Tuesday, December 04, 2018

Dissecting "The Best TV Shows of 2018"

I've fully watched just one show among the eleven named today by the New York Times as "The Best TV Shows of 2018," : HBO's moody "Sharper Objects."

Presented in eight one-hour programs first aired on Sunday evenings, "Sharper Objects" engaged my interest through odd behavior, petty humanity, Southern Gothic drama, and tantalizingly half-explained scenes. Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson exquisitely inhabited the dysfunctional mother-and-daughter lead roles. 

I liked this pretty psycho-drama, although Hubby was bored by "Sharper Objects," in contrast to, say, Sunday Night Football or Sportscenter. I suppose he doesn't classify watching crazy womenfolk as pleasurable...

Of the other "Best Shows," I couldn't warm-up to the highly acclaimed "Barry."  Much as I admire SNL-alum Bill Hader, who is both lead actor and writer, the conflicted plight of a hired killer isn't hilarious to me. No matter how clever. Just not funny.

Family tells me that "The Americans" on FX is pretty great. Which means it caught and kept their attention for an hour. The show is "... a period drama about the complex marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington D.C. during the Reagan administration" per FX.

Because we don't have enough of that in our daily news headlines? Television at night is an escape in our home from headlines, not time to delve more deeply into politics and government policies. It's a prelude to sleep, rather than antidote.

What do we regularly watch?  Baseball in season. "Saturday Night Live," still, because we long for a good laugh, especially about politics. 


I rarely miss a "Top Chef" episode. Season 16 premieres on December 6th, this Thursday, on Bravo!! In Kentucky, of all places. Hard to conjure foodie chefs creating edgy Southern-food dishes.  (Photo right of judges Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio.)

Our secret vice? "Hawaii Life" on HGTV, an hour weekly of house-hunting in Hawaii, because we fantasize about escaping it all and fleeing to the big Island for a life of savoring fresh pineapple for daily breakfast, and sipping mai tais each evening amid dazzling tropical sunsets.

I wonder... do they even watch television in Hawaii? Have Hawaiian residents heard of any of these programs?  

If not, Hawaii, here we come.