I kept a list of my favorite television throughout 2021, and I couldn’t believe how much it continued to grow. Last year was an embarrassment of riches, but this year should not be discounted. My list always leans more towards comedy, and this year is no exception. There are a lot of things that I need to catch up on, and don’t be a hater. I love my list.
Honorable Mentions
Miracle Workers: The Oregon Trail for keeping it absurd…
Succession for remaining as one of the funniest dramas on TV…
Scenes from a Marriage for the high drama and intimate performances from Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac…
Dickinson for giving us a beautiful end to Emily Dickinson’s beginning…
Genera+ion for, hopefully, cracking open the minds that need cracking…and Justice Smith in all of those costumes…
Schmigadoon! for honoring musicals in a year packed with great musical moments…Kristin Chenoweth knows the assignment…
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars for being one of the most unpredictable seasons yet…
The Underground Railroad for being truly unforgettable television…this is art that endures and teaches…
The Great for that window scene that makes me laugh every time I think about it…
Hacks for Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder and Carl Clemons-Hopkins and Meg Stalter
The Sex Lives of College Girls for taking us back to school and all those shots of Gavin Leatherwood’s rear…
Midnight Mass for Samantha Sloyan’s terrifying turn…
10. Netflix’s Cooking with Paris
While you may think that this list is jumping the shark with its first entry, may I propose that we can all learn something from the hotel heiress’ approach to the culinary arts? Paris Hilton has always been a divisive reality figure, and, sure, she has more money than she knows what to do with. What Cooking in Paris does well is show how we can all not take life (and baking) too seriously. When things don’t go our way, just throw some more edible glitter on it.
9. FX’s Pose
One of the most beautiful episodes of the entire year was Angel and Papi’s wedding, and the FX drama brought those incredible highs and lows all season long. I was initially devastated when the series finale announcement came, but these characters ended their stories with power and promise. Give Michaela Jae the world, please.
8. Netflix’s Maid
Poverty can hit any one of us, but Netflix’s Maid shows how it’s not a linear path back to happiness and hope. Margaret Qualley gives her most complex performance yet as Alex, young mother who makes the decision to leave her partner, Sean (a fantastic Nick Robinson), before his psychological abuse leads to something physical. Andie MacDowell lets loose as Alex’s wayward artist mother, and Anika Noni Rose gets to play a rich woman who is afraid of the prospect of becoming a mother herself. Qualley makes Alex’s journey fascinating to watch.
7. NBC’s Superstore
A lot of shows don’t end their shows well, but NBC’s Superstore isn’t one of them. The workers of Cloud 9 were put on the front lines of the pandemic, but this sitcom never drenched its stories in sentimentality. I will miss this show forever.
6. HBO’s The White Lotus
When you have as much money as the guests at The White Lotus do, your problems are just beginning. Mike White’s limited (maybe?) series explores privilege, sex, money, and unhappiness with nimble writing and hilarious performances from its incredible cast. This could be Jennifer Coolidge’s path to an Emmy, but it’s something we’ve never seen from her before. Watch her sad eyes and how she can’t settle in her own body. Murray Bartlett devoured every scene as a man willing to blow everything up.
5. HBO Max’s It’s a Sin
Russell T. Davies’ limited series ripped my heart out, and I haven’t forgotten it all year. A group of young gay people flock to London in 1981, but their lives of promise are threatened by the unknown phantom known as HIV and AIDS. Olly Alexander’s Ritchie Tozer denies the epidemic in an eerie connection to the COVID pandemic, and Callum Scott Howells gives one of the best performances of the year. Keeley Hawes gives her shocked mother a startling authenticity. As advances in queer rights make headlines around the world, we cannot forget the generation of men who were stolen from us, and It’s a Sin is beautiful, joyous, essential, and devastating.
4. HBO’s Mare of Easttown
What more can be said about Mare of Easttown? Kate Winslet disappears into a role that proves to be a new pinnacle of her career. It captured our attention week to week, and it deserves every accolade.
3. Showtime’s Yellowjackets
Like the young heroines in Yellowjackets, the new phenomenon feels like a throwback itself. With its circular, connecting timelines and fearless performances, this new drama series is the new obsession we’ve been waiting for. This is what water cooler television is–we flip out who might have survived the plane crash, we theorize who might be alive, we revel in the delicious performances from Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey, and Juliette Lewis, and we chat up our friends about what might happen in the next unfolding hour. You want real buzz? Look to Yellowjackets to deliver every time.
2. Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building
John Hoffman’s new comedy series captures that inescapable thrill of finding out someone you know–or maybe a total stranger–is as obsessed with a piece of entertainment as you are. Not only is it a comedy caper in the vein of Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, but it is a sly tale of how we long for connection. Anchored by the brilliant trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building is a true sensation. It’s a comedy series that sneakily makes you care about its characters. It’s a quintessential New York story. A triumph.
1. HBO Max’s The Other Two
I won’t lie–I was worried about what a sophomore season of The Other Two would look like. The first season dropped quietly in 2019 on Comedy Central, and, thanks to the pandemic, it found a passionate fanbase. I was scared of a sophomore slump. I was wrong. So very effing wrong. Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider have created a love letter to pop culture, fame, and media like no other. And it’s very gay. Not only is there an entire episode centering on a leaked butthole pic, but Heléne Yorke delivers the comedic performance of the season in the episode where Brooke lands herself on a panel with other impressive women. Brandon Scott James storming through a hospital wing in a fur coat is aspirational in its grandeur and absurdity. Drew Tarver’s Cary explores his stunted shame so earnestly that it makes you think about so many other gay or queer people out there. With its sharp writing, it cannot be imitated, especially in this climate.
