Continuing on with my Top 250 TV shows, this batch has 8 comedies and 2 dramas:
The Top 250 TV Shows: 30-21
30) "Insecure" HBO
Insecure follows the main character Issa, as she goes through life and tries to figure out her place and how she fits into this world. She has a job she’s not all too thrilled about, a boyfriend she’s not sure she wants to be with, she has complicated relationships with people in her past, and she has a close supportive friend who she spends time with as they both figure out this world. It’s unique, creative and funny. And I still find myself occasionally getting the song from the premiere episode stuck in my head. Broken ***** is a jam. Issa offers a well needed and welcomed voice in the TV world where some storylines are stale and repetitive. It feels fresh and new and quickly feel like you’ve been following these characters for a while. The show was renewed for a longer second season and I can’t for it to return.
29) "Better Things" FX
Better Things follows the lives of a mom working in show business and how she has to handle her professional career, her daughters and her mother. She also deals with an ex husband, colleagues and lovers. The show is a great snapshot of life. Episodes can tackles multiple storylines which encompass a day. Others can be a complete story. It’s funny, heartbreaking, somber, real and hopeful at times. The story really comes together when all of the storylines interconnect. She really tries hard to connect to all of her daughters to varying degrees of success throughout the episodes. It features some really cool celebrity cameos too. The episode with Lenny Kravitz was really good. As was the finale episode which tackles a lot of issues. The show was a pleasant surprise and well welcomed. It didn’t do great in the ratings, but it was renewed for a second season and I can’t wait.
28) "Good Behavior" TNT
Good Behavior is Michelle Dockery’s return to TV after all these years on Downton Abbey. The show is a sexy gritty drama that I didn’t see coming. The show follows a young woman played by Michelle Dockery who gets out of jail on good behavior and quickly gets sucked back into the life that she should be trying to get away from. She’s a petty thief, former meth addict and loves to change her appearance and pretend to be someone else to pull of all sorts of cons. While on a quick job stealing from a hotel, she overhears a plot where a man is paying a hitman to kill his wife. As a result she is pulled into the world of this hitman and the baggage and life he lives. She also has a son who is staying with her mother. There is a restraining order preventing Letty from seeing her son, but she figures out a way to try and get back into his life. Storylines take her away and back to her hometown. It’s fun, sexy, suspenseful, and captivating. I’m so lad I checked this one out. Too bad the ratings are pretty low. I’m hoping for a miracle and it gets renewed for season two!
27) "The Good Place" NBC
The Good Place is a story which follows Kristen Bell’s character as she ends up in “the good place” after she dies. We soon find out, she is in no way supposed to be in the good place and tries to hide this fact so she can stay in this magical perfect afterlife. The bad place is apparently way worse, who would have thought. So she is paired with her “soul mate” who quickly finds out she’s not who he thought she would be. He agrees to help her become a better person and hide her secret. The two of them grow closer and a bond forms. The creator of the town they’re now living in starts to realize things aren't as they are supposed to be and tries to find what is wrong and fix it. It’s hilarious, creative and has a unique spark to it. And it has Kristen Bell, so what else could you ask for?! It was envisioned as a shorter order show so the first season will only have 13 episodes. I hope NBC sees the gem they have in this one and renew it for a second season next year.
26) "Jane The Virgin" The CW
Last Year: 23
After binging Season 1 all last summer, I hoped to be able to stay up to date with season 2. That didn’t happen. So yet again, I ended up binging all of season 2 over this summer. When season 3 started, I had to keep up with it. I wouldn’t let this gem slip away to be another summer binge (though I won’t complain, it’s nice to have all the episodes back to back). I was able to keep up and I am so glad I did. Season two ended on such a big cliffhanger, I had to see how it was resolved and how they would push forward as a result. Things in the love triangle between Jane, Rafael and Michael are pretty much done. That’s not to say we could see a resurgence, but now they’re focusing on their lives after the wedding. Rafael has bigger issues dealing with his mother and sister and their whole family, which actually brings him closed to Michael. Jane is dealing with motherhood, her marriage and everything else under the sun. Petra is dealing with her sister issues. Xo is dealing with her place in life in regards to dreams, jobs and a love life. Rogelio has to deal with his endless love for Xo and work and trying to break into television in America aside from telenovelas. Alba has to deal with her past and her family she left behind now creeping their way back in. It’s so good and I’m so happy I’m caught up for the first time writing my best of!
25) "Orange Is The New Black" Netflix
Last Year: 21
Like most other Netflix shows this year, I started the show, got a few episodes in, then let it sit on the back burner for a while so I could catch up on other shows. While I’m not caught up completely, I was unfortunately spoiled on some aspects of the season and I’m really excited to catch up. As we pick back up immediately after season three’s finale, the inmates have to begin dealing with a lot of new change. They have a now overcrowded prison, have to deal with new inmates, and where they all fit in the prison hierarchy. We have a Martha Stewart-esq character showing up in the prison and how the staff and inmates react to her being there. Caputo has to deal with running the whole prison now as warden. Piper thinks she’s hot **** now due to choices she made and bridges she burned in the last season. And so much more. It’s still funny, deep at times, heartwarming, and learning about the lady’s past helps push the story along. I wish I could be grading a complete season, because a lot goes down and might have even pushed it up higher on my list, but here we are! I’ll catch up soon I promise haha.
24) "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" Netflix
Last Year: 24
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is one of the most straightforward funny shows on TV. The cast is perfect. The writing and storylines are clever, over the top, creative and all come together perfectly. This season we saw Kimmy more comfortable in her new life in New York City after escaping imprisonment. She’s more confident but still just as naive and clueless as ever. She also eventually meets her mother after all the years apart. Jacqueline has to learn how to become more of an independent woman after she ran away back home and has to come to deal with the reality of her life now that she is no longer married. She learns, and grows, yet stays the same ridiculous and hilarious person we’ve come to love. Titus eventually finds a boyfriend who brings out different sides of him and he helps his boyfriend be himself more too. Lillian remains the crazy kooky one, even handcuffing herself to a bulldozer to prevent her neighborhood from becoming gentrified which she starts seeing the signs of. It’s all hilarious, over the top yet somehow grounded. I can’t wait to see what comes next year in season three.
23) "Billy On The Street" truTV
Last Year: 33
Billy On The Street provides some of the best laughs of 2016. Every time Billy comes up with a new game or new obstacle course or his random conversations with people on the street, I die of laughter. When he has celebrity guests on, he gets them to say some of the funniest things, and partake in some of the funniest situations I’ve ever seen on TV. Getting Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Samberg, and Jon Hamm to run down the street and pretty much convincing them to verbally assault strangers out of the blue is pure genius. This season’s obstacle course has to be one of the funniest. Rachel Dratch is a perfect match for these games Billy comes up with. When Billy catches people off guard and they actually shriek or run away is some of the funniest moments. And you can’t forget moments when Billy brings out the one and only Elena. She is the best recurring guest on the show. I love you Elena!! Moments like Kevin the bisexual and the virgin Mormon are classic TV. Billy truly brings out the best of people. Since this season started pretty late, it will run into next year so I’m sure we’ll be seeing it once again high up on my list and make me laugh a whole lot more. Hopefully truTV also renews it for another season because I will be mad as hell if they don’t.
22) "Atlanta" FX
Atlanta is one of the most creative and unique shows of 2016. Donald Glover has one of the most innovative and creative minds. It’s funny, has some deeper moments and always keeps my attention. We had storylines including a crazy night at a nightclub, a storyline where his kind of girlfriend/ex goes out to dinner with a friend, and a storyline where in this world, Justin Bieber is black. We see some changes in the format week to week, where some characters don’t appear much, we see an episode where it is essentially the taping of a round table discussion television show with timely and provoking commercials thrown into the show in between the “taping” parts of the episode. It’s extremely real, pushes some boundaries and is a big commentary on life today. His cousin is an up and coming rapper who may or may not be riding some fake and real news stories around him to further his voice in the world. His other friend is pretty much a sidekick but has some really cool moments where he speaks the truth no one else can really see. Hopefully the high quality and standard of this first season will roll over into season two when it premieres next year.
21) "Preacher" AMC
Preacher is an adaptation of the beloved comic series of the same name which I have read. Since it comes with an already established backstory from the comics, they have some restraints with storytelling, but in its first season, they essentially set it up as a prequel to the comics and the upcoming story which will be told in season two and hopefully beyond will likely follow the comics more. I think it was a smart decision, giving some backstory to the characters before they get to their main story. We meet Jesse Custer, a reformed bad guy who is now a preacher at his father’s old church. He meets a vampire who quickly becomes tied into his life for good or bad. His old flame is still upset with how he left their life of risk and trouble and is now in the picture up to no good still. They three of them have to deal with a lot of characters in the town. We have a kid who survived a failed suicide attempt and is now physically deformed. His father begrudgingly looks after his son, while also having to be the sheriff in town. There’s also Jesse’s sister who seems sweet and innocent and involved deeply in the church, but we learn she may have a darker side to her. We also have a meat industry in the town where the head of the company is pretty crazy and essentially runs a mob in town with lackeys handling his business. Some get caught up in the craziness once the Preacher gets some sort of divine power where people will do whatever he says to the literal degree. He has to be careful which words he uses. As a result of these powers, two entities from heaven have to try and get it back. Man there are so many great characters. But after the results of the finale, we’re mainly going to be dealing with the core three as they finally pick up where the first comic picks up. From here on out it’s a road trip quest to find God and kick his ass lol.
-----
We’re getting really close to the top now! The Top 250 TV Shows: 20-11 will be up next!