It’s the last week of 2018, which means it’s time for our annual mega-countdown of the best and most memorable TV of the year. Noel and Kate talk through their picks for the year’s best TV performances, characters, music, writing, sequences, seasons, moments, and much more. Listen to what our picks are, then reach out with your favorites from this year, as we bid a fond farewell to the year that was, and head into 2019.
Performance Awards (2:10)
Best Performance, Lead; Best Performance, Supporting; Best Voice Acting; Best Reality Personality; Most Novel Casting; Most Underrated Ensemble; Best Cameo; Best Guest Appearance; 6th Performer Award
Music: “Wilkommen” from Younger; “Somewhere Out There” from Fresh Off the Boat; iZombie’s RENT parody (feat. Rachel Bloom)
Character Awards (18:16)
Best New Character; Best Villain; Best Parents; Best Kids; Best On-Screen Death; Character We Want More Of; Actor We Want More Of
Music: “Kiss From a Rose” from Wrecked; “Bird in a Gilded Cage” from Trial & Error: Lady Killer; “I Want it That Way” from Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Production Awards (34:06)
Notable Direction, Comedy; Notable Direction, Drama; Most Memorable Long-Take; Best Cinematography; Best Costuming; Best Set Design; Best Hair; Best Makeup; Best Editing; Most Inventive Animation
Music: “Jesus Christ Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert; “This One’s For You” from the Tony Awards; “Home” from Pose
Music Awards (50:01)
Best/Catchiest New Theme Song; Best Score; Best Soundtrack; Best Original Song; Best Deployment of a Pre-Existing Song; Best Musical Moment
Music: “Come Away With Me” from Adventure Time; “The Fearful Pirate Dewey Duck” from DuckTales; “Shame” from Big Mouth
Writing Awards (58:09)
Writing for a Comedy Series; Writing for a Drama Series; Most Quotable Series; Most Memorable Line; Best Episode Title; Best Crafting of a Season
Music: “I Want Your Cray Cray” from Jessica Jones; “In” from Riverdale’s Carrie: The Musical episode; Jennifer and Rich’s song from Claws’ “Scream”
Sequence Awards (1:04:57)
Best Stunts; Best Action Setpiece; Best Standalone Fight Sequence; Best Dream Sequence; Best Dance Sequence; Best (New) Credit Sequence; Best Montage
Music: “Mama Mia” from The Bold Type; “Omar Sharif” as performed at the Tony Awards; “Nobody’s Above the Law” from The Good Fight
Season and Series Awards (1:15:27)
Most Spectacular Burn-out; Most Spectacular Slow Build; Best Finale Payoff; Most Underappreciated Finale; 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 Anne Veal Award); The Ringer Award; Srsly Guys, Why Aren’t You Watching…; Srsly, Why Aren’t We Watching…; Gone but Not Forgotten
Music: “The Miracle of Birth”, “My Sperm is Healthy”, and “Face Your Fears (Reprise)” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Moment Awards (1:35:38)
Trippiest Scene; Best WTF Moment; Biggest Gut-punch; Dusty, Dusty, Him Sad Award; Biggest F*ck Yeah Moment; Best Twist/Realization (non-finale); Most Traumatizing Moment; Schadenfreude Award; Most Striking Visual; Best OTT Sex/Nudity; Best Shipping; Most Chemistry; Oxygen Award, Comedy; Oxygen Award, Drama; Most Ridiculous Moment; Best Fan Interaction; The La-la-la Award (No Spoilers!); The Head Canon Award
Music: “G-G-G-Ghost”, “That Distant Shore”, and “Let’s Only Think About Love” from Steven Universe
Miscellaneous Awards (1:59:20)
Best Surprise; Worst Disappointment; Best Discovery; Spotlight of Shame; Breakthrough Performance; Breakthrough Series; It Shoulda Worked…; It Shouldn’t’ve Worked.; The It’s Not Me, It’s You Award; Anchor Award; Life Vest Award; Show We Want To See Make the Leap