“A Series of Unfortunate Events”
“Just as the blunt-in-message and beautiful-to-behold production design works in the series’ favor by leaning into its allusions, “A Series of Unfortunate Events” proves as inspirational and endearing as it claims to be forlorn and heartbreaking. Not enough can be said for Neil Patrick Harris’ extensively ranged, yet perfectly measured performance, nor Sonnenfeld’s dedicated eye for depraved detail amid a story built on heart and hope.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: Netflix
“Abstract: The Art of Design”
“There’s a beautiful optimism in looking to the artists working in these turbulent days, and that’s something that ‘Abstract’ leans into, playing with the format in ways which prove captivating. We might yearn for more urgency to these stories, but they’re undeniably fascinating.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: Netflix
“Angie Tribeca”
“Portman, Pine, and the slew of other celebrity guests who pop up in the first five episodes of Season 3 — including Michaela Watkins with the best pop-in line of the year during Episode 3 — help keep “Angie Tribeca” among the best comedies out there. They’re all deeply aware that the spoof only works when you take it seriously. They’re all LeBron James, and they all do so much without ever touching the ball.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 3
Available Via: TBS, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1 & 2 also available on Hulu]
“Bates Motel”
“When it’s all said and done, ‘Bates Motel’ should stand as a worthy addendum to Hitchcock’s masterpiece and an enthralling story all its own. It doesn’t matter who came first. ‘Bates Motel’ has figured out how to have its characters and kill them, too.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 5
Available Via: A&E, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1-4 also available on Netflix]
“Better Call Saul”
“From what we’ve seen the show’s commitment to smart, engaged, and challenging storytelling has yet to falter. There are sequences that will make you ask questions. There are sequences that will offer very little explanation. But in pushing to understand, the experience becomes all the more richer.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 3
Available Via: AMC, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1 & 2 also available on Netflix]
“Big Little Lies”
“For all the hubbub about murder, ‘Big Little Lies’ is an intricate examination of what women want; from marriage, sex, motherhood, friendship, work — from life in general. By building their captivating individual stories around a development as drastic and tantalizing as murder, the series asks us to imagine how something so small could lead to something so big.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: HBOGO, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play
“Big Mouth”
“The show fuses adolescence and adulthood in a way viewers won’t be able to shake. ‘Big Mouth’ sends you back to when life was a big scary place, and then reminds you nothing has changed. ‘Life is a fucked up mess,’ the cast sings during the penultimate episode. (The songs deserve more than a parenthetical endorsement, but here we are — they’re great.) That may be so, but acknowledging the mess makes life easier, and ‘Big Mouth’ acknowledges every disgusting, beautiful part.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: Netflix
“Broad City”
“‘Broad City’ is still the sharp-witted, inventive, and outrageous comedy built on unbreakable pillars of friendship. Abbi and Ilana still smoke, drink, and party whenever they can — which is often — but there’s a notable shift in tone this season. The cold February during which the new episodes were shot evokes a more subdued reality, if not a stark one. Their adventures are more grounded as the mounting challenges of adulthood creep into their lives.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 4
Available Via: CC.com, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1-3 also available on Hulu]
“The Carmichael Show”
“In the end, ‘The Carmichael Show’ is a rare sitcom that isn’t afraid to call out its characters when they start acting like sitcom characters. And it makes for quite the conversation starter.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 3
Available Via: NBC.com, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1-2 also available on Netflix and Hulu]
“Catastrophe”
“Those who don’t want kids can enjoy the fact that the kids are rarely heard from in the show — Delaney and Horgan aren’t interested in telling those stories because the show isn’t about them. ‘Catastrophe’ chronicles how the responsibilities of parenthood affect the parents — as individuals and as a couple.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 3
Available Via: Amazon Prime
“Chef’s Table”
“Another season of “Chef’s Table” has been served, and while uniformly excellent, sometimes it’s difficult to decide which episode to watch first with such a wide variety of flavors. Should you start with familiar comforting fare, aka a chef who has a restaurant near you? Or with the most exotic in order to wake up your mental taste buds?”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 3
Available Via: Netflix
“Colony”
“We’re officially stating now: You have no good reason for not giving ‘Colony’ a chance. Yeah, ‘too much TV’ is a real issue we all contend with, but this fascinating drama — which grounds a sci-fi premise so deeply in the dirt you’ll leave episodes unsure which world you live in — deserves your attention.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 2
Available Via: USA, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Season 1 also available on Netflix]
“The Defiant Ones”
“‘The Defiant Ones’ hails the work of these producers (while showcasing simply incredible production values itself) without forgetting that they’re men, as well. Men have flaws, and for these two icons, the ultimate act of defiance might be showing them.”
Grade: A-
Available Via: HBOGO
“Episodes”
“This LeBlanc is as emotionally bottomed out as ever, and ‘Episodes’ remains as sneakily ruthless as anything on television. The character created by Jeffrey Klarik and David Crane remains the antithesis of phony sitcom personas. LeBlanc isn’t representing everyday Americans. He’s representing what Hollywood can do to an actor, to a person, if you’re stuck in the system too long.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 5
Available Via: Showtime Anytime [Seasons 1-4 also available on Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play]
“The Expanse”
“For, while there are still fun moments to be had, there’s an awful lot of darkness — ‘The Expanse’ has never skimped on pitch-black twists, especially when it comes to the horrors made possible by unchecked scientific advances, not to mention the cold animal reality of human nature. “
Grade: A-
Seasons: 2
Available Via: SyFy, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Season 1 also available on Amazon Prime]
“Fargo”
“Yet unlike many horror films, what keeps us coming back to ‘Fargo’ is that Hawley’s stories are always focused more on the good in people than the bad. We’re not tuning in to see the carnage, but to see who can escape it.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 3
Available Via: FX, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1 & 2 also available on Hulu]
“Feud: Betty and Joan”
“‘Sucks to be a lady,’ one side of ‘Feud’ seems to say. ‘Bitches be crazy,’ says the other. Perhaps the show’s crowning achievement is the fact that it can say both things at once, and both statements feel true — because both statements are symptoms of the same disease.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: FX, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play
“GLOW”
“Chronicling a start-up group of women’s wrestlers in the ’80s, the 10-episode half-hour comedy is edgy, both in quick bursts and its overall message, but still consistently light enough for fluffy fun. It’s a great pop song built around great pop songs. And the result is a great freshman season of TV, perfect for an invigorating summer binge.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: Netflix
“Halt and Catch Fire”
“Entering the final season, the AMC drama is running with the precision of swiss quartz. Moving rapidly without episodes ever feeling rushed, the pacing has reached a prime speed that somehow negotiates the series’ figuratively contradictory title.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: AMC.com, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1-3 also available on Netflix]
“Insecure”
“Season 2 is taking those break-ups and building something new. Issa and Molly are stronger characters because of what happened; Issa and Lawrence are, too. It’s exciting to see them learn from their mistakes while making new ones, rather than make the ones we expect them to make (albeit in charming, empathetic fashion).”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: HBOGO [Season 1 also available on Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play]
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
“Rarely do comedies last as long as this one has, and rarer still do they continue to challenge themselves as well as their viewers. Judge it however you like, but the gang has made it impossible to ignore ‘Sunny’ in 2017.”
Grade: A
Seasons: 12
Available Via: FX, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1-11 also available on Netflix and Hulu]
“Kingdom”
“‘Kingdom’ has always done an extraordinary job of portraying the specifics of a tight-knit community you have to earn your way into, and it’s not like the people within are easy to love. They’re hard-edged, stubborn, exorbitantly macho men made fascinating by how often life brings them to their knees. Whether they’re beating someone bloody or going out on the town, there’s a code among fighters — and a complicated one at that.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: DIRECTV.com
“Manhunt: Unabomber”
“‘Manhunt’ emerges as a far more subtle depiction of the 1990s, only occasionally indulging in reminders that a lot has changed in the last 20 years. It puts its biggest emphasis on the state of technology being used at this time. Otherwise, the series keeps the aesthetic details accurate, but as a non-intrusive element of a deliberately grim background.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via:
“National Treasure”
“But here’s the tragic truth: It’s not timely, because this story is always happening, the story of the powerful and their victims. And the nice thing about being powerful is that you don’t really need to care about your victims. Heck — you might not even know they exist.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via: Hulu
“Orphan Black”
“The show creates real, life-and-death stakes, and just as we’re lulled into the complacency of the usual thriller formula — a chase, a close call, a getaway — brutal, shocking and violent acts can occur. Sometimes this is at the hands of our favorite clones, so brace yourselves to feel conflicted or horrified.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via:
“Outlander”
“Here’s what keeps ‘Outlander’ forever gripping: Nothing ever happens easy. And nothing ever happens the way you’d expect, or when you might think. The end result is a rapturous experience — a blend of fairy tale and real life that defines the best, most authentic love stories, the ones that keep us on the edge of our seats.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via:
“The Path”
“Instead of aiming to recreate true events within its fictional world, Hulu’s compelling drama connects big bad cults and accepted religious institutions. Its subtle and direct threads carry immense power when tied together, making Season 2 neither a condemnation nor an endorsement of faith, but a call to see the light rather than remain willingly blinded by it.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 2
Available Via: Hulu
“Speechless”
“But viewers shouldn’t forget that ‘Speechless’ is a damn funny show even without the good vibes you get while watching. So sit back and enjoy the madness. This kind of controlled chaos only comes around every so often, and rarely is it this hysterical.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via:
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
“But before anyone gets worried about the message overwhelming the genre, let me remind you of how quick this comedy is with the jokes. Even after seven years of ’30 Rock’ and two seasons of ‘Kimmy,’ it’s still remarkable to kick back and watch — really watch — how fast and furious the punchlines arrive in Fey and Carlock’s creation.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 3
Available Via: Netflix
“Veep”
“A satirization of all power-hungry politicians, neutral to their party, past, or principles. But most importantly, it’s telling its own story. This is a serialized narrative that refuses to rewrite history in order to mock it.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 6
Available Via: HBOGO, Amazon Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play [Seasons 1-2 also available on Amazon Prime]
“What Would Diplo Do?”
“After so many narratives about tortured artists, it’s fun to simply enjoy the antics of someone who’s more talented than intelligent, featured in a show that’s not afraid to go silly or strange in the name of laughs. There seemingly isn’t anything Diplo wouldn’t do, and it’s entertaining as hell to find out what he would.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via:
“You’re the Worst”
“Through their physical separation and independent performances, Cash and Geere help ‘You’re the Worst’ become more of a black comedy than a romantic comedy in Season 4. It’s a study of fragility and insecurity from two people who act as if such things don’t exist — not for them. Not these two tough, hard-hearted lugs.”
Grade: A-
Seasons: 1
Available Via:
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