15. “Baskets”
It’s a little odd that Zach Galifianakis blew up in the “Hangover” movies —the bearded funnyman had been seen as a comedian’s comedian, but he became a household name (if not one everyone can spell) through Todd Phillips’ fratty megahit trilogy. But his sensibility finally gets the precision-tuned showcase he’s needed with “Baskets,” a comedy about a Paris-trained clown who returns to his California hometown to work at a rodeo. Co-created with Louis C.K. and “Portlandia”’s Jonathan Krisel, it fits into the current sad-com trend to some degree (“Bojack Horseman” et al), but ends up feeling like something singular. A love letter to comedy to some degree, it plays to all Galafianakis’ strengths —his straddling of the high and low- brow, his twin personas and his air of melancholy. It’s unafraid to go surreal and strange, but it’s grounded in character. And it has, in Louie Anderson’s turn as Christine Baskets, one of the must-see performances of the year. Pleasingly, the show’s found a loyal audience and a second season pick-up, ensuring another run of unfiltered Galafianakis, which is something to celebrate in a big way.
14. “Hap & Leonard”
A show that’s flown under the radar even by the standards of Sundance shows (remember “The Red Road?” Trick question: literally no one does), “Hap & Leonard” is nevertheless a gem. Reteaming “Cold In July” team Jim Mickle and Nick Damici with crime writer Joe Lansdale (who wrote the source material for both that film and this show), it’s a low-key, unhurried crime show about pacifist draft dodger Hap (James Purefoy, cast against type and rather good) and gay Vietnam vet Leonard (Michael K. Williams), who get embroiled in the hunt for a long lost cash haul in 1980s Texas. It goes some way to filling the gap left by “Justified,” but it also has a distinct rhythm of its own: low key and relaxed to the point that impatient viewers may tune it out. But Mickle executes the sweaty, sexy, southern-fried tone perfectly, the performances (including Christina Hendricks) are uniformly good, and there’s real substance to it. We’re utterly delighted that it’s been renewed for a second run.
13. “Lady Dynamite”
We were oddly unenthused by “Lady Dynamite” in advance. We’re long time fans of comic Maria Bamford, but “Love” and “Flaked” had slightly worn down our tolerance for Netflix dark-comedy, and while Mitch Hurwitz’s “Arrested Development” is one of the all time great comedies, his more recent stuff (including the fourth Netflix season of the show) has disappointed. But we’ve been absolutely blown away by the show (co-created by Hurwitz and “South Park” veteran Pam Brady), a heavily autobiographical look at Bamford’s showbiz career and her struggles with her mental health. Cunningly split into three timelines, stuffed with cameos from Dean Cain and Brandon Routh to Mira Sorvino and Jenny Slate and directed with real zip (and without overlong episodes, a la “Arrested Development” season 4), the show feels consistently inventive and transcends the Hollywood-showbiz comedy vibe that’s become overused the last few years. But it also pulls off what feels like a magic trick: it captures Bamford’s uncompromising voice perfectly, it sensitively and smartly tackles a serious, complex issue, but it’s always funny, and never maudlin.
12. “The Night Manager”
One of the major reasons we’re pretty frosty on the idea of Tom Hiddleston playing James Bond is that he’s essentially already done it in Susanne Bier‘s slick, immensely pleasurable John Le Carre adaptation “The Night Manager.” Far closer in spirit to classic-era Bond than to other recent Le Carre adaptations like “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” or “A Most Wanted Man,” this show is more about beautiful people being devious in exotic, luxury locations than the dour, desk-based flatfooting that grounds the more authentic and believable spy stories. But even there, it has its secret weapon: world’s greatest actress™ Olivia Colman as the best pregnant-but-incredibly-competent official since Marge Gunderson in “Fargo.” Elsewhere, the willowy Elizabeth Debicki is an appropriately beautiful and conflicted love interest, and Hugh Laurie and Tom Hollander seem to enjoy being dastardly. But this is mostly a Hiddleston star vehicle, and he rises to the occasion, delivering a performance of Highsmith-ian golden-tanned suavity that should be enough to convince even non-believers of his particular brand of svelte charisma. It’s hardly the deepest thing on TV, despite some topical politicking, but for satisfyingly twisty-turny escapism, it’s an absolute treat.
11. “Horace & Pete”
Louis C.K. helped give TV comedy a true reinvention with his FX show “Louie,” but if you thought his recent comments that he was unlikely to return to the show any time soon mean he is done with revolutionizing the small screen, you would be wrong. At the end of January, the polymathic comic pulled a Beyoncé and dropped an entirely new, self-funded show on his website. Some questioned if the show, about two cousins (C.K. and Steve Buscemi) who run a Brooklyn bar together, is even television, but it’s a sort of throwback to an earlier era of live television plays (the show is shot multi-camera as live TV is, though with no audience). The tone is even more fascinating, more tragic than comic for the most part and reminiscent of both 20th century American dramatists like Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill and more recent writers like Annie Baker, who helped C.K. on the show. It’s an experiment, with all the kinks and flaws that experiments tend to have, but it’s fairly astonishing how well it works.