What I’m Watching This Fall

Man, I don’t know what it is about things lately, but Fall TV really snuck up on me again this year. At any rate, I hope you all had a lovely summer and are ready to dive back in to things! Here’s what I’m watching this fall:

RETURNING SHOWS

Supergirl (Sundays at 9 on the CW)

Supergirl had what I think was its strongest season last year. So many things worked about it, and I’m worried this season will be a letdown by comparison. However, I’m excited/nervous for the fallout of Lena discovering Kara’s secret, and it’ll be fun to see Alex and Kelly pursue a relationship.

Madam Secretary (Sundays at 10 on CBS)

This is the rare show where I’m happy it’s the final season AND that they’re only doing 10 episodes. It’s interesting that they pivoted from an election storyline to one where (*spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the promo*) Elizabeth is already president. I’m surprised by how many cast members won’t be returning as series regulars, but realistically very few of her staff would have made the jump to the White House, so it makes sense.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Sundays at 11 on HBO)

This isn’t really returning, as it was on a decent chunk of the summer, but John Oliver continues to keep me sane and informed, and I continue to appreciate it.

The Flash (Tuesdays at 8 on the CW)

Like Supergirl, I enjoyed the last season of this show but am looking forward to the coming one. I have a feeling that The Flash and Arrow will be the two most affected by the crossover, and I’m curious to see how that plays out. I will miss Nora, though.

Arrow (Tuesdays at 9 on the CW)

It definitely sounds like this year will be more of a season-long farewell, which I’m happy about. If any show deserves a proper sendoff, it’s this one. Again, 10 episodes feels like the right number, and I’m glad my previous concern that the crossover would also serve as Arrow‘s series finale didn’t amount to anything.

This Is Us (Tuesdays at 9 on NBC)

TIU can be a little frustrating but also one of the most affecting things on TV in the right week. I feel like they’re really selling this season’s premiere as a departure for the show, which I’m intrigued by. I’m also looking forward to having Jennifer Morrison back on my TV.

Survivor (Wednesdays at 8 on CBS)

I think the Boston Rob/Sandra twist is hokey and dumb, but there have been plenty of great seasons of Survivor with bad premises, so I won’t count it out yet. Honestly, I’m more excited about the whispers of an upcoming “all-winners” season than I am about this one.

Modern Family (Wednesdays at 9 on ABC)

10 seasons in, by now this is far from my favorite comedy. However, I’m confident they’ll stick the landing in their final season and probably make me cry along the way. I got in on MF early (after season 1), so it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to something I’ve been watching every week for almost a decade, regardless of what my feelings are toward it now.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (Wednesdays at 10 on TBS)

This is the same deal as with John Oliver: I watched it throughout the summer and will keep doing so. Sam Bee’s been particularly sharp on female candidates and their media coverage this year, something I’m confident will continue this fall.

Grey’s Anatomy (Thursdays at 8 on ABC)

I’m leery of the weird “weekly crossover with Station 19” thing that’s been teased and walked back and then sort of teased again throughout the summer, but it would take a heck of a lot to make me quit Grey’s at this point. Like with Modern Family, I’m nearly a decade in.

Superstore (Thursdays at 8 on NBC)

I won’t actually be watching Superstore when it premieres, as I’m currently binging season 2. However, I’m already enjoying it enough to make catching up a priority, even when regular TV comes back.

The Good Place (Thursdays at 9 on NBC)

Unlike with Arrow and Madam Secretary, I’m bummed this is The Good Place‘s final season, but I respect it from a storytelling perspective. I can’t wait to see what Mike Schur and Co. have cooked up for us, and this is another “comedy” season that will definitely make me cry.

Legacies (Thursdays at 9 on the CW)

Legacies is pretty low on my list of show priorities, but I thought the first season was pleasantly surprising in spots. This cast has grown on me a lot since the pilot, too. At this point, I’d be a bit lost without a Julie Plec show in my life.

Saturday Night Live (Saturdays at 11:30 on NBC)

SNL didn’t start their season off on a good note, but I’m glad they rectified their mistake, even if it took longer than it should have. I’m excited about the other new cast members, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge + Taylor Swift is a hell of a combo for the second episode (I owe a decent chunk of my summer to Fleabag and Lover).

NEW SHOWS (NETWORK)

Batwoman (Sundays at 8 on the CW)

I’ll be very surprised if I don’t end up loving this one. I thought Ruby Rose was great in her few scenes during Elseworlds, and it’s awesome that she’ll be the first lesbian title superhero. Also, come next season (provided everything gets renewed), Grant Gustin will be only straight white guy leading a DC show on the CW, which is pretty cool.

Stumptown (Wednesdays at 10 on ABC)

I’ll admit that I’m still a little bitter at Stumptown for taking Whiskey Cavalier‘s spot, but I love Cobie Smulders (Robin was my favorite on How I Met Your Mother), and Jake Johnson was great on New Girl, too.

Perfect Harmony (Thursdays at 8:30 on NBC)

I’m less certain about Perfect Harmony; it may be one where I wait a couple of weeks to see what viewer/critical reception is like. It’s a cute premise, and I like Bradley Whitford and Anna Camp a lot, but I could also see it sitting in my virtual “to watch” pile for a while.

The Unicorn (Thursday at 8:30 on CBS)

I have similar feelings about this one, though I don’t think the premise is quite as novel as Perfect Harmony‘s is. The promos have made it look very “generic CBS comedy,” but several of the folks at TVLine said it was worth checking out, and they almost never lead me astray.

NEW SHOWS (STREAMING)

The Politician (Friday, September 27 on Netflix)

I probably won’t stress about checking out any streaming shows the first weekend they premiere, but The Politician is one I plan on getting around to at some point this fall. The trailer was pretty effective, juicy and fun, and I sound like a broken record, but another great cast.

Looking for Alaska (Friday, October 18 on Hulu)

I’m a longtime John Green fan, but LFA isn’t my favorite of his books. That being said, I know getting this one to the screen was a frustrating and lengthy process for him, so I’m happy about it for that reason. I’m also excited about it being the first TV adaptation of one of his books. Of all of them, LFA is probably the one best suited to TV over film.

Modern Love (Friday, October 18 on Prime Video)

Like with The Politician, this cast is borderline ridiculous (Anne Hathaway! Tina Fey!) and has the potential to be really great, I think. I only occasionally read “Modern Love” but am kind of surprised that it hasn’t been adapted before.

Your turn! What shows are you watching this fall and which ones are you particularly excited about? Hit the comments and let me know!

2018 in Review: The 10 Best Shows

As is usually the case with my Year in Review posts, these are in no particular order, mostly because it’s hard enough to just pick ten :).

I’d call 2018 a great year for returning shows, but just an o.k. one for new shows, especially on network TV. Because of that, all of my top ten are returning favorites who had particularly great years or just continued doing what was already working. Obviously, I don’t watch everything, so this is by no means a definitive list, but rather the best of what I got around to.

1. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. By season five, a lot of comedies have become caricatures of themselves. Brooklyn Nine-Nine has somehow done the opposite, not only maintaining the greatness of the first couple seasons but actually improving on it. This year alone had Rosa’s lovely, bittersweet coming out story; “The Box,” which cleverly turned the show’s usual format on its head; and “Show Me Going,” where Rosa responded to an active shooter situation, all of which tackled serious issues or new ideas without tonal whiplash. Of course, this year also brought more of the sweet, silly fun we expect, from arguably their best cold open ever to Amy and Jake’s hilarious, romantic nuptials.
2. Late Night with Seth Meyers. Seth Meyers remains my favorite of the five-shows-a-week late night hosts, especially for political commentary. “A Closer Look” talks about news intelligently and with just enough wit that it becomes palatable, but never a cloying spoonful of sugar. The show also walks the walk when it comes to diversity and inclusion, featuring great segments like “Amber Says What” and “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell.” Plus, watching Meyers tell the story of his second kid’s dramatic birth in the lobby of their apartment building (complete with emotional kudos to his wife) was legitimately one of the sweetest, most entertaining TV moments this year.
3. Jane the Virgin. This show is definitely in the consistently good category, but this year was somehow my favorite so far. There was so much to love about the back half of season four especially, which found Jane and Raf in a healthy, mature, but also hot as hell, relationship and Petra continuing to evolve, both in her wonderfully messy friendship with Jane and new romance with J.R. Plus, we had Xo’s heartbreaking cancer diagnosis (played beautifully by Andrea Navedo and Jaime Camil), Alba finally taking her citizenship test, Jane’s totally relatable career dilemmas…I could go on, and I haven’t even mentioned that crazy cliffhanger.
4. GLOW. This year, the ladies of GLOW avoided the sophomore slump in glorious fashion by expanding on what worked well in the first season: Ruth and Sam’s complex dynamic, the empathetic portrayal of Debbie and Ruth’s friendship, and of course, the hilarity and sweetness that comes from watching a bunch of supportive women wrestle each other. With Ruth and Sam, they added a genuine warmth and mutual respect; with Debbie and Ruth, a continued understanding that neither woman is the villain. And, with the rest of their insanely talented cast, a hospital “cheer up” montage that turned a good episode into my favorite of the season.
5. The Good Fight. In what’s becoming a theme on this list, the first season of The Good Fight was excellent on its own but became even sharper and more specific in its second year. I’ve talked about the show as the perfect microcosm of the Trump era, which became even clearer as our favorite Chicago lawyers were hunted down this year, unable to shake the foreboding that’s plagued many of us since the 2016 election. It makes sense, too, that Diane Lockhart remains a fascinating portrait of a woman handling the Trump years with equal parts furious, measured resolve and tailspinning mania, exploring microdosing and martial arts while reaching new heights in her career and refusing to let an ex who continues to disappoint define her.
6. Legends of Tomorrow. LOT is the rare show that isn’t trying to be prestigious by any means; rather, it succeeds because it knows exactly what it is: an exceedingly silly, action-packed romp with perhaps the zaniest cast of characters I’ve ever encountered. Chock full of various castoffs from the Arrow-verse, every character becomes more fun when they board the Waverider. For example, Sara, a character I found overly morose on Arrow, has slowly become one of the most dynamic characters around. This year, she started a relationship with Ava, an actual robot, and turned it into one of the sweetest romances on air. I could do this with pretty much every character on the show, which is Legends’ biggest strength.
7. One Day at a Time. This show reminds me a lot of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in that it’s effortlessly inclusive but never makes tackling important issues feel like, well, issues. This year had the adorableness of Elena and Syd, a teenage lesbian couple; a storyline that addressed guns in the home in a frighteningly specific way; and an entire episode devoted to Penelope going off her antidepressants that never succumbed to the temptation to make light of it. It’s also not afraid to make you cry; I thought last season’s finale was emotional until I saw season two’s. But impressively, ODaaT is also just a funny, sweet family sitcom, one that never sees that format as a barrier or blueprint that must be followed to a T.
8. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Despite a slightly disappointing finale, the second season of Maisel was just as enjoyable for me as the first. It smartly maintained the frothy fun of the first season, with its larger than life characters and pastel-colored version of NYC. This year, though, Maisel proved its worldbuilding skills aren’t confined to the Big Apple, offering dreamy, immersive takes on late 1950s Paris and the lush fun of the Catskills. This season was lower on plot, higher on tangents and stand-alone episodes and gorgeous nuggets of scenes I wanted to go on forever. It’s the perfect example of a show getting a lot of creative freedom in its second season and doing exactly what it should with it.
9. The Good Place. I’m pretty much constantly waxing poetic about The Good Place, which slightly edged out Brooklyn Nine-Nine as my favorite comedy of the year. This show has such a high degree of difficulty, making it even more impressive that this year’s episodes were so good. Eleanor, Chidi, and the rest of the gang proved they’re meant to be, regardless of time, place, and even memories. Michael, a literal demon, continued to surprise by becoming the steady moral center of the group. And Janet…well, Janet mostly became an even more impressive vehicle for portrayer D’arcy Carden. Whether quietly developing her character’s human-like empathy, showing off stunt skills in a bar fight, or giving one of the best performances of the year in the insane—and aptly named—“Janet(s),” Carden is a big part of why The Good Place continues to work.
10. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Coming off Rebecca’s brutal suicide attempt at the end of 2017, our title heroine embraced her diagnosis this year while slowly building herself and her relationships back up, realistic backsliding included. Appropriately, as Rebecca started to look outward, so did the show, having Paula bond with her teenage sons, Heather take major steps in her amusingly no-nonsense way, and Valencia move cross-country with new girlfriend Beth. CEG also had a ton of fun with unexpected pairings and storyline moves this year, from the fun road trip episode this season, to the brilliant mid-episode time jump in season three. Plus, their recent reinvention of Greg led to the charming “Hello, Nice to Meet You,” my favorite song of theirs this year.

What were the best shows you watched in 2018? Hit the comments, and let me know!

2017 in Review: TV That Made Me Happy

I don’t think anyone will call 2017 the greatest year on record. Because of that, I found myself drawn to good, escapist TV even more than usual this year, seeking shows and stories that would make me happy above all else. With the generally horrific state of our country, TV was both a refuge and frankly, a reason to get up in the morning, making me especially grateful for its existence. Here are are some TV things that made me happy this year:

The idealism of Madam Secretary

There’s a lot I love about Madam Secretary: it’s feminist, it lets its characters be happy, and it features what’s currently my favorite marriage on television. And, impressively, it’s politically relevant while still feeling escapist. M Sec takes place a few years in the future, which allows it to comment on current happenings—fake news, for instance—but with a happier outcome. The promise of what could be gave me some much, much-needed fuel this year.

Supergirl‘s Lena Luthor

I think everyone has a handful of fictional characters they just flat-out love, even if they can’t quite explain why. This year, Lena became one of mine. It’s not that I relate to her necessarily; she’s got a tragic backstory, her best friend is Supergirl, and someone tries to kill her at least once a week. It’s more that she’s such a fully realized character—thanks in no small part to Katie McGrath’s performance—that I can’t help but both root for and admire her. Plus, she’s just a fun character to watch: fierce, funny, self-deprecating, and insanely good at her job.

Heartfelt comedy

The same way I like my TV escapist, I like my comedy heartfelt, and that was especially true this year. I certainly enjoy the occasional piece of cynical comedy, but Parks and Rec isn’t my favorite show of all time for nothing. Luckily, 2017 offered a whole host of shows that would make Leslie and Co. proud: the wonderfully specific Speechless, the consistently warm  Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the already sweetly hopeful The Mayor.

The fierce females of Legends of Tomorrow

I love the term “badass lady,” but its meaning is often reduced to “literally kicks a lot of ass.” The ladies of Legends, Sara, Amaya, and Zari, do that—and man is it fun to watch—but they’re also leaders and strategists, as well as empathetic and caring people. There are various types of badass-ness, and I took just as much pleasure in watching Sara captain the Waverider as I did her honest conversation with Alex Danvers about lost loves.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I maintain that AOS is one of the best shows no one’s watching—not even one of the best superhero shows, just one of the best shows. Last season’s third “pod” of episodes, which found Team S.H.I.E.L.D. trapped in a computer simulation, was one of the tensest, most heart-wrenching series of episodes from any of my shows last year. What’s more, this season’s first few episodes have somehow kicked it up a notch, with a truly great premiere episode reveal that left the gang in a terrifying dystopia on…well, I won’t spoil it.

A genuinely lighter Grey’s Anatomy 

I’ll admit I was very skeptical when the creatives at Grey’s promised this season would hearken back to the show’s slightly less angsty, significantly more fun glory days, but I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong. This fall, the show wrapped up relationship drama that had long grown stale, hit character beats I’ve been waiting forever for, and delivered a beautifully nostalgic 300th episode that reminded me exactly why this show is still on the air.

Late night comedy

I don’t know that this made me happy, per say, but it did make me feel understood and because of that was even more essential to my sanity this year than last. This was a mind-numbingly sad year in a lot of ways, but watching the likes of Meyers, Colbert, Bee, Oliver, and even Kimmel shake their heads in disbelief reminded me that this isn’t normal, and we can’t let it become so. Gallows humor also played a big role in 2017; sometimes you have to laugh for a second before you can pick yourself up and do something.

A creative resurgence for The Flash

Like with Grey’s, my hopes weren’t high that The Flash would actually be able to rediscover the fun of its excellent first season, but this season has struck the perfect balance of hilarious and high stakes. As their first non-speedster villain, The Thinker has proven to be an original and formidable opponent for Team Flash, and the show’s epic fall finale cliffhanger has me counting down the days ’til its return.

Shows that take risks

My two favorite shows on the air right now are Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and The Good Place, two shows that couldn’t be further from one other in regards to plot, setting, tone, etc. However, they both have one thing in common: they surprise me at every turn. I don’t want to spoil for those who haven’t watched, but The Good Place has redefined itself countless times in its first two seasons, supremely confident that its viewers could make the leaps required. Meanwhile, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend offers smart, funny, genre-defying storytelling week after week while also meditating on mental illness and the female experience. As a student of TV, watching these shows take risks no one else is taking has been an unmitigated delight.

A bloodless May

Every TV fan has a love/hate relationship with the month of May: sweeps are awesome, but May brings with it the possible renewals and dreaded cancellations of your favorite shows. However, this May, for the first time ever, every single one of my shows got renewed. I’m unfortunately drawn to shows consistently on the bubble, so I’m not expecting it to happen again anytime soon, but it certainly made me happy this year.

A truly great Once Upon a Time “requel”

With more than half of its cast leaving last season, I went into this seventh season of OUAT completely expecting to be disappointed. Imagine my surprise when I actually loved the first half of this season. I genuinely like the new characters, the storytelling has been familiar but refreshing, and, most impressively, the writers found a way to keep Emma and Killian happy despite Jennifer Morrison’s departure. Plus, though not part of this season’s “requel,” last season’s wedding/musical extravaganza and truly lovely finale managed to hit all the right notes, giving my favorite past characters the perfect sendoff.

GLOW

The first ten episodes of this show were pure joy: fizzy, feminist, and funny, it offered nuanced portrayals of a whole host of female characters, all badasses in their own way. Each episode flew by, a crackerjack of a story that fed into a smartly plotted and wholly entertaining first season. This was one of the most confident introductions to a show in recent memory, and binging it was one of my favorite TV experiences of all time, not just in 2017.

Your turn! What TV things made you happy this year? Hit the comments, and let me know!

2016 in Review: TV’s Best Duos

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2016 in Review: My 10 Favorite Shows

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