Part two of my year end series takes a look at the shows I placed just outside my top ten, in positions twenty through eleven. I should note an additional caveat that with some of these shows, rather than I explaining why I particularly like them, I focused much of the writeup on what was keeping it out of the top 10. Don't misinterpret that as severe condemnation or dislike in any way, but rather as constructive criticism for how to fix the parts I'm not crazy about within shows I otherwise really do like. Hence, just missing my top 10.
Onward...
#20. Key and
Peele
(Comedy Central)
I could probably go off on a tangent about non-white
comedians who only make really unfunny jokes about ethnic stereotypes (looking
at you, George Lopez and Wanda Sykes). Very few of these comics have anything
else to say – the ones that do are usually the good ones. Did you know Louis
C.K. is actually Mexican? You might not have, since I don’t think he talks
about it much. He definitely doesn’t build the entirety (or any) of his act around
that fact.
Though never a regular viewer of MADtv, I always found
Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele were really dynamic comedic performers when
paired together in the right circumstances. On their new Comedy Central sketch
show, the duo found a better, audience-free venue for their style of comedy,
which occasionally addresses race in very nuanced, poignant ways. One of their
big breakout sketches featured Peele as President Obama and Key as Luther,
Obama’s “anger translator” – a sketch that both satirized Obama’s mild-mannered
nature and the ramifications of that behaviour, but said so much more about how
he would be perceived if he was portrayed in the media as the angry black man
president. It also isn’t a show where every last damn sketch is about the fact
that these guys are mixed race, in the way that George Lopez apparently has
hours of material on his Chicano heritage, the basis of which is unfunny ethnic
stereotypes and nothing else.
#19. Go On
(NBC)
“Go On” is here for a couple reasons. Mainly, it’s funny –
it makes me laugh more times a week than some other comedies that are higher on
this list, strangely enough. And I give it credit for not letting themes of
loss blanket the show with an unshakeable sadness, like a mute to a trombone of
comedy. I still love that third episode – if they continue to figure things
out, maybe this could even be on my top ten next year.
#18. It’s Always
Sunny in Philadelphia
(FX)
2011 was a pretty damn good year for “It’s Always Sunny,” so
naturally it’s been hard to follow that up this season. Still, they’ve managed
to pull off things in their eighth season, including the classic sitcom “this
all feels very similar” story, that shows should be so lucky to accomplish in
their first. As cruel and twisted a world as it is, it’s always fun to pop in
on The Gang. Keep in mind though that the finale hasn’t aired yet and if I
don’t get what I feel is the appropriate amount of answers about the mythology
of the Reynolds family and what’s located inside the hatch under Paddy’s Pub, I
might have to move this later.
#17. The Middle
(ABC)
#16. South Park
(Comedy Central)
I have the utmost respect for shows whose best seasons are
later in their run (i.e. Sunny season 7, 30 Rock season 6), and the sixteenth
season of “South Park” proved it’s as strong as ever as an always bizarre but
tremendous takedown of pop culture, current events, and general societal
mirror. Particular highlights included “Butterballs” which parodied the Kony
2012 movement, “Cartman Finds Love” in which Cartman is blind to the racist
motives driving him to pair up Token and the new black girl in school, and
“Insecurity,” an all time classic “South Park”-style skewering of a commercial
premise that I probably hadn’t thought about it years. It’s weird that of all
the things “South Park” does so well, suburban satire might be the thing it
does the best. It’s also been really marvelous to watch the animation
progression through the years culminate in this year’s brilliant Dr. Seuss
sequence in “A Scause for Applause”.
#15. Game of
Thrones
(HBO)
I don’t love “Game of Thrones”. Sometimes I don’t even like
it. I just know that it really impresses me. Which is different than saying,
“it’s impressive”; if that were the case, I think that would be a bullshit
reason to put this on here. Even if I don’t love this show, I am astounded by
how well it executes its very high aspirations, dissimilar to my
admiration/respect for “Boardwalk Empire” despite not enjoying or caring about
anything on that show and why I don’t watch it with any regularity. When I
think “Game of Thrones” has too many characters or its plots are too
convoluted, they’re able to present an episode like “Baelor” or “Blackwater”
where they really nail the characters, and in the case of “Blackwater” offer an
amazing visual spectacle that’s impressive even by the standards of HBO. I
still wish some parts of this show were excised entirely, but the parts I like
work quite well, and the series as a whole can really smack me in the face sometimes
and dare me to not be enthralled with what’s happening on screen.
#14. Veep
(HBO)
“Veep” could easily have made my top ten list, but there are
a few critical mistakes that hold it back. Emotionally, there’s nothing to
latch on to as a viewer. Like “Sunny,” it’s really damn funny but I’m never
going to not be able to wait to spend more time in their universe. Also, through
eight episodes, it was kinda the same show every week. No real efforts to add
new dimensions to these characters or expand our understanding of the series’
purpose. I hope that’s something they work on for season two - it’s preventing
a very funny half-hour from making the leap.
#13. New Girl
(Fox)
I forget I like Zooey and friends until I’m actually sitting
down watching an episode. But oh, do I really, really like “New Girl” once I
remember that I do. There were a few episodes last spring in which the ensemble
seemed underdeveloped, but this fall it’s so strong that, get this, even
Winston seems a more fully formed character (he’s still problematic, but come
on guys, it only just occurred to you now that maybe he should have storylines
with Jess, let alone any other main character, sometimes?) Special mention goes
to season 2’s most valuable player Jake Johnson, who in less than a dozen
episodes has shaken the shrill that sometimes plagued season 1 Nick and turned
him into a quirky, loveable, and most importantly much more interesting
character than he ever was before. Perhaps that’s the contagious adorkability
of Zooey rubbing off on him.
#12. Suburgatory
(ABC)
I wrote a full review of the first season of “Suburgatory”
and I’m not sure if I have anything much new to say. At times clunky in its
satire and overly cartoonish, “Suburgatory” is more often both emotionally
engaging and well written comedy. Ignoring any bizarre alt narratives in your
head, Tessa and George are portrayed in a way that I wouldn’t say “other shows
are afraid to,” but certainly in a way that is usually whitewashed in other
series, especially comedy. And its cast of young characters, played by Jane
Levy, Allie Grant, Maestro Harrell, and Parker Young, are probably the best
you’re gonna find on TV (it’s fine if you like Nolan Gould; personally I think
he’s not yet a great actor and quite overrated).
#11. Happy
Endings
(ABC)
This was hard to leave off the top 10. But there just wasn’t
room. I never just “like” “Happy Endings” – when the planets align, it’s twenty
minutes of gold from start to finish and I’m just deliriously happy to be in
the company of these people. What still separates it from the comedies on my
top 10 (and again, I wrote a full review of the first two seasons) is how often
it can get caught up in a dull and/or unfunny plot line just for the sake of a
reference. I understand why shows do that – I’ve seen the ratings for “Happy
Endings”; they’re, how do you say...bad. You need to get viewers in any way you
can. Unfortunately, those are disappointing weeks for me as a regular viewer
because I’ve seen how much more they’re capable of when their televisual tree
falls in a forest that no one’s paying any attention to. In any case, still excellent
work all around from one of the best comedic ensembles on TV – they’ve actually
managed to make Elisha Cuthbert and sometimes even Zachary Knighton kinda
funny! The title is certainly appropriate, because it just makes me happy to
spend time with these people each week.
Next week: The worst shows of the year face the naughty list.
