5. “Ramy” (Hulu)
Ramy Youssef’s Hulu show “Ramy” is terrific. For one, it gives a hilarious and endearing look into the life of Muslims living in New Jersey (not that different from you or I, shocker!), with a deep affection for their lovely traditions and beliefs. For two, it’s deeply universal, and anyone can relate as “Ramy” is about a narcissist grappling with his faith. It’s already rightfully won major Emmy and Golden Globes awards in its very short lifetime. In “Ramy,” Ramy Hassan is a millennial, who just wants to be a “normal” millennial (loves weed, loves banging girls, etc.) But he’s also undeniably pulled by his religions and Muslim faith, much of which is strict and runs totally contrary to his inclination to get high and score chicks out of wedlock. The show is funny, but extremely sharp and well-observed about the push and pull struggle many younger first-generation Americans have about fealty to their family and traditions and their desire to fit in with “regular” America. In Season 2, Mahershala Ali guest-starred for the entire season as a strict Shiekh trying to help Ramy on his spiritual path. Naturally, it fails, but it’s emotional and funny as fuck. Also, give props to the outstanding supporting cast: Hiam, Abbass, Amr Waked, Dave Merheje, Mohammed Amer, May Calamawy, Laith Nakli, and Rosaline Elbay. They’re all so talented and funny, and you know you can hire them for things outside of stories about Egyptians and Muslims, just FYI (or at least you can when “Ramy” feels like its story has been told). – RP
4. “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s 2014 vampire mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows,” about a camera crew that follows the daily exploits of bloodsuckers to realize their lives are as mundane as ours, is chef’s kiss hilarious and comedy perfection. A series based on the same concept, that arguably doesn’t aim to be much different should essentially be just rehashing the same ideas. But FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows,” created by Clement (with Waiti occasionally directing episodes or guest-starring), is hysterical, and does slowly push the concept, mythos, and lore of its new Staten Island-bound vampires forward. It’s principal cast, Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, and Natasia Demetriou, are outstanding. As are those that play the show’s new concepts, Harvey Guillén as the “vampire familiar” (essentially a human servant/slave they don’t kill), and Mark Proksch as the gut-bustlingly funny energy vampire that drains you of your existence with the banalest office conversations. Season two introduced a bunch of guest stars that were fantastic additions to the show, Haley Joel Osment, Benedict Wong, and Mark Hamill, who looked like he was having the time of his life. This is seriously uproariously funny and entertaining television. – RP
3. “The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)
“I resign!” Never has losing at chess felt so seductive, thanks to the impassioned life-or-death ferocity Beth Harmon and showrunner Scott Frank both bring to the utterly intoxicating “The Queen’s Gambit.” Anya Taylor-Joy stole away audiences’ hearts and minds this holiday season through one of the most commandingly intelligent lead performances in recent memory, playing a one-of-a-kind prodigy who falls into an addictive spiral. Managing to turn a game where people move pieces back and forth into storytelling so intimately compelling some of the matches turn downright sensual, you know a show is special when it makes millions of people who’ve never batted an eye at a subject start googling game terms and checking out library books with an obsessive rigor (obviously us all being stuck inside contributed, but still). A welcome adult-entertainment with an outstanding supporting cast – who also provided an enormous amount of amusing stay-at-home watercooler conversations, such as questioning when exactly Dudley Dursley (Henry Melling) started getting cast in everything, or whether the kid from “Love, Actually” (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) ever actually grew up – “The Queen’s Gambit” is simply mature and remarkably well-made television, with the potential appeal to entice just about any Netflix binger. – AB
2. “I May Destroy You” (HBO)
Few performers in 2020 made the impact of Michaela Coel, who created and starred in HBO’s best program of the year, the daring and genre-bending “I May Destroy You.” At first, it feels like a mystery—the story of what happened one blurry night to a famous young writer named Arabella, played by Coel. However, that’s really just a starting point for a rich character study about toxic masculinity, sexual boundaries, and much more. Most of all, Coel is smart enough to keep her story incredibly specific, avoiding any broad statement in the wake of #MeToo and focusing on character instead of circumstance. She’s a great performer—and the whole ensemble rises to meet her—but it’s the writing on this show that makes it so stunning. It’s never quite clear where it’s going next, but it somehow feels like it couldn’t have gone anywhere else when it gets there. – BT
1. “Better Call Saul” (AMC)
If “Breaking Bad” was a show about a good man who willingly goes bad, “Better Call Saul” is a show about a man who constantly fights against that darker side, but the world keeps pushing him into it. In the show’s fifth and best season, Jimmy McGill finally succumbed to those forces around him and joyfully became Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) as the writers used the parallel narrative of Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) to highlight and explore their themes. As Kim navigated a corporate takeover of a man’s property, another kind of turf war unfolded between Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) and Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). The writing was never stronger; the performances were never better. Without a single false note in its entire season and such unexpected turns in this nuanced narrative, this was the best television program of 2020. – BT
Honorable Mention
We obviously considered a lot of television this year and arguably watched more than ever since we were stuck at home for about ¾ of the year. So, yes, “The Crown” is very good, but season four just misses the cut here, and yes, we argued a lot about excluding some of these picks. Hopefully, you can find some semi-comfort in the fact that many of these honorable mentions picks were on our mid-year, Best TV Of 2020… So Far list. That’s something, right? So things just outside of range that are still very, very good and we recommend include HBO Max’s third season of “Search Party” (can’t wait for season four), Apple TV+’s “Raised by Wolves” from director Ridley Scott, Netflix’s “The Haunting of Bly Manor” from director Mike Flanagan, HBO’s “The Third Day” with Jude Law and Katherine Waterston, and Hulu’s “Normal People” from director Lenny Abrahamson, which was nominated for four Emmy awards this year, and gave us two new rising stars to look out for in Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Other things series we considered include Showtime’s “Moonbase 8,” Netflix’s “Dead to Me,” the 4th season of HBO’s “High Maintenance,” HBO’s “The Outsider” (since canceled), HBO’s “Insecure,”( always a pretty great and solid show), Mindy Kaling’s “Never Have I Ever,” FX’s “A Teacher,” and HBO’s “Betty.” And obviously, we can’t forget “Schitt’s Creek,” which wrapped up the series with a Season 6 that went on to sweep the Emmys and become a cultural phenomenon on Netflix. There’s soooo much to catch up on this year if you missed it, a lot of terrific TV, so get binge-watching over the holiday break already, wouldya?
Click here to follow along with our various Best of 2020 lists.