10 Favorite TV Shows of 2019

by Julian Spivey

10. Crashing (HBO)

​This might be a binge impact response from me. The third season of the HBO comedy that follows the beginnings of a stand-up comedy career of Pete Holmes, who plays himself in a somewhat fictionalized account of his life aired early in 2019. Right before the start of the season, that would end up being its last, I binged the first two seasons and found it to be parts heartwarming and heartbreaking and hilarious. I definitely found the second season to be the show’s best, particularly the relationship between Holmes and Jamie Lee’s Ali Reissen. 

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9. Evil (CBS)

​The new CBS thriller “Evil” has only aired nine episodes thus far in its first season, but it’s been an impressive start for the new series by creators Robert and Michelle King, the brains behind the equally as impressive “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight.” “Evil” is essentially an update on “The X-Files,” with Katja Herbers as the skeptic and Mike Colter as the believer, but this spin sees the duo investigating unexplained religious phenomenon instead of science fiction. 

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8. SEAL Team (CBS)

​For two and a half seasons now on CBS “SEAL Team” has been potentially the most underrated drama on network television. “SEAL Team” could’ve been nothing more than a gung-ho, America’s badass take on military heroes (and it still has that stuff), but it’s at its best when it gets inside the heads of these heroes, as it’s been doing in season three with lead David Boreanaz’s Jason Hayes. 

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7. This Is Us (NBC)

​NBC’s “This Is Us” continues to be the best drama on network television while continuing the interesting tale of the beloved Pearson family through multiple time periods in their lives. The show’s fourth season, which premiered in September, took the risk of adding on a few new characters, but it’s one that paid off nicely. My only concern is as season four heads into 2020 it looks like the show is about to break up our favorite TV family, which while I have no doubts it’ll do so in a realistic and dramatic fashion, I’m not sure the hearts of its fan-base will be able to take it. 

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6. Veep (HBO)

​HBO’s “Veep” finished off its great decade of being television’s most vicious and oftentimes incredibly hilarious character with its final season after a year off for star Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s fight with breast cancer. It seemed there was nothing this show wouldn’t do for Louis-Dreyfus’s Selina Meyer and her to do for herself to further her career and save face and “Veep” proved as much in its series finale that saw Meyer make her cruelest decision yet. The ensemble cast of “Veep” was perfect in every single role and that’s something I’m really going to miss. 

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5. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)

​I’ve lost count at how many times I’ve placed “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” on my year-end best TV shows of the year lists. In 2019 I was just thrilled to see my favorite comedy of the decade back on television after Fox had canceled the series after season five in May of 2018. It didn’t take long for NBC to realize this show had a large enough fan-base and enough left in the tank to bring it to its network and in season six the show proved it had an awful lot left to offer and provided us with numerous more laughs from its great ensemble cast led by Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher. 

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4. Ken Burns' Country Music 

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3. Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

​The sixth season of Netflix’s longest running original series “Orange is the New Black” was the show’s worst in my opinion (and in many people’s opinions it seems) and this came after what I felt was the show’s best season overall in season five. This had me concerned for the final season that debuted this summer, but those fears were quickly laid to rest as the show returned to what made it so great initially by giving us the stories of all of these great and diverse characters and intertwining them effortlessly. Not everybody on the show got a happy ending, but that wouldn’t be realistic for a prison drama anyway. What ultimately was so great about “Orange is the New Black” and what I believe it’ll most be remembered for is giving so many different kinds of people a chance to shine. 

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2. Fleabag (Amazon)

​I never got around to watching the first season of “Fleabag” on Amazon when it debuted in 2016, despite the good reviews the show had. But when critics and viewers alike began to call it the best TV show of 2019 in its second season (and what is supposedly its last) I had to catch up. The first season was good, not great, but the second season that aired this year was a perfectly written and acted six episodes of television that really left me wanting more. “Fleabag” is Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s baby that developed from a one-woman show to an Emmy winner and tells the story of a confused woman struggling with life heading into her 30s. The second season features just this heartbreakingly beautiful love story between Waller-Bridge’s lead and a priest, played brilliantly by Andrew Scott, that truly features some of the best chemistry you’re ever going to see. 

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1. Barry (HBO)

Despite Bill Hader being one of my absolutely favorite celebrities I didn’t get around to watching his Emmy-winning turn as a hitman wanting to break into acting in HBO’s “Barry” until I binged the first season right before the beginning of season two this year. This isn’t your “Saturday Night Live” Bill Hader, but a performance that showcases he can do literally anything and be stellar at it. The second season continues with Barry having to continue his career as a hitman, despite desperately wanting to put that part of his life behind him. Hader wins his second straight Emmy for the season that features a wildly terrific ensemble cast of Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg, Stephen Root and Anthony Carrigan. The second season episode “ronny/lily” was the greatest, wildest and funniest episode of television I saw all year long and one of the all-time greatest of any show I’ve ever seen.