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Lee's Best of 2016
Member Since: 5/27/2016
Posts: 1,553
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Gumball >>>>>>>> The rest of CN shows (except SU)
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Member Since: 3/22/2011
Posts: 26,525
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American Gothic was so good. I didn't see it getting a second season like Harper's Island, but it was fun while it lasted.
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Member Since: 2/22/2008
Posts: 46,108
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You're really THE Tv guru huh? Haven't seen any of these.
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Member Since: 4/16/2007
Posts: 30,963
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Almost Royal
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Member Since: 1/26/2006
Posts: 17,384
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I haven't seen House Hunters but I've seen similar shows like Property Brothers and it's quite entertaining.
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Member Since: 5/23/2007
Posts: 65,087
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Haven't seen those
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 11/16/2004
Posts: 28,450
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Continuing on with my Top 250 TV shows, this batch has 7 comedies, 2 dram(edies?) and 1 reality show:
The Top 250 TV Shows: 180-171
180) "Flaked" Netflix
Flaked follows a man who is an alcoholic who is down on his luck, and tries to get by with his friends. His store is failing, he’s not really keeping clean, although he tells everyone he is, and he’s not a great guy. I honestly forgot a lot of what happened in this show. It’s a bit boring, forgettable and tries way too hard to go for those big emotional moments. It swings and misses. I didn’t find myself liking many of the characters. It seemed to be a very personal story for Will Arnett, and I admit it did have some moments, enough to avoid being at the bottom of this list, but it really didn’t deliver. It got renewed for a second season, but I’m not sure I’ll check back into this one unless it makes some big changes.
179) "Impastor" TV Land
Last Year: 161
Impastor is a comedy which follows a con man who assumes the identity of a pastor to try to get away from his past and debts which he owes. When he arrives in the town where he’s supposed to be the town pastor, he finds out he’s supposed to be gay, will be surrounded by the church and staff all the time, and will have to find a way to make sure his past doesn’t catch up to him. Season 1 ended with a solid cliffhanger where he seemed to have just gotten caught by the authorities, and as always, finds a way to con his way out of the situation and somehow survive another day. Form there he has to keep his composure, survive in this new life and not get caught by his past again. It’s funny, wrong at times and a solid comedy from TV Land.
178) "The Ranch" Netflix
The Ranch is a half hour comedy? dramedy? that has a traditional multicam setup as seen in many sitcoms. It has some elements of humor, but I guess is more of a black comedy? I don’t know exactly what it is honestly. It really feels like a multicam drama, which I don’t think ever has existed (I may be wrong, but it’s the only one I’ve seen!). A football player’s dreams come to an end and he returns home to the ranch he grew up on where his brother and father still live. His mother owns the bar in town, and is still a part of the family, though it is complicated. Plus there’s a former flame which comes back into the picture with complications. The cast is a solid comedic cast, but it still seems more like a dramatic show with some deep moments and monologues. It’s an okay show. I think trying to figure out what the heck it is takes away from the show. Netflix premiered it in two blocks, and I’ve only seen the first 10 episodes. I hope the second half is a little better.
177) "Looking" HBO
Last Year: 153
Looking finished up its series run with a movie on HBO which tied up some of the loose threads. The show had many issues with it, but it was still a solid show. The movie also had its issues. The movie picks up after a small time jump where one of the main characters returns back to town and is reunited with his friends and former lovers. Not all of the main characters in the past got really great tie ups and were treated as nothing more than background characters.When you have essentially three episodes mashed together to finish a complete story still stuck in the middle, it’s gonna happen. It mostly shows how the group is growing up, they’ve learned from their pasts and are ready to embrace whatever future they have in store for them. Still at the same time, they feel fear and trepidation as to what it all means, and is this what they want. But really the movie is about Patrick. He’s always been the main lead, but this is his closing chapter. Does he end up with Richie or not? Overall I think the show finished what they set out to accomplish, albeit at a quicker pace than they probably hoped and intended.
176) "Mighty Magiswords" Cartoon Network
Mighty Magiswords started off as an animated web series of shorts where siblings Vambre and Prohyas (I totally thought their names were Amber and Brohius for a good while) start up a “warriors for hire” business where people can pay them to accomplish tasks or go on quests. They bring with them “Magiswords” which are a bunch of swords with all different powers. There’s an undead pumpkin which eats vegetables and shoots out seeds, a ladder sword which extends so they can reach places, a hamburger sword that shoots out hamburgers with helicopter blades, and a dolphin which shoots water. There are many more too. The show is pretty hectic and fast paced. It worked well as short clips because of this. When it first started its full 11 minute episodes, the plot seems to shift many times over and I felt my head was spinning. This seems to be the general tone of kids shows these days. Fast paced, zany and superficial. But after a while I grew to actually enjoy the episodes for their messiness and zaniness.
175) "Faking It" MTV
Last Year: 113
Faking It continued following a group of high schoolers in a very open and liberal high school where the two main characters once faked being in a lesbian relationship to up their status on campus. This year the show followed the fallout from Amy and Karma’s choices at the start of summer. Will they be friends again, will they find the right one, will they end up together in the end? We also had stories which tried to expand their friends and family on the show. It was unceremoniously canceled without any real resolution. It was funny and better than the shows MTV has tried to make their new flagpole comedy and comedy brand. I wish the show could have gone on further.
174) "Worst Bakers in America" Food Network
Worst Bakers in America started this year as a spinoff of Worst Cooks in America where contestants from around the country compete to try to better their baking skills under the guidance of Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale. A bunch of crazy characters tried to learn skills and get to the finale where they baked for a panel of bakers and foodies and one no longer is the worst baker in the country. Duff and Lorraine were no Anne Burrell, who truly is the star of Worst Cooks. Duff did a solid job, and Lorraine came off a bit awkward. I love Lorraine, but she seemed a bit off having to work with such terrible bakers lol.
173) "Saturday Night Live" NBC
Last Year: 110
How is Colin Jost still at the Weekend Update desk. He has run that segment into the ground. He is not funny. He is not clever. He should not still have this title. SNL as a whole got better in some aspects, but my unrelenting hate for Colin Jost usually takes over. I’ve gotten a bit bored by some episodes and I missed a few too without caring too much or hearing I missed much. PLUS they dropped two of the best cast members, Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah. And the other random forgettable unfunny white bread guy. They did add Mikey Day who I find funny and the other newbies have been doing better jobs than I expected.The only thing to push SNL up on my list is to drop the stale cracker named Colin Jost.
172) "Tracey Ullman’s Show" HBO
Tracey Ullman’s Show is a sketch comedy show where Tracey Ullman portrays many characters and does a great job. She portrays Camilla Parker-Bowles, Judi Dench, Angela Merkel, Maggie Smith and a bunch of original characters. Her portrayals are funny and on point. Tracey has done many sketch shows in the past, though this is the first I have caught. I always head she was funny, and this show confirmed it. It aired on the BBC in the UK earlier this year, but I didn’t hear about it until HBO aired it about a month ago. I’m glad I got to see it and found out it was already renewed for a second season.
171) "The Soul Man" TV Land
Last Year: 166
The Soul Man aired its final season this year and saw Reverend Boyce run for mayor. It took the show outside of its main setting of the church somewhat and still focused on the family’s life at home, in religion and now running for office. They added Missi Pyle as his campaign manager who became involved with Boyce’s brother. Their father ran into health issues. They worked with the community to try to get them to vote for a new voice to represent them after the mayor has been doing a poor job at it for a while. All the while, the show kept its humor and heart and brought a great conclusion to TV Land final current original multicamera comedy. It honestly could have kept going on and I’d keep tuning in. I really hope TV Land one day gets back into the multicam business. Most of their attempts at single camera comedies have just been ok.
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Another group down! I need to get these out quicker! We keep getting closer to the best stuff! The Top 250 TV Shows: 170-161 will be up next!
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Member Since: 1/26/2006
Posts: 17,384
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I loved Looking and the movie was a great closure to the story.
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Member Since: 5/27/2016
Posts: 1,553
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Is it just me or Netflix still can't produce a good 30 min comedy show? (aside from Master of None and Kimmy Schmidt) Anyway Flaked was not it and i like Will Arnett.
Mighty Magiswords was so messy and unoriginal i had to stop it, maybe it'll get better a la SU but until then i'm not interested.
Looking was meh.
I always skip Weekend Update, Jost is so uncharismatic. Cecily should be back.
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Member Since: 5/23/2007
Posts: 65,087
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Saturday Night Live although it ruined my fave's career
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Member Since: 3/14/2013
Posts: 37,294
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I'd love to watch some of those CN shows
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Member Since: 8/17/2013
Posts: 15,103
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MESS @ the colin jost rant
I was also surprised when they dropped Killiam, really enjoyed him.
I didn't really care for Pharaoh tbh
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 11/16/2004
Posts: 28,450
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I have to be careful with what I say apparently since a show on my list last night just got cancelled RIP Impastor! Continuing on with my Top 250 TV shows, this batch has 7 comedies, 2 dramas and 1 reality show:
The Top 250 TV Shows: 170-161
170) "Grandfathered" FOX
Last Year: 140
Grandfathered continued telling the story about a man who finds out he’s not only a father, but a grandfather. This new family he never knew he had quickly becomes an important part of his life. He begins to change whether he knows it or not and becomes a better person and betters the lives of his family too. While not a bad show, it was pretty predictable. It did have some deeper moments, offered a bunch of laughs and heartwarming moments. It didn’t do enough to really connect with a bigger audience and was cancelled after one season. I really enjoyed Paget Brewster in a comedic role, but now she’s back on Criminal Minds so I don’t think she’ll be on another comedy for a while though hopefully she will still show up on Another Period where she’s also hilarious.
169) "Galavant" ABC
Last Year: 183
Galavant was a musical comedy that didn’t take itself all too seriously. I had issues with the first season, but 1 minute into the second season I forgave it all. I gave into the meta opening song and how it was self aware of how silly it was and that they were really lucky to get a second season so they had fun with it. We followed yet again a group of characters decked out in costume and watched as Galavant tried to rescue and re find his love. The King was no longer the King and had to adapt to his new life and bonds with Galavant along the journey. He truly was the funniest part of the show. Especially with the unicorn. I’m glad I stuck it out with this one and that it survived 2 seasons against the odds. While I’d have enjoyed a third season, at least it did what it did.
168) "Teen Titans Go" Cartoon Network
Last Year: 156
Teen Titans Go continued to follow the lives of Robin, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg and the funny and crazy situations they found themselves in. While it is still not the original Teen Titans show of the past, I still got many laughs out of this one. It’s fun, easy to watch, and stories are stand alone most of the time. It’s also fun to see other DC characters pop up from time to time and see them in a different light too. They even had a miniseries event this summer where they’re stranded on an island. Those episodes directly connect to each other and the show got a cool new opening song. After the event, things went back to their normal ways. Cartoon Network is also launching a new Justice League show this week which doesn’t have anything to do with this show, but it will be more humorous itself because of Teen Titans Go’s success.
167) "Awkward" MTV
Last Year: 101
Awkward finished up its final season run this year by jumping from where we left them after graduation to College break and how their lives have been post college. We see how Jake is adjusting to his decision not to go to college, how Sadie is doing after breaking up with her boyfriend, how Jenna’s parents are doing with the new baby while she’s away, how Matty is adjusted to life without Jenna, and more. It was a bit strange doing a time jump for the last 10 episodes, especially after following their high school lives the entire time. I think they had hoped that somehow they could get another season, even though it was already announced to be the final episode. They still were able to put an okay sendoff for the characters and I will miss the show, as I’ve said before, now that MTV had tried new comedies which haven’t all lived up to this show and others.
166) "The Great Food Truck Race" Food Network
Last Year: 154
The Great Food Truck Race returned for its seventh season following people trying to live out their dream of owning and operating their own food trucks. This year, instead of going cross country on the epic road trick serving food, they stayed in one state, California. The show lost a little bit of the epic nature of the road trip, but it still stayed true to itself. They cut back on the number of twists that happen in challenges, and when they did throw them a twist, they were reasonable and not all necessarily ridiculous. They had to hunt for ostrich eggs in a field, find keys under funnel cakes, and more. And those weren’t bad compared to past challenges! And yes somehow Vinny from Jersey Shore ended up on the show with his mom and uncle. And somehow after the show ended, Vinny and his mom ended up shooting a pilot for their own show and it aired. As did the winning team. So in the end this whole season felt like a long winded way to get two pilots for potential TV shows.
165) "Conviction" ABC
Conviction is a new legal drama where the former first daughter on the president gets caught with illegal drugs and is blackmailed into heading up a new unit that investigates legal cases to ensure nothing wrong occurred along the way. Through investigating old cases, some convictions were overturned, and other cases lead to them finding the real criminals who can now be brought to justice. Hayley Atwell, in her first gig post Agent Carter, along with her group of misfits work together, and against each other at times. It’s not a great show, it’s a little bit too on the nose with its messages and plot twists trying to get an emotion or push a character in a direction. The cast is pretty recognizable, all appearing on shows I’ve watched recently, but it wasn’t enough to get people to watch. ABC didn’t order any new episodes and will air the 13 episodes it ordered and then decide its fate in May. It’s also swapping slots with Quantico, so it’s not looking too good for the show.
164) "The Family" ABC
This show appeared on my list of shows I was looking forward to in 2016 at number 15. This show followed a family after their missing son returns to their lives after years. The only issue is that the kid that has returned home may or may not be the actual kid that went missing. The family is all involved in politics, with the mom aspiring to become the governor of Maine. Things from their pasts all come back to haunt them, questions about the person who was in jail for his disappearance, and the one who took the kid is still alive and may still be communicating with the kid. It was a very slow paced show. Things didn’t really progress quick enough, and it could be boring at times. The show answered many questions, and then brought in new ones to keep us on our feet. The show was canceled after one season. Shame it didn’t do better.
163) "Dr. Ken" ABC
Last Year: 110
Dr Ken is a comedy starring Ken Jeong, who is a trained doctor in real life, in his home and work life at the medical practice. His co workers and family all give him enough story to make this family comedy work most of the time. Some of the character were a bit too one note in the first season, and they even wrote out one of the doctors who didn’t have much to do in the first season before the second aired. They also had Ken’s father move into the house and become a bigger part of the story. First season was the traditional sitcom with predictable stories. In the second season, there were a lot more deeper moments that helped propel the show higher on my list. It has heart and humor and hopefully can continue to deliver with the rest of the season.
162) "Fuller House" Netflix
This show appeared on my list of shows I was looking forward to in 2016 at number 4. Fuller House is the continuation of Full House with almost all of the original cast returning in varying amounts. Candace, Jodie and Andrea assumed the main role of living together to raise the kids that John Stamos, Bob Saget and Dave Coulier did in the original. While it has been a while since I saw the original and was a kid, the show was a good throwback, but only a mediocre sitcom. It hits all the corny marks, and has the occasional deeper episode (the Stephanie and kids episode threw me). I enjoyed it and didn’t have too many complaints because I accepted it for what it was. It wasn’t suddenly going to be a hard hitting dark comedy. Season 2 just premiered and I haven’t watched yet, but I can’t wait!
161) "Man Seeking Woman" FXX
Last Year: 216
Man Seeking Woman aired another surreal season. The show takes crazy premises, and makes them fit into the storyline as if they’re normal situations. Someone dates Santa, someone dates Jesus, Jesus is gluten intolerant, and more! This season also had a thread run through each of the episodes much better. The main guy was into a girl, but situations arose throughout the entire season preventing them from really being together. It brought common ground to each episode and made me want to watch it more. I watched the first few, then fell behind. I then binged the remaining episodes at the end of the summer and really enjoyed it a lot more than I did the first season. The show was renewed, even with anemic ratings, and will be back again this January for more strange stories and situations.
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Go go go! We keep getting closer to the best stuff! The Top 250 TV Shows: 160-151 will be up next!
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Member Since: 3/14/2013
Posts: 37,294
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idk any of these
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Member Since: 3/22/2011
Posts: 26,525
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Grandfathered & The Family...they always cancel shows I start to watch. ugh
Fuller House is fun.
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Member Since: 1/26/2006
Posts: 17,384
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I was interested in watching The Family but after reading some bad reviews I didn't ever bother.
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Member Since: 5/23/2007
Posts: 65,087
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Teen Titans Go is good
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 11/16/2004
Posts: 28,450
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Continuing on with my Top 250 TV shows, this batch has 7 comedies, 2 dramas and 1 reality show:
The Top 250 TV Shows: 160-151
160) "Flea Market Flip" HGTV
Last Year: 140
Flea Market Flip is an antique restoration competition. Lara Spencer sends two friends/couples/family members on a mission to hunt for antiques to then turn into upcycled items. Categories range from light fixtures (take something and turn it into a light fixture) to Industrial design, to pairs. Some contestants make some of the ugliest things and somehow they are able to sell them for lots of money and make a profit off the upcycle. I guess in New York City you can find a buyer for almost anything! The pair who makes the most profit from selling the items after removing the costs of the original materials wins! I think the show actually airs original episodes on GAC, but HGTV airs the repeats and that's where I watch them. The show is easy to watch and Lara is a lot of fun.
159) "Food Network Star" Food Network
Last Year: 216
Food Network Star returned again for another season to try and find the next new Food Network Star to get their own show. Now writing about the show, this probably should have been lower on my list. The show again was a mess. Contestants that should have gone home week one somehow survived far longer than they should have. The winner of Comeback Kitchen was eliminated way too early for dumb reasons. Bobby and Giada are getting on my last nerve as judges and hosts. It’s time to replace them and start fresh. That is what the show really needs. I’m glad with who they chose in the end, but again, the winner didn’t really get their own show. They added her to a pre existing show as a new host. And it’s not a straightforward cooking show
158) "Vice Principals" HBO
Vice Principals is a dark comedy that follows two Vice Principals at a high school who both want the Principal job. They get passed over in favor of an outsider who they both want to take down. They decide to team up and utterly destroy everything about this new woman’s life. It gets really dark. But it also has its really funny moments with the pranks they pull off and situations that arise in their lives. It was picked up with two seasons in mind and that might be it. It is left on a pretty crazy cliffhanger too so I can’t wait to see how it ends up.
157) "The Detour" TBS
The Detour is a comedy that follows a family on a crazy road trip as the dad tries to bring a stolen item from work he thinks is violating laws and ethics. Along the way a lot of crazy stuff happens, and the family ends up in all different kinds of situations that their kids never should be subjected to. There is a part where they unintentionally end up at the wedding between a pedo and a minor, a strip club, the whole family gets food poisoning, and so much more.
156) "Turn" AMC
Last Year: 129
Turn is AMC’s historical drama about the American Revolution. In its third season, we see Washington’s spy ring get even closer to getting caught. It also kicked Benedict Arnold’s storyline into high gear, which we all know from history, where he becomes a turncoat. Relationships on both sides of the revolution get rocky at times, and Mary becomes even more badass. The scene where she tries to assassinate a really rotten character. It was tense, exciting and powerful. The show was renewed for a final season so we’ll likely see the show through the entire war. Hopefully our heroes survive the war!
155) "Divorce" HBO
Divorce is a comedy on HBO, so not so much a comedy, that follows a marriage fall apart and the struggles the come across in the town with their friends, kids and jobs. Sarah Jessica Parker plays the wife who makes some bad choices that sets the whole situation in place. Her husband is a bit of an asshole who makes his own mistakes and screw ups. The show also takes place near where I grew up so it’s cool to see the area represented on TV. The ending set up a more intense season 2 and I’m excited to see how it turns out.
154) "Timeless" NBC
Timeless is a sci fi show where a group of unlikely partners end up having to travel back in time to try and preserve the current timeline that we know and all live in. If they fail to stop the bad guy from changing something, even minor events, the future they return to could be completely different. Pretty much the butterfly effect. When the team returns and something has changed, they retain the memory that the rest of the world doesn’t. They go back to the Hindenburg disaster, Lincoln assassination, The Alamo, World War II, Bonnie & Clyde and more. There's a bigger conspiracy happening and you learn more as the episodes go on. Abigail Spencer is just as amazing as she was on Suits and Rectify (which I’m currently watching the series finale as its airing and is why some of these write ups are a bit smaller this time) and deserves to head up a show like this. Ratings are soft so the future could be murky.
153) "Cuckoo" Netflix
Cuckoo is a British show that I found on Netflix that follows the misadventures of a family and their foreign headache that goes by the name Cuckoo. In the three seasons that aired, Cuckoo is played by Andy Samberg who is a free spirit who comes home with his girlfriend and his family reacts. By season 2, Andy was on Brooklyn Nine-Nine so they brought in Taylor Lautner as his son he never knew about and joins the family since he is now blood. It’s funny, odd, quirky and I think it will be back for a 4th season some time. It took a year break between each season if i remember correctly.
152) "The Strain" FX
Last Year: 83
The Strain is a show where a vampire plague of sorts wreaks havoc on New York City and the people these creatures feed upon. This season, we saw a bit of a change in the dynamic and formula the series followed in the past. The team is pretty much all off on their own dealing with their issues and struggles. Slowly they start to come back together, a foe is defeated, and new threats continue to plague the city and the survivors as they try to fight for humanity. I didn’t get to finish the season yet after I fell behind in the last few episodes, but it was renewed for a final season.
151) "Son of Zorn" FOX
Son of Zorn is a live action/animated hybrid comedy that follows Zorn as he returns to Earth to be a part of his son’s life once again. He is from another planet, has a whole different outlook on life and deals with creatures and issues normal humans don’t come across. His son has to adjust to his dad in his life, as does his mom and her boyfriend. Zorn has to get a job and more hijinks happen there too. Throughout all of the episodes aired so far, crazy things happen, the animation works somehow with the live action, and I enjoyed it more than I expected.
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Rectify’s series finale just destroyed me. What a great finale! ANYWAY. Another one down! We keep getting closer to the best stuff! The Top 250 TV Shows: 150-141 will be up next!
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 6/9/2002
Posts: 6,789
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VICE. MOTHER EFFING. PRINCIPALS! LOVE! Glad to see it chart! For the record, it was always ordered as an eighteen episode series. Danny, Jody and the writers spent nearly a year writing the show (it began life as a film screenplay Danny and Jody wrote ten years ago), and they shot the two seasons back-to-back, with Jody directing all of season 1, and season 2 directed by David Gordon Green. It was shot like a film, with the production wrapping November 2015. Because of that season 2 is airing in the spring. They are taking the movie-like approach they perfected with Eastbound (which everyone else ripped off to greater credit), and really expanding it. Sorry I am going on about it, this is your list! Just happy to see it on! I have yet to see it on any other TV critics lists (the TV critics who rant about "Peak TV" but all have identical top tens and only watch the same six shows), so you are way better than them!! Lee for King of TV Criticism!
I was also a BIG fan of Divorce! I thought it was just teriffic! The Comedy Nerd All-Star Writers Room behind it, the show never got credit for being consistently laugh-out-loud funny. Not everyone loves it, but i'm glad you appreciated it!
Great stuff!
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Member Since: 5/23/2007
Posts: 65,087
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The Strain is a good show!
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