The Best TV Shows of 2020 So Far

The one good thing about 2020 (and there is only one good thing, by our count): We’ve all had plenty of time to sit around and watch some great TV news site.

With a viral pandemic forcing us inside for most of the calendar year, we’ve been watching even more television than usual with providers from Mediacom cable TV, and TV networks and streamers have graciously served up a bevy of new and returning shows to keep us occupied. With this year halfway done (thank goodness), we here at MARKMEETS are taking stock of the best TV shows of 2020, from perennial Emmy contenders (Better Call Saul) to stunning newcomers (I May Destroy You). We’ve got comedy, we’ve got drama, we’ve even got a little reality TV in there to cleanse your palate.

So read on to see our picks for the year’s best TV so far, and chime in with your favorites in the comments below.

Normal People

Startlingly intimate and soaringly romantic, Hulu’s beautifully delicate Irish drama told a very simple story — young lovers Connell and Marianne pass in and out of each other’s lives across several years — but told it with such raw authenticity, we felt it deep in our bones. The emotionally astute writing didn’t sugarcoat the very real obstacles Connell and Marianne faced along the way, but their chemistry was undeniable, and Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones’ boldly vulnerable lead performances perfectly captured the intoxicating power of young love.

Leading breakout Irish star Paul told us that “Travelling is part of me and what I did in my twenties”, adding “Filming in Italy with a larger crew was more fun than I ever imagined”.

As original as its creator, writer, co-director and star Michaela Coel, HBO’s British import navigates — and sometimes obliterates — the line dividing comedy and drama. One minute, the series will have us chuckling about the fact that Coel’s character Arabella considered strong winds a possible reason for her difficulty standing on a wild night out. The next, it’ll leave us horrified to realize along with her that she’d not only been roofied but raped. All told, the show is even bolder than its heroine’s hair color.

This gender-swapped reboot of the novel-turned-film-turned-TV-show soared thanks to the charm and prowess of Zoë Kravitz. As Rob, a pop culture-obsessed Brooklyn record store owner, Kravitz walked us through her character’s lifetime of heartbreak, as she hid behind a tough New York exterior. The serialized format gave us time to break down her walls, helping us empathize with Rob via her poetic top five lists and crazy-cool soundtrack. It was a near-perfect dramedy binge that not only delivered a ready-to-go playlist of fresh Shazams, but left us rooting for a flawed heroine we most definitely wanted to hang with.

It seems to defy the laws of TV physics, but AMC’s riveting Breaking Bad prequel somehow manages to get better each season. Jimmy McGill’s transformation into Saul Goodman was just the beginning, and Bob Odenkirk hit new dramatic highs as Jimmy and Mike trudged across the desert in the instant classic “Bagman.” (Plus, Tony Dalton was an absolute treat as devilishly charming criminal Lalo Salamanca.) But it was Rhea Seehorn’s dynamic work as the ever-resourceful Kim Wexler that was the highlight of Season 5 — and that has us eagerly awaiting the final episodes.

Coming off a pair of seasons that blurred together (or at least their space gray hallways did) as well as inched further away from the MCU, expectations were measured for the ABC series’ farewell run. So imagine our delight that Season 7 is downright fantastic, totally fun and, with each passing episode, an affirmation of the TV series’ place in the grander, Marvel-ous scheme of things.

The Circle

Who knew watching people chat on social media would glue us to our TVs? (Shrug emoji.) One of the year’s most addictive binges, this Netflix reality series gave us colorful characters and questionable catfish, as its participants all vied for popularity within a specially designed app. Real friendships blossomed, while faux-friends were blocked, leading to some truly WTF moments and in-person meetups. Though all the deception had us looking like an open-mouthed smiley, fan-favorites Shubham, Sammy and Joey warmed our hearts. Circle emoji, thumbs up emoji, 100 emoji… send message.

What We Do in the Shadows

We really needed some laughs this year — like, really badly — and thankfully, FX’s supremely silly vampire comedy was happy to provide. The misadventures of Nandor, Lazslo and Nadja got even wackier in Season 2, delivering a barrage of hilarious plot twists from Laszlo’s reinvention as “regular human bartender” Jackie Daytona to uber nerd Colin Robinson’s sudden surge in confidence following a promotion at work. The core ensemble is one of the best anywhere on TV, exuding a goofy charm that’s downright otherworldly.

We could easily fill this space exclusively with the Season 2 plot twists that left our jaws hanging open — but this show’s ability to consistently, convincingly surprise us is only one reason it’s so terrific. There’s also the performances from Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, who brought rich new layers to Jen and Judy’s grief this season. There’s the refreshing nonchalance with which the show handled its Judy/Michelle romance. And, perhaps most impressively, there’s the very careful balance between humor and heart: It might be a cynical show at times, but it also makes room for compassion, joy and the importance of ride-or-die friendship.

We’ve seen plenty of TV teen comedies, but Mindy Kaling’s Netflix newcomer won us over with a refreshingly real take on adolescence. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was outstanding as awkward teen Devi — her Indian American heritage was front and center, and not just treated as a quirky character trait — and Devi and her peers weren’t shy about sharing their sexed-up fantasies. Throw in big laughs and juicy love triangles (#TeamPaxton), and this promising freshman passed with flying colors.

In its first season, Showtime’s lush offshoot of John Logan’s 2014-16 monster mashup challenged us to forget everything we knew about the original series — no mean feat. But once we managed, thanks in large part to a quadruple dose of Natalie Dormer as a shapeshifting demon, we were allowed to peek through a pre-WWII lens into… a mirror being held up to modern-day America, its racial divide seen less as a wound to be healed than a weapon to be wielded.

In a year that saw American politics growing more polarized by the moment, we took refuge in FX on Hulu’s period drama… about another epoch of serious partisanship in the country’s past. We may not have agreed with most of what Phyllis Schlafly was selling — namely, that passage of the Equal Rights Amendment would bring about America’s downfall — but we were quite taken with Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of the conservative lightning rod, as well as the performances turned in by the rest of the A-list cast.

This isn’t just the Peak TV era: It’s also the Peak True-Crime TV era, inundating us with grisly docuseries and mopey prestige dramas based on real events. That’s why we were so impressed with this HBO film chronicling the real-life embezzlement scheme that unfolded in a New York school district in 2004. Though it never makes light of its characters’ crimes, it’s fun to watch in a way most true-crime projects aren’t. Plus, it boasts a deep bench of knockout performances: Hugh Jackman is especially great as superintendent Frank Tassone, a man who is both suave and sinister as he attempts to cover up his crimes.

We never would’ve guessed that a docuseries set at a community college in Texas would do such a basket toss to our hearts. Yet the enthusiastic members of the school’s cheerleading team were engrossing from Episode 1, when they began preparing for a national championship (and started suffering the many heartbreaks — as well as almost as many bodily injuries — that went along with it). In a word? Wooooooo!

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Netflix’s sweetly raunchy sex comedy proved it wasn’t just a passing fling with a superb sophomore season; its hormonal teen characters still got physical, of course, but they got emotional, too. We saw a softer side of sulky rebel Maeve and pent-up bully Adam, and Aimee’s unconventional #MeToo subplot was surprisingly touching. There were plenty of laughs, with Otis getting embarrassingly drunk at an impromptu house party, but it’s this show’s big, beating heart — centered on Otis and Maeve’s ongoing “will they/won’t they” dance — that kept us lusting for more.

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