The Best Television Shows of 2017

Here they are, the 10 shows that I enjoyed the most throughout 2017. Even those that are on the networks, I found once they moved over to Netflix to stream. 

So without further ado, here's the shows that made 2017 great...

Honorable Mention: 

Raising Hope: The Complete Series 

Raising Hope had sharp writing and a stellar ensemble cast. There were a few episodes that didn't click, but for the most part, every single episode was a winner. The entire series was streaming on Netflix earlier this year, but alas has departed at this point. As with most dysfunctional families that have hit the airwaves over the years, it was the underlying love for one another that was the key ingredient that kept audiences wanting to come back.

10) The Man in the High Castle: Season 2 

Back for a 2nd season on Amazon, this look back at an America that has lost WWII and is now under occupied German and Japanese control continues to steam ahead. With visions of what should have been, things are heating up as the Germans and Japanese are no longer trusting each other. It will be interesting to see how it all explodes next season!

9) Sneaky Pete: Season 1 

A series I assumed would be a 1 and done, Sneaky Pete starts slowly, builds, and then suddenly it's finishing up so quickly and you realize you don't want it to be over. Then they hit you with a killer cliffhanger, and that's when you realize how, and why, it needs to be back for at least one more round!

8) American Gods: Season 1

From Starz, American Gods brings us a bloody, violent conflict between the old gods that were brought to American shores by immigrants and the new gods of 21st Century America. Anything with Ian McShane in it is almost guaranteed to be good.

7) The Good Place: Season 1

The rare network show that I found on Netflix by chance. This tale of life after death is very witty and has a fun cast. Strong finish to the season threw the whole concept up into the air, so it will be interesting to see how they retool it for the 2nd and subsequent seasons. I'm sure some people know already, and I hope to find out next year. :)

6) The Defenders

Take the 4 Netflix Marvel franchises, mix together and fix the one issue they all had: too many episodes. You wind up with the crisp, 8 episodes that for me, are the highlight of what they've put out. Sadly, reading the internet, it appears the Defenders was also the least watched of all the shows to this point. My guess, and it's supported by comments I've seen far and wide...

I'm not watching that until I finish the other series I'm behind or haven't started yet.

Pfft.

There really isn't much in this one that's a spoiler for any series except Daredevil Season 2.
My advice: don't wait, move right along to this one.

5) The Great British Baking Show 

Leave it to PBS and the British to give you a cut-throat reality series where the contestants are nice, the judges are likable, fair and give you honest criticisms instead of just being mean. Seems like just the opposite of all the other reality shows, and maybe that's why this one is so refreshing and good!

4) GLOW: Season 1

You don't have to be a fan of wrestling or the actual GLOW series from the 80s to appreciate this one. I think if you are, then your enjoyment is even greater for what this series managed to pull off. So don't let the subject matter of this show put you off. It's the drama of what the ladies (and men) go through behind the scenes that drives this show.

3) American Vandal: Season 1

A note for note parody of the true crime shows that are on ever network, including Netflix's own Making a Murderer, American Vandal takes a silly idea and runs with it...and it works! Each episode ends with a new revelation of the case, and makes you want to click 'next episode' to find out what happens! One of the few shows on the list where I truly went the binge route and finished in 2-3 days.

2) Stranger Things: Season 2 

A return trip to Hawkins Indiana just in time for Halloween was pretty much the highlight of a great year of television. The Halloween inspired episodes played at just the right time of year, and fan momentum and expectations for the series were getting stronger from the end of last season to now. With new characters and a little more for Will to do this time around, there was pretty much something for everyone to enjoy this season. So enjoy it while you can, the kids are growing up, and we probably have 4 or fewer seasons of this show to look forward to.

1) Psych: The Movie

As with all television shows, they all ultimately come to an end whether the audience wanted them to or not. The best you can hope for is to go out on top, with the audience clamoring to have you come back, posting petitions for Netflix, Amazon or anyone to pick it up and continue. Or you can dare to hope that a reunion movie could happen somewhere down the road. And for Psych-os everywhere, that's just what we got as the year came to a close. A return to...San Francisco and it picked up in real time years after the series ended. Everyone was back in what the creators are hoping for the first of 6 potential Psych reunion movies. My fingers are crossed that the ratings were good enough, and this might become an annual holiday event.


So that's a wrap on the 2017 television season. We'll see if any of these return to the list at the end of next year, or which new shows manage to bump them from the list!

But Wait...There's More! "Beyond Stranger Things"

Beyond Stranger Things (2017)

Starring Jim Rash

The Story:

Now that you've finished Stranger Things 2, and don't dare watch an episode of this without finishing the entire season because...

SPOILERS!!!!

Jim Rash sits down with most of the cast and Shawn Levy and the Duffer Brothers to talk about what went into making the show and how they made some of their decisions.

And how some of those decisions made themselves, and created a snowball effect on the overall series.

I guess The Walking Dead has a similar program that airs weekly, and I'm not sure if any other shows have it, but this was a fun, breezy, yet informative 22 minutes where Rash moderates a table full of the cast and get their insights into what happened and what might still happen in the future.

7 episodes total, and my favorites were the ones with Levy and the Duffers on the panel as they help lend more behind-the-scenes knowledge to what they were thinking when certain things happened this season.

If you like these kinds of shows, you're going to really enjoy this one.

If you're not sure, give the first episode a try (it will pop up automatically to start at the end of Episode 9 of Stranger Things 2) and see what you think.

Final Grade: A-

Those Kids Are Growing Up So Fast..."Stranger Things 2"

Stranger Things 2 (2017)

TV-14

Starring David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Matthew Modine, Paul Reiser, Sean Astin

Created by Matt & Ross Duffer

The Story:

Nearly a year has passed since the events from Stranger Things. However, there's a new Doctor (Reiser) in charge at the Department of Energy, and he's doing everything in his power to help Will (Schnapp) with his episodes that are still tormenting him from being in the Upside Down.

Welcome back to Hawkins Indiana, population a couple million binging on their favorite kids from the 80s! :)

So if you are like the millions that fell in love with Stranger Things last year, and watched as it became a pop-culture phenomenon in the year in between seasons, your wait is finally over.

If you're one that thinks Stranger Things is overrated and being pushed down our throats...

You're dead to me.

:)

The Duffer Brothers are back, and they will fill in the gaps with what has happened in the year we've been away, and with some other flashbacks, they'll take us back even farther.

A whole slew of new characters will be introduced, and Will Byers will graduate from plot device in Season One to Plot Device with a little more to do in Season 2. ;)

The dynamics between the two seasons is really evident, and they don't try and forcefully recreate the magic of season one. This is another year, and the characters have grown and changed, and will continue to do so for as long as the series runs.

That's a good thing.

So there you go.

No spoilers in there, but I'm pretty sure if you watched Season One, you are likely already finished with Season Two and came to the same conclusion:

Really? We have to wait another year for the next season?!?!

: )

Final Grade: A

They're Here...The "Best Television Shows Of 2016"

Can it still be called television when none of the choices actually appeared on a network or even cable channel?

Of course it can.

It's the 21st century, and the days of all the good stuff just being on ABC, CBS and NBC are long gone.

Though I would freely be open to a return of Battle of the Network Stars.

Just saying...

: )

Now, on with the shows!!

Bosch

Take one of L.A.s finest, who has run ins with his superiors almost as often as he's having run ins with the bad guys, and you have one of the better crime dramas from the last few years. The first of two Amazon originals, Bosch has had two great seasons so far.

The consistent part from season to season is Titus Welliver's portrayal of Detective Bosch. He takes all of it in stride, not caring who he upsets to get the job done.

In a world where the world seemingly hates cops, Bosch is a reminder that most are indeed out there trying to help us navigate through a dangerous world, and as the curveballs that season two threw at the audience, life as a cop is very, very dangerous.

Luke Cage

Marvel and Netflix have done it again.

Now, much more fleshed out than his appearance in Jessica Jones, Mike Colter brings Luke Cage vividly to life in his own series.

Much like the other Netflix series, my biggest complaint with this one was that it felt about 3 episodes too long.

Hopefully in Season 2, or the Defenders, Luke Cage also doesn't have to psych himself up to actually go out and be a hero.

That did get a bit old as the series wore on.

He could have stopped so much violence if he would have just acted, instead of waiting for everyone around him to die.

Plus, of the two bad guys Cage faced, I much preferred the first one, to the one that's set to be a recurring character.

The Man In The High Castle 

What if the Axis won World War II ?

This fascinating "What If?" scenario plays out on Amazon, and the results are fascinating, and truly scary, all at the same time.

This was perhaps the slowest series for me to get hooked on, as there are a lot of people flying around the first 2 episodes as they introduce every character and you try and get a sense of who they are, what they're doing, where their allegiances truly are...

But once you're hooked, you're along for a very interesting ride.

You realize that there is no turning back time, at least as far as I know, but you get hooked on the lives of many of the characters, even those of the Japanese or German side. In many ways, they are more fleshed out and three-dimensional than the American resistance.

Season 2 is available now, and we'll see if it returns next year to the countdown.

Daredevil: Season 2

Hands down, the best 4 episodes of any and all Marvel television.

Then they added Elektra to the mix, and the results became decidedly less enthusiastic on my part.

I would have actually preferred a more long, drawn out season with the Punisher, maybe 10 total episodes.

The trial should have taken 2 to 3 episodes, but instead it was nearly a blink and you miss it, in favor of more Elektra and a ninja Matt Murdock.

It's as if Marvel wanted to remind me of why I never really bothered with this character in the first place! :)

Still, a good show, and they seriously need to use Foggy more.

Seriously.

Making A Murderer

Was it a documentary?
Was it a television show?

This was the idea that I wrestled with at the end of the year, and ultimately put this under television while the ESPN 30 for 30 wound up in the documentary section.

Could I have flipped them?

Absolutely.

I decided that at over 10 hours, I have to call this gripping documentary television, since it was divided into episodic segments instead of just a 2 hour program.

I heard criticisms after it aired that the directors were only giving one side of the story.

That may, or may not be true, but the side they present is sooooo amazingly wrapped in cover-up after conspiracy after shady dealings that you might literally yell at the television at the end of each episode when the latest bombshell gets dropped.

It should make you seriously question the entire legal system at the least, and make you seriously hope you never find yourself facing its wrath, whether guilty OR innocent.

I'm waiting for an additional episode to air that reveals what has happened to several of the people in the documentary since the film has been released.

If nothing else, it appears that some justice is indeed being finally served.

Stranger Things 

This is one of those few times that I watched something at the same time as the rest of the world.

: )

While we didn't binge, we did move along much quicker than usual when watching a Netflix series.

Yes, it was as good as you heard or were led to believe.

I maintain that if you're not hooked in the initial 8 minutes of episode 1, then yes, this is not the series for you.

My little 5 year old even came in during the middle of the episode and wanted to know what happened to Will.

She may have been the biggest fan of the show, but everyone was entertained.

A great cast, including possibly the best group of child actors to ever assemble since The Goonies.

Also, for me, it was the perfect length.

I've often criticized the Marvel series for being about 4 episodes too long, and Stranger Things came along and proved that I was right.

:)

The episodes fly by, and with no real fluff and bluster, combines nicely into 8 compact episodes that grab you at the beginning and hold you until the end.

Season 2's bar is already set incredibly high, so hopefully it will make it to Best of the Year list in the future.

Looking forward to what might be  heading my way in 2017!

Some "Stranger Things" Are Happening Lately

Stranger Things (2016)

TV-14

Starring Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Charlie Heaton, Matthew Modine

Created by Matt and Ross Duffer

The Story:

In the small town of Hawkins Indiana, young Will Byers (Schnapp) goes missing. His frantic mom (Ryder) contacts the sheriff (Harbour) and the hunt begins. Sadly, it is only the first of some very weird things that are about to plague this small town.

Doesn't sound very exciting, does it.

It is.

I'm being very vague in my description for several reasons.

There's a lot to be found in this ode to 80s cinema and television from Matt and Ross Duffer.

If you aren't hooked to watch this series in the first 8 1/2 minutes, then this show is not for you.

However, if you get the goosebumps in all the right places, you're in for a nostalgic feel for a story you've never heard.

Add equal parts Spielberg, Stephen King, John Carpenter, The Goonies, Halloween, Dungeons and Dragons and some more 80s nostalgia and drop into a blender and you'll get the basic cocktail that lays the foundation for this to work.

It's the latest Netflix original, and while I'm only 2 episodes in, I've found that the pacing for this one seems to flow much better than many of the 12-13 series shows where I've felt they could tell a better story in 8 episodes.

It seems that the Duffers may have felt the same way and they are crafting a fine tale with all the jumps and frights thanks to a good script, a believable cast and a score that helps set the mood and provide just the perfect enhancement cues for the viewer.

I made the 8 1/2 minute offer to most of my kids after I watched the first episode. I told them they could walk when the credits started rolling to introduce the series.

Nobody walked.

Now they are an episode ahead of me as well, and telling me to hurry up so they can keep going!

: )

I have no idea how it's going to end up, but I'm sure enjoying the ride to find out.

I'm hoping for a season 2, regardless of how this season ends.

It's that good.

Streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: A