MovieManifesto

Our rankings of every TV show of 2021 continue apace. For prior installments, check out the following links:

#s 108-95 (tiers 11 and 10)
#s 94-84 (tier 9)
#s 83-61 (tiers 8 and 7)
#s 60-41 (tiers 6 and 5)

Tier 4: Steadily approaching greatness
40. What We Do in the Shadows (FX, Season 3; last year: 25 of 124). It’s still funny. The third season of this vampire comedy isn’t quite as restlessly imaginative as the prior go-round, but it doesn’t require reinvention. It’s firmly established its identity, and the actors now inhabit their goofy characters with absolute authority. What We Do in the Shadows is sneakily sweet, too, whether it’s charting the wounded alienation of Kayvan Novak’s sulky Nandor or following the strange, burgeoning friendship between Matt Berry’s hedonistic Laszlo and the buttoned-up Colin Robinson. (I know that the latter is played by Mark Proksch, but it really just seems like Colin Robinson is a character who sprang from the earth rather than one who’s portrayed by an actor.) The ostensible curse of vampirism is that after spending hundreds of year undead, life loses its meaning. That may be, but as of now, this effortlessly enjoyable series remains comfortably, vibrantly alive. Read More

We’re continuing to rank every TV of 2021. If you missed the earlier episodes, you can find them at the following links:

#s 108-95 (tiers 11 and 10)
#s 94-84 (tier 9)
#s 83-61 (tiers 8 and 7)

Tier 6: Starting to enjoy myself
60. Physical (Apple, Season 1). The first few episodes of Physical, which stars Rose Byrne as a vexed housewife with a secret eating disorder who originates the workout-video craze, thrum with energy and possibility, suggesting a rich and complex series that will explore a number of important themes: feminine yearning, body image, political entrenchment, ’80s pop music. The show never fully capitalizes on its initial promise, often detouring into weird subplots and unpleasant characters. But it’s still an arresting work, and it’s a great showcase for Byrne, who remains one of our most agile and forceful comediennes. The series around her is still searching for itself, but she’s in complete control of her craft, and she hits it with her best shot. Read More

We’re ranking every TV show we watched in 2021. If you missed the earlier episodes, you can find them at the following links:

#s 108-95 (tiers 11 and 10)
#s 94-84 (tier 9)

Tier 8: Passable, forgettable
83. Sweet Tooth (Netflix, Season 1). It’s a clever enough idea. Popular culture is rife with depictions of futuristic dystopias, so why not make one that’s oddly plucky and kid-friendly? As its title suggests, there’s a gentleness to Sweet Tooth that helps soften the familiar end-of-days doldrums. And yet, the series struggles to develop any real momentum, in part because it spreads itself too thin, attempting to thread together a hefty number of seemingly disparate characters instead of focusing on the ones who matter. It’s nice to see Nonso Anozie in a starring role, and Stefania LaVie Owen flashes some charisma, so there’s reason to hope for a second-season bump. For the time being, though, Sweet Tooth offers superficial pleasure rather than true nourishment. Read More

We’re ranking every TV show of 2021. If you missed the first installment, you can find it here.

Tier 9: Possibly marginally interesting
94. The Girlfriend Experience (Starz, Season 3; 2017 rank: 46 of 108). If the first season of The Girlfriend Experience was about demythologizing the mystique of sex work (and proving Riley Keough’s star bona fides) and the two-for-one second season was about the dangerous costs of possessive obsession, Season 3 is about… neural net technology? Data mining? Brunettes posing as blondes? I don’t mean to be glib, but there’s an alarming disregard for narrative coherence on display here, which is maybe meant to be a bold storytelling choice but which really just serves to dilute any thematic impact. Stories of messy relations between sex workers and their clients are always interesting, and Julia Goldani Telles certainly has screen presence, but this latest batch of episodes inspired by the (coughs, overrated) Steven Soderbergh feature is far too detached and off-kilter to hold viewers’ attention. I hope this isn’t the end of this strange, experimental series about body commodification and the literal price of desire, but new showrunner Anja Marquardt (taking over for Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz) has shifted things in a bizarre, thoroughly unpersuasive direction. Sex work is indeed work, but a show about it shouldn’t feel this impersonal and cold. Read More

Need proof that the COVID-19 pandemic is over? I only watched 108 TV shows last year.

OK, I’m kidding, at least on the first part. But as the omicron variant rages and hospital admissions soar troublingly toward their 2020 levels, it’s vaguely comforting to know that television remains, well, there. I’m not interested in (or capable of) qualitatively comparing an entire year of an artistic medium against past annuals, but quantitatively speaking, TV is still a powerhouse. Sure, my total of 108 shows looks a tad inferior compared to the 124 I watched in 2020, but I still think it’s a pretty healthy (i.e., unhealthy) figure.

Were all 108 series good? Of course not. Were most of them watchable? Pretty much. The ensuing list, which will be revealed over the course of the next five days (concluding with the top 10 on Friday), is decidedly not a bell curve; once we reach the top 70 or so, we’re pretty much in “I’m glad I saw that” territory. That, of course, doesn’t make these rankings any less infantile, which is also what makes them fun. So clock out, strap in, and turn on your streaming device of choice as we explore the vast and varied year that was. Read More