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by Julian Spivey 10 Best TV Shows of 2020 10. "Quiz" (AMC/ITV)  Photo: AMC/ITV “Quiz,” which aired in England on ITV in April and then on AMC in the U.S. in June, was a pleasant surprise. The three-episode miniseries told the true story (which I hadn’t previously been aware of) of the cheating scandal on the original “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in England in 2001 and the criminal trial that took place as a result. The show starred Matthew Macfadyen (of “Succession” fame) and Sian Clifford (of “Fleabag” fame) as the couple accused of the cheating scheme and Michael Sheen (always a favorite of mine) as “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” host Chris Tarrant. All performances were spectacular, but it was the interestingness of the story that truly made “Quiz” a winner. 9. "Saturday Night Live" (NBC)  Photo: NBC Just by the very nature of being a sketch comedy show NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” is going to be hit-or-miss – despite what some viewers (who haven’t seen the show in year) it’s always been that way. But the show’s 45th season which saw it’s second half air from January through May 9, was among the best I’ve seen in my 20 years of watching live (and my experience with re-runs of episodes before that). What was utterly amazing is due to the COVID-19 pandemic the show was forced to go to taped episodes completely filmed by the cast from home and the show didn’t suffer one bit – in fact, it may have added to the comedy and certainly made us appreciate those who work on the show more. The first half of season 46, which premiered in early October, hasn’t been quite as good, but again that’s the hit-or-miss factor of the show, and what they gave us in the first half of the year more than makes up for it. 8. "Hamilton" (Disney+)  Photo: Disney+ It’s hard to know where to put “Hamilton.” It’s a filmed version of a Broadway musical. It’s appearing on the occasional best movies of the year list. But I felt like it belonged on my best TV shows of the year list because that’s how I watched it – on my television via Disney+. I’ve been waiting five years for this moment after the show took Broadway by storm in 2015 and I wasn’t disappointed. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s script/book is fabulous mixing founding of America history with hip-hop music and the cast featuring Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson and more gave flawless performances. It was easy to see why “Hamilton” won all those Tony Awards years ago. 7. "Normal People" (Hulu)  Photo: Hulu Hulu’s “Normal People,” which also aired on BBC Three overseas, was the most realistic telling of young love and the complicatedness of young relationships I’ve ever seen on television. Based on the popular Sally Rooney novel, with her being one of the screenwriters bringing it to the screen, the miniseries follows the relationship of popular Connell (Paul Mescal) and social outcast Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) from high school in a small Irish town through their time off and on together during college. Both Mescal (who was nominated for an Emmy) and Edgar-Jones (who should’ve been nominated for an Emmy) were relative newcomers and just absolutely slayed their performances in the series and the chemistry between the two truly jumps off the screen. “Normal People” was also beautifully filmed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald. 6. "Schitt's Creek" (POP)  Photo: PopTV I’d heard great things about “Schitt’s Creek” for years and had it on my “list of shows to eventually get around to watching.” When the show swept the major comedy categories at the Emmy Awards in September for its sixth and final season, I decided that the time was now. I binged the entire series late this year and it’s certainly worthy of all the love foisted upon it by Emmy voters. Because of binging it was somewhat hard to separate season six from the terrific first five seasons, but never during my viewing did the show ever really lose much steam, which truly shows how great it was. If you haven’t gotten into it yet I highly recommend hanging out with the Rose family, every single performance is perfection. 5. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (NBC)  Photo: NBC NBC’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is my old reliable. So much so that it was no. 5 on this very list last year too (I didn’t realize that when I ranked my list, but just shows how solid it is). In its seventh season (and on its second different network) the sitcom of a New York City police precinct continues to have the best ensemble cast of any comedy on network television and amazingly after 143 episodes the show hasn’t gotten the least bit old. The performances from a cast led by Andy Samberg, Emmy-nominee Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero and more continues top notch work and the show is still giving viewers classic episodes like “The Jimmy Jab Games II” and “Ransom” this year. 4. "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" (NBC)  Photo: NBC NBC’s “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” was one of the most pleasant surprises on network TV (or really TV in general) this year, when it aired early on in 2020. A stellar combination of musical, comedy and drama the series created by Austin Winsberg finds titular character Zoey (played brilliantly by Jane Levy in her best TV role to date) with the ability to hear people’s innermost thoughts in song after a mishap with an MRI machine. The supporting performances by Peter Gallagher, Mary Steenburgen, Lauren Graham, Alex Newell and Skylar Astin are all fantastic to form one of the best ensembles on television. The show will return for a second season in early 2021. 3. "The Queen's Gambit" (Netflix)  Photo: Netflix Late in 2020 a miniseries on Netflix by the name of “The Queen’s Gambit” briefly made the game of chess remarkably cool in this country – can you believe that? That’s just how damn good the series, created by Scott Frank and Allan Scott based off Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel of the same name, was. “The Queen’s Gambit” is the coming-of-age story of Beth Harmon, a Kentucky orphan who picks up chess at a home for girls and through her determination and with the help of tranquilizers becomes one of the best in the world. Beth is played brilliantly by Anya Taylor-Joy, who’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood, and features the character dealing with relationships, substance abuse and the will of trying to become the best in her field. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful with terrific ‘60s set pieces and costuming and features great supporting roles by Bill Camp, Marielle Heller and more. 2. "Ted Lasso" (AppleTV+)  Photo: AppleTV+ AppleTV+’s “Ted Lasso” was the most heartwarming TV show I watched in 2020, it was also one of the funniest and most surprising. Surprising because the premise is based off a character created by Jason Sudeikis years ago for NBC Sports soccer promos and fleshed out into a full show. Sudeikis played American football coach Ted Lasso who’s hired to become a Premier League soccer coach by an owner (played brilliantly by Hannah Waddingham) wanting to tank her team. But Lasso is so damn lovable that he eventually wins everybody over – most importantly viewers of the show. Rarely do you find a performance anywhere as warming as Sudeikis’ in the title role and his personality and the overall feel of the show is exactly what I needed amidst such a hard year. 1. "What We Do in the Shadows" (FX)  Photo: FX FX’s vampire comedy “What We Do In the Shadows” was the wackiest thing I saw all of 2020. Typically, “wacky” isn’t really something that would be likely to top my list of the best television shows of the year, but “What We Do in the Shadows,” based off the 2014 mockumentary film by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, really was what I needed in the early days of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and quarantining. It just hit the right spot at the right time. Most importantly the humor of the show isn’t dumb, which I think is hard to pull off when its this wacky, but the mockumentary series following vampires Nandor (played by Kayvan Novak), Colin Robinson (played by Mark Proksch) Nadja (played by Natasia Demetriou) and my favorite Laszlo (played by Matt Berry) and their familiar Guillermo (played by Harvey Guillen) trying to live their lives out on Staten Island is the funniest thing I’ve seen on TV in sometime, especially my favorite season two episode “On the Run” featuring Laszlo as Jackie Daytona. 5 Best TV Performances of 2020 5. Jane Levy (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist)  Photo: NBC I already appreciated Jane Levy’s work in previous television series she had done, but she showed in the first season of NBC’s excellent musical dramedy “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” that she can do it all and do it all supremely well. She’s hilarious when there’s comedy, she’ll make you shed a tear when there’s drama and she can dance and sing too! The first season of ‘Zoey’ was one of 2020’s really nice TV surprises and I can’t wait to see what Levy and the rest of the cast have in store for season two, which premieres in January. 4. Paul Mescal & Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People)  Photo: Hulu The fact that Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal were both newcomers when appearing in Hulu’s adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel “Normal People” is mind-blowing to me. “Normal People” is about a young relationship and the trials and tribulations experienced between the couple and Edgar-Jones and Mescal’s performances are the most realistic portrayals of young love I’ve ever seen on film. Mescal was rightfully nominated for an Emmy Award, but unfortunately Edgar-Jones was snubbed. I look forward to seeing what projects both young actors take on next. 3. Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit)  Photo: Netflix People a lot smarter than I have written about how important the character of Beth Harmon and the performance of Anya Taylor-Joy are for female protagonists in Netflix’s excellent miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit.” I recommend Sarah Bea Milner’s piece for Screen Rant about how the show fixes the strong female character problem. Taylor-Joy shows in her performance in “The Queen’s Gambit,” in which she plays a determined character struggling with having been an orphan, substance abuse and the drive to be the best in the world at the game of chess, that she is going to be a force to be reckoned with at only 24 years of age. 2. Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows)  Photo: FX The absolute wackiest performance of the year for me was Matt Berry as English Aristocratic vampire Laszlo Cravensworth in the second season of the outrageously hilarious FX comedy “What We Do in the Shadows.” Maybe it’s partially due to Berry’s accent, but his reading of Laszlo’s lines makes almost every one of them worthy of a belly laugh – it doesn’t hurt that the writing staff of the show is top notch. My absolutely favorite performance from Berry in season two was getting to see him perform as Laszlo “human” alter-ego Jackie Daytona in the fantastic “On the Run” episode. 1. Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso)  Photo: AppleTV+ Jason Sudeikis has always been a likable fella to me and I knew he was hilarious from his many years on “Saturday Night Live.” But I didn’t know he was capable of the kind of easy-going, heartwarming performance he showed in the first season of AppleTV+’s “Ted Lasso.” His Lasso is a fish out of water going from a college football coach in the heartland of America to being a soccer coach in England with little knowledge of the game or culture and Sudeikis plays him with a wide-eyed confidence that is never annoying or obnoxious, rather lovely. He could’ve easily been the arrogant American many of those who come in contact with him probably expected, but the fact that it’s played like a comic version of Coach Eric Taylor from “Friday Night Lights” makes it all the better. 5 Best TV Episodes of 2020 5. "End Game" - "The Queen's Gambit" (Netflix)  Photo: Netflix It was hard to pick just one episode of Netflix’s excellent miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit” because it’s truly a sum of all seven of its episodes being based off a novel by Walter Tevis, but the series as a whole is so great, I felt I needed to include it here, as well. I chose the finale of the series “End Game,” because it sees our protagonist Beth Harmon, played wonderfully by Anya Taylor-Hoy, reach the pinnacle of her dream to be the best of the chess world. I also really enjoyed the return of Jolene (played by Moses Ingram), who was her only real friend when she was in the orphanage, and how all the men in her life who started as competitors and became her friends teamed together to help her reach the top of her game. 4. "Trent Crimm: The Independent" - "Ted Lasso" (AppleTV+)  Photo: AppleTV+ Maybe it’s because I binge-watched the series, which is not my preferred way to watch television (and it’s really not a great way to consume TV even though most of us seem to do it these days), but AppleTV+’s comedy “Ted Lasso” really seems to flowed so perfectly as a season that few episodes stood out above the rest, but I believe the third episode of the season: “Trent Crimm: The Independent” is probably the most important to understanding the Lasso character, played so brilliantly by Jason Sudeikis. Lasso is a fish of water who’s hired as a soccer coach in England despite being a small college football coach in America with no experience in the sport. He’s treated as a joke when arriving in England and journalist Trent Crimm of The Independent wants to get behind the man and the reasoning for his hiring. Crimm, played nicely by James Lance, is a cynic and critical of Lasso, but when he gets an opportunity for an exclusive with Lasso, he’s overwhelmed by Lasso’s genuiness and writes a glowing review of the coach. I think this episode really shows the power of the lead character and the show to win folks over. 3. "Zoey's Extraordinary Glitch" & "Zoey's Extraordinary Dad" - "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" (NBC)  Photo: NBC NBC’s new musical dramedy “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” debuted in early 2020 and really was a nice surprise. Any kind of emotion you can possibly feel you’re going to feel watching this show and there were two episodes so good from the first season that I couldn’t split them and decided to place both here. Due to a mishap while undergoing an MRI, our lead character Zoey can hear people’s innermost thoughts in the form of popular songs, but in the funniest season one episode “Zoey’s Extraordinary Glitch” her power/curse is reversed and her innermost thoughts are shown to the rest of the world – leading those around her to think she’s totally lost her mind. This is Jane Levy’s best episode of the series, and the one that really gives her a chance to shine with song and dance. The most emotional episode of the season was its finale “Zoey’s Extraordinary Dad,” which finds the family coping with the fact that their father/husband Mitch, who has an incurable neurological disorder, isn’t going to make it. This episode culminates in a memorable, eight-plus minute scene in which the entire cast performs Don McLean’s classic “American Pie.” 2. "On the Run" - "What We Do in the Shadows" (FX)  Photo: FX FX’s vampire comedy “What We Do in the Shadows” really gave me some much needed laughs during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine when I’d run out of my usual shows and needed something to watch. I’d heard good things about the series but hadn’t gotten around to the first season. So, I binged it on Hulu around the mid-point of season two and my absolute favorite character is Matt Berry’s Laszlo Cravensworth, which made season two’s “On the Run,” which really should’ve just been called “Jackie Daytona,” as it will always be remembered that way, my favorite episode. In “On the Run,” Laszlo is tracked down by Jim the Vampire (Mark Hamill in lots of makeup) who owns a rental property Laszlo had stayed out and didn’t pay for more than a century before. Laszlo refuses to pay and Jim challenges him to a duel. Instead of partaking in the duel, Laszlo bugs out of Staten Island and heads to rural Pennsylvania where he assumes the new identity Jackie Daytona, which is done hilariously simply by wearing jeans and chewing on a toothpick. 1. "Room 320" - "Evil" (CBS)  Photo: CBS “Evil” (CBS) was one of my favorite shows of the 2019-2020 TV season – and the best show on network television – and would’ve made my top 10 list for 2020 had it aired more than three episodes (even though they were among the best of the season) this calendar year. “Room 320” from the show’s first season was the best single episode of TV I saw all year. When the season took its winter break lead character David Acosta (Mike Colter) had just been stabbed. The season resumed on Jan. 9 with him in the hospital struggling for his life with an angel of death nurse (played excellently psychotically by guest Tara Summers) in an episode in which the viewer never quite knows if David is hallucinating or not.
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