20 Shows I Watched in 2020

The pandemic and shutdown certainly meant we all spent a lot more time inside than we normally do. Perhaps what I did with this time reflects poorly on me, but aside from some additional board game and video game time, I watched way more television than I should have. A majority of it was through streaming, though I did watch some live shows using my HD antenna (I cut the cable cord two or three years ago). For me personally, I witnessed the end of three shows that probably will finish in or near my personal list of top 10 shows of all time (all on ABC, coincidentally). I finished some shows I started years ago, and I enjoyed all the offerings from the Star Wars and Marvel universes.

Here's a look back on 20 shows I watched this year. As for criteria, I may have only watched one season of some shows, but I'll count those (whether they have more seasons or just the one). Several shows were not new in 2020, but they were new to me in 2020. I've watched some of the shows on list many times before 2020, but if I watched them again, they're eligible. I won't count a show if I didn't watch at least one full season (so shows I just watched here and there - like Seinfeld, Friends, and Family Guy, don't count). Last but not least, this is not an actual ranking, but more of a look back on my year (I listed them alphabetically).

1. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC): One of my all-time favorite shows, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gave us one final thrill ride with one of its best seasons ever as the team went on a time-traveling adventure. The episodes were varied and had incredible set-production and costume design for different time periods. The idea of traveling through time (which mirrored Avengers: Endgame, of course) enabled the writers to revisit several locations or bring back characters from the show's past, which made it that much more satisfying for fans like me who watched the show from the beginning. For me personally, this is longest I've watched a new show from the beginning on air instead of through reruns or binges, and despite some rough patches in the early years, it was a complete joy from start to finish.

2. Away (Netflix): Hillary Swank plays the captain of a space shuttle on a journey to Mars, and she reflects the many sides a woman in her position would incur, from family separation anxiety to leadership under pressure to nuanced one-on-one interactions with crew members who both like and dislike her. The rest of the crew was very believable as they dealt with various types of pressure on their shoulders. The journey itself was decent, though I'm sure real scientists would prove how unrealistic certain events in the show were in a heartbeat. Still, it had a decent story arc, and there's definitely an opening for a second season, which I will watch if they make it.

3. Clone Wars/Rebels (Disney+): I watched most of Clone Wars years ago when it first aired, but I never finished. Binging them on Disney+ was an easy decision. Though the show was kiddy in some spots, there were incredible adult themes throughout the series (one season featured force witches!). I jumped straight into Rebels; I had only watched Season 1 when it first aired on TV, and I didn't really love it. The series was fine; it really had its best stretches when it overlapped with Clone Wars characters. But I'm glad I watched it even more so now that Mandalorian has so many connections to both shows. Note: I know these are two different shows, but I'm lumping them into one because A) Rebels felt like a continuation of Clone Wars, and B) I wanted to fit 21 shows into a top-20 list, and this was the best way to do it :)

4. Hanna (Amazon Prime): What a bust. From a marketing standpoint, this show seemed to speak my language. A secret scientist group seems to have an experiment go wrong, and they lose the one asset that could expose them. A cover-up and a conspiracy? Yes, please! Unfortunately, the show mostly bogged down in clunky camerawork and set design, a boring character arc for Hanna (her dad raised her in the woods to keep her hidden, but when she finally sees civilization, she realizes she had a lot of learning to do), and prolonged plot reveals. I'm really not interested in watching Season 2, though I may break down at some point and give it one more shot, but I was hoping for more from this one.

5. How I Met Your Mother (Hulu): So I watched the first few seasons of this show when they first started airing, but I fell off pretty hard. It was repetitive, even by sitcom standards. Throughout the years, though, I always made it a point to avoid spoilers in case I ever wanted to go back and rewatch the show and see it how it ended (I remember vaguely hearing about the controversy of the final season and the actual meeting of the mother, but I avoided spoilers). My wife and I binged the entire series in like six weeks, which probably wasn't the best idea. But I enjoyed it! The idea of stretching the majority of the last season to cover one weekend was ridiculous and unfulfilling, but man did the actual scene when Ted met Tracy blow away my expectations and make the whole season worth it. They were so great together, and the actress who played Tracy was perfect (I remember a lot of people say they were displeased with her when the show was still going, but that doesn't surprise me. Audiences are becoming more and more insufferable these days, anyway). I really liked Barney's final scenes when he sees his daughter for the first time, which finally sparks the character change in his life we waited the whole series to see. The final scene, however, with Ted and Robin, was the worst possible ending. It was too self-referential and shoe-horned in. Such a sour note to end on.

6. How To Get Away With Murder (ABC): This show was cleverly written every single year, which is hard to do considering they give you the ending at the beginning of the season (albeit it out of context). But oh boy, did the final season give us not one, but two, incredible twists. First of all, we think that Annalise tragically dies when we are at her funeral. Then we see that Wes is still alive! Of course, we get context at the very end to understand what was really going on, and it turned out to be incredibly satisfying. We got closure for pretty much every character, and it mostly made a lot of sense. We also lost a couple of characters in tragic fashion, which I did not see coming or love all that much. Still, this show was an incredible ride from start to finish. Also, Viola Davis is a top-tier actress.

7. I Am Not Okay With This (Netflix): This was an interesting, somewhat depressing, but wholly intriguing show about a girl who tries to figure out her powers. It ends with a crazy cliffhanger where some mystery man shows up to recruit her, telling her that others should be afraid instead of her being afraid of her powers. I would like to see a group of these powered people show up if they make a second season; otherwise, the show is a prime candidate for a forgettable one-and-done. I would not want to keep watching if it only follows the girl as she tries to live with these powers in high school.

8. The Last Dance (ESPN+): I grew up in the 90s at the height of Jordan's reign in the NBA. Jordan fandom was everywhere. For years, my friends and I would trade Jordan basketball cards in the schoolyard. You were only among the coolest kids if you had a pair of Jordan kicks. During awards nights at the end of every school year, we would sneak in a portable analog TV or radio to listen in on the Bulls games, because they were in the Finals practically every year (school in California ends in June). So when I watched The Last Dance, I experienced a pure nostalgia trip, and it was amazing. Watching how serious those guys were in the 80s and 90s convinces me more and more that today's NBA is soft. Jordan was the epitome of competitiveness, and it was fun seeing some behind-the-scenes examples of that. My favorite non-basketball moment of the show was when Jordan met Jerry Seinfeld. At the time, the Bulls knew their '98 season would be their last together, which is rare for a perennial championship team. At the same time, Seinfeld knew Season 9 of his hit show would be his last, too. It was fun to see two guys at the top of their game/industry and meet, especially when they both knew their time was coming to an end.

9. The Mandalorian (Disney+): Oh Mandalorian, how I love thee. The show definitely has some pacing issues (moreso in Season 1; Season 2 has had a lot of momentum for four episodes now), and it is far too reliant on fan-servicey, tongue-in-cheek Star Wars inside jokes, some of which aren't necessarily organic to the show. But this show has emerged as a compelling addition to the vast lore of the franchise while retaining some of its own identity. We've come to like several new characters (I've never seen a run of memes explode into pop culture like Baby Yoda memes), and we've had our minds blown on returning characters/namedrops. I can't wait to see more from this show (and the inevitable spin-offs)!

10. Marvelous Ms. Maisel (Amazon Prime): I adore this show so much, and I finally, finally had time to watch Season 3. I did not, however, know that Season 3 was the end of the series. Finding that out was devastating for me because of how it ended. Midge had plans to go on tour in Europe, but at the last minute, she gets booted off the tour. Such a rough ending! Still, this is one of my absolute favorite shows ever. No show I've watched has better, wittier dialogue. Midge was hilarious throughout, her tour with Shy Baldwin was entertaining, and I enjoyed the rivalry she developed with another comic woman, especially because her agent got caught up in the middle of it. Not to mention the drama with her dad losing his job and her mom trying to find a husband for her.

11. McMillions (Hulu): I remember the craze when the Monopoly game at McDonald's first blew up. It was so fun tracking down those pieces! No, I never really expected to win the million-dollar prize, but I did hope to win free fries every time. Of course, later we learned that the game was rigged (not surprising), but by third-party involvement (that was surprising). It was fun going through the documentary to get the full story. Even the people who were involved and were supposed to get a cut got the shaft, which just goes to show how silly it is to go in league with the mafia. The method the FBI used to expose the corruption (faking a marketing campaign) was brilliant (though the lead man on the operation was a little annoying).

12. Modern Family (ABC): Absolutely one of my favorite half-hour comedies of all-time. The show definitely lost a little bit of its luster and consistency the final two seasons or so, but it was still smarter and funnier than most of the newer comedy shows that have popped up the past few years. It was fun trying to guess who would end up where, and there were certainly a couple of fun twists along the way leading up to the finale. The first half of the two-part finale event was a decent episode to close the series, with emotional goodbyes and such. The second half was kind of a weird (but I guess fitting) way to address the fact that the show is, indeed, a mockumentary. Not the best way to end, but this show always will be in my rotation of favorite shows to rewatch.

13. Normal People (Hulu): A high school athlete likes the castaway girl at school. An idea that's been done to death, but the show had a very mature, emotional weight to it. They have a classic on-again, off-again relationship not only when they first get together in high school, but in college and as young adults, too. The girl moves away and finds her niche (something she didn't have in high school), and the guy is on his way to studying English/writing at the highest level. They face the tragic story of knowing they are soulmates, that no one else will make them as happy as they make each other, yet they always find reasons to drift apart. The choices they make at the end of the show ticked me off to no end, but it was a well-acted, compelling show from start to finish that kept me invested in their relationship.

14. The Office (Netflix): A classic show. This was only the second time I've watched the entire series from start to finish (I've watched the first five or six seasons far more times), and it was mostly rewatchable and still hilarious. Jim and Pam forever will be the greatest part of that show. I'd also watch an entire series dedicated to Jim pranking Dwight. Michael Scott forever will be my least favorite character on any TV show ever. Dwight, Ryan, Stanley, Angela, and the rest of the crew are all fun in their own ways. The last two seasons of show are painful and cringe-worthy. It wasn't because Michael Scott left at the end of Season 7 per se, but they sure as heck struggled to get the show under control after he left.

15. The Runaways (Hulu/Disney+): I really wasn't feeling this show the first time I watched this, and I actually quit halfway through Season 1. But I wanted to give it another shot, and I'm glad I did. Watching a small-time team assemble and find its greater purpose within its own little corner of the MCU is far more satisfying after it finally takes off from the beginning of the runway (okay, at least I tried, right?). I like how weird the show gets at times, and I'm excited to keep watching the rest of the show.

16. Schitt's Creek (Netflix): This show completely took me by surprise. It's a story about a rich city family going bankrupt and needing to move to some po-dunk town in the middle of nowhere until they can get back on their feet. But what it turns into is an endearing tale about how the four members of this family are forced to spend time together, which results in deeper relationships and tons of character growth. The way they handle their adversity (such as coping with their difficulties or learning how to live with a completely different lifestyle) by making the most of their situation is endearing and comical. And this show is just plain hilarious. The facial expressions that actors Daniel Levy and Annie Murphy (they play the young-adult children) master, from getting disgusted to displeased to downright angry, are perfect. The dry humor, the wittiness; this show is a one-of-a-kind experience. The four main actors of the show deserved each one of those Emmy's they won this year.

17. This Is Us (Hulu): I've had my ups and downs with this show. The writers clearly are ad-libbing some stuff while it's clear they've been setting up some of the long-game stuff from day one. Sometimes they just create drama for the sake of creating drama. But what always makes this show work is its realistic, emotional approach to believable, human difficulties in life. Showing the medical issues the mom is dealing with during the current season (and really the last part of the previous season that finished this past May) has made me maybe more sad than anything else on this show thus far. Kevin's rocky relationship with Randal has been disappointing in its immaturity; but again, it's something that still feels real. As for the plot twists, some of them are well-executed, but they're getting less believable when they keep shining light on the past (the story about William and Randal's mother's relationship is certainly possible, but I don't know that we need this now). Still, my wife and I are excited to see where the show goes the rest of the way.

18. The Umbrella Academy (Netflix): This is a concept that should be right in my wheelhouse, but for some reason, the crass nature of the story and execution of the powers just don't thrill me all that much. The reveal at the end of the first episode, though - when the kid sees the future - was enough to keep me going on it. It gets better, but sometimes I feel like the characters' development is shallow, which can easily happen when there are so many characters (It was honestly hard for me to keep track sometimes). I haven't watched Season 2 yet, but I think I will keep going.

19. What If? (Netflix): Holy cow, this is as thrilling a high-stakes drama as any out there. The early hook of the show - a rich woman offers a young couple a bunch of money if the wife allows this woman to have a private night with her husband without ever being allowed to ask about what they did - was pretty compelling and psychologically gripping. You can sense the torment and anguish this puts the wife through. That would be enough to carry a show, but the plot unfolds into giant, shocking, make-you-question-everything twists one after another. The ending leaves things open for a sequel, though I'm not sure we need a second season. This was a great one-and-done binge.

20. You (Netflix): Dexter is one of my all-time favorite shows. So when I heard about a show that felt similar to Dexter (minus the blood), I was immediately sold. And watching the first couple of episodes hooked me right away. Getting to peek behind the curtains of a stalker/serial killer's thoughts, only to develop a sympathy for him in some ways while maintaining a hatred of him in other ways, presents a conflict of rooting interest for the audience unlike almost anything I've watched in a show. Plus the writers give us a couple of crazy twists along the way to keep things interesting. I'm excited for Season 3 next year.

Bonus: High Score (Netflix): A show about some of the most important events in the development of the video game industry? Yes, please! (I know, nerd alert). It was only six episodes, but hopefully they make more.

Shows in my queue: Cobra Kai (Netflix; I need to rewatch the movies first), Animaniacs (Hulu), The Challenger (Netflix - I started it this week), Game of Thrones (HBO Max), Marvel 616 (Disney+; I watched the first episode about Japanese Spiderman and thought it was just okay). Any other suggestions? Leave a comment :)