The year in TV: 25–1

The most acclaimed TV shows of 2017, Part II

Part I, as well as the method behind this madness, can be found here.

25. This is Us (NBC)

Created by: Dan Fogelman

Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, Ron Cephas Jones, Jon Huertas, Alexandra Breckenridge, Erin Baker, Faithe Herman

“Expectations were crazy high after This Is Us’ breakout season, turning into a full-blown pop culture phenomenon. Fortunately fur us, the power of the Pearsons proved stronger than the dreaded sophomore season slump, with the new season delving deeper into the characters’ relationships, backstories and psyches. Equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking, This Is Us still manages to make us feel, laugh, cry, connect and just enjoy each episode.” — Tierney Bricker, E! Online

24. The Crown (Netflix)

Created by: Peter Morgan

Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Vanessa Kirby, Victoria Hamilton, Alex Jennings, Anton Lesser, Matthew Goode, Gemma Whelan, John Heffernan, Paul Sparks, Michael C. Hall, Jodi Balfour

“‘The Crown’s’ portrait of the British royal family in the early days of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign is so richly imagined that it stuns, and in the second season, the story’s emphasis on the marriage between Elizabeth (Claire Foy) and Philip (Matt Smith) carries the season to unexpected corners of emotional resonance. Their marriage is punctuated by tortuously long silences, in very British fashion; but thanks to Foy in particular, the season is even more affecting than the first.” — Sonia Saraiya, Variety

23. The Young Pope (HBO)

Created by: Paolo Sorrentino

Jude Law, Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando, Javier Camara, Scott Shepherd, Cecile de France, Ludivine Sagnier, Toni Bertorelli, James Cromwell

“Given the overstuffed year that would follow, it is astonishing that TV in 2017 peaked so early…[Director Paolo] Sorrentino’s first achievement was surpassing that reflexive judgment with the very joie de vivre so much sluggish television uses sex to make up for, guiding the viewer through an alternate-universe Vatican populated by CGI kangaroos and nuns with novelty T-shirts. The director’s second coup was successfully pushing The Young Pope past a celebration of its own eccentricities to an unlikely coming-of-age story. Neither would be possible without a tour de force from Jude Law, alternately fiendish and disarmingly naive in his portrayal of the wild-card pontiff. Together, The Young Pope’s seemingly disparate elements combined into the single most complete and cathartic viewing experience I had in 2017. Nearly a year after its January debut, The Young Pope remains as it was then: peerless.” — Alison Herman, The Ringer

22. Rick and Morty (Adult Swim)

Created by: Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon

Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, Sarah Chalke

“ Every episode of this cosmic cartoon is its own golden age of science fiction, devouring eons of genre tropes and philosophical conceits into a tight sitcom runtime. The long-awaited third season was funny, grotesque, and emotionally brutal…The cynicism was stunning, almost anti-human. One episode this season featured a whole metropolis of Rick and Morty doppelgangers living out a downbeat Dickens novel of dystopian social horror. But the series sparkles with imagination, can become a scathing parody of superhero movies and phantasmagoric space epic blending, a memory-twisting potboiler funnier than any Black Mirror but twice as smart. You can’t lose hope in humanity! Humanity invented Pickle Rick!” — Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly

21. One Day at a Time (Netflix)

Created by: Gloria Calderon Kellett, Mike Royce

Justina Machado, Rita Moreno, Isabelle Gomez, Marcel Ruiz, Todd Grinnell, Stephen Tobolowsky

“ This remake of the beloved Seventies CBS sitcom landed on Netflix way back in January, but despite the roughly 23,000 shows that have premiered since, One Day at a Time is still fresh in my mind. Centered on a single mother raising two kids with her own mother in Echo Park, Los Angeles, One Day gives Norman Lear’s original series a Cuban-flavored, contemporary update. It’s warm, funny, and perfectly plotted, a family show that feels specific and universal at the same time.” — Lara Zarum, The Village Voice

20. The Americans (FX)

Created by: Joe Weisberg

Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Holly Taylor, Keidrich Sellati, Noah Emmerich, Costa Ronin, Brandon J. Dirden

“If The Leftovers externalizes psychic strain, The Americans bottles it up, tamps it down, quiets it, deploying its changes of tempo — the silent stretch capped by the report of the gun, the argument accompanied by the awkward silence — to create a sublime charge. Anchored by four extraordinary performances, from Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell, Frank Langella and Holly Taylor, The Americans pursues its portrait of spies hemmed in by history until the terse language and succinct images come to represent the characters’ own evolution, turning inward as the passage of time turns their politics upside down. In other words, Season Five of The Americans is an ideal meeting of form and function, an ambitious family drama caught in the Cold War’s tightening vise: still one of the best shows on television.” — Matt Brennan, Paste

19. American Vandal (Netflix)

Created by: Dan Perrault, Tony Yacenda

Tyler Alvarez, Griffin Gluck, Jimmy Tatro, Camille Hyde, Eduardo Franco, Lukas Gage, Jessica Juarez, Lou Wilson, Camille Ramsey, Calum Worthy, G. Hannelius, Saxon Sharbino

“Whether you see this four-hour mockumentary series as a commentary on the American justice system, an achingly funny look at the rhythms of high school life, the nefarious nature of social media, or as a superbly crafted dick joke that is its comedic and storytelling engine, “American Vandal” is a sublime TV experiment. True to its crime documentary ancestors all the way up to the final sequences, it’s also a fascinating look at how meta-narratives can shape the stories we see. When rallying cries for justice and searches for the truth intersect with instant cultural fame, the result is something that two people whether subject or creator can fully control. It’s a testament to the power that this comedy can have when it can sustain the momentum and promise of its premise for each of its intricately plotted eight episodes.” — Indiewire

18. Stranger Things (Netflix)

Created by: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer

Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobbie Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalie Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Sean Astin

“The first season of Stranger Things was such a fun, retro surprise that it seemed impossible for its follow-up to recapture any of that magic. I was happy that it not only did, but also gave its story of demogorgons from the Upside Down even greater emotional weight. For those who still think this show is only popular because it riffs so blatantly on ’80 pop culture, I also offer this: My 10-year-old son, who tends to mainly be into YouTube videos and sitcoms that wrap up their conflicts within 22 minutes, got completely sucked into this show this year. It was the first time I’ve seen my boy captivated by an ongoing story line and actively dissecting its many elements. So for me, this show wasn’t just very good. It was a personal gift.” — Jen Chaney, Vulture

17. Legion (FX)

Created by: Noah Hawley

Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza, Bill Irwin, Jeremie Harris, Amber Midthunder, Katie Aselton, Jean Smart

“Legion intentionally avoids dating itself with any specific period signifiers, which, combined with its kaleidoscopic cinematography and psychedelic soundtrack, makes the show swing from sensory deprivation to sensory overload. But Hawley’s greatest trick — and he really goes for broke here — is that every single one of these choices is purposeful, leaving the audience on shakier ground than any season of his Fargo series. But what pulls us (and David) back from the brink is Legion’s strong emotional core: Underneath the dazzling display is a search for love and meaning. It doesn’t get much simpler, or better, than that.” — Danette Chavez, AV Club

16. GLOW (Netflix)

Created by: Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch

Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Sydelle Noel, Britney Young, Marc Maron

“Like any true work of art, GLOW seemed uncannily tapped into deep ley lines of 2017 culture. The women’s struggle on the outskirts of Hollywood caught the #MeToo drumbeat early. (Here’s a whole superteam of Wonder Women!) And the season-climactic wrestling match builds to a symbolic showdown between the US and Russia, a Cold War fantasy gone furiously topical. But like any true work of art, GLOW creates its own specific context. That final US-Russia duel is a performance by Ruth and Debbie, in character as Soviet empress “Zoya the Destroya” and Reaganite heroine Liberty Belle. It climaxes with Debbie climbing to the top rope of the wrestling ring, preparing a final flying move. The climax is the jump, thrilling as any moment from any sports movie. But I’ll never forget Debbie’s climb, her journey to the top rope as invigorating as the sound of a shattering glass ceiling. Rise, Liberty! Rise!” — Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly

15. Master of None (Netflix)

Created by: Aziz Anzari, Alan Yang

Aziz Anzari, Noel Wells, Kelvin Yu, Lena Waithe, Alessandra Mastronardi

“Aziz Ansari has been reluctant to commit to when, or even if, there might be a third Master of None season, and it’s hard to blame him. Season two was even more ambitious than the already-great season one, changing identities wildly from episode to episode, whether a black-and-white ode to Italian cinema, a triptych of short stories not involving any of the show’s regular characters, or a time-spanning Thanksgiving story about how Dev’s friend Denise (Lena Waithe, whose script with Ansari won the Emmy) gradually came out to her family. And intertwined with those many successful experiments was a slow-simmering romance between Dev and his Italian pal Francesca (Alessandra Mastronardi) that nimbly maneuvered around all the complications involved. If we never get another season, this was a heck of a farewell.” — Alan Sepinwall, Uproxx

14. Mindhunter (Netflix)

Created by: Joe Penhall

Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Hannah Gross, Anna Torv, Cotter Smith

“It might have been that “Mindhunter” was a retread of territory that’s been mined frequently since “Silence Of The Lambs” blew up, but the detail and psychological realism with which Fincher and co examine the minds of serial killers here makes it something else — academic, disturbing, often wryly funny, oddly. And in many ways, it’s not really about the serial killers: it’s about, well, the mind, and the way that men’s treatment of women permeates and corrupts every layer of society. With everyone from Fincher’s fellow directors Asif Kapadia, Tobias Lindholm and Andrew Douglas, to an impeccable cast of mostly new faces, bringing their A-game, it’s a show we didn’t so much binge as inhale, and we’re counting the days until season two.” — The Playlist

13. BoJack Horseman (Netflix)

Created by: Raphael Bob-Waksberg

Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Paul F. Tompkins, Alison Brie, Aaron Paul

“That Netflix’s animated comedy manages to pinpoint the character of the zeitgeist and map a few of the ways through it is at the heart of its profound genius, always slipping, almost imperceptibly, from silver-tongued satire to pathos and back…In BoJack, the backdrop to the characters’ familiar foibles — their unthinking insults, their unspoken apologies, their selfish choices, self-doubt, self-flagellation — is the even more familiar crassness of lobbyists, donors and campaign managers; of studio heads, ambitious agents, stars on the make; of cable news anchors, dimwitted columnists, “Ryan Seacrest types”; of a social order so inured to insincerity, whataboutism, political profiteering, environmental collapse that being kicked in the stomach starts to feel like a gift. In short, BoJack Horseman is the defining series of our time, and also a handbook for surviving it.” — Matt Brennan, Paste

12. Better Call Saul (AMC)

Created by: Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould

Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, Michael McKean, Giancarlo Esposito

“The third and best Saul season so far incorporated more Breaking Bad elements than ever before, with Giancarlo Esposito finally turning up as chicken man Gus Fring, who tried to avoid war with Hector Salamanca. All of that was a blast to watch, yet the strongest half of the season by far involved the McGill brothers, as Jimmy and Chuck played increasingly dirty in their war with each other, building up to the riveting courtroom battle in “Chicanery,” then the tragic events of the season finale. We’ve reached a point where some fans are wondering if Saul has become better than its parent series. I wouldn’t go that far — the stakes of Saul are by design always going to be smaller, and thus leave a lower ceiling than the story of Walter White — but the fact that it’s not an utterly ridiculous comparison to one of the greatest dramas ever made is a testament to what the prequel has become.” — Alan Sepinwall, Uproxx

11. Game of Thrones (HBO)

Created by: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss

Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Aiden Gillen, Gwendoline Christie, Nathalie Emmanuel, Liam Cunningham, John Bradley

“It’s been a banner year for nuance and observation in TV storytelling. So let’s take a break to celebrate unbridled bombast and scale. Game of Thrones can, as always, be infuriating to watch, but damn if this year it didn’t up the ante in its attempt to dazzle. And dazzle it did, be it with zombie dragons, scorched-earth battles, CGI walls crashing down, and even the titillation of a little aunt-and-nephew incest. Sure, few shows drum up hyperbolic enthusiasm with as much exasperating volume as Thrones. But in a year this bleak, we’d rather amplify the joy than attempt to turn it down.” — Kevin Fallon, The Daily Beast

10. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW)

Created by: Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna

Rachel Bloom, Donna Lynne Champlin, Vince Rodriguez III, Scott Michael Foster, Pete Gardner, Vella Lovell, Gabrielle Ruiz, David Hull

“It’s a fantastic ensemble piece about mental illness — with singing and dancing! One of TV’s most audacious shows is also one of its funniest and most smartly put-together. “CEG” sharply skewers rom-com tropes and TV cliches even as it provides an honest, fascinating look at a woman who’s unable to be truthful about the foundations of her pain and self-sabotage. From the day it began, “CEG” has continually upped its game, and in Season Three, the writers, songsmiths and ensemble cast brought the comedy to a whole new level of awesome. “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is a treasure.” — Maureen Ryan, Variety

9. Halt and Catch Fire (AMC)

Created by: Christopher Cantwell, Christopher C. Rogers

Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishe, Toby Huss

“Sometimes, though, hope-watching is worth it, as proven by this underwatched AMC drama following four characters from the dawn of the personal computer era through the early days of the internet. What was, in its early days, easily (and, to a degree, fairly) dismissed as a pale and confused imitation of the era’s great dramas in time became a great drama in its own right. This fourth and final season, featuring fortunes rising and falling, love, heartbreak, death, and inspiration, stacks comfortably against the many shows to which this one was once so unfavorably compared, and the finale — particularly the eight words at the climax of it — is a wonder.” — Alan Sepinwall, Uproxx

8. The Deuce (HBO)

Created by: David Simon, George Pelecanos

James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Chris Bauer, Gary Carr, Chris Coy, Dominique Fishback, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Margarita Levieva, Emily Meade, Natalie Paul, Michael Rispoli

“Though it took a little while to get going, those who stuck with The Deuce saw it pay off in spades. The HBO series managed to make me interested in a time period and subject I’m not particularly drawn to (the rise of the porn industry in 1970s New York City), but another set of deeply considered characters like those Simon populated The Wire with ultimately won me over. And while I would have been fine with the story of The Deuce just focusing primarily on Maggie Gyllenhaal’s empowered prostitute Candy, the layered tale explored a number of intriguing stories revolving around this volatile but mostly forgotten setting. James Franco also surprised in his duel roles by bringing an unexpected warmth to the series as Vincent, and a clear portrait of a hustler in Frankie. Though it could be rough to watch (it is the literal definition of NSFW), it examined a cross-section of city dwellers with its sprawling cast — including Dominique Fishback, Chris Bauer, and Method Man — who all gave inspired performances that made me care deeply about each of their character’s fates.” — Allison Keene, Collider

7. Insecure (HBO)

Created by: Issa Rae, Larry Wilmore

Issa Rae, Jay Ellis, Yvonne Orji, Lisa Joyce, Natasha Rothwell, Amanda Seales, Y’lan Noel

“Coming-of-age stories have naturally evolved to an interesting place in recent years: the thirties. In many respects, it’s a richer time in a person’s life to mine, something that’s certainly evident by Issa Rae’s Insecure, in which the character of Issa and her friends, on the verge of the big three-oh, struggle to figure out who they are at work, in relationships, to society, and in their own truths. Season two of Insecure imbued more grit — not to mention a game-changing money shot — into Rae’s raucous storytelling, producing a string of episodes that felt more intimate, relatable, and (this is important) blacker than before. In other words, Insecure got more confident.” — Kevin Fallon, The Daily Beast

6. Better Things (FX)

Created by: Pamela Adlon

Pamela Adlon, Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood, Olivia Edward, Celia Imrie

“Pamela Adlon’s semi-autobiographical dramedy reaches new heights in its sophomore season, retaining the series’ painstaking realism as it explores more imaginative emotional terrain. From the “funeral” of “Eulogy” to the modern dance of “Graduation,” Better Things transforms kinship, its problems and possibilities, into an impressionistic, often dreamlike experience; for each thorny conversation and uncomfortable silence, there’s a flight of fancy suffused with love. Recklessly funny and slyly affecting, the series’ frank dispatches from the life of actress Sam Fox (Adlon), raising her three children and sparring with her mother (Celia Imrie), ultimately manage to transcend the connection to disgraced co-creator and co-writer Louis C.K.: From the artful direction to the set decoration to the hand-me-down costumes, Better Things is Adlon’s own. — Matt Brennan, Paste

5. Big Little Lies (HBO)

Created by: David E. Kelley

Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard, Adam Scott, Zoe Kravitz, James Tupper, Jeffrey Nordling, Laura Dern

“It was invigorating to see this many terrific actresses — Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz — dominating an ensemble and revealing, episode after episode, that there was real depth beneath the perfect, seemingly pigeonholed women they played...But in retrospect, the most remarkable thing about Big Little Lies is how perfectly suited it was to 2017, a year that began with a women’s march and is ending with a chorus of female voices speaking out against abusive men. Before #MeToo became a hashtag, the Monterey moms of this brilliant HBO series showed us what it looks like when women band together and push back (in this case, pretty literally) against violence and misogyny.” — Jen Chaney, Vulture

4. The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Created by: Bruce Miller

Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel, Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, O.T. Fagbenle, Max Minghella, Samira Wiley, Amanda Brugel

“There’s no way The Handmaid’s Tale could’ve fathomed how incredibly prescient it would be. But as women’s rights were chipped away this year, the story of a dystopian near-future where women are held as slaves and forced to procreate is a harrowing and plausible fiction…The performances are magnificent: Moss’ star turn as Offred, who despite acting passive has a consistent undercurrent of rage; Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy, a woman who’s buried her moral compass in order to mask her sorrow with cruelty; and Emmy winner Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia, who rules the Handmaids with unwavering authority but still manages to make us believe she loves her charges. Visually stunning (the Handmaids’ red capes were instantly iconic), the ten episodes breathtakingly unfold via both flashbacks and current horrors. Under His eye, we were all captivated.” — Amy Amatangelo, Paste

3. The Good Place (NBC)

Created by: Michael Schur

Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, D’Arcy Carden, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, Manny Jacinto

“If nothing else, The Good Place deserves show-of-the-year honors for so joyously, humorously, and compassionately depicting the struggle to live morally and ethically in an ever-evolving hellscape overseen by lava monsters and their thin-skinned, petty-tyrant colleagues. It earns this distinction by doing all of that while also making good on its first-season leap of faith… Now that it’s biggest secret is out (and out and out and out), where can’t The Good Place go?” — Erik Adams, AV Club

2. Twin Peaks: The Return (Showtime)

Created by: David Lynch, Mark Frost

Kyle MacLachlan

“A weekly mind-effing event the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the first year of Lost. This 18-hour series from Twin Peaks co-creators David Lynch and Mark Frost wasn’t a straightforward continuation of the story, but something more like a series of variations or improvisations on familiar characters and situations. It took a while to grasp that it was a largely non-narrative experience, conceived in terms of light and shadow, rhythm and visual rhyme, color and music (most hours ended with a full-length musical performance). Episode eight, which reconceived the postwar history of the United States in mythological terms starting with the first atom bomb test, is a masterpiece; at least five other episodes are nearly as good.” — Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture

1. The Leftovers (HBO)

Created by: Damon Lindelof, Tom Perrotta

Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Christopher Eccleston, Amy Brenneman, Chris Zylka, Margaret Qualley, Scott Glenn, Regina King, Kevin Carroll, Jovan Adepo

“But as I…thought back on the year that’s about to end, I couldn’t help noticing how unwittingly The Leftovers turned out to be the show of 2017 not only for its staggering quality, but because so many of its ideas wound up thematically mirroring the history we’re all living through: a fundamentally broken world that has ceased to make sense for too many people in it…Years from now, if someone were to ask me not what happened in 2017, but what it felt like — not just in the moments of utter confusion and despair, but the ones of unexpected mirth, joy, and sheer disbelief (good or bad) at what we’re seeing — I might just hand them this season.” — Alan Sepinwall, Uproxx

Fan of a show here? Upset your fave didn’t make the cut? Leave a comment! This was fun to make, and I’d love to discuss them and get some fresh recommendations.