best of 2021: TV shows

And now it's time for my favorite TV shows of 2021!  A few notes before I begin:

- Not all of these were first released in 2021, but that's when I first watched them.

- These are in random order and I couldn't choose a favorite.  Too much good shit, man!

- I made a parenthetical note of where we watched them (servicey!).

- G and I still have a few shows in progress that probably belong here, but I felt weird adding them before we had finished all available seasons in case they shit the bed, so there may be a part two closer to the end of the month.  If we don't finish a potential contender by then, I'll plop 'em on next year's list.  Number two is an exception because I finished the manga and the series has been faithful, so I doubt it will go off the rails.

- And as always, your mileage may vary.

1. WandaVision:  Crazed by grief over certain developments in the Avengers movies, Wanda Maximoff (aka Scarlet Witch) uses her powers to create sitcom worlds where everything is great...or is it?  The sitcom parodies are pitch perfect, Elizabeth Olsen is great as Wanda, and it has one of the best lines of the year:  "What is grief but love perservering?"  (Disney+)

2. Erased:  Satoru has an unusual ability he calls "revival" which allows him to go back in time a few minutes before a tragedy occurs, at which point he can prevent it.  But when a loved one is murdered, he goes back eighteen years instead, when he was 11 years old.  He decides to use his memories of the past to prevent the murders of three children, including the girl he loved.  (Netflix; also available on Crunchyroll)

3. Alice in Borderland:  Arisu finds himself in a deserted version of Tokyo in which he and several other people must compete in deadly games to survive.  Stylish and clever; this Japanese drama predated the similar Squid Game, and although it's not as good, I think Squid Game fans would enjoy it too.  (Netflix)

4. Schitt's Creek:  The Rose family---video store magnate Johnny, his actress wife Moira, flighty daughter Alexis, and snarky son David---winds up living in a rundown motel after losing their fortune.  We were late to this one, and honestly, I was skeptical that it could be as good as people claimed.  I was wrong.  The cast is phenomenal and the writing is sharp.  I thought I would hate the characters, but I wound up loving them.  (Netflix)

5. Squid Game:  People who are desperately in debt play violent versions of Korean children's games in hopes of being the last one standing and winning millions of dollars.  Bloody, tense fun that even made me sob at one point.  (Netflix)

6. Sweet Home:  When a plague of unknown origins turns people into monsters, the residents of an apartment building struggle to survive.  (Netflix)

7. Invincible:  Teenager Mark Grayson's father is Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on the planet.  As Mark begins to develop powers of his own, he grapples with his father's legacy.  Gory as hell and surprising, with a great voice cast.  (Amazon Prime)

8. Primal:  A caveman and his bonded dinosaur struggle to survive in a brutal world.  There's no dialogue, but fans of Genndy Tartakovsky know he's the master of "a picture is worth a thousand words".  (HBO Max)

9. What If...?:  In this beautifully animated and expertly voiced series, different Marvel characters live out alternate timelines.  Every episode is great, but in my opinion, the first one, in which Agent Carter receives the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers, was the best.  (Disney+)

10. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend:  Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) is a successful New York attorney who is dissatisfied with her life. She unexpectedly runs into her first love, Josh Chan, and impulsively moves to West Covina, California, in hopes of rekindling their relationship and maybe, just maybe, finding happiness at last.  Each episode features at least two original songs that are always at least good and usually brilliant.  The show can be uneven, but the cast is perfection (my favorite being Donna Lynne Champlin* as Rebecca's loyal to a fault friend Paula) and topics like mental illness, abortion, and sexuality are handled sensitively and with humor.  (Netflix)

* As a gift to my dear friend R, a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend superfan, I bought her a Cameo from Donna Lynne Champlin and she put SO much effort and care into it.  I've seen some terrible, phoned-in Cameos, but this one was fantastic.  If you too love (or are) a CEG fan, I highly recommend getting a Cameo from Donna Lynne.  It was well worth the money, and all of her proceeds go to charity to boot!