For the most part, the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t have the same impact on the television landscape that it did with film. Yes, a few seasons were truncated (“Billions,” “The Good Fight”) and a few others had to reschedule wholesale (“Fargo”), but most of the TV output for the first half of 2020 was set long before anyone knew about the latest coronavirus. The truth is that this ridiculous year has arguably made people more reliant on television than ever, needing an escape from reality and having more time to invest in shows that they might have otherwise missed.
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The result is that more programs seem to be getting the kind of press and social buzz typically reserved for a smaller selection of titles, arguably making it even harder to pick out the best of the best. There’s something new dominating the virtual conversation every few days. And it doesn’t help that a new streaming service pops up every other month, further fracturing the landscape of not only what to watch but where to watch it. The midpoint of the calendar year offers a chance to catch our collective breath and highlight the best of the best, a diverse array of comedy and drama from around the world and across multiple streaming platforms.
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So, let’s do that, taking a look at the shows that made the greatest impression that premiered in the first six months of 2020, even if they felt more like twelve.
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“Better Call Saul”
Yes, it may still technically be a prequel to one of the most acclaimed shows of all time, but can we finally agree that AMC’s “Better Call Saul” stands on its own two feet? The fifth season should have ended any argument about its status forever, presenting viewers with one of the best in the legacy of “Saul” or “Breaking Bad.” As Jimmy McGill transitioned into becoming Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), the writers of this nuanced drama examined the role of personal responsibility in parallel narratives about power, whether that was reflected in how Jimmy and Kim (Rhea Seehorn) responded to a corporate behemoth trying to take a man’s property or an international drug turf war between Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) and Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). As funny, witty, and daringly unpredictable as it’s ever been, “Saul” has never been better. – Brian Tallerico
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“Better Things”
One of the distinguishing traits of Pamela Adlon’s acclaimed FX comedy has been how much this show flat-out refuses to give in to the common desperation of its genre. So much TV comedy wears its eagerness to please on its sleeve, whether it’s in that laugh track that just begs viewers to chuckle in unison or the manner in which its weekly dilemmas are neatly resolved before the credits. “Better Things” doesn’t care how hard you laugh, and it’s not about to solve the problems of Sam (Adlon), a single mother of three growing girls, with sitcom logic. “Better Things” can be a difficult show to describe to non-fans in that the emphasis on issues like motherhood, aging, and being single in L.A. can make it sound clichéd, but that’s part of what it makes it so wonderful—Adlon finds the truth in the trite, turning aspects of her own life into TV history. – BT
“Dead To Me”
Following up a smash hit first season like that of Netflix’s most acclaimed comedy, especially one that ended on a cliffhanger, can be a tough act to follow, but creator Liz Feldman and the team at Netflix’s “Dead To Me” found a way to improve on their freshman outing with a second season that felt more daring and dense. If the first season was about forgiving other people, the second was about forgiving yourself, captured in the story of odd couple Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) and Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini), now forever tied together through, well, murder. Yes, some of the writing in season two felt like an ‘80s primetime soap in the way it played with impossible coincidences (they even gave us a twin!), but that’s part of the show’s charm, transcending its goofy plotting to become something truthful, powerful, and very, very funny. – BT
“Devs”
Alex Garland, the genius behind “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation,” came to TV with this FX on Hulu mini-series that reflected the same blend of science fiction and philosophy that made his movies so successful. Garland doesn’t just imagine impossible technological achievements or extraterrestrial events but uses those to interrogate what their existence would reflect about humanity. “Devs” is the story of a software engineer named Lily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno) who becomes involved in a top-secret program at the company at which she works, run by a mysterious tech guru played by Nick Offerman. With echoes of ‘70s conspiracy thrillers, Lily discovers the meaning of Devs, and what it says about determinism vs. free will in a show that’s visually striking, conceptually daring, and unforgettable. – BT
“The Good Fight”
The fact that this masterful CBS All Access legal drama has always run production so close to airdate in order to stay as current as possible has made it the most timely show on TV during the Trump Presidency, but this production schedule backfired during its fourth season when the pandemic forced it to shorten by three episodes. Even losing 30% of its output couldn’t stop “The Good Fight” from delivering a masterful season, one that precisely examined the current state of the world without always explicitly commenting on it. The season-long plot this year centered on a mysterious memo that could basically work like a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for anyone powerful enough to know about. A show that has never been afraid to mention Trump was clearly pointing fingers at an entire structure that allows a poisonous kind of high-powered lawlessness. How does an unfair legal playing field impact a free society? Just look around in 2020. – BT
“The Great”
Tony McNamara, the writer of the Oscar-winning “The Favourite,” came to Hulu with this 10-episode gem, another examination of willful ignorance and childlike corruption of power, this time through the lens of the story of Catherine the Great. Based very loosely on what you learned in Russian History 101, “The Great” is the story of the rise of Catherine (Elle Fanning) after she arrives in the poisoned sphere of Peter III (Nicholas Hoult), and realizes he’s just generally awful. With its broad comedy approach to the insanity of the unimaginably wealthy and powerful, “The Great” produced many of the biggest laughs of the year in TV so far, most of them courtesy of a transcendent performance from Hoult, who takes some of the selfish wit he showed in Lanthimos’ film and turns it up to 11 in his portrayal of a bad boy too stupid and childlike to realize how toxic he can be. – BT
“High Maintenance”
HBO’s cannabis courier series—something of an anthology show about the lives of random, disparate people and walks of life in Brooklyn, who all get their weed from the formerly unnamed weed dealer (Ben Sinclair), revealed in Season 4 to be named Rufus—perhaps isn’t quite as loudly brilliant or riotously funny as it once was. But now in its fourth season, “High Maintenance”—co-created by Ben Sinclair and former romantic partner Katja Blichfeld, who left him for another woman, mirroring the origin story of the show’s weed guy (!!)— is mellowing in its maturity. “High Maintenance” often offers funny/humane portraits of loneliness, boredom, and other stories of human comedy and tragedy. “Orange Is The New Black” creator Jenji Kohan once described the series and it vignette-like storytelling “beautiful glimpses into people’s lives,” and the show has attracted guests like Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Lena Dunham, Hannibal Buress, Gaby Hoffman and many more who consider themselves major fans. The counterpoint argument is that “High Maintenance” just may have nothing to prove any longer and perhaps is more interested in the quietly funny and delicately observed takes on the crazy thing we call the human condition. Take Season 4’s Ira Glass episode, perhaps no bellyache laughs, but still rich, funny, complex, layered, and intensely insightful. File under for those that like to lean in a little bit more and listen than just enjoy broad strokes. -Rodrigo Perez