“BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg has a bone to pick with Netflix and other streaming services for the way they more or less negate end-credits sequences. A Twitter user noted that, while watching Bob-Waksberg’s Amazon series “Undone,” he could not watch the end credits because of an autoplaying feature that started the next episode in mere seconds. On Netflix, the end credits shrink into a tiny box so that a larger autoplaying trailer takes up the screen to promote a Netflix original.

“Would love to make a show for a network that doesn’t do this,” Bob-Waksberg wrote on Twitter over the Christmas holiday in response. “If you work at one, let’s talk. A show represents the cumulative tireless work of hundreds of creative artists who dream of one day having their names shrunk into a tiny box and then cut off abruptly by a trailer for ‘The Witcher.'”

Bob-Waksberg shared an anecdote to explain his frustration: “When I watched ‘Undone,’ they put up an ad for the next episode, over the picture, BEFORE it even hit the credits. The person I was watching with got so distracted, we had to go back and watch the ending again because she missed it.”

“Audiences can skip whatever they want,” the “BoJack” creator continued. “I went to the bathroom three times during the last ‘Avengers’ movie and I don’t regret it — I just resent distributors making the decision for them, especially when their default sidelines the people who make the content.”

Earlier this year, Bob-Waksberg said it was a shame that Netflix’s business model was changing and no longer giving shows multiple seasons to succeed. Bob-Waksberg’s “BoJack Horseman” returns in January for its final run of episodes.

Would love to make a show for a network that doesn’t do this. If you work at one, let’s talk. https://t.co/4SrDuwsb5m

— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 24, 2019

When I watched Undone, they put up an ad for the next episode, over the picture, BEFORE it even hit the credits. The person I was watching with got so distracted, we had to go back and watch the ending again because she missed it.https://t.co/abxOEWU3Sv

— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 24, 2019

Audiences can skip whatever they want – I went to the bathroom three times during the last Avengers movie and I don’t regret it – I just resent distributors making the decision for them, especially when their default sidelines the people who make the content.

— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 24, 2019

1. “BoJack Horseman” Season 6, Part II (available January 31)

Why Should I Watch? Offering an incomparable blend of laughing ’til you cry and weeping from deep, emotional distress, “BoJack Horseman” is wrapping up its potent, perfect series this month. After its eponymous star (voiced by Will Arnett) went through a successful stint at rehab in the first half of Season 6, the back half will test his newfound resolve as past mistakes come back to haunt the man-horse. Whatever’s in store from creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg and his excellent production team is bound to be intense, so strap in and take it slow. The very best aspect of splitting the final season in two is allowing us to savor the wide array of emotions “BoJack” so beautifully evokes.

Bonus Reason: Insiders tell me that the penultimate episode of “BoJack Horseman” is one of the season’s best, if not the best. Reviews are under embargo until the week of release, so that’s all we can say — but at least you can count on seeing one more dose of brilliance before crying your way through the finale.

2. “Grace and Frankie” Season 6 (available January 15)

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in “Grace and Frankie”

Saeed Adyani/Netflix

Why Should I Watch? “Grace and Frankie” is also ending, but not just yet. Netflix gave an early renewal for Season 7, which will mark the last outing for Grace (Jane Fonda), Frankie (Lily Tomlin), and their ex-husbands Sol (Sam Waterson) and Robert (Martin Sheen) — but Season 6 drops this month, giving you 13 new episodes well before the series wraps up with a whopping 16-episode final season in 2021. But those are facts — the excellent performances, earnest engagement with issues of aging, and a unique pliability in content make “Grace and Frankie” one of the most consistently enjoyable shows on television. If you’ve fallen off or never started, now is a great time to get back on that horse.

Bonus Reason: Casting Peter Gallagher as Grace’s betrothed is a stroke of genius (thanks Casting Director Tracy Lilienfield), not only because having Gallagher’s genial presence in a cast full of warm hugs is added comfort, but because he wears “well-off white guy” so well. Grace absolutely needs a guy who’s got a little money (or at least the manners often learned from having money), and Gallagher’s company-leading Nick Skolka fits the bill — and makes the show better.

3. “Medical Police” Season 1 (available January 10)

Erinn Hayes and Rob Huebel in “Medical Police”

Courtesy of Netflix

Why Should I Watch? Did you like “Children’s Hospital”? Did you wish there were more episodes? Did you want it to focus on Dr. Owen Maestro (Rob Huebel) and Dr. Lola Adolf Spratt (Erinn Hayes) just a little bit more? Maybe it could have a little more action, mystery, and romance? Well, Netflix — and “Children’s Hospital” creators Rob Corddry, Jonathan Stern, and David Wain — have cooked up just the spinoff series for you. “Medical Police” focuses on two American physicians stationed at a pediatric hospital in São Paulo, Brazil who uncover a world-threatening virus. Of course, the duo is recruited by the government to find a cure, leading to a global pursuit that slowly unveils an insidious conspiracy… and it’s really, really funny.

Bonus Reason: Both Rob Huebel and Erinn Hayes have become even more enticing screen presences since “Children’s Hospital” debuted. Huebel has impressed in “Transparent,” “Big Mouth,” and more guest star stints than I have room to list (though shout-out to Sperber Pennington on “Angie Tribeca”), while Hayes deserved far better than “Kevin Could Wait” had to offer, and found it in “The Dangerous Book for Boys” (and undoubtedly in the upcoming “Bill & Ted 3”). Seeing their roles elevated via a satiric twist on two of their best parts is exciting and well-deserved, so give this silly passion project a shot.

4. “Sex Education” Season 2 (available January 17)

Gillian Anderson in “Sex Education”

Netflix

Why Should I Watch? Short answer: Gillian Anderson. The must-see actress plays a supporting role in Laurie Nunn’s teen comedy, but, in an all-too-rare opportunity, she’s given ample time to be funny. Anderson has always been funny, of course, but the star of “The X-Files” and “The Fall” is often cast in dramas. It’s nice to see her in a blend of both, and she seems to enjoy stretching herself out.

Bonus Reason: Shorter answer: It’s good! “Sex Education” got screwed a bit by the Emmys — where, despite Netflix’s appeals, it was labeled a drama because of its hourlong runtime — but when have Emmy nominations dictated popular viewing habits? Give this one a go if you’re interested in a complex, compelling, and comedic discussion of sex and all its ties.

5. “The Ranch” Season 4, Part II (available January 24)

Ashton Kutcher and Sam Elliott in “The Ranch”

Greg Gayne / Netflix

Why Should I Watch? After four years, four seasons, and eight parts, Ashton Kutcher’s blue-language, red-state Netflix sitcom is reaching its end. The long-precarious state of the eponymous Bennett ranch will be settled once and for all, as Colt (Kutcher), his wife Abby (Elisha Cuthbert), his cousin Luke (Dax Shepard), his mother Maggie (Debra Winger), and father Beau (Sam Elliott) will either preserve their historic way of life or lose it to more modern endeavors. But before then, beers will be drank, insults will be shared, and advice will be imparted from one generation to the next. “The Ranch” is built around three things: 1. the comic stylings of a CBS sitcom combined with the foul language of an HBO comedy, 2. respect for the blue collar workers of the American plains, and 3. country music, which is lightly laced into almost every scene (usually of the pop country variety, but Sturgill Simpson has made his way onto the Bennett family stereo). Even with the controversy and dismissal of original cast member Danny Masterson, those elements have pushed the series through 80 half-hour episodes, which is just 16 shy of Netflix’s longest-running series (“Grace and Frankie,” when it’s all done). They’re surprisingly engaging, even if you’re not aligned with the show’s conservative politics or crass humor. So if any of that sounds good, give it a shot. After all, that’s a lot of TV to fill your day.

Bonus Reason: We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Sam Elliott is the best thing about “The Ranch,” by far. He could have his own show, sans Kutcher & Co, where it’s just Beau bumming around the ranch, herding cattle and sipping whiskey. Sure, he’d need a visitor or two to casually mock, but that’s what guest stars are for — Elliott has built a believably weary curmudgeon; a man who’s both too stubborn for his own good and yet still willing to change when pushed to his last resort. Beau’s fate is the show’s most compelling question, and a beautiful tragedy lurks within the faux-funny fences of “The Ranch.” He, and it, are worth finding.

6. “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Part 3 (available January 24)

Kiernan Shipka in “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”

Diyah Pera/Netflix

Why Should I Watch? Kiernan Shipka has officially joined the ranks of “Mad Men” stars to find great work after an epic drama. Jon Hamm has obviously done great work, in everything from “The Town” to “Baby Driver”; Elisabeth Moss is off winning awards for “The Handmaid’s Tale”; January Jones found her true calling in Fox’s “Last Man on Earth”; Christina Hendricks topped out in “Hap and Leonard” or “Toy Story 4,” take your pick, and the list goes on — but Shipka, a child star, had arguably a trickier path forward, and she’s proven herself a capable lead in this engrossing, well-produced teen drama. Every so often, a bit of Sally Draper comes out of the witch-in-training, but that’s honestly part of the fun to be found within “Sabrina.”

Bonus Reason: That said, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” is more thoughtful than a purely fun teen soap. Fiercely feminist and empowering for those who could use a bit of TV inspiration, the Netflix series engages without topical issues without getting bogged down by them — which makes it a pretty ideal show about teens and for them.

7. “Betty White: First Lady of Television” (available January 12)

Why Should I Watch? The PBS special that first aired in late 2018 comes to Netflix this month, filled with tributes from Carl Reiner, Tina Fey, Ryan Reynolds, Valerie Harper, Alex Trebek, and more — but they’re not why you should watch. Due to her enviable work ethic and lengthy career, Betty White has remained an entertainment fixture for generations — but if you’re one of the later gens, you may be less familiar with what White did starting out. “First Lady of Television” offers a reminder of White’s impeccable turns on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Golden Girls,” while reminding viewers of her significance to the industry: White was the first woman to produce a national TV show, the first woman to star in a sitcom, the first producer to hire a female director, and the first woman to receive an Emmy nomination. What better reasons could you ask for? Watch this special! Then go watch her shows.

Bonus Reason: You’ll have to look off Netflix to binge the best of Betty White: “Golden Girls” is available to stream on Hulu, as is “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” “Hot in Cleveland” is on Comedy Central, and all three are more than worth your time.

The Rest of Incoming TV

“Saint Seiya” Seasons 4-5 (available now)
“Messiah” Season 1 (available now)
“Dracula” Season 1 (available now)
“Spinning Out” Season 1 (available now)
“The Circle” Season 1 (new episodes every Wednesday)
“Sex, Explained” (available now)
“Thieves of the World” Season 1 (available now)
“Anne with an E: The Final Season” (available now)
“Cheer” docuseries (available January 8)
“AJ and The Queen” Season 1 (available January 10)
“Girl / Haji” Season 1 (available January 10)
“Harvey Girls Forever!” Season 4 (available January 10)
“The Inbestigators” Season 2 (available January 10)
“Until Dawn” (available January 10)
“Zumbo’s Just Desserts” Season 2 (available January 10)
“Ares” (available January 17)
“Hip-Hop Evolution” Season 4 (available January 17)
“Tiny House Nation” Volume 2 (available January 17)
“Family Reunion” Part 2 (available January 20)
“Fortune Feimster: Sweet & Salty” (available January 21)
“Word Party” Season 4 (available January 21)
“Playing With Fire” Season 1 (available January 22)
“The Ghost Bride” Season 1 (available January 23)
“October Faction” Season 1 (available January 23)
“Rise of Empires: Ottoman” (available January 24)
“Vir Das: For India” (available January 26)
“Next in Fashion” (available January 29)
“Omniscient” (available January 29)
“The Stranger” Season 1 (available January 30)
“Diablero” Season 2 (available January 31)
“I AM A KILLER” Season 2 (available January 31)
“Luna Nera” (available January 31)
“Ragnarok” (available January 31)

The new year is just beginning, but television is already gearing up to say goodbye to one of its best series: “BoJack Horseman.” Eight episodes remain of Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s acclaimed Netflix animated comedy-drama, and Netflix has debuted the final trailer for the series that teases a major reckoning for television’s most complicated anthropomorphic horse. The final eight episodes serve as the second half of Season 6, which debuted October 25. Can BoJack Horseman change? Viewers are about to find out the answer once and for all.

“I have made a lot of mistakes, but I look back at that other BoJack and think, ‘Who is that?'” BoJack says in the final trailer. “I have had a lot of what I thought were rock bottoms only to discover another rockier bottom underneath. I used to feel like my whole life was an acting job, doing an impression of the people I saw on television, which was just a projection of equally screwed up writers and actors. I felt like a xerox of a xerox of a person.”

When BoJack’s therapist, asks, “But not anymore?,” the trailer cuts off to make his answer a mystery for viewers. “BoJack” fans know the character’s past will be inescapable over the final eight episodes. The first half of Season 6 introduced two “His Girl Friday”-inspired reporters investigating the death of BoJack’s late co-star Sarah Lynn, who died after overdosing on pills BoJack gave her. The Season 6, Part 1 finale ended with the unexpected return of Pete “Repeat” Pocket, last seen in Season 2 as a high school student who BoJack supplied alcohol to at a prom in New Mexico. BoJack got Pete’s prom date sent to the hospital with alcohol poisoning but made Pete swear not to tell where he got the liquor from. Pete ran into BoJack’s half-sister Hollyhock at a party in the Part 1 finale and told her the story without dropping BoJack’s name.

As always, “BoJack Horseman” will feature the voices of Will Arnett, Aaron Paul, Alison Brie, Amy Sedaris, Paul F. Tompkins, and a host of celebrity guest stars. The trailer for the final episodes confirms Margot Martindale will make a final appearance as Hollywood’s favorite (and most dangerous) character actress.

The final episodes of “BoJack Horseman” begin streaming January 31 on Netflix. Watch the official trailer in the video below.

When it comes to animated television, it’s good to be Netflix. That was the takeaway of Saturday evening’s 47th Annual Annie Awards, during which the streamer garnered major wins for both the big and small screens.

Awarded by the Los Angeles outlet of the International Animated Film Association, the honors aim to celebrate excellence in animated entertainment. The top prize on the TV side came in the form of the underwhelmingly named category known as Best General Audience TV/Media Production, which went to Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman” for the second consecutive year.

Though it took awhile for the organization to warm to the series, a scathing deconstruction of Hollywood centered around a depressive horse, the back-to-back wins suggest that even as “BoJack Horseman” heads into its final batch of episodes, it concludes as one of the finest shows on television.

Perhaps more impressive than the show’s win is the competition it faced within the category. Edging out Netflix’s “Big Mouth” and DC Universe’s “Harley Quinn,” the series also beat label-mates “Tuca & Bertie” (Netflix) and “Undone” (Amazon Prime), both of which, like “BoJack Horseman,” are produced by The Tornante Company.

Elsewhere, Netflix’s animated anthology series “Love, Death & Robots” scored four Annie Awards, including prizes for Best FX in Animated TV/Media (Viktor Németh, Szabolcs Illés, Ádám Sipos, Vladimir Zhovna), Music (composer/lyricist Rob Cairns), Production Design (Alberto Mielgo), and Editorial (Bo Juhl, Stacy Auckland, Valerian Zamel).

Other wins for Netflix came in Best Writing for the since-cancelled “Tuca & Bertie” (Shauna McGarry), Storyboarding and Character Design for “Carmen Sandiego,” and Animated Preschool TV/Media for “Ask the Storybots.”

For those fans anxious to read the tea leaves of the Annie Awards in an attempt to make sense of the 2020 Emmy Awards, it’s best not to get too excited. When it comes to direct correlations, the general winner at the Annies rarely translates to an Emmy win, for better or worse. In fact, it wasn’t until 2019 that the Television Academy nominated any Netflix show in the animated series category, at which point streaming giant broke in with both “BoJack Horseman” and “Big Mouth.”

Still, for as long as it took the Annies to get on-board with Netflix animation, 2020 could be the year the Emmy Awards finally look deep inside themselves and decide to embrace a morose horse.

A full list of Annie Award winners can be found here.

[Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for “BoJack Horseman” Season 6, Part II, including the finale and its ending.]

Even by Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s high referential standards, there are a lot of connections between the ending of “BoJack Horseman” and the beginning. In the first episode, BoJack eats cotton candy at a house party. In the finale, he eats cotton candy at Princess Carolyn’s wedding reception. Mr. Peanutbutter’s first in a long line of Erica jokes pays off in the finale with the sheer implication of Erica’s always-offscreen presence forming the punchline. The episode of “Horsin’ Around” playing when BoJack is discovered facedown in the pool is the same episode playing in the hospital when, during an Episode 1 panic attack, he thinks he’s dying.

From a thematic standpoint, the series finale also works as an homage to the genre “BoJack” loves and the genre it is; the flash-forward, the seminal event, the reunion of characters, even the cuts to black (as though a commercial is about to play), all embody the form of so many sitcom endings. Bob-Waksberg spoke early and often of his love for ’90s sitcoms, which allowed him to not only reference them with hysterical specificity, but make a great “Horsin’ Around” episode all his own. (See: The 2014 “BoJack Horseman Christmas Special.”) But the silent final moments and subject matter speak to the series’ dramatic foundation. Unlike “Horsin’ Around,” “BoJack Horseman” never promised that “no matter what happens, at the end of 30 minutes, everything is going to be OK.” The series confronted addiction and depression head-on, often with a clarity and courage few other shows could emulate.

Balance has always been the impossible tightrope “BoJack Horseman” never fell off. Its roots in absurd comedy and dark drama were what caused critics to stutter a bit out of the gate (or, at least, this critic), unable to pin down whether this new show from a new creator on a new “online streaming service” was trying to imitate Adult Swim cartoons, AMC dramas, or actually forge its own path. By the end of Season 1, once it proved the latter to be the case, the discussion shifted into what an animated original aimed at adults could effectively tackle — could a talking horse really be the next Don Draper?

For some, the conversation never evolved past that mental road block. “BoJack Horseman” remains an outlier at the Primetime Emmy Awards, nominated for Best Animated Series for the first time last year, and I can’t tell you how many die-hard TV fans have told me the subject matter is simply too troubling to deal with. In the end, “BoJack Horseman” tries to have it both ways one more time. By pushing the suicidal horse to the brink of death in its penultimate episode, the show broaches a possibility it’s been alluding to since the opening credits first ran. BoJack, after a long, nasty bender, nearly drowns in his swimming pool. But just like Don Draper doesn’t jump off a building at the end of “Mad Men,” BoJack also survives to look to the sky and find a shimmer of hope in the future.

That decision is probably for the best. After all, BoJack said it himself way back in the pilot. After the “Horsin’ Around” episode he’s watching in the hospital ends with The Horse dying — yup, the episode he watches in the pilot and the finale is the “Horsin Around” ending — BoJack says, “We might’ve gone too dark on that series finale.” So instead of getting busy dying, “BoJack” examines what it means to keep living; to keep living with pain, worry, loss, and all the struggles exacerbated for so many individuals with addiction and/or depression.

It’s a tricky, ambitious ending, given that it doesn’t provide the clear, arc-completing closure often bestowed by TV endings. “Sometimes life’s a bitch and then you just keep living,” Diane says, and she’s not just talking about one thing when she says it. Life is a series of endings and beginnings, all connected by your personal experience. BoJack learns this the hard way, again and again, as he tries to start over, forget the past, and become the good person he believes himself to be on the inside. (It’s also worth noting that in the Season 1 finale, Secretariat is shown committing suicide, shortly after telling Baby BoJack, “Don’t you stop running, and don’t you ever look behind you. There’s nothing for you behind you. All that exists is what’s ahead.”)

“BoJack Horseman”

Courtesy of Netflix

In Episode 11, “Sunk Cost and All That,” BoJack gets angry when his past is resurrected by the press. “No matter how many starts I get, there’s always the same ending: Everything falls apart, and I end up alone,” he tells Princess Carolyn, Diane, and Todd, as they try to help him figure out what to do next.

Diane’s advice isn’t just for BoJack’s career, but his life: You can’t deny the past existed; you have to acknowledge it happened and then go through it. As BoJack does this, through one successful and another ill-fated TV interview, the season and the series reach a climax. BoJack’s public life, representing his desire to be loved by everyone, smashes into his private life, where he’s depressed, addicted, and angry. The culmination of six seasons spent wrestling with popular perception and self-fulfillment sees our animated antihero laid bare by the publicity machine he can’t escape. Episode 12, “Xerox of a Xerox,” written by Nick Adams and directed by Aaron Long, forces the truth to come out once and for all, in a powerful, honest, and anxiety-inducing half-hour.

The subsequent episodes don’t quite hit that mark. “The Horny Unicorn” (Episode 13) and “Angela” (Episode 14) are solid entries, keenly exploring a private relapse pushed to an all-too-familiar tipping point. But when BoJack rings the doorbell to his mother’s house alongside a young Sarah Lynn, things get a bit wobbly. The series has a long history of excellent boundary-pushing, experimental episodes grounded in an internal reality. From the near-silent “Fish Out of Water” episode to the pained inner monologue driving “Stupid Piece of Shit” (not to mention the under-appreciated masterpiece “Time’s Arrow”), “BoJack” has found imaginative and effective ways to convey very difficult emotional and mental experiences. The animation, led by executive producer and production designer Lisa Hanawalt, finds evocative, eerily familiar designs, templates, and through-lines to bring complicated ideas to life.

The best Season 6 example of this comes in the Diane-focused Episode 10, “Good Damage,” when she struggles to write while on anti-depressants. Overall, it’s a superlative half-hour, among the series’ elite offerings, and it feels like Episode 15, “The View From Halfway Down,” carries a similarly transcendent ambition. I wouldn’t say the show falls off its threadbare tightrope — more like it stumbles into the dismount. In trying to convey the seriousness of BoJack’s life choices via the ghosts of his past, two slips keep this haunting dinner party from reaching its necessary heights.

First, it tips its hand. As soon as BoJack complains about the chlorine in his water (to Zach Braff, who died a most memorable death in Season 4), it’s clear that, back in reality, he’s drowning in his pool. That undercuts a lot of the mystery and tension established by the dream itself, making the viewer crave resolution in the real world over anything that happens in BoJack’s mind. (Also, Herb eliminates the possible religious explanation for this episode’s plot by emphasizing they’re not going through the door together, to another place. So this isn’t “BoJack’s” “International Assassin” entry — it’s just a dream, not a dream that could also be read as another reality.) These decisions also put a lot of pressure on the dinner party conversations to provide either answers or emotional revelations, and while BoJack’s phone call to Diane does prove somewhat important to the finale, the rest is rehashing lessons these characters already shared. They can’t really sustain the full episode. Moments are unnerving, like Secretariat’s title-inspiring poetry reading (“The View From Halfway Down”), but the summation of the episode doesn’t feel like the best use of the series’ little remaining time.

“BoJack Horseman”

Courtesy of Netflix

The penultimate episode improves on second viewing, once you know what happens to BoJack, but the way it leads into the comical bait-and-switch(es) of his fate in the finale doesn’t play well in real-time either. It’s as though you’re expected to believe BoJack really did kill himself, and then chuckle in relief both times those fake-outs are exposed. Yes, they’re references to Season 1, yes, they’re in line with BoJack’s cheeky sense of humor, but the viewer ends up feeling like Diane on the other end of the phone, after hearing BoJack’s voicemail: You need to know what really happened to this character you’ve come to care about, in spite of his actions, and no one is giving you a straight answer.

Episode 15 feels like “BoJack Horseman: The Drama” while the start of Episode 16 feels like “BoJack Horseman: The Sitcom,” and (for once) the blend doesn’t come together as part of the series’ potent and inventive new genre. But it still sticks the landing. BoJack gets beautiful final moments with each of the core cast members. His time on the beach with Todd is the idyllic end to their profound and silly friendship, as Todd quotes the “Hokey Pokey” of all things to push BoJack in the right direction. While dancing with Princess Carolyn, they exchange thoughts about the better TV ending for her wedding, and in doing so, remind viewers that love doesn’t have to be dramatic. (Not to mention, that most love stories are told from a man’s perspective.) And finally, BoJack and Diane’s last rooftop chat closes a loop that won’t close. Death is the ultimate end, but neither of them has died. Life rolls forward. She’s in Houston, writing for pleasure, her new husband, Guy, by her side, and he’s, well, he’s taking it one step at a time. “It’s a nice night.” Appreciating that, in the moment, is all they need.

Given the timing, subject matter, and the fact that both shows’ finales feature a door that leads to everlasting nothingness, “BoJack Horseman” is bound to be compared to “The Good Place” in the immediate future. But its ending sounds a bit like “Mad Men,” doesn’t it? Peggy ends up successful and married, while Don survives a mental breakdown to take one more stab at his up-and-down career. Might as well be Diane and BoJack. But where “BoJack Horseman” separates itself from any of its prestige TV peers — sitcoms or dramas — is in its self-aware evolution.

“BoJack” helped solidify the TV-MA era of adult animation, yes, stretching the limits of what a comedy can and should do with the creative license streaming can offer. (Note: Most episodes are 26 minutes, and even when plenty of series finale clock in at feature-length runtimes, “Nice While It Lasted” gives itself just one extra minute.) From the rapid-fire jokes, to the alliterative wordplay strings, to the pun-filled visuals, “BoJack Horseman” is an exquisite comedy. Yet as a drama, it took a character type on its way out the door, acknowledged why so many antiheroes were being misused post-Don Draper, and adapted accordingly. The ending reflects the #MeToo era in a way its predecessors couldn’t, and that took a lot of inner soul-searching and acknowledgment on the part of an extremely thoughtful production team. (Not to mention: The courage Bob-Waksberg shows in censuring his lead character this strongly risks the kind of revolt Jerry Seinfeld faced when he threw his crew in jail to end “Seinfeld.”)

“BoJack Horseman” connected to what came before without relying on the past for a way out. Balancing its tones, ambitions, and deep respect for its characters, the series emerges an unparalleled original. No more horse than a man, no more man than a horse. It’s both.

Grade: A-

“BoJack Horseman” is available to stream in its entirety on Netflix.

Midway through the Season 3 premiere of Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman” (which originally dropped on July 22, 2016), the eponymous lead sits in a bar, reluctantly playing the publicity game forced on all Hollywood creatives when it comes time to hype their projects. In BoJack’s case, he’s promoting his upcoming film, where he stars as Secretariat, and is consequently courting the affections of the press, all the better to fuel his Oscar hopes.

If you have even a vague familiarity with the series, it will come as no surprise that BoJack isn’t at his finest when being interviewed, and the grind of a publicity tour is clearly wearing him down. So when the reporter asks him what’s in the works for him in the future, the prickly horse is pretty exasperated in response.

“What do you mean, ‘What’s next?’ Why does everything have to have a next?” he asks, beginning to panic.

It’s not unlike the response that the far more genial and relaxed “BoJack Horseman” creator, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, gives when people inquire about what he has lined up to fill his time after wrapping six seasons, 77 episodes, and seven years of work on the Netflix original series.

“Can I take a nap?” he joked to IndieWire on the latest edition of TV podcast “Millions of Screens.” “I put out 36 episodes of television over the last year. And a book of short stories. It’s not enough for you people?”

He has a point. Beyond launching both parts of “BoJack” Season 6, each eight episodes long and ending with an outstanding finale, Bob-Waksberg also co-created Amazon Prime’s “Undone” and executive produced Netflix’s “Tuca and Bertie.” Plus, in June, his short story collection “Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory: Stories” was published. (All four earned rave reviews).

But until Bob-Waksberg gets his well-deserved nap, he’s happy to look back at the series he created and reminisce about BoJack, Diane, Todd, Princess Carolyn, Mr. Peanbutter, and so many more characters. Whether its how the writers’ room determined which storylines to tie up and which to let dangle or how the show’s engagement with larger themes relating to depression and mental health evolved over the years, the showrunner was delighted to look back on his work — even his early comedy video days with Olde English — and chat.

Just maybe don’t push too hard on what comes next.

To hear the entirety of IndieWire’s chat with Bob-Waksberg, check out this week’s episode of “Millions of Screens” with TV Awards Editor Libby Hill, TV Deputy Editor Ben Travers, and Creative Producer Leo Garcia. On the episode, the showrunner digs into BoJack’s relationship with the traditional antihero archetype and whether you can tell you’re writing something good if it’s easy, hard, or none of the above.

But that’s not all. This week has the final winter TV awards update from Libby as she recounts the Writers Guild of America Awards, and the gang talks about all things Super Bowl, from commercials, to results, to ratings, plus breaking down exactly who owes whom a sandwich or two.

“Millions of Screens” is available on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. You can subscribe here or via RSS. Share your feedback with the crew on Twitter or sound off in the comments. Review the show on iTunes and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the gang address specific issues in upcoming editions of “Millions of Screens.” Check out the rest of IndieWire’s podcasts on iTunes right here.

This episode of “Millions of Screens” was produced by Leonardo Adrian Garcia

Remember back in the day when we only had to deal with TV shows from three networks, and what a drama it was when Fox came along and added a fourth to the mix? Well, look at us now. With an never-ending amount of streaming services — that’s growing by the day, looking at you Quibi, Peacock and HBO Max — and it’s often near impossible to keep up with what’s out there. How does one find something to watch, let alone focus on just the best of the best? That’s where we come in.

We’re doing the tough work of keeping track of the dozens of television we’ve reviewed so far in 2020. (For those of you who are exacting, we’ve reviewed 36 shows before the end of February.) Hopefully, this will help you decide what streaming service to spend your dollars on and on what show to spend your precious time.

Every review is organized by the letter grade it received, on our scale of A to F. All links take you to our initial reviews, though ongoing series might have more than one episode review to read. It’s also important to note that all our reviews were made with a certain amount of episodes on-hand. Some networks provided the entirety of their seasons for review, while others only revealed one or two episodes for review purposes.

With that in mind, let’s look at what’s kept us captivated (so far) in 2020:

A

City So Real

A-

BoJack Horseman — Season 6, Part 2 [Netflix]

Better Call Saul — Season 5 [AMC]

Cheer [Netflix]

Cherish the Day — Season 1 [OWN]

Devs — Season 1 [FX]

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay — Season 1 [Freeform]

Kidding — Season 2 [Showtime]

The New Pope [HBO]

Sanditon [PBS]

Sex Education — Season 2 [Netflix]

B+

Dare Me — Season 1 [USA]

Gentefied – Season 1 [Netflix]

High Fidelity — Season 1 [Hulu]

Homeland — Season 8 [Showtime]

Little America — Season 1 [Apple TV+]

McMillions [HBO]

Medical Police — Season 1 [Netflix]

Night on Earth [Netflix]

The Sinner — Season 3 [USA]

Year of the Rabbit — Season 1 [IFC]

B

Hunters — Season 1 [Amazon Prime]

Star Trek: Picard — Season 1 [CBS All Access]

Vick [ESPN]

The Walking Dead – Season 10 [AMC]

B-

Avenue 5 — Season 1 [HBO]

Babies [Netflix]

Duncanville — Season 1 [FOX]

Lance [ESPN]

Outlander – Season 5 [STARZ]

The Outsider — Season 1 [HBO]

C+

Awkwafina is Nora from Queens — Season 1 [Comedy Central]

Deputy — Season 1 [Fox]

Dispatches From Elsewhere – Season 1 [AMC]

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist — Season 1 [NBC]

C

C-

Indebted — Season 1 [NBC]

D+

D

D-

F

Throughout Emmy season, IndieWire will be evaluating the top contenders for TV’s most prestigious prize, and it all starts here. At the bottom of this page are IndieWire TV Critic Ben Travers’ predictions for Best Animated Series (or, as it’s more formally known, Outstanding Animated Program). This article will be updated throughout the coming months, along with all our predictions, to reflect an up-to-the-minute state of the race. Make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest coverage on the 2020 Emmys, including breaking news, analysis, interviews, podcasts, FYC event coverage, reviews of all the awards contenders, and more. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be given out Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13. The 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will take place at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, September 20. (See our recent news story for a more detailed breakdown of important dates.) ABC is broadcasting the ceremony.

Last Year’s Winner: “The Simpsons”
Still Eligible: Yes.
Hot Streak: It’s “The Simpsons.” Though last year marked the legendary Fox comedy’s first win in the category since 2008, the series has 28 nominations, 11 wins, and counting — and counting is the key word. Plenty thought the classic show was running out of steam and bound to be cast aside for newer, fresher, and plenty strong animated series. Instead, it not only keeps adding nominations to its high mark, but it’s got another win, too.
Fun Fact: While “The Simpsons” has a pretty good batting average in terms of wins-to-nominations (.392) — better than the second highest winner, “South Park” (.294), as well as “Bob’s Burgers” and “Futurama” (.250) — but of all the series with more than one win, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is batting 1.000, winning in 2004 and 2005, back when the category was split between half-hour animated series and hourlong animated series.
Notable Ineligible Series: “Adventure Time” (HBO Now has not set a release date for the new episodes.)

The State of the Race

Fewer categories are harder to predict than the race for Best Animated Program. If you only had to bet on two or three of the finalists, you’d probably do pretty well: “The Simpsons” is a safe choice, having been nominated 25 times in the last 26 years. (2014 snapped its previous 20-year streak). That being said, “Bob’s Burgers” has its own eight-year run going, giving Fox a perennial double-threat when it comes to animated representation.

The third pick was safe until last year, when “South Park” finally dropped out of the running after six straight nods and 17 total. But that’s what makes the category so surprising: For all the shows that get voted in year after year, new shows pop in seemingly at random.

Look at “BoJack Horseman.” The critically acclaimed Netflix comedy didn’t earn a Best Animated Series nomination until 2019 — why then? Season 5 was a great one, but so were the previous four; it didn’t get an added boost of awareness from Netflix (the company has always pushed Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s comedy); and the apologetic “final season” vote only applies to this year’s batch of episodes. Meanwhile, “Big Mouth” didn’t have to wait as long for its first nomination, snagging a spot last year for its second season.

So who’s going to play spoiler this year? Though hardly an upset, previous winner “Rick & Morty” will be returning to the race after skipping 2019. It’ll have to edge out newcomers like “Central Park,” which hails from “Bob’s Burgers” creator Loren Bouchard and will get the full backing of its streaming distributor, Apple TV+. Not to be outdone with legacy options, Hulu will have “Solar Opposites” — which comes from “Rick & Morty” co-creator Justin Roiland and fellow “R&M” alum Mike McMahan — and Netflix is serving up “The Midnight Gospel” from “Adventure Time” creator Pendleton Ward and comedian Duncan Trussell. (Plus, “Disenchantment” creator Matt Groening is hoping the second time’s the charm for his sophomore Netflix entry.)

Also fighting for a spot are the new Fox comedies “Duncanville” and “Bless the Harts,” both of which reach a wide audience and feature an enticing voice cast to help with the campaign. “Primal” was one of the few programs to squeeze in an FYC event before the TV Academy suspended live events, while former winner “Archer” and former nominee “Family Guy” hope their latest seasons put them back in the race. In this category, it’s hard to tell which way the wind is blowing, so everyone should be actively fighting for their spot.

Predicted Nominees:

1. “The Simpsons” (Fox)
2. “BoJack Horseman” (Netflix)
3. “Big Mouth” (Netflix)
4. “Bob’s Burgers” (Fox)
5. “Rick & Morty” (Adult Swim)

Spoilers: “Central Park,” “South Park,” “Archer,” “Duncanville,” “Solar Opposites,” “Disenchantment,” “Bless the Harts,” “Family Guy,” “The Midnight Gospel”

In a Perfect World: “Primal”

It’s now or never for “BoJack Horseman” to win the Best Animated Series Emmy, and there’s no better representative than the penultimate episode, “The View from Halfway Down.” This summary statement, about titular horse BoJack (Will Arnett) encountering everyone who’s died in the series at a dinner party, forces him to confront the reasons behind his substance abuse and bad behavior. Rather than a dream, the surreal episode turns out to be a near-death experience, with BoJack apparently drowning in his swimming pool, making good on the prophetic image in the main titles.

For director Amy Winfrey, who oversaw 21 episodes throughout the six seasons, “The View from Halfway Down” was a particularly satisfying conclusion. Winfrey not only got to dabble in the ultimate expression of surrealism, but she also got to participate in fun callbacks with some of her favorite characters, including “Horsin’ Around” sitcom creator Herb Kazzaz (Stanley Tucci) and child-actress-turned pop star Sarah Lynn (Kristen Schaal).

“In ‘Downer Ending,'” Winfrey said, “a young BoJack is hiding under a table from his mother because he doesn’t want to perform ‘The Lollipop Song.’ I made sure that when he’s on the phone with Diane [Alison Brie] in the kitchen, that the table be similar and he crouched down near it. Also, the trashy outfit Sarah Lynn wears for her musical number [‘Don’t Stop Dancing Til the Curtains Fall’ from Season 2] was the same one she wore at her funeral with hand prints on her boobs.”

“BoJack Horseman”

Courtesy of Netflix

“Bringing back the characters was a great way of having him work through things versus more flashbacks,” Winfrey said. “It was good to see them back in the way he imagined them.” Although showrunner Raphael Bob-Waksberg was inspired by Edward Albee’s “Three Tall Women” and Caryl Churchill’s “Top Girls,” there’s also a bit of Luigi Pirandello (“Six Characters in Search of an Author”) lurking beneath the absurd philosophical musings about reality and illusion, and sanity and insanity.

The first script table read came as a surprise, according to Winfrey. They didn’t know what to make of the apparent demise of BoJack. Still, she was “happy to have such a surreal episode to go out on and have it be my last experience on ‘BoJack.'” Her first challenge was choreographing the action in the grand Victorian house designed by Lisa Hanawalt.

“That was a strange one because we realized that we hadn’t seen much of BoJack’s family home,” Winfrey said. “As a dream, Raphael had the idea it would be somewhere we hadn’t seen. Like the parlor isn’t quite the same as BoJack’s living room. And because Victorian houses are so divided, I wanted it to push into the space a lot. The long hallway pushes into the parlor and the kitchen. It also evokes some places where he’s been. For example, the kitchen was a composite of his childhood kitchen, current kitchen, and “Horsin’ Around” kitchen. I was influenced by the German Expressionist film, ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,’ and put in a lot of wonky angles.”

“BoJack Horseman”

Courtesy of Netflix

But the dining room offered a fun arena for the most ambitious scene, in which the characters grapple with the meaning of their lives. BoJack is joined by a youthful version of his mother, Beatrice (Wendie Malick), Kazzaz, Lynn (who ages up throughout the episode), Uncle Crackerjack Sugarman (Lin-Manuel Miranda), acting friend Corduroy Jackson-Jackson (Brandon T. Jackson), and Zach Braff. They are eventually joined by BoJack’s abusive father, Butterscotch (Arnett), who appears as his son’s idol, Secretariat.

“I had to assign each character a story artist to get through it and to keep track of all the characters around the table — and then bring it all back together,” Winfrey said. “An added bonus was working with more board artists than normal and observing everyone’s storyboard quirks all in one scene. I ended up stealing from everybody for this one episode.”

The primary goal was to keep the conversations flowing smoothly before transitioning to the talent show, which opened up the space and the action, allowing the board artists to get even more creative. Besides Lynn’s musical number, in which she slides down a giant piano, Jackson-Jackson performs a trapeze act, Braff does a roller skating routine, and his mom performs a ribbon dance with Sugarman playing the trumpet.

BoJack Horseman

Courtesy of Netflix

In terms of animation, Winfrey complimented ShadowMachine for the black goo that torments BoJack along with the glow and shadow enhancements outside when father and son bond during the reading of the eponymous poem, “The View from Halfway Down,” and BoJack looks down to see his silhouette facing down in the swimming pool.

“It gave us a lot of freedom to have characters be animals,” Winfrey mused. “Unfortunately, it gave more sympathy to BoJack when he does some terrible, horrible things. But we had to address BoJack’s horribleness and how it affected other people. I’m glad that we had the time in Season 6 to do that. We’ve enjoyed this crazy combination of super dark, deep emotions, and super silly gags. And not having everything tied down has been satisfying.”

Approximately three and a half lifetimes ago (which, in 2020, means late January), Netflix released the final episodes of it’s stellar animated series “BoJack Horseman,” which bewitched viewers with its fantastical anthropomorphized version of Hollywood, while exploring mental illness, addiction, aging, sexual identity, and existential ennui with a nuance rarely matched on television.

But when the series debuted in 2014, it wasn’t immediately clear to some people, including myself, what kind of story the show was telling. The first six episodes — all that were made available to critics beforehand — were locked into the perspective of its eponymous lead, who, yes, was a horse man, but who on the surface appeared to be that same acerbic antihero that TV was finally growing out of.

Which is all a long-winded way of saying that when I watched the first six episodes of “BoJack Horseman,” I really didn’t get it. At least, not until Episode 7, in which the audience finally gets an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of BoJack’s ex-girlfriend and current agent Princess Carolyn. Suddenly, the show snapped into place for me. It wasn’t an apology for BoJack’s jerkdom, it was an examination of toxic masculinity, an evisceration of Hollywood, and there were puns. So many puns.

I hate puns.

It wasn’t the puns that made me fall in love with “BoJack Horseman,” it was the way the series engaged with depression and anxiety. How it depicted women of all ages struggling to reconcile what they wanted with what they had and processing what happened next if they couldn’t make their own dreams come true. It was a colorful, surreal series that lured you in, took your hand, and then opened the door to a swirling abyss. It made you examine the darkest places inside yourself, while never forcing you to do it by yourself. It was always right beside you, bearing witness.

And as hard as I’ve tried to write a fitting in memoriam for a show that devastated and delighted me in equal parts, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creator and showrunner of the Emmy-nominated series, spoke at length to IndieWire recently about how “BoJack” began, how it grew, and the show’s legacy now that it’s gone. Who better to tell you about BoJack’s journey than the artist himself, in his own words?

“BoJack Horseman”

Courtesy of Netflix

On how easy it is to be bad

“While ‘BoJack’ was still in development, I’d read as many scripts as I could, and there were not that many because reading is hard. But I would read all these scripts and I would notice certain patterns, right? And I’m not breaking any news here by saying one of the patterns I noticed that really upset me was how often every female character in a pilot was a sex object for somebody or a romantic interest for somebody or, basically, her defining feature is how they are wanted or not wanted by a male character. Not like a couple of female characters, but literally every female character from the leads all the way down to the day players in a pilot script. And so I would make a habit of noting every time it happens, I’m like, ‘I don’t want to meet on that show. That sounds like bad news.'”

“So then it’s time for my show to happen, which is like, ‘Yes, I can finally make the show I want to make. Let’s take a look at this pilot that I wrote two years ago that we’re making now.’ So it’s just like, ‘Oh, we have the agent that he’s sleeping with that he doesn’t care for very much and then we meet his new love interest right away. I’m like, ‘Oh, I did the thing that I said was bad.’ It’s so much easier than I thought to be bad. I thought it would be easy to be good and you have to be carefully taught to be bad, but no, being bad is the default.”

“Then I was like, all right, well, my work for this season is to dimensionalize these female characters and give them life so they don’t just feel like they are a function of BoJack’s personality. And that is, I think, the challenge is that when you have a strong protagonist-focused show as opposed to an ensemble show, which I think, ‘BoJack’ in some ways is ensemble-y, but was still, at the end of the day, the BoJack Horseman show. So when you have a main character, typically, especially in the first episode, every other character is defined by their relationship with the main character and how he sees them and how they are a foil to him, so it was a challenge.”

“We didn’t want to just go, ‘OK, now here’s Diane, she’s going to go to her friend’s house and talk about something completely unrelated to BoJack,’ just so we can say that we did that. So we did try to find ways to give Princess Carolyn and Diane their own stuff and find ways for them to be funny where they were not just the object of the joke, but that they could be funny as well.”

“BoJack Horseman”

Courtesy of Netflix

On the original critical response to Season 1

“I remember the first season of ‘BoJack,’ it felt like I was putting myself on display. I felt like I was pulling out my naked heart from my chest and putting it on a little plate with some garnish and being like, ‘What do you think, folks?'”

“I guess, the implication that I didn’t care about the show destroyed me. It was like, ‘No, no, it’s OK if you don’t like it, but just please know that I worked really, really hard on this thing that you don’t like.’ That’s important and it really changed the way that I look at other shows, shows that maybe I might’ve dismissed as lazy or a cash grab. I started to think, ‘Well, nobody makes a show just thinking, “Yeah, yeah, this will be easy.”‘ It’s a very hard thing to do. It’s a lot of work and a lot of people coming in every day and trying their hardest to not make a terrible thing. And the fact that so much TV is terrible just underscores how hard it is.

“But I’ve worked on shows and other projects that just did not work at all, and every moment it was me and everybody around me killing ourselves trying to make it work. Sure, maybe there are creatives that don’t care, but I find it impossible to not. If you don’t care it doesn’t make the job easier, it makes it much, much harder. So I don’t know if those shows actually exist, shows made by people who really didn’t care.”

“BoJack Horseman”

Netflix

On what the show became

“For me, the most powerful thing about this show is when I meet people and they tell me that the show has helped them in some way. Particularly that it has articulated a feeling that they’ve never been able to put into words before, or it gave them something they can point to and go, ‘Oh, that’s like me.’ That that they were able to really use that to help themselves or to explain themselves to somebody else.”

“That’s not necessarily what I had in mind when I was creating the show at the beginning, but as the show continued and people started telling me that, it felt profoundly important. And that to me is my proudest accomplishment with the show. That it is, I think first and foremost, it is a show that can be enjoyed and it is entertainment, but that it’s also helping people.”

“BoJack Horseman”

Courtesy of Netflix

On the larger legacy of “BoJack Horseman”

“I hope that it doesn’t lead to we have 15 shows that are exactly like ‘BoJack Horseman.’ That could be very disappointing, both to the larger audience, but also to me to discover that it’s that easy to just make a ‘BoJack Horseman.’ But I would hope that ‘BoJack’ has maybe changed the way people think about the kinds of stories that are allowed to be told in animation. And I think a lot about… I think a lot about this? No, that’s a lie. I’m just thinking about this now for the first time. I remember an interview I read with Joey Soloway that when they saw ‘Girls’ for the first time they were blown away.”

“They were like, ‘I didn’t realize you could make a TV show like this. I didn’t know you could make something so personal and so true to your own fascinations and life experience and call it TV.’ And obviously ‘Transparent’ is nothing like the TV show ‘Girls’ except that it is following the whims of this idiosyncratic creator finally deciding they want to tell their story and do it their way.”

“And so I would hope that ‘BoJack’ inspires people to go, ‘I want to tell my story in animation. I have an idea for an animated show that doesn’t just feel like “The Simpsons” or “South Park” or “Family Guy.” I want to play these other notes in this world.’ But I actually think those people have always been out there, I hope ‘BoJack’ inspires networks and studios to take more chances on those people. Because I think actually the creators are not the ones that need to be inspired, it’s the business people.”

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[Editor’s Note: The below piece was originally published on November 20, 2018. It has been expanded from the 50 greatest animated series of all time to the 55 greatest as of August 28, 2020.]

Evaluating animation can be trickier than other genres. After all, so many of our earliest TV memories are tied to an animated series, short, or special, and that impermeable nostalgia can be difficult to penetrate with typical critical tools like reason, logic, and other objective criteria. Some shows just click. They hit at the right time and capture a blossoming imagination. When it comes to ranking animated series, you’re not just analyzing TV shows. You’re critiquing childhoods.

Of course, animation is also one of the more expansive TV subsets, with dozens of different tones and styles that make comparisons often feel like apples and oranges. There are cartoons, anime, short films, short series, short films turned into short series, web series, adult-oriented animation, and that’s before digging into all the individual genres, like old school slapstick comedies (a la “The Flintstones”) all the way up to the ever-more-popular dramatic animated series (including “BoJack Horseman”).

With all that in mind, animation needs a little extra celebration. Animated series can be dismissed simply because so many viewers see the medium as less substantial than anything done in live-action, thus eliminating even the best of the bunch from discussions of TV’s elite programs. That’s a damn shame, so to help remind everyone of the genre’s extensive impact and utmost significance, the IndieWire staff has put together a list of the Top 50 animated series of all-time.

Honed from a list of more than 100 programs, the below ranking still only illustrates a sliver of the storytelling diversity animation has captured over the last century. Seek out what you haven’t seen and remember fondly those you have. Animation is a genre for all ages and all stories, no matter when you’re able to start watching.

POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINBAD THE SAILOR

Courtesy Everett Collection

55. “Popeye the Sailor” (Jack Kinney, 1960-1963)

Odds are you know who Popeye the Sailor is. He’s a sailor man, who lives in a garbage can, and through the supernatural power of spinach he’s able to best any man regardless of size. “Popeye” initially started out as a comic strip in newspapers, but when the theatrical short features started airing on television in the 1950s, King Features Syndicate TV thought there might be something to taking the character and turning him into a television star. A series of made-for-television short features were hastily assembled, bringing Popeye into people’s homes. A whopping 220 cartoons were created in just two years, resulting in a prolific television show, albeit with rather rudimentary animation, particularly when compared to the feature shorts. But it certainly kept the character in the public consciousness long after his initial popularity had waned. Popeye the Sailor remains a character people know, even if they never watched the television show. In 1980 director Robert Altman attempted to adapt the character for a feature film, starring Robin Williams, but it was an unmitigated disaster though it’s been reassessed and has become a cult film.
Stream or buy on Amazon.

POKEMON

Courtesy Everett Collection

54. “Pokémon” (Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori, 1997-Present)

Do we remember a time before we had to “catch ’em all?” Pokémon initially burst onto the scene as a series of games for the Nintendo Gameboy and from there it became nothing short of a juggernaut. Children learned to eat, breathe, and consume nearly everything associated with the Japanese pocket monsters, particularly the cute Pikachu. After becoming the top selling toy brand worldwide the company turned to media and premiered the animated television series of the same name. The anime saw game hero Ash Ketchum and his companion Pikachu go on a quest to become a Pokémon master. Along the way he’d butt heads with other Pokémon teams and the various creatures themselves. The Pokémon franchise wasn’t just limited to the television show, which is still ongoing. A series of films would be released over the years with Ash continuing his quest. The series revitalized the Fox network back in the 1990s and now remains one of the most beloved franchises in animation history.
Stream on Hulu; stream or buy on Amazon.

DEXTER’S LABORATORY. © Cartoon Network / Courtesy: Everett Collection

©Cartoon Network/Courtesy Everett Collection

53. “Dexter’s Laboratory” (Genndy Tartakovsky, 1996-2003)

In 1996 Cartoon Network audiences were introduced to Dexter (voiced by “Rugrats” alumni Christine Cavanaugh), a boy genius with a massive hidden laboratory under his house. Every episode would see Dexter plan a wonderful experiment, only to see it foiled by his annoying sister Dee Dee (voiced by Allison Moore and Kat Cressida). The series would become one of the highest rating series on the Cartoon Network with it garnering a Primetime Emmy Award in 1996. The series would make Tartakovsky one of the premiere voices of animation and he would end up leaving the in 1999 to begin work on his next project, “Samurai Jack.” “Dexter’s Laboratory” would see a revival in 2001 before concluding for good in 2003. Though it’s been off the air for over 15 years audiences are still drawn to its enigmatic animation style and quotable lead character. There weren’t many shows that could pull out an entire episode from its lead character only being able to say “cheese omelet” in French.
Buy on Amazon.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS

Courtesy Everett Collection

52. “Alvin and the Chipmunks” (Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman, 1983-1990)

The loveable threesome known as Alvin and the Chipmunks have been around since the 1960s, when their song “Witch Doctor” raced up the charts. In fact, the Chipmunks were so ubiquitous that in right after the success of “Witch Doctor” creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. created a television show, entitled “The Alvin Show.” It wasn’t a success, lasting little more than a year. But in the early-1980s the attempt to revive the series concept finally found an audience. “Alvin and the Chipmunks” on NBC in 1983, starring the rascally Alvin, the bookish Simon, and the loveable Theodore (the first two voiced by Bagdasarian, Jr. and the latter by Karman) as they got into all manner of hijinks. The series would garner a large following, especially once the Chip-ettes, girl versions of the Chipmunks, were introduced as rivals. In 1987, off the success of the show, the Chipmunks would get their first feature film, “The Chipmunk Adventure.” And they haven’t gone away, even though the series was canceled in 1990. Another series would premiere on Nickelodeon in 2015 and is still going strong, even though Alvin has transitioned from 2D animation to CGI.
Buy on Amazon.

RUGRATS, (c)Klasky-Csupo/courtesy Everett Collection

Klasky-Csupo/courtesy Everett Collection

51. “Rugrats” (Gabor Csupo and Arlene Klasky and Paul Germain, 1991-2004)

One of Nickelodeon’s first major successes, “Rugrats” combined humor for both children and adults in a bright ’90s animated package. Brave baby Tommy Pickles (voiced by E.G. Daily) went on all manner of exploits with his best friends, showing that “a baby’s gotta do what a baby’s gotta do.” The series was a massive success upon debut in 1991, becoming a franchise behemoth for Nickelodeon. A series of feature films and merchandising opportunities would abound, with the Rugrats themselves slapped on everything aimed at children. But outside of that the series has aged surprisingly well. You might hear stray references to the likes of Clarence Thomas and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” on top of the babies realizing the horrors of clown dolls and what dwells in the basement. The series saw a short-lived spin-off, with the characters growing into teenagers, 2003 to 2008 and there are plans for a reboot arriving in 2021.
Stream on Hulu; stream on CBS All Access; stream on Amazon via CBS All Access; buy on Amazon.

50. “Reboot” (Gavin Blair and Ian Pearson and Phil Mitchell and John Grace, 1994-2001)

This ’90s series, originally from Canada, was the very first completely computer-animated series, and the medium became a part of the message thanks to the premise. On some level, “Reboot” was basically a cop drama following the adventures of a “Guardian” who lives inside of a computer mainframe keeping things operating safely despite evil viruses trying to destroy the system. The metaphor is relatively bonkers, but the quality of the animation is pretty impressive for the time period, anchored by some really engaging character design and meta jokes about coding and gaming which have kept the franchise active in other forms to this day. – LSM
Stream on Amazon via Shout Factory; buy on Amazon.

49. “Scooby Doo, Where Are You!” (Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, 1969-1970)

“Scooby Doo”

Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock

Zoinks! Although this particular Hanna-Barbera title only lasted two seasons, it launched an animated franchise that continues to this day. The cowardly Great Dane with a speech impediment who solved crimes with his, like, totally groovy teen friends captured imaginations with the light horror elements, hilarious catchphrases, bonkers mysteries, elaborate Rube Goldberg-like traps, and goofy characterizations. This series launched many reboots — one that included pop culture greats such as the Harlem Globetrotters and Sonny & Cher, as animated versions of themselves — bizarre spinoffs like “Scooby’s All-Star Laff-a-Lympics,” and multiple imitations. Ranging from comics and films to pop culture references in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and a recent crossover on “Supernatural,” Scooby and his pals have become embedded in the American consciousness. And it would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids! – HN
Stream on Amazon via Boomerang; buy on Amazon.

48. “Teen Titans Go!” (Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, 2013-present)

Keep your phone silent while watching “Teen Titans Go!” or you’re sure to miss a joke. The fast-paced animated series packs in more laughs per minute than just about any other show on TV, filled to the brim with pop-culture references, sly jabs at the DC universe, and plenty of self-deprecating gags. Born from the ashes of “Teen Titans,” the show kept the original series’ voice actors but changed up virtually everything else. The show features comedically heightened versions of Robin (Scott Menville), Cyborg (Khary Payton), Raven (Tara Strong), Starfire (Hynden Walch), and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), who are usually too busy discussing 1980s technology, political philosophies, dancing, and so much more. Perhaps the subtle joys of “Teen Titans Go!” can best be summed up by this logline from a Season 1 episode: “Robin and the Titans become annoyed when Beast Boy and Cyborg will only say the word ‘waffles.'” – MS
Stream on Hulu; buy on Amazon.

47. “The Flintstones” (William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, 1960-1966)

“The Flintstones”

Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock

Inspired by “The Honeymooners,” “The Flintstones” became the first animated series released in primetime, and remained the most successful of its kind until “The Simpsons” came along 30 years later. The secret of its charms was its satirical take on modern suburban culture using absurd, anachronistic elements in a Stone Age setting. Fred Flintstone’s bluster and his pal Barney Rubble’s easygoing nature delivered a familiar sitcom magic, whilst dinosaurs and sabertooth tigers added prehistoric exoticism. It also inspired the futuristic counterpart, “The Jetsons,” which also took a ‘60s sitcom flair to the space age. “The Flintstones” is the first primetime animated series to earn an Emmy nomination, and it’s still considered a classic more than half a century later. And that’s something to “Yabba Dabba Doo” about. – HN
Stream on Amazon via Boomerang; buy on Amazon.

46. “Superman: The Animated Series” (Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, 1996 – 2000)

Superman always sprung to life on the page, but repeatedly proved to be a challenge onscreen. How do you provoke an indestructible, goodie-two-shoes hero? Villains have to be specially engineered to pose any threat whatsoever (they can’t all have kryptonite), and Clark Kent can’t be the only identity offering the audience a human connection. Alan Burnett and Paul Dini’s WB adaptation, the first of Warner Bros. Animation’s follow-ups to “Batman: The Animated Series,” made wise choices from the get-go. First, they introduced a Superman who was extremely durable rather than totally impervious. He felt pain when he was crushed by a toppling building, even if it wouldn’t kill him, and watching him strain to save the day made his efforts that much more engaging, week after week. Making Lois Lane an active hero herself helped as well, and the realistic animation fit these updates, along with the bright tone and driving score. – BT
Buy on Amazon.

45. “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” (Lauren Faust, 2010-present)

“My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.”

Discovery Media

The plastic equine toys from the ’80s have had a remarkable endurance among collectors, but the Hasbro franchise really hit the big time when Faust’s cartoon deepened the mythology of the ponies and created a media and merchandising phenomenon. In Ponyville, the unicorn pony Twilight Sparkle and her dragon pal Spike befriend five other ponies as part of a task given to her by mentor Princess Celestia. The show’s themes about friendship and kindness balanced with clever pop culture references appealed to a wide audience, including a rabid adult fanbase — most notoriously young and middle-aged men who style themselves as “bronies.” It’s now embedded in remix culture and has inspired countless memes, imaginative cosplay, and, of course, imitators. – HN
Stream on Hulu; buy on Amazon.

44. “Sealab 2021” (Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, 2000-2005)

One of Adult Swim’s initial launch of cartoons, “Sealab 2021” took a forgotten ’70s adventure cartoon and, well, crapped all over it, turning the environmentally-friendly adventure ‘toon into a profane hotbed of workplace resentments and absurd humor, which creators Adam Reed and Matt Thompson would hone in their future series. Still, “Sealab” had plenty to offer, like a bottle episode where the insane Captain Murphy gets trapped under a fallen vending machine and befriends a scorpion. Or the one where the crew was visited by their Bizarro counterparts. Or all the ones where Sealab blew up at the end, only to be perfectly fine in the next episode. It’s okay, though. Pod 6 was jerks. – JS
Buy on Amazon.

43. “Rocko’s Modern Life” (Joe Murray, 1993 – 1996)

“Rocko’s Modern Life.”

Nickelodeon

A wallaby, a cow, and a turtle walk into a television set, and the jokes just kept rolling from there. Joe Murray’s satirical adventures of an Australian immigrant, Rocko, his friends Heffer and Philbert, and the various deranged characters populating the fictional American “O-Town” made for wildly creative kids’ tales. Whether warning against the dangers of megacorporation Conglom-O, visiting Heck for some existential lessons from satanic overlord Pinky, or taking a poke at celebrity culture in Holl-o-Wood, the cult favorite was self-aware, sharp, and introduced the world to impeccable talents like Tom Kenny and Carlos Alazraqui. Plus, even for ‘90s Nickelodeon, “Rocko’s Modern Life” was never afraid to get super weird — a respite for children whose imaginations should, and usually do, surprise you. – BT
Buy on Amazon.

42. “Gargoyles” (Frank Paur and Greg Weisman and Dennis Woodyard, 1994-1997)

Magic, science fiction, and Shakespeare came together in the mid-1990s for one of the most bonkers animated series ever. The premise might have seemed relatively complicated: Mythical creatures known as gargoyles spend their days hanging out on the corners of buildings, frozen in stone, and at night, they come alive. But really it was a tale of family and romance set against a fantastical backdrop, which delivered no shortage of crazy plot elements (especially in its second season). “Gargoyes” never became as iconic as some of the other shows on this list, but the imagination it put on screen each week was hard to top. – LSM
Stream on Disney+; buy on Amazon.

41. “Duck Tales” (Jymn Magon, 1987-1990)

“Duck Tales.”

Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock

Much is made of the theme song with its signature “Woo-oo!” chorus — and for good reason. Not only is Mark Mueller’s ditty catchy as hell, but it also encapsulates the fun and adventure present from the series’ early days as a comic book to its onscreen adaptation that continued the vibrant and dynamic visual style. The wealthy Scrooge McDuck is a curmudgeonly yet charming foil for his rapscallion grand nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and along with the pilot Launchpad, they enjoy all manner of global and historical escapades worthy of Indiana Jones himself. This is zippy escapism shared between two seemingly disparate generations, something not seen in children’s cartoons that usually keep authority figures in the background. The series was so popular that it lives again in a 2017 reboot on Disney XD. – HN
Stream on Disney+; buy on Amazon.

We’ve spent the better part of the last few weeks toasting not only the noteworthy TV accomplishments of this year, but the decade overall. With all the riches that TV has to offer, it can be hard to come up with new ways of saying, “Hey, this thing is good! You should try it if you haven’t already!”

So, at the risk of repeating ourselves, we’ve gathered the top achievements from 2019 on a purely episodic level. Some of these are chapters nested in a much grander arc that require hours of prior viewing to fully appreciate. Others are masterfully executed one-offs that can be enjoyed purely on their own.

Regardless of the reasons for us picking them here, these episodes all underline the idea that TV isn’t just a sea of 6- or 8- or 10- or 12-hour movies. At their best, they can highlight the best of what a show has to offer in the tiniest of packages. They can subvert expectations so thoroughly that they take on a mythology all their own. Whatever the reason, they hold your attention. And sometimes, that’s all you need.

“Barry”

Aaron Epstein/HBO

“Barry” — “ronny/lily”

• Directed by Bill Hader
• Written by Alec Berg & Bill Hader

“Barry’s” standout Season 2 episode is one of the better illustration’s of the show’s ethos. On the one hand, it’s cautionary tale. Barry (Bill Hader) has been operating as an assassin for a long time, and his heart’s just not in it. That leads to mistakes, which leads to complications, which could lead to Barry’s ultimate demise. He is, after all, hired to kill people, so if he’s not good at his job, he could end up dead. It’s very serious, very bleak, and very scary stuff. But on the other hand, “ronny/lilly” is an absurdist slapstick masterpiece. Barry starts the episode by trying not to kill someone, and he ends up wreaking more havoc than anyone could’ve imagined. Co-creators Hader and Alec Berg construct a script fueled by usurping expectations, from the reveal that Barry’s mark is a Taekwondo master, to his daughter’s superhuman abilities, to a coincidental ending that would seem impossible, had we not been prepared to believe the unbelievable. “ronny/lily” is as expertly done as Barry’s mission is carelessly assembled. — Ben Travers

“Better Things”

Suzanne Tenner/FX

“Better Things” — “The Unknown”

• Directed by Pamela Adlon
• Written by Sarah Gubbins

For a season that took a closer look at who Sam Fox (Adlon) is outside of her role as a mother, “The Unknown” manages to incorporate a lot of the conflicted elements driving the character’s progress. For one, there’s the artistic satisfaction she finds in challenging material outside the Hollywood system; a satisfaction joyously captured by her trip to New York City to perform an early iteration of a play headed to Broadway. Then there’s her love life, which is complicated by her attraction to Mer (Marsha Thomason) and made more so by an entanglement with the therapist (Matthew Broderick) who’s supposed to be helping her sort things. “The Unknown” throws all these terrifying opportunities at a woman who puts up a guarded, self-sufficient front — she’s a single mom and a working actor in Los Angeles. How would a long-term stay in New York even work? How would a relationship with a woman? What’s outside of Sam’s comfort zone is exactly what she wants and exactly what she’s afraid to embrace. Written by Sarah Gubbins and directed by Adlon (as were all episodes in Season 3), “The Unknown” is a beautiful, subtle, and immensely enjoyable half-hour story that let’s Sam live on her own just long enough to realize she likes it, before sending her scurrying back to safe shores. — BT

“BoJack Horseman”

Netflix

“BoJack Horseman” — “Surprise!”

• Directed by Adam Parton
• Written by Peter A. Knight

“Surprise!” is, like so many episodes of “BoJack Horseman” before it, a nightmare come to life in the most hilarious fashion possible. The animated equivalent of a door-slamming farce, the episode features a surprise party gone very wrong, as guests are forced to stay hidden in the midst of a relationship-defining blow-out fight between Mr. Peanutbutter and his fiancee Pickles. “BoJack” has always been a blend of what’s best in both animated and live-action television, so an episode which features such pristine use of physical space gags and tension, coupled with an argument where the — extremely effective — emotional climax comes from one party accusing the other of being a very bad dog quickly becomes the platonic ideal of what the show is and always has been. —Libby Hill

“Chernobyl”

Liam Daniel/HBO

“Chernobyl” — “Open Wide, O Earth”

• Directed by Johan Renck
• Written by Craig Mazin

Over its five hours, “Chernobyl” deftly balances the personal journey of its central trio of truth tellers with the greater catastrophe unfolding around them. Though later episodes would reach some unforgettable emotional heights — Legasov’s final testimony, the frenzied rooftop clearing, a litter of puppies found in an abandoned village — this third chapter is the series’ richest kaleidoscope. From an unsuspecting firefighter transforming in front of his lover’s eyes to the grizzled group of miners who sacrifice mightily to save the power plant damage from getting any worse, this hour shows the myriad ways that one disaster rippled through countless lives. Presented with care and solemnity, it lets history speaks through its fictional representatives. —Steve Greene

“The Crown”

Des Willie/Netflix

“The Crown” — “Aberfan”

• Directed by Benjamin Caron
• Written by Peter Morgan

The third episode of Season 3 of “The Crown” is a microcosm of what the show does so well; it takes an extraordinary historical event and re-tells it through the most personal of lenses. A catastrophic coal mining accident kills 116 children and 28 adults in Wales in 1966, and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) responds by…doing nothing. She writes in her journal and stares out the window as other members of the royal family visit the scene and return emotionally concussed by the devastation. It’s not the place of the monarch to intervene in such matters, she believes, and she could distract from the rescue efforts. She is, of course, grievously wrong, but her fraught internal battle between what it means to be human and what it means to be the Queen is never again so sharply displayed this season. —Ann Donahue

“The Detour”

TBS

“The Detour” — “The Game Show”

• Directed by Joe Kessler
• Written by Jason Jones

No other show on TV committed more fully than “The Detour.” Over four seasons, the TBS show put the Parker family through unspeakable on-screen trials as the central quartet traversed the country and then the globe. Years of that controlled chaos reached its apex in this truly unhinged series of fake Japanese game show segments that saw parents Nate and Robin effectively trying to win back their daughter. The whole thing is an unhinged series of physical and psychological torments, all done on a candy-colored sound stage as a studio audience looks on in delight. There are feats of forced flexibility, plenty of unfortunate liquid-covered surprise entrants, and a finale that will forever change the way you hear John Denver’s music. What a shining beacon of insanity to help send this hidden gem off into the great TV unknown. —SG

“Dickinson”

Apple TV+

“Dickinson” — “Wild Nights”

• Directed by Lynn Shelton
• Written by Alena Smith & Ali Waller

Easily the best series available for viewing upon the launch of Apple TV+, “Dickinson” made its mark on an already excellent year of television with its third episode, “Wild Nights.” In it, Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld) and her siblings decide to throw a house party while her parents are out of town, a premise for so many of the best teen movies of all time, and a choice that crystallizes the series’ MO of marrying the reality of being a 19th century young woman with a 21st century spin. As Dickinson attempts to balance her secret girlfriend and her family drama and the mean girls at her party and casual drug use and her dang teenage hormones, things get messy and they get real. It’s like, whoa, American poetry legends — they’re just like us! —LH

“Documentary Now” — “Waiting for the Artist”

• Directed by Alex Buono & Rhys Thomas
• Written by Seth Meyers

Pick an episode at random from the third season of this IFC gem — perhaps it’s best yet — and you’d probably have one worthy of inclusion on this list. The stellar “Company” riff “Co-Op” has a cast at the height of its powers, the season-ending installment on fictional competitive bowlers is surprisingly poignant, and their two-part “Wild Wild Country” reimagining has a third-act twist built on a joke so good you can almost see Michael Keaton glow as he’s delivering it. But few half hours of TV this year were as mesmerizing as this chapter, taking its cues from the 2012 Matthew Akers doc “Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present.” Anchored by a frighteningly committed Cate Blanchett and bolstered by some impressive location work to bring this fictional performance artist’s “legendary” work to life, it’s a tribute to the source material that’s shocking when faithful and riotously funny any time it veers off the expected script. —SG

“Fleabag” — “Episode 3”

• Directed by Harry Bradbeer
• Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

First and foremost, you should watch all the episodes of “Fleabag” in order — all 12 episodes over two seasons, each a perfect 25-ish minute amuse bouche of hilarity and heartbreak. But if you’re trying to convince someone to give the show a try, Season 2’s Episode 3 is the standalone wonder that doesn’t need any context from the surrounding episodes in order to enjoy it. Fleabag helps her sister Claire cater a work function, and pratfalls ensue — you get to see Phoebe Waller-Bridge do a mad scramble through the streets of London twice — and Kristen Scott Thomas guest stars as a world-weary corporate raider who is the mistress of a particularly devastating brand of three-martini-drunk advice. It’s the episode where Fleabag turns a corner, both literally and figuratively. —AD

GLOW

Ali Goldstein/Netflix

“GLOW” — “Outward Bound”

• Directed by Anya Adams
• written by Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch

Like “BoJack Horseman” before it — and not just because they both star Alison Brie — “GLOW” is another Netflix series that seems to understand itself more with every passing season. In “Outward Bound,” the series takes its collective of wrestlers, drops them in the middle of the Nevada desert and leaves them to find empathy and catharsis in each other. The show about women’s wrestling that understands that its framing device doesn’t hem it in, but sets them free, allowing the series to build deep and complex relationships between women that don’t all boil down to jealousy or competition. The episode itself digs into some ridiculously heavy issues, including of parallel generational trauma and identity, the vast gap between freedom in men and women, the fear of losing what security we have, and all the ways our lives end up differently from how we imagine they’ll be. It’s beautiful and funny, powerful and moving, and it solidifies the series as one of the few places on TV where it’s safe to be any and every kind of woman. —LH

“I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson”

“I Think You Should Leave” — “Has This Ever Happened to You?”

• Directed by Akiva Schaffer & Alice Mathias
• Written by Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin, & John Solomon

Every episode of Netflix’s “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” is a like a tiny miracle. It’s a caustic series, one that the creators understand can only be ingested in small doses, leading to exquisitely-crafted 17ish-minute episodes designed to give the audience only as much shrieking, brain-clawing hilarity as they can handle. If that sounds unpleasant, it’s because it is, in the best possible way. The first episode of the show’s stellar first season, “Has This Ever Happened To You?,” features five different absurdist sketches, the highlight being a “Baby of the Year” pageant hosted by the inimitable Sam Richardson and boasting the infamous Bart Harley Jarvis, an in memoriam of old babies (or, you know, the elderly), and a sex scandal. It’s impossible to actually describe what makes “I Think You Should Leave” brilliant. Just trust that you should see the show for yourself to discover your new favorite/least favorite series. (There is no in-between.) —LH

At this point, we’re almost legally obligated to start off TV roundups with some variation on this idea that there’s a lot of TV out there, but it really is impossible to keep up with everything. And calling attention to it doesn’t make it any less true!

So, given that TV time is reaching astronomical heights in 2020, how does one find something to watch, let alone focus on just the best of the best? That’s where we come in.

Keeping track of the dizzying amount of television we’ve reviewed so far in 2020 is a task in and of itself, so we’ve tried to make it as easy as possible. Below, we’ve gathered each of our 2020 TV reviews, each with a season number and the network/service where the new episodes first aired for U.S. audiences. Hopefully, this will help you decide what streaming service to spend your dollars on and on what show to spend your precious time.

Every review is organized by the letter grade it received, on our scale of A to F. All links take you to our initial reviews, though ongoing series might have more than one episode review to read. It’s also important to note that reviews were made with a particular amount of episodes on-hand. Some networks provided the entirety of their seasons for review, while others only revealed one or two episodes for review purposes.

With that in mind, let’s look at what’s kept us captivated (and bewildered) so far in 2020 [Note: This list is up-to-date as of November 1, 2020]:

Lori Lightfoot in “City So Real”

Chicago Story Film, LLC

A

Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children [HBO]

Better Things – Season 4 [FX]

City So Real [National Geographic]

The Good Fight — Season 4 [CBS All Access]

I May Destroy You [HBO]

The Midnight Gospel [Netflix]

Mrs. America [FX on Hulu]

My Brilliant Friend — Season 2 [HBO]

Normal People [Hulu]

P-Valley — Season 1 [Starz]

Ethan Hawke and Joshua Caleb Johnson in “The Good Lord Bird”

William Gray / Showtime

A-

A.P. Bio — Season 3 [Peacock]

Archer — Season 11 [FXX]

BoJack Horseman — Season 6, Part 2 [Netflix]

Better Call Saul — Season 5 [AMC]

Cheer [Netflix]

Cherish the Day — Season 1 [OWN]

Corporate — Season 3 [Comedy Central]

Cosmos: Possible Worlds [NatGeo]

Dark — Season 3 [Netflix]

Devs — Season 1 [FX]

The Eric Andre Show — Season 5 [Adult Swim]

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay — Season 1 [Freeform]

The Good Lord Bird [Showtime]

How To with John Wilson — Season 1 [HBO]

Insecure — Season 4 [HBO]

Kidding — Season 2 [Showtime]

Last Chance U — Season 5 [Netflix]

The Last Dance [ESPN]

The New Pope [HBO]

PEN15 — Season 2 [Hulu]

Ramy — Season 2 [Hulu]

Sanditon [PBS]

Sex Education — Season 2 [Netflix]

Tiger King [Netflix]

Trigonometry — Season 1 [HBO Max]

Unorthodox [Netflix]

We Are Who We Are [HBO]

What We Do in the Shadows — Season 2 [FX]

Jason Sudeikis in “Ted Lasso”

Apple TV+

B+

At Home with Amy Sedaris — Season 3 [truTV]

Baroness Von Sketch Show — Season 5 [IFC]

Billions — Season 5 [Showtime]

Brockmire — Season 4 [IFC]

Central Park — Season 1 [Apple TV+]

Curb Your Enthusiasm — Season 10 [HBO]

Dare Me — Season 1 [USA]

Dirty Money – Season 2 [Netflix]

The Eddy [Netflix]

Fargo — Season 4 [FX]

Gentefied – Season 1 [Netflix]

Hanna — Season 2 [Amazon Prime Video]

High Fidelity — Season 1 [Hulu]

Homeland — Season 8 [Showtime]

I Am Not Okay With This – Season 1 [Netflix]

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark [HBO]

Lenox Hill [Netflix]

Little America — Season 1 [Apple TV+]

Love Fraud [Showtime]

Lovecraft Country — Season 1 [HBO]

McMillions [HBO]

Medical Police — Season 1 [Netflix]

Middleditch & Schwartz [Netflix]

Night on Earth [Netflix]

Perry Mason — Season 1 [HBO]

Pure — Season 1 [HBO Max]

The Queen’s Gambit [Netflix]

Room 104 — Season 4 [HBO]

Search Party — Season 3 [HBO Max]

The Sinner — Season 3 [USA]

Solar Opposites — Season 1 [Hulu]

Star Trek: Discovery — Season 3 [CBS All Access]

Ted Lasso — Season 1 [Apple TV+]

Trying — Season 1 [Apple TV+]

Twenties – Season 1 [BET]

A Wilderness of Error [FX]

Year of the Rabbit — Season 1 [IFC]

“Frayed”

Merman Productions

B

Barkskins [National Geographic]

The Boys — Season 2 [Amazon Prime Video]

Brave New World [Peacock]

Criminal: UK — Season 2 [Netflix]

Deutschland 89 [Sundance]

Frayed — Season 1 [HBO Max]

Hunters — Season 1 [Amazon Prime Video]

I Know This Much Is True [HBO]

Legendary — Season 1 [HBO Max]

Ozark — Season 3 [Netflix]

Space Force — Season 1 [Netflix]

Star Trek: Picard — Season 1 [CBS All Access]

Tales from the Loop — Season 1 [Amazon Prime Video]

Teenage Bounty Hunters — Season 1 [Netflix]

This Is Us — Season 5 [NBC]

Three Busy Debras [Adult Swim]

Vick [ESPN]

The Walking Dead – Season 10 [AMC]

Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo in “The Outsider”

Bob Mahoney/HBO

B-

Altered Carbon – Season 2 [Netflix]

Avenue 5 — Season 1 [HBO]

Babies [Netflix]

Belgravia [Epix]

Betty — Season 1 [HBO]

Breeders – Season 1 [FX]

Council of Dads — Season 1 [NBC]

Crossing Swords — Season 1 [Hulu]

Duncanville — Season 1 [Fox]

The Haunting of Bly Manor [Netflix]

Killing Eve — Season 3 [BBC America]

Lance [ESPN]

neXt — Season 1 [Fox]

Outer Banks — Season 1 [Netflix]

Outlander – Season 5 [Starz]

The Outsider — Season 1 [HBO]

Run — Season 1 [HBO]

Stateless [Netflix]

The Third Day [HBO]

The Twilight Zone — Season 2 [CBS All Access]

Vida — Season 3 [Starz]

World on Fire [PBS]

Jeremy Pope in “Hollywood”

Saeed Adyani / Netflix

C+

Awkwafina is Nora from Queens — Season 1 [Comedy Central]

Black Monday — Season 2 [Showtime]

Blood & Water [Netflix]

The Comey Rule [Showtime]

Cursed Films [Shudder]

Dave – Season 1 [FXX]

Defending Jacob [Apple TV+]

Deputy — Season 1 [Fox]

Dispatches From Elsewhere – Season 1 [AMC]

Hollywood [Netflix]

Home Before Dark — Season 1 [Apple TV+]

Little Fires Everywhere [Hulu]

Making the Cut [Amazon Prime Video]

The Mandalorian — Season 2 [Disney+]

Noughts + Crosses — Season 1 [Peacock]

Queen Sono – Season 1 [Netflix]

Sex Next Door [Quibi]

Snowpiercer — Season 1 [TNT]

Soulmates — Season 1 [AMC]

Upright — Season 1 [Sundance Now]

Westworld – Season 3 [HBO]

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist — Season 1 [NBC]

“Utopia”

Elizabeth Morris/Amazon Studios

C

Amazing Stories – Season 1 [Apple TV+]

Away — Season 1 [Netflix]

The Comedy Store [Showtime]

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels [Showtime]

Raised by Wolves — Season 1 [HBO Max]

A Teacher [FX on Hulu]

The Umbrella Academy — Season 2 [Netflix]

Unsolved Mysteries [Netflix]

Upload — Season 1 [Amazon Prime Video]

Utopia — Season 1 [Amazon Prime Video]

Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning in “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness”

Kata Vermes / TNT

C-

The Alienist — Season 2 [TNT]

Dead to Me — Season 2 [Netflix]

Devils — Season 1 [The CW]

Grand Army [Netflix]

Hightown — Season 1 [Starz]

Homecoming — Season 2 [Amazon Prime Video]

Indebted — Season 1 [NBC]

Intelligence — Season 1 [Peacock]

The Walking Dead: World Beyond [AMC]

We Hunt Together [Showtime]

Woke — Season 1 [Hulu]

Sarah Paulson and Cynthia Nixon in “Ratched”

Saeed Adyani / Netflix

D+

Love Life — Season 1 [HBO Max]

The Politician — Season 2 [Netflix]

Ratched — Season 1 [Netflix]

Social Distance [Netflix]

Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman in “The Undoing”

Niko Tavernise / HBO

D

Hoops — Season 1 [Netflix]

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich [Netflix]

Marvel’s Helstrom — Season 1 [Hulu]

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker [Netflix]

The Undoing [HBO]

“BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg took to social media this week to reveal a David Fincher joke that he had to cut from his acclaimed Netflix animated series because the streaming giant feared it would upset the “Fight Club” and “Mank” filmmaker. It’s important to remember that Fincher helped bring Netflix into the original content era as an executive producer on “House of Cards,” the first series produced for Netflix, and also directed the first two episodes of the show’s inaugural season. By the time “BoJack” premiered in August 2014, “House of Cards” was already two seasons into its run.

“Still mystified that apparently Dave Chapelle’s deal is that he says whatever he wants and Netflix just has to air it, unedited. Is that normal, for comedians?” Bob-Waksberg asked on Twitter. “Because Netflix once asked me to change a joke because they were worried it might upset David Fincher.”

“Just looked up the cut Fincher joke because I actually couldn’t remember it,” Bob-Waksberg continued. “Turns out it was a whole scene! Netflix was right to note, it’s a dumb scene. My point was it’s silly for a network to pretend their hands are tied when it comes to the content they put on their network.”

The scene in question finds “BoJack” character Princess Carolyn (voiced by Amy Sedaris) meeting David Fincher at a baby shower. Fincher greets Princess Carolyn by saying, “What’s up, slut?” Princess Carolyn calls Fincher a “skinny bitch.” The scene builds to a punchline that references Fincher’s famous “what’s in the box?” scene from “Seven.” The scene was written for the seventh episode of the first season, which Bob-Waksberg reminded his followers “was early in the show’s run and we were still getting out some kinks as far as tone and process.”

All seasons of “BoJack Horseman” are available to stream on Netflix. Read the cut David Fincher scene in its entirety below.

Just looked up the cut Fincher joke because I actually couldn’t remember it. Turns out it was a whole scene! Netflix was right to note, it’s a dumb scene. My point was it’s silly for a network to pretend their hands are tied when it comes to the content they put on their network.

— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 7, 2021

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO’S DONATED SO FAR! We are halfway there! Here’s some info on the scene to get you excited: it was originally written for episode 107, “Say Anything.” It was early in the show’s run and we were still getting out some kinks as far as tone and process.

— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 7, 2021

Can Princess Carolyn go to the baby shower and ALSO find a cool director for her new project? And might that cool director be someone who happened to be concurrently producing a different show with Netflix?! Only fifty more donations to find out!

— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 7, 2021

Yay! THANK YOU! I don’t know if this scene is worth it, but you gave over $2000 to Trans Lifeline today and that’s definitely worth it. pic.twitter.com/i6ztDYxP3C

— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 8, 2021

What’s better than seeing your favorite sitcom characters shed their hum-drum outfits and status quo subplots for the theatrical costumes and hair-raising horror that only comes with Halloween? From “Freaks and Geeks” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” to “Parks and Recreation” and “Bob’s Burgers,” the best TV comedies celebrate October 31 with seasonal half-hours that inspire as much festive fun as they do nail-biting fear.

The most memorable Halloween sitcom episodes go beyond tossing pumpkins at the set dressing and instead dig deep to figure out what the annual celebration of things that go bump in the night might really mean to their characters. Stand-out shows find ways to bring specificity to their Halloween renderings, carefully considering everything from the narratively powerful meaning (or dramatically ironic coding!) behind characters’ costumes to the range of All Hallows’ Eve settings that can fit a story best.

A costume party can be an opportunity for uninhibited characters to finally fall in love, or it could be the high-stakes night that finally breaks a couple up. (Hello, “New Girl.”) Visiting the local haunted house might be a fun chance to prove the gang can get through anything if they just stick together, or it could end up as the last straw to bring their emotional hayride to a halt. (Nice to see you, “You’re the Worst.”) Heck, even handing out candy to trick-or-treaters could lead to an epiphany about maturity and motherhood. (Wow, it’s Rachel Greene in “Friends”!)

These situations are made even more harrowing when sitcom writers dare to introduce serial killers, supernatural presences, murder mysteries, and other bonafide horror elements into the mix. In some cases, characters are lucky enough to operate under anthology rules, as is the situation with “The Simpsons” and its ever-growing “Treehouse of Horror” legacy. But other protagonists aren’t so fortunate: left to languish in chapters that demand their utmost cunning to ensure survival.

Given the wide range of sitcoms throughout TV history, it was impossible to narrow down to even the top 31 best genre Halloween episodes. So, instead, here are 31 of the best Halloween sitcom specials that we’ll be cuing up this spooky season — listed alphabetically.

When it really wants to, Netflix does a great job at letting people know what TV shows it has to offer. Unfortunately, with the never-ending wave of new ones arriving every month, certain high-profile creators to keep happy with front-page promotion, and shifts in the streaming wars that can upend viewer attention at a moment’s notice, there are always a few series that seem to fall between the cracks.

As a way to help combat that, we thought the time was right to assemble our picks for the best that Netflix has to offer. The streaming service finally buckled and incorporated advertisements into its service in early November 2022. (If you didn’t notice, you’re likely paying for the more expensive monthly subscription tier already.) So, for those subscribers who plan to stick around at the higher price point, that’s even more incentive to get the most out of the staple streamer.

There’s the usual caveat that rankings are inherently subjective (is the 17th-best Netflix show that much better than the 29th-best Netflix show, etc.) but the one thing connecting all of the series in this collection is that we think they’re absolutely worth your time. They may not all end up on everyone’s list of personal favorites — tastes vary! — but it’s a trusty roadmap to get unstuck from mindlessly watching Season 7 of that show you never really liked all that much in the first place.

Narrowing things down to a relatively small number meant setting some guidelines. We weeded out some shows that did their best work before they became Netflix Originals. And although the platform may be home to some amazing shows that premiered elsewhere, we stuck to shows that were either originally produced or distributed by Netflix. To keep matters even more manageable, Netflix’s many one-off comedy specials have been excluded. (Our apologies to Hannah Gadsby’s “Nanette.”)

For each show, you’ll find three things. First, a simple synopsis for those unfamiliar with any of these titles. Then, a few short bursts of insights for anyone who hasn’t taken that particular plunge yet. Finally, we dropped in a link or two to past IndieWire coverage, either interviews with the people who helped make these shows or bonus praise from one of our writers. Regardless of what ends up being the selling point, we hope this helps you find a fresh classic.

Proma Khosla, Marcus Jones, Kristen Lopez, Erin Strecker, and Ben Travers contributed to this list. 

50. “Orange Is the New Black” (2013-2019)

“Orange is the New Black”

JoJo Whilden/Netflix

What it is: In Jenji Kohan’s sprawling expansion on Piper Kerman’s memoir “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison,” a singular ensemble drives a compassionate look at the lives of inmates and guards at a fictional minimum-security federal prison in upstate New York.

Why you should watch it: “Orange Is the New Black” didn’t just make history at Netflix (though its success was an unprecedented leap forward in scripted comedy for the service). With too many standout performances to name (Uzo Aduba! Kate Mulgrew! Samira Wiley! Natasha Lyonne!), the genre-straddling, women-centric dramedy championed diversity onscreen and off, as well as challenged the limits of ripped-from-the-headlines drama for the binge-watching format. —Alison Foreman

Series mainstay Natasha Lyonne explained how the chance to get behind the camera changed the entire trajectory of her career. 

49. “The OA” (2016-2019)

“The OA”

JoJo Whilden/Netflix

What it is: Creator Brit Marling stars as the titular OA or “original angel”: a woman who mysteriously returns to her adoptive parents after disappearing for seven years. Their reunion reveals a mind-bending epic, cut short by a hard-to-accept cliffhanger.

Why you should watch it: Synonymous with hidden gem, “The OA” is a word-of-mouth sci-fi sensation for a reason. Though Season 1 got a mixed reception from critics (its serpentine storyline proved too difficult to follow for some), the show has since been extensively praised for its ambitious approach to multi-dimension storytelling and is remembered for a Season 2-turned-series finale that left unsatisfied fans grappling with frustrating but fascinating meta-questions about Marling’s under-explored TV universe. —AF

Our Influencers profile on series composers Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, including thoughts from Marling. 

48. “Teenage Bounty Hunters” (2020)

“Teenage Bounty Hunters”

Netflix

What it is: Twin sisters Sterling and Blair Wesley (Maddie Phillips and Anjelica Bette Fellini) have to secretly balance being apprentices to a grouchy veteran bounty hunter (Kadeem Hardison) with their everyday teen troubles being students at a Christian school.

Why you should watch it: Another entry into Netflix’s far-too-vast canon of shows gone too soon, the Kathleen Jordan-created comedy brought such an original concept to the well-trodden genre of teen TV, mixing in crime caper fun with biting satire of down south, contemporary Christian culture in the Atlanta suburbs. —Marcus Jones

“Teenage Bounty Hunters” was the capper on our list of shows in 2020 that were canceled way, way too early. 

47. “Everything Will Be Fine” (2021)

“Todo va a estar bien”

Natalia Bermudez/Netflix

What it is: As Julia (Lucía Uribe) and Ruy’s (Flavio Medina) marriage is crumbling, they try to preserve parts of the life they have and put on a good face for their daughter. When affairs and public controversies start to complicate things even further, the couple is forced to confront their own assumptions about what family means.

Why you should watch it: Now much more known for being in front of the camera on a TV series, this proves that Diego Luna might be an even better director. There’s patience and generosity in so many of the scenes here — whether they feature characters fighting, flirting, or just sitting alone eating — that really let these performances crackle. —Steve Greene

Some additional thoughts on how this show effortlessly moves between rich family drama and dark, biting comedy. 

46. “Astronomy Club” (2019)

“Astronomy Club”

Lara Solanki/Netflix

What it is: The first all-Black Upright Citizens Brigade team — known since their founding as the Astronomy Club — entertain in this single-season sketch celebration featuring reality show framing.

Why you should watch it: “Astronomy Club” stands out not just for its spectacularly funny writing (“You just peanut butter and jealous!”), but also the well-earned chemistry of its stars. Players Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, Keisha Zollar, and James III exude comfort that makes their comedy at once punchier and warmer. —AF

A tribute to the season that was and some thoughts from the cast about where their collaborations could head next. 

45. “Alice in Borderland” (2020-present)

“Alice in Borderland”

What it is: When Tokyo instantly transforms one afternoon into a deserted, abandoned city, a handful of friends find that in order to stay alive and have a shot at returning to their own reality, they’ll have to endure a series of challenges categorized by a mysterious deck of playing cards.

Why you should watch it: It got crowded out a bit by a certain other “solve puzzles to earn your survival” show that came along a few months later — but don’t sleep on this Shinsuke Sato manga adaptation that has just as much high-stakes blockbuster detail in its favor. The opening episode’s challenge, based around a deadly guessing game, wastes no time setting up the thematic throughline of the series: In a ruthless competition like this, no one is safe. —SG

A more detailed case for why “Alice in Borderland” is a worthy entry to the Netflix puzzle box canon. 

44. “Brand New Cherry Flavor” (2021)

“Brand New Cherry Flavor”

Sergei Bachlakov/Netflix

What it is: An aspiring indie filmmaker (Rosa Salazar) visits ’90s Los Angeles in search of her big break. What she finds is a city, an industry, and some odd strangers who all seem to be in the grasp of something that’s out of this world.

Why you should watch it: As dizzying as show-biz stories can get, this uses some surprising, nasty genre storytelling to get at the heart of Hollywood shininess and rot at the same time. It takes a lot of work to make chaos feel this controlled, but from the closing moments of the first episode on, there aren’t many series that are as impossible to predict as this one is. —SG

A look into the practical work behind some of the season’s most memorable moments, courtesy of a conversation with showrunners Lenore Zion and Nick Antosca. 

43. “Salt Fat Acid Heat” (2018)

“Salt Fat Acid Heat”

Adam Rose/Netflix

What it is: James Beard Award-winning chef and author Samin Nosrat travels the world to showcase a diverse array of great dishes that have the four essentials listed in the show’s title.

Why you should watch it: The simplicity of Nosrat’s cooking edict, along with her gentle instruction and infectious enthusiasm, make for an interactive watch: It’s enough for viewers to start taking her suggestions to heart and get more involved in the kitchen. The visuals are also sumptuous, making even a shot of a loaf of focaccia bread look like a cinematic work of art. —MJ

Nosrat talked about her journey to becoming a TV host, and which of the four episodes ended up being the hardest to make. 

42. “Ares” (2020)

“Ares”

What it is: This Dutch horror series follows a new medical student (Jade Olieberg) who shows up for a university initiation ritual and ends up discovering the sinister forces keeping the school afloat and its members in power.

Why you should watch it: Brutal and elegant all at once, this is a show that’s both a visual feast and parade of horrors. Striking color, patient camerawork, and a keen eye towards corruption of all kinds is what makes this far more than just a college/conspiracy story mash-up. You’ll never look at masquerade masks or a ball of dark goo the same way ever again. —SG

It’s one of our no-brainer choices for the Best International Series on Netflix. 

41. “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (2015-2020)

“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

Eric Liebowitz/Netflix

What it is: Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s comedy about a woman (Ellie Kemper) who spent 15 years imprisoned in a bunker with a cult leader is as kooky and optimistic as its premise is bleak. As Kimmy catches up on the years she missed, she finds the company of wannabe diva Titus (Titus Burgess), eccentric/possibly dangerous landlady Lillian (Carol Kane), and self-absorbed, oblivious rich employer Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski).

Why you should watch it: From the first weekend when that theme song got stuck in everyone’s heads, “Kimmy Schmidt” found something special. The show exemplifies the absurd humor its creators honed on “30 Rock” — humor that pops up in “Girls5eva” and the criminally underwatched “Great News,” but which truly thrives on “Kimmy Schmidt.” Packed with cameos, flights of fancy, and complete with a choose-your-own-adventure movie finale, “Kimmy” is not only unbreakable but audacious in finding hope and humor after trauma. —Proma Khosla

Once the show wrapped its final full season, Fey and Carlock reflected on what it took to say goodbye.