Oh, and... Six more shows that made 2020 better

So I started a list of TV shows that I liked in 2020, and wrote about them here. 

I was going to include loads, but only got to seven, because I'm very lazy. But I'm happy to inform you that I've mustered up the energy to complete the list, and here it is. Six more TV shows that made me happy in this, the stupidest of years. 

I Hate Suzie

This is about Billie Piper, and she basically plays Billie Piper, if Billie Piper was 

a) lots less together than in real life and 

b) beset by a constant stream of impossible disasters

Her character - Suzie - is an actress who used to be a pop star when she was a teenager, and then went on to be in a popular sci-fi TV show. So there's the 'very similar' bit. But then her life is thrown into turmoil when someone leaks some sex pictures of her onto the internet. 

Each half hour episode is like accompanying Suzie as she tumbles down a hill and tries to work out which way is up. We experience all her emotions in vivid HD and surround sound, from despair to anger to hilarity to remorse. It is frequently hilarious, as Suzie's layers are peeled away and she reveals incredible, vulnerable humanity and soul. 

There is a whole episode about masturbation, during which your mum and dad will definitely walk in, even if they live miles away or died years ago. 

The Mandalorian

It's not really an original observation to say that this show is great, but I don't care. The Mandalorian kicks ass, and absolutely nails Star Wars in a way that recent films haven't always managed. 

My favourite thing about it is the commitment to action and incident. Each episode is *about* something, and the narrative charges towards that "something" with great determination and glee.

"Kill the big monster". "Rescue the guy". "Get to the place". Each episode is powered by a simple concept like this, and everything that happens unfolds naturally from the core premise.

There's something very appealing about this, especially in an age where Quality TV likes to take its sweet time wandering towards any kind of narrative conclusion. Yes, I like a slow burn plot arc as much as anyone. But between the opening of an episode and its closing credits, something should happen. And ideally that something will involve people shooting lasers at each other.

Best of all is the concept art that plays under the credits each week. Big, bold images that capture the visual power of each instalment. Though I strongly suspect that the actual concept art was just frenzied crayon scribblings of Stormtroopers being blown up by minor characters from the Star Wars universe, which used up all the red crayon and made John Favreau's mum come up to see what all the noise was about.

Normal People

They would never do crayon drawings of this show. Well, they'd only need to do one, anyway - a picture of two people sitting in a room, staring into space with their mouths resolutely closed, in case they accidentally shared any information with each other. 

This is a show about two people falling in love. We follow them over a number of years, and your likely response to their romance will be to shout a combination of the following phrases at the screen:

i)  Oh, you're both so adorable and sweet and realistic!

ii) For the love of God, both of you, would you ever communicate even the most basic information about your feelings?

iii) Oh, yet another incredibly explicit sex scene. And, oh, hello mum, who has just walked in and is wondering why I am watching porn. I'm not! It's art! And why are you here when you live 200 miles away?

iv) I am very moved by the way your love is expressed in subtle and beautiful moments of tenderness.

v) Good grief, will you please talk to each other, rather than living in constant pain because you completely invented the other person's point of view in your head and now you're cross?

Anyway. It's very good, the acting is great and it has a brilliant soundtrack. 

The Queen's Gambit

Chess is very exciting already, so imagine how much more exciting it is when it forms the backbone of a thrilling, beautifully shot drama? That's right - so exciting you might die of joy. 

This show is a thing of absolute wonder (even if you don't really give a toss about chess). The central performance of Queen Gambit herself is astonishing, and would captivate even if she was playing a woman who was really into collecting and cataloguing carpet samples. 

This is one of those shows that just purrs like a finely tuned engine, running smoothly along with such confidence and brilliance that you think, "Man, other TV series are just dicking about. What's their problem? This looks easy!"

I assume it was not easy. It is genius. 

This Country

I did not want to watch This Country for ages, and I think that speaks badly of my own character. I think I looked at the people in it and went, "Ugh - they look like the kind of common, irritating stupid people who I have no real time for. I don't want to see them while I'm enjoying myself with my massive TV. I would like to see spaceships and robots, please!"

Well, it turns out that I was wrong by quite a significant margin. And indeed it is exactly my prissy attitude that this show is directly aimed at. This is an amazingly sweet, funny and often moving show and it sneaks in some proper social commentary while it's there. 

One of the great things fiction can do is to increase empathy for those not like you. This Country does exactly that with the young, white underclass of small town communities. And, like all good comedy, it does it by reminding us that we're all idiots, really. Yes, these people can be selfish and impetuous and unwilling to change, and that's hilarious. But they're also human and fragile and ultimately very, very loveable. And if I think I'm not stupid in exactly the same ways, I'm kidding myself.

It's also the most I've laughed all year.

What We Do In The Shadows

I don't have any startling insights into this show, except to say that it's fantastically funny and constantly inventive. Series one was great and did a good job of hitting the beats of the (excellent) film which spawned it. Series two develops further and strikes out on its own a bit more, playing with the characters and ideas in a way which shows real confidence in the premise, the actors and the scripts. 

Maybe this is the most I've laughed, actually? I don't know. I laugh a lot. Perhaps I'm having a breakdown? That would make sense of a lot of things.

So that's it. 13 excellent TV shows which I've really enjoyed. Honourable mentions also go to:

Better Call Saul - consistently good, to the point where it feels redundant to mention it

Feel Good - something I've only recently started, because lovely Charlotte Richie from Ghosts is in it

Home - which I probably should have included, as it's both hilarious and extremely relevant

The Boys - excitingly violent TV that charges in its own direction with great joy. 

There you go. A reminder that part one of this list can be found here.