A Look Back At Television, Plus My Favorite Shows of 2019

I admit it. There have been some points in my life during which I’ve watched too much TV, mostly when I was a child. Much is made of the fact that the vast majority of what is aired on televisions sets is dross. There is no arguing with this point. It has been true since the day the first idiot box was first turned on in the first living room in America. Without question television has played a large role in the dumbing down of America although it does not bare sole responsibility. I very much doubt anyone reading this (Mrs. Eartha Kindlebrook of Muncie, Indiana for one) is unaware of how fatuous and repetitive most of TV is.

But I hasten here to point out that there are, among the mounds of trash, nuggets to be found. There are, in fact, certainly more good television shows today than there were when I was growing up in the Sixties (1960s, smart ass, not 1860s). This is not surprising considering how much more television is currently produced. When I was growing up we had the three major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC) an independent local station and PBS. Compared to today there was a pretty slim pickings. The nice thing was that if you and your friends enjoyed a particular show you could talk about it the next day because no on was going to say, “I haven’t watched it, I DVR’d it.” Of course the bad thing was that if you missed a show you couldn’t catch up with it on line, your only chance was to see it again was when it re-ran in a six to nine months. Also if you liked two shows that were on at the same time you had to choose. There was no recording one to watch later.

Of course none of us knew of the bounty that was to come with cable and then the internet; we were all happy with our TVs (in my senior year of high school we got our first color set, by this time about half the people I knew had one, also by this time a second independent station had been added to our line up). The idea that there could be literally hundreds of channels to choose from plus a lot of shows you could “stream” on your own personal computer would have sounded absolutely absurd. If anyone had further suggested that you could someday watch TV shows on your telephone we would have thought that person was a lunatic.

So yes, now there are — geez, I don’t how many channels creating new content. I was going to say dozens, then hundreds but I’ve really no clue. Many TV shows don’t even originate on TV but come to us via streaming sites such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. The choices are endless and even though perhaps 90% of what’s available ranges from mediocre to bad, given how much is available that leaves more good shows available than I’ve got either the time or inclination to watch. One has to be choosy.

Many shows today are able to dig deeper into character and story lines because they are not inhibited by the strictures of network television. Away from the networks, shows are also not subject to censoring and can thus let characters swear, be naked and have sex if the story calls for it (yes, sometimes this privilege is abused). Shows are also less easily classified, the boundaries between comedy and drama are not always strictly drawn as is the case with some of my favorites noted below.

Here are the TV shows (and I suppose one uses the term loosely these days as not all originate from TV channels) that I enjoyed most the past year.

1. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. It has won a slew of Emmys and has deserved every one of them. Oliver is a perfect host as he is personable, witty, clever and he keeps his ego in check (he never boasts about the Emmys and he is never self indulgent). LWT always touches upon a few of the bigger stories in the news and then delves deeply into one main issue. Many of the subjects are heavy but Oliver is a master at injecting humor when and wherever appropriate. LWT is educational and hilarious and in my opinion the best thing on television.

2. Barry. Bill Hader stars as a contract killer who wants to become an actor — in other words the usual fare. Hader has already proven to be singular impressionist and skit performer on SNL, here he displays his acting chops. Henry Winkler co stars as an acting teacher and this is his most notable role since he was the Fonz. Barry is revelatory, never predictable, often funny and occasionally sobering.

3. Better Call Saul. Okay I’m cheating here because the most recent season of BCS aired in the Fall of 2018 and the upcoming season bypassed 2019 entirely and will not air until the coming Spring. I nonetheless count it as it is an ongoing show. This spin off of Breaking Bad is, like Breaking Bad, a product of the brilliant Vince Gilligan. Bob Odenkirk is masterful as the titular character and as with Bryan Cranston in BB he has the wherewithal to be the center of a powerful drama and he also benefits from strongly defined and interesting supporting characters. Gilligan’s great gift is to make us care about so many different characters and leave us wondering at what motivates and inspires and enriches the human mind and spirit.

4. Brockmire. A recent discovery of mine. A lot of people type LOL (God, I hate that) to indicate something was funny or amusing but rarely do they actually “laugh out loud.” Well I do indeed laugh out loud at the antics of Hank Azaria’s baseball radio broadcaster. The word irreverent only begins to describe the character the famous voice actor (Simpsons). It’s good dirty, raunchy fun with enough drugs and sex for the whole family.

5. Schitt’s Creek. While Eugene Levy along with his long time professional partner Catherine O’Hara are two of the stars and the marquee names behind this Canadian-based comedy, it is Eugene’s son, Daniel who created the show and co stars along with Annie Murphy. An excellent supporting cast is headed by veteran funnyman Chris Elliott. Schitt’s Creek has romance and a hint of drama but there is no shortage of laughter. A cast this great guarantees that.

6. After Life. This is one of the best things Ricky Gervais has ever done and I’m referring to the man responsible for Extras, the original Office, many great stand up specials and the best hosting job of the Golden Globes one will ever witness. This is also a rare case of melodrama and comedy mixing to good effect. It takes someone of Gervais’ genius to pull that off. There is pathos aplenty as he plays a small town newspaperman who is mourning the death of his long time love.

7. The Deuce. Sadly it’s run ended this year after three seasons. It was produced by David Simon the genius behind The Wire (one of the greatest TV shows of all time). The Deuce was entertaining and educational exploring New York in the Seventies and early Eighties, particularly the area around Times Square and the then burgeoning porn industry, prostitution, the rackets and eventually the AIDS crisis. James Franco played twin brothers and Maggie Gyllenhaal co-starred as a hooker turned porn director. As typical of a Simon production, realism was key to the show which meant it could be at times heart-breaking, infuriating, frightening and always illuminating.

8. Orange is the New Black. After seven wonderful seasons it’s over. It was sad to see it go but also it was time. Like many of the best TV shows they knew when to close shop. It is amazing to think that a show centered around women in a federal prison could even be made let alone be popular. But credit creator Jenji Kohan and the show’s writing staff for developing so many compelling story lines and characters. There was always so much going on in every episode and there were so many clearly-drawn characters to root for or against.

9. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The show is indeed marvelous. As I write this the missus and I are enjoying the third season. Racheal Brosnahan stars as Mrs. Maisel a housewife turned comic in the early 1960s. Like every good show it has a strong lead character and a terrific supporting cast, in this case Tony Shaloub and Alex Borstein foremost among the latter group. Mrs. Maisel the show and Mrs. Maisel the character are both hilarious. The costumes, set designs, musical scores are all top notch and the writing is superb.

10. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. This is the one network TV sitcom and only one of two network shows to be included. The day of the great network sitcom seems gone forever and there were some really good ones in days of yore ranging from The Honeymooners to the Mary Tyler Moore Show to Seinfeld to 30 Rock. But Brooklyn maintains the tradition having a great ensemble cast (an eclectic one at that), sharp writers and a strong emphasis on comedy without the dramatic story arcs that have bogged down some sit coms.

11. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Colbert’s geeking out over the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and the Marvel Universe has gotten tired and his ego is still out-sized but his monologues are right up there with talk show legends and he is salve to the psychological wounds our current president is inflicting. Colbert will likely never be another Carson, Cavett or Letterman, but he’s the best of the rest and the show keeps getting better.

12. Russian Doll. Natasha Lyonne stars in this story of a woman who — ala Groundhog Day — keeps re-living the same day. In her case it is the day she dies. Weird. Sad. Funny. Interesting. Endlessly entertaining. Lyonne, who featured in OITNB (see above) proves here that she can carry a show. I’m excited for season two as there is no telling where the story line is headed.

13. The Last O.G. Any show that stars Tracy Morgan and has Cedric the Entertainer and Tiffany Haddish in the supporting cast is off to a terrific start. The show is as funny as one would expect but it also explores the life of a someone recently released from federal prison and the challenges such a person faces. The Last OG mixes drama among the chuckles but is never maudlin or sentimental.