2017 was a phenomenal year for television. From the sharp socio-political comedy of Saturday Night Live, to the dark fantasy of Stranger Things, small screen had never been so interesting.
And it’s not just about big budget spectacles like Game of Thrones or Outlander, but also about gritty content like The Handmaid’s Tale or Twin peaks. Let’s have a look at the best things on TV right now.
David Lynch and Mark Frost revived the show which had owned the ‘90s - and it is now owning 2017 and with obvious reasons. The big bad watch of mystery television has come back with a new edition — and you must watch it, especially if you watched the ‘90s show. The twisted thriller about an FBI Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), who travels to the small logging town of Twin Peaks to solve the murder of high schooler Laura Palmer, owned the '90s and has acquired cult status.
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The 18-hour miniseries is still surprising in its unpredictability and sense of imagination, and has no hangover of its earlier success, and is beyond doubt the perfect binge watch content.
Probably the only animated show about the existential crisis - and that too on an allegorical level, BoJack just concluded its fourth run, and is still as stellar as it was four years ago. Revolving around the life of a humanoid horse, BoJack Horseman, who wants to make a comeback to showbiz, but is held by the obvious trifecta of addiction, self-loathing and narcissism.
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The Netflix show starring Will Arnett as BoJack is one of the funniest on TV, boldly going to places where no TV series will take you. The comedy is dark and the writing is sharp and you will regret 2017 if you didn’t meet BoJack.
Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna have created a musical comedy that is so real about women - that it is almost unsettling. The CW series based on a woman and her obsession with her ex-started out slow but evolved into a major psychological comedy. It’s dark, and yet it will draw you in with what it is saying because it is just so true. Rebecca Bunch (Bloom), much like BoJack Horseman, is a narcissist and yet does not have faith in her self-worth. And her feelings for her ex-do not help her situation.
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In 2017, the series grew even murkier, as Rebecca hits a new low in her journey towards her self-esteem. And Bloom’s performance as the on-the-edge Bloom is somehow only getting better.
The Brit-American time-travel drama is all kinds of excellent. A married combat nurse from 1945 is transported to the 1700s and thrown into the middle of a famous Scottish rebellion. She falls in love with a rebel Highlander, and now must choose between two timelines — and if that isn’t the most exciting thing on TV, then nothing would be.
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Based on the novel by Diana Gabaldon, the show just concluded its brilliant third season and has received rave reviews. The show has stunned the viewers with its consistency and is the only time travel drama on TV. Catch up before the next season hits!
The only non-fiction show on this list is also the show which has been around for decades and is still going strong in its 43rd season. The live television sketch show has revived itself into the most crackling, socio-political watch, and has a stellar cast. From Emmy-winning Kate McKinnon to Keenan Thompson, SNL can run on the steam of its regular cast, and doesn’t really need celebrity guests - but has them anyways.
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From Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump to McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton, SNL has reached heights in late night television which other shows can only dream of. It’s hard to keep a show fresh when it has been around for almost 50 years, but SNL somehow finds a way.
Based on the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, the series revolves around a fantastical totalitarian society in which women are regarded as the property of the government, and are forced into sexually serving men. The series had a very impressive run, considering how gritty the content is.
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It stars Mad Men star Elizabeth Moss as a Handmaid named Offred, who looks to be reunited with her daughter and acquired widespread acclaim for her performance in the show. The show won three Golden Globe nominations this year and is absolutely unmissable.
One of the first shows to have been acquired by Netflix stars Cillian Murphy as the head of a mafia family in Birmingham. The show just concluded its fourth season, and the next season won’t be here till 2019. So, you have more than a year to catch up on it. One of the grittiest and most intense costume thrillers on television, the show is only getting better with every passing season.
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Season 4 of Peaky Blinders was BBC Two’s highest-rated drama this year and had an average of 3.3M viewers. “It’s an international hit and I’m super proud of that, and obviously it all comes down to Steve Knight’s writing which is just astonishing….You can tell the range of fans. In the UK, under 30s are way up with more viewers than any of the previous seasons,” said Caryn Mandabach, the executive producer of the show.
The second season of the mystery show was one of the most-watched television comebacks of the year and was immensely well-received. The Netflix show, set in 80s Indiana, intrigued its viewers with its excellent supernatural projections. From a psycho-kinetically charged protagonist to alternate dimensions, Stranger Things had it all. And the show got bigger with its second season, as the most sinister of the beasts were unveiled.
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Stranger Things is also a pop culture goldmine. From Star Wars to Poltergeist, the show has made an incredible use of all things 80s. The pace of the show was also applauded by critics and audiences. Season 2 take place in the Fall of 1984 and gets even darker than the first. The show also brought back ‘90s heartthrob Winona Ryder and is the best binge watch thriller.
Much like David Fincher’s cult movie Zodiac, his Netflix series Mindhunter showed us how the story of an extensive investigation along with the establishment of minute details can change a show’s perspective. FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench attempt to understand and catch serial killers by studying their psyches and pasts. Along the way, the agents champion the technique of serial-killer profiling - a system that is used by experts to this day. The crime drama has been immensely well-received.
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Written and created by Noah Hawley the third season of the celebrated crime drama with a heavy Stanley Kubrick-influence has put viewers under its spell. The new season of the Coen brothers-derived anthology Fargo is taking television viewing where it has never been before. The black comedy and the almost-documentary style of filming obviously helps the show. The third season is one of the rarest small screen wonders to have scored a 97% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and you need to check it out ASAP.
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