Season 1 Episode 10 of The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Plain and simple: there’s a lot of TV to watch. With the year coming to an end, we’ve rounded up our favorite series to be sure you didn’t miss out on any of the laughs, surprises or shocks from the silver screen. From dark comedies to grisly dramas, here are our favorite shows of the year.
The Issa Rae-helmed series is in its final season on HBO and we are going to sorely miss it, ok??? Finding yourself and discovering your purpose while navigating friendship, love and family has never had such charm, thoughtfulness and humor.
Penn Badgely as a serial killer is an undeniable perfect mix to keep the fans coming. With Season 3, Joe Goldberg and Love Quinn find their endeavors ever more complicated by heading to the suburbs.
As Netflix’s most-watched series ever, including this enticing Korean drama was a no-brainer. The series finds 456 contestants in deep financial debt competing against one another in childhood games— a simple concept that horrifyingly executes the losers.
A perfect summer watch, this HBO comedy-drama unveils the exploits of the wealthy guests who come to visit the luxurious Hawaiian resort. Tensions rise between guests, partners and friends and one person’s life comes to an untimely, sudden end.
The greatest feel-good show in recent years returns for a second season, this time diving beyond Ted’s enduring optimism and into everyone’s greater struggles all thanks to the welcoming of a new team therapist.
What happens when you unknowingly, drunkenly hook up with a world-famous actor? Rose Matafeo’s comedy finds out through the perspective of a millennial Londoner just trying to stay afloat.
The British comedy-drama’s third season picks back up to find Otis and Maeve still at odds, Jean navigating her pregnancy and Eric in his relationship with Adam. All the while, the horny teens at Moordale come face to face with their biggest problem yet: new headmaster Hope Haddon.
The 10-episode Season 2 of the Chicago-based sitcom is back with more laughs and antics from Simon, K and the rest of the RTO crew. Keep your eye out for the homage to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and special guest stars, like Chance the Rapper, Dreezy and Deon Cole.
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Mindy Kaling is back with another stellar comedy. Set at a prestigious New England university, the series tackles sexism, identity, relationships and class without sacrificing the humor and messiness of four young women taking on their first year of college.
The second season of Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider’s comedy will have you laughing out loud for all of it’s blink-and-you’ll-miss insider jokes about NYC, media and fame. Still, anyone who can appreciate a loving, but strange family dynamic can appreciate the success and stumbles of the Dubek family.
Though about middle schoolers, the Netflix coming-of-age animated series is still the raunchiest show on television. Hormones run amuck, Nick, Andrew and friends are still just trying to get through junior high and puberty, only the journey becomes more and more complicated with the pain of falling in love and experiencing jealousy.
Season 3 finds the Roy family and Waystar RoyCo reeling from Kendall’s explosive maneuver at the end of last season. As usual, it’s a mess of power and love across nine episodes that lead up to a season finale that is perhaps the best episode of television of the year.
FX’s comedy from Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi follows the hijinks of four Indigenous Oklahaoma teens who commit and fight crime all in the effort to make it to California. The show is the first series to ever be filmed entirely in the state and features an almost entirely Indigenous North American cast and production team.
From Leigh Davenport, the excellent Starz series centers on four best friends in Harlem who strive for world domination all with the love and support of one another.
Bring together Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, and you’ve got one of the most beloved comedy mysteries of the year. On Hulu, catch the trio of true crime obsessives set out to solve a murder when one of their neighbors is killed.
The BAFTA-winning show is a near perfect example of dark comedy. While the first season saw Aine working to stabilize her life after a stint in a mental rehabilitation center, the new batch of episodes sees her navigate a new romantic relationship with the continued support of sister Shona.
This twisted comedy is getting ready for its final season, so you’ll definitely want to catch up. Season 4 finds Dory locked up by her stalker, Chip. While she tries to escape from his aunt’s basement, Drew, Portia and Elliott trying to carry on with post-trial life.
Disney Plus took the cake for the buzziest show of early 2021 with the debut of their Marvel series. A combination of the MCU and classic television, the show unfurls around Wanda and Vision and their realization that everything is not as it seems.
Freeform (formerly ABC Family) is at its best when it goes all in on its teen dramas. Set over three summers in the ‘90s, the show bounces back and forth between the lives of Kate, a popular girl who goes missing, and Jeanette, an awkward teen who takes over Kate’s life upon her disappearance. Is Jeanette at fault?
The FX series final season is a true grand finale. Our favorite characters find success, fame and death and, through it all, have the continued support of one another. There’s a reason Michaela Jaé Rodriguez’s performance keeps getting nominated. Might we also intrigue you with the fact that one of the last episodes has a mechanically blooming wedding gown?
Math tells us a negative times a negative equals a positive, which is perhaps why the comedic partnership with standup legend Deborah Vance and entitled, young outcast Ava works so well. Watch as the duo butt heads, learn about themselves and take on Las Vegas in one of HBO’s best series to debut this year.
What a privilege to have Kate Winslet star in a television show. As the titular detective Mare, she works to solve a brutal murder in their small Pennsylvania town without her own life falling apart. You won't see this ending coming.
Photography by: Courtesy HBO Max
