2018
Each year, I take a quarterly breakdown of the 10 best television series, leading to a top 20 for the year.
(the following are series which have begun airing/streaming that will be considered for the next quarter: Documentary Now, Better Things, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore, AP Bio, Catastrophe, Shrill, PEN15, Sex Education, Shrill, Kimmy Schmidt, Arrested Development)
1. Russian Doll (Netflix)
2. Crashing (HBO)
3. I'm Sorry (Tru)
4. High Maintenance (HBO)
5. Broad City (Comedy Central)
6. You're the Worst (FXX)
7. Black Monday (Showtime)
8. The Other Two (Comedy Central)
9. Corporate (Comedy Central)
10. True Detective (HBO)
Russian Doll's likely to be considered in awards season, for the lead performance if nothing else; I much prefer Crashing's look at the arc of a stand up comic learning the craft to the more stylized Mrs. Maisel. I'm Sorry - joke for joke - might be the funniest show on television. I don't know if High Maintenance, with its novel story telling, has wrapped, but the finale gives them the ability to have done that. Both Broad City and You're the Worst are wrapping, and how they finish might be reflected in an adjusted year end ranking. Black Monday doesn't match the joke output of Happy Endings, a show with its DNA, but Don Cheadle never misses. The Other Two is well crafted, particularly for a Comedy Central show and Corporate maintains its sharp focus on late period capitalism. The two lead performances in True Detective help mitigate some of the story concerns.
