As the world loosens the grip of a historic pandemic, people are turning in greater numbers to entertainment to escape reality. At the same time, productions that were shut down in 2020 are rebooting with new precautions and protocols in place, while other shows that might have returned under normal circumstances now seem less likely to do so. The delays in production in 2020 were felt strongly in early 2021 as the TV landscape felt more fractured than ever and, quite frankly, was still missing a lot of its heavy hitters. Shows like “Barry,” “Succession,” “Better Call Saul,” and “Atlanta” that have dominated lists like this in the past are still M.I.A. And a lot of the critical goodwill so far this year has been the exclusive property of the limited series, a form that seems more crowded than ever before as filmmakers have turned to it to tell longer stories. At the same time, new streaming services like Apple TV+, Peacock, and HBO Max have divided audiences in a way where it feels like no one knows where to watch something, much less what to watch.
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However, it’s not all bad news. Some bright spots have popped up in the first six months of 2021, including faces familiar and new. From a riveting character study disguised as a whodunit on HBO to a docuseries from an acclaimed master on PBS to the best of a wave of superhero deconstruction shows on Amazon Prime, there’s a great variety in the 17 shows below, a little “something for everyone.” And everyone sure could use something this year.
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“Bo Burnham: Inside” (Netflix)
Bo Burnham’s captivating Netflix special is so cinematic; it feels like it belongs on the Best Films Of The Year… So Far list, but for the sake of preventing dull arguments, we’ll keep it here. But even as a comedy special that’s arguably just a bunch of vignettes tied together, it feels less episodic and more thematically textured, and resonant than most TV (or movies) released this year. “Inside” is essentially a collection of songs and bits about the year of living indoors inside during the pandemic. But that surface explanation feels insulting given how rich it is. With rich observant hilarity, empathy, pathos, and deeply catchy bops, “Inside” captures the crushing existential angst of isolation during the pandemic. Alternatively depressed and self-deprecating—self-aware that his situation is obviously not so bad, but still relatively mind-numbingly despondent—Burnham creates the ecstatic soundtrack to despair while satirically touring through various elements of culture, white men apologism, the cancellation of comedy, problematic men, allyship, performative woke-ism, dissociative social media syndrome, content and brand opportunism, and other cultural anxieties set to contagion earworms that’ll bury into your brain for weeks. Stylishly, inventively and cleverly shot, edited, and written entirely by Burnham, it feels like the definitive piece of pandemic art and something many of us will play over in a loop for years to come. – Rodrigo Perez
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“Exterminate All the Brutes” (HBO Max)
The brilliant Raoul Peck (“I Am Not Your Negro”) directed this searing adaptation of Sven Lindqvist’s book of the same name along with “Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History” by Michel-Rolph Trouillot and “An Indigenous People’s History of the United States” by Roxanna Dunbar-Ortiz. The goal here is nothing less than the dismantling of the false narratives that have driven American history for generations, infecting classrooms with outright lies. It’s essentially about much of the world has been shaped by brutality, colonialism, and genocide. Blending documentary and narrative techniques into a riveting counter to historical ignorance, Peck pulls no punches in the kind of docuseries that most schools would never show their students, but all schools should.
“Gangs of London” (AMC)
The great Gareth Evans (“The Raid”) created this Sky Atlantic project that actually premiered on AMC+ in Fall 2020 but didn’t land on the cable network until just this year, ending its riveting first season only last week. “Gangs of London” does not hold the viewer’s hand, presenting audiences with a multi-character tapestry of criminal organizations across London, all sent spiraling after the death of one of the main crime lords in the city played in flashbacks by Colm Meaney. As his family endeavors to hold onto power while enacting revenge, an undercover cop in the mix becomes the audience’s POV to much of the action, holding together all these various characters and subplots. Of course, given Evans made it, there’s also some incredible fight choreography every episode, bursts of violence that spurt onto the screen to remind viewers that this Shakespearean saga has victims. A show that’s so dense that it almost demands rewatches but also so action-driven that it could be called escapism—there wasn’t anything else like it on TV this year.
“Girls5Eva” (Peacock)
Let’s face it – comedy out there is in a dire state. As the network sitcom seems to be going the way of the VCR and traditional comedy has been supplanted by shows that are more dramatic than hysterical, it’s a pleasure to see a true laugh generator that works as well as Meredith Scardino’s takedown of girl bands and the culture that rises up around them. Sara Bareilles, Busy Phillips, Paula Pell, and a scene-stealing Renée Elise Goldsberry play the four surviving members of a once-huge girl band called Girls5Eva (“because 4eva is too short”) who reunite in a middle-aged quest to regain what they lost when their stars went out. Consistently clever and light on its feet, “Girls5Eva” is the kind of ensemble TV comedy that they made more often in the ‘90s and ‘00s—no surprise it’s executive produced by Tina Fey—and a reminder of how purely joyous this kind of show can be when it’s done this well.
“Hacks” (HBO Max)
It’s a Jean Smart-aissance out there as everyone is falling in love with one of the most consistent actresses in TV history. She followed her raves for “Fargo” and “Watchmen” with a one-two punch in 2021 of two roles that couldn’t be further from one another in terms of tone and character. In this HBO Max original that premiered in May, the current Queen of TV plays Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas comedienne in the style of Joan Rivers or even Elaine Stritch. She’s been a fearless performer for generations, but she faces a hurdle when her boss and agent want her to appeal to a younger audience and bring in a 25-year-old comedy writer to punch up her material. The entire ensemble is strong, but this is really a showcase for Smart, who never hits a false note.
