The end of 2017 is finally here, so it’s time for Noel and Kate to celebrate the highlights and lowlights of the year in TV and send it on its way. As always, the Best Of Smorgasborgy is a wide-ranging and lengthy affair, with topics ranging from Best Performance to Best Theme Song to Best WTF Moment, and everything in between. Enjoy our look back at 2017 TV, then reach out with your favorite moments.
Thank you to the lovely people who’ve guested on the podcast this year, those who’ve reached out and commented either at the site or through social media, and everyone else out there listening. It’s been a pleasure!
Performance Awards (4:31)
Production Awards (31:11)
Sequence Awards (48:47)
Emma Fraser’s Costume Awards (59:56)
Character Awards (1:04:28)
Writing Awards (1:26:13)
Music Awards (1:49:00)
Moment Awards (2:00:33)
Season and Series Awards (2:30:24)
Misc. Awards (2:52:37)
Music Featured
First break: "I Do Not Like This Man" from Curb Your Enthusiasm, featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda and F. Murray Abraham; "Let Me Your Star" from Girls, featuring Andrew Rannells; "Revenge Is Gonna Be Mine" from Once Upon a Time, featuring Colin O'Donoghue
Second break: "Put a Little Love in your Heart" from The Flash, featuring Darren Criss, Jeremy Jordan, Carlos Valdes, and John Barrowman; "More I Cannot Wish You" from The Flash, featuring Jesse L. Martin, Victor Garber, and John Barrowman; "Let's Generalize About Men" from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featuring Rachel Bloom, Donna Lynne Champlin, Gabrielle Ruiz, and Vella Lovell; "I Go To The Zoo" from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featuring Scott Michael Foster; "We'll Never Have Problems Again" from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featuring Rachel Bloom and Vincent Rodriguez III
Third break: "What's the Use of Feeling (Blue)?" from Steven Universe, featuring Patti LuPone and Deedee Magno-Hall; "Slow Dance With You" from Adventure Time, featuring Olivia Olson; "The Working Dead" from Steven Universe, featuring Kate Micucci
Fourth break: "We Built This" from black-ish, featuring Laurence Fishburne, Jenifer Lewis, Tracee Ellis Ross, Anthony Anderson, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Marsai Martin, and Miles Brown; "You're My Best Friend (And I Know I'm Not Yours)" from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featuring Pete Gardner; "The Buzzing From The Bathroom" from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featuring Michael McMillian; "Allison Road" from Psych, featuring Jimmi Simpson, James Roday, Maggie Lawson, and Dulé Hill
Fifth break: "Hold Up" from The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, featuring Tituss Burgess; "Cheater for One" from Insecure, featuring Issa Rae; "Love Is A Drug" from Empire, featuring Jussie Smollett and Terrell Carter
"The End of the Movie" from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featuring Josh Groban
The end of 2017 is right around the corner (already? And also somehow, finally!), which means it’s time for The List-ening, starting with The Televerse’s picks for the Top 20 TV Series of 2017. Noel and Kate run down their picks, 20 through 11, and have a quick chat about the year in TV, then dive in deeper with their top 10 series of the year. Which series made the list, which just missed the cut, and which are we surprised to see turning up elsewhere? All of this as more as Noel and Kate reflect on an interesting, at times challenging, and compelling year in TV.
Noel and Kate’s Top 20–11
Noel’s picks (9:08)
Kate’s picks (9:58)
General discussion (10:44)
Noel and Kate’s Top 10 (17:35)
Lady Dynamite
The Vietnam War
Sense8
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Queen Sugar
Steven Universe
The Keepers
One Mississippi
Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju
One Day at a Time
Danger and Eggs
The Good Place
Halt and Catch Fire
The Leftovers
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Music Featured: “Ring of Keys” as performed by Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne on One Mississippi; One Day at a Time Theme song
As 2017 starts to wind down, we take a moment this week to reflect on holiday episodes of yore, looking back at holiday episodes of M*A*S*H, Seinfeld, Futurama, and Veronica Mars in our latest installment of our Holiday Omnibus segment. Before that, though, we have plenty of TV to discuss, as series head into the holiday season with fall finales galore. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Jane the Virgin bowed out for 2017 with strong episodes, Bob’s Burgers celebrates the season in traditionally entertaining fashion, Outlander closes its third season and begins a new chapter in a new continent, The Exorcist heads towards its second season finale, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine gives Rosa her due and brings Gina back into the fold.
Do our Holiday Omnibus selections live up to our memories of them? Which are better left off the Christmas (and Festivus, and X-Mas) viewing schedules? And will we ever tire of Bob’s Burgers holiday episodes? All of this and more as The Televerse closes out its weekly coverage for 2017, and heads into The 2017 (Best Of) Listening.
Holiday Omnibus 3: Christmas à la M*A*S*H, Seinfeld, Futurama, and Veronica Mars (1:00:54)
Our Week in TV
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend midseason finale (10:44)
Jane the Virgin midseason finale (24:04)
Bob’s Burgers (32:45)
Outlander finale (37:35)
The Exorcist (40:54)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (47:25)
Music Featured: “The Bleaken Is Coming” from Bob’s Burgers; “The First Penis I Saw” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; “Santa Claus is Gunning You Down” from Futurama
We’re heading into the end of the calendar year, and with The 2017 List-ening looming, it’s the perfect time to revisit one of the year’s most fascinating and puzzling entries, the return of Twin Peaks. Joining Kate to break down the alternately confusing and compelling season is friend of the show Emily L. Stephens of The A.V. Club. Before we dive into the strange world of Frost and Lynch, however, there’s a very full week of TV to discuss.
First Noel and Kate look at the comedies, including the holiday returns of Psych and Superstore, the finale of Broad City, and the epic 99th episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. After a brief dip into reality to discuss the premiere of Top Chef, it’s time for the week’s genre episodes. Noel only lasted about 10 minutes into the Happy! premiere, and we chat about why. Then there’s the premiere of Agents of SHIELD, a dramatic return on Outlander, and the fall finales of Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, and Arrow. Which series are getting their silliness quotient right and which could stand to be a bit less precious? Which returns have us the most jazzed, and which show doesn’t seem to realize it’s retreading ground powerfully trod earlier this year in cinemas? Take a listen, then reach out with your thoughts on the week’s TV.
Season Spotlight: Twin Peaks Season 3 with Emily L. Stephens (1:38:16)
Our Week in Comedy and Reality
Psych: The Movie (16:11)
Broad City finale (23:51)
Superstore (27:04)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (29:17)
Top Chef: Colorado premiere (37:17)
Our Week in Genre
Happy! premiere (46:29)
Agents of SHIELD premiere (56:40)
Outlander (1:04:02)
Supergirl (1:06:27)
Legends of Tomorrow (1:16:24)
The Flash (1:23:52)
Arrow (1:28:40)
Music Featured: “Allison Road” by Gin Blossoms, as performed by the cast of Psych in Psych: The Movie; “This Must Be The Place” by Talking Heads
Despite the holiday last week and the looming holiday season ahead, it’s this week that gives us our lightest TV load in quite a while. We kick things off with our week in TV, including the first season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Drunk History’s Christmas Special, a check-in on The Rundown with Robin Thede, and fun episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Broad City, Outlander, and Marvel’s Runaways. Afterwards, we head over to the spotlight section and welcome back friend of the show Dr. Elizabeth Bridges, co-author and editor of Nazisploitation!: The Nazi Image in Low-Brow Cinema and Culture, to break down the four-part CW crossover extravaganza, Crisis on Earth-X.
Spotlight: Crisis on Earth-X with Dr. Elizabeth Bridges (54:59)
Our Week in TV
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 1 (13:19)
Drunk History Christmas Special (25:47)
The Rundown with Robin Thede (29:06)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (32:09)
Broad City (36:29)
Outlander (39:19)
Marvel’s Runaways (42:58)
Music Featured: “I Enjoy Being a Girl” by Sutton Foster and Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks; “Running Home To You” as sung by Melissa Benoist on Supergirl