Sean’s Favorite TV of 2017

I like TV. I watch quite a bit of it and always have. Here’s a few of the things I really liked this year:

  1. Legion: I’m a comic book and sci fi nerd and I also love things that are willing to embrace weirdness. Legion is all of these things. Based on a character from the X-Men comics and with an oddball retro vibe to it Legion was one of the more creatively shot and edited TV shows I’ve ever seen.
  2. Star Trek: Discovery: I’m a Star Trek nerd. I grew up on The Next Generation and the original crew’s six movies (all of which are the best, screw that “only the even ones are good” nonsense, I will fight you). The new movies have been alternately okay and awful. Discovery is imperfect but it still has the DNA of what made me love the old shows and I really enjoy watching it. Also, it features Harry Mudd, one of my favorite Original Series antagonists, and the Klingons. The new Klingon makeup is pretty fantastic too. Yeah, they look different and more monstrous, but they also look damn cool. Plus they’re not all wearing the same outfit.
  3. The Orville: This fall I got not one but two new Star Trek shows. The Orville is basically Seth McFarlane filtering a workplace comedy through Star Trek: The Next Generation. While Discovery is very different from other Star Trek series from a storytelling standpoint, The Orville is pretty much episodes of Star Trek with a bit more of a humorous twist. I was a little hesitant about the show at first. It leaned a bit heavy on the juvenile humor, but as this first season has progressed it has started finding a better rhythm and balance to the more serious philosophical Star Trek-like plots and the occasional goofy humor.
  4. GLOW: Love the quirky 80s style and the characters are pretty fun, too. I’m really looking forward to more of this.
  5. A Series of Unfortunate Events: This was a fun series I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did. Haven’t read the books or seen the movie, so I went it pretty fresh. It was a lot of fun and Neil Patrick Harris is always wonderful.
  6. Santa Clarita Diet: I’ve been bored with zombies for awhile, but some of the more offbeat stuff like this is fun. Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant play off of each other well.
  7. The Handmaid’s Tale: I mean, we’re what? One more 1:00AM chicken-scratch handwriting Senate bill from just living this it seems like. Beautifully made show. Looking forward to more.
  8. Crisis on Earth X: Not a show but a crossover between Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. Punch Nazis.
  9. Marvel’s Runaways:  It’s not progressing like the comics, which has made it a bit more engaging and the actors are really pulling me into the characters. Also: pet Velociraptor.
  10. Future Man: I love time travel. I haven’t finished it yet but it’s managing to be very very funny and exciting. Plus, there is the wonderful Keith David and the sadly departed Glenne Headly in it.

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