The now-ubiquitous phrase “Peak TV”—coined by FX networks chief John Landgraf— only first appeared in 2015, but it certainly defined the entire decade of television in the 2010s. The streaming wars are upon us now, really taking off in November 2019 for anyone wanting to keep track— with the arrival of Disney+ and Apple TV+, and the debuts of HBO Max, Peacock, and others in the near future.

Continue reading The Best TV Shows & Mini-Series’ Of The Decade [2010s] at The Playlist.

There is no shortage of shows about the hilarity and discord that stems from marriage. With relationship dramas monopolizing television, it’s difficult for a show to make its mark with the same infectious immediacy of Amazon’s BBC transplant “Catastrophe.” Created by Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney (who both also star as the focal couple), “Catastrophe” premiered with an abrasive charge at the start, forcing the will-they-won’t-they component to last little more than a scene before propelling us forward into the story, way beyond what other shows may take years to accomplish.

Continue reading ‘Catastrophe’ Proves It’s One Of The Great Modern Comedies [Final Season Review] at The Playlist.

We’re finally picking up speed after two relatively slow-paced months (although they did grace us with “Russian Doll,” which was a welcome surprise and an early contender for Best of 2019). This month’s premieres run the gamut of returning favorites, new oddities, and devastating exposés. It’s a big month for streaming services and HBO, with the latter releasing two returning comedy favorites, including the final season of “Veep.” April marks the return of “Game of Thrones” for its final season so, if you want to get a word in edgewise about any show that isn’t the HBO behemoth, now is the time to hurry and binge as many non-dragon and ice-related series as possible before the discourse is overwhelming dominated by nothing else.

Continue reading 11 TV Shows To Watch In March at The Playlist.

If there isn’t already, there ought to be an improbably long German compound word to describe the slightly panicky, drowning feeling of overwhelmed anticipation that is one’s natural state when contemplating just how much good TV there is out there — and that’s even before additional shows like this week’s “GLOW” and “The Mist” have been piled onto the queue. Add in an appreciation of just how few hours there are in a day, and just how much “other stuff” one is supposed to be doing with one’s life, and the prospect of even making a dent in the mountain of unwatched Golden Age TV can actually trigger a full-blown panic attack.

Continue reading The 25 Best TV Shows Of 2017 So Far at The Playlist.

When Colin Welland, accepting his screenwriting Oscar for “Chariots of Fire” in 1982, echoed Paul Revere’s famous words “the British are coming!,” it’s widely felt he ushered in a long period of decline in the fortunes of U.K. filmmaking in the U.S. So we don’t want to make the same mistake here, and will just point out that, in addition to all the British imports that have already snuck past Customs and Border Protection and onto American screens, in just a few weeks we see season 3 of “Catastrophe” come to Amazon (this Friday), and the first two seasons of “Chewing Gum” come to Netflix, to no little fanfare.

Continue reading ‘Chewing Gum,’ ‘Catastrophe’ And The Rise Of UK TV Comedy at The Playlist.

“I was just thinking that maybe we should have some sex,” Sharon playfully posits, gently slipping into bed next to Rob, who turns and answers, “I just jerked off.”

READ MORE: The 20 Best TV Shows Returning In 2017

The lewd and hilarious Emmy-nominated “Catastrophe” has just dropped its third-season trailer. This season, which premieres on April 28th on Amazon, continues to follow co-stars and series writers Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan as they delve head-first into parenthood, waning sexual attraction, sleeping on the sofa versus head-to-toe, physical fitness or lack thereof, Brexit and “[our] new President,” to which Rob contests, “Don’t put that on me!” The trailer also briefly features the late Carrie Fisher in her last television appearance, reprising her role as Rob’s mom.

Continue reading Carrie Fisher Appears In The New Trailer For ‘Catastrophe’ Season 3 at The Playlist.

“Man Not Accepting Any More Television Recommendations At This Time,” went a particularly good Onion headline this week, and most of us can probably identify. An estimated 455 scripted shows aired on U.S. TV in 2016, and it’s likely to be even more than that in 2017, more than anyone could watch even if they devoted every waking hour (and beyond) to the idiot box.

READ MORE: The 30 Best TV Shows Of 2016

We’ve already highlighted a good 250 hours or so in our 2017 TV Preview, but we only focused on new shows (or, in a couple of cases, a sequel, in “Top Of The Lake: China Girl,” or the decades-later follow-up to a beloved classic in “Twin Peaks”), whereas the year to come will see plenty more established hits returning, some of which took a year out last year (or even beyond that).

Continue reading The 20 Best TV Shows Returning In 2017 at The Playlist.

In the realm of problems that aren’t really problems, “too much good TV” is the one that consumes our nights (and our DVRs). Because there was so much to choose from, what was a 25-show list last year and a 25-show list when we started our rankings for 2016 has now ballooned up to 30. With over 400 scripted television series across the last 12 months, we wouldn’t have struggled to fill an even longer list, as you’ll see from the also-rans at the end.

Continue reading The 30 Best TV Shows Of 2016 at The Playlist.

Right at the beginning of the summer, we took on the slightly crazy task of watching every Netflix Original Series so far, and ranking each show from worst to best. It was a grueling (so much “Fuller House”…so much…) but ultimately rewarding project. But as far as the TV streaming revolution goes, it only highlights part of the picture, because while Netflix might be the biggest and most high profile such service, rivals Amazon are nipping at its heels.

Continue reading The Essentials: Ranking Every Amazon Original Series So Far at The Playlist.

We can all pretty much agree, now we’re over the half-way point, that this year has been one of the worst in living memory for movies, both creatively and financially. The blockbusters have mostly stunk, and have with only a few exceptions (“Captain America: Civil War” being the most notable) financially underperformed to a significant degree. The handful of decent mid-budget studio movies, like the well-loved “The Nice Guys,” also disappointed, and the indie scene has also seen a dearth of quality films, with only a few like “The Witch,” “Love & Friendship” and “The Lobster” managing to stand out.

Continue reading TV Showrunners Could Be Hollywood’s Best Hope Of Saving The Movies at The Playlist.