2019 is winding down, so it’s time for the Televerse’s annual Smorgasborgy, our massive Best of the Year roundup of the highlights, lowlights, and most memorable moments of the year’s TV. Noel and Kate go through their picks for each of the categories below, as well as a few digressions along the way. Take a listen, then reach out with your picks!
Spoiler Warning: Noel and Kate have a wide-ranging, spoiler-filled discussion about the year’s TV, and that means spoilers for many of the biggest shows of the year, including Game of Thrones, Watchmen, Steven Universe, Veronica Mars, and more. If you're worried about being spoiled for these or any other series from this year, this may not be the episode for you.
Performance Awards (3:13)
Best Performance, Lead; Best Performance, Supporting; Best Voice Acting; Best Reality Personality; Most Novel Casting; Best Ensemble; Most Underrated Ensemble; Best Cameo; Best Guest Appearance; 6th Man Award
Character Awards (10:00)
Best New Character; Best Villain; Best/Worst Parents; Best Kids; Best/Worst On-Screen Deaths; Badass Award; Character/Actor We Want More Of
Writing Awards (17:19)
Best Writing for a Comedy; Best Writing for a Drama; Best Monologue; Best Writing for a Single Episode; Best Episode Title; Best Crafting of a Season
Production Awards (22:59)
Notable Direction; Most Memorable Long-Take; Best Cinematography; Best Costuming; Best Set Design; Best Hair/Makeup; Best Editing; Most Inventive Animation
Music Awards (30:47)
Best/Catchiest New Theme Song; Best Score/Soundtrack; Best Original Song; Best Deployment of a Pre-existing Song; Best Musical Moment
Sequence Awards (37:19)
Best Stunts; Best Action Setpiece; Best Standalone Fight Scene; Best Dream Sequence; Best Dance Sequence; Best New Credit Sequence; Best Montage
Season Awards (43:58)
Most Spectacular Burn-out; Most Spectacular Slow-Build/Season-long Mystery; Best Finale Payoff; Most Underappreciated Finale/Finale Payoff
Series Awards (50:31)
Best New Comedy (non-Top 20); Best New Drama (non-Top 20); Most Improved Series; Biggest Season-to-Season Drop; Most Underrated Series; Most Overrated Series; The Homework Award; The Ringer Award; Srsly Guys, Why Aren’t You Watching…; Srsly Guys, Why Aren’t *We* Watching…; Gone but Not Forgotten
Moment Awards (1:02:36)
Biggest F*ck Yeah Moment; Best Twist/Realization (non-finale); Most Traumatizing Moment; Schadenfreude Award; Most Striking Visual; Best Extraneous Sex/Nudity; Best ‘Shipping; Most/Least Chemistry; Oxygen Award (Comedy/Drama); Most Ridiculous Moment; The La-la-la Award (No Spoilers!); The Head Canon Award (Totally didn’t happen)
Misc. Awards (1:16:51)
Best Surprise; Worst Disappointment; Best Discovery; Spotlight of Shame; Breakthrough Performance; Breakthrough Series; It’s Not Me, It’s You Award; Anchor Award; Life Vest Award; Show We Want to see Make the Leap; It Shoulda Worked…; It Shouldn’t’ve Worked!
Music Featured: “Other Friends” and “Let Us Adore You [Reprise]” from Steven Universe: The Movie; “Change Your Mind” from Steven Universe; “The Darkness” and “Anti-Depressants are So Not a Big Deal” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; “Holiday Party (I Did a Little Cocaine Tonight)” from Documentary Now!’s “Original Cast Album: Co-Op”; “Della’s Moon Lullaby” from DuckTales; “Love’s in Need of Love Today” performed by the cast of Pose; “I’m Still Here” performed by Patti LuPone on Pose
The end of the year is upon us, and that of course means it’s time for the start of the 2019 List-ening. The last two episodes of each year are our opportunity to highlight our favorite moments, episodes, and much more of 2019, and we kick things off as always with our Top 20 TV Series of the year. Noel and Kate have some overlap, but this year features our most divergent lists yet. Take a listen, then reach out with your picks for the best TV series of 2019.
Noel’s Top 20–16 (13:33)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
What We Do in the Shadows
The Last O.G.
The Promised Neverland
Queen Sugar
Kate’s Top 20–16 (15:25)
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Last O.G.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Speechless
Tie: Lorena, Surviving R. Kelly, and Leaving Neverland
Noel’s Top 15–11 (20:57)
I’m Sorry
Oh Maidens in Your Savage Season
Leaving Neverland
A Black Lady Sketch Show
Stars Aligned
Kate’s Top 15–11 (22:44)
The Good Place
One Day at a Time
Superstore
Barry
Pose
Noel and Kate’s Top 10–6 (26:23)
Evil
Jane the Virgin
The Good Fight
Veep
Superstore
Queen Sugar
Watchmen
Steven Universe
Legend of Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Noel and Kate’s Top 5–1 (56:08)
Better Things
Schitt’s Creek
Fleabag
Russian Doll
Given
Watchmen
Unbelievable
Chernobyl
Music Featured: “Pudsy’s Christmas” by Jonathan Coulton, featured on Evil
Technical difficulties plagued the podcast this week, but with TV this interesting, we had to power through. The audio quality of this episode is not what we’d like, but we’re working to resolve the issue for next week. Thank you for your patience.
This week on the podcast, we kick things off with a very full week in TV. First up is the premiere of Steven Universe Future, then Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and catch-ups with His Dark Materials, Emergence, and Stumptown. Then we get in the tunnel with Watchmen, before heading to The CW for Black Lightning and the first three parts of the Arrowverse mega-crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths (Supergirl, Batwoman, and The Flash). Afterward, it’s time for the spotlight section and this week, we slow things down with the delightfully tranquil second season of Making It. Take a listen, then reach out with your thoughts on the week’s TV, as well as your picks for your favorite TV series and moments of 2019.
Season Spotlight: Making It Season 2 (1:15:42)
Our Week in TV
Steven Universe Future premiere (7:03)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (14:17)
His Dark Materials (17:26)
Emergence (21:36)
Stumptown (28:05)
Watchmen (36:42)
Black Lightning (46:40)
Crisis on Infinite Earths (52:54)
Supergirl
Batwoman
The Flash
Music Featured: “Tunnel of Love” by Doris Day
Thanksgiving has come and gone, which means the holiday baking season has officially begun. What better way to celebrate than with a new, holiday-themed season of one of the Televerse competitive baking favs, Sugar Rush? First, however, Noel and Kate kick things off with their week in TV, including a Who Wants to be a Millionaire?-themed Fresh Off the Boat, a catch-up with The Mandalorian, a thin, but fun Black Lightning, varying amounts of Crisis prep on Batwoman, Supergirl, The Flash, and Arrow, and a twist-filled Watchmen. Then we head over to the spotlight section and dive in with the aforementioned Sugar Rush Christmas. Take a listen, then reach out with your thoughts!
Season Spotlight: Sugar Rush Christmas (1:15:45)
Our Week in TV
Fresh Off the Boat (7:24)
The Mandalorian (14:30)
Black Lightning (31:10)
Batwoman (39:08)
Supergirl (43:58)
The Flash (47:38)
Arrow (51:16)
Watchmen (1:01:18)
Music Featured: “Life on Mars” by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross