2020: TV In Review

2020 undoubtedly has become the year that many of us would rather not have to live through again and while next year isn't going to get off to a great start, at least we can say that we watched a lot more television than usual, right?

UK soaps really did have to combat the restrictions of COVID like no other genre and were some of the first shows to resume filming after the first lockdown. The likes of Hollyoaks, Coronation Street and EastEnders all celebrated anniversaries specials while Emmerdale managed several lockdown themed episodes amongst some of the more divisive stories they've had this year. None of the soaps outmatched each other and all seemed to be on the same wavelength of some good stories and some rather poorly thought out ones to boot.

Reality TV - well, we did endure one more series of Love Island before first lockdown but were spared the summer series but it didn't stop the likes of I'm A Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing, Great British Bake Off and The Masked Singer all from happening nonetheless. 

I didn't watch a lot of UK TV dramas this year. In fact, if I'm being perfectly honest, the only few shows actually bothered to watch were of course the twelfth series of Doctor Who, which definitely had it's moments, but the less about the Timeless Children arc, the better. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss's take on Dracula, which despite a disappointing third episode, at least saw some excellent performances from both Claes Bang and Dolly Wells, so that was something.

The only UK TV drama that actually gripped me was I Hate Suzie with Billie Piper seemingly playing a character that heavily drew from some of her own personal life. It was a sublime performance and a further reminder how extremely talented an actor Piper is. Similarly David Tennant managed to impress with both Staged (featuring Michael Sheen and their real life wives) and the chilling Des, one of the few bright spots from ITV this year.

US television was once again dominated by cable and streaming shows coming hard and fast and with far too many to catch up on. HBO probably scored with the likes of The Undoing and the Christmas special of Euphoria, the latter likely to bag Zendeya another Emmy nomination/win while some of Netflix's most talked about shows included the likes of The Queen's Gambit, The Crown and quite recently as last week, Bridgerton. HBO Max has not quite hit anywhere close to the levels of other streaming platforms and it might be a while before it does but The Flight Attendant was a highlight and some of their upcoming content for the next two years certainly looks promising. 

I'm not much of a sitcom person but this year saw the end of Schitt's Creek and in my case, the discovery of it, if I'm being candid. I've blitzed through the first two seasons over the last few weeks and will be watching the remaining seasons as well as needing to catch up with the remainder of The Good Place - another show that's fallen victim of E4's terrible scheduling. Still though, both are shows I will likely finish up in the first quarter of next year and seeing as they've both ended this year, at least I know how much I need to catch up on.

This was also the year of some shows coming to an end as well. How To Get Away With Murder might have lost a large portion of it's initial audience as it went on, but it actually had a rather strong last season and it's series finale was a good way to bring Annalise Keating's story to a natural conclusion. Empire also seemed to end with little fanfare while both Arrow and Supernatural's endings certainly seemed to mix viewers.

With the likes of American Horror Story, American Crime Story and Pose all having to sit out 2020, you'd be mistaken in thinking that the only Ryan Murphy content you got this year was both 911 shows on FOX but Netflix had you covered. Out of the shows on the streaming site - The Politician and Ratched were entertaining but lacking in parts while Hollywood indulged in fantasy retelling of 1940's Tinseltown and was probably the strongest of the bunch. Of course I'm glad Murphy's FX shows will return in 2021, hopefully refreshed and I'm intrigued by at least two of his other upcoming Netflix offerings as well.

2020 wasn't much for Marvel content as none of the promised Disney+ shows were completed in time, so it was the last season of Agents Of SHIELD and the rather short lived Helstrom to barely fill that void. DC on the other hand came out swinging with Stargirl and hopefully the show's permanent move to the CW won't affect it's quality. Meanwhile Batwoman lost it's title character, both The Flash and Supergirl lost the plot at times, Legends Of Tomorrow embraced the Thong Song, Black Lightning prepped for a final season for next year and Arrow ended this year on a strong note. Doom Patrol kicked off an impressive second season, Lucifer continued to expand it's lifeline on Netflix and Harley Quinn did the very thing the comics cannot commit to by actually making Harley and Ivy a bonafide couple. With a slew of upcoming shows for HBO Max and Superman And Lois for the CW, TV and streaming will continue to be the most successful area for DC content.

2020 was also the year where The Boys seemed to properly blow up, It felt like from September onwards, the show was unavoidable so I bit the bullet, watched the first two seasons and yeah, I can see the fuss behind this one. The second season was certainly the strongest with Stormfront being one of the more abhorrent villains seen on TV/streaming this year. The Umbrella Academy also had a particular strong second outing, making great use of the main characters 1960's setting and the game changing cliffhanger should be interesting to see explored next season.

Genre TV wise, the second season of The Mandalorian seemed to be fan pleasing event from start to finish with many Star Wars shows guaranteed by Disney+. HBO and HBO Max also delivered with the likes of Westworld, Lovecraft Country and Raised By Wolves. Netflix might be ending Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina but it's last season certainly is a good way to conclude the year for the station while His Dark Materials continued to perform well for BBC. 

In terms of LGBT TV, there was a lot of it this year. More than I could possibly highlight but if I had to pick a few underrated gems, I'd go with Spanish Netflix miniseries, Someone Has To Die, starring Alejandro Speitzer as well as Hulu series, Love Victor, the spin-off a certain 2018 movie. A lovely feelgood series with a great central performance from Michael Cimino, it was a highlight in a year that personally didn't have that many. 

2020 was certainly a year for television and streaming content. There's probably some things I've forgotten or simply did not watch but those were some of the highlights for me. What were yours? Is there any upcoming show you're looking forward to in 2021?