2021 Recap: The Best TV Shows of the Year
The ultimate list.
I have a hard time picking favorites. Also, best is a very vague descriptor. So, I decided to do the list of 2021 shows to watch differently and recap them with superlatives. Some categories have more than one show but that’s what you get to do when you make your own rules. It’s also not an exhaustive list but it is a very, very long list.
The Best Show with the Shittiest People
Everyone is on the Succession bandwagon now, right? By this point, everyone is dealing with the devil and nobody is innocent. It also had the most cringiest moment (spoilers, obviously) I have seen on television this year that no fan theories could have ever predicted.
A close second is The Shrink Next Door, which has Paul Rudd playing Dr. Ike, a therapist who has supervillain-levels of manipulation powers hidden behind a curtain of charm. He might not get Will Ferrel’s character to commit murder but he isolates him from everyone else in his life, takes all of his money, even his house — and makes him feel grateful for doing all of this. Almost everyone who’s seen it says it’s uncomfortable to watch and it’s even scarier to see what he can get you to do considering it’s based on true events.
The Best Show with the Best People
The Big Leap, which I’ve talked about at length, doesn’t have any villains. There are two minor characters who have very little redeeming qualities but they’re barely in the show except for a handful of scenes.
Ted Lasso too, is filled with lovely people, but it narrowly misses this category since the new season has someone who’s become one of the most hated characters (also spoilers) in television this year.
The Best Animated Show That’s Definitely Not For Kids
If you’re watching with kids, my 2021 pick is definitely Monsters at Work but otherwise, I have three. Arcane just came out this November and it’s quickly climbed everyone’s lists of best shows, not just animated shows. It might be based on League of Legends lore which has an infamous community of players but it’s capable of immersing you into a new steampunk world without any previous introduction. But I will say to not go into it with expectations too high since there’s a ridiculous amount of hype right now.
Invincible is another animated show that subverts expectations. Despite the animated style that might look like classic superhero shows, it gets violent quick. If you liked The Boys’ take on superheroes, you’ll be into this too.
In this category, I’ll also include 10-Year-Old Tom, which absolutely no ten-year-old should be watching. It’s an adult comedy that doesn’t hold back on the adult part. It has clever jokes and doesn’t take the lazy route of cheap, slapstick humor.
The Show That’ll Make You Sad But Will be Worth it
It’s A Sin is a miniseries that will make you fall in love with the characters you see. And then it will break you. It shows life during the AIDS crisis and by that I mean, it isn’t a bleak documentary where everyone’s identity is reduced to a disease that meant a death sentence. It shows you their life, their full, complete lives with friends, lovers, families. It is one of the most beautiful shows of the year too.
The Show That Will Make Your Day Better
You know murders are fun if you’re watching others solve them. If it’s a cozy murder mystery, it’s even better. I was watching Only Murders in the Building as it came out and Only Murders day was always the best day of the week. Selena Gomez works perfectly with the iconic comedy duo of Steve Martin and Martin Short and I am willing to watch multiple seasons of this show until every single resident of their building is dead. You can also just watch Ghosts.
The Most Quotable Show That You Aren’t Quoting Yet
What We Do in the Shadows has been running since 2016 but if you haven’t seen it, you’re missing some stellar dialogue. Mentions of “Fucking guy”, perfectly normal vampire experiences (“We drunk the blood of some people, but the people were on drugs, and now I'm a wizard.”), succinct descriptions of human objects (“Stairmaster, the master of the stairs”), and mispronunciations that are now accepted as official pronunciations (“Creepy paper” for crepe paper). All of these aren’t exclusively from the third season but you get my point. This season also had some phenomenal episodes with brilliant plotlines that murder mysteries would be jealous of.
The Show That’s Not Exactly What it Says on the Tin
The Sex Lives of College Girls isn’t a raunchy comedy. It may start off looking that way but it’s more about the girls than all the sex they’re having – or not having. Being what it is though, a show about first experiences in college, it does have cringe humor but it knows what it’s going for. It even goes into more depth than your typical teen show without losing the lighthearted touch.
The Best Show to Get You into a New Fantasy Universe
There were many great shows this year but few could fuel a fandom like Shadow and Bone. Sure, it was based on a series of already-popular books but the worldwide interest in the Grishaverse hit an all-time high when this show came out. This fantasy universe does worldbuilding well, has shippable characters for days, and leaves you with plenty to look forward to with the next season. And there are seven books you can read to get more of the characters while you wait.
The Best Show That’s Not an Adaptation But Feels Like One
This might be a weird superlative category but is Outer Banks a book was one of the most-searched questions you’ll find about this show, which the cast also addressed in a WIRED Autocomplete interview. This is a unique enough phenomenon that I had to include it. It feels like an adventure novel in the best way – a voiceover narration that could’ve been straight from the pages of a book, set in a town that feels like it exists in its own world, and oh, did I mention it’s also a treasure hunt? The second season came out this year and it managed to keep the pace without feeling like it was dragging on with a weak plot nobody asked for. And it definitely feels like it could’ve been a Book 2 of a series. Give it a watch and you’ll know exactly what I mean.
The Best Show That Can Make You a Better Person
Surprisingly, you can learn a lot from watching a guy who could barely take care of himself learn to be the only parental figure to his two younger sisters. Everything’s Gonna Be Okay is a show that handles sensitive topics with maturity and it aired its second and last season this year. It’s a progressive show in all the best ways. It’s never cringy and it’s never preachy, which, if you’ve seen a lot of shows this year, is apparently very hard to pull off (the last one didn’t even have a lot of reviews and it was essentially a show about learning to become a better person).
The Actually Best Show of the Year That You Can’t Really Include Because it’s Just Started
But I will do it anyway.
Since it’s based on a book that I adored and had a great cast and crew, I knew I’d like Station Eleven. After seeing the first three episodes that came out yesterday, I think I’ll love it. It’s a post-apocalypse story that takes place in different timelines – before a pandemic, right after the world’s practically ended, and much later when a new world is emerging from the remains. And yet, it’s hopeful. I suspect it’s going to be one of the first shows I cover next year.
And that’s the end of the recap. I hope you have enough shows to watch from this list that’ll tide you over for a few weeks.
I’m taking a hiatus for the holidays and On the Screen will be back on 7th January.
Until next year,
V
(Yes, I made that joke and I will not apologize, this year can’t end any sooner)