The TV shows that got us through
From spacey screw-ups to presidential pranks, tiger addicts, and green babies, Chris Schulz has found the shows that made the biggest impact on us in 2020.
I May Destroy You (Neon)
Every single episode of Michaela Coel’s extraordinary series felt custom-built to make you feel the strongest feelings possible – and those feelings usually weren’t good ones. Coel’s dive into all of the issues surrounding sexual consent and assault was a difficult, deep and complex watch, leaving viewers feeling wrung out after every episode. It wasn’t always hard going, with heartfelt characters and an upbeat soundtrack. But when Coel went there, she really went there, delivering the year’s most challenging viewing experience.
Black Hands (TVNZ 1/TVNZ Ondemand)
An absolute booming year for New Zealand’s TV industry saw all kinds of excellent series survive and thrive. We churned them out, with Taskmaster NZ, One Lane Bridge, Grand Designs NZ, Golden Boy, Educators, Patrick Gower on Lockdown, andtaranaki Hard delivering unmissable Kiwi stories of mirth, mire and mayhem.
We didn’t know we needed Black Hands until it arrived, turning in a beautifully grim retelling of New Zealand’s darkest day, utilising our finest actors, writers, directors, and set builders. It left us wondering, yet again: Whodunit?
The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
It took an orphaned prodigy to make us pull those dusty chess sets out from the back of the cupboard and begin creating irreparable family rifts again. Based on a 1983 novel, The Queen’s Gambit floundered for years as amovie script, but then found its proper home on TV, spending seven episodes tweaking rise-to-the-top sports tropes with the drug-addled chess expert Beth Harman.
With the searing talent of Anya Taylor-joy on full display, and some stunningly tense scenes set entirely around a chess board, this became Netflix’s biggest hit, so it’s no wonder that chess has been on everyone’s minds lately.
Better Call Saul (Neon)
Was any show more purpose-built for a lockdown binge than Better Call Saul? The slow-burn Breaking Bad spinoff reached its pinnacle in its fifth season, which landed just as lockdowns were put in place around the world.
Suddenly there was space to watch this fine show slowly unfold in its own time. When they got to Bagman, the series’ stunning eighth episode in which Mike and Saul stagger across the desert with giant duffel bags full of cash, it was time to realise that Better Call Saul might not just be Breaking Bad’s equal – it’s probably surpassing it.
The Vow (Neon)
It took two compelling documentaries to prove that yes, NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere is the creepiest of all creeps. Now locked up for a lifetime behind bars, Seduced and The Vow took different approaches to exposing exactly what Raniere had been up to behind the scenes of his celebritybaiting self-help ceremonies.
The Vow showed what life was really like for those under Raniere’s spell, with midnight volleyball matches and secret branding sessions the norm. Watching two former believers, Mark Vicente and Bonnie Piesse, leave, then turn on their master, made The Vow the year’s most riveting documentary.
Like Friends, The Office remains one of television’s most popular shows. Reuniting its star, Steve Carell, with its creator, Greg Daniels, should have been amasterstroke. Instead, Space Force fizzled like a rocket flubbing its takeoff. Cringe jokes, sad slapstick, and a total waste of star guests John Malkovich and Jane Lynch combined to make this a joke of a show, and not in a good way. Two other space-themed comedies, Avenue 5 and Moonbase 8, also failed to achieve liftoff, but none flopped as hard and as fast as Space Force.
Industry (Neon)
This is raunchy. Don’t watch this with your parents, or your kids, nearby. But if you were looking for something to fill the massive gap left by Succession, you would have found it in Industry.
Showcasing the brutal inner workings of the London financial district at the fictional investment firm Pierpoint, Industry showcased a tense, manipulative, and messed-up world that felt far too close to The Hunger Games than it really should. It isn’t necessary to know anything about big money to enjoy Industry, but it certainly helps. This is smart, clever writing from two people who have been there, done that, and made an incredible TV show about it.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem andmadness (Netflix)
When Tiger King debuted in March, it seemed like communal television had returned. Everyone tuned into this wired, weird documentary on zookeeper Joe Exotic at the same time, making it one of Netflix’s most successful series – at least until The Queen’s Gambit.
This was a rollicking tale full of strange characters, bizarre twists and shocking turns, with the sad underground world of American tiger breeding underpinning it all. We might have moved on now, but for several strange weeks in March, Tiger King seemed like it was the only show that mattered.
The mandalorian (Disney+)
Baby Yoda! He’s back! And he’s cuter than ever! Shot before Covid-19 disrupted film sets around the world, The Mandalorian spent its second season proving the first was no fluke, upping the stakes with bigger action scenes, set pieces and more guest stars, including Rosario Dawson as the scene-stealing Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano. This series proved just how good Star Wars can be in the right hands, and is doing such good things, Disney has announced nearly a dozen spinoff shows. It’s unlikely any of them will top The Mandalorian for sheer entertainment spectacle.
Normal People (TVNZ Ondemand)
Will they? Won’t they? Hurry up and just do it already, you two. For awhile there, it seemed like the only thing anyone could talk about was whether or not two Irish teenagers would finally get it together. The very sexy TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s 2018 bestseller was intimate, touching and tender, led by two incredible performances from Daisy Edgar-jones and Paul Mescal, who drew viewers into the emotional complexities of young love.
The Last Dance (Netflix)
When we couldn’t do sport, TV documentaries were there to help. Soccer fans had All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspurs to savour on Amazon Prime Video, but basketball nuts lost their minds over this 10-part series examining Michael Jordan’s dominating presence in his late-90s final NBA season for the Bulls.
Full of extraordinary footage, new and exclusive interviews, and some very big reveals, The Last
Dance delivered a sporting fix when there were precious few to be had.
Late Night Big Breakfast (TVNZ Ondemand)
Few New Zealand presenters could get away with what Leigh Hart and Jason Hoyte got up to in Late Night Big Breakfast, their piss-take chat show that finally made a comeback after a five-year break.
Their debut episode, filmed just before the election in amid-range furniture store on Auckland’s Dominion Rd, the pair pranked ousted National leader Simon Bridges, made Judith Collins cackle with glee as she spun around in an office chair, and then, as Jacinda Ardern grinned from ear-to-ear, they ate sushi, sold a two-seat couch to a customer, and smashed a drone with a guitar. Unbelievable, and unmissable, TV all around.