for Playing House. These shows are very close to each other in DNA. They are buddy comedies that exist in a fun landscape devoid of the nonstop fear and dread that consumes most of our stimulus.
Best TV Show That Needs Your Help Now Before It Dies:
I’m Sorry (TruTV)
 |
| Scott Everett White / truTV |
Run to Netflix now and watch I’m Sorry. Set a series recording for its return next month. And I’m putting The Good Place as the runner up because if Brooklyn Nine-Nine can suffer a cancellation scare, any show can. We can’t lose The Good Place when we need it the most.
Best Documentary Series:
Evil Genius (Netflix)
 |
| Netflix |
Please allow me to devote this space to only mention that The Staircase sucked. Don’t watch it. The single best theory on what happened never made the show, a fault that is amplified by its already too long and bloated length. If there’s one thing this post helps you with, I hope it that it makes you avoid The Staircase.
Best TV Show That Had a Bounce Back Great Season:
Hard Knocks (HBO)
 |
| Cleveland Browns |
What a time for perpetual losers to get on a winning streak.
Best TV Show That You Can Start Without Seeing Prior Seasons:
90 Day Fiancé (TLC)
 |
| TLC |
What a finale to a post – a shocking twist – I’ve entered the Bravoverse!! It’s not a guilty pleasure, it’s a sincere joy. It finally makes sense to me. Watching TV shows that need graduate level comprehension skills in a distraction free environment are exhausting. Sometimes you need a show that you can have fun watching in a community that understands it is getting at most 70% of an attention span (that’s why it comes out of every commercial break repeating the previous three beats… and no hour is without a flashback).
Please note that it takes a special kind of show in this genre for me to enjoy. It’s an equation I have yet to solve. For some reason, I still can’t watch any “real” housewife or Vanderpump “rule.” Maybe it’s because of the lack of genuine sincerity in those shows? Meanwhile, I’m committed to 90 Day Fiancé and all aboard Below Deck. These shows are the modern day soap operas – and should be viewed from that perspective instead of other Reality based programming.
Continuing to the next episode,
TQ
