So, in the endless dreg that was 2020, TV and Streaming services was one of the main things that kept a lot of us sane. Here are the shows that helped me through 2020.
A couple of notes as well – a few 2020 shows I didn’t watch until this year and Fresh Off the Boat ended before the lockdown.
Bless This Mess
This fish-out-of-water tale of a NYC couple who move to a farm in a very small town in Nebraska was always funny and had a lot of heart. Another show cancelled too soon by Fox.
Bob Hearts Abishola
This light rom-com was just a nice distraction from the awful year of 2020.
The Last Dance
This show was the most in the zeitgeist of last year. It’s true there was no watercooler talk in 2020, so this documentary about the glory days of the the Michael Jordan Bulls was the more like the “Zoom meeting talk” of the spring.
The Mandalorian
This show kept the momentum it built in 2019 well into the end of 2020. The Star Wars space opera gave us so much to talk about on Twitter – Baby Yoda’s real name, the Mandalorian without his mask on, the return of multiple characters!
the Masked Singer
This celebrity singing reality show had not one, but two seasons in 2020. One was produced before the pandemic and one during. But both came it in the midst of lockdown and having a weekly show to look forward to was crucial for some.
Never Have I Ever
Mindy Kaling has gifted us with yet another great show to binge. This is a coming-of-age tale of a Indian-American teen dealing with the pressure of high school and mourning the death of her father. But it’s not a downer, instead it has fun feel to it.
The Queen’s Gambit
Since this miniseries was released on Neflix in the Fall of 2020 it seems like no one has stopped talking about it. It was a good, but not great series about a troubled chess genius. For whatever reason, it’s given us a lot to discuss.
Saturday Night Live
SNL was still live, then it was completely remote, and now it’s back live with a lot of extra safety protocols. Honestly the quality was more up-and-down in 2020 that it had been in previous years. But we needed to laugh in 2020 and SNL did give us an outlet.
Tiger King
So, this documentary series probably isn’t a paragon of journalistic integrity. But it is full of ridiculous characters, and insane drama involving exotic animals, local elections, and potential murder schemes that would seem unbelieve if you made them up.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
The first season of this Musical series doesn’t have the same production as either Glee or My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. And the first main arc was mainly about grief. But sometimes watching big musical numbers just makes you feel cheerier.
Cheers/Frasier
And a bonus classic. My wife and I binged the entire Cheers series during the pandemic. The characters, situational humor, and jokes still hold up after all these years. And it was strong throughout all the seasons. And I’ve been watching Frasier during breaks. It may not be as consistent as Cheers, but it’s best shows are some of the funniest TV of all-time.