I feel like I don't watch much TV (my husband and I dumped cable and now exclusively watch our shows on Netflix and Hulu), but looking back and composing this list makes it seem like I watch a ton of television.
Here is a list of favorite TV that the year 2015 had to offer.
In alphabetical order:
BoJack Horseman (on Netflix)
My husband and I love this show. It's an adult animated Netflix show where people and anthropomorphic animals coexist in (relatively) happy harmony. The best way I can describe the main character (BoJack) is thusly: MTV's Daria reincarnated as a gone-to-seed middle-aged former-actor horse living in Hollywood. Despite the rather odd premise, it's really good. I guess I'd classify it as a "dramedy" because it's not really laugh-out-loud funny and gets into some really deep stuff like middle aged crises and how we define ourselves as adults. There are also great moments of satire. And for a show about a male horse it is AMAZINGLY feminist.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
First of all, Jake and Amy are adorable - separately and together. Andy Samberg is funny in practically everything. And I identify so much with Amy. Smart, driven, strong - she's everything I wanted to be when I grew up. Second, the diversity on this show is amazing. So many sitcoms would refuse to have two tall black bald men because one is sufficient to fill their diversity quota, but this show has two - and shows how individual they are. They're both great leaders and hard workers, but they do so in completely different ways. The captain's strict, monotone delivery is priceless - and he's such an important character to prove that gay men come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and personalities. And Terry Crews is hilarious in his own way. And then there's Boyle, and Rosa... honestly, all of the characters are amazing. There are unmasculine men and unfeminine women, there are several races represented... And, it's a sitcom that's actually funny.
Community (on Yahoo)
I've been watching this show since the first season, and while this latest incarnation (season six) wasn't Community's best, it also wasn't the worst. When it's on point, Community is somehow laugh-out-loud funny and satiric and touching all at once. I don't always get its episode-long pop culture references, but when I do it's amazing. And for a show that lost (and regained) its creator, lost much of its ensemble cast, and has seen many iterations of itself (on NBC and now on Yahoo), it's doing its darndest to hold on. I can't say I miss Pierce, or even Shirley that much, but Troy was amazing, and the show lost a lot of humor and heart when his character left. They've introduced some interesting new characters, and it's not a completely different show, but it has changed somewhat.
House of Cards (on Netflix)
I'm not really one to watch political drama (and there are SO many to choose from on TV right now), but I do enjoy House of Cards - mainly because of the characters of Francis and Claire Underwood. And the theme song. I legit listen to that pulsing instrumental theme song on repeat sometimes when I'm working on my novel. It's great motivating background noise that makes everything seem oh so dramatic.
The Master of None (on Netflix)
This is Aziz Ansari's brainchild, and it's fantastic. It's funny, but it's also very authentic. I think it does a fabulous job depicting life for Millennials in today's world, and I relate to it a lot. There are also some great points brought up about race and immigration, parents, old people, and relationships. These are my favorite shows - ones that talk about real issues and depict real problems, but do so in a clever or humorous way. Plus, the diversity in the cast is crucial. And it's not even a big deal! Like, four friends - an Indian guy, a white guy, a Chinese guy, and a black lesbian - can just hang out at a bar without it being about "hey look, we have several races represented." It feels like these guys would actually all just be friends, because this is 2015 and they live in New York City. Definitely worth checking out.
The Mindy Project (on Hulu)
This show has changed a lot since the beginning. Maybe it was too "network TV" in its earlier seasons, I don't know. But I feel like, especially since the move to Hulu this fall, it's gotten a lot "realer" - more authentic, more interesting, and more feminist. I was pulling for Mindy and Danny, and was excited when they got together (because it was set up as a romcom TV show, and that's what the viewers were supposed to want), but then they weren't afraid to show some really sucky parts of their relationship. They continue to complicate things - Mindy's career goals, the unexpected pregnancy, Danny's stubbornness when it comes to gender roles - in ways that are authentic and don't feel at all forced (unlike, say, the ridiculousness that Once Upon a Time has become. More on that later). I honestly love what they've done in the last few episodes before the mid-season finale, where Mindy finally discovered the courage within her to say things to Danny she's been meaning to say for awhile. When people you love are being assholes, you need to call them out on it. Especially when they're being assholes to you. I loved how Danny and Mindy worked at the start of the relationship, but relationships don't always continue that way, and it's just as important to recognize when they stop working and make the steps necessary to change them (or leave them) as it is to pursue them at the beginning. If the first seasons were like a romcom, now it's like the "after the happily ever after" part that fairy tales never show.
The Muppets
This sitcom can be a little hit or miss, but I think it's gotten better as the season's gone on. My husband in particularly gets easily bothered by Miss Piggy (as he got bothered by the character of Mindy Lahiri on the Mindy Project at the end of last season/start of the Hulu season), finding her annoying and stupid - and I tend to agree on the Miss Piggy front, to the point where episodes that heavily feature her don't feel nearly as good. But thankfully there's a large cast (of puppets and people), and they seem to be trying to give everyone a shot at some character arcs, which is nice. I did ask my husband if he would be so bothered by Miss Piggy's (or Mindy's) selfishness and bossiness if they were men - because I think one of the reasons they get a bad rap is because they're women; if they were male leads, wouldn't they just be "antiheroes" instead of bitches? - but he also hated Michael Scott's character in The Office (U.S. version), so at least in his case I think it's a general distaste for stupid/selfish/arrogant/racist/demeaning/ignorant/bossy authority figures, regardless of sex.
I also want to point out the story line with Scooter, the "dork" who lives with his mom, when he went on a date with Chelsea Handler. I actually really liked how the show handled that - they didn't paint Handler as a whore just for her sexuality, and they also recognized that not all men want to "move quickly" in a relationship, or perhaps get sex out of it at all. Even though some other male muppets teased Scooter for not wanting to jump into a physical relationship with Handler, Scooter stood his ground and was like - no, guys, I'm cool with taking things slow, how about you not pressure me? Because Scooter is awesome and doesn't worry about fulfilling antiquated stereotypes on masculinity. Kudos.
Orange is the New Black (on Netflix)
Honestly, I could take or leave main character Piper, who is kind of bland (though Taylor Schilling does her best with the role). The supporting cast however is amazing. (I feel like I'm overusing that word in this post? Oh well.) I love the diversity (in the cast itself and the storylines covered with them) and I LOVE that so many female actresses are getting the opportunity to play some realistic, dimensional, nuanced characters. It gives me hope for the world.
Parenthood
Parenthood ended this spring, and it was one of the most moving finales ever. I mean, it was also one of the most moving shows ever, so naturally it went out demonstrating what it does best. Talk about authenticity - this show was amazing. They covered complicated, deep, important, modern, difficult topics like autism, abortion, divorce, and aging. I could talk more about it, but honestly countless TV critics already have, and it's really best to just let this show speak for itself. So if you haven't already, go watch it. And keep tissues handy.
Parks and Recreation
My husband and I were totally late to this game... We watched NBC back in college (for Community), but when Parks and Rec came on, we switched it off. We tried watching a couple episodes but didn't get hooked, and soon gave up. (Our hearts weren't really in it.) But then last year we started at the beginning on Netflix and binged the whole damn thing. It's funny! I feel like a broken record, but I love the nuanced, dimensional characters, the diversity of the cast, and the strong females (Leslie Knope, April, Ann). I guess we all know what I look for in a TV show, eh?
Reign
I'm actually not entirely caught up on the season yet, and was a little disappointed in the beginning of the season (they're really dragging out Francis's death, despite the historical timeline to the contrary), but in the past this show has been really good, and I'm sure there will be some redeeming moments in the episodes this season that I haven't yet watched. One of the best things about this show are the females, who are depicted in a pretty feminist way, especially given the era the show is set in.
Queen Mary has an affair (which, other than adultery, is actually treason, given that her husband is the King of France), but still she and Francis come to an understanding. The rape from last season kind of bothered me (because there are so many other ways we can establish female characters other than raping them all the time), but it was handled well in regards to lingering trauma after the event. Greer, one of Mary's friends and ladies, is an even better example; she doesn't set out to be a feminist or an independent woman without financial dependence on a man, but when life throws shitty circumstances at her, she makes lemonade out of lemons, and she recognizes what she's accomplished for herself. She's willing to be proud of herself, and to keep what she worked hard to obtain, instead of throwing it away to be a "good girl" like she's supposed to. And then there's Kenna, who at the beginning of this series was the king's badass mistress. She didn't care what society thought of her, or their age difference, or even that he was king and married and she was "the other woman." Sure, she made some mistakes, but she was exploring her sexuality. And the actress who plays Kenna, Caitlin Stasey, is a badass modern feminist outside the show, too. She talks openly about her sexual orientation and her sexuality, and has a website, Herself.com, which pairs revealing photography of real, naked women with interviews about how that woman defines herself and how she grew into the woman she is today.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (on Netflix)
Netflix seriously has some great original shows, and this is one of them. The bright colors! The positive thinking! Kimmy Schmidt is my role model. And I have never laughed so hard at a tag than at Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's fake "Daddy's Boy" musical. We're talking tears rolling down my face, stomach cramping laughter. Actually, every episode is hilarious, but that one especially. I think I've watched the whole season through like three times already. It never gets old.
-
The only other TV show that I actually watched was Once Upon a Time, but that's turned more into hate-watching than anything else. This show used to be amazing and have great, nuanced characters and strong female leads. Now the character development arcs are pulverized for no good reason, and I'm not a fan of any of the character relationships anymore. Lily Sparks writes great weekly reviews of the episodes, and her complaint is totally my complaint - the show keeps telling us who's in love with whom, or what their motivations are, but then they show us completely different things through chemistry and meaningful looks and the wonderful acting that the cast is capable of. Not to mention the plot has just gotten ridiculous to the point where literally nothing makes even tangental sense anymore. But it is fun to continue to watch and hate on.
Here is a list of favorite TV that the year 2015 had to offer.
In alphabetical order:
BoJack Horseman (on Netflix)
My husband and I love this show. It's an adult animated Netflix show where people and anthropomorphic animals coexist in (relatively) happy harmony. The best way I can describe the main character (BoJack) is thusly: MTV's Daria reincarnated as a gone-to-seed middle-aged former-actor horse living in Hollywood. Despite the rather odd premise, it's really good. I guess I'd classify it as a "dramedy" because it's not really laugh-out-loud funny and gets into some really deep stuff like middle aged crises and how we define ourselves as adults. There are also great moments of satire. And for a show about a male horse it is AMAZINGLY feminist.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
First of all, Jake and Amy are adorable - separately and together. Andy Samberg is funny in practically everything. And I identify so much with Amy. Smart, driven, strong - she's everything I wanted to be when I grew up. Second, the diversity on this show is amazing. So many sitcoms would refuse to have two tall black bald men because one is sufficient to fill their diversity quota, but this show has two - and shows how individual they are. They're both great leaders and hard workers, but they do so in completely different ways. The captain's strict, monotone delivery is priceless - and he's such an important character to prove that gay men come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and personalities. And Terry Crews is hilarious in his own way. And then there's Boyle, and Rosa... honestly, all of the characters are amazing. There are unmasculine men and unfeminine women, there are several races represented... And, it's a sitcom that's actually funny.
Community (on Yahoo)
I've been watching this show since the first season, and while this latest incarnation (season six) wasn't Community's best, it also wasn't the worst. When it's on point, Community is somehow laugh-out-loud funny and satiric and touching all at once. I don't always get its episode-long pop culture references, but when I do it's amazing. And for a show that lost (and regained) its creator, lost much of its ensemble cast, and has seen many iterations of itself (on NBC and now on Yahoo), it's doing its darndest to hold on. I can't say I miss Pierce, or even Shirley that much, but Troy was amazing, and the show lost a lot of humor and heart when his character left. They've introduced some interesting new characters, and it's not a completely different show, but it has changed somewhat.
House of Cards (on Netflix)
I'm not really one to watch political drama (and there are SO many to choose from on TV right now), but I do enjoy House of Cards - mainly because of the characters of Francis and Claire Underwood. And the theme song. I legit listen to that pulsing instrumental theme song on repeat sometimes when I'm working on my novel. It's great motivating background noise that makes everything seem oh so dramatic.
The Master of None (on Netflix)
This is Aziz Ansari's brainchild, and it's fantastic. It's funny, but it's also very authentic. I think it does a fabulous job depicting life for Millennials in today's world, and I relate to it a lot. There are also some great points brought up about race and immigration, parents, old people, and relationships. These are my favorite shows - ones that talk about real issues and depict real problems, but do so in a clever or humorous way. Plus, the diversity in the cast is crucial. And it's not even a big deal! Like, four friends - an Indian guy, a white guy, a Chinese guy, and a black lesbian - can just hang out at a bar without it being about "hey look, we have several races represented." It feels like these guys would actually all just be friends, because this is 2015 and they live in New York City. Definitely worth checking out.
This show has changed a lot since the beginning. Maybe it was too "network TV" in its earlier seasons, I don't know. But I feel like, especially since the move to Hulu this fall, it's gotten a lot "realer" - more authentic, more interesting, and more feminist. I was pulling for Mindy and Danny, and was excited when they got together (because it was set up as a romcom TV show, and that's what the viewers were supposed to want), but then they weren't afraid to show some really sucky parts of their relationship. They continue to complicate things - Mindy's career goals, the unexpected pregnancy, Danny's stubbornness when it comes to gender roles - in ways that are authentic and don't feel at all forced (unlike, say, the ridiculousness that Once Upon a Time has become. More on that later). I honestly love what they've done in the last few episodes before the mid-season finale, where Mindy finally discovered the courage within her to say things to Danny she's been meaning to say for awhile. When people you love are being assholes, you need to call them out on it. Especially when they're being assholes to you. I loved how Danny and Mindy worked at the start of the relationship, but relationships don't always continue that way, and it's just as important to recognize when they stop working and make the steps necessary to change them (or leave them) as it is to pursue them at the beginning. If the first seasons were like a romcom, now it's like the "after the happily ever after" part that fairy tales never show.
The Muppets
This sitcom can be a little hit or miss, but I think it's gotten better as the season's gone on. My husband in particularly gets easily bothered by Miss Piggy (as he got bothered by the character of Mindy Lahiri on the Mindy Project at the end of last season/start of the Hulu season), finding her annoying and stupid - and I tend to agree on the Miss Piggy front, to the point where episodes that heavily feature her don't feel nearly as good. But thankfully there's a large cast (of puppets and people), and they seem to be trying to give everyone a shot at some character arcs, which is nice. I did ask my husband if he would be so bothered by Miss Piggy's (or Mindy's) selfishness and bossiness if they were men - because I think one of the reasons they get a bad rap is because they're women; if they were male leads, wouldn't they just be "antiheroes" instead of bitches? - but he also hated Michael Scott's character in The Office (U.S. version), so at least in his case I think it's a general distaste for stupid/selfish/arrogant/racist/demeaning/ignorant/bossy authority figures, regardless of sex.
I also want to point out the story line with Scooter, the "dork" who lives with his mom, when he went on a date with Chelsea Handler. I actually really liked how the show handled that - they didn't paint Handler as a whore just for her sexuality, and they also recognized that not all men want to "move quickly" in a relationship, or perhaps get sex out of it at all. Even though some other male muppets teased Scooter for not wanting to jump into a physical relationship with Handler, Scooter stood his ground and was like - no, guys, I'm cool with taking things slow, how about you not pressure me? Because Scooter is awesome and doesn't worry about fulfilling antiquated stereotypes on masculinity. Kudos.
Orange is the New Black (on Netflix)
Honestly, I could take or leave main character Piper, who is kind of bland (though Taylor Schilling does her best with the role). The supporting cast however is amazing. (I feel like I'm overusing that word in this post? Oh well.) I love the diversity (in the cast itself and the storylines covered with them) and I LOVE that so many female actresses are getting the opportunity to play some realistic, dimensional, nuanced characters. It gives me hope for the world.
Parenthood
Parenthood ended this spring, and it was one of the most moving finales ever. I mean, it was also one of the most moving shows ever, so naturally it went out demonstrating what it does best. Talk about authenticity - this show was amazing. They covered complicated, deep, important, modern, difficult topics like autism, abortion, divorce, and aging. I could talk more about it, but honestly countless TV critics already have, and it's really best to just let this show speak for itself. So if you haven't already, go watch it. And keep tissues handy.
Parks and Recreation
My husband and I were totally late to this game... We watched NBC back in college (for Community), but when Parks and Rec came on, we switched it off. We tried watching a couple episodes but didn't get hooked, and soon gave up. (Our hearts weren't really in it.) But then last year we started at the beginning on Netflix and binged the whole damn thing. It's funny! I feel like a broken record, but I love the nuanced, dimensional characters, the diversity of the cast, and the strong females (Leslie Knope, April, Ann). I guess we all know what I look for in a TV show, eh?
Reign
I'm actually not entirely caught up on the season yet, and was a little disappointed in the beginning of the season (they're really dragging out Francis's death, despite the historical timeline to the contrary), but in the past this show has been really good, and I'm sure there will be some redeeming moments in the episodes this season that I haven't yet watched. One of the best things about this show are the females, who are depicted in a pretty feminist way, especially given the era the show is set in.
Queen Mary has an affair (which, other than adultery, is actually treason, given that her husband is the King of France), but still she and Francis come to an understanding. The rape from last season kind of bothered me (because there are so many other ways we can establish female characters other than raping them all the time), but it was handled well in regards to lingering trauma after the event. Greer, one of Mary's friends and ladies, is an even better example; she doesn't set out to be a feminist or an independent woman without financial dependence on a man, but when life throws shitty circumstances at her, she makes lemonade out of lemons, and she recognizes what she's accomplished for herself. She's willing to be proud of herself, and to keep what she worked hard to obtain, instead of throwing it away to be a "good girl" like she's supposed to. And then there's Kenna, who at the beginning of this series was the king's badass mistress. She didn't care what society thought of her, or their age difference, or even that he was king and married and she was "the other woman." Sure, she made some mistakes, but she was exploring her sexuality. And the actress who plays Kenna, Caitlin Stasey, is a badass modern feminist outside the show, too. She talks openly about her sexual orientation and her sexuality, and has a website, Herself.com, which pairs revealing photography of real, naked women with interviews about how that woman defines herself and how she grew into the woman she is today.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (on Netflix)
Netflix seriously has some great original shows, and this is one of them. The bright colors! The positive thinking! Kimmy Schmidt is my role model. And I have never laughed so hard at a tag than at Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's fake "Daddy's Boy" musical. We're talking tears rolling down my face, stomach cramping laughter. Actually, every episode is hilarious, but that one especially. I think I've watched the whole season through like three times already. It never gets old.
-
The only other TV show that I actually watched was Once Upon a Time, but that's turned more into hate-watching than anything else. This show used to be amazing and have great, nuanced characters and strong female leads. Now the character development arcs are pulverized for no good reason, and I'm not a fan of any of the character relationships anymore. Lily Sparks writes great weekly reviews of the episodes, and her complaint is totally my complaint - the show keeps telling us who's in love with whom, or what their motivations are, but then they show us completely different things through chemistry and meaningful looks and the wonderful acting that the cast is capable of. Not to mention the plot has just gotten ridiculous to the point where literally nothing makes even tangental sense anymore. But it is fun to continue to watch and hate on.
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