Stumptown

Network TV is supposed to be old-fashioned in a media landscape where everyone from Facebook to Apple is creating prestige shows, but Stumptown came along this Fall to remind me why the networks are still essential. ABC's P.I. drama is deceptively simple: Cobie Smulders stars as Dex Parios, an Army vet dealing with her PTSD and serious debt by numbing the pain with alcohol, sex, and dangerous cases. Smulders shines as Dex, whose gentleness with her brother, Cole, who has Down Syndrome, sharply contrasts with the cavalier way she puts her life on the line when she's doing a job.

Each week, Dex takes on a new case that inevitably reveals some essential truth about her, and by the end of the episode she's hanging out with her friend, Grey, at his dive bar. Is it formulaic? Sure, but it's also a smart examination of one combat vet's journey to re-acclimate to civilian life in a world where soldiers are rarely given the support they need upon returning home. Stumptown isn't reinventing the P.I. drama or procedurals, but it is breathing fresh life into one of TV's most reliable formulas.

Watch Stumptown on Hulu. [5]

Good Trouble

Maybe I'm biased, because I thought The Fosters was a near-perfect family drama, but Freeform's spinoff Good Trouble was one of 2019's best surprises. I must admit I was sceptical about following Callie and Mariana into adulthood, but by the end of the pilot, the show had more than justified its existence. By transplanting the sisters to Los Angeles and moving them into the Coterie, a communal apartment where they're surrounded by artists and advocates who constantly challenge their worldview, the series maintains the sense of family that made The Fosters so great while creating an entirely new avenue to explore politics in the workplace, gender discrimination within the tech industry, and modern dating.

Watch Good Trouble on Hulu. [6]

Modern Love

Not every episode of Amazon's anthology series Modern Love hit the mark, but enough of them did to make this collection of rom-coms a cosy TV treat. Based on The New York Times column of the same name, Modern Love utilised an all-star cast that included everyone from Tina Fey [7] to Fleabag's Hot Priest Andrew Scott to tell a mix of heartwarming and moving stories about matters of the heart. And with standout episodes like "When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist" starring Dev Patel and Catherine Keener, this slight, but fun series kept me coming back for more.

Watch Modern Love on Prime Video. [8]

On Becoming a God in Central Florida

As a housewife being dragged down by her husband's pyramid scheme obsession, Kirsten Dunst [9] rises from a pile of FAM branded paper towels to create one of the scrappiest, most unrelenting TV characters in recent memory in Showtime's On Becoming a God in Central Florida. Krystal Stubbs works a low-wage job at a water park where she barely makes enough to keep her and her infant daughter afloat, so when she sees an opportunity to make real cash she seizes it — even if it means dragging down desperate people so that she can reach the top of the FAM pyramid that proves so elusive to men like her husband. Think Breaking Bad, but weirder and with mountains of generic home goods instead of meth, and you have this nihilistic send up to the American dream of the '90s.

Watch On Becoming a God in Central Florida on Showtime. [10]

Living With Yourself

Living With Yourself proved what many of us already expected: two Paul Rudds really are better than one. Netflix's short, but slyly brilliant clone comedy casts Rudd as Miles Elliot, an ad exec who has been so beaten down by life that he consents to a mysterious spa treatment that leaves him with a better version of himself ready and willing to show him all the ways he's taking his life for granted. Fast-paced and full of big ideas about human nature, this quick binge stayed with me long after the final episode came to a close.

Watch Living with Yourself on Netflix. [11]

The Politician

TV super producer Ryan Murphy's Netflix debut was a smashing success thanks in no small part to a pitch perfect performance from Ben Platt. Set against the backdrop of a wealthy prep school, The Politician is a polished satire about two high school students with cutthroat political ambitions that push them to the edge. By channelling the excellent 1999 film Election and the all too real sideshow that is the current political landscape, Murphy created a satire with real bite.

Watch The Politician on Netflix. [12]

Evil

Created by the masterminds behind The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Evil is a terrifying procedural that is filling The X-Files shaped hole in my heart. The series follows psychologist and sceptic Kristen Bouchard and priest-in-training David Acosta as they investigate alleged demon possessions, miracles, and hauntings for the Catholic Church. Along the way, they tackle thorny issues relating to religion, gender, race, and so much more. Oh, and did I mention that leads Mike Colter and Katja Herbers have smouldering chemistry? Because that's definitely the cherry on top of this network TV gem.

Watch Evil on CBS. [13]

The Other Two

When their little brother becomes a Justin Bieber-style sensation, adult siblings Cary and Brooke are left living life on the fringes of fame in this irreverent comedy. The Other Two is a send up to Hollywood and social media culture that isn't afraid to embrace the absurd (there's a subplot about the siblings staying in Justin Theroux's apartment) and the all too real struggle to authentically define yourself in an era of self-promotion.

Watch The Other Two on Comedy Central. [14]

Back to Life

2019 was a stellar year for British tragicomedies like Fleabag [15] season two and newcomer Back to Life. Miri Matteson returns home after 18 years spent in prison for murder. Despite serving her time, the people of her coastal town refuse to let her move on from her past, but rather than succumb to their abuse, she just keeps on fighting to start fresh. This comedy finds its power in Miri's unrelenting optimism in the face of an entire town's worth of people who believe she doesn't deserve a second chance.

Watch Back to Life on Showtime. [16]

Years and Years

Part family drama, part warning of things to come, HBO's miniseries Years and Years presents a vision of the future that's both horrifying and unnervingly plausible. This short but harrowing sci-fi series offers up a smart examination of the dark side of social media, the rise of a divisive celebrity turned politician (played with glee by Emma Thompson [17]), and a bleak depiction of what immigration laws could mean for thousands of refuges. Through it all, the series stays grounded in the story of a singular family as they're swept along as the world marches closer to certain doom with each episode.

Watch Years and Years on HBO. [18]

The Boys

Who knew a show about morally bankrupt superheroes could be so much fun? The Boys is a pulpy, foul-mouthed send up to the superhero genre that revels in blood-soaked sight gags and sticking it to institutional powers. As Karl Urban's slightly mad Butcher would say, it's diabolical! But the show is more than just a thrill ride: it also forces us to really look at the thin line between heroes and villains and question who exactly it is that we're rooting for as the titular boys prove they can be just as bad as the corporate sponsored superheroes.

Watch The Boys on Prime Video. [19]

This Way Up

One of the best things to come out of 2019 was actor Aisling Bea. Not only does she play Paul Rudd [20]'s wife in Living with Myself, she stars in This Way Up, a funny and heartbreaking comedy about a woman recovering from a "teeny little nervous breakdown." Watching Bea's Aine pretend to be fine for her sister even as she's still on emotionally unsteady ground is wrenching, but despite the heavy subject matter, this little show also manages to be a hopeful depiction of the reality of living with a mental illness.

Watch This Way Up on Hulu. [21]

Dead to Me

Grief takes centre stage in Netflix's sharply sardonic Dead to Me. Anchored by killer performances from stars Christina Applegate [22] and Linda Cardellini, the series is as much a twisty thriller as it is a story of a recent widow mourning her husband after a hit-and-run accident leaves him dead. Add in an engrossing story of a burgeoning female friendship, and you have one of the year's most addictive shows.

Watch Dead to Me on Netflix. [23]

Sex Education

Sex Education takes a teen's nightmare situation — his mom is a super open sex therapist — and turns it into a positive as he opens an underground clinic to offer sex advice to his lovelorn peers. Thanks to stars Gillian Anderson, Asa Butterfield, and Ncuti Gatwa, as well as some truly brilliant writing, the series is a sweet, sex positive comedy with a big heart.

Watch Sex Education on Netflix. [24]

Unbelievable

There's nothing easy about watching Unbelievable, the story of a rape victim who is fighting to be believed. However, there were precious few shows that were more dynamic or essential in 2019 than this one. The three women at the centre of the series all give stunning performances — Kaitlyn Dever, Merritt Wever, and Toni Collette — as they fight for justice in a broken system. And the fact that the Netflix miniseries is based on a true story only makes watching two detectives go to extreme lengths to advocate for a victim all the more inspiring.

Watch Unbelievable on Netflix. [25]

A Black Lady Sketch Show

While I tend to be a big advocate of shorter seasons, six episodes of the hilarious A Black Lady Sketch Show weren't nearly enough. This fast-paced, smart series turned out one successful sketch after another. From an ongoing apocalypse hangout to a spy with an instantly forgettable face, this genre-hopping comedy never failed to garner laughs or impress with its wit and originality.

Watch A Black Lady Sketch Show on HBO. [26]

Pen15

If you were a teen in the '00s, then Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle's Pen15 [27] was made for you. Erskine and Konkle play 13-year-old versions of themselves in the cringe-inducing, painfully funny (and way too real) comedy about middle school life in the era of AIM. The comedians elevate what could have been a gimmick — 30-year-old women playing teens — into one of the show's greatest assets as they channel the deep emotions that accompany growing up with startling authenticity.

Watch Pen15 on Hulu. [28]

Euphoria

The kids in Euphoria [29] are very much not all right. The often shocking drama focusing on the lives of modern teens with an emphasis on drug use and sexual violence is unapologetically graphic in nature. But as difficult as watching Euphoria can be, the electric performances (Zendaya [30], in particular, is a revelation), the hypnotic visuals, and the overall rawness made this one of the most talked about series of the year. The show not only speaks to teens, but it also opens up avenues of discussion for adult viewers who didn't come of age surrounded by social media and other pressures that young adults have to navigate now.

Watch Euphoria on HBO. [31]

Russian Doll

Leave it to Natasha Lyonne to co-create and star in a mind-bending tale like Russian Doll. The show could be described as Groundhog Day, but darker somehow. But that would be a disservice to a series that contains multitudes. From creating multiple timelines to confronting one's inner child, this wild ride of a show must be seen for its boundless ambition to truly be appreciated.

Watch Russian Doll on Netflix. [32]

The Mandalorian

Confession: I'm not a Star Wars fan, so I went into The Mandalorian with apprehension. I wasn't sure if there would be anything there for people like me — you know, the ones who don't know their Wookiees from their Porgs. Within moments of the show's first episode I realised I had nothing to worry about. The Mandalorian is a sleek, spaghetti western in space. It's soothingly slow-paced with new adventures every week, and of course, Baby Yoda, the internet's great unifier, is always there to swallow down frogs and look adorable.

Sure, there are layers of mythology in every episode for super fans, but The Mandalorian is more than capable of standing on its own, which is what makes it such a terrific TV series.

Watch The Mandalorian on Disney+. [33]

When They See Us

Ava DuVernay [34] expertly dramatizes the injustices faced by the Central Park Five [35] in this searing miniseries. When They See Us is based on the true story of five young men who were coerced into confessing to the assault and rape of a jogger in Central Park. By utilising a talented young cast, including Jharrel Jerome and Asante Blackk, to bring viewers inside the lives of these young men whose childhoods were snatched away from them, DuVernay adds a new layer of intimacy to the real life trial.

Watch When They See Us on Netflix. [36]

Gentleman Jack

Gentleman Jack is the rollicking lesbian period drama that the world needs right now. And boy, did season one ever deliver on the romance, swagger, and coal related subplots I've come to expect from my costume dramas. Only all of the expected tropes are upended by Suranne Jones's sexy, confident portrayal of Anne Lister — a gentlewoman in search of a wife.

Jones infuses Anne with a restless spirit that makes you love her even when she's being infuriating. She finds her perfect match in Sophie Rundle's Ann Walker, a timid woman with a gentle heart and a small fortune. Together, the duo brought to life a mesmerising couple who defy conventions and make our hearts beat a little faster in the process.

Watch Gentleman Jack on HBO. [37]

The Act

As the infamous mother-daughter duo of Dee Dee and Gypsy Blanchard, Patricia Arquette and Joey King [38] give the performances of the year. Even though I knew where this true story was heading right from the start, the tension between Dee Dee and Gypsy is palpable in every scene. This dark and twisted tale of manipulation and murder dares you to look away — and I really wanted to look away sometimes (that teeth pulling scene) — but King and Arquette's performances demand and deserve our full attention.

Watch The Act on Hulu. [39]

Watchmen

Damon Lindelof takes the world of Alan Moore's Watchmen comics and expands them into a modern alternate universe that tackles the systemic racism in America head on. There are also squid showers, ageing superheroes, a masked police force, and enough twisty plot points to keep viewers theorizing for years to come. And it's all anchored by a towering performance from Regina King. This is what TV perfection looks like.

Watch Watchmen on HBO. [40]