Megan’s Top 10 Best TV of 2017

Megan McLachlan lists the Best TV of 2017, which includes murder mysteries, fish-out-of-water comedies, and the best depiction of our current commander in chief.

TV was exceptional in 2017. Not only in being able to entertain, but also capturing the pop culture zeitgeist. Shows like The Handmaid’s Tale landed at just the right time, when a new president would come to power and threaten women’s rights.

There were lots of great shows that didn’t make my top 10 this year (listen to the Water Cooler Podcast for how I narrowed it down), so the following are in my opinion the best of an all-out great year of television.

Top 10 Best TV 2017

10. Big Little Lies/Feud: Bette and Joan (HBO/FX)

Not since True Detective did an HBO show have audiences so captivated. After all, on Big Little Lies, there were A-list movie stars, a murder mystery, and of course secrets. The series won a bunch of well-deserved Emmys and is coming back for Season 2 (although I think some secrets should just remain buried).

Ryan Murphy’s anthology series (the first of its kind) was a slow burn. Come for the Hollywood history and cattiness, stick through the post-Baby Jane lull for the final hour,  an episode that still haunts me months later. It’s devastating and beautiful, with Jessica Lange fully becoming Joan Crawford in those final moments.

9. Master of None (Netflix)

Season 1 of the Aziz Ansari series was thoughtful, but a little uneven. In Season 2, the show finds its groove, with stand-out episodes including “New York, I Love You” and of course the Emmy Award-winning “Thanksgiving.” Ansari also finds his status as a leading man. He’s always proven he could do comedy (obviously), but seriously romantic? Francesca is a fool not to fall all over him.

8. Baskets (FX)

There’s a moment in Season 2 of Baskets, when I caught myself. I realized that I was totally shipping a romance between Louie Anderson in drag and Ken (Alex Morris), when I really in my head considered Louie Anderson a woman. It just goes to show how deep into the role Anderson goes, that he had me completely convinced he was a woman. It was one of two times this year that I audibly cheered for an on-screen couple to get together (see: below for the other time!).

7. Insecure (HBO)

HBO’s comedy from Issa Rae only got better in its second season, focusing on Lawrence (Jay Ellis) in addition to Issa and her best friend Molly (the criminally underrated Yvonne Orji). How does someone who’s been monogamous for years suddenly navigate singlehood? Insecure answers that with dual perspectives in a broken relationship, and it feels fresh and wonderful.

6. Search Party (TBS)

When I first started watching Search Party on TBS, I assumed that our heroine Dory (Alia Shawkat) would solve the mystery in Season 1 and presumably continue solving petty crimes season after subsequent season. After all, that’s a great way to continue the story of these characters. I never thought it would end with an accidental murder, and for Season 2 to take us down a Breaking Bad-type hole. Are these good people doing bad things? Or just plain bad people? I’m starting to think it’s the latter, which has proven to be a very good thing for television.

5. Schitt’s Creek (Pop)

It has an old-fashioned sitcom premise, but instead of everything reverting to its original wrapping at the beginning of every new episode, each season of Schitt’s Creek has continued to reopen and rebuild from the last one. Season 3 proved to be its most plucky, with our characters getting new jobs (Johnny, the motel caretaker), marking significant achievements (Alexis graduated high school!), and even entering into satisfying relationships (David and Patrick). The second time I openly cheered and beamed at the TV screen in 2017 was when David and Patrick kissed. Typically, television gives gay characters significant others without creating chemistry. Schitt’s Creek marks the first time I can remember when two same-sex characters got together with sexual tension, the push and pull you feel when Sam and Diane bickered back and forth. Bravo!

4. Mindhunter (Netflix)

Jonathan Groff’s wet-behind-the-ears FBI agent gets more than he bargained for when his analysis of serial killers illuminates as much about himself as it does about his case studies. Groff delivers a career best, and Holt McCallany complements Groff’s optimism with sobering reality. Once the show really gets going, you can’t look away and will find yourself with the urge the pull the trigger on the next episode.

3. GLOW (Netflix)

Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin play perfect tag team performances in Netflix’s surprise summer hit. Like Handmaid’s Tale, this show came about at the right time, with the GOP tossing around women’s issues  in the political ring last summer. But then again, these same issues were relevant in 1985, which makes this show a weird time capsule for then and now.

2. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Rachel Brosnahan has had supporting success on shows like Manhattan and House of Cards, but on Amy Sherman-Palladino’s new show, she’s the center of attention, and you wouldn’t want it any other way. Playing Midge, she’s a seasoned pro, as if she’d been perfecting this role for years on Broadway and was finally bringing it to television. Sherman-Palladino has proven her talent on shows like Gilmore Girls and Bunheads, but this is probably the best work she’s ever done.

1. The President Show (Comedy Central)

Alec Baldwin ain’t got nothing on Anthony Atamanuik’s Trump, whose provocative, hilarious performance is my favorite of the year. Where Baldwin’s caricature on SNL has grown stale, Atamanuik’s demander-in-chief feels a little too real each week. Isn’t this EXACTLY how a real-life Trump talk show would go? What could have been a throwaway one-note parody is actually the best TV take on Trump – period.