In an otherwise resoundingly terrible year, 2020 did give us the only thing anyone can count on anymore, which is television (for now anyway, before covid-19 production delays catch up with forthcoming release dates).
From Netflix to Hulu to HBO Max, 2020 might well have turned your love affair with streaming into a full-time committed relationship. As the world starts to open up, it’s tempting to go back to life as it used to be, but still undeniably safer to stay home and keep streaming. For that, here are the best TV shows of 2020 (so far).
15. Solar Opposites
“Solar Opposites” made life on Earth a little more bearable this year.
Image: Hulu
The promise of “another Rick and Morty” may have helped Solar Opposites gain its initial audience, but it’s the series’ unwavering individuality that will keep fans coming back. Created by Justin Roiland and former Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan, this story of an alien family crash landing on Earth served as a bright spot in our all-too-dark universe this spring TV season. Combining edgy, adult humor with a cast of lovable intergalactic pals made for a sublime viewing experience, one that didn’t hold comedic punches, avoided copying genre competitors, and never got too cynical. Korvo, Terry, Yumyulack, Jesse — and yes, the Pupa — are easily among the most iconic characters introduced this year. And given that cliffhanger, Season 2 can’t come fast enough. — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: Hulu
14. What We Do in the Shadows
Kayvan Novak as Nandor and Natasia Demetriou as Nadja in FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.”
Image: russ martin / fx
It’s a neat trick that What We Do in the Shadows pulls off: Somehow, this is both one of the most surprising shows on television, and one of the most consistent. We never know, tuning in week to week, where the episode might take us. It could be next door for a “Superb Owl” party, or into a Brooklyn beauty shop owned by witches, or all the way to small-town Pennsylvania to meet a mysterious human bartender named “Jackie Daytona.” But we know we can rely on the series to deliver each time on that same intoxicating mix of fish-out-of-water humor, petty roommate grievances, and bloody mythology, with just a dash of epic drama.
Season 2 saw the series really come into its own, expanding its universe and ramping up the tension with Guillermo’s ongoing journey of self-discovery, while doubling down on the same quirkiness that made Season 1 and the original movie so endearing. But really, this is a show where the best scene is whichever one you’re watching at the time, and the best character is whoever is onscreen at the moment. –Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor
Where to watch: Hulu
13. The Midnight Gospel
Spacecaster Clancy explores the universe and gets to know beings from other realms in “The Midnight Gospel.”
Image: netflix
Who knew the creative marriage of Adventure Time’s Pendleton Ward and podcaster Duncan Trussell would be so unspeakably transcendent? Netflix’s trippy animated series The Midnight Gospel stunned us this past April with one of the most original experiments in medium blending to ever hit streaming. Podcast audio paired with psychedelic illustrations made for a one-of-a-kind experience, unique to each viewer. If you haven’t checked this show out yet, then you need to get to it. Just approach The Chromatic Ribbon with an open mind. — A.F.
Where to watch: Netflix
12. Mrs. America
Cate Blanchett As Phyllis Schlafly in “Mrs. America.”
Image: sabrina lantos / FX
You don’t need to be a second wave feminism expert to enjoy this FX on Hulu nine-part miniseries — but you will learn a thing or two regardless. Focusing on the years-long battle to pass the Equal Rights Amendment — particularly Phyllis Schlafly’s crusade to gather women to stop it — this show does an admirable job humanizing a whole host of famous characters, from those you know, like Gloria Steinem, to equally important ones you maybe don’t, such as Margo Martindale as Bella Abzug. And taking center stage is the despicable Schlafly, played to charismatic, dangerous, three-dimensional perfection by Cate Blanchett. You won’t like her, but you also won’t be able to look away. –Erin Strecker, Entertainment Editor
Where to watch: Hulu
11. Mythic Quest
“Mythic Quest” is one of the greatest gifts Apple has ever given us.
Image: appletv+
Apple TV+ has quite a gem in Mythic Quest. Brought to us by the creative minds behind It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the comedy series explores life inside a video game development studio across nine half-hour episodes (plus a tenth “quarantine special”). What makes the series work is a mix of strong, well-drawn characters and writing that seems to understand the often-mysterious video game industry. There are top-notch performances from the likes of Rob McElhenney, Charlotte Nicdao, Jessie Ennis, and all the rest, as well as what may be the single-best half-hour of TV this year in the standalone fifth episode, “Dark Quiet Death.” –Adam Rosenberg, Senior Reporter/Weekend Editor
Where to watch: AppleTV+
10. Better Call Saul
Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, and Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in “Better Call Saul” Season 5.
Image: greg lewis / sony pictures television
If earlier seasons of Better Call Saul felt like two separate shows sharing a single space — one a legal drama involving Jimmy and Kim, the other a crime thriller with Mike and Nacho — this was the season those strands became inextricably twisted together, pulling Jimmy ever closer to his Breaking Bad fate. We watched as he got in with the cartel, as Mike and Nacho got tangled up in Gus’ plots, even as a pair of familiar DEA agents dropped in on them, and all the while we bit our nails and gasped with shock.
But Season 5 saved its biggest doozy for last, in a trick worthy of Saul Goodman himself. The finale re-contextualized everything we thought we knew about Kim Wexler and her role in the story — indeed, it even made us reconsider whose story this really was. We’ve long understood that the characters in the universe of Better Call Saul underestimate Kim at their own peril. What we didn’t realize, until those finger guns went off, was that the same applied to us watching at home. –A.H.
Where to watch: AMC
9. Unorthodox
If you haven’t watched “Unorthodox” on Netflix, how many times do we have to tell you??
Image: Anika Molnar / Netflix
Unorthodox follows a 19-year-old Esty Shapiro as she flees her husband and life in an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn to start a new life in Berlin. The intensity continuously heightens in this four-part miniseries as Esty’s husband and another man search for her, with respites of relief as Esty begins to find her place in a different culture, in a different country, with people she has only just met. It’s a moving, gripping, and heart-wrenching story of freedom, individualism, and family.
Inspired by a memoir by Deborah Feldman, a woman who fled the same Satmar community Esty did, Unorthodox is dripping with passion not only for the story of this woman and her drive to find something more for herself, but for the community that she came from. The show dips between scenes from Esty’s past and her present, a juxtaposition that makes the portions in her old community feel like a period piece against the backdrop of Berlin. – Kellen Beck, Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: Netflix
8. Love, Victor
Victor (Michael Cimino) and Felix (Anthony Turpel) in episode 4 of Hulu’s charming “Love, Victor.”
Image: gilles mingasson / Hulu
Originally meant to air on Disney+, Love, Victor moved to premiere on Hulu in mid-July with a cascade of critical and audience acclaim. As a spinoff from 2018 film Love, Simon, Love Victor, features an all new group of characters at Creekwood High and follows the complicated coming-out journey of Victor, a Colombian-American student whose confusion over his sexuality clashes with his family’s cultural values. Love, Victor has a tremendous cast of young actors who break new ground in classic teen show roles and transform the show’s first season into 2020’s sweetest summer romance. –Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: Hulu
7. The Great
Elle Fanning and a frankly iconic pink dress in episode 10 of Hulu’s “The Great.”
Image: andrea pirrello / Hulu
Catherine the Great’s dramatic life story is already TV-ready. Add in Tony McNamara, the writer behind The Favourite, however, and you’ve got an arch, satirical, bloody look at the beginning of her life at court. Deliciously played by Elle Fanning and with an Emmy-worthy Nicholas Hoult as her angry, clueless new husband, this liberty-taking version of her life is so, so much fun. In an age with tons of TV, things get repetitive; congrats and huzzah to Hulu for trying something so memorably original. A near-perfect 10 episode miniseries that we hope sees a Season 2. The adventure has really just begun, after all. -E.S.
Where to watch: Hulu
6. Insecure
Absence makes the TV fan’s heart grow fonder, but so does exceptional quality in every aspect of production. Insecure Season 4 had both working in its favor, returning after a nearly two-year hiatus with arguably its strongest season yet. Issa (Issa Rae) hits a career milestone by finally throwing a legendary block party, but the success is punctured by a growing rift with her and Molly (Yvonne Orji) brought on by poor communication, old misconceptions, and simply being at different stages in every aspect of their lives.
Their separate paths draw out strong solo performances from Rae and Orji, as well as giving spotlight to Alexander Hodge as Molly’s new boyfriend and the ever-charismatic return of Jay Ellis as Lawrence. There are still doses of old-school nonsense, particularly with Kelli (Natasha Rothwell, who’s fake British accent bit should create an Emmy category for hyperspecific scene-stealing), but the season’s theme, hinted at in episode titles, is low-key grown-up. –Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: HBO
5. McMillion$
The phrase “true crime documentary” conjures images of grisly murders and blood splatters, but McMillion$ is content to use the format for a much stranger crime: a conspiracy to rig the iconic McDonald’s Monopoly promotional game. The familiarity of the Monopoly promotion gives McMillion$ an instant hook, but the clever way the documentary’s episodes build the story of the investigation turns a simple fraud case into riveting television. The unabashed star of McMillion$ is FBI Agent Doug Matthews, who led the original investigation and recounts his adventures tracking down the perpetrators with bizarre, quirky charm — right down to that time he confronted McDonald’s executives wearing a bright golden “french fry” suit in a boardroom. –A.N.
Where to watch: HBO
4. Never Have I Ever
Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), and Kamal (Richa Moorjani) form the family at the heart of “Never Have I Ever.”
Image: COURTESY OF NETFLIX
We all knew Netflix is capable of serving up a fantastic teen comedy, Never Have I Ever debuted to immense and sometimes insurmountable pressure as the first mainstream TV show about an Indian-American teenager, but Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher hit and cleared the bar. Within the first moments, Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is no longer the first Indian-American teen carrying the impossible weight of all representation on her shoulders: She’s just Devi. Yes, she’s Indian-American — she’s also a formidable student, gifted harpist, and serves up a scorching burn when she wants to (she also really wants to have sex. She contains multitudes!).
Surrounding Ramakrishnan is a winning cast with superb chemistry, particularly Poorna Jagannathan as a mother who seems outwardly strict but channels her own grief and insecurity into discipline and anger (the anger might be hereditary). Devi’s school life is as compelling as any classic teen movie (moreso, even!) with house parties, unlikely friendships, crushes galore, and a truly delightful Model U.N. trip. It is a show we’ve needed for longer than we realized, and we can’t wait to watch more.
Where to watch: Netflix
3. My Brilliant Friend
In the time between Seasons 1 and 2 of HBO’s adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novels, I’ll admit: I forgot that My Brilliant Friend existed. But from the moment it returned, my TV viewing suddenly coalesced around the hour I spent each week with this striking piece of television. My Brilliant Friend follows best friends Lila (Gaia Girace) and Lenu (Margherita Mazzucco) and their neighborhood outside of Naples, a small but engrossing community that will envelope a viewer as much as any of its fictitious inhabitants. In the neighborhood, everyone knows the ins and outs of each other’s lives and nonconformity is anathema.
Yet nonconformity continues to follow Lila and Lenu in Season 2, even with the former married and the latter moving forward in her quest for higher education. Lila has to put her smarts to use in machinating for power in an abusive marriage, while Lenu fights to be taken seriously in academia — either with pretentious men who think they know better or with Lila herself, who resents her friend’s freedom. While the return of supreme fuckboy Nino Sarratore (Francesco Serpico) drives an unremarkable wedge between the young women, My Brilliant Friend is a show that makes watching real-life discomfort cathartic, if not healing, set against the breathtaking beaches of Ischia and Max Richter’s moving score. Rarely is a show so beautiful and captivating, so transporting that you’ll need a moment after each episode to shake it off and remember reality.
Where to watch: HBO
2. Kidding
Jim Carrey as Jeff Pickles and Michael Yama as Dalai Lama in Showtime’s “Kidding.”
Image: Nicole Wilder / SHOWTIME
Picking up right after the devastating final moments of Season 1, Kidding Season 2 returned to pull off, as described by creator Dave Holstein, a “magic trick.” No other show on television could bring its audience to a whimsical world of f-bomb dropping puppets, begin an episode with a flashback to one of the Dalai Lama’s past lives, and get Ariana Grande to cameo for a 30-minute musical episode about divorce while keeping its story on the rails, but Kidding makes it look effortless. Jim Carrey was nominated for a Golden Globe last year for his performance as Jeff, the repressed television host at the center of Kidding; Season 2 should absolutely net him a win.
Where to watch: Showtime (available as Hulu or Amazon add on)
1. Little America
Each episode of the anthology “Little America” follows different immigrant protagonists in pursuit of the American Dream. Above, Beatrice (Kemiyondo Coutinho) sells cookies to get her business off the ground.
Image: appletv+
It feels a little trite to say that an anthology about immigrants is the most imperative show in a world divided, but AppleTV’s series from Kumail Nanjiani, Alan Yang, and Emily V. Gordon showcases exceptional storytelling unlike anything else on TV. American culture in particular is in the middle of a sea change; too much of the media we previously sanctified is whitewashed, appropriative, and heteronormative. Too long have we sanctified deeply flawed systems when we could achieve so much more by telling the stories of those who are shut out, oppressed, and othered.
Television alone does not yield social change, but it creates conversation, and it has the power to humanize people and stories by bringing them into our homes. Little America does that with simple, powerful immigrant stories. Large swathes of Americans will never meet people like Ai (Angela Lin), Iwegbuna (Conphidance), or Marisol (Jearnest Corchado), but the first step to dismantling an irrational fear of those you don’t know is to get to know them, to see them as people. Only then can you care, and maybe even act on it.
Where to watch: AppleTV+