The Top 10 TV Shows of 2020

While movies may have had a rather quiet year thanks to COVID-19, streaming and broadcast series had a big year. With many stuck inside and plenty of time to explore shows they had yet to catch up on or the plethora of newly released series, everyone seemed to be tweeting about the hottest thing quicker thank ever before. Still, it’s our job to boil down the many fantastic shows released throughout the year and tell you which ones we thought were the cream of the crop.

Here are our picks for the Top 10 Best TV Shows of 2020.

10.) The Queen’s Gambit

The Queen’s Gambit is the best-made show of the year, in my opinion. The cinematography is top-notch, acting across the board is great with a really good script. Frank Scott has been working to get this project made since 1992 and the end result must surely have been worth the wait. Led by a star-making performance by Anya Taylor-Joy and supported by the likes of Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Harry Melling, Scott Found a way to make chess an engaging and engrossing experience.

Who would have thought the story of an orphan chess prodigy with a drug and alcohol problem would be one of the biggest shows of the year? Yet here we are, with interest in chess at heights unseen in years. It is truly baffling but well deserved.

– Ashley Hobley

9.) High Fidelity

My favourite show last was the second season of Fleabag. The 2020 version of High Fidelity feels a lot like across between Fleabag and the original film and book. Rob and Fleabag are flawed characters you have done bad things and are learning that they need to change. So it’s no surprise that I loved this.

Zoë Kravitz is great and is backed up by her Championship Vinyl employees played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph and David H. Holmes. Jake Lacy is pretty great as well as Clyde, the nice guy that Rob can’t help but string along.

The show follows a similar path to the film (which I watched after finishing the series) with a number of scenes shot almost exactly the same. But after a few episodes, this series starts to diverge from the source material a lot. While we won’t be getting anymore High Fidelity after it was cruelly cancelled but it definitely works as a complete project. Check it out if you missed it then get upset that it’s over.

– Ashley Hobley

8.) The Last Dance

The Last Dance was a cultural phenomenon. Coming out during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, The Last Dance was must-watch television every week. The Last Dance followed the Chicago Bulls as they tried to claim a sixth NBA championship in the 1997–98 season while also looking back on the career of Michael Jordan and the other key figures in the Bulls’ glory years.

Michael Jordan is definitely the focal point of the series, which is understandable given he arguably the greatest basketball player of all time. The series really gave you a good look at what life was really like for him in his playing days and what it took for him to be the player he was, even if it did not show him in a flattering light.

A key reason this will go down as one of the definitive basketball documentary series is because of who they were able to interview. There is a who’s who of prominent people who would part of the Bulls Organization and the NBA at the time that gives it a sense of authority. The editing in the series is great with each episode building to a point that makes you craving the next episode. Filled with great drama, laughs and emotional moments, The Last Dance is a must-watch, even for non-sports fans. Just don’t get on Jordan’s bad side or he’ll score 50 points on you.

– Ashley Hobley

7.) AEW Dynamite

Like many out there, I stopped watching WWE and wrestling in my early teens. I grew out of the storylines and the beast that is Vince McMahon‘s wrestling mega-corp. I grew tired of the product. What AEW has offered in its first year with AEW Dynamite is more than just an alternative, it’s one that captured my attention enough to draw me back into the world of wrestling in 2020.

Of course, COVID-19 affected AEW like its competition for the majority of 2020, but they managed to make the show always feel vibrant and exciting none-the-less. With Matt Hardy‘s introduction to the roster just as lockdowns began to the “it’s Sting!” highlight of recent weeks, there have been many exciting and shocking moments throughout the year. Cody Rhodes’ reign as TNT Champion and open challenges introduced many to the indie talent they probably wouldn’t have heard of otherwise. AEW Dynamite has consistently been an entertaining product every week in a year you’d think a live wrestling show would have suffered the most. A true testament to the quality of the storylines and wrestling on the show.

– Dylan Blight

6.) Dark: Season 3

Dark is one of the best original shows Netflix has ever produced. The German series managed to tell a dramatic sci-fi narrative that not only wrapped-up in three seasons but did so in a way that was emotional and fitting for the characters. Somehow the series left little loose ends in the finale. Given how confusing the show can be at times, it’s a testament to how well written Dark is from concept to screenplay.

Since so many of you still haven’t watched Dark, I’m not spoiling what made the final season so special here. Instead, I’ll implore you to give the show a look. It’s one of the best things you haven’t been watching and one of the best shows of 2020.

– Dylan Blight

5.) The Witcher: Season 1

Released late in 2019, The Witcher was a pleasant surprise to book fans and video game players alike. The Witcher franchise is most popular because of a video game adaption by developer CD Projekt Red. This series, however, is based upon the source material by Andrzej Sapkowski. For those unacquainted, it is more-or-less Netflix’s Game of Thrones equivalent, or a show it was surely hoping would grab some of the same audience.

The Witcher‘s first season can be a confusing introduction to the world of the monsters and their hunters, the Witchers. As the show jumps between Geral of Rivia, to a royal princess and a magician in training, it can be confusing as to where the show is headed. But that makes it all the more exciting as the pieces start coming together. Pair that with the dry but delightful performance of Henry Cavill and you’re in for a treat.

If you fell in love with the world of The Witcher with the first season, you’ll be happy to hear there’s plenty more on the way, with Netflix greenlighting more than just one spin-off show. But what I’m most excited for at this stage is the second season, especially given how the first season ends. What a tease!

– Dylan Blight

Read our full review of The Witcher: Season One

4.) Schitt’s Creek: Season 6

I came very late to Schitt’s Creek. I finished watching the entire series just a week before it made history at the Emmy Awards. While a lot of the series blurs together, the final season is some of the best work the cast and crew of the show had produced.

In the final season, things start to turn around for the Rose family. Moira’s acting career starts turning around, Alexis began having success as a publicist, Johnny is starting to expand his motel business and David is getting ready to marry Patrick. A number of supporting characters get great moments too with Stevie and Twyla getting some of their most interesting storylines.

Schitt’s Creek finished on a high note with its final two episodes ranking among the best of the entire show. A show that delivered so many positive messages deserved all the success it got.

– Ashley Hobley

3.) Sex Education: Season 2

Sex Education was a big surprise in 2019 with how it handled its characters and themes. Season 2 continued to build upon everything I loved in the first season, with the only downside being the massive cliffhanger in the season finale.

Things get awkward pretty early as the season kicks off with Otis discovering masturbation in all the wrong places. There’s also the embarrassing case of his mother, Jean, dating the father of his girlfriend, Ola. The will/they/won’t they with Maeve is, of course, always tempering on the outskirts of each episode, but it was great to see the girls band together to help one another this season. Episode 2×07 is a particular highlight of the season, even if it’s touching a rather severe and dark subject matter.

If you’re not watching Sex Education and you have a Netflix subscription, you’re doing it wrong.

– Dylan Blight

Read our full review of Sex Education: Season 2

2.) Better Call Saul: Season 5

Better Call Saul is consistently one of the best shows you should be watching every year. The spin-off/prequel to Breaking Bad has more than sprouted its own wings, all the while weaving in connections to Breaking Bad that make sense and reward the superfans attention to detail.

In Season 5 “Saul Goodman” was officially birthed as Jimmy began his long and dark road towards the dirty lawyer that fans known from Breaking Bad. Also this season, Lalo Salamanca became a real force to be reckoned with and the final days of Nacho seem to loom on the horizon by the time the season ends. But it’s Kim Wexler who continues to be the breakout character of the show. As she seemed to fight Jimmys darker side at first, its Kim seems to be playing on the wrong side of the tracks most in Season 5. And we have no idea what happens to her character as the character doesn’t appear in Breaking Bad.

I cannot wait until the next and final season. Better Call Saul is already on its way to living up to the Breaking Bad mantle, but it’s looking like it’ll be surpassing it.

– Dylan Blight

1.) Ted Lasso: Season 1

Who would have guessed that a football sitcom based on a character from a couple of ads released on a streaming service less than a year old would be the best show of the year? No one and if someone says otherwise, they are a liar.

The series makes amazing growth over its ten-episode with of the seemingly stereotypical characters developing in ways you would not have expected in the first episode. Jason Sudeikis is amazing as the optimistic and enthusiastic American Football coach Ted Lasso who is convinced to travel across the world to coach a Premier League Football team. He is surrounded by a stellar supporting cast who all nail the laughs and the serious moments, with Hannah Waddingham’s Rebecca proving to be more than just a bitter divorcee, hellbent on destroying the team. The relationship between Keeley and Roy is perfectly built over the season and watching Nate the Great’s development over the season was incredibly rewarding.

I’m not sure how AFC Richmond will go on in season 2 after their cruel loss in the finale, but I’m excited to find out and I’m sure I won’t be doing it alone. Apple TV+ have their hit show that makes subscribing a must.

– Ashley Hobley