The best shows I watched in 2021 were Community and The Sopranos, but these are the best ones that actually came out this year. Presented in the rough order in which I enjoyed them.
(I understand that I am sorely missing out by not watching The Other Two or Succession. I’ll get around to it, y’know? Got a lot going on. Also did not have a chance to catch the new seasons of Rick & Morty or Joe Pera Talks with You. I beg of you to take it up with HBO Max’s delayed upload schedule.)
Saturday Morning All-Star Hits
Buried as deep in the Netflix #content machine as its star Kyle Mooney generally is in a week’s SNL, SMASH proved to be a pleasant gem. Each episode showed us progressing (and ever-darkening) stories of the fictional cartoons that make up the titular fake cartoon block—from a depressed skateboarding dinosaur to a team of crime fighting athletes with superiority issues—and the hosts that introduce them. Mooney plays many parts, all with aplomb. (On Netflix)
Mr. Mayor
Though its satire lacks a certain bite and it has a bit of that classic Fey/Carlock starfucker quality (and initially planned as another vehicle for their husky muse Alec Baldwin), Mr. Mayor is now totally defined as “another excellent Ted Danson vehicle.” The undisputed King of Television leads a cast of comedy all-stars including Holly Hunter and Bobby Moynihan in this easy, breezy political comedy. An episode about diversity in the workplace from Tina Fey sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it ended up being the best sitcom bottle episode in years. (On Hulu & Peacock)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
A bad year for humanity is a good year for Sunny. The longest running comedy show in history returned for its fifteenth(!) season with renewed vigor and sense of purpose. It kicked off with a Forrest Gumpian tale of 2020’s major landmarks before addressing the recent controversy of several of the show’s episodes being pulled from streaming services over blackface concerns. The highlight simply has to be the show’s longest multi-episode storyline to date, detailing the gang’s fraught trip to Ireland and the disaster you already know simply has to ensue. (On Hulu)
Pretend It’s A City
Martin Scorsese thinks his friend Fran Lebowitz is hilarious, and he adorably took that spirit and made it into an entire TV show. Though incredibly simple in its construction and execution, little in 2021 brought me near as much pure joy as listening to Fran complain about life for hours on end (with Marty off-camera, laughing hysterically at every single thing). The “””backlash””” was as predictable and inevitable as the tides and did nothing to damper how enjoyable Pretend It’s A City turned out to be. I watched this damn thing twice and I feel like putting it on again right now. (On Netflix)
Hacks
My biggest surprise of the year. Anchored by two phenomenal lead performances by Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, Hacks proved to be the smartest and most incisive show about comedy in recent memory (despite many contemporary failed attempts). The show is a feedback loop of animosity and admiration between the faces of comedy old and new, between two broken characters who need each other in ways neither could have anticipated. Also, just the best writing of a fictional character’s stand-up act I’ve ever seen. (On HBO Max)
Hawkeye
I watched all of the live action MCU Disney+ shows this year, and this was the only one worth talking about. Where the others often felt like one was being slowly read a Wikipedia entry, Hawkeye stayed rooted in sharp characterization, clear arcs, and thrilling setpieces filmed in actual New York locations instead of a green screen strung up in an Atlanta parking lot. Even this show’s moments of ~franchise management~ managed to stay rooted in its themes and served the overall story. To quote my inner talentless hack, Hawkeye hits the bullseye. (On Disney+)
Squid Game
It is good to be reminded that sometimes good TV can still break through the noise. Wonderfully designed, crafted, and acted, Squid Game proved to be the breakout TV hit of Our Second COVID Year. Like the preceding South Korean breakout Parasite, the show tackles issues of class and desperation under the crushing thumb of capitalism… until about the last 30 minutes. Consider this placement for everything except for the last 30 minutes of Squid Game. I pretend I do not see it. (On Netflix)
Swan Boy
The perspective offered by the works of Branson Reese (Rude Tales of Magic, Hell Was Full) is simple: the world is brimming with horrid, shrill, shrivel-dicked men who will loudly shout their worldviews at you without the slightest provocation. It’s inescapable, so you might as well laugh. This adaptation of Reese’s web comic of the same name has not lost an ounce of hilarity in translation. In a season of ten minute shorts, Swan Boy has the perfect tasting dish set of what will hopefully be many more courses to come. (On Hulu)
Mythic Quest
Beginning with the stunning fantasy-action pastiche “Everlight,” Mythic Quest returned for a thrilling second season in rare form. Every character was pushed forward in interesting ways without losing its comedic sensibilities. In particular, much work was done on C.W. Longbottom (F. Murray Abraham). An honestly jaw-dropping “Backstory!” episode gave way to its modern day follow up, where long-held rivalries bubble up between old friends who are simply too small to toss off decades of resentment after knowing its feel for too long. Did I mention this show is very funny? (On Apple TV+)
The Underground Railroad
It’s a sorry state of affairs when a show as lovingly and gorgeously crafted as The Underground Railroad—from Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins of all people—is summarily dumped on Amazon Prime with absolutely no fanfare. But such is the streaming era. Adapting Colson Whitehead’s bestselling book of the same name, Jenkins creates his must sumptuous visual pallet to date. Thuso Mdebu is tremendous as Cora, the woman on the run at the center of this bit of historical magical realism. (On Amazon Prime)
MacGruber
MacGruber is perhaps the most despicable, selfish, immature man ever given life on screen. I could watch a dozen seasons of his misadventures. Following up on their 2010 cult classic film adaptation of an SNL skit, Will Forte, John Solomon, and Jorma Taccone have finally revived the king of throat rips for the era of streaming TV without skipping a beat. The show version of MacGruber is just as filthy, violent, and generally unpleasant as ever. And that’s how we like it. If I were to sum the comedic sensibilities of this show, it would be to point out that the third thing we see in every episode’s opening credits is—atop a bed of dramatic music—a beautifully lit dolly pan over a naked man’s hairy ass. (On Peacock)
The Witcher
The second season of The Witcher is about getting back with your exes. It’s a story of repairing damaged bonds that have been torn apart by time, circumstance, and unfortunate personal choices. Whether you’re a powerful sorceress, a famed monster hunter, or a humble traveling bard, you are nothing without those you love. After a COVID-related two year delay, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and her incredible team of collaborators in front of and behind the camera have crafted an epic fantasy story that feels so personal. Amidst tales of ancient bloodlines and world-shaking monster hordes, we never lose sight of our wonderful characters. It is empathy that keeps our feet on the ground. (On Netflix)
M.O.D.O.K.
In a field of superhero shows dominated by series hamstrung by expectations of their studio and audience, there is a joyous freedom of concept and content to M.O.D.O.K. that its contemporaries simply cannot possess. It is equal parts deeply funny and profoundly sad. Patton Oswalt is, as expected, pitch perfect in the titular role of the supervillain whose ego is matched in size only by his enormous head. It’s a perfect successor to the likes of Bojack Horseman. Disney has summarily shot and killed the entire batch of animated Marvel superhero shows they were planning, with only this and Hit Monkey managing to slip through the cracks. The possibilities of a second season seem slight given the circumstances, so we may simply have to make the best of this wonderful one season wonder and its tragic end (in fiction and out). (On Hulu)
Ted Lasso
There has been much hot debate about the sophomore season of Apple TV+’s surprise smash hit sitcom so I will simply say up top: the second season of Ted Lasso is about as good as the first, but for completely different reasons. Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, & co. spend this second go-‘round diving deeper into its character. What are their internal lives? What makes them tick? It’s a sense of introspection I always wanted from the likes of Parks & Rec but never got, and Ted Lasso is all the richer for it. The show also did something I have never seen anyone do before: organically transition from a half-hour comedy to an hour-long dramedy in the middle of a season. (on Apple TV+)
How To With John Wilson
Every episode of How To With John Wilson is a journey. As we view on-the-street footage of New York and its many loons and landmarks, John’s understated, funny voiceover introduces us to this week’s concept. These vary from how to find the perfect parking spot, to questioning why New York is covered in scaffolding. What follows is undoubtedly a fascinating, laugh-inducing trek through interviews with odd characters, journeys into the bellies of that week’s particular beast (like a detailing of a conference for obsessives over the movie Avatar), with some shockingly profound resolution at the end. It’s a fascinating and overlooked gem of a show just waiting for your discovery on HBO Max. (on HBO Max)
What We Do In The Shadows
Long after both mockumentaries and vampires have fallen out of cultural fashion, What We Do In The Shadows manages to combine both into a shockingly hilarious sitcom. With a cast of comedy all-stars that only grows, each season pushes the vampires of Staten Island ever-forward into stranger and funnier territory. I always wonder if the show is peaking, but it just never is. (On Hulu)
Reservation Dogs
I could truly live in the world of Reservation Dogs forever. Set in a rundown Native American reservation in the Midwest, we follow the teenaged and eponymous Dogs as they pick fights, steal chip trucks, and narrowly dodge the supernatural lurking just outside their door. Half of this criminally short first season devotes an episode to each of our leads, sending them off on a touching, personal, and always very funny journey of their own, before bringing everyone back together for an emotionally powerful finale. This is something the likes of which TV has yet to see, something that is increasingly impossible to say. (On Hulu)