REVIEW: The best of television 2019

The inordinate amount of good television this year made this list especially hard to compile. With busy work weeks and a packed TV schedule, I have to be honest and say there were a few shows I wanted to catch up on before this list, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

But, based on what I did see, here were the most exciting, jaw-dropping shows of 2019.

True Detective

After a splendidly horrible take during season two, True Detective took two years to come back with a third outing, but it was entirely worth it.

Pairing Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali as Detective Hays with fading star Stephen Dorf as Detective West allowed for a gritty, brutal third season as the two pushed to catch a ritualistic serial killer.

Creator Nic Pizzolatto got back the depth and insight that had been missing from season two, and the two leads found a groove in this story about a murder case closed too soon.

It was some of the most challenging television of the year, and it was a return to form for True Detective.

This Is Us

With a series of fresh plotlines, This Is Us brought series creator Dan Fogelman back to his roots after his failed film Life Itself.

The 2019 Emmys have seen Sterling K. Brown, Milo Ventimiglia, Ron Cephas Jones, Michael Angarano, Phylicia Rashad, Mandy Moore, and Chris Sullivan Emmy nominations, as well as one for Outstanding Drama Series.

I would contend it was the best season yet for the dramedy, as characters and plotlines converged – and histories unfolded – to bring new depths to the characters and their emotions.

As it hits mid-season for its fourth season, it shows no signs of slowing down. Expect it on the list next year too.

Schitt’s Creek

A show that was entirely, previously unknown to me has become my absolute favourite comedy on air.

This CBC gem enters its final season in January, which breaks my heart, because I feel like I’m just getting to know the eclectic Rose family.

The show, created by father-son duo Dan & Eugene Levy, features the family as former VHS video store magnates who find themselves broke and living in the small, strange town the patriarch took ownership of in a card game years prior.

As they go from fortune to shacking up in a shabby motel named after them, the Rose’s must learn to live like the Romans.

The absolute best part of this show is the ensemble: Eugene and Dan Levy, along with Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy are the funniest cast I’ve seen on screen in years, and their dynamic is fantastic.

Gloriously championing LGBTQ+ and cringingly endearing, this is can’t-miss TV at its finest.

Shameless

Ah, let me present the Gallaghers. For nine years they’ve graced screens and shocked audiences with just how far the HBO series is willing to take things.

As they enter their final season, this show about a Chicago family dealing with poverty, a drunken father and the oldest sister as the matriarch is brash, bold and more laugh-out-loud entertaining than ever.

Featuring a grown-up cast who have come into their own completely, Emmy Rossum & William H. Macy stole the screen this year. With supporting performances from Ethan Cutkosky, Jeremy Allen White, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney and Cameron Monaghan, this is one of the best assembled casts on TV.

Shameless will go down as my favourite show of all time, and if you’re not caught up on this Americanized version of the British favourite, it’s time to get around to it.

Barry

For a show that hit a comedic stride in its first season, Barry absolutely flipped the switch on viewers for the second outing.

Bill Hader – who had an incredible year and was the standout in the otherwise-meh IT: Chapter Two – is bound for an Emmy in this performance as a hitman who dreams of being a stage actor.

As his real life begins to blend and create issues with his life as a deadly assassin, he’ll do anything to try to gain some normalcy.

Supporting performances from a career-best Henry Winkler, Stephen Root and newcomer Anthony Carrigan, this show kept me on the absolute edge of my seat.

Animal Kingdom

This show based on the mega-awesome Australian movie of the same name went from a great to a legendary show this year.

Focusing on a Southern California family of schemers and robbers, Ellen Barkin comes into the fourth season with her best performance in decades. She is so good at matriarch and power-hungry mom and grandma Smurf that you’ll be reeling.

As a show completely unafraid to surprise us, push boundaries and take its time building a story, season four was a wonderful, delicate slow-burn that paid off in spades.

With particularly good performances from Shawn Hatosy as loose cannon brother Pope, Jake Weary as Deran, and Finn Cole as grandson J, the exploits of the Cody family are pretty spectacular this year.

When They See Us

In what is probably the most egregious snub in recent Golden Globes history, this incredible mini-series was shut out.

I can’t even begin to tell you how important and truly momentous this series was. It is based on the true story of the Central Park five, about a group of teens from Harlem falsely accused of an attack in Central Park.

The performances – from child actors to adults – are across the board fantastic. With special note to Jharrel Jerome, John Leguizamo, Asante Blackk and Niecy Nash, this cast gave absolutely everything.

This show will make you bawl, and for good reason. It’s the hardest thing you’ll watch this year – and should be required viewing.

Pose

The category is: Most cry-worthy show of 2019. The winner, by a longshot, is the second season of creator Ryan Murphy’s Pose.

This send-up of drag ball culture and the world of AIDs in the late 1980’s New York City was among the best television of the year.

Billy Porter – as glamourous ball host Pray Tell – is an absolute revelation, and delivers one of the most intense performances of the year, in any show.

It’s funny, it’s sweet, and over this second season, we find ourselves rooting for and loving these characters like they’re our own family.

10’s across the board.

The Boys

Amazon’s bad-boy superhero show was an answer to all the Marvel heroes floating out in the film and television ethos.

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if superheroes went rogue, then The Boys is absolutely for you.

It’s tongue-in-cheek, endlessly crude, gory and hard-R rated, and that’s exactly the change in the genre I was looking for.

Seeing stars Karl Urban, Anthony Starr, Jessie T. Usher, Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford and the rest of the ensemble live in the name of bad taste gave me everything I was looking for.

Succession

This show about a patriarch and the media dynasty he controls shows just how quickly family can turn on you for a dollar.

It also serves as a career showcase for Brian Cox, the father puppeteer, pulling the strings of his familial subjects on a whim for fancy and fun.

This dysfunctional family drama is bold, crass and absolutely nerve-racking as we watch the limits these people will take each other to in order to gain an edge.

The cast – including the incredible Cox, Nicholas Braun, Sarah Snook and standouts Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong and the delightful Matthew Macfadyen, make this glorious show worth it.

Honourable Mentions:

Watchmen, Billions, City On A Hill, Queer Eye, The Orville, Modern Family, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Chi, The Morning Show, Stumptown, The Unicorn, Mandalorian

Shows I Missed:

Fleabag, Russian Doll, Stranger Things, Orange Is The New Black, Killing Eve, Sex Education, Mindhunter, American Horror Story, Jack Ryan, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Fosse/Verdun, Mr. Robot, The Umbrella Academy.