Movies in Review, Part 3: TV shows and Limited Series

Finally, let's have a very brief chat about some amazing TV series I watched during the year - either seasons of a long-running series or what we used to call "miniseries" - single, one-off / abbreviated-run shows that might also be considered, as a whole, massive 8-hour movies.   

My favorites from last year:

TED LASSO (2020 - ) Quite possible the world's perfect TV show, at least as far as feel good, at times touching show. You can't walk away from this not feeling a little bit better about life in general.

THE CHOSEN (2017 - ) Not only one of the best faith-themed shows produced, but one of the best shows produced, acted, you name it, in a long, long time. An honest retelling of the gospel accounts of Jesus, with a twist. Watching season 3 now, as soon as each episode comes available. 

THE EXPANSE (2015-2022) - Finished the last couple of seasons. Though the book series continued another three books (I have two more I think left to read), they wisely decided to end while on top. A very good wrap up of the series as a whole. One of my favorite sci-fi series, even if they were all looking a wee-bit tired by the end.

ANDOR (2022) - There have been a lot of Star Wars and Marvel series out this past year or two, but Andor is without a doubt, the best of the batch. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple of threads that never - quite - went anywhere, but overall, it was so much like reading a Star Wars novel, making room for character development (shock of shocks) and telling a slow-paced, interesting story of the start of the rebellion.

SEVERANCE (2022) - Went into this one knowing very little about it and was blown away. Totally quirky, creative, 100% original storyline. Won't say anything else. Just leave all expectations and enjoy this.

RUSSIAN DOLL (Season 1, 2019) - Finally another nice surprise. This had been languishing on my TBW list forever. Groundhog Day for tough broads. Another clever and very original show. We started the second season but weren't as into it. 

There are other Honorable Mentions, shows I watched and enjoyed to varying degrees:

DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY (Season 1, 2016) - at time this show was obnoxiously exhausting, but Barnett and Wood's chemistry was a joy to watch, along with the rest of the stellar cast.

MOON KNIGHT (2022) - almost gave up on this because I was like, the point? Then the last couple of episodes paid off. Worth the wait, especially considering one of my favorite actors is headlining.

UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN (2022) - a very slow-paced but riveting true murder case deep within the Morman community.

OBIWAN KENOBE (2022) - I did like this, but there were two too many oddities in the plot, especially between the Kenobi and Vader characters. Still, enjoyable with a lot of action. I loved the girl who played a young Leia. I got a very strong sense they were also setting up for a future Darth Vader series.

SHE-HULK (2022) - finally Marvel's latest TV attempt, not the deepest storyline but it didn't want to be. It was very funny in parts, and I was laughing out loud more than once. I appreciate a show that can do that.