My 20 Favorite Television Experiences from 2021

I have watched 100 television series (or events) in their entirety this year. All of them I enjoyed enough to keep watching. Some of them were mere distractions. Some felt truly fresh and original. What follows are my 20 favorites that I watched in 2021 — a few of which were catch ups from 2020 or even before — but together they represent a snapshot of some of my favorite media experiences of the year. They are listed in alphabetical order.

Atypical — This family drama-comedy wrapped up its final season, and stuck the landing. This series was heart-felt from start to finish, telling a story about a neuroatypical young man, his family and his friends, as they work together to help him develop the life skills he needs to live on his own terms.

Betty — I am so not the demographic for this half-hour drama about a group of young, female, mostly queer, mostly BIPOC skateboarders, but once I started watching, I could not stop. Betty has the look and feel of an underground movie shot mostly hand held by people riding boards as these women confront everything the world throws at them. If you felt that Mind the Gap used skateboarding to teach you something about working class masculinity, Betty uses skateboarding to teach us about contemporary feminism.

Bosch — I can’t figure out why it took me this long to discover this first-rate police drama but when I did find it, I fell hard. My wife, my mother-in-law, and I watched all seven seasons in a two month period this year, and I would have gladly have stayed for more. Perhaps my favorite aspect was the rich portrayal of Los Angeles, including one episode which took place almost entirely on my block in DTLA.

Dickinson — Between Emily Dickinson and Kate Bishop, Hailee Steinfeld had one heck of a good year. This is such a literate and intelligent comedy, one which reads the New England book culture of the 19th century as if it was a contemporary coming of age series. Some of the best moments in season 2 dealt with the raw emotions surrounding the Civil War and the ways our characters process the fad for opera, both very historically specific, but the glue that holds it together is Steinfeld and the other cast playing characters that feel totally anachronistic in those candle lit parlors. In this same spirit, I am looking forward to seeing season 2 of The Great.

Gentefied — A Mexican-American family — stronger together than they are as individuals — battle gentrification, economic issues, and the threat of deportation, even as they find love and figure out who they want to be in life. What really works here is the particularity of these characters and the locally specific culture they inhabit.

Hacks — I don’t do cringe comedy and this one has plenty of cringe-worthy moments of human embarrassment. Every time the characters start to seem likable and more to the point start to like each other they do something else which is really nasty or otherwise messes up their relationship. But, I still love the relationship between an old school comedy and her very new school gag writer.

High on the Hog: An enlightening account of the historic evolution of southern cooking, tracing its roots back to Africa, through slavery, and into its current revival. I ended up going to Charleston and pigging out on some of the foods depicted here — part of my Southern heritage.

Lupin — This was the perfect getaway series of this year — beautiful locations, smart long-cons and heists, a compelling protagonist, an over-arching revenge saga, witty dialogue, and fast-paced action.

Masters of the Universe - Revelations — Kevin Smith’s intelligent revamp of the He-Man franchise is like the very best fan fiction. It fleshes out the long-neglected female characters, it fills in important bits of back story, it explores the emotional and psychological consequences of the action, it raises the stakes by killing off. (and resurrecting) beloved characters, it asks and answers questions fans have long speculated, and otherwise it offers a compelling drama for anyone who grew up watching the series (or in many case, was a parent who saw the episodes way too many times when it first aired). I liked a number of animated series this year — from Harley Quinn to Star Trek Below Decks to Invincible to What If? and Star Wars Visions— but this is the one which has stuck with me the most.

Only Murders in the Building — Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez are spectacular together, add a supporting cast full of old favorites, toss in a compelling who-dun-it and a deft spoof of true crime podcasts, and shake well. So much fun!

Q, Into the Storm — This is the television documentary series that I have spent the most time thinking about this year — a compelling, unflinching look at Q-Anon, which hit me between the eyes because I recognized that its roots lie in the participatory culture and politics that I have so often embraced through my writing over the years.

The Queen’s Gambit — I waited longer than I should to catch up with this one because I couldn’t imagine being compelled by a television series about chess. I was wrong. Nuff Said. And then I repeated the same kinds of mistakes by being late to the party on Mayor of Easton, Cruel Summer, and The White Lotus, which each packed the drama and brought the feels, but I didn’t find them as compelling as watching this woman kicks on a chessboard.

Reservation Dogs— This remarkable series was more than a breakthrough in representation, introducing us to a range of Native American characters, created by a mostly Indigenous writer’s room, though it is certainly that. It has the surrealism of Atlanta at its best, the character focus of early Master of None or Ramy, and distinctly deadpan Native American sense of humor that can catch you totally by surprise. I also liked Rutherford Falls, especially in its treatment of debates around local history and controversial monuments and its depiction of what happens when the Red world meets the White world. But in retrospective, it felt more conventional than Reservation Dogs.

Sex Education— This is so much more than a teen sex comedy with much of this season centering on the choices the adult parents made, especially the ethical dilemmas which teachers face when the new principal runs roughshod over the rights and emotional needs of the students.

Snowpiercer — A Korean film based on a French graphic novel turned into an American television series produced by a multinational corporation makes the affirmative case for class warfare and ultimately revolution. Daveed Diggs steals the show, but he is well supported by Jennifer Connelly, Allison Wright, and Mickey Sumner, among others. It’s your basic post-apocalyptic saga. See also Y the Last Man and Sweet Tooth for stories which felt a bit more uneven but also had something to say to a world still in pandemic lockdown.

Squid Game — Brutal. yes — that’s the word, brutal. Korean popular media is riding on a high right now. And this is the series that took the world by storm. By now, you have decided whether you want to watch it or not. I watched it. I couldn’t stop watching it. And I would watch more. I also watched Hellbound and could. not look away, but ultimately not as impactful.

Survivor Australia — After a long drought last year of reality competition series, I checked out the down under counterpart of American Survivor, which has long reached my attention from fan discussions but is now legally available at the Paramount streaming site. The most recent season is one of the best in Survivor history, thanks to the “cockroach of Bankstown” — a political operative who always has another trick up his sleeve. I had mixed responses to the new American Survivor with its format and rules changes — some good characters and more or less satisfying outcome, but Australian Survivor ultimately interested me more.

Ted Lasso — soooo good! Maybe not as fresh as the first season, but it brought in some darker moments that helped to round out our understanding of Ted and brought its female characters more screen time. And Roy Kent gets funnier in each new episode, as the gruff, no nonsense baller copes with life off the footy field.

Wandavision — The MTU (Marvel Television Universe) has brought me so much pleasure across the year. This one took two characters — Scarlet Witch and Vision — which had failed to register with me in the films and did something really fresh and compelling. This series put meta in the multiverse with its evocations of the history of American sitcoms and its account of the worlds which people create out of their denial when mourning a traumatic loss. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had its moments — mostly involving Isaiah Bradley. Loki was amazing in its own way. What if? was hit or miss but when it hit, it draws real blood. And Hawkeye ended the year with a bang! Those scenes between Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova do for superheroes what Killing Eve did for spies, and I can’t take my eyes off Maya Lopez when she’s on my small screen. And I am going to be really intrigued to watch Doctor Strange deliver on all of these trans media hooks and Easter eggs.

We are Lady Parts — This under-rated British series delights with its portrayal of an all-female, all-Muslim punk rock band, with each character giving us a different representation of the ways these women negotiate their faith and their family lives to find room to express themselves when they go on stage.

Honorable Mention (Other than those mentioned above): Bridgerton; The Chair; Doom Patrol; Great Pottery Throw Down; How to; Young Rock, As the new year begins, I am enjoying watching Maid, Lost in Space, Station 11, and The Beatles: Get Back but not far enough along to put any of them on my list.