Whether it’s streaming, binging, or whatever, television shows are the best form of art right now. While everything at the megaplex is basically a superhero story, a young adult book adaption, or a remake, things on television are completely fresh. Here are 25 shows from this year you need to catch up on now. Spoiler alert: no Game of Thrones because I’m the only person in the world who hasn’t seen it. I do it to just infuriate my friends.
We’re halfway through 2016 and that means every pop culture site is going to make a “Best of 2016 (So Far)” type of post. I respect them. They help me catch things I may have missed. I also like to do one for my friends to enjoy. However, I never claim my list has the “best” of anything. Just my favorites, because I can admit something that isn’t meant to be a pinnacle of pop culture is my favorite. Like School of Rock being one of my Top 5 Recommended Films and Casablanca isn’t listed. Savvy?
This year has seen some of the best television ever in existence: Game of Thrones or Orange is the New Black to name a few. Those aren’t on my list, though. They’re maybe the “best” but my heart belongs elsewhere. Before I get into the list, I want to give a shoutout to the Marnie/Charlie episode of Girls. “A Panic in Central Park” was technically a bottle episode of a love it or hate it type of show, but it was more so an extremely well done short film. If you don’t watch Girls read Wikipedia to learn about the characters and then watch that episode.
Now for the list:
My mom loves Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. She just celebrated her 58th birthday and only likes Glee, Criminal Minds, Bones, and White Collar, but watched all of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with me. We started with season one a few months back and she was desperate for a second season. After trying to explain numerous times how Netflix original series release an entire season on one day, we set time aside to watch a few episodes at a time together.
She loves it so much. The slapstick, the goofiness, the singing. She likes it for how simple it is, which is part of the show’s genius. I, on the other hand, like it for… Well, read the title of this post.
Wow. This has been a year filled with extraordinary debuts. Some of them were expected – like a spinoff from one of the best dramas ever – and some of them weren’t – a techno-thriller that debuted on a network known for campy sitcoms – but all of them were stellar. What’s scary is that I haven’t even seen remotely close to all of them. I debated putting HBO’s miniseries Show Me a Hero on here, but decided to only include continuing series. Similarly, The Jinx was left off because it is a docu-series, and I only wanted fictional shows. However, I wanted to give them a shout out for captivating my attention.
Here we go:
ADAM VITCAVAGE 