2022 Top Five - Television

Day three of my best of 2022 countdown features tv. TV has been pretty incredible this year. There are a ton of good shows with great writing, excellent casting, wonderful storylines and networks are giving the creators time to figure it all out. TV is in a very good place right now. Let's hope it continues.

Before I get into my top five I have some honorable mentions. "Abbot Elementary" is wonderful. It might be the funniest show on TV right now. All the accolades are more than deserved. Quinta Brunson is a genius. "Righteous Gemstones" had an amazing season with a great story arc from Eric Roberts. John Goodman also took on a bigger role this season and totally nailed it. I cannot wait to see where they go with the next season. "House of the Dragon" was worth the hype as well. I do not care that it had a dark hue, I don't care that the dragons were not fully featured yet and I don't care about internet nerds complaining about nonsensical plot points in a fantasy world with dragons. "House of the Dragon" created a new, unique world in the "GOT" universe. I'm ready for season two. And finally "Bluey". This is the best kids show on TV. It has surpassed "Yo Gabba Gabba" for me. I love the length of episodes, 10 minutes, the storylines, the character arc and the fact that the dad is usually the one home with the kids. It is easy for me to relate. "Bluey" is an achievement. I do, really quickly, want to shout out "Joe Pera Talks With You". I was told by many people to watch this show and I finally started last week. I have already finished the series. It is a perfect Adult Swim show but it also has heart and soul. Joe Pera did something different and it worked. I love this show. Okay, to the countdown.

At number 5 I have season four of "What We Do in the Shadows". This show continues to get better and better. Each episode is funnier than the last. The vampires are even more hilarious than ever. The Laszlo and Colin Robinson storyline all season was beautiful and heartfelt. Also, the way Berry pronounces words, it is a thing of beauty. Nandor had a nice arc with his genie this season. And Nadja had a great arc with her nightclub. Guillermo also got to stretch his legs a bit more and it was a homerun. "WWDITS" is on a hot streak and I do not see it stopping anytime soon. It may be the best comedy on TV.

At number 4 I have "The Bear". I mean, this show is amazing. The way they show food and the world of food was incredible. "The Bear" made me hungrier than any show on any cooking network. But it was the performances and choices this show made all season that put it on my list. Every actor does their job with aplomb. They all have juicy moments and they all succeed, and then some. As for the choices, there is one episode in particular that stands out. They did a 17 minute long ep that is all one shot and it is of the restaurant going down due to not being ready. It is a masterpiece. I have watched it multiple times and I love it even more with each view. "The Bear" is incredible and season two cannot come soon enough.

At number 3, closing out my run of shows on FX, I have the last two seasons of "Atlanta". Now, I think this is the best show on TV, but it isn't number 1 because I liked a few other shows a bit more. But "Atlanta" gave us two seasons and closed out the series to perfection. In season three the show took us overseas and it was a trippy joy ride. We got to see our four main characters go through some crazy situations. Darius saw Tupac get murdered. Paper Boi was in jail and had a crazy drug trip. Van went through all kinds of emotions and bludgeoned a dude with a baguette. And Earn had to deal with all kinds of nonsense being a manager overseas. He also had a crazy cold in the premiere. The final season had them back in Atlanta, but it was still as wild as ever. From the season four premiere, which saw Van and Earn get into some kind of alternate universe where they saw a bunch of exes, to Darius trying to figure out if his whole life was real or in a deprivation tank, it was great. Paper Boi also got a farm and had a conversation with Soulja Boy. Van and Earn reunited. The sushi restaurant was a great ep. And the scavenger hunt that Paper Boi went on was nuts. "Atlanta" had as fulfilling a series finale as a TV show can have. I will always adore this show.

At number 2 I have "The Rehearsal". Nathan Fielder is a genius. He is on a whole other level as a comedian and creator. What he did with "The Rehearsal" would have made Andy Kaufman proud. He showed the best and worst in people. The show started as one thing but ended as a totally different thing. It was a masterclass. I cannot fathom how much work went into making all of these scenarios happen. I am in awe of the work that Fielder has done with this show. I am on pins and needles to see what he does next. But "The Rehearsal" is going to go down in history as an all time great.

And at number 1 I have the final season of "Better Call Saul". As fulfilling and gratifying as the series finale of "Atlanta" was, "BCS" surpassed it. The final season was an achievement. It lets the actors do their thing. They got meaty scenes and everyone brought out their best effort. Rhea Seehorn was phenomenal. It is criminal that she never got an award for her work on this show. And Bob Oednekirk got to do his best oh shucks down on his luck, but totally knows that he is conning people character. Saul Goodman was a big part of "Breaking Bad", but I was skeptical on how they would do a show based on him. Not only did they do it, they made one of the best dramas of all time. As for the series finale, I believe it is the best series finale that has ever been made. It was perfect.

There you have it, my top five shows of 2022. Come back tomorrow for my top five sports moments of the year. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "The Rehearsal"

After returning home from vacation one thing my wife and I like to do is get caught up on some TV that we missed. We don't watch too much TV while on vacation. There is too much to do, we plan excursions, we go for dinner and then we are so tired that we crash at bedtime. The TV may come on from time to time, but it is not watched very closely. So arriving home, it becomes much easier to watch some shows that we didn't, or had to wait for.

One such show is "The Rehearsal". This is Nathan Fielder's new HBO show. I remember hearing about this show as much as two years ago. When "Nathan For You" was finished with its run, there were rumors swirling everywhere that Fielder wasn't done with TV, he just needed some time off to think of his next project. He also pretty much immediately signed a deal with HBO after "Nathan For You" was over. It was also rumored that HBO was going to give him carte blanche. He was going to be allowed to do what he wanted, when he wanted as long as he didn't go overboard. With "The Rehearsal" he has achieved something truly magical.

What I loved so much about "Nathan For You" was how uncomfortable it made me feel. The comedy was cringeworthy, but in the best possible way. Everything about that show worked for me as a comedy fan. It cemented Fielder as the modern day Andy Kaufman to me. "The Rehearsal" takes it five-ten steps further.

The premise of the show is to help people rehearse for real life events. The first episode was about a guy that wanted to tell his trivia teammates that he actually did not have a masters degree. The second episode was about a lady who wanted to simulate what it would be like to be a first time mom. But there is so, so, so much more to these episodes than just these baseline summaries. Fielder works with actors to not only help the person who contacted him, but also helps himself in dealing with the people. Fielder hires actors himself to portray the people he will be interacting with. It is wild to see. He has conversations with these people and the show will cut to him rehearsing with actors. He also tells the people all of this after he does the initial interview with him, and shockingly, the people are, for the most part, on board. Again, it is wild. But it gets even crazier. As Fielder is helping the people we see his full process. I'm talking notes, hiring other actors to help out, building extremely elaborate sets, using his own warehouse, having a computer constantly at the ready, having phone calls fully planned out. It is all there and it is all very comprehensive. There were many times I would say out loud, "wow", or, "oh my goodness", completely flabbergasted by what I was witnessing. But what really makes this show stand out is how well the cringe comedy works. I was so uncomfortable the whole time, yet I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. I wished there were more episodes when we watched the first two.

I am stoked to watch the new episode tonight, yet I know I will be bummed when the 30 minutes are over because I'll have to wait another week. I just can't get enough of this show. Yes it makes me uncomfortable, but I also realize that I am watching gold. This show is genius. I can see why it took so long for this to come out and why there are only six episodes. The amount of meticulous work that went into this show is the stuff of a mad scientist genius. It is truly masterful work.

Nathan Fielder has done it yet again. "The Rehearsal" is must watch TV for any comedy fan out there. Nathan Fielder is on a level only shared by Donald Glover. These people know how to make great TV.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.