The 50 best TV shows of 2017

The Grauniad is running a countdown of its best 'TV' shows of 2017.

Am amused to find I haven't seen a single one on today's list, 41-50, even though it seems I have access to all of them. There's simply too much content out there for anyone who has to work for a living, but are any of these worth seeing?

41 Black Sails (Starz/Amazon Prime)
42 Detectorists (BBC Four)
43 Ozark (Netflix)
44 Stranger Things 2 (Netflix)
45 Inside No 9 (BBC Two)
46 Gogglebox (Channel 4)
47 Preacher (AMC)
48 One Mississippi (Amazon Video)
49 Back (Channel 4)
50 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW/Netflix)

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/nov/30/the-50-best-tv-shows-of-2017

I've seen "Stranger Things" and "Ozark" from that list.

I'm pretty sure that "Stranger Things" wouldn't be your thing (It's basically a 1980s era remix of the works of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King). "Ozark" is decent, but not the kind of show I would warmly recommend. It's a poor man's "Breaking Bad".

Shows I thought are/were decently interesting this TV season:

"The Deuce"
"Mr. Robot" (season two was really poor and almost ruined it for me but season 3 is much better)
"Archer"
"Legion" (the most interesting superhero show I have ever seen and totally unique for the genre up until the too conventional season finale)



"Fargo" season three was the weakest by far.
"Outlander" was always a bit too much of a bodice-ripper for me to truly embrace it but season three has taken this aspect of the story to absurd heights.
"Game of Thrones" had by far its worst season in terms of the writing, which is ironic considering they finally seem to have the money to do proper justice to GRRMs larger battle set pieces.

*edit*

Forgot to add "The Last Tycoon" to my list. I really enjoyed that and I'm disappointed we aren't getting a second season.
Who knew that watching Fritz Lang act like a diva on set and then use his off hours to creep on wide-eyed ingenues would make for such entertaining TV?

I really enjoyed the first two seasons of Black Sails. The third was a little harder to get and then I couldn't source later eps in that season, so haven't gone back. But the first two seasons were excellent.

Stranger Things isn't my cup of Slush Puppie, though friends tell me I'd enjoy the soundtrack. I watched a few episodes of Outlander because of Ron Moore's involvement, but 50 Shades of Haggis doesn't turn me on either.

Off the top of my head, the only things I've enjoyed in the last year have been It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia; Archer; the Americans; BoJack Horseman; Better Call Saul; Cowboy Bebop; The Crown; and, um, Episodes.

Part 2 of the Guardian's right-on list is up:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/nov/30/the-50-best-tv-shows-of-2017

I thought the latest season of "The Americans" was the poorest by some distance. Which is unfortunate, because I was hoping it would become the rare quality show that goes out with a bang.

Incidentally, I have heard a lot of good things about "Halt & Catch Fire" but I haven't found the time to catch up on it.

Ah, I've only seen The Americans up to S4. Coincidentally, I just watched the first episode of Halt & Catch Fire (not heard of it before), and am mildly intrigued. Making a drama about something as important yet defiantly non-visual as the rise of cheap computers will be a challenge.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Ah, I've only seen The Americans up to S4. Coincidentally, I just watched the first episode of Halt & Catch Fire (not heard of it before), and am mildly intrigued. Making a drama about something as important yet defiantly non-visual as the rise of cheap computers will be a challenge.

I've not seen it, but I've heard that season one is the poorest of its run and the show really takes off from season two onward.

Erica Ambler wrote:

The Grauniad is running a countdown of its best 'TV' shows of 2017.

Am amused to find I haven't seen a single one on today's list, 41-50, even though it seems I have access to all of them. There's simply too much content out there for anyone who has to work for a living, but are any of these worth seeing?

41 Black Sails (Starz/Amazon Prime)
42 Detectorists (BBC Four)
43 Ozark (Netflix)
44 Stranger Things 2 (Netflix)
45 Inside No 9 (BBC Two)
46 Gogglebox (Channel 4)
47 Preacher (AMC)
48 One Mississippi (Amazon Video)
49 Back (Channel 4)
50 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW/Netflix)

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/nov/30/the-50-best-tv-shows-of-2017

I'd say that if you enjoyed The League Of Gentlemen/Psychoville you'll likely enjoy Inside No 9, ditto Peep Show and Back.

I see the entire list is now online.

I think "Mindhunter" is a worthy inclusion in the top ten, yet it won't be everyone's favorite.
I guess the degree to which you like it will strongly coincidence to your liking of Fincher in general.

"The Deuce" is delightful, though I'm still not entirely sure what kind of show it wants to be even after the first season has aired completely. I never saw "Treme", but apparently this is a common trait among George Pelecanos shows.

In spite of how overhyped it is, I still have zero interest in seeing "Big Little Lies".

"Glow" was just a lot of fun and worthy of a top 20 inclusion. Marc Maron was terrific in it.

I think the Guardian review of "Legion" is spot on, apart from the last episode, which was forced to come back to earth a little bit, from the wonderful weirdness that came before.
The absolute weakest aspect of Marvel TV is how the genre tropes act so much like a straightjacket. I would have been perfectly fine if "Legion" had been weird throughout and did not feel the need to tie anything up in a neat little bow.

Wait, "The Handmaids Tale" is n°1? The most overrated show of the year.
Admittedly the first three episodes were good, but after that it took a rather spectacular nosedive for my money.
"Alias Grace" was the far superior Margaret Atwood adaptation this year.

Salomé wrote:

Wait, "The Handmaids Tale" is n°1?

It's Katharine Viner's The Guardian, innit. I'm eagerly awaiting its news story on DRR.

"Alias Grace" is far more conventional and subtle but so much more powerful, in the end.

Can't come up with 50, 25 or even 10.

But I do watch these 4 quite religiously.

The Walking Dead
Fear The Walking Dead
Suits
Punisher - new, and a personal guilty pleasure.

I will try to make a more complete list later on, but TV shows I enjoyed this year include:
Mindhunter
Dark
Narcos season 3 (surprisingly enjoyable considering it had no Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar)
Mr. Robot (a considerable improvement on season 2 but nowhere near the heights of season 1)
Sneaky Pete (if you liked "Justified" you will also enjoy this)

Fargo season 3 was the poorest season by some distance, but at the same time, "The Law of Non-Contradiction" (episode 3 of season 3) might be the most enjoyable hour of TV I have watched this year.

I can understand why The Guardian didn't want to wait to see how the 3 new episodes of The League Of Gentlemen turned out, but I really enjoyed them ... the tar-black humour was still present and correct, but at times with an added poignancy.

That said, there's a good chance that they would've bristled at the inclusion of old characters Barbara the trans taxi driver and her being used for an opportunity for some 'safe space' satire and Papa 'looks like a ministrel and lives up to every stereotype about 'travelling people' 'Lazarou in 2017.

Of course, anyone with an ounce of wit knows that these are only jokes and the League are far from phobic/racist.

Adding to my list:
"The Deuce"
"Alias Grace"
"The Last Tycoon" - Not quite what it could have been, but I loved the setting, the cast and Fritz Lang trying to lure young ingenues into doing bondage play with him.
"GLOW" - Kind of ironic that Marc Maron was the very best thing in a show that is ostensibly primarily about young women trying to find their way in the world.
"Archer" - Enjoyable season

Den Of Geek’s top 15 TV episodes of 2017. Interesting way to do it.

http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/2017-tv/54216/den-of-geek-s-top-15-tv-episodes-of-2017

Salomé wrote:

Fargo season 3 was the poorest season by some distance, but at the same time, "The Law of Non-Contradiction" (episode 3 of season 3) might be the most enjoyable hour of TV I have watched this year.

DoG went for Aporia. Fargo S3 hits Netflix UK in Jan 2018.

Their choice of episode 10 of Mindhunter is interesting.
It contains the single most important scene of the season for sure (the culmination of the main character's story arc). But I wouldn't quite agree it's the best episode.
I think it's hard to look beyond that first interview with Ed Kemper. Which happens in episode 2.

"Aporia" contains some very fan-friendly moments (Nikki meeting V.M. Varga), but it's not a perfectly realized little mini-movie like "The Law of Non-Contradiction".

As you can imagine, I was pleased to see Doctor Who topping that list.