›

Forum Rules

What happened to the forum for...?

TV Shows that surprised you in 2016

DaveyMacDaveyMac Tokyo
in Other TV
What shows surprised you this year?

For me it was Netflix's The Get Down. This was a show that I was not looking forward to. Even though I love hip-hop, I'm not a fan of Baz Luhrmann. Plus, when it came out nobody was talking about it so I gave it a pass. But, a few friends of mine and critics I like started raving about it, so I finally gave it a shot. 

I wasn't really digging the pilot, but then the characters arrive at the get down with Grand Master Flash at the helm and at that moment I was hooked. It's got a great cast, cool music, and a ton of heart. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it sings (pardon the pun). It's got such an infectious energy about it. It's also interesting in the way they try to blend grainy, gritty docu footage of The Bronx in 1977 with crisp colorful vibrant scenes, and kung fu style. It's quite unlike anything else I saw this year.

Also to those who are not fans of Baz Luhrmann, he only directed the pilot. Ed Bianchi of Deadwood, The Wire, and Boardwalk Empire fame directed a bunch of the other episodes.

It's only got 6 episodes so far, but the second half of the season are supposed to come out in 2017.
Travispavlovsbell

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • iMatty94iMatty94
    Izombie what an excellent and fun show :) with a very nice twist on the zombie genre with some cool cop and detective stuff
    pavlovsbell
  • WonderedObjectWonderedObject SAN Francisco, CA
    The People vs OJ. Blown away by the performances and the fact that I already knew what was going to happen. Also was coming off what I thought was a terrible Murphy related AHS season. Excited to see what they do with the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

    Stranger things. Mainly because it lived up to the hype. Think I was about 3 weeks late and it was all anyone was talking about. It was actually kind of annoying and surprised I wasn't spoiled by anything. Yet it delivered and was one of my favorites of the year.

    A surprise disappointment for me was Mr Robot season 2 and whatever half of the season the walking dead was in the spring. Won't beat on a dead horse any more though.

    More surprise hits than duds. If there was anything good that came from 2016 it was television.
    DummyTravisElisapavlovsbell
  • DeeDee Adelaide
    Stranger Things - came out of nowhere with no fanfare, became a word of mouth phenomenon. And it was amazing.
    DummyMichelleTravisElisaTyler_Durden
  • TravisTravis CA
    edited December 2016
    Hmmm, there were a lot of great shows that I expected to be great (like Westworld, the Good Place, 11/22/63, and OJ, and I had been clued in a bit on Atlanta, Stranger Things, and Better Things for example), but there were some that caught me off guard. A couple that come to mind:

    Derek - I actually turned this on initially a little begrudgingly. Random Netflix show with Ricky Gervais who I'm typically not really into, but he was absolutely amazing in this show. It's really interesting, it has a really smart balance between being incredibly charming and fun while delivering some pretty heavy "feelings punches." I didn't even really want to watch it, but I ended up really enjoying it a great deal.

    Bates Motel - After the previous season I had been teetering on the notion of cutting this show loose, but it came back in a big way this year. Great season. Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga really deserve more attention for their amazing performances.

    Difficult People - I may have actually stumbled onto this in late 2015 as opposed to 2016, but I'm not sure. I went into it thinking "Amy Poehler has a hand in this so I should at least check it out" but I was really, really pleasantly surprised. This is actually the funniest show I've found, probably since Parks and Rec (and there have been some pretty decent other contenders). Look, I'm not saying it's even in the ballpark of Parks, but I laugh my ass off with this show.

    Lovesick - Another random Netflix one from England that my wife checked out and told me to have a go at and I got totally hooked. Funny, charming, an actually pretty engaging "will they, won't they?" Definitely worth a watch for a silly but sincere relationship comedy.

    Less of a surprise, but as much as I knew I was more or less going to enjoy it I was surprised at how much I liked the Grinder and how disappointed I was when it was cancelled. That was a really fun show. Particularly when Olyphant did his stint playing himself.

    on the downside, WTF Colony? I really wanted that show to be good but it couldn't crack the rotation. Maybe it got better, but after 4 or 5 of them I got tired of waiting. I have been fooled before by the likes of Flash Forward and The Event. Also, I really hoped that Vinyl would be better than it ended up being. I didn't dislike it, but it certainly wasn't great. Also on HBO, granted I only watched two episodes before bailing but I was so excited about Vice Principles and I just hated the first two that I watched. What a pointless, disappointing grind that ended up being.
    DaveyMac
  • TravisTravis CA
    DaveyMac said:

    What shows surprised you this year?


    For me it was Netflix's The Get Down. This was a show that I was not looking forward to. Even though I love hip-hop, I'm not a fan of Baz Luhrmann. Plus, when it came out nobody was talking about it so I gave it a pass. But, a few friends of mine and critics I like started raving about it, so I finally gave it a shot. 

    I wasn't really digging the pilot, but then the characters arrive at the get down with Grand Master Flash at the helm and at that moment I was hooked. It's got a great cast, cool music, and a ton of heart. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it sings (pardon the pun). It's got such an infectious energy about it. It's also interesting in the way they try to blend grainy, gritty docu footage of The Bronx in 1977 with crisp colorful vibrant scenes, and kung fu style. It's quite unlike anything else I saw this year.

    Also to those who are not fans of Baz Luhrmann, he only directed the pilot. Ed Bianchi of Deadwood, The Wire, and Boardwalk Empire fame directed a bunch of the other episodes.

    It's only got 6 episodes so far, but the second half of the season are supposed to come out in 2017.
    I really want to check that one out. Whenever I see it mentioned it's with glowing praise. Sounds awesome.
    DaveyMac
  • bizmarkiefaderbizmarkiefader San Francisco
    edited December 2016
     I was surprised how good Luke Cage was. The soundtrack alone makes that show worth watching.
    TravisFrakkin T
  • MichelleMichelle California
    edited December 2016
    Dee said:

    Stranger Things - came out of nowhere with no fanfare, became a word of mouth phenomenon. And it was amazing.

    Cosign. 

    Another is "This is Us".  I thought it was going to be just another cookie-cutter network drama, bound to be cancelled by the end of the season, but halfway through the pilot episode I knew I was watching something special.  And judging by the ratings and viewer feedback, almost everyone else on the planet did, too.  It's just so real, raw, emotional, and so relatable in many different ways.  Highly, highly recommended.


    DeeOldGriswoldTravisTaraC73phoenyx1023SheIsGeekyElisaelgat0
  • DeeDee Adelaide
    edited December 2016
    Michelle said:

    Dee said:

    Stranger Things - came out of nowhere with no fanfare, became a word of mouth phenomenon. And it was amazing.

    Cosign. 

    Another is "This is Us".  I thought it was going to be just another cookie-cutter network drama, bound to be cancelled by the end of the season, but halfway through the pillot episode I knew I was watching something special.  And judging by the ratings and viewer feedback, almost everyone else on the planet did, too.  It's just so real, raw, emotional, and so relatable in many different ways.  Highly, highly recommended.


    Yes! My daughter and I are constantly surprised by how much we love This Is Us - we don't normally have any interest in those Parenthood/Brothers and Sisters kind of things. The only reason we watched it at all was because Lily loves Milo Ventimiglia, and we both expected it to be a bit crap.

    OldGriswoldMichelleTravisElisa
  • MrXMrX CO
    Happy Valley season 2. It's hard for a cop show with a flawed protaganist to make an impression in today's tv landscape. And season 1 was really good, but it was hard to think they could keep it going.

    But goddamn Sarah Lancashire acts the hell out of that flawed protaganist, and I thought was even better this season.Mr. Mosley did well with another tropey character as the flawed "villian" of the season. I binged all the episodes in one weekend, which is saying a lot for such a gloomy show.
    DeeTravisElisapavlovsbell
  • WintersComingAfterFallWintersComingAfterFall New Haven, CT
    Been on izombie bandwagon from day 1. Way underrated show that is just a fun watch that can always be enjoyed. Good mix of procedural and long form storytelling. I love CWs comicbook shows and izombie is imo the best of them.
    TravispavlovsbelliMatty94
  • TravisTravis CA
    @WintersComingAfterFall Nice! Glad to see iZombie get some love. That show is super fun.
  • mileswarrinmileswarrin
    Atlanta - I'm not a big fan of Donald Glover and his archetype in the roles I've seen from him.  Honestly even in Atlanta, his character is probably on the low end of who I like.  I did not know what to expect from it.  I've seen a couple of commercials on it but it did not grab me.  But on ESPN TrueHoop podcast I was hearing the panel continue to speak on it a lot.  I think after them speaking about episode eight I decided to go in and I loved it.
    phoenyx1023
  • DreamRycherDreamRycher Newark, DE
    High Maintenance on HBO. Simple premise of a guy who delivers marijuana on his bicycle in NYC and his interactions with his clients and what's going on in their lives. Watched the first episode and thought it was pretty good. Found out it was based on a web series and that HBO had all of those episodes availabe on HBOGO. I ended up tearing through them pretty quick and it set up a lot of back story that the new series continued throughout the season. I had never heard of this show or it's main actor before, but I found myself looking forward to this show every week.
    phoenyx1023Elisapavlovsbell
  • Vasilnate1Vasilnate1 Salem, MA
    edited December 2016
    River on Netflix(BBC) with Stellan Skarsgard is a very solid show with good writing, about a detective in London who's partner died and now he sees manifestations of her while looking for her killer. Also staring Owen Teale(Alister Thorne from GOT). I guess technically it realeased in England late 2015, but I didn't watch it till this year ;)
    Elisajazzminawa
  • ceburaskaceburaska London, England, United Kingdom, European Union (but not for long)
    The Dirk Gently on Netflix. Expected it to be a hideously americanised version of beloved Douglas Adams, but I rather enjoyed it. And in a world full of implausibly tough female protagonists it has possibly my favourite ever in the utterly homicidal Bart. Her last scene was a delight.
    Hoping, assuming, there will be a S2.
    Probably too whimsical and Dr Who like for a Bald Move podcast.
  • pavlovsbellpavlovsbell Brooklyn, NY
    edited December 2016
    The People v. O.J.: I had dismissed this before it premiered. I'm not a fan of Ryan Murphy, nor was I interested in the OJ trial. Boy, was I wrong.

    Half-hour shows: Atlanta, Fleabag, Insecure, High Maintenance, Search Party, The Girlfriend Experience, and Better Things were shows that came out nowhere for me and were each wonderful jewels of storytelling.

    The Good Place: Despite its pedigree, I didn't think much of it from either the trailers and the first couple of episodes, but a few episodes later, I was captivated by its cast, charm, and exploration of morality and ethics. I don't know if it is going to be a great show, but it's a pretty good one so far.

    Game of Thrones: I was so disappointed by S5 that I didn't bother to watch any trailers until right before it premiered. I just wasn't excited for S6. After the first few episodes, I was sucked back in, and I was excited to watch the show for the first time since S4. There is still some terrible writing, but the show does spectacle really well.

    Mr Robot: Even though I didn't love S1 as much as most did, I was surprised by how much I disliked S2.
    TravisDaveyMacElisa
  • DaveyMacDaveyMac Tokyo
    Man there's so many shows on here that I haven't seen and would like to catch up on. Thanks for the comments everyone. 

    Also, just to add to the one I started off with (The Get Down), I just finished the 4-episode Netflix documentary, Hip-Hop Evolution and I highly recommend it as a companion piece to The Get Down. It's traces the roots of hip-hop New York in the first three episodes and then moves over to California in the last episode. 
    Elisa
  • ThomasThomas North Carolina
    Honestly, the first show that came to mind (probably because it was very recent) was People of Earth.  It wasn't good by any means.  The acting wasn't great, plot was simple, but it made me laugh every episode.
    Elisa
  • DummyDummy
    Just finished Atlanta, so , yeah, Atlanta. It went from a show that was barely on my radar to my favorite comedy show of the year. I actually snorted so hard I choked during this scene



    DaveyMacElisaTravis
  • Tyler_DurdenTyler_Durden London
    edited January 2017
    Agree with MrX above. Happy Valley is magnificent.

    For a show that surprised me.....I'd say Season One of Casual
    ElisaTravis
This discussion has been closed.