Tag: Best of 2016

Movies/TV The Music of Saturday Night Live

The Music of Saturday Night Live

The Best Musical Moments of 2016 on Saturday Night Live   I don’t go to a lot of concerts anymore. Three years of Falls Festival, a couple of Big Day Outs and a day-drunk Laneway excursion kinda disabused me of the urge to indulge in live music, as well as whatever they call those fucking …

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12 Best New TV Shows of 2016 1. Horace and Pete

1. Horace and Pete

Horace and Pete and the Lingering Scent of Regret   “Feel-good entertainment”, at this point, is pretty much a misnomer. Any media we consume is intended to distract and compel us in one way or another but, logically, if it succeeds in that endeavour then we’ll ultimately feel good about the time we’ve devoted to …

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12 Best New TV Shows of 2016 2. The Night Of

2. The Night Of

The Night Of and the Burden of Keeping it Real   The Night Of wants it to be two ways. It wants to be a riveting thriller and a grounded procedural at the same time. It looks and feels as raw as a true-crime docudrama but has plot points that belong in a John Grisham …

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12 Best New TV Shows of 2016 3. Atlanta

3. Atlanta

Atlanta and the Quiet Confidence of Indifference   To paraphrase Kanye West at his most boastful (and accurate), Atlanta does not need your pussy: it’s on its own dick. This show could give a fuck if you enjoy, comprehend or even watch it in the first place and, somehow, that just makes it all the more enticing. …

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12 Best New TV Shows of 2016 4. Better Things

4. Better Things

Better Things and the Realistically Shitty Kids   The problem with television shows that involve children or young adults used to be finding actors talented enough to carry off the sort of performances required, striking a tenuous balance between precocious self-awareness and juvenile behaviour in any given situation. I would argue that’s no longer a concern, …

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12 Best New TV Shows of 2016 6./5. O.J. Simpson

6./5. O.J. Simpson

Made In America, American Crime Story and the Unlikely Comeback   There’s no real reason why 2016 was the year that the story of Orenthal James Simpson once again occupied the world’s collective consciousness. Nothing about the former footballer’s current circumstances suggest much in the way of intrigue: he is 8 years into a 33 …

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12 Best New TV Shows of 2016 7. Baskets

7. Baskets

Baskets and the Dreams We Dare to Dream   Basing an alternative comedy that is not-so-secretly a tragedy around the life of a wannabe clown seems almost too easy. Pierrot, known as the “sad clown”, is a well-worn and widely influential stock character that has its roots in the 16th Century Italian theater of Commedia dell’Arte. Without …

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12 Best New TV Shows of 2016 8. The Good Place

8. The Good Place

The Good Place and the Perceptions We Can’t Control   Louis CK has a great bit in his stand-up: “You know, like, when you say to a friend of yours, ‘You’re being an asshole’, and they’re like, ‘No I’m not’? Well, it’s not up to you if you’re an asshole or not! That’s up to everybody else.” …

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