2017 was an absolutely fantastic year for television, between the quality shows being aired on traditional TV to the new offerings by streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, we as viewers have been spoilt for choice. In this post, I’ll look at the 5 shows that grabbed me the most and I’d highly recommend giving any of them a try if you haven’t already.
Stranger Things (Season 2)
Stranger Things Season 1 was an absolutely fantastic show which grabbed me immediately. It has so many aspects which appealed to my inner geek that I ended up watching the whole series in a single weekend which is very rare for me. So when Season 2 arrived I had a lot of hype going into it. It lived up and even surpassed the hype. Everything was bigger, the stakes had been upped and the cast had clearly developed their skills since the first outing. Netflix knocked it out of the park with this series and the influence it has had on TV and movies is obvious. I’m planning on doing exactly the same when Season 3 hits screens and marathoning it.
13 Reasons Why
13 Reasons Why, another Netflix original, was a show that had totally slipped my radar, the premise sounded iffy to me but after 1 episode I was hooked. The story was gripping and it was superbly filmed and acted. This time they kept very real themes as opposed to Stranger Things’ sci-fi tones, it served as a great boost in awareness of mental health and suicide which are both things that need more airtime. If like me you haven’t had an interest in this show I’d suggest giving the first episode a try, chances are it’ll have you hooked as well.
Game of Thrones (Season 7)
Game of Thrones has been a mainstay on TV for several years now, however, I was late to the party and only caught up watching during 2015. This was another show that once I started I couldn’t stop, the wait between seasons has been filled with YouTube binges of fan theories and speculation about what will happen. With this being the penultimate season of the show it had big shoes to fill and it definitely filled them. The showrunners have stayed true to the influence of the books and the content of the show isn’t being watered down despite the stories diverging as of Season 6. With a fewer number of episodes due to spiralling CGI costs the pacing felt off in some places but that didn’t take away from the fact that this was amazing television.
American Horror Story: Cult
American Horror Story is a show that often is hit and miss with its themes and ideas, however, Cult was one of the most cohesive stories they have put on the screen. It feeds on the hysteria following the Presidential election of 2016 and creates a really interesting story around that. As with all seasons of the show cast members play many different characters and they do this brilliantly, this is probably the most graphic of all the seasons so far with several brutal death scenes akin to something you’d see in slasher flicks. As this is an anthology series you don’t need to have watched any previous seasons to understand what is going on as it is an entirely self-contained story.
The Undateables
The Undateables is one of the best feel-good TV shows that air in the UK. It follows people with some form of disability on their quest to find love, they use speciality dating agencies to help match the participants with people they think will be well suited. Often these types of shows can seem exploitative but not this one, it is very tastefully done and never feels like it is exploiting vulnerable people. I would challenge anybody to watch this and not feel good.
Also published on Medium.