Yeah only 4 of my 10 made the final list as well. TV is just tough when not narrowed down more because there is so god damn much in a single year.

Impractical Jokers is still going? That show is amazing. I hope it lasts forever. If a source of eternal life is ever invented, those four should be the first to get it :lol:

I agree with the rankings. I enjoy Stranger Things a lot, but it doesn't grab me in the same way other shows do - Breaking Bad, Dexter, (early) Game of Thrones, and Better Call Saul. With those shows I struggle to resist watching a few episodes in a row, even though I don't like doing it. Stranger Things has great cliffhangers, but even when an episode finishes on one of them I have no particular desire to jump straight into the following episode. It's good, but the enjoyment level is not quite the same as those other shows. Better Call Saul is an amazing drama, and while not as spectacular as Stranger Things, it pulls at my heartstrings a lot more. With Season 3 the show proves that it keeps getting better and better.

I'm perfectly happy with Saul taking the top spot, it was my #2, and season 3 may have been my favorite of the bunch. McKean was criminally overlooked, Banks had a solid performance, and deserved recognition for previous seasons (5-0 is still one of my favorite episodes of the franchise), but this season was owned Chuck.

Only 4 of my 10 made it as well:

1. Game of Thrones
2. Better Call Saul
3. Legion
4. The Americans
5 Mr. Robot
6. Stranger Things
7. The Punisher
8. American Gods
9. The 100
10. Halt and Catch Fire

Pretty much expected stuff like Halt and Catch Fire and the 100 not to make it, really thought Legion or Mr. Robot had a chance. Handmaids Tale was a surprise to me, just because I can't recall much talk about it around the board.

The Handmaids Tale threw me off as well, was a nice surprise.

It's interesting how collectively we all agreed upon Better Call Saul. Usually when a show is three seasons deep, the season itself has to really stand out, but the show has been so consistent that it's really difficult to call it the definitive season. As it stands, it is my favourite though and I thought the acting performances were brilliant. Everybody rightfully acknowledged Michael McKean and Johnathan Banks, but Bob Odenkirk in those scenes where he's being confronted about filming in the military base and when he's checking up on his insurance was money. The whole cast is brilliant, but I'm just amazed at how much depth they were able to get out of Saul.

This might be my favourite list of the bunch because the lists were so varied. There's plenty of shows that I want to see and a few that I only just discovered through this thread.

Here were some of my picks...

The Deuce - I burnt through this show in two evenings. I'm glad I backed mikec's judgement and threw it on my list, and if I had have watched the show entirely, it would have been #3. Simon's strength as a writer is that he finds the pulse of his characters and writes these personalities that are both entertaining and true to life. There is rarely any black or white in his shows, just moral ambiguities and watching characters develop their compass is always more enticing than it should be. Only complaint is that he ends right as it gets going, but the characters have been well and truly established.

Atypical - I was running out of picks, so I threw this on. Usually these clickbaity metally disabled shows don't appeal to me, but Jennifer Jason Leigh was attatched and the opportunity to see her in a normal role was too much to pass up. As much fun as the writers were having trying to get Sam Gardner some action, I found the rapport between Doug and Casey made the show stand out and captured a lot of human moments that are usually stifled on shows like this. If you're in the market for a quirky comedy based around autism, this is the show for you.

Ozark - I was bored one evening and was in desperate need of a new television show. Ozark happened to be premiering around that time and was receiving strong reviews so I gave it a watch. Back in the day, I used to fancy myself as an Arrested Development fan, so it was nice to see Bateman in a similar but much darker role. At times it felt like the show was reading too much from the Breaking Bad cheat sheet and the show wasn't as clever as it could have been but the performances and premise was enough to carry the show for me.

Vice Principals - I was a big fan of Eastbound and Down, so watching Danny McBride's next show was a no-brainer. Initially I wasn't feeling the show, but as it went on the characters started to grow on me more, the writing became more risque and the show took some very dark roads. Walton Goggins maybe one of my favourite actors right now and his portrayal of Lee Russell was brilliant.

Twin Peaks - This was my personal pick for #1 and was the show that had me on the edge of my seat. Twin Peaks is such a fascinating show, it was the biggest thing on television for an entire year, then the studio execs got involved, ruined the second season, only for Lynch to return and come up with one of the greatest cliffhangers in television history. Initially it seemed like all would be revealed in the Twin Peaks movies, but Fire Walk With Me provided more questions than answers. Before Lynch could release more movies, the project was done and it seemed like the fate of Twin Peaks would remain a mystery.

Then some 25-odd years later, Mark Frost and David Lynch remember a scene where Laura mentions seeing Cooper 25 years in the future and here we are. There was no other show that enthralled me more than Twin Peaks or affected me more. It's a show that defied every convention and every expectation was completely subverted and yet the show still delivered. In a year where Game of Thrones felt like it was written by fan fic writers, Twin Peaks felt original and was a real tour de force from Lynch. As amazing as the cliffhanger was in Season 2, the Season 3 ending may out-do it.

And a few shows I saw that didn't make the cut
GLOW - Completely forgot about GLOW! I would have had it at 9th, with Atypical dropping out and Ozark dropping a spot.

13 Reasons Why - Really enjoyed the vibe of the show and Hannah Baker reminded me a lot of a young Christina Ricci who was something of a childhood crush. I was hooked initially but then I started to realise the show wasn't very good and the writing was very contrived. They essentially took a short story and tried to make a 13 hour movie about it which didn't work.

Channel Zero: Season 2 - The initial season was a fun deep-cut with some great horror imagery. Unfortunately despite having an interesting premise, the No End House fell flat and suffered from some weak writing and characters. I wanted to like it for John Carroll Lynch but the show just remained mediocre through out.

Only reason I specifically pointed out McKean, was because Odenkirk and Banks got nominations for their roles in season 3. Odenkirk got the well deserved nod for lead, but as far as supporting goes, Banks definitely shouldn't have gotten the nod over McKean. Didn't have nearly as much to do in season 3, aside from moving closer to his relationship with Gus Fring. McKean and Odenkirk playing off of each other is one of the best character dynamics in TV history, and the courtroom confrontation was simply flooring.

Really happy with this. Better Call Saul season 3 was an astounding piece of work in my view. It was leaps ahead of the first two seasons to me and as good as anything else I've seen.