# The Best of 2020: TV

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-best-of-2020-tv/
- Published: 2021-01-12T10:15:00-06:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

2020 was generally a shitty year; Covid-19, race riots, Wonder Woman 1984, an election.
There were some high points though. Here are 10 TV shows from 2020 that made up 
for some of the bad stuff.

Honorable Mentions: 
**The Good Place S4 **(NBC/Netflix) – While this past season
didn’t live up to the first (really, none of them did), we did get pretty good closure
for a pretty good show.**Fargo S4 **(FX/Hulu) – Another show that didn’t live up
to past seasons, but the cast was amazing this season. Granted, it wasn’t as bad
as last season.**Locke & Key S1 **(Netflix) – I wanted more for this show (probably
because I enjoyed the comic so much), but it was still a good first season.

**10. Cobra Kai S3** (Netflix) – I was late to the party on the show, but have really
enjoyed the show. S3 has probably been the weakest so far, but there were some great
fan service moments and the characters have developed nicely. I kind of hope that
S4 will be the last, as they are getting close to a good resolution for the show.

**9. Upload S1** (Hulu) – Nathan (Robbie Amell) gets into an accident and is near
death; his girlfriend decides to upload him into a virtual afterlife. While coming
to grips with his death, Nathan is guided by Nora (Andy Allo), a handler for the
virtual company. As they get closer, Nathan discovers that his accident wasn’t quite
and accident and Nora helps him to discover what happened. The show is pretty funny
and easy to fly through. They are currently working on the second season.

**8. Tiger King S1** (Netflix) – This documentary series was required viewing right
before the pandemic hit the states. Joe Exotic runs a tiger “sanctuary” in Oklahoma
and things just aren’t right. You get the background on Joe, his zoo keepers, and
his rival Carole Baskins. Each episodes just gets crazier and crazier; the scary
part is this was a true story. It’s something to watch to make you feel better about
your life.

**7. Dark Side of the Ring S2** (Vice/YouTube) – Another documentary series about
wrestling. Many of the stories are utterly heartbreaking, especially for those who
grew up watching these wrestlers. The series starts with the dark 2-part story of
Chris Benoit and the murder of his family. You also get some dark stories about 
Jimmy Snuka, Owen Hart, and Dino Bravo. The New Jack episode was a favorite from
the season because the guy is genuinely scary. I also really enjoyed seeing the 
Brawl for All, the WWE’s attempt at a boxing tournament that killed the career of
Bart Gunn.

**6. Umbrella Academy S2 **(Netflix) – The second season of the Umbrella Academy
was just as crazy as the first. The family goes back in time to Dallas, where each
member shows up at a different year. They gradually get back together to try to 
stop the assassination of JFK. Like the first season, this deviated heavily from
the source material, but it worked. I don’t think I could see anyone else playing
these roles at this point, as the cast is amazing. I’m looking forward to see season
3.

**5. The Last Dance S1 **(ESPN/Netflix) – ESPN was sitting on hours of 1990s Chicago
Bulls footage and put together an amazing look at Michael Jordan’s career. The basis
of the documentary is the last run of the Bulls in 1998, before the team was pretty
much dismantled. You get a pretty honest look at the locker room and Jordan, although
many involved didn’t like how they were portrayed. If you like the ESPN 30 for 30
series, you’ll love this.

**4. Star Wars: The Clone Wars S7 **(Disney+) – One of the biggest crimes of Disney
purchasing Lucas Films was the cancellation of the Clone Wars; granted, the series
was expensive to make and George Lucas was footing the bills of making the cartoon.
This abbreviated last season finally showed how the series was supposed to wrap 
up. They didn’t use the full final season (some of it was used for the _Darth Maul:
Son of Dathomir_ comic and the _Dark Disciple_ novel, along with a few unfinished
episodes on YouTube), but the stories they did use were very good. The final Mandalore
arc was some of the best Star Wars Disney has released.

**3. The Boys S2 **(Hulu) – Just like the first season, this one was over the top,
raunchy, and very entertaining. The Butcher and his boys continue to find ways to
bring down Vaught and the Seven, with the help from the inside. You also get more
about what is going on between Homelander and Butcher, along with the relationship
between Hughie and Starlight. It deviates from the comic a bit, but the story is
still very good.

**2. Letterkenny S7 **(Hulu) – There are 5000 people in Letterkenny; we got 7 more
of their problems. The season picks up shortly after Katie discovers Dierks cheated
on her, and it starts with a bang. You get the word play, crazy situations, and 
appearances from the regular cast. You also get they typical, comedic cliffhanger
in probably one of the best episodes of the season.

**1. Star Wars: The Mandalorian S2 **(Disney+) – This season gave fans everything
they wanted. For the kids that grew up with the original trilogy, we got the redemption
of Boba Fett and the Luke Skywalker we remembered. For the kids that grew up with
the Clone Wars, they got live action Ahsoka and Bo-Katan. For kids now, they got
the best Star Wars of their lives. This season had fewer standalone stories, but
everything felt like it more of a purpose than last season (granted, some of those
episodes that didn’t have a purpose last season paid off this season). The success
of the show is leading to more Star Wars, so that’s another plus.

Tomorrow I’ll be back with the best books I read last year.

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