Time for me to list my Top TV Of 2020, a funny old year. Given that we inevitably watched so much more TV than a normal year, it's surprising I'm able to keep it to a Top 40, but I am. I don't make a note of movies, of which we've watched a lot. We begin my list, as always, with the sub-categories of shows that didn't make the Top 40.
LOST IT - Ryan Murphy Special
Ratched
Pose
The Politician
Hollywood
Ryan Murphy’s shows all start brilliantly. They’re full of colour and invention, and take their stylistic flourishes to the extreme. Ratched mixed Hitchcock tropes with, frankly, more Hitchcock tropes, and had more Dutch angles than an Amsterdam loft. The Politician was the most technicolour political drama I’d ever seen. Hollywood transported you to the era then turned the colour up to eleven. And Pose topped my TV of the year last year. They were all brave with their sexual politics and original with their characters, pushing their storylines beyond expectations in impressive ways.
Then every single one jumped shark after shark and went off the rails. Hollywood became a very silly parody of itself. Pose lost focus and drifted away. The Politician totally ran out of steam and wound up as the biggest anti climax in TV history (Rock Paper Scissors? Really?). And Ratched, which had started off mad as a box of hair, just got madder and more extreme, and somehow not in a good way.
I look forward to the first half dozen episodes of anything this team come up with, but I know it’s going to end in disappointment.
NEVER HAD IT
Haunting of Bly House (1 episode) - Least scary horror show ever
Norsemen (1 episode) - The Norwegian TV series we gave up on (stay tuned in the Top 40 for one we actually liked)
The Duchess (1 episode) - Catherine Ryan portraying herself as simply unlikeable
Out Of Her Mind (1 episode) - Sara Pascoe portraying herself as simply unlikeable
Truthseekers. - We’ve actually kept watching this, despite it being the sort of spooky drama you got on kids TV in the 1970s, with fewer surprises
HAST THOU GOT CROPS IN JETHRO?
In all honesty I can’t think of a contender for this slot, reserved for shows which thinly disguise their message as drama. This year’s many message-heavy and worthy dramas have managed to use art to conceal the artifice. Well done telly. (Previous winners: The Good Place, Butterfly and Pose)
STAPLES
Talking Pictures TV
Taskmaster
Uni Challenge
Only Connect
Richard Osman’s House Of Games
Young Sheldon
Schitt’s Creek
Brooklyn 99
Bobs Burgers
Strictly Come Dancing
BUBBLING UNDER
A Suitable Boy
The English Game
El Vecino (The Neighbour)
The Salisbury Poisonings
Sitting In Limbo
BEST RE-VIEWINGS
Line Of Duty Series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Curb Your Enthusiasm 10, 1, 2, 3, 4
Torchwood Children Of Earth
So, what shows have made my Top 40 of 2020? The answers lie here...
Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres - AND NOW ONLINE VIA ZOOM. email for details. His debut graphic novels Findlay Macbeth , The Prince Of Denmark Street and The Midsummer Night's Dream Team are available on Amazon. Follow Kev on Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here.
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