The 10 best TV shows of 2019

2019 was a big year for TV. New streaming services showed up, tentpole shows wound down, and many others came and went without making much noise at all. These are not those shows. This list of the best TV shows on 2019 includes new and excellent seasons of shows that have been on for a while, as well as the first seasons of TV shows that premiered this year and blew everyone’s minds with their comedic excellence and enthralling drama. 

Without further ado, the 10 best TV shows of 2019.

Through the din of existential screaming known as 2019, the giddy giggles of Big Mouth Season 3 could be heard. From the malaise of masturbation to an incestuous (and musical) trip to Florida, Netflix’s beloved puberty cartoon hit many of the same beats perfected in Seasons 1 and 2 — then added to them with unprecedented gall. Creators went faster, further, and funnier than ever before with new insights satirizing the pressures, insecurities, and general asshole-ry that defines each of us at every age. Season 3 could have marked the downturn of this hormone-centric sitcom. Instead, with a little help from the Ghost of Duke Ellington and Hormone Monstress Mona, the staple series remained one of the smartest, most laugh-out-loud hilarious shows available. ?Anything goes in Florida… ?

-Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

9. Pose

As if we couldn’t cry more after Season 1 of Pose, Season 2 came through swinging for our tear ducts straight out the gate. This year Pose continued in its quest to tell the deeply human stories of underrepresented gay and trans characters and presented its complexities with all the style and beauty those stories deserve. Billy Porter won his first Emmy this year for his performance in Season 1, but the rest of the Pose cast rose up to meet him in Season 2, especially Angelica Ross in Candy’s farewell episode “Never Knew Love Like This Before.”

Ramy Youssef’s self-titled show emerged this year as a standout Hulu original that told the story of an immigrant family from the perspective of their first-generation American son, and it did so with the kind of comedic heart and excellent writing that makes people sit up and pay attention. Even though Ramy the character’s experience is his own, the deeply relatable people and situations he encounters make for a show that speaks to more than the specifics of his life — it’s simply great American television.

Russian Doll has a lot of heart for a show about a woman who gets completely bodied by the universe like a billion times over its eight episodes. Whether she’s breaking her neck falling down some stairs, getting attacked my rogue subway bees, or accidentally overdosing on heroin, Natasha Lyonne’s Nadia is the resilient protagonist 2019 deserves, as the show puts her through hell until she finally confronts the traumas and toxic patterns that have trapped her in her life (and a time loop. They have also trapped her in a time loop). Russian Doll’s message of empathy and connectedness makes it one of this year’s most poignant comedies, one that you could watch over…and over….and over…

No one expected Barry Block to escape the events of Barry Season 1 unscathed, but the HBO show’s second season threw more wrenches than a confused machinist at a cornhole tournament when it came to completely dicking up his life this time around. Not that he doesn’t deserve it, of course — one of the most compelling things about the show is keeping its viewers wondering if its protagonist is even remotely worth rooting for — but its twists and minor shocks were as good if not better the second time around. Bill Hader again managed the perfect balance between violence and comedy this season, culminating in such bizarre delights as a creepy preteen tae kwon do master scampering up a tree, a confessional bus fire, and the dangling prospect of the one thing every gangster wants most in the world…50/50 with Cristobal. 

Pen15 wins a unique medal for being extremely difficult to watch while also being indispensable TV. It wasn’t super violent or anything, it just makes for very embarrassing viewing. Putting grown adults Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle in middle school drag and making them act alongside real pre-teenagers in a perfect visual recreation of millennial childhood is a wildly clever way to remind viewers that the hormonal nonsense of 13-year-olds is valid even when it’s stupid — a lesson anyone who cringes when they think about 7th grade would be wise to remember. Pen15 gave those who grew up in the excruciating mid-00s an opportunity to find empathy for their younger selves, to reexamine the “before” photos in those Twitter 10-year challenges and remember how important those years felt when they were happening. 

Much like the gorgeous ladies of wrestling that form the social heart of the show, GLOW kicked ass in 2019. Moving the show to Las Vegas and covering an entire year were two bold moves that paid off in spades, as the wrestlers’ extended isolation allowed the writers to go hog wild on developing almost every character beyond viewers could possibly expect. Betty Gilpin and Alison Brie were particularly great in Season 3, as Debbie and Ruth both grappled with discovering what they wanted out of life, but so many more characters (Sheila! Carmen! Sam!) received much needed space to glow as well.

No sophomore slump here! Succession captured a rare feat: Take a strong and buzzy Season 1 and make it even better. Season 2 found the show firing on all cylinders with a cast that relaxed into their roles and interplay (could Gerri and Roman’s surprising-but-in-hindsight inevitable alliance be more fun?). There was a sharp focus on the Roy family in unexpected situations (a retreat, on a boat), and provocative themes about the nature of power and how you wield it. The smart show lends itself just as easily to feminist discussions about women in charge as it did to making us wonder why, exactly, we found all these terrible characters so goddamn fun and compelling. 

Bonus: Funnily enough, for a show so ostensibly serious, there was no more silly place online this year than social media right after an episode, where fans could dissect instantly “iconic” raps and share brilliant theme song parodies. We can’t wait to see what the dysfunctional Roys get up to next. –Erin Strecker, Entertainment Editor

It’s hard to argue with Phoebe Waller Bridge’s dump truck full of Emmys for Fleabag Season 2, so we won’t. Season 2 bloomed like a rose from the tragicomic soil of Season 1’s focus on grief, anger, and self-hatred, and showed Fleabag’s bravery in pursuing that which she spent most of the first season avoiding — real love. The Hot Priest has been memed to death by now, but his character sparked a million sexy fires on the strength of his gentleness and listening skills (and, in the words of Fleabag, his beautiful neck). Rarely has a TV couple seemed so perfect and so doomed, making the short season of their love was completely enthralling.

HBO’s Watchmen arrived at the end of 2019 and turned out to be a show that fully encapsulates this decade in entertainment. Much like the 1986 comic it serves as a sequel to, Watchmen turns a critical eye to the idea and function of masked heroes in our culture but goes beyond its source material to examine the dark realities of racism, conspiracies, and police violence in a world almost — but not quite — like our own. Anchored by a towering performance from Regina King as Angela Abar, A.K.A the masked cop Sister Night, Watchmen’s every episode dazzles while maintaining the social integrity dozens of other shows can only dream of achieving.