Television

Geoff Carter

This year I leaned heavily on comfort viewing—funny shows, lighthearted fare and a lot of old favorites. (I rewatched nearly the entire runs of The Office, the original Star Trek and Letterkenny, some of them multiple times.) But this year also delivered several astonishingly strong debuts and sophomore seasons.

1. Ted Lasso (AppleTV+) The central idea of this sleeper hit is a radical one for these times: It’s about adults being decent to each other and owning up to their mistakes. It’s also about an American coaching Premier League football, but you’ll love it for the humor, the full character arcs and Jason Sudeikis’ left-field hip-hop references.

2. How to With John Wilson (HBO, HBO Max) In this offbeat documentary series, cameraman and narrator John Wilson explores New York City, meeting and filming strangers—and falling down one previously unexplored rabbit hole after another. You’ve never seen anything like it.

3. The Mandalorian Season 2 (Disney+) The first season of this runaway hit only skirted the edges of the Star Wars universe. This season, showrunner Jon Favreau steers us right into it, bringing back longtime fan-favorite characters and settings while introducing new kinds of storytelling to the franchise.

4. What We Do in the Shadows Season 2 (FX/FX on Hulu) Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s crew of Staten Island vampires is even more lethal—and hilarious—in its second outing.

5. The Great (Hulu) Don’t watch this comedy-drama—based on the ascension of Catherine the Great—for its historical accuracy. Watch it to see Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult having a great time chewing up all that historical scenery.

6. The Amber Ruffin Show (Peacock) The comic and Late Night With Seth Meyers writer joined the late-night fray in September and hit the ground running. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and her “smart but silly” take on the news sharpened to a fine point.

7. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix) Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance as chess prodigy Beth Harmon is a superstar turn. Take away every last thing surrounding her, and you’d still be captivated by her work in this series.

8. The Umbrella Academy Season 2 (Netflix) This superhero series continues to defy expectations (and improve upon the Gerard Way comic that inspired it). I could watch the superpowered Hargreeves siblings bicker and reconcile all day; it’s almost a buzzkill when they have to do regular hero stuff.

9. Truth Seekers (Prime Video) Simon Pegg and Nick Frost explore X-Files-like territory … and they don’t skimp on the laughs or the jump-scares. Watch closely for the musical joke they set up over several episodes.

10. Tiger King (Netflix) I didn’t want to get sucked into this reality-show crap, but options were limited at the time; there was a pandemic going on. And there’s a certain guilty pleasure in watching a show in which nearly every last soul is the Worst Human Ever.

Spencer Patterson

Like most everyone, I surely watched more television in 2020 than in any other year of my life. A lot of that time was spent on recent shows I’d missed—(Cobra Kai, Mr. Robot) or rewatching old classics (Community, Lost), but I also took in loads of new stuff. (Oh, and I don’t have HBO, just so you know.)

1. Better Call Saul Season 5 (AMC) The best show around somehow got even better in its penultimate season, peaking with Saul and Mike’s desert detour, “Bagman.”

2. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix) Stop searching for Bobby Fischer. Beth Harmon is the chess hero the world had no idea it needed.

3. The Mandalorian Season 2 (Disney+) Even before surprise guests began arriving onscreen (!), the evolving Mando/“Child” dynamic had us watching the clock till Friday liftoff.

4. High Fidelity (Hulu) This smart, diverse, musically dynamic show had so much going for it … making Hulu’s decision to cancel after one season unfathomable.

5. Ozark Season 3 (Netflix) Whether they’re in it by force or choice at this point, the Byrdes’ saga remains wildly unpredictable, without the twists ever feeling cheap.

6. MLB Now (MLB Network) Baseball looked quite different in 2020, but Brian Kenny’s commitment to serving “thinking fans” with next-level content and consideration remained constant.

7. Brockmire Season 4 (IFC) Speaking of baseball, what’s not to love about Hank Azaria’s turn as prickly/lovable announcer Jim Brockmire?

8. Dead to Me Season 2 (Netflix) Believable? Not especially. But with Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini in top form, that hardly seems to matter.

9. The Boys Season 2 (Prime Video) The best superhero show that isn’t really about superheroes got more interesting in its second go-round, introducing a racist character and then beating the absolute crap out of her.

10. Devs (Hulu) This strange sci-fi one-off starring Sonoya Mizuno and Nick Offerman didn’t always succeed, but its deep thoughts were a welcome distraction.

Film

Geoff Carter

This isn’t a list of the year’s top films; these are merely films that I enjoyed. There aren’t even 10 of them; I didn’t see most of the films released this year due to screen fatigue. (Also, two potential favorites—Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Soul—were unreleased at press time). Let’s hope 2021 brings us back into cinemas … and that there are cinemas to return to.

1. The Personal History of David Copperfield Armando Iannucci (Veep, The Death of Stalin) condenses Charles Dickens’ epic story into a breezy two-hour comedy and fills it with great actors (Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, Ben Whishaw, Benedict Wong and more) and enough warmth and whimsy to make an instant classic.

2.Palm Springs Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti get stuck in “one of those infinite time loop situations,” but that’s not the main thing this whip-smart romantic comedy has to offer. It’s more like one of those personal growth-and-self-forgiveness situations. With dinosaurs.

3. Da 5 Bloods Spike Lee elicits outstanding, must-see performances from Chadwick Boseman and Delroy Lindo in this Vietnam-based Western. Lindo’s desperate, angry “right on” monologue, aimed right at the camera and at us, deserves to win him an Oscar strictly on its merits.

4. Mank Lots of movies have been made about the making of Citizen Kane, but none have even come close to approaching that film’s deathless artistry. Director David Fincher and stars Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried come awfully close.

5. American Utopia David Byrne can now say he’s been central to two of the greatest concert films of all time. Just as Jonathan Demme rewrote the rules of concert movies with Stop Making Sense, Spike Lee rewrites them again in filming Byrne’s barefooted, cleverly choreographed, ecstatic Broadway show.