The State of the Art: Television 2017

I can't believe it, but eight shows battled for the top spot in my heart this year. When the dust settled, I chose the resurgence of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which was just fantastic. Here are the eight shows, any of which could have been #1 if they had caught me on the right day:

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Season 1)
The Good Place (Season 1)
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Season 1)
Bojack Horseman (Season 4)
Master of None (Season 2)
American Vandal (Season 1)
GLOW (Season 1)
The Great British Bake Off (Season 4)

I also watched other stuff, of course, most of which was very good. My "block" of usual shows (black-ish, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bob's Burgers, Superstore) all had strong seasons, and many of the songs of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Season 2) got stuck in my head. Cartoons and anime were well represented with Steven Universe, Voltron, and Erased, with the latter being the most remarkable I've seen in a long time. Sitcoms are always a good distraction from the misery of the political landscape, so I indulged in Angie Tribeca, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Trial and Error, and Powerless, all of which had their bright spots, though not enough to make the top of my list.

There was also the hard-to-categorize side shows. There's the food porn of Chef's Table, and the strange, but compelling very-special-episode feel of One Day at a Time. I also really enjoyed Lovesick.

So yeah, an excellent year of TV, and with Black Mirror premiering its new season tomorrow, it looks like another one is on the horizon.