The NSV Awards: Best TV Of 2019

2019 was the year I got back on top of TV. After being overwhelmed in the last few years, I was finally able to catch up on many of the shows I desperately wanted to. However, I am still behind on Aggretsuko, Baskets, Harlots, Legion, Mr. Robot and You're The Worst so still got more work to do in 2020! Also, I missed out on a couple of acclaimed series like Couples Therapy, Derry Girls, Lodge 49, Ramy, The Righteous Gemstones, Shrill, Unbelievable, Undone and When They See Us, so that's why you won't see them. Hope you like my list even if you may not agree, and potentially discover your new favourite show! Also, top 5 anime of the year after the TV picks. Hoping to get back to blogging this year, so more content coming soon!

Top 25 TV Series Of 2019

Honourable Mentions:
A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO), Bob's Burgers (FOX), GLOW (Netflix), Grey's Anatomy (ABC), How To Get Away With Murder (ABC), Pose (FX) She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power (Netflix), Talkin' Bout Your Generation (Nine), Tuca & Bertie (Netflix)

25. One Day At A Time (Netflix)
The most painful cancellation I could remember. The Alvarez family has become like part of mine with the show's simple facade hiding an enormous heart that has a unique perspective on complex issues. Thank god for PopTV for swooping in and saving it. The Netflix axe is a cruel one.

24. The Good Place (NBC)
Didn't love the experiment arc as much as some of the others, mainly because I found Brent so grating and out-of-place within The Good Place's nicer worldview. I get that was the point but also ugh. The final two episodes of the year pointed an incredible way forward which the 2020 episodes are already paying off in spades. Extended writing on the finale up soon.

23. BoJack Horseman (Netflix)
The first half of BoJack Horsman's final season wasn't perfect for much the same reason I didn't love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's. After the intense lows, the process of healing is long, slow and kinda beautiful but by it's very nature has less dramatic thrust. That said, the final episode suggested a darker, more ambitious final 8 episodes so count me excited, nervous and ready to be profoundly upset.

22. Mao Mao: Heroes Of Pure Heart (Cartoon Network)

Image via IMDb

Delightfully dumb and endearing. The charmingly nerdy villain Orangusnake got me in but the series' willingness to go dark for a punchline made this delightful. 'Outfoxed' has the most traumatising moment in a kids show in ages.

21. Schitt's Creek (CBC/Netflix)
The nicest show on TV. A real word-of-mouth discovery for me, I just find it so relaxing and enjoyable to spend time with these characters which are somehow both incredibly over the top and yet realistically human. I really don't want to let these characters go.

20. I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson (Netflix)
"You have no good car ideas!" Anyone else quote that sketch almost daily? Makes all other awkward cringe comedy look awful.

19. Broad City (Comedy Central)

Image via TVLine

A devastating, beautiful, mature and very funny end for the Broads. I will miss them so much, but will always treasure their friendship.

18. Steven Universe (Cartoon Network)
Same problem as BoJack and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. After an exceptional and climactic run of episodes and a glorious movie (Spinel!), the 10 episodes of Future have been somewhat disappointing.

17. Superstore (NBC)
Remains the best show you've probaly never heard of. Working in retail this year has just made it all the more clear how perceptive, heartfelt and funny this show is.

16. RuPaul's Drag Race UK (BBC)

Image via NewNowNext

Finally, finally, finally a GREAT season of Drag Race! All it took was a new country, a crop of lovingly self-depreciating queens and renewed energy from RuPaul. The Frock Destroyers performance was pure joy and solidified entry onto this list. Made me excited to watch Drag Race for the first time in a loooong time.

15. Pen15 (Hulu)
The decision to have co-creators, Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, playing versions of themselves as teens while surrounded by actual teens shouldn't work, and yet it does brillaintly. Often painfully relatable, sex-positive and genuinely very funny. Want to know what school was like? Watch this.

14. Euphoria (HBO)

Image via Wonderland

A throw everything at the screen, hope something sticks kind of show which means it is occasionally brillaint, often confounding and always worth watching. It, in no way, feels true to what high school is actually like, but the emotions involved feel almost overwhelmingly real. Cinematic visuals and bold choices help this stand out. And what a performance from Zendaya.

13. Evil (CBS)
Traumatisingly terrifying but also very fun. The camraderie between the main cast is delicious and the scares genuinely make it hard to sleep. Hoping the buzz around this one keeps building.

12. Veep (HBO)
Selina Meyer finally recieved her deserved come uppance in a hilarious, wounding finale that pulled off what Game Of Thrones was trying to do in a way that was better and far more heartbreaking.

11. Chernobyl (HBO)
The skill shown by Mazin and Renck in taking an event many know vaguely and compressing it into succint, gripping, unforgettable TV is awe-inspiring. So many lingering moments return late at night as you remember decaying bodies, faces of dogs, an unbearable 90 seconds. More than that, Chernobyl educates us and critiques bureaucracy in a way that doesn't feel didactic, with powerful performances. Mini-series perfection.

10. Los Espookys (HBO)
Ridiculous with highly quotable running gags and mind-bogglingly silly visuals. Toss up between Ana Fabriega and Julio Torres as MVP. Leaning towards Torres who has a very distinctive queer comedic voice, writing some of the best SNL sketches of recent years and a truly weird HBO special.

9. At Home With Amy Sedaris (TruTV)

Image via Deadline

The fact that this is not available in Australia by legal means is cruel cos it makes it hard to recommend this to literally everyone I know. After a great first season, Sedaris stepped up the madness even further in the second batch of episodes. Picking a favourite episode is impossible, but each feels unique and special. Thank god this was renewed for a season 3. Australian streaming services, GET. ON. IT.

8. Joe Pera Talks With You (Adult Swim)
"And just like that I can feel my soul grow back." A show that's relaxing, healing nature feels at odds with Adult Swim's more traditional content, but somehow that feels perfect. The best things are those one discovers in the wee hours of the morning, something calm and peaceful, homely and wise. Gives me hope and moves me to tears.

7. Years And Years (BBC/HBO)
The scariest thing I watched all year, a glimpse into a terrifyingly plausible future with a cast of likable characters sucked into the awful pull of history. The bombastic soundtrack scores moments of unbearable horror (why is the bank shutdown the one I always remember?) yet it all feels far too real. The final episode is a cop out even if it does include a perfect speech.

6. Catastrophe (Channel 4)
Catastrophe has always been a funny show but after season three's dark cliffhanger, the series became something even more; a crushing, relatable hilarious take on what it means to be married even after everything falls apart. Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan have such natural, sweet chemistry that the cutting nature of their insults only becomes clear in a pitch-perfect series finale. That episode is masterful, a brutal look at the way humour can be used as a coping mechanism in a crisis but also how that is incredibly unhelpful sometimes (which, ahem, cough). And then a moment of transcendence, ending the story on a moment of hope and a beautiful question. Lovely.

5. The Other Two (Comedy Central)
The smartest, gayest comedy on air. I dare you not to be hooked after listening to this masterpiece of cringe comedy. And yes, also surprisingly poignant. If you liked Search Party, you'll love this.

4. Get Krack!n (ABC Australia)

Image via ABC iView

The Kates' merciless satire of the hollowness and cruelty of morning television was always a feminist and funny show, smart and cutting. But in its final episode, Miranda Tapsell and Nakkiah Lui take over the show. It becomes a primal scream of rage, frustration and despair against Australia's loooong history of racism that continues to this day. It's still screamingly funny but that moment Tapsell looks straight into the camera and yells "We are dying!" has haunted me all year.

3. Watchmen (HBO)

Image via Polygon

From the guy who created The Leftovers, I expected something interesting. What I got instead was something great. While that show was an examination of grief, this was arguably even more complex. By turning Alan Moore's iconic graphic novel inside out, Watchmen became an examination of race, superheroes and, most importantly, love. But more than that, it was just a joy to watch week-by-week something this well-composed from performance (King, Smart, Abdul-Mateen II), cinematography and especially Reznor and Ross' propulsive score. Whatever Damon Lindelof makes next (and it ain't gonna be another season of this), it's almost guaranteed to be a masterpiece. Watch this as soon as you can.

2. Succession (HBO)

Image via Washington Post

Succession looks just like any other prestige TV show about rich white assholes who, underneath it all, are just super sad. But watch any episode after about midway through its first season and you realise what a trick that is. While I don't buy it's a comedy exactly, it is bitingly hilarious. More than that, though, it's a story about family, about each of the Roys' desperate desire to be approved by their monstrous father. Everything becomes a power play, but no one is some godly chessmaster. They're all just trying to do their best to get by, to get love, even if by doing so they don't see all the people they're trampling on like kaiju. But we can never forget it due to smart filmmaking decisions, just like Anna Paquin's silence in The Irishman, the workers' silence is deafening. Structurally, the second season is damn near perfect, each episode focussed around a singular event, but keeping the season plotlines going. Watching the power plays, the sneaky betrayals, we grasp onto characters which is what made the season finale's final minutes so satisfying. We know an upheaval is coming and it'll be downright thrilling to watch. And probably devastating. God, I love this show.

1. Fleabag (BBC/Prime)

Image via Hollywood Insider

Any of my top three shows could very easily have been my number one, but it was only really Fleabag that felt right. Following an exceptional cult hit first season, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's show exploded into the zeitgeist thanks to a fab pantsuit, a hot priest and masterful writing. In only six episodes, Fleabag finds a way to heal from the wounds of her past, moving past her unhealthy coping strategies. The skill of the writing and the performances allows each relationship to be quickly sketched and explored. Each episode is perfection, but it's the final moments that linger. No spoilers here, but let's just say I would be very worried if there was another season. And also happy, just to see more of Fleabag's fourth wall breaks to the camera. By this point, Phobe Waller-Bridge has won all the awards and she deserves every single one. Long live Fleabag.

Top 5 Anime Of 2019

5. Food Wars! The Fourth Plate
A stronger than usual Food Wars! finally ends the infuriating but great Azami takes over the school arc with incredible victories and mouth-watering food.

4. Dororo
An update of the old Osamu Tezuka manga had some beautiful animation and complex things to say about the impact of war and trauma on those left behind.

3. Sarazanmai

Image via AnimeTrending

While not quite as thematically focussed as Kunihiko Ikuhara's previous work, queer fairytale Yurikuma Arashi, this was still a fun thought-provoking series about gender, same-sex relationships, growing apart and butt-sex metaphors via some of the gayest animation ever produced.

2. Mob Psycho 100 II
A better seascond season improved on the intriguing ideas of the first by focussing on Mob's isolation and his desperate attempts to quell his growing anger at the world. Truly stunning fight sequences made One Punch Man's abysmal second season look even worse.

1. Fruits Basket

Image via RandomCuriosity

The first iteration of Fruits Basket was my entry into anime and remains one of the best series I've seen so I was nervous about the new version. Somehow it's even better, funnier, sadder and smarter. I cry every episode without fail, so this is a lot like therapy for me.