Our 10 best TV shows of 2020

Our 10 best TV shows of 2020
The Queen’s Gambit.
PHOTO: Netflix

Who else spent the year of lockdowns binging TV shows?

I watched a ton of TV shows in 2020, and you can probably guess why. A certain pandemic kept us all at home for a long time, and if I can’t go out on weekends and cinemas are shut down, what else am I meant to do?

Be productive? Pick up a musical instrument? Pfft. I’ll spend my time watching TV shows and perfecting my Dalgona coffee recipe, thank you very much.

Fortunately, last year was flat-out incredible for TV shows. Older series returned for new seasons. Some new ones popped up. Others bowed out for good, and went on to sweep the Emmys. A list of 10 great shows doesn’t even begin to cover everything this year had to offer, but I’m going to try anyway. Here’s my pick for the 10 best TV shows of 2020:

10. Ted Lasso

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Ted Lasso is the Animal Crossing of TV shows. This comedy series follows the titular Ted Lasso, played by John Sudeikis, an American football coach who gets hired by an English football club. Needless to say, he’s a little underqualified.

This show really is something special, balancing likable characters and wacky comedy with tender, heartwarming moments. Ted Lasso's eternally sunny disposition was just the right kind of wholesome content we needed in a ridiculously gloomy year.

9. Never Have I Ever

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Netflix’s coming-of-age dramedy Never Have I Ever blew me away. Created by Mindy Kaling (The Office, The Mindy Project) and Lang Fisher, this series follows Devi Vishwakumar, a young girl in Los Angeles.

After regaining the use of her legs and grieving the death of her father, she returns to school resolving to reinvent the way she’s perceived by her peers. The entire series is also narrated by renowned tennis player John McEnroe. Don't worry, it makes sense later.

Never Have I Ever starts off fairly shaky, but it eventually blossoms into an earnest and hilarious comedy, with some really great Indian representation too. A fantastic start for what’s sure to go down as a classic.

8. The Queen’s Gambit

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By all likelihood, you’ve already seen The Queen's Gambit - it became Netflix’s most-watched scripted miniseries in just four weeks. The show follows the life of Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), an orphan who discovers her aptitude at chess at a young age. Thus begins her slow climb to the top of the world of professional chess, along with an increased dependency on drugs.

You wouldn’t think that a series about competitive chess would be as engrossing as this, but The Queen’s Gambit defies expectations at every turn. It’s a sports drama without all the traditional tropes one would expect.

After Beth wins a match, her opponents graciously admit defeat, and congratulate her on her win. Her adopted mother chooses to encourage her passion for chess, instead of dramatically going against it. Beth’s journey to the top might be predictable, but it somehow still feels so fresh. Anya Taylor-Joy unsurprisingly kills it, too - which makes me really excited to see her as Furiosa.

7. Doom Patrol Season 2

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Doom Patrol made 2019’s Top 10 list, and here it is again in 2020. Those who have seen the show would not be surprised, either. Doom Patrol continues to be the weirdest, most bizarre superhero story out there, but it’s also one of the best.

The series follows a group of broken people with even more broken superpowers, trying to deal with their traumatic past lives and the sorry state they now find themselves in. All that, while saving the world - as reluctantly as possible.

There’s an entire living street called Danny the Street. There’s a man who can alter reality by flexing his muscles, called Flex Mentallo. There’s a man fused with an animal, vegetable and mineral, aptly called… Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man.

The constant weirdness might seem overwhelming, but Doom Patrol balances it out with heart. These characters are so lovable despite their many flaws, and their journeys are painful, but they’re emotionally compelling.

This was a fantastic sophomore run for the show, and after that cliffhanger? Season 3 couldn’t come soon enough.

6. What We Do in the Shadows Season 2

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Taika Waititi’s comedy What We Do in the Shadows was adapted into a series, but here’s the twist - it’s amazing.

This Office-style mockumentary follows four centuries-old vampire roommates living together in Staten Island, getting up to shenanigans as they navigate modern life and meet other supernatural beings.

The series really hits its stride in its second season, with a surprisingly intriguing overarching story involving Guillermo - the vampires’ familiar, who’s learned that he might be descended from Van Helsing.

What We Do in the Shadows first season felt a little clumsy - like it was still trying to figure out where all these characters land comedically. This season feels decidedly more confident, packed with rapid-fire jokes and surprising cameos.

So many great episodes debuted - such as Colin’s Promotion, which could easily rival Waititi’s film in hilarity. If you’re not watching this show, you’re missing out on a whole lot of gothic fun.

5. Schitt’s Creek: Final Season

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Schitt’s Creek ended with a bang last year. And when I say bang, I mean that it set a record for most Emmy wins for a single television season, absolutely slaying the competition in 2020.

It’s just a pity that the show had to end right when it was at its peak in popularity - but you know what they say about all good things.

The Canadian comedy series follows a wealthy family stripped of all of their belongings, and dumped in a small town where their stature means nothing. 

The premise isn’t exactly new. Shows like Arrested Development have explored this space before, but Schitt’s Creek manages to stand apart thanks to its stellar main cast and the laugh-out-loud brilliance of its writing.

It’s warm, funny and so lovely throughout to watch, ending with a bittersweet finale that will make you wish you could experience it all again for the very first time.

4. The Boys Season 2

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Doom Patrol might have been the weirdest superhero show of 2020, but it had some pretty stiff competition. The Boys’ second season was a massive step up from its first, mixing in timely themes in a plot that had our anti-hero heroes on the run.

Billy Butcher is missing, Homelander and the rest of the Seven are aware of The Boys' existence, and they’ve also been branded vigilantes across America. It’s not about hunting superheroes this season - it’s about trying to survive. 

Season 2 gave us fantastic performances from Anthony Starr as Homelander and Aya Cash as Stormfront, and that alone is worth putting it on the list.

Everything else is icing on the cake - the insanely violent action, bloody plot twists, character drama and production value? It’s all top-notch. Take it from someone who didn’t even like Season 1: this show is not to be missed. 

3. Better Call Saul Season 5

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Better Call Saul has begun to eclipse Breaking Bad in quality, and any fan of Walter White’s meth making adventures is missing out if they’re not tuning in here.

This series explores the early years of Jimmy McGill, the man who later becomes White’s lawyer in Breaking Bad - Saul Goodman. In a series of flash-forwards, we also see Jimmy growing increasingly paranoid of his new life falling apart post-Breaking Bad. 

This season, Lalo Salamanca and Gus Fring’s disagreements come to a head, trapping Nacho Varga and Mike Ehrmantraut in an escalating conflict. This conflict eventually draws Jimmy and Kim Wexler in, too - with ugly consequences.

Every single member of this cast had a chance to shine in complex, often edge-of-your-seat tense stories with the highest stakes this series has ever had. Rhea Seehorn and Tony Dalton steal this show despite their scenery-chewing castmates, as Kim and Lalo - two formidable characters in their own right, who come to a gripping standoff this season. 

There’s nothing like Better Call Saul on TV, and it breaks my heart that it’s ending next year. It’s going out with a bang, though!

2. How to With John Wilson

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“It’s kind of like that show Planet Earth, but if it was only in New York, and David Attenborough was forced to film everything himself.”

How to With John Wilson debuted on HBO last year, and it stole my heart instantly. A man named John Wilson attempts to give viewers a guide on how to do everyday things, from making small talk to cooking the perfect risotto.

He wanders around New York and occasionally beyond in his investigations, talking to random passers-by and more often than not, getting sucked into their lives.

Wilson’s endless supply of B-roll is often a point of hilarity too, landing jokes simply by saying stuff like, "Hello, New York," and then showing us a pile of garbage. 

You might be thinking: “Well, this sounds like the most pointless show that’s ever existed.” To a degree, it is, but all TV is pointless - only serving as an escape to other worlds when we tire of our own.

How to With John Wilson covers this one, the one we live in, with a shocking amount of emotional intelligence. Its final episode deserves an Emmy, and the series as a whole has something to teach you - though it's definitely not how to cook the perfect risotto. 

1. Normal People

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2020 gave us a series adaptation of Sally Rooney’s book Normal People, and to me, that makes up for all of its transgressions. The Irish drama follows the lives of Marianne and Connell, starting from their time in secondary school to college graduates.

Connell keeps his relationship with Marianne secret in secondary school as he anxiously clings to social status, while she goes along with it thanks to her low self esteem. This relationship only grows in complexity as they spend the next few years together - sometimes romantically, sometimes not. 

Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal are a revelation, allowing unspoken thoughts and internal monologues from the book to be easily read in the smallest facial expressions and line deliveries.

Normal People isn’t an easy book to translate to TV, but each of these 12 episodes feels like its own complete story, and all of them flow together into the finale so well. Normal People is one of the best TV shows I have ever seen, and it’s certainly the best of 2020. 

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.

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